Are B2B and B2C really so different?

Are B2B and B2C really so different? Here are some commonalities:-

1.     Both need an effective sales process

B2B lead conversion may take much longer due to an extended procurement / due diligence process and so leads may require more nurturing. Ultimately, like B2C, you need a good understanding of the customer, the competition, likely weak points in your purchase funnel, etc.

2.     Both require a good grasp of the market and how your product stacks up 

While there’s a lot of ‘chest-beating’ in B2B and probably more marcomms clichés, you need to know what need your product meets in order to cut through the clutter. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in the UK have shifted focus away from category norms (shiny vans parked in front of rugged looking cranes) towards the audience need their product fulfils and have an IPA Effectiveness Award to show for it.

3.     Emotional vs. Rational

Yes, B2B sales are evaluated and potentially planned ahead of time, it’s a myth to suggest emotional messaging is only appropriate for B2C campaigns. In their 2013 “From Promotion to Emotion: Connecting B2B Customers to Brands” study, Google and CEB (now Gartner) worked with marketing research firm Motista to survey 3,000 purchasers of 36 B2B brands across multiple industries. The study found that, on average, B2B customers are significantly more emotionally connected to their vendors and service providers than B2C consumers.

4.     B2B sales are relationship driven & B2C sales are more impulsive, right?

In B2C, you’re likely to get more impulse purchases. However, it’s another myth to suggest that in B2B a long-term relationship plays a vital role. The process of sales includes the same and is strived to maintain the relation. PWC researched the B2B insurance market and saw that personal insurance buying behaviour is the biggest predictor of business buying behaviour (with the founder being responsible for sorting it out in most small businesses). 

In summary, both B2C and B2B disciplines involve the important task of influencing behaviour, driving consideration of one brand over another and a holistic approach to optimising both marcomms activity and the customer journey.

Lessons learned

Last week marked my 21st wedding anniversary and also 21 years since I got my first ‘proper’ job in marketing. As I respond to congratulatory messages from friends and family on Facebook, I couldn’t help but reflect on the things that have changed and things I’ve learned over the last 21 years. Facebook didn’t exist but is now credited with influencing the outcome of a referendum and Presidential election.

So, here are the thoughts that came to mind on what I’ve learned during my career as a marketeer and they’re in no particular order...

1. Brands are built holistically

It might constitute modern day heresy, but I disagree with one of the central tennets of ‘How Brands Grow’. You need more than just a distinctive product and big media budget. You need to consider all your touchpoints – including how you treat your staff and how, in turn, they treat customers. As Trendwatching highlighted in their ‘Glass Box’ piece soon after ‘that’ United Airlines video (of an employee dragging a passenger from the plane) went viral, your internal culture is also your brand. For that reason, generalists should be more sought after than (digital) specialists as can’t join the dots as readily or work collaboratively with colleagues in Product, Sales or Operations. 

2. The brief is the first ad in any campaign

Its role is to engage and inspire. Ultimately, you’re selling the business challenge. If you don’t write a brief or take responsibility for getting it approved before you commission your agency, then you are going to create unnecessary cost and squander away your budget. After moving agency side and a few years freelancing, it still surprises me how few clients actually write a brief. My advice for any new Marketing Director is don’t call a pitch. A much quicker win is to simply start reviewing the briefs coming out of your team. Only then will you see what your existing agencies are capable of and ensure they’re effectively utilised.

3. The long-game trumps short-termism

Short-term results might help justify your existence in the face of regular restructures but they don’t necessarily build a sustainable brand into the long-term. Efficiency requires numeracy & timely results and can effectively be delegated to agencies via a PBR contract. In contrast, effectiveness requires both actionable insight, compelling ideas and a holistic, balanced evaluation agenda.

4. You are not representative of your target audience

The longer you spend in any organisation, the less your capable of representing your customer. Strategies need to be written for the real world. If you’re not comfortable with something your agency has recommended, don’t run the thinking past a friend or family member with no context or frame of reference. Many great ideas have died that way. It's much better to ask for more reassurance or perhaps a pertinent case study from another category or market.

5. Buzzwords come & go, but the fundamentals don’t change

When I joined a large marketing department in 1997, one of the largest lines of our plan was our directory advertising programme. We even sponsored the outside back cover of the Thomsons Local Directory. Google didn’t exist but is now the biggest media owner on most brands’ annual plans. While many things have changed, the fundamentals of marketing remain the same.

6. The landscape is changing and traditional agencies face fierce competition 

Big consultancies are acquiring creative shops. Media agencies are competing with creative agencies over who owns the out of scope services line ‘content’. Google and Facebook offer their own creative services. Ultimately, agencies offering rinse and repeat strategies have the most to fear.

7. Tactics and strategy are frequently confused, but not the same

This one pushes my button and is one of the main reasons why I avoid The Apprentice. Strategy defines your long-term goals and how you're planning to achieve them, so should be fixed. While a tactic is a shorter-term action designed to achieve a specific end, so can be flexible. When everyone understands the strategy, then all oars are pointing the boat in the same direction and everyday tactical activity connects with the strategy.

8. Change is the only constant

Job ads that ask for ‘classically trained X, Y or Z’ are likely avoided by talented employees. Smart people recognise that you need to learn each and every day. The ad suggests the employer is striving to maintain the status quo and effectively living in the past, therefore, unlikely to provoke to response from the most talented candidates.

9. B2B & B2C marketing aren't actually that different

In B2B, there are more cliches and its easier to be distinctive. However, PWC have shown that (when it comes to insurance) consumer behaviour is one of the biggest determinants of business buying behaviour. People don't suddenly become rational robots when they get to work. In 2013, Google found that B2B buyers are actually significantly more emotionally connected to vendors than their B2C counterparts. That makes sense when you consider trust is an emotional consideration. Ultimately, both B2C and B2B disciplines involve the important task of influencing behaviour, consideration of one brand over another and a holistic approach to optimising marcomms activity and the customer journey.

Oprah's advice works for brands too

Like many people I’ve woken up this morning and checked out the new stories following the Golden Globes. The tectonic shift in Hollywood is a truly wonder to behold and Oprah’s speech was clearly one of the more memorable ones from the evening.

The images of Oprah already circulating on social media got me wondering how many times the one above will appear in presentations from agencies to clients in a diplomatic effort to try and convince them to start writing briefs.

I’ve been lucky enough to work both sides of the fence and so have seen the importance of the upfront brief from both sides. I’ve also encountered a surprising number of people who’ve refused to write one with some even taking a delusional pride in it.

I now think of the client brief as the first ad in the campaign. It gives agency colleagues a strong mental picture of the challenge the extended team is faced with. It’s core role is to inspire the best possible solution to the business problem.

On the other side of the fence, the quality of the client brief will determine how long the project stays in a creative department - typically where staff not covered by a client’s retainer will begin working on the project. Often times, non-brief writing clients will only be clear on their requirements once work has been presented to them. 

The time taken for creative team(s) to develop all those options and the associated costs incurred will need to be covered by somebody. 

In short, side stepping the brief will end costing you one way or another. 

The importance of Employee Branding in delivering brand narrative

Jeremy Bullmore CBE (former Chair of The Advertising Association) once said that brands are built “like birds build nests – i.e. one piece at a time. In the context of media fragmentation, social sharing, ever-shorter attention spans and IPA case studies reinforcing the importance of running multiple executions, this has never been more true.

Beautifully crafted TV spots and heavyweight schedules are no longer enough – how you behave is more important than what you say. Just ask the banks how they’re doing at rebuilding trust. The key insight being missed is that 55% of us trust branch colleagues, while only 18% trust the sector.

Brands are gradually established or repositioned in the minds of customers through numerous experiences with products, services and systems, which are ultimately created or delivered by people. One poor experience and plenty of good work can easily be undone.

In the Automotive sector, 87% of recent car buyers say they’ll buy the same brand next time, but only 56% go on to do so. Interactions with colleagues at local (franchised) dealerships are critical. Prior to purchase, if the dealership cannot fulfill a requested test drive, then the brand/car is then removed from the shortlist in 9 out of 10 cases.

Employees are ultimately the delivery mechanism of a company’s strategy and, therefore, a fundamental component of the brand. That ExCo vision is ultimately futile without a structured employee brand in place that articulates the culture, rewards, process, strategy and structure that supports its delivery.

Despite the importance of employees, however, few companies give them as much attention as they do capital investments or cashflow. Instead, lip service is often paid when referring to people as their company’s most important asset.

If CEOs and Chief Marketing Officers are serious about building an iconic brand, then the Human Resource function must be an important dimension to delivery of the brand proposition. The recruitment stage, for example, should have culture in mind.

HR’s leadership role in brand development begins by attracting and onboarding the right talent, for example, people who are driven to want to do the right thing for customers. This is certainly Sir Richard Branson’s view – “the most important recruitment criteria is whether candidates genuinely care about people”. Starbucks claim to be a people company that serves coffee, rather than the other way around.

Brands need consistency in order to establish their positioning. In the context of an ever increasingly number of comms channels, branded messaging needs to feel that they come from the same person. By the same token, employees need a thorough understanding of the company’s mission, vision, values and brand promise to give the basis for some uniformity. They also need to appreciate their own role in delivering the differentiated customer experiences that are so sought after today.

Category Leadership

It sounds obvious, but leaders should lead and never follow. Tesco had plenty to differentiate their “pile it high” discount competitors, i.e. quality, provenance and a relentless customer focus behind the renowned “Every little helps” campaign. Instead, it chose to dance to their competitors’ tune and, in so doing, allowed those brands to experience aggressive double-digit growth in market share. They subsequently posted a £6.4bn loss – one of the largest in UK corporate history.

In stark contrast, when Walkers found its position as the leading crisp brand under threat from competitors offering exciting new ingredients, its response was to innovate rather than imitate. Using the full range of tools at its disposal (distribution, awareness, social media, Gary Lineker), the ‘Do Us A Flavour’ campaign took on its rivals at their own game and outperformed category sales growth by 68%. Walkers also achieved its highest market share for 3 years and a deep level of consumer interaction with over 1m flavour suggestions. It showed how a marketing idea could affect every aspect of the business and 5 years later repeated the campaign with a £1m prize on offer.

So what are the ingredients of a brand leader?

·      The attitude of a leader and clarity on the challenge – what will it take to lead or even grow the market?

·      A robust strategy to drive consideration and even re-appraisal - you play to your strengths

·      Behave like a leader – think like a challenger, but act in a way that demonstrates leadership

·      A plan to sustain momentum – a programme for generating fresh ideas and evolving the narrative. Smarter use of research to generate insight into where the market’s going, so you can get there before the competition

Napolina behaved like a leader even before it reached the top. Central to the brand’s leadership behaviour is its consistent focus on being ‘at the heart of Italian cooking’ – which gives the brand both authenticity and the elasticity to stretch into numerous product categories. It behaved like the market leader and the market followed.

Some brands are able to effectively invent a new category (thanks to Activia we're all familiar with probiotic yogurt), but even in saturated markets the combination of sharp consumer insight and creative execution can propel a new brand to the top. Look at what’s happened in baby food, where Plum and Ella’s Kitchen left Heinz, for all its marketing muscle, far behind.

Numerous challenger brands have successfully changed the conversation in their markets by focusing on a core message and adapting to connect both emotionally and rationally. After all, why challenge when you can lead?

Keeping it real

Advertising spend is expected to exceed £20bn in the UK this year, as the economy & consumer confidence continue to recover and brands also seek to ramp up their digital activity.

This impressive stat follows an equally jaw-dropping one from late last year – 75% of marketing campaigns failed to achieve their targets.

According to The Fournaise Marketing Group (a marketing effectiveness consultancy), the most common mistake that contributed to this degree of failure is a weak or unattractive proposition – “they kept focusing on ‘Style’, ‘Look’, ‘Feel’, ‘Digital’ and ‘Social’ and did not pay the proper attention to answering the most relevant pains, needs, wants and expectations of their target audience”.

Agencies (and Planners in particular) have a duty to their Clients to ensure this doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, Adland tends to talk ‘consumers’ rather than ‘people’. The Planner’s core role is often summarised as “representing the consumer’s voice and interests”, which can sometimes be seen as synonymous with writing research proposals.

We (Planners) have to shake off this misconception and break out of our ivory towers. We need to regularly walk a mile in our customer’s shoes. Everyone involved in the development of campaign (especially those involved in signing them off) has to be mindful of how people actually live their lives.

With the advent of new devices, like to Apple Watch, it’s easy to be mindful of the constantly evolving media landscape. However, it’s much harder to remain mindful of related change when it comes to our customers’ behaviours, their motivations and their barriers to purchase.

The Planning role is a critical one when it comes to staying abreast of customer’s shifting relationships with brands and media channels. This means we Planners need to stay engaged throughout the campaign development cycle and evaluate the effectiveness of creative ideas and develop learnings for future campaigns.

The Planner’s role is increasingly a practical one and shouldn’t be viewed as academic. For that reason, we don’t put a grand name to our Planning process here at Clarity. We simply call it 'clear thinking'.

Colin Gray

Head of Strategy and Planning, Clarity

www.wecreateclarity.co.uk