How to differentiate your brand in B2B

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WELCOME Why differentiation is important

Where differentiation is a challenge

Examples of differentiation in action

How to create a different kind of story

@weareoctopusgrp / @brandtosales / #b2b

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SLEEPLESS CMORESEARCH 2016weareoctopusgroup.net/tech-heads-2016

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COMPETITIVE PRESSURES AS A DRIVER OF CHANGE

92%

30%

90%

competition in their markethas increased the pressure

for their company to achieve its commercial objectives

this pressure has increased significantly

they’re having to become more creative and

innovative to compete with other suppliers in the

market

SAY SAY SAY

/ Why differentiation is important4

Base: Total (100)

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Base: Total (400)

CHALLENGES OF SUPPLIER COMPETITIONTop three challenges for buyers in selecting and onboarding suppliers in a more competitive market

Market becomes too ‘noisy’ / overwhelming

Harder to distinguish between supplier propositions

Buying process becomes more time-consuming

37%

39%

48%

/ Why differentiation is important

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Dramatic changes in competitive landscape are a key driver for CMO pressure.

Convergence of “services” and expanded portfolios of offerings are creating new competitive threats – each competitor creating more content / using more tech, burning more time….

6/ Why differentiation is important

IN SUMMARY

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CMOs lose sleep over competitive pressures that drive ‘more, more, more!’

CONCLUSION

Lack of differentiation and market convergence confuses customers and delays decision making

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The solutions lie in marketing levers [differentiation] that offer exponential value

88

You want to be noticed. You want to stand out. You want to fit in.

SCHOOL DISCOSYNDROME

/ Where differentiation is a challenge

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5 B2B DIFFERENTIATION CHALLENGES/ Where differentiation is a challenge

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Marketplaces are busy and noisyB2B thrives on similarity

Customers experience common pain pointsSearch demands common terms

B2B is innately conservative

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BEYOND THE CORPORATE COMFORT ZONE

Comfort Zone

Differentiation

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1111/ Where differentiation is a challenge

WHERE DIFFERENTIATION OCCURS Differentiation lifecycle

Core differentiators

Brand Evolution

Com

pany

Evo

lutio

nCustomer environment

Go-to-market

Technology innovation

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WHERE DIFFERENTIATION OCCURS Differentiation lifecycle

What you wear

How you dance

What you dance to

Who you dance with

Creating a different story

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DIFFERENTIATION EXAMPLES

13/ Examples of differentiation in action

The long game eSports start-up

Video Streaming eSport service

Technology innovation

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DIFFERENTIATION EXAMPLES

14/ Examples of differentiation in action

The first-to-market

SIP Trunking Telecoms Provider

Go-to-market

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DIFFERENTIATION EXAMPLES

15/ Examples of differentiation in action

The community builder

BPM software provider

Customer environment

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CREATING A DIFFERENT STORY

Differentiated brand

Differentiated content

Differentiated customer service

16/ Examples of differentiation in action

Sometimes just removing a coffee

stain can be the difference

Finding your ‘coffee stain’ moment

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HOW TO CREATE A DIFFERENT STORY

Find the stories that make a difference in

your business

Find the stories that make a difference to

your customers

Find the stories the competition keep telling…and avoid

them1.Discover

17/ How to create a different kind of story

Great news: No two companies are actually the same

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HOW TO CREATE A DIFFERENT STORY

Get everyone excited about what makes

your stories different

Create a different narrative that

everyone believes

Identify all the ways you can get your difference across2.Define

18/ How to create a different kind of story

Great news: Genuine difference get everyone excited

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HOW TO CREATE A DIFFERENT STORY

Difference embeddedin your approach

Difference embeddedin your content

Difference embeddedin customer experience 3.Deliver

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Great news: Great differentiators influence everything

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IN SUMMARY• Prospects seek differentiation to help the decision making process

• Differentiation is difficult to identify, but valuable when established

• All businesses are different but many fail to bring their own story to life

• The journey to establishing and embedding differentiation goes beyond the ‘comfort zone’

• Remember the ‘3Ds’ - Discovery, Definition and Delivery

20/ Panic at the disco

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