It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we're legally allowed to take over our competitors.
Bill BernbachThe need for more B2B creative punch
It’s tough for B2B businesses right now, and we all know that often the first decision in tough times is to reduce and minimise investment in marketing. But with limited resources, it can be a real struggle for in-house marketing teams to work out where to focus their already stretched budgets, time and energy to still deliver results.Consequently, the opportunity cost for brand investment and bold creative thinking can often take a back seat, when there’s a limited budget and more immediate tactical channels to spend money on to reach lower hanging lead 'fruit'. There’s no easy, magic answer to drive growth, but renowned pioneer of modern creative advertising, Bill Bernbach would always bet on creativity if he could. The marketing legend called creativity the ‘last unfair advantage’, and we agree with him, which is why, as a B2B marketing agency, all our outputs focus on creative thinking across all brand touchpoints. It's not enough to just deliver one big bold idea, you need to carefully craft compelling brand experiences at every step of the customer experience.
A B2B marketing agency that believes in the power of creativity
We are the acolytes of creativity in B2B, a B2B agency that champions the transformative role of powerful creative thinking in a space where sameness often prevails to “fit in” and standing out can feel risky. This means rejecting the notion that complex products demand dull communication and instead helping clients turn their expertise into powerful narratives that resonate, differentiate, and inspire action. It reframes creativity not as indulgence but as the most strategic lever B2B companies have to earn attention, build trust, and drive brand growth.The evidence base for Powerful Creative Thinking has been growing ever since the days of Bill Bernbach. Every good B2B Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) knows they need to frame marketing activity as an ‘investment’ and not a ‘cost’. The B2B Institute has even presented strong thinking that helps to articulate the ‘Cash Flow Case’ for Creativity. When we talk about powerful creative thinking we're not just referring to one big visual idea, our focus as an agency is on using our creativity to think wider and bigger throughout the lead identification and business development process, as well as the customer engagement and loyalty building journey. “Given how heavily a company’s valuation depends on future cash flows - it’s 80% of the value - it follows that any marketing investment should be heavily weighted towards reaching the future customers, who will pay those future cash flows.” (The B2B Institute)
Brand building with powerful creative thinking can help you to achieve this. However, what is this ‘unfair advantage’ and how can it be articulated to non-marketing leaders? We believe the business case for creativity can be made even stronger with the right references and evidence.
Creativity is a proven growth multiplier
Highly creative campaigns are generally more effective. Binet & Field's 2010 research for the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) found that award-winning creative campaigns can be up to 11 times more efficient at driving market share growth compared to less creative campaigns. Now that is a compelling fact! This was further developed in 2019 for a B2B context. This study identified that creative, emotional campaigns in B2B drive 2x as much long-term profit growth as rational ones.
Creativity allows you to speak to your audience more often
If you’re in B2B marketing, you will no doubt of had a conversation with your sales teams about the famous 95:5 rule. Simply put, only a small percentage of your audience is in the market at one time. Creative brand building therefore lets you talk to the identified audience about your business, or your category and product offer, without needing to focus on converting those conversations into sales, or feeling that your audience is being sold to, this can really help recall when your audience enters the buying cycle.Creativity creates recall and memories through emotions
Creativity drives emotions, and emotions create memories. If you don’t believe me, try to recall your last car MOT compared with a time you broke down. Most MOTs are routine, uneventful appointments. Breaking down on the side of a motorway when you might be in a rush and worried about when you will be rescued is likely to be more stressful, which means you will remember it. There is strong research that concludes being consistently more emotional than your competitors over consecutive years drives brand growth, and ultimately business growth. Memories and familiarity are as important in B2B buying, and research has shown that 90% of buyers ultimately choose a supplier they had in mind before they began researching the purchase. This means buyers search their mind before they search the internet for suppliers. Your campaign messages need to live long in your audience’s memories.
Creativity will help you stand out
As a B2B audience is generally-speaking more risk-averse, there’s a greater tendency to stick to the status quo and align with what's already in the market – what feels ‘safe’. However, there is a real opportunity to stand out and be different in the market, which can help cut through. In ‘How Brands Grow’, Byron Sharp presents strong evidence that being distinctive develops mental availability and helps brands build market share within their category. As a brand growth agency, we understand that creativity can help a business stand out and be distinctive, whilst remaining true to business values.Creativity is the best defence against emerging generative AI sameness
We believe that AI technology is incredible. At Upp B2B, we’re one of the few B2B creative agencies with a dedicated AI squad in place. However, over-reliance on AI (although cost-effective) can create dull, unoriginal thinking. In June 2025 the Cambridge English dictionary expanded its definition of ‘slop’ to include: ‘AI-generated content that is unwanted and of poor quality.’ Maybe a look into the not too distant future of brans who choose to let AI do their creative thinking. Powerful creativity cuts through poor quality and dull campaigns. Sameness is everywhere and has an extraordinary cost for businesses as they spend more money on their messaging and media to ensure their message is heard. This is the case with both B2C and B2B marketing sectors.
Alex Bone
Strategy Director
Time to start thinking more powerfully in B2B marketing
For some marketers, creativity can be seen as a big risk. A step into the unknown and doing something different from the category can feel uncomfortable. However, we believe Powerful Creative Thinking for B2B marketing comes in all shapes and sizes. From updates to B2B SEO, tweaks to B2B marketing campaigns, right through to rebrands and repositions, there's always an opportunity for powerful creative thinking to play its part. Real original thinking with customer insights and data observations at the heart. At Upp B2B we’re backing the power that creativity can have on brands, businesses and the bottom line. Powerful Creative Thinking helps B2B businesses stand out from competitors, and as a purely B2B marketing agency, we’d love to see how it can be applied to your marketing activities. If you think that your marketing activity could benefit from some powerful creative thinking across your brand touchpoints, then drop us a line at hello@uppb2b.co.uk
