PPB September 2016

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BRANDABLE
A Dose Of Ingenuity
Want better results from your B2B branding efforts?
Inject innovation into your marketing.
With manufacturing and
creativity at the heart of the
promotional products industry,
it seems logical that B2B
marketing efforts should
reflect the same level of
ingenuity. Take a look at your
brand. Does it need a shot of
innovation? Take your cues
from GE, which is rebuilding its
reputation by taking the same
no-holds-barred approach
to its marketing as it does to
research and development.
1Take Risks. You probably
go to great lengths to
create genius campaigns for
your clients; why not do the
same for your own company?
GE eschewed traditional
marketing tactics, producing a
National Geographic TV series
and launching out-of-the-box
social media campaigns to
reach an audience it believed
would respond favorably to the
company’s renewed focus on
industry and innovation.
2 Treat Branding As A
Behavior. Taglines, logos
and catch-phrases aren’t enough
anymore. Brands should do
more than bring customers to
the table; they should engage
customers throughout the life of
the transaction.
3 Give Your Brand A Job. If
your company is all about
products, the brand you present
will be rather one-dimensional.
You’re a firm that engages in
transactions, and that’s okay. But
if you want to build long-term
relationships with consumers,
your brand should further your
company’s mission. GE challenges
students to describe experiments
using the company’s technology
that can disprove the scientifically
or technologically “impossible.”
It’s not the product itself that sells
best, but rather what the product
can do for the customer.
4 Fine-Tune Your Target
Audience. Don’t aim for
the most customers, aim for
the right customers. If they
truly believe in your company’s
mission and the value
proposition you preach, the
right customers become brand
ambassadors for life.
| SEPTEMBER 2016 | 71
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• 844-251-8544 (toll free)
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