How brands can adapt to the new economics of B2B marketing

Geoffrey Precourt

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as old norms are replaced by greater flexibility and openness.

“In the next 18 months,” proposed Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy/UK vice chair, “[businesspeople] won't compete for status by having an American Airlines Gold frequent-flyer tag attached to their briefcases.

“Instead, they will be setting up incredibly elaborate video-conferencing equipment at home. That will be the new war for status among businesspeople.”

That competition, he argued at an online Responding to Today’s B2B Buying Realities conference convened by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), is a visible manifestation of a new dynamic at work in business-to-business (B2B) marketing: the competitive field has never been more enticing.

“Today, it looks like you can...

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