Younification

Businesses are people too.

October 5, 2011 by comments 3

“I don’t know. We think it looks too… consumery. You know?”

There is a constant conversation taking place between marketers, strategists, creatives, and brands about the differences between branding for B2B and branding for B2C. There is the debate about color palette. (When in doubt, go blue!) What colors feel safe? What tone feels “business-y”? Is it okay to be serious and be clever?

To us, the truth lies in answering a question different from whether you’re a B2B company or a B2C company, but rather one that focuses on the individuals comprising the Bs and the Cs. Chris has often been heard remarking about the “magic consumer transition” that we sometimes believe takes place while commuting from home to work. The underlying consideration there is whether we truly do think that a CEO thinks or responds differently to words and visuals whether he’s behind a mahogany desk or taking a call from his (or her) deck on a sunny Saturday.

Focus for a moment on social media and the effect it’s had on the formality of our communication. There are no longer ivory towers or hallowed halls, and the businesses who continue to subscribe to this method of engagement (or lack of) are quickly losing share. As people we value warmth and competency as much in our business interactions as we do in our more colloquial, consumer lives. You may be drawn to the stability of specific bank, insurance company, or institution, but your experience is determined by the individuals you encounter within that organization, whether it be a teller, mortgage broker, financial planner, teacher, professor, or administrator. Individually they may present as buttoned-up business people, but behind the pleats and tweeds they are human beings who have a significant impact on the image and engagement of a brand.

Increasingly, we find that consumer loyalty and advocacy is built upon the relationships to individuals within an organization. Restaurants provide good food and a charming ambiance, but it’s the chef who stops by or the bar tender who chats with you while you wait for your dinner date who create that experience. There is no aspect of big M marketing that isn’t influenced by the blurred line between B and C. The way you position, message, and iterate product should focus on the one thing we all share: being human. Creating value for customers– both in communication and product– hinges upon understanding human nature above the nature of business.

There is no debate as to whether the rules are more stringent when you cross into B2B, but it has less to do with how people make decisions and more to do with red tape and legal constraints. The brand emerges when you find the humanity within your audience and then craft a story that appeals to them and passes the “business appropriate” test. It’s then the job of the organization to empower employees to embrace this balance and create experiences that are at once true to the brand and relevant to the customer.

Anecdotally, I live around the corner from one of the finest hotel chains in the world, the Taj. The brand stands for luxury and unparalleled experience. And while for guests this manifests in exquisite amenities and superb customer service, it’s adapted to meet the needs of the friends and neighbors of the hotel, as well. There’s no caviar offered as I pass by, but on a rainy day the staff is always ready with an umbrella, or a bottle of water when I jog by after working out. And this morning, after trying fruitlessly to hail a cab, it was a ride to work in their car service. So while I may not have the opportunity to lay my head upon those delightful pillows, or experience the luxury of tubs the size of my apartment, the luxury is tailored for me by a staff who knows my life and does everything they can to make it that much more luxurious.

 

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  • http://scalableintimacy.com Mike Troiano

    Good business is personal. As ever.

  • Anonymous

    Dear Mike,
    Loved the photo! Another interesting article, as well. B2B that’s serious and yet clever. Can they coexist? I do believe in some cases, it’s more than okay.
    As a CD and Senior Copywriter, we created B2B print, trade mag ads, DM (and even OOH B2B!) for the AirEase and Armstrong Air Brands of Lennox International and Honeywell HVAC products, in which we went with “clever”.
    Concepts and headlines that spoke to the distributors on down to the contractors and building managers, that were relevant to their needs and how the product met the demands of the build.
    For a B2B DM piece sent to architects, building managers and apartment and senior housing contractors, we put a non-consumer HVAC unit in the center of a rocky depiction of the surface of Mars. Then, we put a photo of a NASA Rover/Lander in the foreground and an American flag planted in the background, under the headline, A Unit So Rock-Solid, They Found One On Mars.
    If you’re the contractor or management company, you want a reliable, easily accessible unit for each suite that requires the least calls from tenants in the middle of the night or callbacks to the contractor. The message triggers a human reaction in those people intimately involved or invested in the brand. No one wants an angry tenant call resulting in lost time and revenue.
    We also went “clever” for an employee security monitoring system for fast food restaurants and cashier based businesses. We laid out we an illustrated fast food employee wearing a paper hat surrounded by a halo, that appeared under the headline, If everyone you hired isn’t wearing a halo…. here’s the answer to your prayers.
    So, B2B can and should be engaging, stand out from the clutter, speak not only to the needs of the businesses on a more human, consumer level but trigger an emotion related to the product. Then the building manager is happy with the contractor, the contractor with the distributor and the distributor with the manufacturer. The Owner, Franchisee, Manager of the fast food restaurant? Well, they can be anywhere knowing a camera has an eye on the till they can check on in real-time or play back to their TV or cell phones.

    • Caroline Beaulieu

      Thanks for this. I think your comments illustrate our feelings exactly. To take a different perspective, I’ve always questioned the value of using “direct response” tactics and language only in… direct response. It’s often the provocative (category relevant) that drives us to change our behavior in the day-to-day and if we can motivate action with these tools, why save them? The perfect balance, from my perspective is one achieved by recognizing the objective, understanding the audience, and then giving them credit for who they truly are. There should always be a focus on mitigating risk in a business context, especially businesses dealing with sensitive issues, but in those cases, it’s still a human message that connects. “A tradition of excellent in planning for unexpected life events” will never do or say as much as something that speaks to the reality of the unexpected. “We’ve spent more than 100 years helping people find a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.” :)