B2B Branding Is Not Boring
Three days ago, Fast Company published an article with the headline, “B2B branding is boring, but it doesn’t have to be.” In the piece, Shiloh Gray — who is VP of Brand & Creative at generative AI solutions provider ASAPP — makes the case to support the article’s subhead, “SaaS companies are not known for their risk-taking or trendsetting branding. But they could be.”
I agree with the first part of Gray’s subhead in the context of decades of B2B websites, printed materials, and other branded assets. However, this doesn’t mean that things haven’t changed radically in recent years.
In fact, lately I’ve found that B2B branding tends to land more on the exciting end of the scale, rather than boring.
Several factors are responsible for this shift. Chief among them, in my view, are:
People want to buy from people and desire to work with captivating brands, whether the solution being considered is B2B or B2C.
Coding advancements — and more web and app coding solutions in the marketplace, at more price points — have made it easier for the average B2B brand to deliver a splashier digital presence while requiring fewer resources from the end user. In other words, you can pack a lot more “wow” on B2B websites now than you could 10 or even 5 years ago.
Here are some of the many B2B brands that excite me. I challenge you to find other industry-leading B2B brands that are leagues below the excitement level of these examples.
1. Headsets.com (our client)
What makes Headsets.com so cool? Number one, they’re in what some could consider a boring space — office headset products — but their tone of voice is one-to-one and informal, making for compelling copy that converts. Number two is that the previous point is supported by a great flow-through when it comes to a homepage greeting by the CEO, which is reinforced by emails that are also from the CEO. Finally, the company takes a page from Southwest Airlines’ “customer love” playbook and infuses love, and often times a tongue-in-cheek vibe, into their customer service and support pages. (See for example the features comparison table on their About page.)
2. Estate Management Systems (our client)
Estate Management Systems, with whom I’ve worked since 2020, uses a lean brand kit that focuses on classic fonts along with colors including browns and grays. With white as the base color — and a generous mix of high quality, professional photos of the Founder, Kelly Fore Dixon — EMS’s brand exudes bespoke, personalized service at the highest level. This aligns perfectly with their core audiences of ultra high net worth homeowners and private service professionals.
3. WenLaunch Studios
I learned about Los Angeles-based WenLaunch Studios a month ago when their founder reached out to me on LinkedIn. Their website — with oversize text and icons, a youthful cream/red/black color palette, and a “train tracks laid down in front of you as you scroll” animation layout on their long main page — immediately captivated me. It does a great job of moving prospective buyers, who are looking for everything from front end development and UI design to animation and character design, into a creative partnership mode. Expect even more from their website soon, as their founder tells me they’re redesigning what is already a fantastic web experience.
4. LimeRed Studio
As I’ve known LimeRed Studio’s Founder, President, and Creative Director, Emily Lonigro, since college, I’ve watched her company’s brand evolve since she founded the agency in 2004. Their website has long evoked a blackboard (with its black base color), upon which the company uses purposeful yet minimal blocks of white text to show who they serve and the work they produce, along with pastel text and element flourishes to break up the black and white. One takeaway for other firms like LimeRed who serve purpose-driven organizations is how they use just three short paragraphs on their homepage to quickly acquaint visitors with their mission and vision:
(Part one) “All our services begin with a real, well-researched strategy. The payoff? Unforgettable ideas and enthusiastic advocates.”
[Breakdown of their Research, Branding, and Web services with links to landing pages for each service]
(Part two) “And we work with visionary organizations like:”
[Client logos, with links to some showing what they did for a particular firm as part of their portfolio]
(Part three) “To make beautiful work that matters:”
[Portfolio work in the final section is front and center, with links to case study pages that allow visitors to dig deeper into the problems that LimeRed’s clients brought to them and how the agency solved them]
5. Webflow
When it comes to web hosting and design platforms, Webflow’s brand is downright sexy. The company recently revealed an all new brand identity, including a new logo and logo icon that have been widely praised. I also like that their homepage uses a “just in time” animation scheme that’s similar to WenLaunch Studios’ homepage experience (see above). It does a wonderful job of shifting between showing designers and developers what Webflow app usage looks like, and building trust through several strategically placed, horizontal moving strips showing their big-brand client logos, including The New York Times, Upwork, TED, and Dropbox.
Does your B2B brand need a refresh?
If so, I recommend you check out Julie Nichols Marketing’s Brand Strategy Workshop. Julie founded her marketing consulting firm around the same time that I founded Harbeke Marketing, and I’ve been hearing great things from clients who’ve completed her program.
