Brand Strategy for B2B vs. B2C
This article was contributed by Levina Kusumadjaja
When I was in college, I studied International Business and the terms “B2B” and “B2C” were mentioned a lot. I remembered how my professors and textbooks used to make this concept of B2B vs. B2C such a big deal. The impression I got was that B2B and B2C existed in two different worlds; but do they really?
B2B:
Business-to-business; A business that sells to another business;
Examples: MailChimp, LinkedIn, Slack, Kickstarter
B2C:
Business-to-customers; A business that sells directly to customers.
Examples: Amazon, Udemy, Spotify, Target, Uber
The difference between a B2B and B2C company lies in its customers. A B2B targets the decision makers of the company as their main customers, while a B2C targets end-users (or people that will benefit from their products and services as an individual). B2B companies sell product and services that are useful to be used by companies in a corporate setting, for example: e-mail marketing platforms, project management softwares, and human resource management consultancy. Meanwhile, B2C companies sell things like books, groceries, music, and so much more.
Don’t confuse a business model with a brand strategy.
As a brand strategist, you don’t have to feel intimidated by the B2B and B2C labels. These labels represent your client's business model, the kind of customers they want to reach and the kind of products and services they want to offer. This model doesn't affect your process and mindset as a brand strategy. Your job is still to help your client’s brand to connect with its super fan (or ideal customer) and eventually build a long-lasting relationship between and the super fan. It doesn't matter what kind of company is behind the brand, because every company has a brand and every company has their own super fan. The goal of a brand strategy is to connect these two together to become a match-made-in-heaven.
At the grand scheme of things, you are always selling to humans.
If we look at the big picture, there isn't a massive difference between working on the brand strategy for a B2B and a B2C. At its core, you are developing a brand strategy for clients to sell to people, and people aren't really that much different from one another. The profile of the brand's super fan might be polar opposites. You might be looking at a CEO of a tech company versus a stay home mom who are dealing with three toddlers 24/7. You might be looking at different problems to solve for your clients and you might have to approach them with different values, but the principles remain the same.
You want a brand strategy that can help your clients reach their brand’s super fan, no matter what.
There is no reason for a brand strategist to shy away from working with clients just because they are labeled as B2B or B2C. You have to remember that regardless of what your client's business look like, they still have a brand and they are still trying to communicate that brand to their customers. And who are these customers? People, human beings. The principles and the steps don't have to be different because you are still doing the same thing you have always been good at doing: figuring out the best strategy to connect a brand with their super fan.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!