b2b branding or not to brand?

My experience (founding a b2b company, establishing its brand, consulting to b2b companies including a packaging machinery company) shows that branding helps b2b companies in getting price and / or purchase preference.
-Looking from purchaser’s point of view branding helps in short-listing probable vendors -branding symbolizes some significant aspect (technology, service etc) of a usually complex offering -branding activities can go beyond the scope of market offerings and deliver some unpaid (usually) but significant benefits to purchasers like simplifying search and evaluation -branding can make it safe (less risky) to purchase complex equipment (no body got fired for deciding on IBM!)
Download my articles on b2b branding from our web site.

Hemant

 

Innovation is a timid word…

On an off-beat note today…..

I found this about the WORD creator Charles. Innovation is a timid word…..

PC Worlds Techlog Microsoft Word Creator in Spaaaaaaaaace
I am finding myself oddly fascinated by the news that Charles Simonyi, the former Microsoft software architect and current billionaire, is now the fifth civilian ever to be rocketed into space. Hes on his way to the International Space Station onboard a Soyuz spacecraft that took off from Kazakhstan on Saturday.

And don’t forget to visit Charles in Space
What a delightful site!

Hemant

 

Designers Are The Enemy of Design???

I came across this:

So let me tell you why. Designers suck because they are arrogant. The blogs and websites are full of designers shouting how awful it is that now, thanks to Macs, Web 2.0, even YouTube, EVERYONE is a designer. Core 77 recently ran an article on this backlash and so did we on our Innovation & Design site. Designers are saying that Design is everywhere, done by everyone. So Design is debased, eroded, insulted. The subtext, of course, is that Real design can only be done by great star designers.”

Full text at
Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog: Designers Are The Enemy of Design

Now my experience is different. I work with Design Directions, Pune for brand & communications strategy. I do not find arrogance at all. I find openness and willingness to learn there.

But yes, I have come across designer gatherings where they have tended to be verbose (strange!) without getting anywhere.

But the blog makes more relevant point about need for design process to be democratic ( I prefer broad based).

Hemant

 

Innovation: Key for India Inc

Innovation is strategic for India Inc.! That’s what this survey says. Read this

Far ahead of other developing and developed economies of the world, India Inc is assigning strategic priority to innovation. Around 91 per cent of the Senior Executives put innovation among the top 3 strategic priorities,” a joint India Innovation Survey by CII and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) revealed. more at
Innovation: Key for India Inc

Now what does that mean? They must have a comprehensive suite of processes to succeed with innovation. How should that suite look like?

Hemant

 

About Starbucks: what’s fuss?

Starbucks has been a darling of management schools and business magazines for creating best practices in experiential branding, social responsibility etc. So what went wrong, that its CEO has to complain that the brand is turning into commodity?

Follow this post for a good lowdown on Starbucks
Global Dashboard › Tag Surfer — WordPress
Fortune says this about Starbucks:

For years now Starbucks has paid fair-market prices to Third World coffee farmers and helped develop ecologically sound growing practices. Starbucks is also a regular on FORTUNE’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. It’s green, it’s humane, it’s politically correct, it sells a popular product and provides a comfy place to hang out and consume same — what’s not to like?

That was all just worth noting.

Hemant

 

why should I be writing on innovation?

With so much innovation-text flying around, what is the need for more text? For example see this blog on sources of innovation… As it is I/P Updates: CEOs Looking to Extermal Sources for Innovation – News and Information for Intellectual Property Practitioners According to IBM’s “Global CEO Study 2006,” 76% of the 750 of CEOs and business leaders interviewed for the study ranked business partner and customer collaboration as top sources for new ideas. This greatly contrasts with internal R&D, which ranked eighth as a source for new ideas — cited by only 14% of CEOs. However, only 51% say their organizations currently collaborate extensively. I feel it is important to focus on other end of the innovation chain -where innovating ideas are fleshed out and resources get allocated. It is important to analyze innovations in the context the following frames -macro socio-regulatory-economic scene -enterprise realities -value generation by market offering Most companies do not establish such frames with result that adhoc decisions rule. Hemant

 

Internal branding

Internal branding is what employees think about your company and your products and services. Employees know a lot more about their company’s products and processes behind them. Therefore their perceptions can be leading indicators of how customers may perceive the products. Internal branding requires that your business processes are managed well. Your internal communications must be well designed to provide information that employees value. For articles on internal branding see Exponient web site.