Transform the company’s brand into a highly valued asset
For many B2B companies in the Middle East, a strategically defined brand is a critical asset that creates new levels of value and lays the foundation to meet growing customer and stakeholder expectations.
But building and evolving a brand is more than finalizing a logo and design principles. It is a journey that requires strong leadership to unite the entire organization in an authentic, harmonious and consistent orchestration of engagement and delivery.
At SABIC, our goal is “The Chemistry That Matters”. It ensures the authenticity of what we say and do as our business evolves and transforms. Our experience has shown that the B2B corporate brand journey can be greatly supported by considering and measuring the effectiveness of three key elements: living, sharing and spreading the brand. While key metrics differ for each company, tracking brand progress over time is critical.
An effective brand provides common ground for people to come together around a single idea. It defines common denominators that enable internal unity while allowing flexibility for business delivery.
This can only happen if the brand truly encompasses the purpose and culture of the company that is owned, understood and lived internally by its leaders. Before endorsing and demonstrating brand standards to others, they must be active in developing and implementing the brand – from visuals and design, to content and messaging, and managing behaviors expected of all employees.
Strategic brand activations that set our brand apart have helped us compete and grow with new and existing customers and markets
Richard Crookes
In external engagements, the brand story and purpose should be shared consistently across all activations, including multi-channel advertising campaigns, experiential marketing events, or trade shows.
At SABIC, our five-year global brand campaign has been carefully designed and executed in partnership with our diverse business teams to give our meaning to ‘chemistry that matters’. ” live. By targeting strategic groups that have a specific influence on our interests, we highlighted how we collaborate with others to produce unique solutions not only for our customers, to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
The strategic brand activations that set our brand apart have helped us compete and grow with new and existing customers and markets. They have also enabled us to become the most valuable brand in our industry in the Middle East and the second most valuable chemical brand in the world, according to the Brand Finance ranking.
Whatever tactic you choose, it’s essential to never lose sight of the fact that B2B brands are built around promises made and the quality of those promises to customers and stakeholders. Consistency and harmony between sales delivery, experiences and activation strategy will amplify those experiences.
It’s also essential that the brand is delivered through a consistent customer experience and journey mapping that speaks intimately to the customer. Indeed, at SABIC, our brand and our purpose are designed to fundamentally strengthen our engagement with customers in a way that matters to them. After all, research shows that B2B customers see significant value in an improved experience and are willing to pay more for it.
Ultimately, our experiences have shown that a brand is strategically managed by a dedicated team but – due to its global nature – is executed by the entire company. Ultimately, broad engagement across the business makes the difference.
• Richard Crookes is the Executive Director of Global Brand Management & Marketing Communications at SABIC.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News
