Why crafting a compelling brand story is the ultimate future-proof against competitors By Kit McKay
Once upon a time, the B2B buyer was considered a rational, emotionless being. Now, behavioral science and new buyer research tell us otherwise, but this myth is still deeply entrenched in B2B marketing. While brands battle it out over the latest product feature and pricing, there's one competitive advantage proven to outmatch all others: story. It's time to invest in the one thing that can't be copied.
Before we look at the business implications of storytelling, we need to understand the human implications, as the two are tightly bound.
The human brain is programmed to recognize patterns of information and assign them meaning. The stories we invent from these patterns allow us to better understand the world around us. We see ourselves in them, and the stories we hear become personal.
“Stories are the pathway to engaging our right brain and triggering our imagination,” explains Pamela B. Rutledge Ph.D., M.B.A.
“By engaging our imagination, we become participants in the narrative. We can step out of our own shoes, see differently, and increase our empathy for others.”
You can think of your brain as the ultimate virtual reality technology. When you consume a story, the same parts of your brain activate as if you yourself were experiencing first-hand the events described. So if you see someone eating something that looks tasty, your sensory cortex lights up as if you’re the person eating it.
Our brains are so hardwired for stories that we even fabricate them when they’re not actually there. This is called pareidolia, or “the imagined perception of a pattern or meaning where it does not actually exist.” We personify abstract shapes and seek ourselves in the objects around us.
In one study, 34 Massachusetts college students were shown a short film with two triangles and a circle moving across the screen. They were then asked to describe the scene. All but one described the movements with elaborate, human narratives, including:
This psychological principle refutes the common but misplaced idea that no one is interested in stories about complex business solutions. We will literally make stories out of nothing when given the chance.
The complex buyer journey is the main issue preventing storytelling from getting buy-in across the B2B world. It’s an easier sell for the B2C marketer, whose goal is often to trigger an impulsive emotional purchase from one decision-maker.
By comparison, B2B marketers must juggle the influences of purchasing committees, third-party buying consultants, and corporate procurement processes. Multiple layers of decision-makers distance marketer from customer and suggest that only “rational” arguments will win them over: If you buy X, your company’s productivity will increase by Y. But this is just fundamentally not how humans work or what they care about at a psychological level.
To put this misconception to bed, Google and CEB's Marketing Leadership Council worked with research firm Motista on a buyer survey. They found that in reality, 50 percent of B2B buyers are more likely to buy if they can connect emotionally with your brand, and 71 percent decide to purchase at the point where they see personal value in the product or service.
This was up to five times more than previous research they had conducted on B2C brands. They concluded that business purchases are more emotional because job prosperity and security are at stake.
On top of this, 68.8 percent of those surveyed were willing to pay a higher price to do business with a brand they believe in. An emotional, personal connection can supersede the brand differentiators that make sense "logically".
It's also virtually impossible to imitate as this kind of connection is rooted in a unique relationship between brand and buyer, making storytelling the ultimate future-proof against competitors.
“If your product features are worthwhile, then other companies will copy them within a short time,” explains Gideon Thomas, VP of Marketing and Growth at DealHub.io. “The thing that cannot be copied is your brand voice and the way you made your audience feel.”
of B2B buyers will pay a higher price for a brand they believe in
While the number of B2B brands that really embrace storytelling is relatively small, the top brands invest heavily in it. HP has produced a full thriller series of cinematic videos starring Christian Slater. Advanced Business Solutions published literal fairytale books centered on the solutions its products offer.
But Google’s own series, Adwords Stories, is a perfect example of powerful storytelling that can be adapted to any budget. The documentary series consists of short one-off videos focusing on and promoting small businesses that use Google’s adwords tool.
In this video, we meet the people behind Zyrobotics and their mission to make the world a more accessible place for all children, especially those with motor skill challenges and other accessibility needs.
In reality, we learn almost nothing about Adwords here. We don’t know how much it costs, we know very little about what features it has, or how it integrates with our existing technology. But what we do learn is how it feels to use Adwords.
In under two minutes, we’re immersed in the lives of a small group of people with an important mission they’re extremely passionate about. This is a classic narrative in storytelling because it speaks to the psychological needs to succeed as an individual and to improve the communities we’re a part of. The secondhand emotions we experience through the story are then cognitively attached to Adwords and subsequently Google, without us even realizing.
Stories like these can be recreated more cost-effectively too. Salesforce get their customers to talk about how they’ve been successful in growing their business and then feature them on their “trailblazers” page. Microsoft highlights its employees and their personal stories in its Story Labs.
Of course, product and price have to meet certain expectations and play an important role in the purchasing decision. But when it comes down to making that ultimate decision between you and your competitors (who likely offer very similar solutions at a competitive price to yours), how you and your product make them feel could be the deciding factor.
Marketing is best placed to deliver this abstract strategy. As GE’s CMO, Linda Boff, puts it:
“The magic of any company’s story is one that the marketer is there to find, to sometimes dig out, sometimes unleash, and the best data in the world ain’t gonna get you there. Igniting passion remains vital to effective marketing.” ◆