Somewhere along the way, we accepted a quiet assumption:
B2C gets to be bold. B2B must be sensible.

Consumer brands can be distinctive, emotive, culturally sharp.
Business brands? Conservative. Rational. Safe.

But here's what that assumption misses: businesses don't buy. People do. And people don't make decisions by carefully weighing rational propositions. They choose what comes to mind first. What feels familiar. What they already trust. That's true in a supermarket and it's true in an underwriting committee.

If anything, B2B has more to gain from distinctive creative.

Nobody sets out to create a Sea of Sameness in B2B

Walk through most B2B categories and you’ll find a familiar landscape:

• Muted colour palettes
• Abstract geometric logos
• Stock imagery of glass buildings
• Language built from interchangeable buzzwords

“Trusted.”
“Specialist.”
“Partner.”
“Expert.”

It’s not that these claims aren’t true. It’s that everyone is saying them. There's a gravitational force that draws brands down a risk-averse path.

In crowded industries, particularly regulated, risk-sensitive sectors like insurance, financial services and professional advisory, differentiation is often treated as a liability. The stakes feel too high to stand apart.

But in reputation-based industries, being forgettable is a far greater risk.

Distinctive creative doesn’t undermine seriousness.
It reinforces memorability.

And memorability drives consideration, especially in markets where decisions are shaped over months, across multiple stakeholders, and through layers of scrutiny.

The Inigo Story: When a Logo Isn’t Just a Logo

When we were first approached by Inigo, the brief was simple: create a logo.

Inigo was launching as a new syndicate in the Lloyd’s market, one of the most established and tradition-heavy insurance environments in the world. A market built on credibility, financial strength and long-standing broker relationships.

But from the outset, it was clear this wasn’t just about a mark.
It was about signalling intent.

In insurance, brand isn’t decoration. It’s a shorthand for stability. For underwriting discipline. For long-term commitment to the market. When you’re a new entrant without decades of heritage behind you, perception matters even more.

Instead of creating something that blended into the underwriting crowd, we worked very closely with Inigo to develop an identity designed to feel confident, contemporary and distinct, without losing credibility. It signalled ambition. It signalled clarity. It stood apart.

What began as a visual identity quickly evolved into a full brand system from tone of voice, messaging architecture, digital presence, launch communications, investor materials and internal brand tools.

We weren't just creating assets. Working side by side with the Inigo team, we were shaping how the business would articulate itself to every audience that mattered.

Because in complex B2B environments, you’re never speaking to one audience.
You’re speaking to many. Each with different pressures, risk appetites and decision criteria.

The ambition was always the same:
If you’re building something new, why look like everyone else.

Why Yellow Mattered

One of the boldest decisions for Inigo was the adoption of yellow as a core brand colour. It was the CEO who pushed for yellow. That told us everything we needed to know.

In a market dominated by navy, burgundy and muted corporate palettes, yellow was unmistakable. It signalled energy, optimism and confidence, without sacrificing professionalism.

On a trading floor.
In a broker’s inbox.
Across market presentations and industry events.

It cut through.

In a reputation-based, risk-sensitive sector, distinctiveness must be handled with precision. Too brash, and you undermine credibility. Too safe, and you disappear.

Yellow struck the balance.
Distinctiveness wasn’t aesthetic. It was strategic.

In B2B, colour is often neutralised in the name of seriousness.
But seriousness and memorability are not opposites.

We like to think that by helping Inigo look and feel like a category leader from day one, and by evolving alongside them as their marketing partner, we made a small contribution to the trajectory that followed.

From initial identity to embedded creative support, the brand became infrastructure for growth.

Creative as a Commercial Multiplier

Inigo went on to become the fastest-growing syndicate in the Lloyd’s market, culminating in a $1.7bn acquisition five years after inception.

Leadership, underwriting expertise and strategic timing drove that growth.

But from day one, the brand projected the confidence and clarity of a market leader, not a start-up.

That perception advantage matters. Especially in insurance.

In broker-led markets, reputation travels fast. Brokers need reassurance that capacity is credible. Clients need confidence that risk is backed by financial strength. Regulators expect clarity and transparency. Talent looks for ambition and momentum.

A distinctive, coherent brand helps accelerate that trust curve.

In sectors where trust and expertise matter, standing out isn’t about being loud. It’s about being unmistakable.

Why the Double Standard Needs to Go

The idea that B2B must be restrained while B2C can be expressive is a false binary.

Great creative in complex, regulated B2B sectors should:

• Be strategically grounded
• Be commercially aligned
• Demonstrate category fluency
• Navigate regulation and reputation with intelligence
• Be distinctive and ownable
• Create emotional resonance, not just rational justification

Because even in the most analytical buying process, across committees, capital providers and compliance frameworks, emotion is present.

Confidence.
Reassurance.
Ambition.
Belief.

Those aren’t consumer-only drivers. They’re human drivers.

And the brands that understand that, particularly in industries like insurance, where trust is currency and perception shapes opportunity, are the ones more likely to define their category rather than disappear into it.

Brand Isn’t Decoration. It’s Infrastructure.

The most effective B2B brands don’t treat creative as a campaign layer.
They treat it as infrastructure.

Infrastructure that signals financial strength.
Infrastructure that aligns leadership teams.
Infrastructure that supports broker conversations and investor narratives.
Infrastructure that scales as the business grows.

That’s how we approach our partnerships.

Not as an external supplier producing assets, but as a strategic creative partner embedded in the commercial ambition of the business.

Because in complex B2B markets, brand isn’t decoration. It’s leverage.