Escape the Algorithmic Sameness—A Playbook for B2B
If your ad could wear anyone’s logo, it’s not working. Here’s how to break out of the sea of sameness.
The Problem
B2B marketers are pumping out more creative than ever. But the dirty little secret? Most of it looks—and sounds—exactly the same.
The culprit isn’t just AI. It’s the way teams brief, prompt, and approve work. Speed is prioritized. Distinctiveness gets watered down. And when your campaign looks like it could belong to a dozen competitors, you’re not building memory—you’re renting attention for a day.
Why Distinctiveness Matters
The B2B Institute has hammered this home for years: distinctiveness, not differentiation, is what builds brands. People don’t remember nuance; they remember assets. Color. Shape. Mnemonics. The things that travel.
On LinkedIn, where sameness scrolls by at light speed, those assets are your only chance at a memory hook.
The Distinctiveness Playbook
1. Codify Your Brand Codes
Make a non-negotiable list: primary color, logo treatment, typography, tagline, maybe even a graphic device or motion pattern. If these don’t survive the creative process (or the AI prompt), you’re burning budget.
2. Run the “Paste Test”
Before publishing, ask: Could a competitor drop their logo on this and run it tomorrow? If yes, it’s too generic. Kill it or revise.
3. Build a Weirdness Budget
AI and templates want to normalize everything. Give yourself a 20% “weirdness budget” where you deliberately push past the expected. That’s where distinctiveness lives.
4. Prompt Discipline
AI doesn’t need to invent your brand voice; it needs to channel it. Bake your codes into every prompt: “in {brand voice}, using {color/shape/tone}, avoid {clichés/overused metaphors}.”
5. Distinctiveness as KPI
Stop asking “did this look good?” Start asking “did this look like us?” Track asset recall alongside engagement.
The Firehill POV
We build codebooks and QA gates into your creative workflow so you stop blending in. Distinctiveness isn’t magic—it’s process.
