It’s trebles all round at The Frameworks, this week, as we celebrate three new awards for our work. As well as picking up B2B Campaign of the Year in the UK Content Awards for our Boundless campaign for UST, we’re thrilled that Tata Technologies have taken home two awards in India following the branding and digital projects we completed with them last year.

As well as bagging some silverware, we’ve helped both of these brands put human impact at the heart of their brand communications.

In the case of UST, it’s about building a link between the people inside the company who are so committed to their clients and the companies, communities and people who benefit as a result. We’ve done this by telling authentic, human stories and personalising the thought leadership of UST experts.

For Tata Technologies we built a brand strategy around an existing tagline – Engineering a better world – designed to shift perceptions around engineering as a discipline (and a career) by focusing – once again – on the very human difference an engineer can make to people and to the world around us.

This human focus is very much a regular theme of our work at The Frameworks, so it’s great to see it gaining such direct endorsement. The reason is simple: despite the handy shorthand, B2B businesses don’t sell to businesses, they sell to people. So, more often than not, we find ourselves transforming complex – sometimes very technical – subjects into relatable human narratives. And we always approach a creative challenge by focusing on the human response we’re trying to elicit.

We’re not alone, of course. Nowhere is this humanisation of business marketing more apparent than the B2B awards at Cannes, now in their second year. 2023’s winners range from big, bold initiatives like listing the Earth on the stock market (to promote the market in question) to the less creative but equally topical “Certified Human” deep fake detection initiative from Intel.

Elsewhere, a fun campaign for a supply chain business called to mind another award, this time from the incomparable mind of the late Douglas Adams.

Overall, apart from what feels like a disproportionate number of consumer brands like Heinz and Heineken (and their agencies) – presumably Cannes veterans – nudging their way into the B2B space, the major themes among this year’s winners tended to be purpose, using tech for good and sustainability.

I’ll confess that until recently I was something of an awards sceptic. Surely it’s just the usual suspects taking it in turn to slap each other on the back once a year over warm Prosecco and cold lamb chops? But being invited to join the judging panel for the Effies made me appreciate the care that goes into making sure the right entries get recognised. So I’m more than happy to celebrate an amazing team effort with the appropriate amount of gusto. Well done everyone.

Right then… Roll on the Creativepool Annual and CIM Global Marketing Excellence Awards. And maybe see you all in Cannes next year…?

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