This document discusses the importance of having a strong, differentiated brand for revenue growth. It outlines the six pillars necessary for unstoppable B2B revenue growth, with the first pillar being a differentiated and compelling brand promise. The document defines what a brand is, its key components, and attributes of successful brands, emphasizing that brands must be unique, create emotional connections, and have a "wow factor" to positively impact revenue. It provides an example of a company with an effective brand strategy and encourages prioritizing brand strategy to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace.

1. By Christopher Ryan, CEO
Fusion Marketing Partners, LLC
Strategic
Branding
Based on Chris
Ryan’s monthly
featured column in
Pillar One for
Unstoppable B2B
Revenue Growth 1

2. Welcome to the first of my six
SlideShares on revenue growth –
each covering a different pillar
necessary for success.
These strategies and tactics come
from a great deal of client experience
as well as from our own internal
business growth.

3. Here are the six pillars:
If you follow this advice, it
will make a large
difference to your top-line
revenue number.

4. Differentiated and
compelling brand promise
Profitable Business Model
Optimized sales process
Effective lead-to-revenue
framework
High-performance
online strategy
Successful customer
loyalty program
6 Pillars for Unstoppable B2B Revenue Growth
1
2
3
4
5
6

5. Changing or revising a brand is a
tough proposition.
Differentiated and compelling brand promise
1
If you don’t get this pillar right, you will be building the rest of
your marketing on a poor foundation.
Many companies take their brand for
granted.
And there is also a misconception that branding
is less important for B2B companies than
B2C.
It is often easier to just go with the status quo,
even if that means a weaker competitive
position.

6. This is NOT accurate.

7. “McKinsey & Company recently wrote in
Forbes magazine that some of the most
successful B2B companies have as much
or more of their company assets tied up
in goodwill and other intangible assets––
better known as their “brand”––as B2C
branding giants like Procter and
Gamble.”
Source: Handshake.com

8. Brand Definition -
What is a brand?
“The perception of what customers believe they
will receive when they do business with you.”
QQ.
AA.
If the answer is “to get a paycheck” you have an
internal branding problem - one that probably
carries out into the wider community of
partners, customers and competitors.
I like to think about a company’s brand as its
“reason for being.”
Ask yourself: Why do
you provide
products/services?
Why does everyone, from your CEO to the
shipping clerk, get out of bed and come to work
every day?
Take this free brand assessment
to discover the overall strength of
your brand.

9. Brand means something different to
customers, partners, staff and executives.
It is not unusual for us to ask
executives to describe their brand
and receive several different
answers.
You must gain consensus
on this, especially from
your own personnel.
If it doesn’t make sense to
your own leaders, no one else
is going to get the point.
However…

10. Viewing a brand in this light is an oversimplification - It limits
the power that a strong brand can yield.
A Brand is Just Basically a Logo and Tagline, Right?
Here are the components that make up your brand strategy:
The words you use to
describe your company,
products and services:
- Tagline
- First-level messaging (e.g.
the value proposition,
“About Us” statement on
your website).
Outreach methods you
use to share your brand
message:
- Educational
- Promotional
- Social media
Emotions, feelings and
perceptions that your brand
evokes to audiences:
- External audience
(customers, prospects,
partners, media)
- Internal audience
(employees, board
members, stockholders).
Graphics used to represent
company, products,
services:
- Logos
- Symbols
- Colors
- Graphics
- Images

11. Often, when we ask an executive team what makes their company,
products or services better or different, the answers are:
Eight Attributes of Successful Brands
These are lukewarm branding statements
because they are not differentiated and are
hard to prove.
We really care
about our
customers.
We treat our
clients’
business like
our own.
Our service is
the best in the
industry.
We go above
and beyond to
take care of
customers.
We offer
tremendous
value.

12. How do you know when you have a great brand?
Here are the important attributes you should work toward:
1.
Unique. What you
claim cannot be stated
by any other company.
It is not a me-too
message.
2.
Congruence. It is accepted
by customers because it
matches their experience
in purchasing and using
your products and services.

13. Defined. It is clearly defined,
understood and endorsed by
executives, employees and
partners.
How do you know when you have a great brand?
3. 4.
Connection. It creates an
emotional connection with
buyers. It feeds their need
for security, growth and
connectedness.

14. 5. 6.
High Price Point. You are
not considered a
commodity, where price
is the primary reason
customers buy from you.
Resonates. It is compelling,
believable and based on a
thorough understanding of
the characteristics, challenges,
needs and desires of the
people who comprise your
target segments.
How do you know when you have a great brand?

15. WOW Factor. Accomplish this
in many ways, seek out
inspiration in Adrian Swinscoe’s
excellent CustomerThink
article titled, 57 Insights From
Leading Brands and Experts on
What it Takes to Deliver a Wow
Customer Experience.
7. 8.
Balanced. Neither overly
broad or so tightly defined
that it narrows your
market reach.
How do you know when you have a great brand?

16. These principles apply equally to large, small and medium-sized companies. One
example is K&R Negotiations.

17. The tagline, brand promise
and supporting copy tell a
fast story about what the
company does and how it
benefits clients.
Branding is not the only
reason for K&R’s market
leadership.
- It reinforces the
expertise of its founder,
Mladen Kresic and the rest
of the organization.
K&R’s tagline is “Win Wisely” and its
brand promise is: K&R Negotiations’
Win Wisely™ methodology delivers
higher close rates, larger deal sizes
and longer, more profitable
relationships.”

18. The CeB/Motista Survey shows that prospects who have a brand
connection with a company (vs. no connection) are:
5X more likely to consider a product/service.
more likely to actually purchase.
more likely to pay a premium price.
11X
30X
Still Pondering Prioritizing Brand Strategy?

19. You want these
odds on your side.
Spend some time getting
this first pillar right and
you’ll be on the way to solid
revenue growth.
Read the complete blog article here.
Five Minutes to Better Brand Health
Take this free personalized
brand health assessment. Use
this scorecard to better
understand the strength of
your brand.
Next Steps

20. Stay Tuned for Pillar 2: Profitable Business Model

21. We Do This:
❖ Brand building/messaging
❖ Business model strategy
❖ Website optimization
❖ Content creation
❖ Brand Health Assessment
❖ Lead Generation
You Get This:
❖ Much greater levels of awareness
❖ Higher quantities of qualified leads
❖ Ability to generate faster revenue
info@fusionmarketingpartners.com
Lots more information at:
http://FusionMarketingPartners.com/
http://Greatb2BMarketing.com (blog)
B2B Revenue Growth Specialists
719-357-6280