In this edition, we concentrate on branding. Why is branding important? How do you build a brand? How do you stay on brand? And how do you track your brand and measure its success once you’ve committed?

The short answer to the first question is that purchasing decisions are not just about the product. This applies just as much for B2B as B2C. A strong brand can mean the difference between winning or losing out on new customers, maintaining the loyalty of existing ones, especially in a buyer’s market, and even securing a price premium.

Branding is not just for the benefit of those on the outside either. A coherent branding vision can unite employees and create a sense of purpose and pride within the company.

The forest products industry has come a long way in recent years but not far enough. Strong brands stand out because they are few and far between. It can be tempting to hide away during times of cost pressures and uncertainty, but now is precisely the time to assess how robust you are in the face of the unexpected (what we might call the “expected unexpected” given the experience of recent years). Strong branding is an investment for the future and, we would argue, it is needed now more than ever.

So read on for some tips and food for thought. And if you’d like to continue the discussion about any aspect of our branding services, we’d love to hear from you.

Best regards,

Mikael

To the first ForestInsights#2 article