Creative B2B Branding (No, Really)
Building a Creative Brand in a Business World
Scot McKee
ISBN: 978-1-906884-12-3
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“If people read this book and are inspired by the ideas contained within it, the standard of business branding will rise significantly. If you’re looking for genuine insight and a compelling perspective on a B2B brand or marketing issue, you ignore Scot McKee, and this book, at your peril.†~ Joel Harrison, Editor, B2B Marketing.
“if you are involved in helping others create a brand, grow awareness or even reduce customer service complaints then this book is definitely for you and would be a useful read for clients†~ Robert Hodson, director of Jaegerson
“a great expose on the way forward for B2B branding, with a lot of true to life observations, interesting statements and swipey, clicky things that you want to hug and kiss (really!)†~ Albert Jan (AJ) Huisman, regional marketing manager continental Europe at Towers Watson
“Scot Mckee writes in a very entertaining and accesible way, but still gets you to understand cleary how to build a brand and act in a business world. I think this book is both applicable to students, companies, and any other person interested in the branding world.†Elke Van Looveren, University of Antwerp
Click here to see great B2B Magazine reviews of Creative B2B Branding
B2B brand communications have changed little in the last 25 years, until now. This book combines experience, insight, anecdote, observation and example to demonstrate how businesses can dramatically improve their creative communication and the value of their brands.
What readers will gain from Creative B2B Branding (No, Really):
- A deep focus and understanding of B2B branding from the coalface
- The immediate ability to apply B2B brand theory directly to business
- Visible improvement to brand value – simply, easily, instantly
- The ability to shape the case for creative change and improved budget support
- A view of Social Media, Digital Strategy and Online Tools applied to B2B brands
- Inspiration, motivation and comfort derived from the experience of others
Creative B2B Branding (No, Really) has been written by a B2B marketing
professional for business and marketing professionals – those working in business and
those studying business. The insights are applicable to the broadest business audience
in and outside of the Marketing Department.
Publication and Prices
Pub Date: April 2010
Hardback: £29.99, Euro 36, US$ 48
E-Chapter: £4.99, Euro 5.99, US$ 7.99 each
Click here for free download of the advertising images from Creative B2B Branding
Table of contents
'''Foreword; Introduction; Prologue; 1 Getting over the stigma (B2B v B2C); 2 It’s just a badge, isn’t It? (logo v brand); 3 The customer’s always right (external perceptions); 4 Up close and personal (gathering internal support); 5 Forget the product (brand strategy development); 6 The creative platform (managing creative appetite); 7 Publish and be damned (launch); 8 Crystal balls (predicting the future, digital brands and the end of the world as we know it); 9 Bear witness; Context; Software Inc.; Epilogue.Table of contents
'''Foreword; Introduction; Prologue; 1 Getting over the stigma (B2B v B2C); 2 It’s just a badge, isn’t It? (logo v brand); 3 The customer’s always right (external perceptions); 4 Up close and personal (gathering internal support); 5 Forget the product (brand strategy development); 6 The creative platform (managing creative appetite); 7 Publish and be damned (launch); 8 Crystal balls (predicting the future, digital brands and the end of the world as we know it); 9 Bear witness; Context; Software Inc.; Epilogue.About the authors
Scot McKee is a B2B Brand Consultant who began his career in advertising and marketing aged 11. Whilst his childhood peers were busy learning the lyrics to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ Scot was recording jingles from TV advertisements. This questionable pastime acquired him few friends, but he persisted nonetheless up to and including the 1980 ‘Dancing Woman’ commercial for Shake ‘n’ Vac. To this day he still, disturbingly, is able to sing the theme song from the advertisement for the children’s bubble bath – Matey.Scot specialized in Advertising, Marketing and Market Research at college and graduated with distinction but little hope of employment. He worked in the Marketing Department of a large electronics company in Paris before returning to the UK where he interviewed a selection of top UK advertising agencies. He decided that he wasn’t prepared to work for any of them. He worked instead, at a number of regional marketing agencies becoming a Company Director aged 24 and the Managing Director of his own agency a year later.
He followed his then girlfriend (later to become his wife) to the US, “on a hunch,†and became an Account Director for a large marketing consultancy in Boston. It was too cold. So he came home.
On returning to the UK in 1994, Scot founded Birddog – the company that was to become the multi-award winning, top 20 B2B marketing agency. As Managing Director of Birddog, Scot has led global brand strategies and pioneered creative change in B2B organisations of all sizes and market persuasions. His role has been to drag, cajole, entice and coerce marketing professionals kicking and screaming into new ways of thinking and communicating brand value. A controversial speaker, he has addressed marketing conferences including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson & Johnson, GeoPost and the IDMF. He has been Chairman of the B2B Marketing Forum and is a regular contributor in the business press. Scot has contributed a monthly column for B2B Marketing Magazine for almost five years.
Most recently, Scot has turned his attention to the relevance and application of B2B brand strategy and creative communications in the digital market. Unlike most self-proclaimed digital ‘gurus,’ Scot has almost zero experience in the digital industry. He sees this as a good thing. With over 25 years marketing agency and brand strategy expertise, Scot feels almost ready to deal with the onslaught of the digital revolution. He is a confirmed Luddite who has been inexplicably drawn towards the digital channel, probably for personal gain. He provides an essential link between the needs of the brand and its online audience. Already a published authority, blogger and industry speaker on the subjects of Creative Brand Strategy, Social Media, Mobile Internet and Digital Channels, he’s looking forward to when the whole digital evolution thing just stops, but isn’t holding his breath.
Away from the office, Scot visits other people’s offices in an advisory capacity as non-executive director. He also supports the industry by mentoring aspiring talent as long as they’re not too good looking. His enthusiasm for guitars is equalled only by his inability to play them and he boasts a collection he hopes his wife will never fully discover. Scot is married with two children and maintains, with a straight face, that they are, “the wind beneath my wings.†He currently divides his time between London, New York, Sydney and Cyberspace.
Email: scotmckee@gmail.com
Follow Scot on Twitter: @ScotMcKee
Connect on LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/scotmckee
Table of contents
'''Foreword; Introduction; Prologue; 1 Getting over the stigma (B2B v B2C); 2 It’s just a badge, isn’t It? (logo v brand); 3 The customer’s always right (external perceptions); 4 Up close and personal (gathering internal support); 5 Forget the product (brand strategy development); 6 The creative platform (managing creative appetite); 7 Publish and be damned (launch); 8 Crystal balls (predicting the future, digital brands and the end of the world as we know it); 9 Bear witness; Context; Software Inc.; Epilogue.About the authors
Scot McKee is a B2B Brand Consultant who began his career in advertising and marketing aged 11. Whilst his childhood peers were busy learning the lyrics to Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ Scot was recording jingles from TV advertisements. This questionable pastime acquired him few friends, but he persisted nonetheless up to and including the 1980 ‘Dancing Woman’ commercial for Shake ‘n’ Vac. To this day he still, disturbingly, is able to sing the theme song from the advertisement for the children’s bubble bath – Matey.Scot specialized in Advertising, Marketing and Market Research at college and graduated with distinction but little hope of employment. He worked in the Marketing Department of a large electronics company in Paris before returning to the UK where he interviewed a selection of top UK advertising agencies. He decided that he wasn’t prepared to work for any of them. He worked instead, at a number of regional marketing agencies becoming a Company Director aged 24 and the Managing Director of his own agency a year later.
He followed his then girlfriend (later to become his wife) to the US, “on a hunch,†and became an Account Director for a large marketing consultancy in Boston. It was too cold. So he came home.
On returning to the UK in 1994, Scot founded Birddog – the company that was to become the multi-award winning, top 20 B2B marketing agency. As Managing Director of Birddog, Scot has led global brand strategies and pioneered creative change in B2B organisations of all sizes and market persuasions. His role has been to drag, cajole, entice and coerce marketing professionals kicking and screaming into new ways of thinking and communicating brand value. A controversial speaker, he has addressed marketing conferences including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson & Johnson, GeoPost and the IDMF. He has been Chairman of the B2B Marketing Forum and is a regular contributor in the business press. Scot has contributed a monthly column for B2B Marketing Magazine for almost five years.
Most recently, Scot has turned his attention to the relevance and application of B2B brand strategy and creative communications in the digital market. Unlike most self-proclaimed digital ‘gurus,’ Scot has almost zero experience in the digital industry. He sees this as a good thing. With over 25 years marketing agency and brand strategy expertise, Scot feels almost ready to deal with the onslaught of the digital revolution. He is a confirmed Luddite who has been inexplicably drawn towards the digital channel, probably for personal gain. He provides an essential link between the needs of the brand and its online audience. Already a published authority, blogger and industry speaker on the subjects of Creative Brand Strategy, Social Media, Mobile Internet and Digital Channels, he’s looking forward to when the whole digital evolution thing just stops, but isn’t holding his breath.
Away from the office, Scot visits other people’s offices in an advisory capacity as non-executive director. He also supports the industry by mentoring aspiring talent as long as they’re not too good looking. His enthusiasm for guitars is equalled only by his inability to play them and he boasts a collection he hopes his wife will never fully discover. Scot is married with two children and maintains, with a straight face, that they are, “the wind beneath my wings.†He currently divides his time between London, New York, Sydney and Cyberspace.
Email: scotmckee@gmail.com
Follow Scot on Twitter: @ScotMcKee
Connect on LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/scotmckee