Success with a strong brand

Brands fascinate people, they give them orientation. They are both a promise and the fulfillment of a promise. Brands build trust. Products are exchanged at will. Product advantages often last only a short time; in many markets, new features are developed at breakneck speed, and imitation is even faster. Brands have personality, they are not so easy to copy, but they are also not so easy to develop.

This is just as true for B2B markets. Brand strength is a key success factor there, too. A strong brand influences customer preferences, it allows a price premium to be enforced, a brand does not have to participate in price wars, and continuity makes it easier to master crises and/or slow down the erosion of market shares. Brands help to sell better, brands bind customers as well as employees. And: brands represent a share of a company's value, and financial analysts are increasingly concerned with them.

No brand strength without care

However, companies or products do not become great brands by themselves. They are assets and must be treated as such: they must be invested in, created, nurtured and maintained. The best way to do this is with a clear process, as it is for B2B companies: a clean analysis, a clear conception of the brand, a consistent creative implementation in design and communication, a well-defined brand management, which is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, also corrected. This process of brand strengthening is particularly successful when the company management is behind it. External consultants can support, accelerate, improve, streamline, especially if they bring in strategy and creativity in equal measure, as we and a number of the GWA B2B agencies offer.

No brand building without clear strategic positioning

First of all, the uniqueness of a brand must be defined, and only then comes the issue of efficient communication. Professional agencies that see themselves as creative brand consultants to their clients therefore place the creation and/or sharpening of a clear identity and positioning at the beginning of their working relationships.

No positioning without a clean analysis 

Together, the company, the markets and the competition are looked at and the essence of data and facts is sought. In the process, questions arise that are also formulated by classic management consultants. Where does the company stand in the competition? What are its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and hurdles? Which product promises the greatest market success in the long term?

No success without precise knowledge of the needs of the target groups

An accurate picture of the target groups is essential. This is not only important for the conception of the brand, but also for efficient communication. This applies to BtoB as well as to BtoC. But... Many B2B marketers believe they know their customers because the number of customers is comparatively small. Nevertheless, there are sometimes large differences in the self-image and the image of others. The questions: "What keeps my customers up at night? What solutions can we offer the customer for his problems? What benefits does he derive from this?" surprisingly, many of the marketing managers cannot answer precisely. After all, the reports from the sales team that are relied upon are often very much colored by the fact that their main task is to sell existing products. Customer surveys, Mafo, but also workshops with creative methods can provide answers here and at the same time customer loyalty.

No conception without creativity

Creativity is becoming increasingly important in positioning. Not in the sense that an advertising copywriter invents a nice slogan that has nothing to do with reality. On the contrary, untrustworthy positioning that is not lived out does harm. A brand cannot position itself against its essential characteristics. In the BtoB sector, unfortunately, positioning is particularly uniform and is becoming more and more similar. The "eierlegende Wollmilchsau" positioning is particularly loved. Ma claims to offer best quality, competence, reliability, one is innovative and at the same time looks back on a long tradition and rich experience. Partnership and customer orientation must not be missing - even if the sales force sells mainly products, as it always has.

Where is there room for differentiation and uniqueness? Couldn't a focus on a concrete advantage that is visible at all touch points be much more credible and effective? Is it all really relevant to one's target group? Innovation, for example, the pride of entire industries, is not important to every customer and certainly not in this general statement. On the contrary, constant innovation can be scary. Innovation is excellent and ensures survival where it offers concrete, tested new solutions from which the customer can derive benefit, and this is also communicated in concrete terms.

Creative brand consultants like our brandguards work with their clients to find the core of the brand. Distinctive, credible, relevant and focused, this core is tested for marketability. And if the brand or the products are not unique or relevant for customers, they support the search for innovative solutions that inspire. This can be a product or service idea or an unusual communication idea. Then the brand can become a real or psychological market leader.

No brand without "internal branding"

With a uniform design, a unique brand idea can also be made visually unmistakable, so that a consistent image of the brand is imprinted on the minds of outsiders. But if the core competencies and core values of the brand are not lived by all employees in every situation, it won't help. BtoB brands are shaped by thousands of contacts by sales and service personnel. The sales process is long, complex and expensive. Many people are involved.
Employees are the most credibly assessed source, so personal persuasion is especially effective. Long-term success is only granted to the company that lives its brand promise, where every employee becomes a brand ambassador. Then the company can become a strong brand, appreciated and perhaps even loved for its reliability and stability.

Clear values, a distinctive corporate culture, employee participation in the development of visions, missions and brand values, the staging of brand worlds, concrete, detailed mission statements that also provide assistance with conflicting goals and are not just nice interchangeable phrases for the plaque in the entrance hall, all this and the full support of top management can inspire pride and passion for the brand. This also helps to increase attractiveness as an employer.