B2B Branding - Case Studies
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- title
- B2B Branding - Case Studies
- author
- Bernard Szlachta (NobleProg Ltd)
</slideshow>
B2B Success Stories 。
- Samsung
- IBM
- Siemens
- Lenovo
Samsung 。
- Transition from B2C to B2B
- Between 2005 and 2014 increased revenues 10 times
History 。
- Established 1938 as fish, vegetable and rice export
- Started manufacturing in 1950
- 1978 - Samsung Semiconductor started (mostly memory chips)
- 1997 - nearly went bankrupt during Asian Crisis
Restructuring 。
Goals of the changes between 1993 and 1997:
- Create global brand
- Expand semiconductor market via innovation
- Unify brand strategy between subsidiary and any company within Samsung group
- Change the perception of cheaper and lesser quality (to Toshiba, Sony, etc..) to leading-edge, cool products
Actions 。
- Changing behaviours of Samsung employees to match new desired perception
- Redefining Logo
- $400 million ad campaign
- Sponsor of the Olympic Games (1998, 2000,2002, 2008,2013)
- established "hero products"
- change of the distribution channel to high-end
Results 。
- Surpassing most of the western brands (Phones, TV) in terms of sales revenue and brand value
IBM 。
Changing the brand image from a dinosaur to nimble company
History 。
- Incorporated in 1911 as CTR
- In 1924 renamed to International Business Machines
- Consensus based decision making in 1980 made company not adjusting fast enough
- 1993 - $8 billion loss - brand association - ancient company
Turnaround 。
- 1993 - Luis V. Gerstner, Jr. (former Nabisco CEO, president of Amex) took over
- hardware manufacturing moved towards customer-focused service business
- increased spending on the IBM brand
- firing 70 global agency partners, consolidated adversing with O&M (Oglivy & Mather)
- uniform branding
- new positions:
- "a company that understands the needs of it's business customers"
- "a company that can provide a total portfolio of products, services and consulting advice"
- employee empowerment
- Front-line employees could spend $5k to solve a costumer problem on the spot
- introduced Global Brand Manager (Brand Steward)
Turnaround 。
- 1996 - introduction of eBusiness
- new value proposition "On Demand"
- shift business toward service oriented
- 2002 - PWC Consulting acquisition for £3.5 billion
- 2005 - selling personal computer production to Lenovo
IBM Campaigns 。
Taglines:
- "magic you can trust"
- Solutions for a small planet"
- "e-business"
- "It's a different kind of world. You need a different kind of software"
Entering Small Business Market 。
- launched "Express" line of hardware, software, services and financing
Siemens 。
History 。
- Established - 1857 in Berlin by Werner von Siemens
- Mainly dealt with telegraphs
Siemens One 。
- 2001 - started own US legal entity
- provides customized comprehensive solution
- if project could involve multiple Siemens operating companies
Lenovo 。
History 。
- Founded in 1984 as Legend Group Ltd.
- all 11 founding members where members of Chinese Academy of Science
- since 1997 is the leading PC brand in China
- Lenovo brand was launched in 2003
Lenovo Marketshare 。
Lenovo and IBM 。
- 2005 - acquired IBM PC brands like ThinkPad
- $12 billion in cash
- $600 million in shares to IBM
- 5 years of using IBM brand in connection with the computers
- more than 10000 employees from IBM joined Lenovo
Lenovo Brand Development 。
- 1990s
- 1992 - 联想 （LianXiang） Legend name promoted
- Legent 1+1 Household Computer and Economic Computer
- 1990s slogan "What is the world going to be if we stop dreaming?"
- 1991 - 12.9% customer learned about the Legend from the slogan
- 7.6% bough the Lenovo PC because of it
- 2000s
- due to slow growth on demand and increased competition:
- diversified customer requirements
- commoditized products and markets
- divided individual clients into three segments:
- starters
- mainstreamers
- senior players
Three new brands:
- TianJiao
- FengXing
- JiaYue
Internationalization 。
- 2003 - name change from Legend to Lenovo
- "Lenovo" is a portmanteau of "Le-" (from Legend) and "novo", Latin ablative for "new"
- "New" for innovation and "Legendary" at the same time
- Incorporation of emotional values: honest, innovative, passionate and easy-going
- Selection of "brand personalities" consistent with the emotional values of the brand and the target consumers' lifestyle
Corporate Brand vs Subbrands 。
- less than 12% of people knew that Vaio was by Sony
- Lenovo required a reason to a subbrand to exist
- Lenovo brand provides trust and credibility
- ThinkPad brands have justification for a loyal customer base
