We’re in full Wicked fever again, and while most people are debating Ariana and Cynthia’s weird relationship IRL or that Elphie & Fiyero scene, I keep spotting parallels with B2B marketing.
Stay with me – I promise I’m onto something!
Because under all the emerald sparkle is a truth every marketer knows too well: being brilliant doesn’t matter if your story isn’t being heard.
There’s a moment in Wicked when Elphaba realises it doesn’t matter how good she is if Oz has already decided what to call her. For her, it’s “wicked.” For many B2B brands, it’s “complex,” “niche,” “hard to explain,” or – my personal favourite – “boring.”
The problem isn’t the substance. It’s the story.
And if the story doesn’t land, nothing else does – not your product, not your value proposition, not your beautifully colour-coded ABM plan.
Welcome to Oz, but with procurement teams.
The perception problem: not wicked, just misunderstood
Elphaba isn’t the villain. She’s the one with integrity, purpose, and genuine capability. But the narrative machinery of Oz – rumour, fear, and one very insecure Wizard – paints her as the threat.
Sound familiar?
In B2B, we see this all the time: brilliant companies with deep expertise and real impact who still struggle to shake legacy perceptions or explain their relevance in a shifting market. Especially now, when budgets tighten, buying committees swell, and everyone is expected to do more with less… ideally with AI.
It’s not a competence problem. It’s a perception problem.
And perception – like gravity – is something you have to work to defy.
Glinda: the strategist brands pretend they don’t need
While Elphaba brings substance, Glinda brings sparkle — the framing, timing and audience intuition that turn good thinking into irresistible storytelling.
She understands that the right message, delivered the right way, can change everything.
Glinda doesn’t just communicate — she influences the people who influence others. She recognises the quiet power of recommendation: the stories people take into the room when you’re not there.
In B2B, this is the quiet work behind the scenes that makes brands feel… well… popular:
- clear narrative architecture
- distinctive, ownable cues
- emotional resonance, even in the least emotional categories
- proof that’s actually convincing
It’s the part of marketing that feels deceptively simple — until you try doing it without it.
Glinda doesn’t alter the story — she adjusts its angle. She senses what people fear, what they hope for, and how to shape a message that actually reaches them. That’s instinct, not illusion.
The Wizard: a masterclass in illusion (and why AI won’t fix bad strategy)
Speaking of illusion… the Wizard is the original ‘fake it ’til you make it’ thought-leader: Smoke. Mirrors. Big talk. No substance.
In 2025, this maps beautifully to… well… anyone using AI to churn out a flurry of content without stopping to ask whether it means anything.
AI should be your assistant, not your illusionist. It should scale quality thinking – not mask a lack of it.
The Wizard teaches us this: when brands chase hype instead of honesty, someone will eventually pull back the curtain. And once credibility slips, it’s very hard to win back.
Are audiences – in Oz or in B2B – ever neutral?
One thing Wicked nails is the idea that the public isn’t neutral.
Citizens of Oz aren’t passive; they’re reactive, tribal, emotionally driven and deeply influenced by whoever tells the loudest story. In other words: a B2B buying committee.
Modern audiences behave just like Oz:
- overwhelmed by noise
- searching for clarity
- wanting truth wrapped in humanity
- trusting people more than proclamations
- shifting allegiance quickly when something feels off
This is why ABM resonates. Not (just) because it’s clever, but because it treats audiences as characters in the story, not spectators.
Defying gravity: the inflection point all brands face
Every B2B brand reaches a point where it has to decide: keep blending in, or finally articulate what genuinely sets it apart.
That moment often looks like repositioning, re-articulation, or simply aligning internally on what we actually want to stand for.
It takes courage, consistency and a willingness to be temporarily misunderstood while the market recalibrates.
But the brands that fly are the ones willing to risk that moment of misunderstanding… in order to become unforgettable long-term.
The yellow brick trio: what B2B marketing really needs
While Wicked reframes the story, the original Oz trio still hold the blueprint for what good marketing actually requires:
The Lion: courage
The courage to commit to a clear narrative.
The courage to choose distinctiveness over safety. The courage to stand for something – especially when budgets tighten and committees swell.
The Tin Man: heart ❤️
The empathy to understand real buyer motivations. The emotional intelligence to craft stories that land. The human softness modern B2B marketing desperately needs.
The Scarecrow: brains
The strategic rigour behind the magic. The insight and data that ground big ideas in reality. The operational discipline that makes creativity effective – not just expressive.
Courage, heart, and brains. It’s the recipe behind every ABM programme, every standout idea, every brand transformation worth talking about.
For Good: the part that really builds brand value
At the end of Wicked, the spectacle fades – and what remains is impact: who you changed, what you changed, and how long it lasts.
B2B brands forget this.
They focus on the launch, not the lasting impression. They chase the metric, not the meaning. They optimise for clicks, not confidence.
Brand value is earned. Trust is reinforced. Human connection is what endures.
That’s the “for good” moment – the part that sticks.
Why I’m proudly Team Elphie
At Velo, we’d rather be the principled misfit than the noisy illusionist.
We care about substance, clarity, and stories rooted in truth.
We help brands express who they really are – not the version perceptions keep pushing.
And if flying means standing out in a very green way, that suits us just fine
Because in a world full of Wizards, the bravest thing a brand can do is choose to be real — courage, heart and brains included.
So that leaves me with one important question…
Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?
No wait — not that one.