B2B. What an exciting topic of conversation…

…Said no-one ever.

See, whenever I mention anything to do with my job to friends and family I’m greeted by the same vague look of disinterest and unfamiliarity. I imagine It’s the same look you would receive if you told someone that they had just won the lottery immediately after telling them that they also only had three minutes to live… It’s just not an easy thing to process.

Me, I work in digital… Which essentially means that I can navigate people through social media and the interwebs with a specific purpose in mind. But ‘working in digital’ is the equivalent of a sailor saying that he ‘works in water’. So it can all be a bit wish-washy sometimes…

I love my job. My actual title is Head of Creative, which sounds pretty cool and makes me feel like I haven’t completely sold out on my dreams of becoming a successful and inspirational artist (#Truestory). I get to work on cool projects, design marketing campaigns and ultimately help people understand new and exciting technologies. All of this I do in my spare time anyway so it never feels like I’m going ‘back to the grind’.

But the big issue I’ve noticed when working with different clients is that life in B2B land is quite often a few steps back from the rest of the world. Which I completely understand in that there is a need for caution when budget is on the line and tried and tested routines are a safe option. However, this gap is quite quickly becoming a notable rift and given the current rate of development across expanding technologies, it could quite soon become a giant chasm. #justsaying

B2B is such a relentlessly busy and complex market. So marketing emails and banner adverts just don’t cut it anymore. There is a huge abundance of new technologies that can be used in new and exciting ways to connect with people, but these new ideas often seem to get pushed to the background as soon as they start to disrupt familiar routine.

‘Why try something new when we’ve used email campaigns for years?’.

But when was the last time you received an email that made you so excited that you wanted to tell everyone about it?

Let’s rethink a few things and really try to engage with people. That’s where connections are really made.

“But when was the last time you received an email that made you so excited that you wanted to tell everyone about it?”

So that’s why my colleagues and I put together a little plan to try and change the narrative. We recently launched a marketing campaign called #CiceroCardboard. We are mailing-out a bunch of Google Cardboard headsets to different companies in the hope that it will encourage people to ‘look at things differently’ (if you think that hook is bad then you’ll love our alternative ‘think inside the box’ line 😂 ).

It’s a full on campaign too. We’ve updated our branding and have changed our content strategy (marketing speak for social media schedule #kindoftrue). It may fall on deaf ears but hey, I live by the mantra ‘If I’m not failing, I’m not learning’. (That totally sounds like an #InspirationalQuote… Somebody get me a sunset photo and a cursive font, stat!)

But the point is that something needs to give. B2B companies will start to crumble at the behest of new and innovative start-ups (Uber or AirBnB anyone?). I probably sound like a crazy man as I know I can get very carried away with ‘new-school’ ideas, but nothing lasts forever unless it learns to adapt.

So let’s flip the whole thing on it’s head and see what we can really do with all of these fancy new digital widgets and gizmos. Let’s make B2B, dare I say it, exciting!

… If only to make my work conversations with friends that little less awkward.