Home About IUP Magazines Journals Books Amicus Archives
     
A Guided Tour | Recommend | Links | Subscriber Services | Feedback | Subscribe Online
 
Effective Executive Magazine:
Its a Fact : Strong Brands Drive B2B Markets
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Brands matter even more in B2B markets than in B2C markets. Companies have to understand this fact and leverage their full brand assets and create a strategic advantage. The article discusses various aspects in relation to B2B branding.To stay alive and flourish in highly competitive environments, business-to-business (B2B) companies spend more time and money on R&D. Suppliers focus on making their products more cost-effective and reliable, smarter, faster and smaller than the competition. They also find ways to improve and add services so that they provide customers with a complete and satisfying experience. Marketplaces are constantly changing, so companies have to adapt in order to stay ahead.

Brands matter because the B2B marketing communications world is characterized by numbing sameness, commoditized feature wars and laundry-lists of product benefits. In other words, there is a sea of noise, parity, clutter and dullness. Brandinggoing all the way back to its origins with Norse livestock herdersallows a producer or owner to distinguish his/her goods or services. Branding today is a strategic tool that helps the supplier cut through the morass of the market, get noticed and connect with the customer on many levels and in ways that matter. A strong brand becomes the customer's "shorthand" for making good choices in a complex, risky and confusing marketplace.

Brands matter because companies act just like people when it comes to evaluating what products or services to buy. Along with a number of explicit rational criteria, a powerful irrational impulse is always present to influence the purchase decision. A strong brand with an effective positioning strategy speaks to and taps into the totality of these buyer needs. Brands matter when supplier teams are doing business with buyer teams. Through effective internal branding efforts, the brand becomes the "glue" that binds the supplier culture and organization together, enabling the brand to make good on its external promise. Enterprise customers will reward a brand which delivers a unified, consistent and satisfying experience with repeat business.

 
 
 

It s a Fact : Strong Brands Drive B2B Markets,strategic advantage,markets,
Companies,B2B branding,competitive environments, business,marketing communications,supplier teams,buyer teams,pricing, specifications, product performance,Brand Importance,technological products,professional sports,
financial returns,stock movements,enterprise customers,services, assurance, solutions,marketing research,brand equals.