In a world where you can be anything, for gods sake be memorable.
I’ve been doing this for a while now, the whole writing for B2B clients thing (although I haven’t written about it on here for some time).
I’ve worked on projects with brands that are household names, all the way down to start-ups, with just a handful of people on the books. I’ve seen my fair share of B2B brand wins and failures.
Although some 83% of CEOs understand the importance of brand marketing, all too often it seems that B2B businesses are so scared to try something new. So, they do something much more dangerous – the same thing they’ve always done.
Learning from B2C success stories
We’re seeing, especially on socials, B2C brands careering off into the distance, garnering more and more engagement across the board. One recent example is Currys, with their genuine, people-first social media strategy. This goes against plenty of traditional brand protection guidelines, but it absolutely nails the tone for the platform (instagram) and portrays customer service employees (customers’ primary interaction with the brand) as down to earth, humorous and approachable.
Using their own brand in a self-deprecating and humorous way gives the impression that they don’t take themselves too seriously, that they’re human. If this was a B2B company, there would be utter panic, that this might portray the brand unprofessional. Fear that showing staff doing anything other than their direct duties might implicate them as an unserious business.
The lesson here is that, doing something that isn’t traditionally brand-aligned at first, can actually create a huge amount of trust and admiration for your brand. At a time when billionaires are making idiots of themselves, or lobbying global governments to let them make even more money, trust in business leaders is not at an all-time high.
The old adage that ‘people want to buy from people’ needs an amendment. Nowadays, with the wealth gap growing, and the rich becoming even more obscure in their pursuit for relevance (and Mars), it’s more accurate to say that ‘people trust people who are similar to themselves’.
Amazon’s dead-eyed tv slot, the one with the singing janitor, tries quite desperately to latch on to this idea. With the people behind the scenes being allowed to shine. However, I’m not sure that the deus ex machina tuxedo delivery quite delivers the desired impact. The whole thing feels prescriptive and wooden.
If a brand is a feeling, no wonder B2B audiences are bored
Why have I spent this whole article slagging off everyone apart from Currys? Because I know we can do so so much better. I’ve worked with so many talented B2B copywriters, designers, strategists and accounts people who have the know-how and sheer creative ability to completely change the way floundering brands are percieved.
The problem is, that the brands themselves are too wary to try anything new. We need more trust in marketers and less brand obsessed non-marketing execs worrying about misusing something that should contain a modicum of flexibility anyway.
Trust in B2B branding experts and ye shall be repaid.
Feeling brave?
Let’s change the idea of what a B2B brand can be. Let’s create something that your target audience connect with on both a professional and a personal level. Something irresistible.
Ben Greenwood - Copywriter 
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