Company Branding
Don't Underestimate the Power
Often B2B marketers consider company branding to be the territory of business-to-consumer brands, but consider for a moment a
few of the world's most profitable global brands: Microsoft, IBM, GE, Intel and HP.
Many companies have achieved success in the B2C area, but the largest revenues by far are generated by sales to other businesses.
Intel is a terrific example of a successful B2B company brand, meaning it makes absolutely no sales to end consumers, yet the
"Intel Inside" brand is widely advertised by computer manufacturers as a key component of their product. Clearly, B2B company
brand building should be viewed as an important part of your business's overall marketing strategy.
If you are involved in a larger business, you will likely have to address hundreds or even thousands of prospective targets
since reaching these companies with a direct sales force would be impractical. This is another advantage of company branding:
killing multiple birds with one stone.
Corporate logos, taglines and packaging are most effective when united by one company brand. If you don't pull together a
cohesive marketing brand, your marketing efforts will be confusing to prospects and your company will appear to be
disorganized. Ultimately, this will result in lost sales as your prospects will not feel comfortable trusting an unprofessional
organization.
With all of the advantages offered by a distinctive company brand, it's important to remember that successful company branding
involves more than slapping a name on a service or product. It requires a huge investment of time and resources, and a company
must be willing to make this investment over the long haul in order to develop an effective brand. If this is not the case,
you're better off not bothering at all. Your marketing dollars will be better spent on other methods.
Another warning for company marketing professionals involves focusing your efforts on a single brand, or a limited number of
brands. Few companies can support a wide array of product names since this distracts the customer from hearing a clear
message.
Successfully branding your company goes much deeper than just thinking up a clever slogan for your product or service, but the
rewards are considerable.
For more information on having MarketBlazer guide your business to
the next level in marketing, call (770) 406-6343 or email us at
info@marketblazer.com.
