Focused Futures: B2B Marketing & Brand Building

Welcome to Focused Futures, a digital Q&A series where we sit down with industry leaders from diverse sectors to explore what they see coming into focus in their fields over the next 2-5 years.

Focused Futures is more than just speculative, hype-driven interviews; it's a window into the future of business, technology, culture, and beyond. We dive deep into the insights of those at the forefront of change, offering you a unique perspective on the trends and innovations that will shape our world in the near future.

Our conversations are designed to be both informative and accessible. Whether you're a business leader, an innovator, or simply curious about what comes next, Focused Futures is your guide to the ideas and developments that will define tomorrow.

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This Week's Feature: The Future of B2B Marketing

In this episode of Focused Futures, we're thrilled to welcome Marc Battaglia, a brand storytelling innovator and co-founder of Story + Strategy. With over 20 years of experience as a global creative executive, Marc brings a wealth of knowledge about the evolving landscape of B2B marketing. Let's dive into his insights on how storytelling is reshaping the future of B2B brands.
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Q: Let's start with what's driving the changes in B2B marketing. What's your perspective?

A: Simply put, the current content marketing space is a bit of a shitshow. There's too much stuff in general and very little of it is quality. When I say quality, I don't mean just in its aesthetic appeal, but also its effectiveness. This flood is only going to increase as AI begins to make content creation and distribution easier, but not always better! To breakthrough, B2B brands will have to get better at thinking audience first, much like consumer brands.

Also, much like consumer audiences, customers want to know what's under the hood. They want to know about the "why" not just the "how" behind the company. Beyond selling the tools and tech, storytelling is the best way to "show, not tell" how the solutions are effecting change on a 1-to-1 level.
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Q: There's a lot of talk about how B2B marketing is unique and therefore B2C principles don't apply. What's your take on this?

A: It turns out a lot of the same principles that have held true in consumer marketing over the years, people are now realizing also work in B2B. There are certainly nuances. For example, a B2C purchase is typically made by the individual and may not be a huge expense. In B2B, as we know, the purchase is being made in some cases on behalf of thousands of employees and can be millions of dollars when you think of digital transformations.

But the tactics are still very relevant. Awareness is still one of the greatest psychological influencers in decision making. If you've heard of the company, even just in passing, you're 10x more likely to gravitate towards the known than the unknown, even when the logical choice is the product from the unknown company. It's the old saying that no one ever got fired for hiring "IBM"; you could probably even use Salesforce as a modern analog.

It's super hard to stand out in consumer marketing today because you've got a lot of folks who have been applying these principles from day one. I'd argue B2B is still a big white space where fresh thinking can result in standing out much easier.
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Q: You mentioned earlier that there's a lack of audience-first thinking in B2B. Can you elaborate on that?

A: Particularly when you think of storytelling and how it can solve an ageless B2B challenge: "complexity". The problems and solutions in B2B are very complex. Storytelling can act as a strong analog in making the solution simple by showing the human impact it has, making it relatable and therefore the brand memorable.

A big focus in B2B is we can go down rabbit holes on how awesome the product features and details are, which has its place, but forget to think audience first by putting yourself into their mindset and asking, "What is this solving for me?" and "How's it making my world easier?"
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Q: It seems like this shift to B2C-type thinking can benefit smaller B2B companies most. Is that accurate?

A: For sure, smaller B2B companies are emphasizing brand building to stand out from the established and much larger sized competition. Thinking differently even about simple things like brand colors, mascot, and brand voice that is humorous or just more human, in general, can punch above their weight in B2B, particularly because it's just not being tapped into the way it is in the B2C world.

And their investors also agree, with a new emphasis on building brand value. From IPOs to M&As, increasing brand equity is becoming more of a focus.
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Q: How do you see social media platforms influencing B2B marketing in the future?

A: The channels are evolving, no doubt. The soon-to-be decision makers and stakeholders of tomorrow are using Instagram and TikTok today. This fundamental change in B2B marketing is right around the corner if not here already. It's another concrete example of how the line between consumer and B2B marketing is blurring fast.

The big takeaway here is much like how consumer brands had to be super thoughtful and value-add entering these spaces, it will be even more critical for B2B marketers to do the same. Being culturally relevant will become more important in the B2B world as these lines blur. You can already see B2B brands sponsoring sports arenas and music festivals. It's not because that's their target audience, but if they can align themselves to cultural moments, it creates that instant "top of mind" awareness piece that has a tremendous halo effect.
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Q: Can you share some recent examples of breakthrough content in the B2B space?

A: I encourage you to check the Impact Film series from Publicis Sapient, a great example of taking a complex subject matter like "digital transformation" and showing how it affects people in their everyday lives. The brand worked with Academy Award-winning director Ben Proudfoot to take a much different approach in telling real stories about technology truly changing lives for this 3-part series.

Not only was it a story-driven strategy, but in addition, the company has a content platform called the "How Channel". They wanted a platform that was educating, entertaining, and informative for their clients with a focus to humanize their content and put their solutions in real-world context through video storytelling. It's a great example of long-term thinking when it comes to their storytelling strategy and being championed by a forward-thinking CMO.
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Q: You've spoken in the past about a false narrative in B2B marketing that is slowly breaking apart. Can you explain more about that?

A: In our fast-paced, overly automated, digital age, we're taught to believe that we have to make a binary decision between demand-gen or brand storytelling... you need both! Demand gen is a sprint; it offers immediate value to the P&L and can deliver instant feedback via data. Brand storytelling is your marathon; it's out in front, creating long-term preference, connecting deeper, and building the community.

There's a great theory called the 95-5 rule from the B2B Institute. It says only 5% of B2B customers are in-market to buy at any one time, but that seems to be where all the marketing energy goes from both the internal team and competition. The logic is to focus on the 95% and remain top of mind with them for when they are ready.

In today's market, you need to be planning for both. So yes, we need to appeal to both heart and mind, logic and love -- when these are intertwined, good things happen.
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Q: Any closing thoughts?

A: I'd love to get to a point where it's no longer even referred to as B2C or B2B. It's been said before, but it's never been more true that it really just boils down to human to human.

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