How can B2B brands beat the blanding blues and get ahead of the pack in 2025?
B2B brands have a problem with being bland, says Jenny Sagstrom. Take risks, increase budget, and think offline as well as online to stand out in the year ahead, she says.
Stand out from the crowd in a sea of blue and be king of the B2B brands, says Sagstrom / Igor Omilaev via Unsplash
According to recent survey data, while 71% of B2B marketers marked themselves as high performers for “communicating a distinct brand position or strong USP,” nearly the same percentage of buyers disagreed. Of the buyers surveyed, 68% thought the brands they see at work “all sound and act the same”. And this sentiment isn’t new – in fact, it’s increased by eight percentage points over the last three years.
The extraordinary misalignment in perceptions feels almost shocking, but are we really that surprised? The “blanding” movement, defined by muted tones and minimalist design, is still going strong – and I’d say it’s even more pronounced in B2B, where blue logos run the game.
With 2024 winding down amid just as much economic uncertainty as at the start of the year, B2B marketers can’t afford to start a new year with their brands lost in the blue blanding fog. Here’s how to avoid it.
Break boundaries
Too often, B2B marketers choose the “safe” option rather than taking a risk. Sometimes, this is a personal choice – the fear of failure is very real, and who wants to gamble with their career success? But just as frequently, marketers meet resistance from C-suite executives and board rooms when trying to push the envelope.
The problem is that standing out requires leaving your comfort zone. So I recommend speaking to these audiences in their own language: numbers.
In a recent pitch meeting, citing the discrepancy in the data above regarding B2B buyers reporting similarities helped me convince a new client to be braver. You could do the same and bolster that argument by mentioning the fact that 50% of B2B marketers reported they wouldn’t meet their goals this year. Then, hit them with the facts of what makes B2B marketing unique: 95% of buyers aren’t currently in-market. This means playing it safe might be actively working against business interests.
If you anticipate pushback from higher-ups, come prepared with different “levels” of campaign riskiness to help ease them into the idea and increase your chance of success.
Build budgets
Another persuasive statistic about B2B audiences? They increasingly want quality thought leadership from brands. In fact, it was ranked as the third most important decision driver for buyers this year, up from 20th last year. But brands aren’t delivering: only about a quarter of those surveyed rated brands highly in thought leadership.
The thing about quality thought leadership is it takes time and effort to ensure it’s delivering value and gets in front of the right eyes. And if there is one thing marketers don’t have, it’s spare dollars for collateral that doesn’t lead to returns.
I’d argue, however, that the higher the quality of the content, the greater the chance that it gains traction or reaches the apex of content success: virality. So, consider putting a greater budget behind paid media in 2025. Hire a PR agency with experience in building thought leadership programs that exist both on and off LinkedIn.
Though the social platform has become a competitive space to reach a targeted audience, earned media comes with an added level of validation and credibility that buyers want.
Brand bravely
The reticence B2B marketers feel when it comes to investing in thought leadership or out-of-home campaigns is a consequence of what I call the “lead gen lie.” With tight budgets, digital ad spend is considered the best ROI, but do you really believe the click-through rates of your latest banner ad reflect real human customers?
Even if digital spend feels more “responsible,” the statistics tell us the majority of that spend is wasted. So why not take a risk in a way that is going to create a splash? Standing out isn’t just about the content of the campaign itself, it’s also about doing the unexpected in different places. This isn’t to say that you should throw your digital media strategy away, but rather to encourage you to augment it with offline elements.
While this can require a massive investment, like branding the Las Vegas Sphere, it doesn’t have to. You can just as easily get creative with a small budget. If there’s a big industry trade show in town, what about trying some guerrilla marketing and covering the streets in sidewalk chalk or plastering walls with wild posters? This was, after all, how Salesforce made a splash long before they were the brand authority we all know today.
This year was a challenging one for B2B marketers, but with 2025 comes a new opportunity to push the envelope and stand out among a blue sea of competitors. So, get brave and put your brand out there.
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Sköna
Sköna is a B2B creative agency specializing in marketing, branding, and design for innovative tech companies. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2003 and with offices...