Observed Signal · Jun 27, 2024 · Editorial · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
B2B Marketing Creativity Transforms Brands
This editorial explores the power of creativity in B2B marketing, arguing that bold, distinctive campaigns drive profits and market share. It cites research from LinkedIn's B2B Institute showing creative outliers outperform, and highlights Bain and Google's finding that 90% of sales go to brands buyers remember. The author, Jason Ball, founder of Considered Content, breaks creativity into three facets: cut-through, connection, and catalyst, using examples like Adobe's InDesign teaser campaign, a video series for a health and safety software client, and a manifesto book for Nokia. He warns against gimmicks and emphasizes commercial impact over novelty. The piece concludes that risk-averse marketing is riskier than being bold.
Editorial piece on B2B marketing creativity; no specific event or announcement.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Research from LinkedIn's B2B Institute indicates creative B2B marketing boosts profit, ROI, and market share.
- Bain and Google found 90% of sales go to brands buyers were aware of before research.
- Jason Ball, founder of Considered Content, identifies three facets of B2B marketing creativity: cut-through, connection, and catalyst.
- The article cites Roland DG's '50 Shades of Ginger' campaign as an award-winning creative example.
- Nokia enlisted Considered Content to create a book manifesto for a new brand vision.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mapped“Nokia enlisted our help to sell in the (at that time) new vision for the brand....”
“research from LinkedIn’s B2B Institute suggests these outliers are cashing in on creativity...”
“research from Bain and Google...”
“research from Bain and Google...”
“I worked on the launch of Adobe InDesign....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
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Céline Flores Willers urges B2B marketers to think like B2C
At DMEXCO 2026, Céline Flores Willers, founder of The People Branding Company, argued that B2B marketing often appears outdated due to fear of innovation (FOMU). She demonstrated creative tactics like using a robot sidekick 'Robi' and branded T-shirts to boost attention and branding. She highlighted LinkedIn as the central platform for B2B, citing a SAP Taulia case where employee-generated content, boosted via Thought Leader Ads, achieved 2.3x higher engagement and 70% higher click-through rates with a small budget. Willers also cited examples like Legora's campaign with Jude Law and Merz Lifecare's 25-post merger documentation as successful 'building in public' strategies. She concluded by urging B2B marketers to be more creative and learn from B2C approaches.
CX Gap Persists After 20 Years Despite Billions Invested
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LinkedIn says don't treat leads as finish in B2B
At LinkedIn's B2Believe event in its new Empire State Building space, executives and practitioners called for a shift from lead-centric B2B marketing to a 'full journey' approach that links signals, targeting, creative, full journey, and measurement. Jae Oh, senior director of product management, revealed that fewer than 10% of upper-funnel audiences make it into bottom-funnel campaigns, urging marketers to connect awareness with demand capture. Research from LinkedIn's B2B Institute with eMarketer showed 77% of marketers say they no longer target individuals, yet only 31% have a playbook for activating audiences down the funnel. Practitioners from Canva, SAP, Mastercard, and others shared examples of aligning marketing and sales on common signals. LinkedIn also outlined a product roadmap focused on cost-per-opportunity targeting, multi-format campaigns, agentic workflows, and incrementality forecasting.
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