Business Brand or Business Bland
Building a killer brand isn’t always top of the priority list for B2B businesses. Whilst some business brands have moved on considerably towards more human-centric communications, we still see so many falling into generic brand tropes – ‘we’ve got you covered’, ‘beside you all the way’ etc etc.
Until recently building a killer brand has rarely been an overt objective of B2B marketers .The penny does seem to be dropping in the world of business brands and is gathering pace with large dollops of creativity as it goes. Is it worth it though and what are the principles?
Well, to create a killer brand the principles are identical to those of the consumer brand. We are after all selling to people and people have never been surrounded with so much noise, clutter, information, distractions and touch points.
Driving business growth with clear Brand Positioning
At IF., we create B2B brands that are in every way as ‘killer’ – in being original, distinctive, relevant, truthful and brave as the consumer brands that we create and build. Assumptions are nullified and we don’t adhere to old school B2B cliches and language. The result is that our B2B Clients are winning, by delivering strategies and creative solutions that stand out, keeping their brands front and centre across the full customer journey. This is vital as whilst the emotional decision making can be as fast as in B2C, the rational justification process can be far longer and involve many stakeholders – so your Brand Story not only has to cut through, it also has to be able to sustain interest over time.
Take Mailchimp as a great example. Knowing their audience is always time poor, their functionality and user experience is super simple and efficient. But it’s their personality that wins the hearts of business development managers and kitchen table entrepreneurs everywhere. Their tone of voice is anything but bland; demonstrating they are in this with us, supporting our ambitions and celebrating the success; one emailer at a time.
Why Brand Positioning in B2B Matters
The impact for brands in the B2B space who have the ambition to leave the bland behind and be distinct is there waiting to be had, right this minute.
Competing for the attention of business audiences has never been trickier. They’re overwhelmed with options and bombarded with messages through more channels than ever. But establish a killer brand for your business and these challenges and countless others become far easier to solve.
The case for Killer B2B Branding
From our research, we know that brands matter, and they create bottom line impact. One important revelation for B2B companies is how important the emotional dimension of the brand is. “Hard” facts matter, such as expertise, but the emotional components, such as “fits in well with my values and beliefs,” is an important element when B2B customers consider a brand.
McKinsey 2024.
We’re only human. The triggering of emotion in decision-making has clearly landed from the consumer space to the business world. We are also taking into account the Decision-Making Unit (DMU) in our B2B customer organisations; the team involved in decision-making. How can we play into the pain points and needs of all of the individuals, with their specific and often different needs?
