Humanising brands through data-driven storytelling

Just as every industry and function is undergoing a transformation in this digital age, so also is marketing. The rise of digital marketing has allowed marketers to reach a wider audience, yet create personalised conversations with the customer. Digital spend has been rising consistently from 20% of the overall marketing budget to almost 50% for many companies.

More marketers are realising the return from digital marketing is more measurable than other channels. In fact, I believe we should no longer talk about digital marketing, but rather marketing in a digital world.

The digital age also presents opportunities for B2B companies. A study by the Corporate Executive Board revealed that before the first contact with a company’s sales representative is made, customers have already done 57% due diligence on the business and products. Customers still turn to areas such as company websites, online product catalogues and industry conferences for information. But with the plethora of offerings available in the digital marketplace, what will make your brand stand out?

Richard Branson led the way with his humorous and light-hearted approach to branding Virgin, focusing on storytelling rather than talking about products – essentially humanising the brand. Modern marketing is all about the customer experience and marketers, especially B2B marketers, need to be brave and step away from tried-and-tested tactics or risk becoming obsolete.

“Tick in the box” marketing will not achieve any track-able business benefits; a scientific approach is needed.

Data-driven storytelling 

Storytelling in marketing is not a new concept – B2C companies such as Nike and American Express have long employed the use of it in their marketing campaigns. B2B marketers must use data to play a more significant role in decision making while developing strategies to address customer needs rather than deliver a one-size-fits-all type of product messaging. Customer data and analytics have allowed us to be more specific about who we target and what to say along the purchase decision-making journey.

To build that personalised experience, modern advertising technologies such as programmatic targeting adopt a data-driven approach. B2B brands have traditionally struggled to relate to their audience – often coming off as cold or dry and overly technical in their marketing efforts. While it may be due to the nature of their business, even complex concepts such as networking (hint: Cisco) can be broken down through a mixture of storytelling and the use of pop culture to captivate the Millennial CIO – such as engaging Peter Dinklage from HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Videos are a great way for B2B marketers to translate their offerings in a compelling manner while entertaining the customer. We see this often with B2C brands – working with celebrities as brand ambassadors to humanise the brand and tell the brand story through the language and eyes of the customer.

After all, a familiar face is a lot easier to relate to – and to have a brand ambassador whose values align with the company’s own makes easier to convey the brand messaging. All this is not to say that offline marketing engagements are ineffective – they are important in positioning a brand and engaging potential leads.

However, data-driven insights should dictate a marketer’s strategy, with storytelling being the cornerstone in educating and enthralling customers. The vehicle for content distribution will depend on where the customer is going to learn about the brand and at which point in the purchasing journey. The modern marketer must be able to move fast and make tough decisions or face obsolescence in the digital world.

The writer is Mark Phibbs, vice-president, marketing and communications, APJC, Cisco. The article first appeared in Marketing’s The Futurist print edition.