Is branding
relevant to B2B
companies?
Some notable
companies think
so. John Deere,
Siemens and
Boeing are just
a few examples
of strong B2B
brands.
by Phil Phillips, PhD
Contributing Editor
phillips@chemarkconsulting.net
As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Sherlock Holmes said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theo-
ries, instead of theories to suit facts.”
So what does this statement dealing with
data and facts have to do with branding?
There exists, by some sectors of the human
race, the concept that branding only really
works in the world of consumer products and
markets. In other words, to them brand loyalty
only works when Kellogg or Levis (and other
B2C) markets to a non-rational consumer base
its’ breakfast cereals or jeans. The concept of
branding to the “rational” population that exists in the B2B marketplace doesn’t apply.
Therefore, tractors, backhoes, electrical transformer, gas pipe, etc., are examples of product
lines that, to “sell” into their respective markets,
rely on hard-facts, and would not profit from
such irrational tactics as an emotional appeal.
Then logic would conclude that we, as human
purchasers turn our emotions (brand awareness)
way up when considering a box of cereal; can of
soup; or a box of pasta but turn it almost completely off when responsible for acquiring industrial equipment. Oh sure! That’s what we do!
Is branding relevant to B2B companies? Some
notable companies think so: Allis Chalmers,
John Deere, Case, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Bucyrus,
Massy Ferguson, Siemens, and Boeing are vivid
examples of strong B2B brands.
What is branding and what is it not?
First, branding is not about exciting people into
irrational buying tactics. The branding purpose
is not to create the illusion that a product is better than it in reality is. Great products can be,
however, sustained by great branding.
What is branding? Plainly speaking, a brand is
your promise to your customer. It tells them what
they can routinely expect from your products and
services, and it differentiates your offering from
your competitors’. Your brand is derived from
three fundamental and equal elements:
• who you are
• who you want to be
• who people perceive you to be.
What does branding accomplish? Consistent,
strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity,
which equates to added value brought to your
company’s products/ services that allows you to
charge more for your brand than what identical,
poorly or unbranded products command.
The added value essential to brand equity often comes in the form of perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, Buick
LaCrosse associates its product with star basketball player 7’ 5” Shaq O’Neil, hoping physically
large potential customers will transfer their emotional attachment from the athlete to the product. For Buick, it’s not just the car’s features that
sell the car. Another example, but of unsuccessful strong brand transfer, is when IBM (strong
brand) sold its laptop personal computer business
to a Chinese company . . . now called LENOVO
Group, LTD.
Facts, Data and Opinion -
Action
• Do your research. . . . . get the facts
• Learn the needs, habits and desires of your
current and prospective customers. . . . data
• Don’t rely on what you think they think.
Know what they think. . . . opinions
ACTIONS: Define Your Brand
Defining your brand is a venture of self-discov-
ery. The trip can be difficult, time-consuming
and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least,
the answers to these questions:
• What is company’s mission?
• What are the benefits and features of company’s products or services?
• What do company’s customers and prospects already think of the company?
• What qualities do you want customers to
associate with the company?
Conclusion:
Structuring and evolving a great brand must
become a sustained passion at the top and
throughout the entire organization. CW
Facts, Data and Opinion... Branding
