Simon Gaffney.
Simon Gaffney, Creative Director, IMA B2B
Sexy? This was not a question I had to ask myself when working in traditional ad agencies.
Among my esteemed ‘Creative’ colleagues, B2B – and its insistence on having a commercial impact, driving long-term awareness and engagement, and generally not relying on the more simplistic ‘We open on a beach in Hawaii’ approach – was always treated as the over-looked, middle child among the glamorous, all-singing, all-wisecracking ATL Rock Stars.
Swapping “your business” for every reference to “you” in B2C eDMs was pretty much the limit of the love that was, begrudgingly, dished out to the under-appreciated B2B sibling.
But having spent the best part of a year in the world of B2B, and seen what’s really involved, the question does keep popping up. Can B2B advertising ever be sexy?
Look, we all know that B2B marketing is hard. (A lot harder than paying bucket loads for models to pout while holding perfume bottles – because it turns out ROI is quite an important factor.)
It involves planting the seeds of need into the minds of gatekeepers and various levels of decision makers, who then must go and present business cases for changing suppliers to their Board. It takes a deep and tested understanding of the market sectors, their needs and the needs of their customers; it takes time and patience, and who’s got much of either of them?
Then there’s the systematic resistance to change among busy customers, and so on. Which is probably why more pragmatic B2B marketers prefer to err on the side of stats and case studies to generate a marketable point.
But just because hardcore B2B marketing has frequently opted, admitted with quantifiable success, for the ‘unadventurous’, does it always have to?
The idea of applying B2C-style creative thinking to logical problem solving, to sell business solutions to business people, may seem incongruous to some B2B marketers. But, in my humble opinion, they’re missing an important point.
We are communicating with people.
Hot-blooded people with feelings, dreams and lives outside the office. People that, while passionate about getting the job done, also like to be entertained, engaged with and excited. Especially when it comes to something that could help them do their job better.
So, if a B2B marketer demonstrates genuine empathy with their target market, picks up on relevant pain points and delivers solutions in an interesting, refreshing and memorable way, wouldn’t that hit harder than the usual dry, tried and trusted approach?
And if that B2B marketer also understands that a lot of what they’re doing goes beyond pure B2B and into the wider, wilder world of B2B2C, then maybe the more expansive, story-telling type of advertising, usually reserved for booze and cars, starts to make even more sense.
So, let’s ask the question again: can B2B advertising ever be sexy?
Well, yes, I believe that, at appropriate times, it can. Combining the best of hard-nosed, solid B2B strategic thinking with provocative creative work would appeal to many of the Bs and the Cs (and those that identify as both) in potentially earth-shattering ways, blowing away the cobwebs and opening up whole new trains of thought and avenues of inspiration to explore.
From the B2B client’s POV, this would make their product stand out in the cluttered marketplace, building greater brand awareness, increasing sales and, if their product and service is good enough, generating repeat business as well as brand advocates and ambassadors.
All of which I see as quite an enticing challenge, and one well worth rising to.
Watch out world. That under-appreciated sibling is all grown up. And is looking pretty hot right now.