The Case for B2B Branding: Pulling Away from the Business-to-Businnes Pack Essay

Words: 1095
Pages: 5

The Case for B2B Branding: Pulling Away From the
Business-to-Business Pack | | | Bob Lamons, Published by Thomson, 2005
ISBN: 0-324-39865-4ReviewHardcover, 160 pagesThe Case For B2B Branding (by Bob Lamons) is a refreshing overview of the principles of business branding. The book is divided into two clear-cut and well defined sections: part one details the “seven simple steps to effective brand image management”; the second part details twenty-one B2B “branding” case studies from some of the world’s best known (and less well known) business and industrial companies. This section is a gem: the Intel “story”, for example, includes visuals from the early unsophisticated Intel campaigns for the 286 and 386 chips; hard to believe it’s

This chapter is probably the least focused on the B2B side of branding – but it is a thorough though generic discussion of this issue.PART TWO – Includes twenty-one B2B cases studies:As one Amazon.com reviewer said: “This is the real meat…I like the down to earth, practical approach”. A good mix of case studies is presented including better known companies (Caterpillar; Dow Corning; SAS Institute) and lower profile but interesting companies (ACME Brick; James Hardie; the New Pig; Clock Spring). Not only is each “brand story” thoroughly researched and presented, there are numerous pictures, visuals and examples accompanying the documented cases. Compiling this depth of information (and obtaining the required permissions) cost the author by adding an extra year to his publishing deadline: * Each case study includes: a thorough situation analysis; the strategic objectives and related marketing and communication objectives; the execution of the strategy and target audience implications; a description of the outcomes and impact on the brand and the company. * In most cases a re-positioning or re-branding of the company was involved – and the analysis documents a range of approaches: some companies used very creative ways to revitalize the brand and the company. One of the best examples is Acme Brick a manufacturer of residential and commercial bricks. Besides