Brandished Brands: How Yours Can Be a Household Name

A brand can be so strong, you don’t even use the general name for an item—“pass me a Kleenex,” “I’ll get you a Band-Aid,” “I owe you a Coke.” These are all excellent consumer success stories, but building a brand in the business-to-business space requires much more careful strategy to make sure you communicate your value well.

Whether you’re focusing on tapping new markets or maintaining existing ones, it’s important not to lose sight of how the right strategy and effective marketing tactics can position your brand as an easily identifiable entity. Even in complex B2B markets, keeping it simple sends a clear message. Cisco Systems, for example, has a vast product offering of network systems, collaboration/voice/video services and data center components, which can seem overwhelming to the prospective customer. But their brief, memorable taglines “see it, live it, share it” focus on the solutions they can provide businesses, automatically enhancing the perception of the brand.

In the business-to-consumer world, becoming a household name means you’ve created such awareness and positive perception that customers believe they have no other alternative. In the B2B world, your marketing approach is obviously more targeted to specific market segments. Often the most effective brand strategies are those that zero in on becoming the household name of a certain price class, geographic area or vertical market. The brand is brandished with creative key messages to instill certain beliefs in the customer.

For example, CMA recently worked with a 102 year old manufacturer of sound proof wall board made from recycled newspaper. With 4-5 other competitors vying for the loyalty of the same market segments, CMA advised the company to take the approach of being the “premium performance alternative for sound control.” This way, the company staked claim to the middle of the road price point and built brand loyalty among a specific clientele who would keep this in mind long term.

Let us help you become a leader or maintain your brand loyalty with fine-tuned strategies and tactics that communicate and resonate. Check out www.cmasolutions.com to learn more about our expertise.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com