The B2B landscape is constantly evolving - and the past year has been no different.

The past twelve months has been punctuated by brands reallocating their budgets in response to economic challenges. Meanwhile, the desire for personalised outreach has paved the way for the widespread integration of ABM. But whilst this has kept B2B marketers’ plates full, the sector remains one of the country’s most exciting - and innovative. 

Redwood BBDO recently attended The Drum’s B2B World Fest 2023, an exclusive peer event unveiling the strategies and secrets that the industry’s biggest brands are employing to prepare for a decade brimming with opportunities. The day featured an abundance of insightful panels, with three sessions standing out from the crowd: 

• The B2B decade starts here (and now)
• Creativity to the fore
• Disruption dead ahead

The B2B decade starts here (and now)

Deloitte’s ability to construct strategies which effectively connect with global audiences is second-to-none. The business operates across 150 countries, meaning that it’s constantly adapting to local trends and behaviours - something which Suzanne Kunkel, Deloitte’s Global & US CMO, was quick to identify. 

“We are an 187 year-old brand, so there’s no standing still. The brand should always be in a state of evolution; we’ve continued to think about what the market needs us to be. This has seen us do quite a bit of work from a marketing transformation perspective, with the North Star being to focus on building trust and delivering value to our clients and to our people.”

But that doesn’t mean change for change’s sake. Moving with purpose is paramount, which Suzanne believes starts with an insight-led approach. “[This] allows us to be more creative, because when you’ve got the facts and you’re clear about the outcomes you’re driving for, it actually frees you up to be more creative and make sure the work really shines for what you’re trying to do.”

Suzanne rounded the session off by imparting her pearls of wisdom that marketers should be doubling-down on over the next decade. “First-and-foremost, you need to do great work. That’s work that you want to see over and over. It’s very human, it’s very relevant and it takes your audience into account - not just the thing you’re trying to say.

You also need to be engaging, both in terms of your people and the extended organisation. As brand builders, the experience in B2B is really important. That means there’s a lot of touchpoints with that brand outside of the marketing itself. The broader your coalition and collaboration with the c-suite, the better.”

Creativity to the fore

State Street Global Advisors is the fourth largest asset management firm in the world. John Brockelman, the business’ CMO, used his session to showcase how to create creative campaigns that are out-of-category, yet also drive overall business results. 

John kickstarted the session by highlighting the seven-step thought process that marketing teams should follow when putting campaigns together: 

1. Always have the client front and centre
2. Understand business objectives and set stretch goals
3. Be clear about what your brand stands for 
4. Rally around a big compelling insight
5. Nail the message, then nail the creative
6. Be consistent with your tone and voice
7. Be open to ideas that might come out of left field

Setting business objectives from day one ensures that you don’t lose sight of the prize: delivering new leads for your client. “How are we delivering nurtured contacts to the sales organisation? How are we qualifying those leads - and ultimately, how are those leads translating into new wins and new opportunities?”

Premium creative campaigns are a powerful tool for cutting through the noise and bridging the gap between client and consumer. However, its effectiveness is lost if it doesn’t stay aligned with brand messaging and tone of voice. John argued that otherwise “you can really fall in love with a creative idea, and then try and force-fit the message onto it - leaving it to fall flat.”

John’s final thoughts focussed on the longevity of campaigns. They might start out in life as a poster or a short video clip - but their potential is unlimited. He used a golf-oriented case study from State Street Global Advisors in which the company “extended its campaign from the creative and the digital into a unique client experience.” 

Disruption dead ahead

AI has been the word on everybody’s lips recently - with the B2B industry at the forefront of this evolving innovation. Jo Pettifer, VP of Marketing (UKI) at Salesforce, Bruce Biegel, Senior Marketing Partner at Winterberry Group and Sunit Virmani, EVP & Global CMO at Infosys unpacked how the technology is disrupting - and potentially improving - the sector.

Jo identified that AI’s area of deployment would be the differentiator between success and failure. “I think it’s hugely disruptive in a positive way - if used correctly. It’s a number one priority on CEOs’ agendas, helping transform their organisations with an AI-first strategy. It’s going to transform every department - from marketing and sales to service and commerce. More than 70% say AI will enable them to focus on more strategic work.”

Sunit set his sights on the technical benefits that AI can bring to the table, starting with solving “one of the biggest challenges that marketers face: how to get the ROI from marketing investment. How do you actually walk up to the c-suite and show the correlation between what you’re doing from a marketing perspective and where exactly is the return being factored in? A lot of innovation on the tech front has helped us personalise and target content a lot better - and AI actually helps take this to a whole new level.”

Enhancing productivity and minimising time wasting has long been on B2B specialists’ radar. Bruce recognised that AI could be the key to solving this. “Think on the creative side - if you’re doing a creative brief, a process that may have taken two weeks can take days. Speed to content and speed to value is a real application right now. On the machine learning side of AI, we’re seeing the ability to predict and optimise that is clearly paying out in the market.”

Want to find out how Redwood BBDO can create compelling content to cut through the noise for your brand? Reach out to Mark Harrop on email mark.harrop@redwoodlondon.com  to discuss your upcoming campaigns. 

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