7 Smart Tips to Help You Change Your B2B Brand

Any company that does it needs to think carefully about rebranding. A rebranding takes a lot of time and money, whether it’s because of a merger or acquisition, changing customer wants, or a crisis. The ROI, on the other hand, can be huge. A good rebranding can give a business a new look, boost its value, and open up new growth opportunities.

Here are seven important lessons I’ve learned in the 15 years I’ve worked as an internal team member and an external expert for global B2B technology companies during rebranding projects.

1. Look inside yourself first.

Why do you do what you do? Don’t just talk about the services or goods your business offers or how it serves them. First look at your purpose and then write it down. It’s the “why” that people buy that matters.

No matter how great the numbers or long lists of benefits are, they don’t move people to buy. Based on how they feel, people are hardwired to do things like buy hardware and/or apps. Also, people who buy tech do so based on how they feel.

Going back to your “why” will help you with your rebranding and the creation of your message framework, which includes your brand story. You might also need to change your purpose, vision, and values. Your leadership team and human resources can help you with this.

2. You might not have to begin from scratch.

Your rebranding could happen in three to six months if the company name doesn’t need to change. A group of three digital marketers on my team and I worked with an outside design company that I had worked with before to update the corporate and product logos, the color scheme, and the website and product data sheets.

We rewrote all of that material with the help of the executive team and product management so that we could show off our new look in 14 weeks, just in time for the company’s 40th anniversary. We were able to meet that deadline, which made the rebranding a bigger event because we didn’t have to start from scratch and had reliable design tools who could get to work right away.

3. Ask outside experts to help you.

Work with a branding firm if you want to change the name of the business. They will be able to give you a lot of name ideas based on different types:

• Acronyms, like “IBM.”
• Names that describe something, like E*Trade.
• Names with two parts, like Microsoft.
• made up names (like Google).

When you do business outside of the U.S., they will also help you avoid any language or culture problems that might come up. They can also help you get a new domain name for your website, which may include dealing with a broker and checking to see if social media handles are available.

When making your new visual identity, it’s best to work with an outside design company. These groups know how to do this because they have the knowledge and skills to do it. That also lets your in-house design team keep their attention on the day-to-day marketing tasks that keep the business running.

You can choose to work with more than one branding firm or contractor, or the one you choose may also offer graphic design and web development services. Get suggestions from people you trust to start the screening process, and know that you’ll need someone to oversee the whole project.

4. Pay attention to what your customer says.

If you hire a branding firm, they should talk to or survey a number of your customers. Also, it’s a good idea to talk to workers from all levels of the company, from top managers to people who work in sales and customer service. Aside from customers and partners, don’t forget to ask these important people how they see the business.

As part of a recent project, a client changed the name of its business based on comments from customers. Two different customers’ words were put together to make a new company brand name that makes the value proposition very clear.

Yes, that was some strange marketing magic. Of course, if you listen to your customers, you’ll find other great marketing ideas, like blogs, case studies, testimonial videos, campaign themes, and even new goods or features with new uses.

5. Always stress value.

People should do business with a company because its brand tells them of its value. One great case study from St. John’s University that shows this is called “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” It talks about how this phrase, which summed up BMW’s value statement in a simple and elegant way, became the company’s longest-running slogan.

“Clarity sells,” says Donald Miller, author of “Building a StoryBrand” and “Marketing Made Simple.” I know that B2B sales and marketing are more complicated. These books are great for people of all levels, whether they are new to marketing or have been doing it for a long time. Miller says it’s important to make it clear what problem your business solves because “stating the problem adds value to your products.”

That’s why you should be able to quickly and clearly explain how your business helps people. Miller suggests writing a “one-liner” with a problem, an answer, and a result. (Okay, you might need two sentences sometimes.) Also, please don’t use words. Use everyday words that most people will understand.

6. Get law and IT involved as soon as possible.

I really liked the first season of “NCIS.” Even though Agent Gibbs’ rule No. 13 says “never, ever, involve a lawyer,” you’ll need one if you want to trademark a new name, logo, icon, or tagline.

Your branding firm can do a quick look in the U.S. But you’ll need more help with trademarks from lawyers. They can tell you how likely it is that your top name choices will come up in searches in other countries where you want to protect your marks.

You don’t want your investors and leaders to become attached to a name that has a high risk of not being cleared. You also can’t work on your creative tools until you have a name. Also, an IT person needs to be on the rebranding team so that the launch goes smoothly and the website and email addresses are all in sync.

7. Start from the inside out.

Launching an updated or completely new brand requires education and awareness-raising both inside and outside the company. Involve your employees in planning an outside splash at a user conference, industry trade show, or other event that is important. For investors, customers, partners, sellers, and prospects, they can help get people excited.

To start this kind of brand ambassadorship, make sure your leadership team knows about the project and why it’s important, and keep them up to date as it goes on.

One client asked managers to pick the best employees to be in a focus group. We told them how the names were chosen and showed them the top three options to see what they thought. They felt like they were important and were excited to be a part of the project. This excitement spilled over to a special town hall meeting where the new name, logo, and other artwork were officially unveiled.

We planned the event to happen a few days before the public launch at an industry meeting. On Day 1, we had lunch at each office with cupcakes decorated with the new logo and sent new SWAG to each employee’s home.

About when to change.

The projects that this article was based on had timelines that ranged from three months to a year, from the day it was decided to rebrand to the day the new website went live and the press statement was sent out. We were also able to make a lot of choices quickly because most of the companies I’ve worked with are small or medium-sized ones.

Whether I worked on the project as part of the internal team or as an outside resource responsible for managing the messaging framework, visual identity system, and other material, each one was both exciting and tiring.

Things you need to do for a B2B makeover to go well.

People today want to be happy with everything from the shoes they wear to the cars they drive to the technology they use at work. To meet this high standard, a company’s brand or rebrand must be present in all of its goods, services, customer service, hiring, and other interactions.

While an eye-catching image and catchy tagline are important, they’re not the only things that will help your customers remember your brand or rebrand. To make sure a new brand really delivers ROI, the company may need to do some more deep thinking and make some changes.