B2B Branding Research

So, we just finished the Branding and Research project that I've mentioned before on BigWordzProject (here and here).

All in all it involved: 6 weeks, 61 in-depth-interviews, 2 continents, 6 cities, 9 flights, 67 taxi rides, 2 cases of amoebic dysentery (not me, thankfully), 147 Starbucks visits (there's two on each corner in London, so you never have to cross the street to get your (well, my) venti coffee frappucino lite with an extra espresso shot), 62 restaurants, 1 eleven PM frantic search for a hotel in NYC as the DoubleTree all of a sudden had neither my reservation nor a room, 1 lost iPod and set of Bose Headphones, 1 really bad meat stromboli (told you to just get a slice), and 1 really good meal in Chinatown in London after the restaurant already closed at 11 PM, and the best $1 hamburger I've ever had.

Well, some of these numbers are a little exaggerated, but we really did the 61 in-depth-interviews (with clients, non-clients, internal stakeholders, industry analysts, partners).

While I can't go into specific details about some of the results (competitive advantage and all of that), one of our key findings is just how important Brand is in the B2B / Services marketplace.

This actually came as a surprise to some of the project team members, and while I hate to say it, "I told you so."

(Actually, I very much enjoyed saying that).

No company has every bought anything from any company. What does happen is this: A person in one company buys something from another company. And for some reason, people assume that when that person walks into work, he (or she, of course) suddenly puts on this 'Business Consumer' hat, and is not influenced by the same type of emotional triggers that they are affected by before or after work or on the weekends when they are wearing their plain old 'Consumer' hat. Still the same person, still the same emotions, still the same desires to be made better/taller/faster/bigger/thinner/more successful. And they are looking for a product or service that they can trust, that will help them achieve those goals with as little (perceived) effort but as much (perceived) value as possible. And unless they've already been working with someone, the only thing they have to go on is the brand of the company they are considering.

Every single touchpoint is important. Press relations, analyst relations, articles/trade press, white papers, events/trade shows, web site (and as an aside, the Web actually plays a very specific, yet surprising role in all of this, at least in the two main industries - technology and marketing - we serve at Sapient - this was one of those 'Wow' moments during the research), call centers, service/client facing personnel, all need to be living, constant, consistent, embodiments of the brand. Of course, you need to understand what your brand is, what it represents to clients/prospects (your market), and more importantly what it can represent to them. And then spend time, effort, and $$$ building it. It's simple.

Why this is surprising to people, though, is beyond me. But now, we have the research to show this, and some people are listening. Which was the whole point of me pushing for and then doing this research - we now know, in fairly certain terms, the importance of Brand in B2B. And what we need to do to leverage, extend, and grow our brand in our key markets.

The research specifically showed the importance and direct relation of Brand to inclusion in initial consideration set, inclusion in final consideration set, pricing, perceived value, client satisfaction, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on. And now that we know this, we are going to be focusing our efforts on the specific areas where we have, shall we say, opportunities for improvement.

Like I used to tell clients when I used to be client facing, it's really amazing what you can learn when you talk to your customers.

When was the last time you asked your customers what they thought?