The Finch Post

Time for B2B to Jump on the Brand Wagon

Like the Elephant Man who passionately proclaimed, “I am not an animal! I’m a human being,” so too are B2B buyers. This is not a new topic. It has been written about by many different people over the years, but compliance in the B2B community remains poor, so this is a message worth repeating.

Companies serving corporate accounts exist in a world where branding matters, even for them. In order to remain viable, they need to jump on the brand-wagon and connect with customers on a more personal level.

Sure, selecting from among companies isn’t akin to “Sophie’s Choice,” but that doesn’t mean that emotion doesn’t factor into the process. Contrary to popular belief, business customers do not purchase strictly on the basis of rational considerations such as pricing, specifications, performance, etc. Most purchase based on brand.

Whether they realize it or not, their decisions are frequently made long before the buying process is completed. The reason for this is simple: business buyers are still people, and people are governed by their emotions.

No matter how disciplined the buyer, most are overwhelmed with information and choices. Few can evaluate the various vendors and countless queries inherent in a typical business selection process without relying to a degree on instinct. The resulting decision process often entails buyers subconsciously justifying their initial emotional inclinations. In other words, your brand figures heavily in B2B buying verdicts, so give it the attention it deserves.

In a market characterized by gray uniformity, branding offers the best way for businesses selling to other businesses to add some color. Develop the right brand and you’ll help your salespeople close deals before they even start selling.

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Thanksbranding

Hear the word “Thanksgiving” and chances are images of piping hot turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie flood the brain. It doesn’t make any difference that the historical record is vague when it comes to the type of wild fowl originally served, or that cranberry sauce didn’t make its debut until about fifty years after the first Thanksgiving feast. We are happy to gobble down the Norman Rockwell version of our nation’s pilgrim past. That’s the power of branding. 

Strong brands are authoritative and tell compelling stories. They’re the reason why Everlast packs a punch, other ergonomic chairs take a back seat to Herman Miller’s Aeron, and why you don’t picture trout and apple sauce for Thanksgiving (forgive the shameless promotion of our clients).

While we all prepare to break out our sweatpants and feast on festive favorites, take a minute to ask yourself these questions: What images come to mind when people hear your company name? What story does your brand tell? Draw a blank, and you will have more to contend with over the next week than a healthy dose of heartburn. Companies that don’t know their proper brand positioning are like holidays without all the traditional trimmings and tantalizing tales—neither will hold the public’s interest for long.

The Amazing (but not all encompassing) Power of Facebook

In much of the social media buzz, it has been suggested that a presence on Facebook is replacing the need for a company website. But for a few rare cases; not from where we sit. For many businesses, the strengths of Facebook just don't jibe with a company's primary online objectives. For example, f-Commerce (sales transacted through Facebook) has yet to take hold; therefore, a Facebook page is not at all a replacement option for the traditional e-commerce website. Moreover, because the world of social media is so fluid, we would be hard pressed to recommend to anyone (regardless of industry or category) to link their entire digital presence to a platform that could become obsolete, like its predecessor (which was also unthinkable not too long before it happened). The emergence of Google+ at least serves as a warning that as ubiquitous as Facebook is, it's not free from threat.

Nevertheless, we remain enthusiastic advocates of Facebook and its role in a company's digital portfolio. Harnessed the right way, there remains no better mechanism for community aggregation and direct customer dialog. Here are two examples of clients we've helped incorporate Facebook into their suite of brand building activities.

Our relationship with Hydros Bottle began with packaging design and grew from there as they sought to create awareness of their revolutionary self-filtering water bottle.  We designed their website, and then applied the brand feel to Facebook, allowing both properties to do what each does best.  While f-Commerce hasn't taken off yet, we're betting that it one day will, as illustrated by the shopping tab we designed on their Facebook page. First things first, we are looking to give Hydros the exposure they deserve, beginning with the over 25,000 likers we've attracted to the page in the first three months.

 

Free Country,  a very successful wholesale manufacturer, wanted to use Facebook as a means to engage in direct dialog with consumers for the first time. In the process, the company has attracted countless non-aware customers thrilled by the quality and value of Free Country products, and  shocked that they hadn't  known of them prior. Two months in, Free Country has over 15,000 new fans.

 

Flying Finches!

Beyond expertise in Brand Strategy, Brand Design and Brand Demand, beyond providing grounded business insight, brand strategy expertise and design excellence; we Finches just know how to enjoy life!

 

www.flyschoolcircusarts.com

Brand Evolution in Action

Modell’s Sporting Goods, the nation’s oldest family-owned sporting goods retailer, has been in business since 1889. They’ve grown from an original store in lower Manhattan to over 140 retail locations clustered around major cities in the northeast. As emerging consumer trends and aggressive big box/specialty competitors brought price and perception pressures and weakened its position, Modell’s chose to explore how to advance its own brand evolution. In 2008 they brought in Finch Brands.

We leveraged comprehensive research initiatives which enabled us to design a brand platform with an invigorated vision, mission and position enhanced by core customer archetypes. In response to ever-increasing national competition, we repositioned Modell’s as the trusted, intimate community-based sporting goods retailer of choice. Then, we worked with Modell’s to understand the plan by which the brand strategy would be executed across the whole company, from internal organization and merchandising to store experience and marketing.

With a rejuvenated and definitive brand strategy, Modell’s management team has been able to build an aggressive internal mindset with a clear mandate dedicated to the company’s progressive evolution. As they approach their market with a clearer message and a stronger roadmap for setting standards and improving their overall brand experience, Modell’s re-launched its brand in early 2010 as a unified and focused business ready to fight for market share. See the results in action: 

 

Dirty Birds

 

Here’s our latest ad (note the small type) as run in the May issue of Smart CEO magazine. We sure hope nobody is offended!

 

Productive Start to the Week

Just broke out of our Monday morning meeting. I would consider it a pretty productive start of the week!

 

Ahem ...

It's so easy to forget that the stuff you are neck deep in is actually really cool and making a difference. But the revitalization of the Everlast identity still hits us in the jaw everytime we see it. Something we at Finch Brands are continually proud of.