One trend the last years has been “greige” where nothing sticks out. Company logos look more and more the same, corporate and car colours too. But why, when science show that we notice what’s distinctive. People give more attention to and remember the things that differ or stand out from similar items in our surroundings. This bias is called the Isolation effect.
The psychology behind the Isolation effect, originally called the von Restorff effect, lies in how our brains process and remember information. Seeing something unique or different from the rest of our surroundings triggers and heightens our attention to the distinct item, which leads to better retention of that information. This was proven by von Restorff already in the 1930’s.
Since von Restorff’s experiment, there have been numerous Isolation effect tests conducted on B2C consumers, but no formal experiments have been published with a sole focus on B2B decision makers.With that in mind, a research team recruited a robust 500-strong sample of B2B buyers across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
The study and results below are presented by Transmission, one of the major B2B agencies in the world, working in partnership with behavioural scientist Richard Shotton and global research agency NewtonX.
Experiment 1
A list of logos from fictional cybersecurity brands were shown to the group:
Six were blue – the control set
Three used contrasting colours – the distinctive outliers
The logos were then removed from view, and after a five-minute delay, participants were asked which ones they remembered.
The results:
- 33% of B2B buyers recalled the control logos
- 47% of B2B buyers recalled the distinctive logos
That’s a 42.4% uplift in memorability just by changing the colour. This proves that visual marketing assets that break convention will grab buyers’ attention and are easier to recall.
Experiment 2
It’s important to note that distinctiveness comes in many forms, not just colour. It can be size, shape, position, words, or imagery. So, to make sure it wasn’t colour alone that influenced recall in the minds of our B2B buyers, we then asked the group to view five different cybersecurity adverts from the same fictious cyber brand.
- Four were ‘cliché’ B2B adverts you’d typically see cyber brands promoting in the marketplace today
- One of the adverts was distinctive and unusual. It featured a zebra
After a five-minute delay, recall scores were:
- 31% of buyers remembered the ‘cliché’, conforming ads
- 58% of buyers remembered the distinctive zebra ad
The distinctive ad boosted brand memorability by an impressive 27%. Again, proving that the Isolation effect holds true for B2B buyers.
Conclusion: Standing out isn’t a creative luxury in B2B – it’s a commercial imperative. With the rise of generative AI, the risk of bland, lookalike creative is only increasing. When marketers use the same stock libraries, prompts, tone, and templates, they generate work that’s efficient but invisible.
This is where the Isolation effect can become a strategic advantage. It shows us that novelty isn’t just nice to have — it’s how memory gets made. When your creative breaks the pattern, it earns attention. And when it’s easy to process, it sticks.
Of course, standing out and being distinctive doesn’t mean you need to be overly loud, wacky, or risky.Distinctiveness can come in many forms, i.e., creating surprise, being humorous or evoking curiosity.
Or why not, if you think out-of-the-box
- Introduce a character or mascot. Characters are a powerful yet underused tool in B2B marketing — only 1% of B2B brands currently use them.
- Break audio norms. Catchy music or unique audio cues are powerful attention-grabbers, yet rarely used in B2B marketing.
- Create a distinctive icon or motif. When used consistently unexpected icons or motifs that challenge the visual sameness of your category .
Do you want to know more about how create communication that stands out, just reach out to ulf.vanselius@comprend.com
If you feel this was interesting, you can download the full report for free at: https://www.sfinxconsulting.se/insight-28-supercharge-your-b2b-marketing-effect/
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