This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Global Most Valuable B2B Brands Index
Memorable marketing moments—the ones that we share and recall over time—tend to steal the spotlight because of their creative magic.
Behind the scenes, it takes marketers building muscle to help make those moments happen. Stretch. Strengthen. Repeat. But once those efforts become instinctive, success can become easier for teams to replicate, helping to enable organisations behind some of the most recognisable brands to scale the next big idea much faster.
A persistent challenge for B2B organisations then is harnessing, packaging, and disseminating the messages and experiences that create a recognisable brand identity. We’re certainly not immune. Deloitte is part of the world’s largest professional services network, offering an extensive breadth of services that support the world’s most recognised brands. Our enduring principles have helped us build the muscle to maintain a position as a recognizable and relevant B2B leader, yet, despite our reach and nearly 180 years of history, I still find there are a lot more stories to reveal about our own brand.
Crafting a potent brand in an ever-changing B2B landscape
At Deloitte, we talk a lot about fulfilling the promise of humanising the brand through a focus on Purpose (with a capital P), its role in addressing material sustainability issues, and the ways Purpose intersects with consumer, investor, and employee decisions. As a Purpose led brand with a long history of making an impact that matters to our people, our clients, our communities, and our planet, our purpose is inextricably linked to how we operate in marketing—and the ways we show up to enable growth.
As part of our deepening commitment to our brand, we’re undergoing our own marketing transformation and modernisation. Our professionals can be our most effective ambassadors in this endeavour. Marketers aren’t just collaborators, but leaders in the business—actively collaborating by informing our strategic priorities and participating in the governance of the organisation.
Crafting a potent brand in a rapidly changing B2B environment also means listening to signals from our stakeholders outside our organisation. We acknowledge the value of having our clients engage with, think about, and talk about the brand, even when we don’t have complete control over those behaviours.
Those inputs from clients allow us in turn to create and deliver better experiences. For instance, our research has shown that establishing dynamic response systems that enable in-the-moment course correction can help organisations unleash creative magic, and ultimately, greater scalability.
Driving growth
Marketing shouldn’t be afraid to push boundaries—even when you’re operating without all the answers. Case in point is our work in Generative AI (GenAI). Deloitte is testing and implementing this technology, with the goal of helping our clients mobilize GenAI, helping them maximise the ways they can apply it to their own platforms.
We’ve committed to following our own advice by using this historic moment so that our marketing efforts around GenAI become instinctive, creating that muscle memory. For both our clients and our people, we can show how implementing GenAI effectively can allow teams to focus on doing the human tasks of creativity, messaging, and strategy, while GenAI increases efficiency to cover more ground in Iess time.
Essentially, achieving success in B2B marketing can come down to basic human capabilities while leveraging technology. I’m personally doing my part by attempting to do a better job of listening and bringing more voices to the table as part of every major program. After all, the core of any marketing team revolves around creativity and connection—two assets we can benefit from and can’t be replaced by innovation.
