What the B2B brand building renaissance means for contract manufacturers

Did you hear, there's been 'a flippening'? The marketing media has been full of it. And it means branding is OFFICIALLY now more important for B2B companies than ever before. Well, almost. Here's why contract manufacturers should take note.

How The Flippening was predicted

In 2022, the Heads of Research and Development at LinkedIn - Peter Weinberg & Jon Lombardo - predicted a sea change was about to happen in B2B marketing:

"The Flippening is the magical moment when B2B businesses realise that brand marketing creates much more financial value than so-called' performance marketing', and B2B CMOs start allocating at least 51% of their budget to top-of-funnel activities."

Source: Marketing Week 

In 2024 The Flippening was at hand!

Then, in 2024, the pair reported that this magical milestone had been hit in a new article in Marketing Week  well, almost.

If you read on a bit, Weinberg and Lombard (who don't like the metrics to stand in the way of a good headline) revealed it was now more like 30%.

In other words, The Flippening was here. But not quite.

Still, even with these figures, it was a big deal for the sector - and it's true that B2B companies in general are becoming more brand focused than ever.

Now, the B2B brand renaissance is here

Another article in The Drum noted in 2024 how much money was being spent on B2B brand development through creative and emotive storytelling. 

These campaigns, said the article, showed something serious was happening to B2B companies' perception of the importance of brand:

"Over the last year or so, Mailchimp did splashy work with the Design Museum with 'Email is Dead'; Google's skills training partnered with football legend Ian Wright; and Autodesk crashed the Oscars party with brand-heavy spoof ad 'Otto Desc'.

This new deep investment in TOF brand activity suggested a new era of 'long terminism' finally emerging in B2B marketing.

What lies behind the big push for B2B brand building?

As Vanessa Cheal, head of brand services at creative agency Transmission, points out in that same Drum article, much of this was about the demands of acquiring companies who want to feel confident their acquisitions have a vision and a following.

Many software companies are looking to exit, and investors want to be convinced of 'brand value' before they pony up:

"Investors are saying your brand is not strong enough for you to exit, and you have to sort it out. So there's not only a bigger volume of brand projects but a greater urgency to get them sorted in a short space of time… The pressure is on to get that brand value up."

But Cheal also tells us, it's not just tech companies who are working on their brand value. It's becoming more important across the B2B landscape.

"We've seen a massive uplift in brand investment programs outside of tech… in pharmaceuticals, in manufacturing and retail organisations, in fintech. Anywhere there are highly competitive markets with fast growth." 

The B2B brand revolution - the data doesn't lie

And it seems this trend is being driven by data, not just the whims of excited marketers.

In 2024, the annual global Superpowers Index (brand research published by Dentsu) showed a profound uptick in the importance of 'personal decision drivers' on buying choices in the B2B market.

This data was weighted equally across a range of sectors, including manufacturing, and showed some important trends.

It seems that choosing a B2B partner was not just about balancing financial equations anymore.

Instead, in a world morphing so fast with technology, it was about buying into companies you could trust as future partners.

It was about finding brands that clearly 'shared your values' and ambitions.

To further illustrate our point, here is the current full list of B2B buyer decision drivers outlined by Dentsu - showing how they have increased or declined in importance between 2023 and 2024:

What the brand research tells us about the needs of B2B customers

Experts have always said that even in the B2B sector, decision-making is not just about the money.

And here it is written in the data.

Trusting a company, feeling certain that you'll see value and support from the brand is a number one B2B consideration.

Taking care of suppliers, partners and communities has moved from 7 to 5 in importance for prospective buyers.

And now, being 'known as a good employer' has moved from number 10 to number 2!

At the same time, in just 12 months, the need for B2B businesses to be seen as 'thought leaders',  charismatic torch bearers for new ideas in their sector, has leapt from 20 to 10 in the rankings.

These are all pretty emotive drivers by any standards and expressing these kind of values to your customers really does require a new attention to brand.

What can brand do for you?

The need to convince

Budgets are tight. But there is cash out there for the right kind of experimentation.

In a new era of AI, though, we all want to be convinced that we can feel the benefit of the new, transformative tech and services in our markets.

B2B buyers want to be sure what they're investing in will make a difference for them professionally - and personally.

This need for reassurance and inspiration from a brand is growing. But we don't want them to keep mouthing platitudes about saving us time and money.

Right now, everyone in the B2B sector seems to make the same claims.

However, only a few get right to the heart of the matter with their marketing messages:

The need to humanise

Customers want to be convinced that the B2B brands they're looking at will go to work on their behalf. However, B2B brands, particularly multinationals and SaaS companies, can feel a bit faceless.

They need to feel that the people behind the brand are committed to making their lives better. And they need to feel there are people behind the brand.

A strong brand identity can do that for you. 

Here's a clever advert that humanises the authority of an AI business:

Is 'being human' important?

But in the article in The Drum, there was a bit of pushback about humanisation:

"I'm actually really worried about this obsession with humanisation," says Vanessa Cheal. "We have so many clients that come to us and say, 'make my brand more human; let's come up with a purpose that tries to save the world; that shows we care; that you can trust us'. 

Some might recoil at the idea of humanisation. Note how quickly it morphs into the idea of an 'eco-brand' - as though every brand must have its heart an ESG programme that is solely about saving the planet. 

That's not what 'being human' means

Just for the record, it's perfectly possible to have a highly recognisable brand and purpose that speaks with a human voice and doesn't want to 'save the planet'. It's called Brand Trump, and it's hugely popular at the moment (at least with the audience that matters to them).

A memorable brand isn't the same as the rest

What the research is showing is that to be distinctive and valued beyond its price point, a B2B brand needs to find a voice that chimes, urgently and uniquely, with its audience.

A brand needs to stand for things that resonate with B2B buyers - that make them feel certain ways.  

A brand personality and identity are necessary to capture the imagination and loyalty of an audience.  

But it's going to differ for every company.

Just look at this advert for Intercom - an American AI platform that hit the news in 2023. 

This billboard is a massive wink in the direction of a certain kind of audience; an audience who value a no-nonsense personality and want to 'get stuff done'.

Despite pretending not to, the company is still humanising its branding.

Where's the lesson for contractor manufacturers?

Contract manufacturers may not be ready to make that advert that goes viral, yet.

But the figures from Dentsu show that B2B customers want to hear more about them and what they stand for.

To this end, contract manufacturers should start carving out a brand identity that makes them distinctive and valuable in their market. 

They can do this through the content they share, through inventive interaction on social media, and the way they appear to their customers across their digital estate. In fact, in just about everything they do!

Why money spent on 'brand' is not money wasted

As the latest 'state of the nation' report from B2B marketing specialists Velocity, puts it:

"The new B2B brand is not just about a recognised name. It’s a clear positioning (that gives your best customers something to get excited about). With a clearly articulated Galvanizing Story (that unifies everything you do). And a top-to-bottom performance blueprint (that takes your story to market in ways that pay you back)."

Velocity's argument here is pretty powerful. Budget spent on brand awareness activity is not wasted. It's about ensuring you become famous in your sector, in an intentional way.

"Investing 40% of your budget in brand isn’t about taking resources away from other initiatives. It’s about ensuring the stuff you’re already doing actively strengthens the things you want to be known for."

Across all the research around The Flippening, the lesson seems to be to find an authentic voice in a sea of sameness - and amplify it. And that is what many contract manufacturing brands seem to be lacking right now.

So here's our advice to contract manufacturers:

Have a vision for your brand. Be bold and dramatic in that brand articulation. Ensure your brand's vision speaks directly to the aspirations of your customers. 

Catch them in the right place. Speak to them in their language. 

Be noticed - for all the right reasons. 

Download our brand positioning guide now for more useful insights, or contact our brand experts to kickstart your own brand renaissance.