Trends Report

It's Not About You: B2B Marketers Need To Change How They Think About Branding

In The Age Of The Customer, Features And Functions Take A Back Seat To Experience And Emotion

June 28th, 2017
Steven Casey, VP, Research Director
Steven Casey VP, Research Director
Shanta Samlal-Fadelle, null
Shanta Samlal-Fadelle
With contributors:
Laura Ramos , Dipanjan Chatterjee , Peter O'Neill , Lori Wizdo , Matthew Camuso , Kara Hartig

Summary

Too many B2B marketers underestimate the importance of branding to their success — relying instead on product-based differentiation to win. But in the age of the customer, features and functions take a back seat to experience and emotion, which explains why branding is a top-three business priority and marketing initiative for 2017. We interviewed more than 20 brand experts and practitioners to analyze the trends behind this mandate for change, explain the core elements of effective branding today, and highlight the most important challenges to B2B branding orthodoxy.

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