C-end brands require long-term investment, just like Coca-Cola, a century-old brand, will still advertise. It is often mentioned that the C-end is emotional consumption, the B-end is rational consumption, and the B-end is not suitable for large-scale burning of money. So does branding matter in the B2B market?
1. What is the brand?
With the development of new technologies and the Internet, most industries in the world are facing structural adjustment, which has been greatly accelerated by the epidemic. The future of the brand is the future of the enterprise, and sooner or later, the brand will become the only sustainable and important competitive advantage.
Brand is an intangible concept. To simplify and make it easy to grasp, a brand is often equated with the more tangible marketing communication elements that support it - advertisements, signs, symbols, sounds, etc. However, a brand is much more than that, a brand should include the following .
A brand is a promise;
A brand is everything people perceive – everything you see, hear, read, know, feel and think about a product, service or business;
Brands occupy a distinctive position in consumers' minds based on past experiences, associations and expectations for the future;
Brands are shortcuts for expressing attributes, interests, beliefs and values, creating difference, reducing complexity and simplifying decision-making.
2. There is a difference between 2B and 2C
Compared with the C-end, the B-end purchase decision is very long. The B-end product purchase situations are roughly divided into three categories - direct repurchase, adjusted repurchase and new purchase.
1) Direct repurchase is the most common purchase situation and involves the least risk.
When you need a new ballpoint pen, chances are your purchasing department won't re-evaluate potential suppliers' terms. Low-cost items like most office supplies are purchased on a regular basis. Most companies have some form of "approval list", which also shows that the disadvantage of B-end products is that it is difficult to develop the market, and the advantage is that it is not easy to pry customers away by other products.
2) Adjustment and repurchase means that the company intends to adjust the way to meet the existing demand. It may be to reduce costs or improve performance, but it may also be forced to change due to some new regulations.
3) Brand new purchases refer to the company having completely new requirements for products or services.
In such purchasing situations, the lack of experience due to the first purchase often increases uncertainty and risk. The greater the cost and risk of a new task, the more people involved in the purchasing decision and the longer it takes to make the decision. The ideal situation is to collect, examine and evaluate all available information and ultimately choose the best solution. Branding can speed up this decision-making process, especially when time is of the essence.
In the case of direct repurchase, one procurement person is sufficient, while in the case of a new purchase, the procurement key person may include representatives telemarketing list from different levels and departments within the organization, as shown in the figure below.
3. What are the advantages of building a brand?
1) With the iterative development of technology and the intensification of Internet competition, the number of similar B-side products and services has surged, and the ever-accelerating business and production model innovation and the continuous development of new technologies have made product life cycles shorter and shorter. And building a brand can reduce the risk of being eliminated.
2) B-end product functions continue to increase telemarketing list in complexity in order to meet the growing needs of enterprises. Buyers have to face information overload, and sellers either "dump" a lot of information on technical descriptions or product features to buyers through brochures, manuals, catalogs, websites, etc., or wait for customers to actively search for information or give up.
In such a complex and diverse world, where product information is not automatically and equally accessible to members of the purchasing center, B2B marketing must recognize the need to simplify the information provided to customers. It might be helpful to have all relevant information in the brand's focus.
3) When the blue ocean market becomes the red ocean market, B-end manufacturers will face incredible price pressure. Buyers sometimes choose well-known brands with higher prices, and they often think that they have chosen "safety". Fired for buying Huawei. Forget the perfectly rational and perfect "business" person, a brand is a shortcut to express attributes, interests, beliefs and values.