Getting the board onboard with B2B brand

Any good marketer understands the value in building a strong brand. But in those times you have to go to the board, brand can be a difficult topic to raise.

It's widely accepted that brand building has demonstrable value to a business, but many boards have their focus on short-term gains. From a blunt metric like ROI to over-focusing on ‘performance marketing’, there are many perception hurdles to overcome at board level when you’re looking to pull the right levers that build long-term growth. But if the C-Suite has any interest in generating a sustainable upward trajectory, then it is imperative that you are making the argument for brand strength.

The most valuable business asset

If you’re presenting to the board, then you need to speak the board's language. And you should start with assets. Your brand can, and should, be one of the most valuable business assets you have. Intangible assets (of which brand is a large part) now command 90% of the S&P500 market value. 

B2B businesses are rightly focused on the products or services they are selling, but they forget about who’s buying. And why. 

People’s motivations: their very human wants, needs and fears are shaping the business and its ability to grow.

Audience-focused

A recent study by WARC showed that up to 90% of B2B purchase decisions come from the list of brands on their “day one” list – that is, the vendors they already know and would consider. 

Added to this, the LinkedIn B2B Institute found that 95% of your audience are out of the buying market at any one time. So only 5% of your audience are in buying mode. With so few potential buyers actively looking for what you offer, you need to be in the minds of your audience BEFORE they come to their day of purchase. 

At Halo, we undertake Clinics. These are made up of Consumer Hacking, in which we distil and frame your evangelist audience, and Brand Pulse, where we look at the brand's performance against your competitive set. We then bring this all together in a face-to-face Summit, which engages the board in a way they really understand - based on research and data alongside expert opinion on brand.

Your brand is a salesperson

As a B2B business, your sales force is a primary driving force. But when your sales team is reaching out to your audience, you must ensure that you are being remembered. To achieve this, you must do two things; be easily identified, and have a clearly defined meaning. These two things are at the core of every strong brand – identity & meaning.

Ensure you’re easily identifiable

In marketing, the assets by which you’re identified are often called Distinctive Brand Assets. They are how people recognise, and associate with the brand. They might include your product or service (if it is actually distinctive), but will also include your name, logo, and tagline. Brand assets are distinctive because they are what makes a brand well known, or even famous. To paraphrase Sir John Hegarty, true brand success is when individuals who will never purchase a product or service are still aware of and familiar with the brand.

Whilst at LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, Peter Weinberg & Jon Lombardo analysed more than 300 brand assets from 59 brands across six of the biggest categories in B2B: including business intelligence (BI), business banking and business insurance. In an Adweek article they found that most B2B companies do not have any distinctive brand assets.

“B2B brands are all drowning in a sea of sameness. Every brand is blue, every brand is saying the same things in the same way.” Peter Weinberg

Now, we‘ve already covered some of the issues the C-Suite might have with brand, so it’s no surprise that there might be issues investing in creating distinctive brand assets. In a WARC article, Jenni Romaniuk, of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, identified some of these issues:

1. Assets are more difficult to create in a B2B context as they tend to be built through the sort of broad-reach marketing more typical in B2B.
2. There are assumptions that buyers will do research themselves, making such assets largely unnecessary.
3. They feel they need to be taken seriously as a business, and so don’t pursue certain assets.

These doubts are easily countered:

1. If you’ve identified and targeted your audience well, you will be able to create a level of fame within your identified niche.
2. As already identified, up to 90% of B2B purchase decisions come from the list of brands on their “day one” list. There is little ‘research’ going on when it is actually time to make a purchase.
3. Brand doesn’t negate seriousness. Would you say Visa or Mastercard weren’t ‘serious’ businesses?

But even if you manage to get the board to invest in creating some brand assets, that is only half of the battle. Once you are identified, you have to then mean something.

Have a clear meaning

There is a misconception that becoming famous is an ambition solely reserved for large B2C brands – your Coca Cola’s, Apple’s, and Amazon’s of the world. But some of the most well-known brands are actually B2B brands. IBM, KPMG, Salesforce, WeWork, JCB, Boeing – all B2B brands.

Too many B2B businesses take the approach that they just need to do sales, and don’t really look to grow any level of fame. This is a mistake. Just think how much easier would it be for your sales team if your audience is already aware of your brand?

Every B2B brand should be working towards becoming ‘niche famous’. As a B2B business, your aim should be to build fame within the segment that makes up your audience. You need to create a shared meaning for which you are known and remembered by your audience.

Remember, you have to be in the minds of your audience BEFORE they come to their day of purchase. 95% of your audience are out of the buying market at any one time. Yes, you need to target the 5% of people who are “in-market” today, but don’t forget to invest far more heavily in reaching the entire category with brand advertising that resonates with future buyers, and generates future cash flows.

Matter to the people that matter to you

For the C-Suite who are short on time, ensure you are always identifiable – in your communications and your internal culture. Remember, brand influences every part of the business, inside and out. And you must make your brand ‘niche famous’ for something – be known for what you want to be known for. If you do this then you will help make winning new business so much easier.

When you present to the board, then standing out from your competitive set, being remembered, and winning new business more easily, are great topics of conversation.