Pithy and trite plays on words aside, I’m going to go on record and say that I think the new branding from Business Objects is pretty strong. Now I say this as a personal opinion, not as a company spokesperson, as well as saying up front that I was on the team that chose the concept and creative ideas. Most interestingly, the same agency that did the Business Objects work, Eleven, also did earlier work for Hyperion (the professorial old-style pictures in black and white if you remember from a few years ago—ugh, and wow, what range!).
Brands are funny things to work on, and incredibly hard to get your hands around in the B2B space. There are some, but definitely only a few, technology brands that strong in the B2B space today—even the tech. companies that are most famous, like Apple, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and heck, even Intel, are all marketed to a consumer audience. In terms of B2B, maybe Cisco stands out, maybe IBM, maybe SAP and Oracle—but not many others, and we’re talking a population of hundreds of thousands of technology companies.
So it’s an ambitious task at the outset given your run of the mill budget constraints and issues of global reach. Does the brand translate across borders? Does it mean the same thing in Hong Kong as it does in Harrisburg? Tough to say and tough to predict. But fun to find out.
Which is why a project like the one the Business Objects has embarked on should be applauded and admired for its scope and ambition, if not its audacity and brazenness in a sea full of blandly branded software technology companies. Just standing out, of course and being a poser doesn’t move a market—just ask our friends at Blue Martini. But taking a new stand and being willing to look different as you take the stand, AND having people think of you differently BECAUSE of that new stand, now that’s a rare feat. And Business Objects is trying to cross that chasm right now. We won’t know for awhile if it was successful, but it will be fun watching the story unfold and I for one hope they make it.
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I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment, Guy. As a former ad exec and brand strategist who has slogged as a marketing exec in B2B companies for a few years now and tried to fight this good fight on my own, it is refreshing to see someone finally "get" what brand differentiation can do to make you stand out and connect to people. For so many B2B companies, it's all about talking the same talk, having the same "attractive man in suit pointing to chart" stock photo on their materials, and lots of talk of features and functions. Zzzzzzzz. And I admit I'm no innocent on this front: I have been guilty of this because of either budget constraints, management expectations, or just plain not having any more energy left to keep hoolering at deaf ears. I have beat my head against the wall for years that it doesn't matter whether you are B2B or B2C: you still sell to PEOPLE. You need to hit them at an emotional level, even if your value props are more pragmatic. IT professionals are no exception - they have lives, too. Every software company looks the same - but every software employee laments about wanting to have a "cool" image, ad, website, etc. Basically, elements they themselves would respond to. But, no, too often technology marketers leave common sense at the door and suddenly think their prospects and customers are boring androids who only use 25 cent SAT words that no one ever uses in real life and can't speak everyday English. I can't remember the famous ad exec who said, "The customer is not a moron. The customer is your wife." We need to remember people have thoughts, hopes, aspirations, feelings, interests - and like all good marketers create a brand that connects. I wish BOBJ well on this quest.
However, I hope they do not fall prey to the other fallacy: brand is not just a logo and tagline. Brand is every touchpoint of your company and the impression people have of your company when they hear your name. It's visceral: what space do you occupy in their brains? It's how your emails are worded, it's how you introduce new products, it's how the customer service rep handles a call, it's how smoothly contract negotiations take place. And here is the rub: much of this is a company mission, culture, and leadership issue - not things marketing alone can easily tackle with an agency and some web designers. I would submit that Oracle has a strong brand - but perhaps not the one they would have set out to create: when you think of Oracle you think "big, bad, ruthless, and arrogance." Nothing to do with their products or their company, but that is the image they have. So you get a "brand" whether you mean to or not - it's just whether you are the one in control.
My advice to BOBJ (being a fond alumnus myself) is to make sure this brand of vision, empowerment, transformation permeates EVERYTHING they do: how they reward employees for innovation, how their product features measure up to innovation, and even something as inane as how their offices look and feel and how much they inspire those who walk the halls. This is true branding: When the whole package delivers on a promise, and doesn't stop at the pretty bow and wrapping paper.
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