Brand Identity for B2B Companies: What You Need to Know
Not too long ago, a small industrial company didn’t give a damn about its image, location, or physical plant. Most customers of these industrial operations would have been surprised to see just where the products they bought came from. Companies in industrial parks and manufacturing plants around the world were laboring in some nondescript structure without regard to what kind of image they were projecting. The logo that they used in 1962 was still good, and who cared about that stuff anyway?
Examples of strong, simple B2B logos
The Internet changed everything for B2B brands.
Having quality products and hoping the right people will find you through word of mouth or at the latest trade show is not enough. Now customers can find out a whole lot more about the companies that they choose to do business with. And the customers not only want to see it all; they will go online and look for every bit of information they can find. They demand to see who the heck is supplying them with the products that arrive on their loading dock each week. Further, if they don’t like what they see, or worse, can’t find what they want, they are a click of two away from finding other options. Of even greater concern, when they go looking, they will be targeted with messages and images from the competitors of their suppliers, and then retargeted and pursued relentlessly.
Google is a great source for helping businesses, but they also change their algorithms with customers in mind. They want to enable consumers and clients to find the exact information they are looking for. If your business isn’t taking advantage of the many opportunities there are to project a positive brand image to clients where they are looking for you, your business is missing out on prospects and revenue.
(Tip: The latest thing you need to know from Google is that if your website is not designed responsively by April 21, you’re going to have an uphill battle.)
The savviest B2B companies are pulling ahead of their competitors by updating their look, their message, their image, and their online presence, exchanging dated looks and brand personalities for modern, clean, simple brand identities.
For one of our clients, manufacturer of the highest-quality products in their category, it was time to do just that.
So, this past week, we took our clients’ (very large) products and shipped them over to a place they have never been in the 38 years they’ve been manufactured – to a photography studio. While there, they received the star treatment – the equivalent of hairstyling and makeup for products – and were polished and primped and put under the bright lights and scrims for 8 hours of close-ups and unique angles to make them into the stars of the new website and marketing program they will help to launch.
The new web site and brand identity will launch in a few weeks, and a former behind-the-scenes industrial manufacturer will emerge into the limelight and stand tall and proud. For the first time in their history, their image will be as good as their products. And we are all proud to be a part of it.
Tags: b2b, brand identity, logo design, manufacturing companies, messaging