Category: Blog

A recent McKinsey study that included decision-makers from 11 countries from seven sectors saw that digital and remote were and would continue to play an instrumental role in how B2B sales operations going forward in the months ahead. 

Of those surveyed, digital interactions were seen to be two to three times more critical to their B2B customers than traditional sales interactions. According to the Mckinsey report, nearly 90 percent of sales interactions moved remote – whether through video conferencing, phone, or a web sales model. Although some remain skeptical going forward, more than half see remote sales as equally or more effective than sales models used before COVID-19.

The shift to greater importance on digital interactions reflects B2B customer behavior changes seen during the past couple of years and heightened in the wake of COVID-19.

Across the buyer-cycle, customers continue to show a preference for self-service channels to research and evaluate products and services, and to order and reorder, mimicking B2C. Traditional digital channels, such as the company website, continue to play an instrumental role. In contrast, suppliers’ mobile apps and social media or online communities play increased importance in the sales cycle.

As companies establish multi-disciplinary teams to manage sales operations, sales leaders must accept (and trust) digital-first channels and foster relationships with marketing.

And as habits and practices in B2B sales continue to change and evolve, customers may expect a more B2C-style buyer process; this could drive a tighter interlink between sales and marketing in meeting the bottom-line quarterly results.

In the McKinsey 2019 study (pre-pandemic), these trends were emerging as instrumental in B2B sales. The survey showed that suppliers who provide ‘outstanding digital experiences’ to buyers were twice as likely to ‘be chosen as primary suppliers’ than those who provide poor experiences.  

Not surprisingly, a company’s website plays a significant role in meeting buyers’ digital-first experience and demonstrating a customer-first mentality. As marketing teams run and manage the digital experience, working hand-in-hand with sales is fundamental to the B2B buyer journey to ensure a smooth transition to a digital-first sales channel approach.  

Offering live chat during the research stage of the buyer journey was rated one of the top three requirements for a ‘best-in-class supplier’ by 33 percent of those surveyed. Buyers expect speed, transparency, and expertise, and the website needs to deliver on all three. When asked to list the top three most frustrating issues with suppliers’ websites, decision-makers in the McKinsey survey cited: length of the ordering process; difficulty finding products; and technical glitches with ordering. In addition, respondents also cited confusing websites, lack of information on delivery and technical support, and difficulty setting up payments.

One can argue that these are the same pain points and frustrations once experienced by consumers concerning B2C companies in the early days of e-commerce. As seen on multiple fronts, the cross-over of B2C tactics into the B2B space continues to blur.

How B2B companies transition to remote sales and move forward in the coming months will be determined by their ability to adapt to their buyers’ needs and organize their teams accordingly.  

It will also depend on how B2B decision-makers see a new digital sales model to better reach and serve customers. Of those surveyed, the response varied strongly by country; perhaps not surprising U.S. decision markers were more favorable.

Next in the Digital-First World series, we’ll visit the Gen Zs and how they will change the way companies tell their brand story.

The brand story is a popular topic in marketing. Books are written on it, and agencies and consultants make their living helping companies tell their story. But could the brand story be heading for a big change as younger consumers gain strength in their buying power and digital voice?

The brand story traditionally starts with the founders, the path they took to build the perfect product and conclusively ends on the ultimate customer experience. This holds true to digital-based brands, where telling the story is conventional and trendy; just browse the About Page of most startups. Of course, the brand story is important. But the question is, how relevant is it, especially as companies age and the emotional link isn’t there with the newer and younger customers. A case in point is Apple, perhaps the most iconic brand today. 

In Interbrand’s 2019 report on how the best global brands connect with Generation Z, it may come as no surprise; Gen Z wants brands to reflect their values. Brand-hype isn’t cutting it anymore. They expect brands to score on trust, loyalty, and engagement. And these aren’t just empty demands; they reflect how they speak about brands on social media and online. This group not only communicates differentially amongst each other but also with brands. Today’s young consumers are tech and digital native, and unlike groups of consumers before them, the internet-connected world is the only one they have ever known.

That savviness means their world revolves online where they talk and exchange amongst themselves a lot, and as young consumers, Gen Z buying power impacts 40% of consumer sales.

As Interbrand states in their study, ‘iconic moves aren’t about loud noises and baseless stunts anymore— they need to be guided by principles and ideals consumers hold dear.’ Growing in a more progressive and accepting society, Gen Z is a group that is active in social and environmental causes such as climate change and social equality. All attributes that impact in a very dynamic way how brands must communicate and behave.

Infegy used social listening data of Gen Z to uncover varying personas. 

Perhaps it’s not surprising as this group watched their parents go through the 2008 financial crisis that ‘long-term economic and life goals are top-of-mind.’

One persona featured in the study – Entrepreneur – reveals how even higher education is seen as optional. The traditional path for this persona group is radically different from their parents; the Entrepreneur is planning their career path to start their own business rather than go through formal training. Entirely possible in today’s increased offers of online training and lower entry points for new ventures. 

Baby boomers relate to Apple through the story of Steve Jobs and his mission to change the world (at the pinnacle of the technology revolution); this isn’t how Gen Z relates to the company. 

And this holds true with other older brands tightly associated with the founder and heritage, which is perhaps why cross-branded collaboration between names such as Off-White and Louis Vuitton resonate with younger buyers, a consumer-driven interweaving between old and new.

It is critical to listen to customers in a digital-first world and foresee changing expectations in what they want and expect from brands.  

And that their story is from the perspective of the consumer, aligning to values, causes, and about conversations that matter to them.

Watch this space as we continue to explore the Digital-First World and its impact on brands.

To embark on a trip collectively to improve the condition of everyone. That is the thing that I value most about my life. Milton Glaser

On the eve of graphic designer Milton Glaser’s passing, the importance of his work in commercial art is immeasurable. He is perhaps best known for his 1977 “I ♥ NY” logo. 

To fully understand the influence of Mr. Glaser’s work and the transformative impact “I ♥ NY” had in New York’s rebirth, it’s worth visiting the city then.  

New York in the ’70s was going through a dark time in its history; the city was bankrupt, crime rates were high, residents were fleeing and as Mr. Glaser asserted “there was a lot of dog sh**! in the streets.” New York was a dying entity filled with unhappiness. 

To convince New Yorkers to stay and to promote tourism, the city commissioned the advertising agency, Wells Rich Greene, to create a marketing campaign centered on the the verbal brand slogan ‘I Love New York.’  

‘I love New York’ was seen as a representation of the spirit and passion of New Yorkers.  

The magic came as those words and feelings transformed into a visual narrative. The then deputy commissioner of commerce of New York State, William S. Doyle, approached Mr. Glaser to create a logo.

“What was needed to begin the process was a visual equivalent for the words,” he wrote of the design in his book Art Is Work (The Overlook Press -2000).

His first logo idea gained quick approval by the commission. But, it was in a taxi two days later that Mr. Glaser transformed New York City; sketched on a scrap of paper in red crayon the iconic “I ♥ NY” logo that would soon transform a city and define an era in place branding was born.

What Made the Logo so Impactful?

The original logo was approved, but in Mr. Glaser’s mind, it was a banal typographical visual. The new logo was a complex puzzle; it was usual and alluded to something going on: The ‘I’ was a complete word; the ♥ a feeling; and NY a place – this had never been done before.

Mr. Glaser’s graphic logo turned a noun into a verb (which people don’t tend to like, for example, Apple’s Think different campaign); was open to interpretation (is it I heart or I love); and it moved away from the pedestrian image people have of cities and places (Paris – Eiffel Tower).

On “I ♥ NY” imitations: “I like them all… you do work because you want to affect the world. I did something that a lot of people were affected by.” Milton Glaser

The Rules for Developing an Identity?

For Mr. Glaser, identity is imagination, surprise, appropriateness, and intelligence. A logo must go beyond the graphical and verbal elements; it is, in fact, a state of mind, a belief. The “I ♥ NY” logo in his view wasn’t a brand but a statement: I love New York. Even as New Yorkers were at a desperate moment, they were committed to their city.

“Perhaps the most remarkable thing about it is not its origins, but its persistence.”
Milton Glaser

The Power of a Logo

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Glaser once again brought hope to a city in despair. He designed a modified version with a dark bruise on the heart and appended with ‘more than ever.’ “I ♥ NY More Than Ever” embodied Mr. Glaser’s capacity to use his talents for the common good. The logo symbolized a city hurt but united. 

Mr. Glaser taught us the importance of visual and verbal identity to how we comprehend our world. That how a seemingly simple idea – I Love New York – transformed into a visual identity helped transform a city and would change the way cities would brand themselves in the future.

Milton Glaser jet Blue and I Love NY case study. From the Milton Glaser website:

jetBlue was simply a project intended to integrate the identity of jetBlue with the I Love New York logo we had designed. In this case, the issue was to make these two separate logos look as though they wanted to be together.