Industrial Branding

The Need for Branding in B2B Markets

§ Traditional view of B2B Marketing for almost 50 years

§ Build superior products
§ Optimum cost
§ Manage the sales and distribution channel
§ Promote the product
§ Traditionally B2B marketing has been predominantly
product-focused
§ Research in B2B branding done in the last fifteen years
only
§ Studies indicate that driving force behind most B2B
branding has just been
based on making the brand recognizable by a suitable
logo.
 Industrial Branding
The Need for Branding in B2B Markets

Situation is becoming difficult since B2B customers have

§ More information
§ More choices
§ Higher Expectations
§ Highly Competitive Environment
§ Primary purpose of a brand which is to make the
company, product or service recognizable is not enough
anymore.
Experts have recently stated:
§ Products are being viewed as commodities
§ Crowded field of companies offering similar and
increasingly
commodified products and services.
§ Rapidly changing technologies are making products
obsolete
 Industrial Branding
The Need for Branding in B2B Markets

§ Greater effort is required by companies to

avoid their products being viewed as
commodities.
§ If commoditization of industrial products
happens, due to various brands and suppliers,
price will be the only criteria for buying thus
decreasing company profits
Desirable Situation for B2B Brands:
§ Customer is willing to pay a price premium
§ Customer is willing to recommend brand to
peers
§ Customer is willing to give special
consideration to another product from the same
brand
 Industrial Branding
Meaning of Brand in Industrial Markets

An Industrial Brand represents a multi-dimensional

promise of value.
Four key dimensions:
§ Product Performance
§ Delivery Performance
§ Support Services Performance
§ Company Performance

Product Performance:
§ Quality, Reliability, Performance of the actual product
§ Can only be demonstrated by testimonials or trial use
 Industrial Branding
Meaning of Brand in Industrial Markets
Delivery Performance
§ Order Processing
§ Logistics Performance
§ Can only be demonstrated by building a
reputation and then leveraging it
Support Services Performance
§ Customer Services
§ Complaint Handling
§ After-sales support
§ Depends on swiftness and quality of response and
people.
 Industrial Branding
Meaning of Brand in Industrial Markets

Company Performance
§ Customers are looking for trust and commitment
§ ‘Perceived Risk’ associated with industrial products is
far higher than
consumer products.
§ Customers lower this perceived risk by buying from
recognized firms.

Distinctive aspects of building a B2B Brand:

§ Emphasis on the companies behind the brands, not only
the products
§ Based on more rational realistic and demonstrable
benefits
§ Sales Force is a major brand building tool due to direct
nature of contact in industrial markets. Purchase does not
only depend on the assessment of products, but the
assessment of the people also.
 Industrial Branding
Meaning of Brand in Industrial Markets

Distinctive aspects of building a B2B Brand:

§ Emphasis on the companies behind the brands, not only

the products
§ Based on more rational realistic and demonstrable
benefits
§ Sales Force is a major brand building tool due to direct
nature of contact in industrial markets. Purchase does not
only depend on the assessment of products, but the
assessment of the people also
§ Role of intermediaries also important (where applicable)
§ Company personnel need to keep brand promises and
values in mind and should demonstrate in all key
interactions with customers
§ Company standing should be regularly communicated to
customers
 Industrial Branding
Meaning of Brand in Industrial Markets
§ Secondary associations are important and
should be extensively used
§ Understanding that customers are buying
much more than a product:
They are buying a satisfaction to the need
They are lowering perceived risk
They are buying ‘peace of mind

§ Only by leveraging all dimensions of value

supporting by a marketing program that clearly
communicates and demonstrates the value can
a successful B2B brand be built and
commoditization can be avoided.
 Industrial Promotion
Promotional Mix

Promotion
§ An effort by marketers to ‘Inform and Remind’ and to
‘Persuade’ people to participate in an exchange

Promotional Mix
§ Combination of promotional tools an organization uses
 Industrial Promotion
Promotional Mix

§ Advertising
Paid, non-personal communication through various media by
organizations and individuals who are in some way identified in the
advertising message

§ Personal Selling
Face to face interactions between salespeople and customers

§ Sales Promotion
Any initiative taken by an organization to promote short-term
increase in sales, usage or trial of a product or service

§ Public Relations
The management function that listens to the public, changes policies
in response to public request, executes communication programs to
earn public understanding and awareness. Maintains relation with
various representative bodies.
 Industrial Promotion
Consumer vs. Industrial Promotion

Consumer Promotion
§ Advertising and ATL activities are the core feature
§ Personal selling would be prohibitively expensive therefore
electronic
media is used
§ Scope of sales promotion activities is high

Reasons
§ Number and geographically widespread nature of point of sales
§ Number, participants and locations of the distribution network
§ Presence of huge retail sector
§ Large number of customers and decision makers
§ Products carrying personal appeal
§ Products sold mostly on perception
§ Brand building is extremely essential
 Industrial Promotion
Consumer vs. Industrial Promotion

Industrial Promotion
§ As opposed to electronic media, focused and targeted
advertising is
used
§ High reliance on direct marketing and personal selling

Reasons
§ Electronic media advertising is usually superficial in nature and
not suitable for high involvement industrial products
§ Relatively fewer customers and decision makers
§ Products do not carry personal appeal since the usage is not
personal
§ Products sold on benefits rather than perceptions
§ Brand building is essential, but product are not sold on brand
alone
 Industrial Promotion
Industrial Advertising
§ Advertising is important in industrial marketing
§ Creates awareness
§ Improves attitude towards companies products and
services
§ Tries to create top-of-the-mind recall
§ Induces action in case of change in any stimuli
E.g. competition products having quality, delivery or
service issues
§ Company needing product that is not part of
competition product range
 Industrial Promotion
Industrial Advertising
§ Need for focused and targeted advertising efforts
§ Number of customer is low
§ Buying centers are involved
§ Effects of product buying decisions are more profound
§ Need for personal interaction between seller and buying
centers
§ Advertising media
§ General business and trade publications
§ Trade directory advertising
§ News or business channels on television
§ The internet
§ Direct marketing / Telemarketing / Email marketing
 Industrial Promotion
Industrial Advertising

Industrial advertising objectives

§ Create a favorable environment for sales calls

§ Project a financially healthy image
§ Support distributors or resellers
§ Create favorable image among difficult to
reach influencers
§ Generate leads for field sales personnel
§ Increase attendance at tradeshows
§ Increase distribution of catalogs
 Industrial Promotion
Industrial Advertising – Vehicles

§ General Business and Trade Publications

§ Energy Update
§ Pakistan Textile Journal
§ Defence Journal of Pakistan
§ Pakistan Journal of Surgery
§ Pakistan Journal of Medical Research
§ Business Recorder
§ Pakistan and Gulf Economist
§ The Motorist
§ Auto Mart
§ Trade Directories
§ Yellow Pages of Pakistan
§ Jamals Yellow Pages
§ On-line Directories
§ B2B Pakistan
§ Pak Tech Search
 Industrial Promotion
Industrial Advertising
§ Television
§ Selected channels focused towards business
viewers
§ Business News Channels
§ Internet
§ Own Website
§ Company Profile
§ Product Range / Performance Benefits
§ On-line Customer Community / Testimonials
§ Company News
§ Product Announcements
§ Helpdesk / Complaint Box
§ Value Added Services / FoC TCO Reduction
Advice