8 key brand-building insights from Elevate 2024

Our Senior Director, Strategy & Insight, Heather Barrett recently attended the brand storytelling summit, Elevate. And luckily for us, she’s returned with a wealth of brand-building insights that can help us better reach and engage our audiences.

A few weeks ago, I attended Elevate, an intimate three-day event at the Sundance Mountain resort, to better understand how to bring brand storytelling to our B2B clients. The conference brought those leading brands and those who create entertainment together to share best practices on reaching and engaging audiences. And now I’m back, here’s what you need to know.

Logic meets emotion

We’re in the era of large language models (LLMs), high-powered computers, and the ability to take all the raw, unstructured data in the world and transform it into discrete units of information to help more informed decisions. This is a time of historic computing power, supported by massive amounts of data and widespread access to AI.

But it dooesn’t stop with data. In an era of unprecedented learning, at a scale we’ve never seen before, how do we build real, genuine connections between big brands and us rather small individuals? Not all businesses have the vast resources of global leaders. So, what can you do to drive impact?

Start with what makes us human

In the image below, Ana de Armas plays a Joi – a hologram programmed to ‘love’ in the film, Blade Runner 2049. Many variables separate us humans from machines that simply think like us. But if there’s one thing that machines can’t do, it’s feel.

(Source: Blade Runner 2049)

We have emotions. We have word of mouth. We have relationships. We build social networks and form emotional connexctions that lead to cooperative behavior. In B2B, think of getting teams to agree on implementing something new. Decision-making units are spread across regions now and B2B marketing is changing to reflect that. Building emotional connections with the people behind the job title is no longer a nice to have – it’s a prerequisite to impact the buying cycle.

Brands are moving into the center of culture

The way people interact with brands is changing. We’re seeing the normalization of brands in our entertainment spaces. In October, Lego will be helping Pharrell tell his story in its Piece by Piece campaign. Why is this happening? Because Pharrell and Lego share ‘limitless creativity’ as brand values. Talk about a perfect ‘product-story’ fit!

We’re in the emotions business

Globally renowned studio Dreamworks may be in the film business. But the way they see it, they’re also in the emotions business. If you can get someone to care about a character, to get them to fall into a story that takes them on an emotional journey, then you can win over humans the world over.

You don’t just create emotional impact, you’ve crafted memories that reside within people for years to come. Sound familiar to how we talk about brand building and pipeline growth?

Discover more about our view on brand's impact on sustainable, profitable long-term growth.

“Emotions drive behaviors”

“The more emotion you can make someone feel, the more the brain flags that information as important.”, says Neuroscientist and Author, Dr. Paul Zak. In his time working in the US Intelligence community, he was asked to help give soldiers the power of persuasion – in other words, the power to use language instead of bullets in certain types of conflict.

His research uncovered that emotions drive behaviors. Those emotions are flagged as ‘important information’ and what we colloquially call memories. If B2B brands want to motivate an action, they need to provoke an emotional response. We’re in the business of building new memories for audiences, after all.

Traditional approaches to advertising are getting expensive

The costs of interruptive advertising campaigns we’ve historically used in our industry have risen by 228% over the past three years. Over decades, advertisers have eroded the trust and attention of audiences thanks to the promotion of consumption of things known to be harmful to us.

Today, ads that overtly sell to us are watched with skepticism. Ad Blindness, or Banner Blindness, is also a very real stumbling block for B2B brands, as audiences are exposed to potentially thousands of different messages daily. With more channels capturing our attention, reach that interrupts us with traditional messaging is costly.

Enter the rise of Brand Storytelling

External factors drive transformation in our industry. Consumer expectations change. What worked before may not drive the impact it once did. And that’s where Brand Storytelling comes in.

Brand Storytelling is a new way to build emotional connections with audiences over an extended period – at least, in B2B. It can serve as thought leadership that wraps around the brand, demand, and sales messaging.

When done well, it’s utterly compelling in ways the Lego and Pharrell partnership showcases brilliantly. For B2B businesses, that means finding ways to express their brand values in ways that build a captivating narrative into who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

Build human connections

At the event, YETI screened ‘All That is Sacred’ which I’d describe as like living inside a favorite novel of mine. If you’re unfamiliar, check out YETI Presents Films for their ability to go deep and reveal incredible human stories that inspire.

I also love Brooks Running’s brand storytelling about overcoming the odds with Jeremy Renner. It contributed to increasing global quarterly revenue year-on-year by 15%, with North American revenue by 19%.

All this highlights how brand storytelling, at its best, helps people find the human connection between brands and audiences. Centering on a human experience is one way in. Purpose and social impact make for other avenues. The key is to ensure that you’re authentic about it.

Closing thoughts

In all, Elevate was a game changer that offered immensely valuable insights and opportunities to build relationships as we at Transmission continue to define the next in B2B. I’m greatly thankful to have had the chance to attend and learn from some of the industry’s brightest minds.

Discover how we help B2B brands connect with audiences on a human level by getting in touch!