Why Brand-to-Demand is B2B’s Next Big Leap

As B2B marketers look ahead to the ANA Masters of B2B Marketing Conference wwwananetb2b taking place June 24 at the RitzCarlton in Naples Florida thereamp8217s one session that promises to frame the future of our industry I had the opportunity to sit down with Tom Stein a B2B Hall of Fame inductee and Chairman and Chief Brand Officer at Stein IAS Stein is a perennial thought leader and changemaker whose agency has won more B2 Awards than any other Heamp8217ll be taking the stage in Naples with Natalie Osborn Vice President of Brand Marketing and Creative at SAS to unveil the latest insights from the ANAStein IAS BrandtoDemand Maturity Study What follows is a preview of that conversation and a compelling invitation to join us in Florida for whatamp8217s sure to be a landmark gathering for the B2B communityZENGEL Tom you39re speaking at the upcoming Masters of B2B Marketing Conference What will you be sharing and why should busy leaders make the time to be thereSTEIN Iamp8217ll be diving into the concept of the BrandtoDemand Experience what we call BDX which reflects a seismic shift in how B2B marketing is being approached For too long brand and demand were treated as separate disciplines each with its own teams KPIs and budgets This fragmentation led to disjointed customer experiences and missed growth opportunitiesAt Stein IAS weamp8217ve long advocated for unifying brand and demand into a fullfunnel approach We launched the first BrandtoDemand Conference with the ANA last year which led to the development of a comprehensive playbook and maturity model now adopted and enhanced through collaboration with WARC and LinkedIn Weamp8217re seeing leading companies like SAS already on this journey and at the conference Natalie Osborn and I will share the findings of our justcompleted BrandtoDemand Maturity StudyWhy should marketers attend Because BDX isnamp8217t just a theory itamp8217s where B2B marketing is headed It39s the growth engine of the now and the next If you care about driving effectiveness and efficiency in your gotomarket strategy this session is a mustZENGEL Youamp8217ve also spoken about a amp8220brand deficitamp8221 in B2B What does that meanSTEIN In collaboration with Brand Finance we launched the firstever Global Most Valuable B2B Brands Index The findings were eyeopening While top B2B companies actually have greater total enterprise value than top B2C brands their brand value component is a trillion dollars lowerThatamp8217s a trillion dollars in untapped value a brand deficit of massive proportions The implication is clear brand is vastly underinvested in B2B Most marketers already feel this but CFOs and CEOs often donamp8217t Changing that mindset is critical Weamp8217re seeing some progress CFOs and CMOs sharing stages at events like Cannes but the industry needs to accelerate that momentumZENGEL Speaking of CFOs one recently told us amp8220Brand is fluffamp8221 Whatamp8217s the marketeramp8217s path forward in changing that perceptionSTEIN That kind of comment tells me the CFO doesnamp8217t understand the strategic role of marketing Our job isnamp8217t to argue itamp8217s to translate We need to speak the CFOamp8217s language and show how marketing reduces risk creates future cash flows and directly supports business outcomes The insight here is simple marketers need to make the CFOamp8217s star shine brighter Thatamp8217s how we earn the investment and trust we needZENGEL Youamp8217ve championed fullfunnel thinking at a time when others are still obsessed with amp8220lastclickamp8221 attribution Why is fullfunnel marketing nonnegotiableSTEIN Lastclick attribution is a reductive view of the customer journey It favors bottomoffunnel channels and ignores the multiple complex and nonlinear touchpoints that actually drive conversions especially in B2B where decisions are made by buying groups not individualsWith BDX we recognize that customers move from being outofmarket to inmarket over time To engage them effectively we need aligned messaging creative content and media across the entire funnelamp8212from awareness to conversion and beyond Fullfunnel isnamp8217t a buzzword itamp8217s a requirement for sustainable growthZENGEL Final question If you were interviewing yourself what would you askSTEIN Iamp8217d ask Why have you stayed in B2B your entire career and why are you still so passionate about itMy answer I fell in love with the work applying creativity and strategic thinking to solve realworld challenges B2B isnamp8217t about selling widgets itamp8217s about marketing solutions that address the most pressing problems facing industries and societies Thatamp8217s meaningful work And I wouldnamp8217t trade it for anythingReady to Go BrandtoDemandJoin Tom Stein Natalie Osborn and the ANA B2B community in Naples this June Discover how BrandtoDemand is transforming gotomarket strategies and unlocking new levels of growth for todayamp8217s most forwardthinking companies Learn more and register at wwwananetb2bClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Why Brand-to-Demand is B2B’s Next Big Leap

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