Oh the “B” word… My friend you have been mistreated, misunderstood, simplified and down right objectified. But you’re so much more than than a symbol. You’re more than a color palette. Brand… You are everything, and everything is brand.

When I say this statement in a meeting or amongst friends, a little jingle always pops in my head from a band you might know, Salt-N-Pepa. In my version, I swap out a couple of choice words, but the basis of the song rings true to the modern definition of brand. It goes…

Let’s talk about ‘brand’, baby

Let’s talk about you and me

Let’s talk about all the good things

And the bad things that may be…

So, let’s talk about brands...

More specifically I want to discuss B2B brands, especially brands in historically more traditional industries like manufacturing and oil and gas.

Let’s talk about ‘brand’, baby

First, I want to level set with you. Whether you see it or not, a fundamental shift is occurring. Brands have to stop behaving like faceless institutions and more like people. Customers are demanding that companies be more transparent, empathic and authentic. Brands in the narrow sense of logos and taglines form only the tip of the corporate identity iceberg.

B2B customers are more than 2x as likely to consider a brand that shows personal value over business value, because they perceive little difference in the business value between suppliers (Marketing Week).

For decades, B2B companies thought:

1. Business decision-makers are rational in their thinking and purchasing.

2. B2B sales are more about the relationship of the individual salesperson and the customer counterpart.

3. Branding only focuses on visual identity.

4. The workplace has an extremely narrow emotional bandwidth.  

It’s clear the old ways are changing by looking at highly valued brands like Caterpillar, GE or SAP. In the old days, brand was linked to your reputation: sayings like “no one ever got fired for buying IBM”. But times have changed. The formal sales pitch, tactical marketing approach and occasional service call of yesterday have been replaced today by relationships where companies interact on a more personable level.

Let’s talk about you and me.

Today, B2B brands have to connect on a more human or emotional level. Think more YOU than me. Wait, what?

Research shows that emotions impact decision making because, as humans, we innately apply emotions to frame our decisions. B2B buyers are overwhelmed with product features, functions, tech specs and benefits. No matter how defined the buying process is, buyers will still use emotions in their purchasing decision.

Harvard Business Review found that 64% of people cite shared values as the main reason they have a relationship with a brand.

Connecting on an emotional level can many times be met when people align themselves with purpose-driven brands. Brands that recognize and embrace their customer’s perspective. What’s the “Why” underlying their purchase decision? What’s in it for them? Why should they care about your brand? How much time does your Marketing and Sales team spend simply listening to your audience - identifying their frustrations, their key goals, what keeps them up at night, etc?

For businesses, selecting products and vendors goes beyond features and price. Unlike a consumer purchase where little penalty is experienced when switching, i.e. swapping deodorant brands, the stakes can be quite high for businesses. Based on a purchase decision, businesses might have to train their people or update equipment or processes to gain desired performance. A B2B purchase isn’t a one-off. It’s often an implicit commitment to buy future products and services. These considerations amplify the importance of the brand behind the product or service. B2B buyers are concerned with the longevity and vitality of the brand, but more importantly they are considering how the purchase will reflect on them personally. Will they be remembered for hiring an excellent vendor, or will they earn the reputation as the person who bought the worst product in company history? Did your company or product help them gain positive recognition, or did you merely earn a contract and fail to connect with the buyer?

Google and CEB found that B2B buyers are almost 50% more likely to make a purchase and 8x more likely to pay a premium when emotionally engaged.

Let’s talk about all the good things.

B2B brands focused on the customer’s desires often have better financial performance. Alignment leads to greater access, lower price sensitivity, better openness and more forgiveness for mistakes.

Deloitte found that customer-centric brands are 60% more profitable than brands not focused on the customer. A study by Gallup found that B2B companies reporting high client engagement achieved 50% higher revenue and 34% more profitability than their counterparts.

A powerful B2B brand creates meaningful near and long term value, such as:

And the bad things that may be...

With the increasing omnipresence of mobile devices and digital touchpoints, B2B companies in more traditional industries must rethink their brand strategies beyond the phone calls and face-to-face time.

In our experience, which is largely in oil and gas, the perception of “brand” and its value lags behind many of the B2B statistics stated here. When the soul of the company is engineering-focused, it’s often tough for upper management to walk in their customer’s shoes. Their comfort-level is focusing on their products, services and features. Often times, they miss the fact that in our constantly informed, highly commoditized marketplace, in which every vendor claims the same capabilities, their brand can the the one tool, which can truly set them apart.

Google debunked some widely held beliefs we have heard many times in our industry. Beliefs like millennials aren’t making B2B decisions, B2B marketing should target the highest level executive or branded searches should be the focus of your marketing strategies.

Myth 1: Millennials aren’t making B2B decisions.

• Reality: Nearly half of all B2B researchers are millennials
• Between 2012 and 2014, a dramatic shift in the number of millennial B2B researchers grew 70%.

Myth 2: B2B marketing should target the highest-level executives.

• Reality: B2B researchers who are not in the c-suite influence purchase decisions

Myth 3: Branded searches should be the focus of your marketing strategies.

• Reality: B2B researchers who are not in the c-suite influence purchase decisions.

Strong B2B brands go beyond traditional tactics and communications about product features, performance and ROI. B2B buyers may be looking for all that, but at the heart they’re also looking for trust, confidence, ease, security and affiliation with a leader.

"Brands that deliver beyond the functional and economic levels with emotional benefits will command an incremental price premium and create strong competitive advantage and customer brand loyalty," Professor Mohanbir Sawhney summarizes, Professor of Technology at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Conclusion

Brand is everything, and everything is brand.

If your idea of re-branding is to create a new logo then you are missing out on a much greater opportunity.

A strong brand makes B2B customers more disposed to buy, just as it does in B2C. Creating that value is not about managing the company’s image; it’s about managing the authentic identity that shapes how the company thinks and behaves, as well as how it communicates and engages with customers.

Strong B2B brands act less like inanimate objects and more like humans. They:

1. Promise a "true" customer relationship

Creating a “true” customer relationship starts by recognizing and embracing your customer’s desires and motivations. Tailoring your strategies to not only engage with buyers before a purchase but long after the purchase has taken place. It takes the team asking itself, beyond marketing communications, how do you empower Sales, Customer Support, Engineering, Accounting teams, etc. to create genuine, brand-on relationships with the customer?

2. Create meaningful near and long term value for the customer and themselves. 

Companies who expand their brand beyond a logo and focus on customer desires and expectations often have better financial performance. Better customer alignment leads to greater access, lower price sensitivity, better openness and more forgiveness for mistakes.

3. Go beyond traditional methodologies to craft memorable experience

Successful B2B brands go beyond traditional tactics and communications about product features, performance and ROI. They know B2B buyers may be looking for all that, but at the heart buyers are also looking for trust, confidence, ease, security and affiliation with a leader. Strong brands build relationships through content, nurture streams and 1:1 engagements, etc. that consistently reinforce a buyer’s true desires.