Find What Matters: The Importance of B2B Branding
By Mary Louise Rubin
CMO
While the general concept of “branding” has proliferated every aspect of our experiences, daily choices and even personal lives (must we all be brands as well as people??), it is surprising to note that many of the well-established tricks and tools employed by marketers, branding experts and agency creatives seem to still be underutilized in the B2B world. The perhaps overused but still insightful question “If your brand was a car, what kind of car would it be?” always sparks new ways of thinking for non-marketers to begin to articulate what they want their brand to say about their company and products. The question begins to explore the emotional side of what a company (i.e. brand) offers and establishes a connection to a potential customer by tapping into something they care about. While the B2B world may often feel more functional and product/service driven, it is just as important to find the emotional side – like the happy feeling I get when I buy a new pair of joggers from my favorite “athleisure” brand, or indulge in that favorite cookie to keep me energized between Zoom meetings.
An article in Marketing Week, Why B2B brands need to invest in brand marketing speaks to the importance of the emotional connection between a B2B company and its buyers and clients. In it, cyber security CEO and author Tim Matthews explains why brand narratives and connections matter in any industry. “People buy from people so it is crucial any B2B brand can find a narrative,” he says. “If there is an origin story around the founder then future buyers will connect with that and the brand.”
I experienced an example of why B2B brand narratives are just as important as those in the B2C landscape when I worked briefly for a boutique construction management company. The firm achieved an impressive level of success without investing in marketing or branding beyond the sleek design of their logo and the impressive project photography on their website. Besides building large-scale residential towers from the ground up, the company built its success based on the vision, reputation and integrity of its founder and CEO, combined with the experience of the team around him. No one at the company had the word “marketing” in their title and yet it grew by leaps and bounds to become a top player in New York City construction in less than a decade.
This company is not alone in achieving organic growth without spending much time to stop and think about what the company really stands for or how they want it to evolve beyond winning the next proposal. So does every B2B company really need a “brand” story and marketing messaging behind it?
Eventually the CEO began to feel a pain point every time he pointed a new potential client to the website, an outdated site that no longer reflected why his company is different. “What do you want your company to stand for?” I asked him. There began the conversation about why brands matter, regardless of the industry or audience a company serves, and how important it was to begin to articulate and share his company’s authentic story, one that started with his own passion and perseverance.
While every small company that achieves growth is built first and foremost on its founder’s visions, the people who believe in it, and their collective experiences and skills that deliver results, there will eventually be a moment when the company has to stop and build its brand too. Without that narrative and the reasons why potential buyers should care, a company may never know their highest potential.