Like it or not, it’s hard to ignore the fact that we live in a world of instant gratification. Quick wins are sought after like never before, without any real thought for the longer-term picture. And the world of B2B marketing is no different – particularly when it comes to its creative campaigns.

Not so long ago, our Creative Director, Mike Watson took to the screens with a webinar that focused on this relentless push for immediate success – and the much bigger prize that’s being missed out on as a consequence.

We grabbed him for a quick word in the aftermath, and asked him to summarise his top-level thoughts for us (well, for you actually).

So what’s your own campaigns background, Mike? (As in, why should we believe a word you say?)

Despite spending most days still feeling like the placement kid, I’ve been around Adland for about twenty years now. And whether I’ve worked above-the-line, through it, in customer engagement, loyalty or brand, I’ve never been far away from campaigns.

I’ve done tons of different types of campaign work, for loads of different brands in different sectors, on pretty much every scale. And I bloody love them.

Nowadays, I’m confident enough to say that I understand how campaigns work. How they’re developed. And that no matter how different one looks from the next, the fundamental principles are always the same.

Why was your webinar’s focus specifically on brand campaigns?  

There’s a couple things at play here.

Firstly, with the world on its socioeconomic knees, we’re seeing more and more brands reacting to financial challenges by pumping out sales-focused campaigns to shift their stuff. And I totally get that in extreme cases, this has to be done to stay afloat in the short term.

But the bigger picture is getting lost in everyone’s clamour to bring home the bacon – and it’s got nothing to do with what’s happening in the world.

At any time, and under any circumstances, if an organisation isn’t just going to survive, but thrive, it absolutely has to focus on brand as well as what it’s flogging.

Brand campaigns are what help an audience warm to you, by letting you push out the message of what you stand for and believe in. These are the messages that strike an emotional chord and make people want to engage, and keep engaging, with you. (‘Sticky’ we call it.)

Short-term tactical campaigns can be great for instant gratification. But they’re definitely not designed for ‘stickiness’. Only long-term brand campaigns can do this. And it’s this ability to create sustained success, coupled with the fact that not enough brands are doing it, that made us focus on them for the webinar.

Why focus on B2B?

Well, apart from the fact that we’re a B2B agency (by and large), there’s a really good reason for it: namely that in B2B, there’s a greater leaning towards brands focusing on their products and services (their rational offering).

If you couple this with the fact that there’s little to differentiate B2B brands from a rational point of view, there’s a lot of ‘me too lookie-likie’ wallpaper out there.

The B2B brands that are brave enough to take a stance and focus not on what they offer, but what they stand for, are the ones who give themselves the competitive edge.

What’s the secret of a great brand campaign?

Easy one, this. It’s relevant insight. 

And by relevant, I mean to your audience, not your business.

Without this insight, you may as well put your chequebook away. Your campaign will be useless.
A great campaign always starts by getting under the skin of the people you’re talking to: the challenges they’re facing; how they’re feeling; what they’re missing and that sort of thing. Then you pick out the single most important truth, and figure out the story around it.

These stories are always created in the same way: by laying bare the problem of the audience, the solution offered by the brand, and the solution’s benefit to the audience.

When you’ve done this, you just need to decide which of the three bits to focus the creative proposition on. The only job then is for the creatives to dramatise this proposition.

Here’s a pretty decent example of this in the real world – a benefit-led campaign developed by us for our broad specialist mortgage lender client, Pepper Money.

So what’s best to focus on then – the problem, solution or benefit?

To be honest, there’s no single definitive answer. It’s all about the variables.

Focusing on the benefit is rarely a bad idea (like Pepper above, and Coventry for intermediaries below), as it results in aspirational, life-affirming work. This is particularly powerful in B2B, where emotionally-led creative is seen less often than in B2C (although it’s on the rise – hence mark-making*s whole B2B More Human perspective).

Putting the problem to work is great for developing creative that’s arresting, disruptive and thought provoking. Focusing on the peril is also great for creating urgency.

While last but not least, the solution is brilliant at focusing on the positive change that’s possible (although I do find this one the hardest to bring emotion into).

Ultimately, though, it’s all about sensitivity to the subject matter. If you’re doing a brand campaign for a life insurance company, you’re probably best steering clear of the problem, for example.

Is there a standard % split of brand/tactical campaigns?

There is, actually.

In terms of budgetary split (according to a great body of research from the B2B institute), B2B brands should be aiming for around 45% long-term brand work, to 55% short-term tactical work. So the evidence is there that brand campaigns are a vital part of the marketing mix.

It’s also worth mentioning that this percentage does vary from sector to sector, too – with Financial Services, for example, actually being advised to invest much more heavily in brand (a whopping 80%) than in tactical activation.

When’s the right time to start focusing on brand campaign activity?

The right time is right now.

If you’re serious about long-term success, investing in tactical campaigns alone just won’t cut the mustard. You might have the world’s greatest B2B offering – but if you’re not making emotional connections with your audience, you’ll never maximise the value of your products and services.

Any tips before you head for the hills?

Go on, then.

Firstly – be proactive, not reactive. Get on the front foot and build up your brand for the long term. It doesn’t matter how you’re currently performing. Even if you’re absolutely smashing it, if you want to be scaling the heights in five years, invest in your brand now, and keep investing.

Secondly – watch the webinar!