Which B2B brands really made their mark in 2007? This is the question that B2B Marketing and The Brand Union are asking practitioners in the annual Best B2B Brand competition.
This initiative is now in its fourth year and is designed to recognise those business brands that have excelled during the last 12 months, utilising the many tools and techniques available to nurture and support their leading brand proposition. It is also designed to provide more information on what makes excellent branding to B2B practitioners, with the aim of encouraging best practice. Previous winners of the competition have been Hitachi (pictured), Bank of Scotland Corporate and Tenon â more information is online at www.b2bmarketing.net/bestb2bbrand.
All readers are invited to nominate a B2B brand that they believe has stood out in all its activities during the last 12 months. The winning brand will be appointed by a panel of experts and profiled in detail within the pages of B2B Marketing.
The reader nominating the winning brand will win a new iPod Nano (see box).
Brands may be nominated as a result of an individual’s personal interaction with them on a business level, or because of general awareness generated through advertising, for example.
Joel Harrison, editor of B2B Marketing, comments, âThe importance of this competition is that it recognises that excellence in branding depends on a variety of interrelating factors, not just good marketing. It also differs from other brand recognition programmes in that it allows smaller brands with limited resources to qualify.â
John Mathers, CEO of The Brand Union, comments, âAs the competitive landscape becomes ever more fierce, it will be those businesses who have mastered the art and science of successful brand building that will be the winners.â
Excellence is subjective, but for the purposes of this competition the following criteria should be considered:
An excellent brand that stands out from its competitors and is admired and respected amongst its target audiences (i.e. customers, channel partners, employees, shareholders, investors) and where possible the wider business community
A well-defined, well-expressed, consistent and visible brand identity
A clear positioning
A consistent character and personality
A promise of value and a focus on delivering on (and measuring realisation of that value)
Size in terms of number of employees, financial strength or marketing budget is not a pre-requisite for excellence â any brand in any sector can be nominated provided it meets the criteria specified above.
Readers are invited to nominate any brand operating in the UK that markets products or services to business customers. Nominations must be made by email to [email protected], stating the chosen brand and explaining what it has done in the last 12 months to merit nomination in no more than 100 words. Additional nominations will be supplied by the editor. Deadline for nominations is November 30 2007. For terms & conditions, go to www.b2bmarketing.net/bestb2bbrand.
Nominated brands will then be requested to supply additional information about their activities during the qualification period including target audience, brand positioning, marketing communications activity, CSR strategy, employee communications and innovation. A shortlist will be published online at www.b2bmarketing.net/bestb2bbrand.
An expert panel of judges will appraise the additional information supplied and use it to appoint a winner, which will be profiled in detail in B2B Marketing. For more information email [email protected].
For more on Enterprise IG’s relaunch as The Brand Union, go to www.b2bmarketing.net/news.
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