Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Waldemar Pfoertsch
Oct. 2006
Establishing a B2B Brand
Establishing brands in a B2B environment is different from
branding to the general public. The role and the mechanism of
an industrial brand strategy have to be more focused than those
pursued and implemented in consumer markets.
The main difference between B2B and B2C markets can be
found in the nature and complexity of industrial products
and services, the nature and diversity of industrial demand,
fewer customers, larger volumes per customer, and last but not
least, closer and longer-lasting supplier-customer-relationships.
A holistic branding approach is required, that everything
from the development, design, to the implementation of
marketing programs, processes, and activities is recognized as
intersecting and interdependent.
The buying situations of B2B companies can be broken down
into three recurring types: the straight re-buy, modified re-buy,
and new task.
Establishing a B2B Brand
The members of the buying center can be classified
according to their role in the buying decision: the user, buyer,
decider, and influencer. They all have to act considering the
complex influential dimensions on and in the buying center.
An organizational buying process can encompass the
following stages: problem recognition, general need
description, product specification, search for and evaluation of
potential suppliers, proposal solicitation and analysis, supplier
evaluation and selection, order-routine specification,
performance review.
Interpersonal and individual factor of the buying center
members are human factors in business decisions.
Establishing B2B brands encompasses creating trust,
confidence and comfort for all partners in the buying process
Even commodities can be branded as Tata Steel has done it
Guiding Principle
To Brand or Not to Brand
Brands cannot be created over night. The decision
to brand a product, line of products, or company needs
to be based on evidence that brands do actually
matter in the respective area.
The environment for establishing and managing
brands is complex and dynamic. Brand management
is challenging – whether you are in the consumer
goods, services or industrial products sectors.
B2B Branding Decision
Branding is just as relevant in B2B as it is in B2C. Brands
like Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Dell, SAP, Siemens, Boeing are
vivid examples of the fact that some of the world’s
strongest brands do exist in B2B.
Branding is not about stirring people into irrational buying
decisions – it is rather an effective and compelling
means to communicate the benefits and value a product or
service can provide.
Branding is about taking something common and
improving upon it in ways that make it more valuable and
meaningful.
Trusted brands act as touchstones, offering orientation
the flood of information, and many other benefits and
advantages to buyers.
A brand is much more than a product, a brand name, a
logo, a symbol, a slogan, an ad, a jingle, a spokesperson;
these are just tangible components of a brand – not the
brand itself!
B2B Branding Decision
“Brand” comprises various aspects. A brand is a promise,
the totality of perceptions – everything you see, hear,
read, know, feel, think, etc. – about a product, service, or
business. It holds a distinctive position in customer’s minds
based on past experiences, associations and future
expectations. Branding should always start at the top of
a business. Building, championing, supporting and
protecting strong brands is everyone’s job, starting with the
CEO.
Brands do pay off. Companies with a strong brand can
benefit tremendously from it.
The most important brand functions in B2B are increased
information efficiency, risk reduction and value
added/image benefit creation.
Branding Dimensions
Stop underestimating the power of brands in B2B!
Branding should be the thread running through the subject
of Marketing.
Make a consistent impression with all your stakeholders
at every single point of interaction, and do not forget that
one of the most important things in B2B brand
management is to reduce complexity for the customer.
Build a strategic brand architecture that supports and
enhances the type and nature of your company and
distinguish between Corporate, Product, and Family
Branding.
The most common brand strategy in B2B is a corporate
brand in combination with a few product brands. But also,
Ingredient Branding as a form of multi-stage branding,
becomes increasingly relevant for supplies and OEMs.
Branding Dimensions
The major communication instruments in B2B are
Direct Sales, Direct Marketing, PR, Specialized Press,
Sponsorships, Trade Shows and Exhibitions, Advertising,
Sales Promotion, and E-Marketing.
It is essential for every brand to implement a
comprehensive and adequate measurement system to
gauge and guide brand success.
It is crucial to effectively communicate the values of
your brands to your own people.