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A knight and a cowboy - two people that used brands.

How Important Is a B2B Brand?

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No marketing practice has stood the test of time like branding. According to Wikipedia, the word “brand” is derived from the old Norse word “brandr” meaning “to burn” referring to the practice of burning your mark onto a product. Codes of arms were the symbol of royalty during the middle ages and wild west cowboys used brands to claim cattle.

But if you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing you aren’t interested in wrangling steer or touting your chivalrous heritage. The question we are trying to answer today is: how important branding is for today’s b2b business?

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John Oliver talking on native advertising

Why don’t we talk about native advertising?

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If you’re a marketer, you have to be living under a rock not to have heard about John Oliver’s recent takedown of native advertising. Not only did I think it was hilarious, but I also agreed with a great deal of what he said. After all, I’m not just a marketer, I’m also a consumer.

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talking past b2b customers

New Study Shows That Most B2B Marketing is Talking Past Customers

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New research from McKinsey & Company highlights an interesting gap between the messaging that B2B brands use and what their customers most want to hear from them.

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a very sad boy

How Do We Develop B2B Content if our Brand is Boring?

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In B2B marketing, we often hear some version of this question. You feel that you’re tired of talking about what you do, and no one else could possibly be interested. Right? There are very few, if any, industries that are boring. In 30 years of marketing, I have yet to come across a client, product or service that didn’t have an interesting angle or background. The key to sharing that knowledge is passing the information along with passion and storytelling.

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no stock images

The Power of Custom Images in Your B2B Marketing

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While using stock images can appear easy and cost-effective, it can come off as unauthentic and cause damage to your brand and marketing programs.

There is great power in custom created still images and video footage that reinforces your authenticity when used in a B2B campaign or website. Brands spend large budgets and many hours of effort in an attempt to position their brand as unique, only to have a website full of stock images and “shiny, happy people”. Real employees, your locations and your processes are what make your brand unique. Don’’t hide them behind overused stock images.

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Mark Schaefer of {grow} on return on influence

Influencers in B2B Marketing: Building Your Brand

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For anyone who was unable to attend MLT Creative’s “Revolutionary and Remarkable” event recently, “Ideas on Influence”, I wanted to write a quick blog post to let you know what you missed. The event mixed business with pleasure to educate B2B marketers in a relaxed environment filled with food (from Atlanta’’s Good Food Truck!), spirits, and presentations by Mark Schaefer and Ted Wright. As the event title suggested, both presentations discussed the idea of influence and looked at it from both the virtual and the face-to-face perspective. And both presentations were phenomenal.

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a rose

Would Your B2B Brand By Any Other Name Be Better Off?

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A prospective B2B client is considering a name change for their business. There are many factors to consider, and I was asked by the CMO to share any immediate ideas I had on the subject.

I was happy to comply and thought I’’d share my thoughts with you too. Some of these ideas apply as much to a new product name or business unit branding as they do to a company name.

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Johnnie Walker

Character Study: Johnnie Walker

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If you’ve ever had a bottle of Johnnie Walker scotch, you’ve noticed two things: 1) You’re drunk, and 2) The label features a portrait of a dapper Edwardian gentleman in mid-strut. He’s known as the Striding Man, and was created in 1908 by renowned English cartoonist Tom Browne. Browne modeled the now-iconic character’s appearance after the brand’s founder, grocer John Walker, but also took some artistic license by transforming the mild-mannered shopkeeper into a monocle-toting member of high society.

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Mac Tonight

Character Study: Mac Tonight

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Before the era of Fourth Meal had college students scarfing down Quarter Pounders and Crunchwrap Supremes into the wee hours of the morning, fast-food places usually shut their doors and drive-thru windows before bedtime.

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Yield to Inbound Traffic sign

B2B Marketers: Yield to Inbound Traffic

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Just like sitting at a stop sign at the mall, watching all the inbound traffic flow in, B2B marketers can yield to traffic using inbound marketing tactics. Try some of these methods to drive repeat traffic to your B2B website:

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