Inspire B2B

We believe there's never been a better time to be a B2B marketer. New research from the IPA, LinkedIn, and our own prorietary Inspire study shows that there is a huge opportunity for B2B brands to engage, inspire and excite their audiences. And that inspiration will drive growth.

Last year we undertook a major research study to identify what is meant to be an inspiring brand and how inspiring brands drive growth. We discovered that 72% of consumers want to be inspired, yet only 53% feel inspired by brands. This 'inspiration gap' gives brands a huge opportunity for brands to inspire people around the world.

Yet, when we look at B2B we see a sea of sameness. It's time to ditch the rulebook and remember the audience is human; driven by emotion, curiosity and wonder.

Our new report explores how B2B brands can inspire, and how inspiration can be converted into delighted customers.

Download Inspire B2B

Inspire demonstrates that inspiring brands outperform peers on two key metrics, growing market share faster, and enabling them to charge at higher price points. This is as true for B2B brands as in the B2C world but too often creativity is lost. Findings show that inspiration has a significant impact on B2B buyers.

These include:

2.2x more likely to be remembered when buyers are in market
2.7x more likely to be rated as having better products/services
20% more trusted as brands
16% more likely to be recommended by buyers
2x more likely to be strongly considered by buyers
5.3x more likely to be buyers’ first choice

The truth is that the way in which businesspeople think about brands and communication and opportunities to buy is the same way that people-people think and buy. If anything, the ideas of “brand” and “emotion” and the need to feel “inspired” are even more important for those looking to secure the services of other businesses.

Sid McGrath

UK Chief Strategy Officer, Wunderman Thompson

As part of the study, we used our proprietary diagnostic tool, the Inspire Score, to rank the top 50 inspiring B2B brands in the world today.

DHL, which tops a global ranking of 50 B2B brands, is closely followed by rival couriers FedEx and UPS in second and third place. Each of the distribution specialists scores highly on the three factors that generate the overall Inspire Score – “Elevating”, “Magnetic”, and “Motivating”.

Other brands to make the top 50 include Dell and Microsoft. The highest ranked UK brand is Royal Mail, in ninth place, followed by Barclays (13^th) and Lloyds Bank (29^th).