Tag Archives: LinkedIn

Creativity: Key Driver to Profitability in B2B Advertising

In my continuing effort to share pertinent information regarding the value that creativity plays in today’s marketplace, I share the following interview from LinkedIn as it relates to business-to-business advertising.

As part of a multi-year partnership between LinkedIn and Cannes Lions, LinkedIn along with its think tank, the B2B Institute, worked with the Cannes Lions as a strategic thought partner to develop the Creative B2B Lions Awards. Below are excerpts from a LinkedIn interview with Tyrona Heath, Director of Marketing Engagement at LinkedIn’s B2B Institute. It is aimed at celebrating and championing B2B excellence to drive creativity and excitement amongst B2B brands, marketers, and advertisers.

Summary:

  • Creativity is a key driver of profitability in B2B marketing and plays a crucial role in building brand recognition, differentiation, and market share
  • B2B advertising is facing a crisis of creativity, with research showing that 75% of B2B ads receive a low effectiveness rating
  • B2B brand building has a massive untapped opportunity, with significant growth potential in the marketing services industry

When you talk about creativity in B2B, it can feel abstract. Can you explain it in a tangible and relatable way?

For a long time, people have associated B2B with purely business-related content, detached from the principles that influence decision-making. However, B2B content is consumed by human decision-makers who are influenced by the same factors as any other audience. Emotion, storytelling, music, characters, and persuasive techniques are all necessary in B2B to inspire decision-making. Ultimately, it’s about creating a memorable brand that stands out and drives effective outcomes, with creativity at the center.

Is B2B advertising facing a crisis of creativity? And if so, how did we get here?

In the case of B2B advertising, there is a significant opportunity for improvement. Research indicates that the majority of B2B ads lack memorability and effectiveness. According to an analysis with our creative effectiveness partner, System1, a staggering 75% of B2B ads received a low effectiveness rating of one star out of five. These ads failed to leave a lasting impression, effectively communicate the message, or evoke an emotional response. This means they were not effective in building brand awareness or generating a return on investment.

How do you sell the need for brand building and creativity to senior marketers or budget holders?

That’s a great question, and it relates to our previous discussion about marketing to the CFO. Ogilvy Rory Sutherland once compared discussing brand with a finance director to talking about the healing power of crystals to a head surgeon. To finance-focused individuals, brand discussions may come across as fluffy and irrelevant. The best ads are effective because they better encode an association in a buyer’s memory, and brand building is one of the most powerful levers for driving business growth by building memories. We need to shift our mindset to effectively communicate the connection and value of brand building and creativity.

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Creativity Tip #98: Stupidity and Weirdness – Beware

Dealing with clients on all levels can be daunting. Requests made by them can at times make us think twice (if not more) regarding whether or not they’re serious. Alas, more times than not, they are.

The Creativity Tip here is to be on your toes with clients at all times. Keep your guard up, and never underestimate the power of weirdness – especially when it’s down right stupid. There are some “discussions” you’re not going to win.

I am a member of the Creativepool Network on LinkedIn. Below is an excerpt from a recent discussion with various creatives around the land talking about first-hand experiences of weird client requests.

 Warning: While humorous, remember, they are true. Sigh!            

“Could you do an actual LOGO instead of a font?” It was once said to me by a creative director.

“You make the logo as big as you can. (Now then) can you make the logo bigger”?

“They won’t allow us any more space. Can you make it look bigger without increasing the size?”

Client, after being asked for a payment for a month: “I am so sorry you need money so badly. If I can help you in any way, please let me know. I do not want you to go hungry!”

“Why do you want to reverse the type out of the background? Nobody will be able to read it backwards.”

“Why don’t we broadcast this commercial in black and white? That ‘ll save us a lot of money.”

“We want more but sadly the budget has been cut.” This was like going into a car showroom and saying, can I have that R8, but I’ll pay you for a TT. I wonder what the sales person would say?


On set for a TV spot, the client asks, “How come she isn’t wearing a red sweater? In the storyboard, the woman was wearing a red sweater.” 
We eventually lost the “it was an artist’s sketch in the storyboard” conversation, and got the woman a red sweater.

“Can you make her younger?”

VP of Marketing demanding that our ad copy go from gutter to the very edge of the pub: “All this blank space! If we’re paying for it, we’re going to damn well use it!” 
 (We say) Then you’re paying for an ad that bleeds. It will cost more. 
”Bleeds? Cost more? You people are all full of BS.” 
And this from a VP of marketing.

An oldie but a goodie: “I’ll know it when I see it.”


A restaurant client would not allow the use of the word “savory” because he said it made him think of “unsavory characters.”

“We need a few more used condoms, I think.”

Blue logo request: “Can it be more blue?”


Anyone who’s ever worked for Coca Cola or Pepsi will have learned that Coke’s ice is ALWAYS grey and Pepsi’s is ALWAYS blue. Chrysler was like that with their Pentastar; it was always a certain shade of blue. “You don’t f#*k with the Pentastar,” I was once informed.

A name-brand winery commenting on a bill for rented ice cubes in an ad for their champagne: “Why should I pay for something I can’t see?”


From a client who didn’t understand why a low res photo would not work at a larger size on a spread: “Can you use the picture now? I opened the picture in Photoshop and made it bigger, so now it is the resolution you need.”

Remember, no matter how weird or stupid, take a breath and live to fight another day.