According to global industry insights published by Saatchi & Saatchi, 64% of business executives consider ‘shared values’ as the primary reason for building a relationship with a brand. In another study cited in the same publication, when it comes to business decisions ‘personal value’ based on emotion has twice as much impact on decision making rather than ‘business value’ derived by logic and reason. Bradly Howland, Account Director of Epic MSLGROUP says that marketers, along with psychologists like Nobel Economics laureate Daniel Kahneman, have long understood that people are not rational decision makers. “What marketers haven’t understood until now was why. Why is emotion, rather than logic, the driver of our buying behaviour, especially when it comes to business-to-business (B2B) decisions?” “Research suggests that due to the level of personal risk B2B buyers feel when making important business calls, this sort of buying is highly personal. In fact, B2B purchasing decisio...

Public Relations is all about communication and at the heart of communication is people. The values that underpin our relations with friends and colleagues should be the very same foundations that communication professionals base their client relationships on. This is according to Candice Hellriegel, Account Director at Epic MSLGROUP , who says that building a solid relationship with a client creates a ‘win-win’ situation. “While it’s important to always be professional, the basis of any human relationship is trust, communication, respect, dedication and personalisation.” A positive relationship with a client is beneficial for many reasons, says Hellriegel. “From an agency perspective, if a client is happy they are more likely to retain your services. In the event of budget restraints, the client may be more likely to look at readjusting the contract rather than simply cutting the budget entirely. In addition, making your clients happy opens up new business opportunities for the co...