Mascola B2B Marketing Blog, B2B Advertising Agency

Corporate Rebranding Done Right

To rebrand an already existing company, especially one with some size, is a difficult task. You have many masters to please, and any mistake (real or perceived) will be viewed and criticized by lots of eyes. A recent rebrand that’s caught my eye is that of Dominion Energy, a company targeting businesses and residential customers throughout Virginia.

Take a look at a comparison of the old and new logos. You’ll notice that the proper choices were made to modernize the logo. I also applaud the removal of the hand, which looks suspiciously like the finger of God from Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” and could spark some backlash among certain customers.

Why It Works

Overall, the redesign does a good job of portraying a company that is modern. And, through the icon shape and placement, one that is literally rising up. The logo itself and the overall application shown in the images that follow (from Chermayeff & Geismar) are by no means groundbreaking, cutting edge, or in my mind award winning. But it’s not always about creating a brand that meets these criteria.

As a company that serves over 6 million customers in the B2B and B2C sectors, you need to keep a lot of people happy. Going too far down the road of pleasing one niche market with your rebrand will most likely turn off a good portion of another. This logo does a good job of appealing to all markets and bringing the brand to where it should be in 2017.

B2B Monday Myth: B2B Brands Can’t Play in the Super Bowl Ad Game

by MGB2B

The Myth: B2B Advertising Can’t Entertain Like B2C Brands.

The Truth: With the Right Message and Creative, B2B Brands Can Deliver Super Bowl-Level Entertainment.

Fresh off the single biggest advertising event of the year, creative brains are churning with ideas. That is, creative brains tasked to B2C brands only, right? The notion that creative, out-of-the-box thinking is reserved for consumer-facing brands alone is a dated one. But it’s hard to escape. When it comes to advertising B2B brands, being entertaining often takes a back seat to being informative. But it doesn’t have to. There are four key ingredients for going big with creative B2B advertising.

How to Bring Your Creative B2B Advertising to Super Bowl Level:

Know your audience. This part might sound obvious. You may be thinking, “Of course I know my audience. They’re the engineers/purchasing managers/contractors who work with my products every day.” While this is definitely true, your audience is also made up of musicians, sports fanatics, and more. Understand your audience on a personal level, and you’re sure to know where their sweet spot is. (For a great tutorial on creating B2B personas, check out this post.)
Don’t be afraid of a big idea. Thinking outside the box can be unnerving. But remembering that your customers are fueled by emotions just as much as B2C buyers can help you get in the right mindset (along with following the tip above). Consider the EDS ad below from Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, which just happens to be one of my favorite Super Bowl commercials of all time. Big, memorable, and definitely outside the box.
Get social. Hashtags are everywhere during the Super Bowl. Making your content shareable (whether it’s a video or a simple image or infographic) can help it reach even more users and get you more bang for your buck. Even when you’re not spending $5 million, spreading your creative brand message further is always worthwhile.

Sometimes, producing a piece of truly creative B2B advertising means stepping out of your comfort zone. Need help getting there? Drop us a line.

Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Super Bowl XXXIV, 2000

The Anatomy of a Perfect B2B Persona

by MGB2B

Personas are a key part of any content marketing plan. For the purposes of content creation, a persona is a fictional character who represents a buyer in one of your audience segments. Each piece of content you create should be written for a specific persona. Let’s say you’re a manufacturer with prospects in five different verticals, two of which are defense and medical devices. Each of the five will have a different persona for whom you create content. This is because the content that appeals to your defense prospects is not going to appeal to your medical prospects and vice versa.

The more relevant content you share with the defense guy, the more he’s going to keep coming back for more. Send him something that doesn’t resonate, and you may lose him for good. You might even create different personas for job titles within each vertical (Purchaser, CEO, etc.).

So now you know why you need personas. But do you know exactly how to create a B2B persona?

Here are the Elements that Make Up a Perfect B2B Persona:

The Name. Get creative with it. Give them a personality. No-Nonsense Nancy. Type-A Todd. Decisive Dave.

The Photo. A lot of brands skip this step, but it’s nice to put a face with a name. What does Decisive Dave look like? What does he wear? You’re only using this internally, so feel free to find a picture online and use that. Visualization can help your content team write the appropriate content.

Age, Title, and Type of Company. These are likely demographics you’re already targeting. But no persona should be without them. They are the perfect jumping-off point for the rest of your persona development.

What His/Her Day Is Like At Work. Sitting in front of a computer all day is not what we’re looking for here. You want to have an idea of how they interact with staff, what their short- and long-term goals are, and what they need to help them do their jobs better.

At What Point He or She Is Involved In Decision Making. This is important. Is this a person that introduces ideas to their boss? Or the person that makes the final decision about purchasing? Is it someone who is more concerned with money than quality or vice versa? Are you talking to engineers or IT people? That’s a whole new ball game. All of this can and should influence your content.

Media Consumption. How does this person find new products? What do they read when they need insights to help them thrive in their position? When do they read articles online? How often?

What Home Life Is Like. This may seem irrelevant, but it’s not. Does Nancy have a husband and two kids or is she single? Is Todd married? Does he spend too much time commuting? Any little bit of personality you give to your personas is helpful (as long as it’s not completely off-base).

What He or She Does in His/Her Spare Time. Does Decisive Dave spend a lot of time on the golf course? Is Nancy a world traveler? Again, this stuff is gravy, but it can make a big difference for certain types of content. For instance, let’s say you’re targeting doctors, and you have solid information that the majority of doctors like to golf on the weekends. Amidst all of the insights you send their way, you might mix in a comparison between a golf game and the manufacture of medical devices. This is a unique B2B approach that will draw them in and keep them engaged.

These are the elements you need to look at while creating your brand’s B2B personas. Getting them right is one of the most important things you can do for an effective Content Strategy. Need help getting started? Drop us a line.