5 Creative B2B Advertising Programs That Aren’t Boring
Boring! That’s how 48% of B2B buyers described B2B advertising in a recent study by WHM. And 82% said they yearn for B2B sellers to be as creative as their B2C counterparts.
Granted, creativity can be hard to come by when you are marketing to a business audience. That’s exactly why those who stand out from the masses are those who find a unique hook to communicate in their advertising.
Below, we take a look at five B2B companies that have found stories that are landing with their customers.
## LinkedIn: #InItTogether
A video from LinkedIn tells the story of a woman named Diamond, who lives in a homeless shelter with her young daughter and is going to school to learn database management. Via LinkedIn, Diamond meets another person with a similar background, who becomes her mentor and connects Diamond to people on her LinkedIn network. With this ad campaign, LinkedIn shows its reach beyond platform features and functionality, speaking to viewers on an emotional level. The video reminds us that while we are all professionals, we are people first. Drawing on the broader impact of the Linkedin brand shows how B2B can do more than dress up a product video to truly draw in an audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k629EpxcZ1M
The key takeaway for marketers: Brand impact videos can have heart. Draw on partnerships, community outreach, and customer stories to drive the message home.
## WeWork: ‘The We Company Story’
As more people work remotely and alternative offices become increasingly common, shared workspaces giant WeWork shows off its techy side by explaining the data-driven process that goes into the design of its office spaces. WeWork differentiates itself from the many co-working options popping up in cities all over the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stS0y16hBnQ
The key takeaway for marketers: Ask yourself, ‘what unique selling point sets you apart from your competitors?’ Once you know, communicate it in a way that shows your customers just how much you care about their brand experience.
## Slack: ‘You’ve Probably Heard of Slack’
Slack’s tagline might be “where work happens,” but, interestingly, a recent ad kicks off out of the office, featuring “Brianna, your friend from soccer practice.” From there, viewers learn, in conversational, between-friends style, how Slack enhances communications and collaboration—both in and out of the workplace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c7_TpPUpL0
The key takeaway for marketers: The line between B2B and consumer-focused marketing is blurring every day. Perhaps it’s time to focus advertising around the the human side of work?
## Adobe: ‘PDF Like A Boss’
Featuring unexpected partners, such as celebrity tattoo artist Dr. Woo, Adobe’s “PDF Like A Boss” campaign breathes creative life into the seemingly cut-and-dried Adobe Document Cloud offering. The campaign showcases how the product can help anyone work faster, more efficiently, and on the go. Dr. Woo, for example, demonstrates how he uses Adobe Scan and Adobe Acrobat to move from idea to ink, collaborating with a client in real-time. Grounding abstract value props in tangible examples brings home the point: PDFs are cooler than you think.
The key takeaway for marketers: Real users should be part of the marketing strategy. After all, who better to showcase the usefulness of your products and services than a satisfied customer? And creative uses of a product, that may seem a little out of the ordinary, can get attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAGNcFowR2U
## Workday: ‘Business Caddie’
Humor often falls flat in B2B marketing, but this Workday ad shows how much easier life would be for an executive—played by “The Office” actor Andy Buckley—if he had a caddie—played by pro-golfer Phil Mickelson—to assist him. The cultural references, combined with clever casting, make this video fun to watch and quick to understand the high-level potential of Workday’s platform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRmocidZ_R8
The key takeaways for marketers: Humor can add a lot to your marketing. Look for cultural relevance and opportunities to create memorable content.
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