I’ve lead a number of workshops over the past few months with b2b organisations looking to create an identity for themselves and are not quite sure how to go about it. They have a couple of things in common

a)     a broad base of external stakeholders with whom they need to communicate

b)  very scientific in their approach, often using technical terms that are only understood 

     internally

Helping companies communicate a relatively complicated value proposition, that resonates with a number of b2b audiences with differing agendas is the sort of task that good consultancies relish.

Approaching the task collaboratively, and engaging in a degree of customer co-creation, helps get both Client and Agency move to a solution that resonates. Here’s some of the tips I would pass on.

1. Workshops are useful – they bring different perspectives around a table, allow people’s opinions to be heard and documented, build a common understanding of an issue.

2. Make sure that you arrange two forms of communication paths – a formal one, part of the delivery process, and an informal one that can inform the Agency team about the potential shifts of opinion within a Client organisation.

3. Present ideas as exactly that – options. Avoid the “unfold the creative moment” concept, where “ the solution” is unveiled. Scope the solution, don’t try to force a resolution.

4. Help clients evaluate creative work. This is something that many actually feel uncomfortable with, but don’t like to admit to. Refer back to the established positioning, the communication goals, and ask if proposed creative solutions achieve that.

5. Build in stakeholder feedback into your programme – depth interviews, group discussions, online research, the options are broad – so that the sponsors can see that the evaluation process has incorporated “customer feedback”

Collaborative approaches are useful simply because they involve the customers and consumers in the shaping of a message, rather than having creatives pondering on their own on “what the Client meant” and “what the target group thinks”.