ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.
Listen "Why Your B2B Company Won’t Build a Remarkable Brand (Part 2)"
Episode Synopsis
The Problem of Non-Branding
In our previous article in this series, we looked at the problem of ‘non-branding’ for B2B companies. We looked at the various reasons why so many companies (and the people that make up the company) are skeptical of branding, think that it’s just not that important, and therefore end up not really branding which results in what we at Resound call a ‘non-brand’.
In our decade-plus of working with B2B companies to build authentic, lasting remarkable brands, we’ve learned a few things about why companies fall into this ‘non-branding’ trap. There are really four main causes for non-branding:
The company believes it has no purpose.
The company believes it is inhuman, not made up of people.
The company believes it is not unique.
The company believes it has no story to tell.
None of these beliefs line up with reality. They’re false and untrue. But they can be deeply held and hard to change our perspectives on. Last time we unpacked the first two of these causes. You can check those out in Part 1 of this series. But now we’re going to tackle the other two causes of non-branding.
3. Your Company Is Truly Unique
Because a unique collection of people make up your B2B company, your company actually is unique. The particular services or products you provide might not be unique, or the markets you sell to might not be unique. But because people are unique and act in unique ways, the way your business does what it does will inevitably be different from the way another business would do it.
We’ve talked to prospective clients before who have said to us, flat out, “There is really nothing interesting about us. We’re just like everybody else.”
What a lie! Our clients may believe that lie, but it is still a lie. No two people are the same: even the two most average, normal, typical, conventional people you can imagine are not duplicates of one another. Two twins who share the same genes are still very different people. So, no two companies of people are the same.
A company might feel the same as everybody else, of course. It might not look or sound unique. If the organization hasn’t put much thought or energy into branding, it may not be articulating or presenting its unique identity in a unique way. Look around and you’ll see plenty of bland and boring brands.
Blanding
Sometimes bland branding (call it, ‘blanding’) results from neglect or a holdover from the past. Maybe the organization started with a brand expression that was quick and easy at one point in time, like naming themselves after the nearest street, river, mountain, or landscape, and that was good enough because there were more pressing problems to deal with.
Other brands are bland by choice: they’re self-conscious about seeming unique in any way. They’ve chosen the most unobtrusive, “just like the other guy” look-and-feel possible, maybe because they actually feel a little inferior to the “other guy”.
Other brands just don’t think they need it. They’re satisfied with the personal referral business they’ve built and the portfolio of recurring revenue they have and see no need to change things.
Still, hiding under that bland and boring brand is always going to be different people, with a different way of handling things than the company down the street.
We’re not saying it is necessarily wrong to have a bland and boring brand if the company has clear reasons for doing that. Sometimes, when it is an intentional choice, it can be the most authentic and best-fitting representation of the company. Most of the time, though, blanding is a tragic waste. There is so much more to the company than they are giving themselves credit for! Companies that endure over time, which build referral networks and loyal customers, do so precisely because they are different and people recognize it. So, why hide it?
4. Your Company Has a Remarkable Story
You have a purpose because there is some reason you are in business.
In our previous article in this series, we looked at the problem of ‘non-branding’ for B2B companies. We looked at the various reasons why so many companies (and the people that make up the company) are skeptical of branding, think that it’s just not that important, and therefore end up not really branding which results in what we at Resound call a ‘non-brand’.
In our decade-plus of working with B2B companies to build authentic, lasting remarkable brands, we’ve learned a few things about why companies fall into this ‘non-branding’ trap. There are really four main causes for non-branding:
The company believes it has no purpose.
The company believes it is inhuman, not made up of people.
The company believes it is not unique.
The company believes it has no story to tell.
None of these beliefs line up with reality. They’re false and untrue. But they can be deeply held and hard to change our perspectives on. Last time we unpacked the first two of these causes. You can check those out in Part 1 of this series. But now we’re going to tackle the other two causes of non-branding.
3. Your Company Is Truly Unique
Because a unique collection of people make up your B2B company, your company actually is unique. The particular services or products you provide might not be unique, or the markets you sell to might not be unique. But because people are unique and act in unique ways, the way your business does what it does will inevitably be different from the way another business would do it.
We’ve talked to prospective clients before who have said to us, flat out, “There is really nothing interesting about us. We’re just like everybody else.”
What a lie! Our clients may believe that lie, but it is still a lie. No two people are the same: even the two most average, normal, typical, conventional people you can imagine are not duplicates of one another. Two twins who share the same genes are still very different people. So, no two companies of people are the same.
A company might feel the same as everybody else, of course. It might not look or sound unique. If the organization hasn’t put much thought or energy into branding, it may not be articulating or presenting its unique identity in a unique way. Look around and you’ll see plenty of bland and boring brands.
Blanding
Sometimes bland branding (call it, ‘blanding’) results from neglect or a holdover from the past. Maybe the organization started with a brand expression that was quick and easy at one point in time, like naming themselves after the nearest street, river, mountain, or landscape, and that was good enough because there were more pressing problems to deal with.
Other brands are bland by choice: they’re self-conscious about seeming unique in any way. They’ve chosen the most unobtrusive, “just like the other guy” look-and-feel possible, maybe because they actually feel a little inferior to the “other guy”.
Other brands just don’t think they need it. They’re satisfied with the personal referral business they’ve built and the portfolio of recurring revenue they have and see no need to change things.
Still, hiding under that bland and boring brand is always going to be different people, with a different way of handling things than the company down the street.
We’re not saying it is necessarily wrong to have a bland and boring brand if the company has clear reasons for doing that. Sometimes, when it is an intentional choice, it can be the most authentic and best-fitting representation of the company. Most of the time, though, blanding is a tragic waste. There is so much more to the company than they are giving themselves credit for! Companies that endure over time, which build referral networks and loyal customers, do so precisely because they are different and people recognize it. So, why hide it?
4. Your Company Has a Remarkable Story
You have a purpose because there is some reason you are in business.
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15/03/2023
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