B2B: The Ryan Reynolds Edition

Our clients bring amazing things into the world. What fuels us as marketers—on top of our client's ingenuity—are the thinkers, practitioners and creators who are showing us a new way. In this space, every few weeks we share what is capturing our attention—big or small.

1. Even Ryan Reynolds Thinks B2B Is Hard

At the 2024 Fast Company Innovation Festival, keynote speaker Ryan Reynolds – well--known actor as well as wildly successful businessman in the realms of gin and bargain mobile phone plans – spoke about his experience as Chief Creative Officer at MNTN, a “connected TV performance marketing platform.”

He had the usual pointers about how to create amazing creative – break barriers, connect to a huge cultural moment without delay, align humor with your brand – but to my surprise he also had a point of view on B2B marketing.

When asked about B2B, he said:

“Fuck. It's hard. You really have to think in super-asymmetrical ways, ways that are pleasing and enjoyable for an audience that is the consumer, and also pleasing and enjoyable for other brands. But it's really tricky. But I'd say that in general, beyond just Mark Douglas and MNTN, my advice to anybody who is lucky enough to kind of breathe the rare air that I breathe in show business and they're wanting to look to expand their horizons and storytelling capabilities is to lose layers. I believe access and accountability, being accessible and accountable are the things that have actually propelled everything I've done so much farther than the marketing which people focus on, which is the shiny thing, marketing.”

Hmm. Is this in fact an answer, and one that has any useful tips we can draw on?

Breaking it down:

1.?Think in super-asymmetrical ways. In plain English, Reynolds seems to be saying, think like an unconventional. Zig when others zag. Find gaps and align them with your assets. This sounds so familiar because The Unconventionals was the name of PJA’s podcast for six years, and the name of a book I wrote with our President, Mike O’Toole. It’s about “How Rebel Companies Are Changing Markets, Hearts, and Minds—and How You Can Too.” Currently #1,203 on Amazon’s Organizational Learning list, if you’re interested.

2. Lose layers. Here I believe Reynolds means, don’t workshop your creative through layers of a large marketing department, or it will come out like pablum. I agree wholeheartedly with this idea, if you can make it fly. When we worked with the security vendor RSA in 1999, we had three clients – the head of marketing, the chief marketing officer, and the CEO. That was it. Our first collaboration with a full-page Wall St. Journal print ad based on the Three Little Pigs with a tiny brick at the center, and it’s still a favorite. ?

3. Be accessible and accountable. I think you can read this two ways: be totally available to your clients and measure the work’s effectiveness ruthlessly (this is much of what MNTN does with its software platform). The other way, I think, is to be open to the true inspiration that comes from being accessible and accountable to big ideas. That makes me think of an amazing (and total) station domination we once did to help launch the pharma company Baxalta at Ogilvie Station in Chicago. Our message was literally everywhere, in something like 39 executions.

?

A quick look at MNTN’s site shows very little B2B marketing, but that’s okay. It’s hard work, and clearly not for everybody.

PJA Author: Hugh Kennedy

2. Social Video Most Trusted Content Format For Influencing B2B Tech Buyers.

A recent LinkedIn survey highlights the rising influence of short-form social video in the B2B technology market, especially when featuring industry influencers. Of over 1,700 B2B buyers from the US, UK, and India surveyed, 63% say that videos from industry experts help inform their purchasing decisions. The impact is particularly strong in India (66%), compared to lower rates in the US (59%) and the UK (49%).

A majority (80%) of buyers who engage with video content trust videos that include influencers, with this trust level highest in India (83%), followed by the UK (79%) and the US (71%). Furthermore, 67% of B2B buyers believe influencer content enhances brand trust and awareness of products, with Indian buyers again leading (72%) over their US (54%) and UK (52%) counterparts.

Gen Z buyers are especially engaged with B2B influencer content, with 90% interacting monthly—11% more than other generations. This signals the growing importance of influencer content as more Gen Z buyers enter the market.

The IT sector also emphasizes the role of influencers, with 67% of B2B buyers considering them crucial during the consideration stage. Looking ahead, nearly half of respondents expect increased use of industry experts in their buying process over the next three years.

Overall, influencer marketing has become a critical part of B2B strategy, with the market expanding 20-fold since 2016. Three-quarters of B2B marketers now use influencers, and more than half of the remaining companies are considering them. Learn More.

PJA Author: Greg Straface

3. Thought Leadership Has An Inferiority Complex

The best B2B thought leadership exposes a critical market gap. In innovation driven markets, change is constant so there is always a chasm between what buyers want and technology can deliver. In the past few weeks, I've come across the Observability Conundrum and the Digital Thread gap. The short story is buyers say they want these things, but either aren't implementing or their preferred solutions are falling short. Switching categories, I really like what Sanofi is doing with the "Trust Gap", health equity-focused research that captures the voices of over 11,000 people in five countries whose negative experiences have eroded trust in health care. Identifying a gap that is holding back progress, and helping people resolve it is a great way stand out and be a leader.

It can also help you sell. But according to Edelman's 2024 B2B Thought Leadership report, too many creators of thought leadership underestimate this power. So yes, it turns out thought leadership has its own gap. This is just one nugget from a great report--86% of decision-makers say good thought leadership is a factor in inviting vendors to participate in an RFP process. But only 38% thought leadership creators believe this.

One outcome of this inferiority gap? In tight budget times, companies that see thought leadership as a branding strategy are tempted to cut programs, which directly hurts their ability to sell. So buck up, and get your vision for change out there.

PJA Author: Michael O'Toole