Performance Branding

B-to-b creative tends to follow a set formula: product features + disembodied voice-over + generic visuals. You know what we’re talking about—stock images of professionals in gray suits sitting around a conference room table shaking hands. Text that describes your product in excruciating, quantitative detail. 111% ROI, 33% faster speeds, 77% reduction in costs. Generic attributes that could apply to any brand—“innovative,” “reliable.” And don’t forget the voice actor with the soothing baritone. And then, at the absolute last second, the big branding reveal.

What’s the worst idea in the marketing industry? Everybody has their own answer to that question. For some, it’s brand purpose. For others, it’s short-termism. For us, the answer is clear: personalization. You can’t go more than five seconds at a marketing conference without hearing about the promise of “one-to-one personalization at scale”. Personalization continues to be one of the biggest trends in the marketing industry. In 2019, it was named ‘word of the year’.

Marketers have an obsession. A deep, dark, self-destructive obsession. What is the object of this obsession, you ask? In a word: newness. Marketers are absolutely obsessed with new things. New platforms. New products. And, above all else, new ideas. If I had a nickel for every time a client asked me for a never-been-done-before “big idea,” I could buy a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.