What the Top 10 Chemical Manufacturing Companies Tell Us About the Marketing Landscape

Manufacturing Digital released their list of top 10 chemical manufacturing companies by market cap this week, and there’s a lot of valuable insight we can glean about the landscape from a marketing perspective. Our partners here at Celtic took a look at the list and drew up a few takeaways.

Focus on the Circular Economy & Make Sustainability Tangible

With companies like LyondellBasell, Henkel, and Dow focusing on circular solutions and setting measurable goals to reduce carbon footprint, the message is coming in loud and clear. Setting up a singular sustainability program is no longer enough. Chemical manufacturers need to focus on how they can contribute to the circular economy and make sustainability tangible.

Shin-Etsu Chemical, in the number 1 spot, developed recyclable thermoplastic silicone at the tail end of 2025 that they’ll be marketing with a sustainability focus in 2026.

Check out what we did for client Daubert Chemical to make sure “Formulating a Sustainable Future” took center stage on their new website.

“Procurement increasingly demands traceability and environmental performance,” says Jim Heitzman, President + CEO at Celtic. “Make your sustainability messaging stand out with metrics, certifications, and lifecycle data.”

Bring Technical Value and Regionality Center Stage

At Celtic, we’re well-aware that chemical buyers speak a very technical language and tend to be risk averse. For specialty chem segments, application expertise and custom solutions are a growth differentiator. Even though the top 10 companies here are global in scale, localization of sales and marketing matters as buyers seek partners who can reliably serve local markets with global quality.

“Your marketing should emphasize performance data, case studies, and precise specs,” says Jeremy Hogan, Partner, Content + Media. “That precision becomes even more impactful when you apply a regional lens in both messaging and targeting. Create the setting where buyers can imagine themselves in the results.”

See how our work helped Stepan Agricultural Solutions push limits by blending the science with the expertise, to cultivate partnerships that shape the future of agriculture.

The More Complex the Tech, The More Critical the Human Connection

Each of these companies has a few operational elements in common. Their deals are high value, their sales cycles are long, and their risk tolerance is low. Buyer trust is built over time, and direct access to experts is key.

“We consider targeted events, webinars, and outreach to be trust-building infrastructure,” says Danielle Vitogiannes, Partner, Digital + Associations. “This is true across industries, but technical complexity creates a need for answering nuanced questions in real-time and adapting to a customer’s specific operating conditions. Think of your event and tradeshow calendar as a conduit between your R&D capability and your customer’s understanding.”

Celtic benefits from having a full association management business in-house. That means our B2B clients get the insight of high-touch event specialists who are adept at creating valuable experiences where ideas grow and partnerships thrive. Learn more about our Associations work here.

As our teams here at Celtic ramp up 2026 efforts for our chemical manufacturing clients, our focus is on making curated connections a cornerstone of our marketing efforts. The shift toward specialty and solutions in chemical manufacturing is making one thing crystal clear: winners in this market are dominating by becoming embedded in their customers’ technical and operational ecosystems.

Time to win in 2026. Reach out to us and learn more about how

we can help you compete and grow. Let’s elevate your marketing.