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Storytelling

An important marketing and communications concept, storytelling is an effective way of developing strong emotional bonds with customers and building customer loyalty.

A powerful story, with consistent and compelling messages that involves the readers or viewers, helps connect a brand with the market. Storytelling is an effective tool for launching a new product, service or idea, and can motivate customers to buy what you’re selling.

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Rapid buyer persona development

by David Hoskin

My colleagues and I were recently thrown a challenge by one of our clients to identify and describe its key stakeholder personas in half a day. On first thought, and despite our in-depth knowledge of the company and its industry (offshore engineering services), it seemed an impossible task, especially because the company has several business areas and various customer types within each of those business areas. But always up for a challenge, my colleagues and I planned a high-intensity session with the outcome of clearly defined buyer personas representing the most important revenue streams. Continue reading →

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Humor in international B2B marketing? Are you kidding?

by Jonathan Winch

Rule #5: Never use humor in international B2B contexts

In global marketing circles, there’s been some sort of unwritten (but often stated) law that it’s foolish and even dangerous to use humor when you’re dealing with oh-so-serious B2B marketing messages and more than one culturally cohesive region of the world. So, when a large B2B corporation dares to go out on a limb and use humor toward its largest key accounts, we figured it’s something everyone in a B2B global marketing or communication department should hear about.

Stand out from the crowd

The company is DuPont, famed for its broad, science-based activities. The business area in this story is the dairy industry segment within DuPont Nutrition and Health, and the daring is due to not one, but a number of managers with both a sense of humor and the courage to stand out from the crowd.

Continue reading →

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7 reasons why HR managers struggle with employer branding – and a new way forward

by Jonathan Winch

With all the capabilities possessed by a modern corporation, and the decisive importance of employees as a success factor for more than 90 percent (my own estimate) of medium-sized to large companies, why is employer branding so neglected? Continue reading →

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Seven lessons for B2B from Cirque du Soleil

by David Hoskin

I was fortunate enough recently to see the Cirque du Soleil perform its Allegria show in Copenhagen. Allegria is a mesmerizing show performed by artists of exceptional ability, and I was left with a feeling of satisfaction in witnessing real people perform real feats of skill, creativity and daring. Continue reading →

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7 tips for credible video in your B2B marketing

by Jonathan Winch

Credibility and trust is key to B2B marketing and communications and video offers great potential to capture the true essence of a company’s biggest assets – its employees. Experienced business leaders, grizzled industry veterans, subject matter experts and engineers all look great on video if captured in the right way, and their authentic appearance can actually enhance forward-thinking B2B marketing efforts. Using video in marketing with the aim of giving employees a voice of their own requires patience and skill. However, the rewards are big for all involved – here are 7 tips to help you help subject matter experts and other employees to shine on video. Continue reading →

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B2B and the tourism Industry: the business case for video

by Angel L. Vidal

In my previous posts I covered two fundamental issues for B2B companies and marketers in the tourism industry looking to stay ahead of the competition: the need to develop a strong digital strategy and the growing importance of the “mobile factor”. Here I want to focus on another crucial aspect: the massive potential of video. Continue reading →

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8 ways to come up with great last minute content

by David Hoskin

“If you want to be interesting, be interested.”

There’s probably a good deal of truth in this saying, and if your business is content marketing or depends on your blogging activities, you’d do well to keep it in mind.

Coming up with interesting content that addresses and tantalizes your readers and giving it a remarkable personal (or corporate) spin are basic tenets of content marketing and the recipe for blogging success. But doing this day after day can be hard. Very hard. This is where it gets interesting. Continue reading →

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CASE STUDY: 9 ways to improve your B2B brand story with emotional branding

by David Hoskin
Case Study - Reson

[CASE STUDY] B2B is rarely considered sexy or even exciting, yet for B2B buyers, great solutions radically improve their day-to-day working environments and hold the potential to make or break their businesses. Why, then, shouldn’t it be possible to create a strong emotional connection with your buyers through B2B marketing and communication? After all, your services or equipment is part and parcel of their professional aspirations, challenges and ultimately their business’s success in the marketplace and beyond.

This case study offers 6 ways to check whether your brand story is off target and 3 takeaways for how to improve your connection to decision makers with emotional branding. Continue reading →