Buying Signals Index · 12 months of analyst-verified signals
Buying Signal Trends: Where are the opportunities for 2027?
4,799 analyst-verified signals across all four Pearlfinders verticals, deduplicated and ranked. Use the period toggle to narrow the window and the category explorer to see how signal types overlap. Individual brand-level detail is reserved for subscribers.
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What this means for 2027
Three data points from the current signal pool that matter most to agency new business and senior leadership.
67%
of signals carry a new appointment
New marketing leaders, CMOs and buying team changes feature in two in three signals, making them one of the clearest early indicators that a brand is open to new agencies. The first few months after an appointment are usually when the door is most open.
3rd
Experiential is now the 3rd most-flagged discipline, up from 5th
Experiential has climbed two places in a year, overtaking Brand Strategy and Digital/Martech. Media Planning and Data/CRM are also on the way up. The mix is shifting toward activation and data.
43%
signals carry a financial performance trigger
Strong financial performance (sales up, funding secured, M&A) is present in 43% of current signals. Brands in a growth phase spend differently from those in consolidation. This is a market leaning into investment.
Discipline direction of travel
Share of Marketing signals flagging each discipline, by quarter. A signal can flag multiple disciplines.
What this means for 2027
Three data points from the current signal pool that matter most to agency new business and senior leadership.
67%
of signals carry a new appointment
New DMs, CMOs and buying team changes are the single biggest driver of open doors. Most new business won in 2027 will start with a leadership change, not a pitch to an existing team. The window is typically 90 days from appointment.
+13pp
jump in Experiential signals year-on-year
Experiential has moved from 7th to 4th most-flagged discipline in 12 months. Media Planning (+7.6pp) and Data/CRM (+7.1pp) are also climbing. Research/Insights is the only top-10 discipline in retreat. The mix is shifting toward activation and data.
43%
signals carry a financial performance trigger
Strong financial performance -- sales up, funding secured, M&A -- is present in 43% of signals in the current period. Brands in a growth phase spend differently from those in consolidation. This is a market leaning into investment.
Discipline direction of travel
Share of Marketing signals flagging each discipline, by quarter. A signal can flag multiple disciplines.
Which sectors are buying what
Select a discipline to see where Pearlfinders is detecting the most buying signals, and how that has shifted year-on-year. Green badges show sectors moving up; red show retreat.
Sector and category breakdown
Aggregate share of signal activity. The vertical filter applies to both charts.
Vertical:
Sector share · % of signals in period
Signals by category · % of signals in period
Category explorer
Select two to four triggers to see how often they co-occur at the same brand. Two or three shows a Venn diagram; four switches to an intersection matrix.
Pearlfinders gives new business teams the signals, the background and the verified decision-maker contacts to turn intelligence into first meetings.
Pearlfinders research. 4,799 deduplicated signals, October 2025 to September 2026, across Marketing, Sport & Entertainment, HR, and Charity & Arts. Where a brand was covered by more than one vertical within roughly a week, the event is counted once. Signals with no trigger category excluded. All figures recalculate dynamically with period and vertical filters.
