The classic marketing mistake is being concerned about branding, which usually means "let's design a cool logo". Branding is for consumer marketing. Like buying soup for dinner when you're in a hurry. When you're in high tech marketing, you are talking to businesses about a fairly sophisticated product or service. It's very personal. One on one. And brands don't mean much.
Reputation is everything. Because buying high tech means have a long relationship. If they know you, can reach you, and you are there when they are in trouble, that's a good reputation. And word does get around (although a bad reputation moves 10X faster).
So don't fret about branding, but make sure your entire organization delivers a stellar experience from start to finish. People remember that.
Absolutely! All too often people think they're "branded" because they have a spiffy logo (for which they paid an obscene amount of money)...and neglect "little things" like returning phone calls, answering emails...and offering a smile to their customers when they walk in the door. As I note to clients, a brand is everything you do - and it will vary depending on the customer.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | 09 August 2005 at 08:45 AM