Make B2B Marketing Great (Again?)

As we have a nosy around vendor and SI land (with consent, we have friends there), we’ve noticed a trend. B2B marketing got even more boring.

Will humour finally bleed into B2B marketing and branding?

Not many people would class B2B tech as fun. Unless you happen to be a middle-aged dude who’s making bank off of it.

Most people do not usually see trains as fun either. Unless you’re a toddler or wear an Anorak.

But then the Los Angeles Metro fire out this belter of an advert, and we’re left questioning our natural order in the world.

This is cool.

Humour? In advertising? Instead of sombre, solemn, purpose-led adverts?

Finally. It’s been a while.

Not every brand is saving the world. And not every customer wants a ‘deep connection’ with brands. They want to know what you do and what you’re doing. How you do it, why, and why it works for them. Especially in B2B technology.

The rest comes later.

But that doesn’t mean (shouldn’t mean) it’s all poured concrete and breezeblocks. It's serviceable, but bloody hell is it dull.

So, why is humour back in advertising? Why now? And why won’t B2B marketing lean into it a little more?

Humour in marketing: is the juice worth the squeeze?

It was probably the pandemic’s fault. It was shit. Really shit. Ad agencies picked up on that, and they changed the tone of everything. Flurries of sentimental ads shot out and plucked at the heartstrings of a down-in-the-dumps audience.

The right move, ethically. The smart move, financially.

Now, a suffocating financial squeeze has replaced COVID, along with more government and political scandals than we can list here (probably because they cover half of them up). ?

However, despite these pervasive issues, humour is trickling back into the media zeitgeist. And it is sorely needed. Because people are miserable. They’re bored (they must be – they’re writing articles like this). Look at these depressing facts from Oracle’s – ironically titled – Global Happiness Report:

• 45% of people have not felt true happiness for more than two years
• 25% don't know, or have forgotten, what it means to feel truly happy

That’s sad, isn’t it? That same survey also tells us that 88% look for new experiences to make them smile and laugh. And 78% count brands among those experiences. They also agree, however, that those brands can do more to deliver that happiness.

Turning to humorous advertising for true happiness? That’s pretty sad, too. But also, really, really cool – if it works. It's not quite the life-saving and important work of many professions, but it's nothing to sniff at.

And damn, does it work! At least for the brands making the ads. Because 90% of consumers are more likely to remember funny ads. And that's half of what it's all about.

Humour in B2B marketing: where is it?

Maybe it’s because we all take ourselves very seriously in B2B tech. Everything is about chasing whatever the latest metric we should be measuring is. Competing against some ephemeral industry standard.

You only have to scroll through your LinkedIn feed to see what most B2B marketing is like. Staid. Uninspiring. Corporate. Yawn any wider, and they’d call you Sarlacc.

Or I may need to curate my feed better.

Regardless, for whatever reason, 95% of business leaders fear using humour in customer interactions. Even though customers want it. Even though it works.

But the 5%? They’re doing some really cool stuff:

• Upwork has a singing zombie CEO
• Squarespace have Adam Driver in the throes of an existential crisis

Is it because, not so deep down, every brand wants their marketing to be considered ‘art’ (we all do, come on)...and art is a serious business?

Not sure we have the answers, to be honest. For our money, genuinely creative B2B content marketing – with humour, gumption, cojones – is beautiful and should be celebrated and encouraged. Especially in B2B. There is some really, really cool stuff out there. Genuinely interesting tech that is worth making a song and dance about.

If the Los Angeles metro can make announcing more trains interesting, surely B2B marketing – even B2B tech marketing – can do it too. What d’you reckon?