Effective marketing for B2B brands · •Limited data suggests B2B follows broadly similar patterns...

In association with

LES BINET ADAM & EVE DDBPETER FIELD PETER FIELD CONSULTING

NEW LEARNINGS FROM THE IPA DATABANK

MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

IN F CUS

Effective marketing for B2B brands

Learnings from the IPA Databank

Les Binet & Peter Field

Our research

In association with

LES BINET ADAM & EVE DDBPETER FIELD PETER FIELD CONSULTING

NEW LEARNINGS FROM THE IPA DATABANK

MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS IN THE DIGITAL ERA

IN F CUS

But do B2C rules apply to B2B marketing?

Six principles of growth1. Build a strong brand2. Expand your customer base3. Maximise mental availability4. Harness the power of emotion5. Budget for growth6. Balance your budget

1) Build a strong brand

Sale

s upl

ift o

ver b

ase

TimeSource: Binet & Field 2013

The B2C model we’re evaluating for B2BSales activation

Tightly targeted – about to buyShort term sales upliftsInformation works best

Brand buildingBroadly targeted - all cat buyers

Long term sales & margin growthEmotions work best

Short term effects dominate ~6 months

Brand building works harder than activation in B2B

0.7

1.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

Activation/direct Brand building only

Num

ber o

f ver

y la

rge

biz

fx. r

epor

ted

Primary Campaign Objectives

Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 B2B cases

The Economist: brand building for 14 years

2) Expand your customer base

Broad targeting works best in B2B ads

0.0

1.0

1.6

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Loyalty strategy - existingcustomers

Acquisition strategy - newcustomers

Broad reach strategy - all in thecategory

Avg.

no.

VL

biz

effe

cts

Base: 2008-18 B2B IPA cases

3) Maximise mental availability

Mental availability drives B2C growth

Awareness Salience Fame

Heard of brand

Passively consider brand

Brand comes easily to mind

Actively seek brand

Brand gets talked about

Cognitive ease, Influence & advocacy

Increasing returns

Fame increases B2C efficiency x 4 and maximises profit

Mental availability drives growth in B2B

2.2

1.6

0.9

0.7

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Fame Awareness Other brand goals* Activation goals

Num

ber o

f ver

y la

rge

biz

fx. r

epor

ted

Primary Campaign Objectives* Differentiation, brand image, esteem, trust or commitment


4) Harness the power of emotion

Emotions are important in B2B decision making as well

26% 30%

32%35%

42% 35%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

B2C B2B

Rela

tive

impo

rtan

ce o

f em

otio

nal v

s.

ratio

nal c

onsi

dera

tion

Sector

E > R

E = R

E < R

Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 cases

Information for activation, emotions for brand in B2B

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Rational EmotionalComms strategy

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Rational EmotionalComms strategy

Activation effects Brand effects


Differentiation is a weak strategy in B2B

2.2

1.6

1.0

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Fame Awareness Differentiation

Num

ber o

f ver

y la

rge

biz f

x.

B2B campaigns


Emotional strategies clearly outperform in B2B

0.2

1.4

2.4

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Rational Emotional Fame

Num

ber o

f ver

y la

rge

biz f

x.

B2B campaigns


BT business 2015-18: the long-term power of emotions in B2B

"The [consumer] campaign was all about human closeness and how communication brings people together. We realised, with all our technological advances, that this was something we'd drifted away from [in B2B], but something we wanted to get back to."

Zaid Al-Qassab, CMO BT

BT business TV/Online: Be There

OLV engagement rate vs. rational benchmark 3x CPA -17% ROI 316% Source: BT IPA case study 2018

Some common emotional B2B themes

• Humanity in a tech-obsessed world• Your partner in a tough world• We know it’s lonely at the top• Security in choice• Champion of the entrepreneur• FOMO

VW Commercial Vehicles: Working with You

Targeting SMEs with an emotional proposition:

“Partners rather than sales people”

in a market still obsessed with telling drivers about product features.

VW Commercial Vehicles 2015

Cost per order -67% ROI 1053% Source: VW IPA case study 2016

5) Budget for growth

How brands grow: Bass Diffusion ModelSa

les

Time

Early phaseStrong organic

growth from:Innovation

Physical availabilityContagion

Mature phaseGrowth naturally

slows to zero

The role of advertisingSa

les

Time

With ads

Without ads

Ads can accelerate

early growth

Ads can maintain higher sales and margins.

Budget increases can increase revenue further

“But what about tech firms?”

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Audi

ted

UK

adsp

end

£mill

ion

Uber

Netflix

Microsoft

Google

Facebook

Ebay

Apple

Amazon

Source: Nielsen

Budgeting for growth:The share of voice rule

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%

Shar

e of

voi

ce

Share of market

SOV > SOM: brands tend to grow

SOV < SOM: brands tend to shrink

Growth proportional to ESOV = SOV - SOM

Strong correlation for B2B

How ESOV converts into growth

0.2 0.3

0.6

1.5

1.8

0.60.7

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

Retail FMCG Durables Financialservices

OtherServices

B2C Average B2B

ESO

V Ef

ficie

ncy

Sector

Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 cases

B2B very

similar to B2C

Average+0.6% SOM

p.a. per10% ESOV

Adjust budget for category

& context

Adjust budget to fit pricing strategy

0.86

0.45

0.00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0

Value/mid-market Premium/Super-prem

ESO

V ef

ficie

ncy

Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2016 for-profit cases

Up-weight SOV for premium brands

6.1%7.3%

10.4%

13.8%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

Value Midmarket

Premium Superpremium

Aver

age

ESO

V

Low prices accelerate growth

6) Balance the budget

Brand-activation balance matters

0"

0.5"

1"

1.5"

2"

0" 10" 20" 30" 40" 50" 60" 70" 80" 90" 100"

Num

ber'o

f'business'e

ffects'rep

orted'

%'Budget'allocated'to'brand'building'


“The 60:40 rule”

Optimum mix varies by category

8064 60

5162

46

2036 40

4938

54

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Financialservices

Retail FMCG Otherservices

B2CAverage

B2B

Opt

imum

bud

get s

plit

%

Activation

Brand


Optimum mix changes as brands mature

35

57 6272

65

43 3828

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

First year Early growth* Mature brand Leader brand

Opt

imum

bud

get s

plit

%

Activation

Brand

Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 cases* New brands excluding 1st year

Upweight brand to support higher prices

57 62 64

43 38 36

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Value/mid-market Average (all cases) Premium

% activation

% brand


When activation is easy, focus on brand

6274 74 74

3826 26 26

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All brands High online research Online selling Subscription selling

Brra

nd/a

ctiv

atio

n op

timum

Activation

Brand


“But what about tech firms?”

Conclusions• Limited data suggests B2B follows broadly similar patterns and

effectiveness rules as B2C.• Brand building seems to be important in B2B, but the optimum mix

may need to be more activation heavy for some B2B brands.• As with B2C, the optimum B2B strategy needs to be tailored to

category and context.• Strategy will probably depend on targeting too: SMEs vs Corporates

vs dual B2B/B2C brands.• Crucially, strategy needs to evolve over time, with brand investment

becoming more important as the business matures and grows.

Thank you

Effective marketing for B2B brands · •Limited data suggests B2B follows broadly similar patterns...

Documents

Transcript of Effective marketing for B2B brands · •Limited data suggests B2B follows broadly similar patterns...