There was a time, many years ago (about six), when professionals went to offices for work. Office workers were a little like soldiers: wake up at the crack of dawn, eat, suit up, and shove for the battle. After deployment —i.e. the workday —return home, remove battle garb, decompress, and get ready to do it all over again tomorrow. And like soldiers who have difficulty re-acclimating to civilian life, office workers often experienced friction adjusting back to home life, which required different dress, demeanor, priorities, and language.

Of course, plenty of people like and need offices and the dedicated space for focus and collaboration they provide. But for many others, the post-lockdown shift to remote and hybrid working created a seismic shift in the nature of work and where it took place. According to Gallup, 50 percent of U.S. employees have remote-capable jobs, and of workers in those jobs, 27 percent are fully remote, 52 percent are hybrid, and a mere 21 percent are totally onsite.

While the operational impact of this shift is huge, the cultural shift is perhaps even bigger. Absent the office’s physical and time barriers, remote and hybrid working allowed professionals to blend who they are at work and who they are the rest of the time. They are simply one human with different roles throughout the day.

And increasingly, that human isn’t compartmentalizing. The modern worker identifies just as openly with their career ambitions and creative side hustles as they do with their family role, spiritual path, or weekend hobbies. Identity today is blended and expressive—not segmented into “work self” vs. “home self.”

But while people have evolved with the times, brands have lagged behind. In some ways, “B2B” and “B2C” designations are vestiges of the office era. These designations do have practical meaning, differentiating whether a business sells to other businesses or to consumers. But they also carry cultural baggage. Culturally speaking, B2B is the office and is expected to be soldierly, serious, and technical. B2C is the home and is allowed to be casual, colorful, and informal.

The B2B and B2C distinctions of yesteryear don’t hold up today—and are probably holding you back. We’d like to introduce a new way of thinking and communicating with deep implications for brand marketing.

B2H Branding: Speaking Human

Ultimately, effective brands speak to people—not personas, not verticals, not vague buyer profiles. Humans who laugh at memes between meetings. Who think about their families while closing out a project sprint. Humans who ponder GTM strategies while out on a run or pushing their kids on a swing.

Addressing the human first, not the separated worker/human of days of yore, is the essence of B2H branding. It’s about rejecting the outdated split between “work self” and “real self.” B2H recognizes that today’s professionals are whole, layered humans—and that brands should meet them as such.

So, what does B2H look like in practice?

Here are a few principles we use to guide B2H branding:

1. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

Earnestness is cool. Self-importance isn’t. B2H brands know how to deliver real value without puffery. Your audience will connect more with a tone that’s warm, confident, and clear than one that sounds like it was run through a buzzword generator.

2. Avoid jargon (most of the time).

Most of us don’t know what those acronyms on that dude’s LinkedIn profile mean either. Jargon doesn’t impress—it alienates. Speak plainly, or risk being misunderstood. When in doubt, follow the one acronym that actually counts: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

3. …But get technical where it matters.

As Einstein put it: “Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.” B2H doesn’t mean dumbing things down. When you’re solving a complex problem for a savvy customer, be precise. Speak their language to show you understand their needs.

4. Don’t be afraid of color, personality, or play.

Whoever said a business brand had to be dull and flat was probably someone you’d avoid at the office party. Visual and verbal identity should reflect the energy and distinctiveness of your company. Design with dimension. Show some edge. Stand out on purpose.

5. Lead with empathy, not just features.

People make decisions emotionally, even in a professional context. B2H branding focuses on understanding the actual experience of the user or buyer—what’s frustrating them, exciting them, making them feel stuck—and speaks directly to that.

6. Make room for values.

Professionals increasingly want to align with brands that stand for something—not just sell something. B2H brands clarify what they believe in and bake it into their narrative. Not performatively, but intentionally.

7. Be transparent—especially about tradeoffs.

Glossy promises don’t build trust. Honesty does. B2H brands are clear about what they do best and what they don’t. A little transparency goes a long way in building credibility with a smart, discerning audience.

8. Let your team show up, too.

In B2H brands, the people behind the product matter. Bring team voices into your brand—via social, storytelling, content, or even internal branding. A founder’s POV, an engineer’s insight, or a customer success story all help humanize your company.

100: A Real-World Example of Business-to-Human Branding

One of our favorite examples of B2H branding in the wild is 100, a rental fraud detection platform for multifamily operators.

Operationally, 100’s market is B2B, but at their behest and to our delight, the brand we developed is what we consider peak B2H. From the outset, 100’s founders understood that their buyers—though operating at scale—are still just people trying to solve a persistent, frustrating problem. They didn’t want a brand that felt bland, corporate, or forgettable. So we gave them something bold.

The brand we landed on is playful, colorful, streetsmart, yet professional and authoritative. 100 went on to secure a record-setting proptech seed round, which we think speaks to the power of their B2H approach — from product vision to pitch.

Let’s Get Human

Today’s buyers, operators, and decision-makers don’t leave their humanity at the login screen. So why should your brand?

In an era where business is more distributed, digital, and decentralized than ever, the brands that win won’t be the ones shouting in industry-speak from behind a logo. They’ll be the ones showing up as clear, confident humans—ready to connect, solve, and build something better.