What are the key elements leading to a successful B2B brand?
Pfoertsch: I recommend thorough planning, because if you don’t control the way you build your brand, you will have problems. Before planning, you have to do the analysis, find out what are the different needs and requirements of your customers, the obstacles and the potential. Based on this analysis, you build your strategy. The strategy could be very focused, like General Electric ? one company, one brand. But you also can work with more brands, if you have a clear value proposition and very distinct offering. The example we show is the trucks from Daimler AG. In Germany, they offer Mercedes-Benz trucks, in the U.S. they have Freightliner, in Brazil they have both, and in Japan, they sell Fuso trucks. We call that a house of brands. You need to decide which method to use. Then there is execution of the brand management: Where do you promote your brand, how many fairs do you attend, how many advertisements do you create? And very importantly: how do you train your people? Branding is v
