B2b Branding - Consumer Models Need Not Apply

B-to-B Branding:

Consumer Models Need Not Apply

The term "branding" is often misunderstood and not always warmly embraced in the business-

to-business environment. It is difficult to take a process that is typically used to describe the creation of yet another toothpaste in the consumer world and apply it to the marketing of electronic components, high-tech machinery or multi-million-dollar factory automation systems in the B-to-B world.

Adding to the confusion, some branding consultants try to apply a consumer-branding model to business-to-business markets, often with unsatisfying if not disastrous consequences. One client actually said, "Brand is a bad word around here." No wonder. After investing millions of dollars in a brand consultant and five years of time, the company had established only one thing—a color.

Does that mean that branding

has no business in business-to-business? Absolutely not. In fact, branding is a vital component of some of the most successful client marketing programs our agency

has ever implemented. The key

is recognizing what makes

B-to-B branding different from consumer branding and making those differences work for you.

A Little Branding Background

Branding is the process of defining and differentiating your company and how you add value to your markets and customers. Over time, the simplest expression of your brand comes to symbolize the host of values that differentiate you. These values are confirmed by your customers' experiences with your company and your products. Positive experiences build preference and affinity that go beyond the features, benefits, and even the performance of your products. Here, there is no threat of commodity status.

How is that different from consumer branding?

As a broad statement, branding in

the consumer world usually conjures up images like celebrities peddling cell phones, where lifestyle and image are everything. B-to-B branding,

by contrast, is a practical discipline, focused much more on products and services and their performance in application. Emotional appeals and lifecycle influences are minimal; B-to-B customers are driven by technical requirements, production issues, and performance expectations, which must be met in an efficient, reliable, and