Does branding work in B2B?
Copywriter extraordinaire Bob Bly questions if branding really works in B2B (a common question from the direct marketing side of the coin).
He quotes Gordon Graham, a B2B copywriter:
Certainly ‘branding’ has SOME value in terms of positioning and making any company look like a together, prosperous firm. But real, solid branding has to be earned, not just claimed.
Real branding has to be earned. That’s an excellent way to put it. Gordon goes on to give examples of misdirected branding efforts masquerading as real branding, but his second sentence really nails where branding is valuable.
In the comments, Derrick Daye offers some insight on what leading organizations have achieved when they earn their brand status:
- Increased revenues and market share
- Decreased price sensitivity
- Increased customer loyalty
- Additional leverage with vendors and retailers (for manufacturers)
- Increased profitability
- Increased stock price, shareholder value and sale value
- Increased clarity of vision
- Increased ability to mobilize an organization’s people and focus its activities
- Increased ability to expand into new product and service categories
- Increased ability to attract and retain high quality employees
I think the answer is a resounding yes. I’ve seen all sizes and types of businesses leverage their existing brand (not just redesign!) for improvement in the areas listed above. The question shouldn’t be if branding works or not — “you cannot not brand”. The question is are you branding on purpose?
Spread Firefox: Mozilla leverages passionate users to grow market share
This article in BusinessWeek reports on the spread of Firefox, a browser which has grabbed to 10% of the market from Internet Explorer in two years (I switched a while back from Safari).
Several colleagues have happily switched to Firefox from Internet Explorer at the behest of a tech-savvy friend, vendor, or relative. None have looked back.
Don’t miss the Firefox crop circle created on the OSU campus.
That’s a passionate group of users.
Ze Frank on Branding
Ze Frank reviews the news everyday on The Show. It’s excellent comedy with a very edgy and intelligent approach. Today’s episode delivers an interesting look at branding and what mental twist it takes to desire to be associated with a tragedy.