The annual search for the Best B2B Brand of the last 12 months has been relaunched by B2B Marketing, in association with BPRI. The award seeks to recognise those companies that have effectively and successfully used marketing to promote and communicate their brand over the last 12 months.
Nominations are now being sought for brands that have excelled in the last 12 months: the deadline for nominations is 15 December. A shortlist will then be created, and readers of B2B Marketing given the opportunity to chose the Best B2B Brand of 2006 via an online poll. The winning brand will be profiled in detail in B2B Marketing in 2007. Details on how to nominate are listed at the end of this article.
Level playing field
The Best B2B Brand award is designed to differ from other brand excellence initiatives by enabling contenders from very different sectors to be compared on an equal footing, with the aim of providing genuine insights into branding excellence. This methodology also avoids the emotional and intuitive judgements by branding âexperts’ that have undermined alternative programmes.
The previous two winners of the award were Bank of Scotland Corporate in 2005 and Tenon in 2004, reflecting that in this context the value of brands is not necessarily determined by the size of investment, but on the communication strategy and its execution.
The search for the Best B2B Brand of 2006 is being run in association with research agency BPRI. Cara Berry, MD of BPRI, comments, “Unlike more general award schemes this programme has the potential to provide insight that will help many more B2B brands improve their marketing ROI.”
Joel Harrison, editor of B2B Marketing, comments, “This award seeks to promote best practice in branding, and increase marketers’ understanding of its importance. Time and time again we see business marketers failing to properly address the issue of branding for their organisation, and to invest the necessary time or resources in developing or leveraging it effectively. This is an enormous oversight, and potentially hugely detrimental to their organisation.”
How the process works
The Best B2B Brand is a four-stage process.
- Practitioners are requested to nominate the business brand that they feel has used marketing most effectively over the last 12 months to build its brand. Nominations should encompass a testimonial of up to 100 words explaining why the individual feels this brand has excelled, and be made by email to the editor of B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison ([email protected]).
- Nominated brands will then be invited to provide specific information regarding their activities over the last 12 months, and their brand strategy.
- This will form the basis of a shortlist, which will be published online, together with a voting mechanism, enabling B2B Marketing readers to select the Best B2B Brand of 2006.
- The winning brand will be profiled extensively in B2B Marketing.
Please note the following:
- Companies or individuals are not charged to be involved with this award at any stage – entry is free.
- Salaried employees may not nominate their employer for this award.
- Any brand which markets its products or services to businesses can be nominated.
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