Brand is as much about the end as the beginning

While B2C companies understand brand investment can be the difference between success or failure, B2B companies can often be guilty of underestimating its importance, especially when it comes to a successful exit.

Figures show that nearly a quarter of B2B companies devote less than 20 per cent of their marketing budget to brand, yet a recent survey by global consulting firm BCG and Google found that brand marketing can be just as effective in the B2B arena as in the consumer sector, if not more so.

The survey found that companies that are more mature in terms of brand marketing generate a higher ROI from those efforts, while strong brand marketing capabilities actually reinforce performance marketing, leading to better engagement overall.

The data showed that when B2B companies market their products and services, they have a strong tendency to focus on performance attributes, such as price and features, and often avoid broader initiatives to promote the overall company brand.

But it also found evidence that when companies do invest in brand, the returns can be astoundingly high. One that experimented to determine the gains it could generate from brand marketing investments found that the long-term ROI of those initiatives was approximately 640 per cent over four years.

Those kind of figures show a different attitude to company growth as a whole and paint a much more impressive picture for prospective buyers when it comes to exit.

When you decide to exit a company, you want to get the best possible price and get out. A company with a strong brand will be seen by potential buyers as one that will continue to perform, even if key personnel have moved on.

Brands take time to build, so if you are thinking of exiting one day, the time to start thinking about brand is now.