Building Brand Awareness in 2025

Increasing brand awareness is a top goal for B2B companies in 2025. But what is a brand? And how can you evolve it to meet your changing company focus and customer base? A company's brand is far more than its logo--it lives in the hearts and minds of your customers, and encompasses your story, look and feel, personality and values. A strong brand can increase revenue and customer loyalty and reduce costs like employee hiring. 

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Define branding

Your brand is more than a logo; it's a living entity that shapes customer perception and internal culture. In today's dynamic marketplace, a strong brand is a strategic imperative. Think of it as your external collective impact, leaving a lasting impression and creating a powerful competitive advantage. Did you know that consistent branding across all platforms can boost revenue by up to 23%? Or that, in the B2B world, brands built on core values see a remarkable 5.5x increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

Your brand is the sum of every customer interaction, a lasting impression built across all touchpoints. In today's digital and global landscape, maintaining brand consistency is more challenging than ever. If your culture is how employees behave when you're not looking, your brand is what customers say about the company when you're not listening. 

Far beyond a company's logo, or visual identity, an effective brand also includes naming, company purpose, values and mission statement, its promise to customers, positioning, or competitive advantage, and personality, which can create a unique tone and feel across all marketing channels. 

Done well, branding elevates the customer experience. It makes the customer look good by association, and affirms their values and what they stand for. In B2B marketing, this may include diversity or sustainability targets, community involvement, or supporting educational initiatives important to the industry. Consider integrity and regulatory compliance tablestakes--a good brand tells a bigger story about what the company stands for. 

How do you define the Value of a Brand? 

Is brand equity measurable? Absolutely. While brands reside in the "hearts and minds" of your stakeholders, marketing science has long demonstrated the tangible impact of brand equity. It’s straightforward math in B2C: Well-developed brands can demand a premium in selling the same shirt with their logo over an off-brand shirt. 

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV):  Customer retention rates, acquisition rates, profit margins, and net present value of long-term profit contribution of the customer.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Referral rates and word of mouth, likelihood of repurchase.
• Valuation: In public companies, brand equity is a driver of stock price. In private companies, it appears as "goodwill"--a line item in your valuation that recognizes brand equity.

Launch Team has worked with B2B companies to establish brands that drive a 35% margin improvement in one year, and a 23% increase in revenue.

Branding Trends for 2025

Branding is more complex and important than ever before, due to digital marketing, expanding customer touchpoints across a broad range of channels. Recent waves of acquisitions in 2021 and 2022 are now resulting in a number of rebranding efforts for umbrella companies.

Good branding shouldn't be tied to trends--it may not be timeless, but long-lasting. Walmart's logo has been unchanged for over a decade, and their recent rebranding efforts are hard to spot: 

Nokia's logo update was driven by a move into a new industry, while LG's brand update was to move away from an earlier trend of 3D graphics toward something more timeless. 

Branding is evolving towards:

• Minimalism and Simplicity: Clean designs and clear messaging are paramount.
• Purpose-Driven Branding: Consumers are drawn to brands that align with their values and demonstrate social responsibility.
• Sustainability: Eco-conscious branding is becoming increasingly important.
  
  

Why Rebrand

B2B companies generally undertake rebranding efforts because they need to modernize a legacy brand, recognize a strategic shift, integrate a new acquisition, or enter new markets. 

They are choosing form over function, and expressing their personality and purpose in tone and message, not in their logo and tagline. 

Success Stories and Lessons Learned

Learning from successful brands can provide valuable insights. For example, Wendy's has effectively used co-branding, playful personalities, and bold positioning to connect with their audience.

On the other hand, some rebranding efforts, like those of J&J and Jaguar, have faced criticism, by going after trends at the expense of their legacy uniqueness and brand equity. It's important to avoid similar pitfalls by planning carefully and aligning with your brand's values.

Practical Tips for Branding

To enhance your brand, consider updating design elements, expanding your color palette, and involving all relevant departments in the rebranding process. Planning for longevity and versatility is crucial, as is aligning with competitors and customers. Small changes can make a big difference in refreshing your brand and keeping it relevant.

Color Palette and Treatment

• Use primary colors for main brand elements, accent with secondary colors
• Color correcting stock photography can help reinforce your brand
• Small changes make a big difference!

After several acquisitions, a client faced a complex challenge: rapidly consolidating these varying brands under a new brand identity. With a tradeshow reveal looming, Launch Team helped execute a complete rebranding, including website migration and a compelling tradeshow presence, all within a tight timeframe. The goal was more than just a name change; it was about centralizing brand assets for enhanced efficiency and establishing market dominance. Beyond that, the rebrand needed to be future-proof, accommodating further growth, as evidenced by another acquisition just three months later. 

Tip: It can feel like you’re in a design rut when you look at the same colors all the time – using your secondary colors can help refresh designs and target specific audiences.

Unlock your brand's full potential!

Schedule a meeting with our team to discover how we can elevate your brand strategy.