Boring Versus Brilliant: Where Does Your Brand Fit?

If you were asked to randomly search 15-20 B2B technology brands online, you'd probably come to the same conclusion. Most are boring. But why? You'd think innovative companies would breathe innovation into their brands. But that's not the case. Here's my conclusion and most importantly a few ideas for technology executives and marketers to explore.

Peter Drucker said it best: Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two, and only two, basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Well, most successful technology companies get the innovation part down, but struggle with understanding the role and expectation of marketing and branding. Let's be real, technology companies only really start thinking about branding and marketing when they have to. And it's very difficult to educate a technologist on the importance of branding and marketing. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, the leaders of the company don't get it and don't know what it costs. The result: boring brands and uninteresting branding. So, what can we do about it? Here are a few things to consider:

* Know your audience. Talk in their language. First of all, you're not selling branding, you're selling hope and future business success. So, you need to find the hot buttons of the sponsor you are trying to educate. Start by identifying the benefits. CEOs need to hear about maximizing the corporate value (get the category and story right for increased profits). CMOs want to demonstrate preference for increased pricing (smart branding can drive market share). COOs need to understand how internal branding can align the organization (increased performance). And smart CFOs need to know how brand strategy can help during M&A (eliminate risk and maximize investment).

* Have a process. Get buy-in for the deliverables. Two quick points here: follow a proven best practice process and make sure everyone has a clear understating of the deliverables. It's critical to have your executives on board before the creation phase begins. Building a world class B2B brand starts at the top. Don't think you create it in isolation and expect them to buy off. This just does not work. Remember you're selling hope and imagination.

* Be courageous. Lastly, great brands are created by people with courage to try new things. Don't resort to mimicking safe strategies. Find greatness and promote it fearlessly. Remember your job is to inspire and create. And if you do it right, you'll be rewarded for the efforts and leave a wonderful legacy.

* Demonstrate versus complicate. Another way to help executives understand what great brands are made of is to find relevant examples that allow them to visualize themselves. For example, if you are in the B2B midmarket software space, go find examples of outstanding work they can relate to. But make sure you link it back to a clear business strategy/brand strategy and examples of fresh marketing. Excite your audience with what's possible. Set the bar high.

But that's just my point of view. What's yours?