“Fancy branding’s not for my business”

Some industries are traditionally less receptive to what’s seen as ‘branding’. And in Calgary this is especially true of the Oil and Gas service industries. Uundoubtedly, branding in such industries is less critical than say, selling cell phones. But it’s more a case of focusing on differing values and triggers, than ignoring the role of branding altogether…

For example, here’s a point of view I often come across. “Branding is not important to us. Our customers buy on price alone. No amount of fancy branding is going to affect our sales – in fact it would probably put customers off.”

True enough. The customers that buy from them “on price alone” are heavily influenced by price – and fancy expensive looking branding would lead them to an expectation of higher costs.

But do they really buy on price alone?

If a price was only low because the goods were unethically sourced, they’d bulk at it. So Integrity and trust are factors too. If when they did buy the goods, they were late, then “reliability ” would become an issue. And if all the paperwork was incomplete and the staff clueless whenever the order was followed up, “professionalism” would come into the mix.

Suddenly, dealing with a “trustworthy, professional, reliable and efficient company, that has an absolute commitment to the lowest price” seems more attractive than one that “just sells cheap“.

The point is that branding doesn’t have to look or feel ‘fancy’. The whole point is that it fits your business. Done well it just helps to communicate those qualities that appeal to customers. Remember, anyone who comes into contact with your business will form an opinion of it. Whether it’s through direct contact – or your website or an advert – it’s better to control how you come across than not.

Take a look at some examples of companies that excel in a market where traditionally ‘fancy branding’ is avoided. The best example I can think of is Caterpillar. [ http://www.cat.com ]. Earth moving equipment is not traditionally associated with high end branding, but the success of the Caterpillar brand has enabled the company to expand into new markets that it never would have had the opportunity to without some excellent brand positioning. Who’d have predicted that footwear, clothing, tools – even golfing accessories could be marketed under the ‘Cat’ brand?

http://shop.cat.com/category/M37/110