The Drum Awards for B2B 2023: why emotional impact works in business marketing

Keith Browning, director of global brand marketing at LinkedIn, who was part of the judging panel, says: "The data is clear: powerful creative drives 10 to 20x more sales than mediocre creative. I was heartened to find powerful creative was at the centre of many of the top scoring entries this year. Northrop Grumman for their use of humour to break down stereotypes or SEMRush for subverting category norms with an emotional storytelling approach. It was my pleasure to recognize and celebrate the B2B marketing teams that brought this to life."

Among the winning entries, it was encouraging to see the leadership from the top levels of businesses, supporting their marketing chiefs with absolute commitment. KPMG’s newest campaign, for instance, drew attention with its refreshing and humorous approach.

KPMG, and its agency True, won in The Drum’s ‘Excellence in B2B’ category by creating memorable advertising that relaunched the brand’s Consumer Advisory Services offer. Instead of adopting the traditional marketing approach in professional services of thought leadership, it opted to invest in advertising that appealed to organisations which would not typically consider KPMG as a strategic advisor.

The five-month campaign drove reach and engagement, while boosting the value of new project opportunities by 68%. Even more importantly, it established an effective strategic platform for KPMG Consumer Advisory Services that can be leveraged and built upon for years to come.

Cos Mingides, founding partner at True, said: “The obvious thing to do was position ourselves [KPMG] as thought leaders but we went against the grain and showed empathy that understood the audience through a campaign that built memorability.”

Also combining leadership with creativity was the winner of ‘In-house Team of the Year’ category. Addleshaw Goddard, the international law firm, invested in an emotional video campaign that dramatized the problem solving capabilities of the business and put imagination at the forefront. This marked a big shift for the brand and for B2B marketing.

And let’s not forget the importance of the bottom line - emotion and creativity leads to strong returns. This was demonstrated in the ‘Demand Generation’ category from winner MRM and its work for Coca-Cola.

The soft drinks giant introduced an e-commerce platform called myCoke to make ordering products from regional, independent bottlers easier for retail outlets. Coke’s omnichannel campaign centered on a personalized email program that provided insights, order reminders, service communications, and promotions.

LinkedIn’s Browning adds:"Great ideas can come in many forms and what was particularly inspiring about this year's award entries was the variety of ways B2B marketers drove results for their business. There are many tactical levers a marketer can pull - from new pricing strategies to novel forms of distribution to new product development. 'myCOKE' was a great example of this in action, introducing a new e-commerce platform and email program that had an enormous impact on their business."

There are clear themes here for B2B advertisers to consider. KPMG showed how to embrace consumer marketing tropes in unexpected ways. Addleshaw Goddard talked about a service benefit in an engaging fashion. Coca-Cola demonstrated that personalization, combined with a strong brand, really delivered results.

Creativity, engagement and personalization - now there’s a trinity that underpins the very best of B2B marketing.

To view all the winners from this year’s The Drum Awards for B2B, visit here.