Marketing Week
It’s hard to tell a great story without a great character but most B2B brands seem reticent to entertain the idea. One exception is Salesforce, which introduced Astro who helped revitalise the brand and make it interesting again.
Try telling the story of Star Wars without mentioning any of the characters.
It’s possible. But would you buy tickets to a movie about a gigantic spaceship that blows up a planet and is eventually destroyed by a smaller spaceship? Sounds like a flop to us…
There’s no question Star Wars has revolutionary products – the lightsaber is the undisputed market leader in energy swords – but it’s not the products that make Star Wars famous.
It’s the characters. It’s Luke, Leia, R2D2, Darth Vader, Yoda – it’s even Jar Jar Binks. And it’s not just Star Wars. Almost every Disney movie is named after its central character, from Snow White to Wall-E to Black Panther.
You simply can’t tell a great story without a great character.
B2C marketers already understand this. Characters have built countless B2C brands. The Geico Gecko. Orlov the Meerkat. Red and Yellow, the M&Ms. The Most Interesting Man In The World. The Michelin Man. Mr Clean. The Energizer Bunny. Tony the Tiger. The Aflac Duck.
So where are all the B2B characters?
There aren’t many, but there is one.
Close your eyes, B2B marketers, and let us tell you a bedtime story about a racoon-child who roams the streets of San Francisco connecting companies with their customers.
Read the full article on Marketing Week.