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Re-designing the BTB touchpoints establishment

— DINN! PHYGITAL INSIGHTS —

— Illustration giopastori.com

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS: a scenario in evolution

Every company, in every sector, and BTB among them, is facing faster cycles of business models change, rethinking how to match new scenarios with innovative approaches.

It was already an area of business and design thinking, but recently it has been accelerated and tested in the short period to react to an emergency state, where the usual touchpoints have been canceled: in-person visits, sector’s exhibition,  trainings…

It is interesting that the boundaries between industries are smoothing: often the starting topics to address are the same and even the solutions are getting similar. From the talks we are having, a common direction, likewise other industries, is to switch from product-centric offering to an experience-based proposition expanding even the range of the offering to present the brand in a distinctive way, to better answer new needs and expectations.

HUMAN TO HUMAN CHALLENGES

Even by sticking to the core offering, taking care of the client’s network and stakeholders from different countries, especially during a pandemic event, could be challenging, but it is anyway a general issue to improve, with time, people and related costs; the challenge takes care of the new model of the relationship between the brand and its employees, its clients, its influencers and its consumers.

Customers, generally speaking, are nowadays more interested in choosing qualitative experiences from brands they can relate with, because of their storytelling and values, because of a smart and distinctive proposition, because of a frictionless experience through different phygital and human touchpoints. Digital is a game-changer, the ongoing situation is asking specific reactions, but we are still in search of human to human relationships and quality to build up mutual benefits.

There are strong and interesting opportunities to shake some status quo in BTB, picking up from other industries experiences to promote a business to business experience in a different way, moving forward from past habits, maybe not so up to date.

 

— Cherubini Headquarter showroom

We did with Cherubini group, during several years of collaboration, an amazing journey together to re-define their branding touchpoints to interact with their staff, dealers, suppliers and other stakeholders: the aim was to empower their “Italian Touch” narrative with their long-time history and knowledge, applying this idea on different outputs, from the internal showroom and workplace to branding materials and exhibitions.

As the “tailor “of mechanical motors for curtains system, with a long family history background, they ad plenty of leverages to communicate something new and unique in the market, even with a product “invisible”. For example, we set their showroom, as an experience place that expresses the soul of the brand, a new way of exploring the mechanical parts that are more related to a piece of jewelry, with every single mechanical part set as precious stone: on the other side we put the project team and laboratory of R&D is the heart of the place, visible in every moment of the day, to empathize the richness of the knowledge behind the final output.

 

Nowadays, with other DINN! BTB clients such as Rehau, we are facing a similar path, but with the challenges of this particular time: sometimes just for now and sometimes for good, we have to shake some traditional pillars (exhibitions, training, showroom browsing…) of the sector in order to be still relevant and in touch with the people they need to interact with, during a pandemic event or in normal time.

Starting from Konica Minolta international positioning we supported them to enhance the company presence in the Italian market, with a customized Italian brand strategy on different physical and digital touchpoints, within also a new brand language.

The aim was to follow up the company transformation from a product-centric to a solution & customer-centric model, highlighting the added value of the new offering, to be perceived as a “business transformation company”.

— Konica Minolta Italia re-branding

SOME POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS TO INNOVATE THE B2B PHYGITAL PROPOSITION

To answer the new challenges and scenarios there are different opportunities to be evaluated in specific for each brand and their own b2b sector.

Some strategic concept idea could be a great solution to manage the short term emergency but it would be even better to conceive experiences and related touchpoints already looking foward for what will be next, in a worldwide new expectations affecting a lot different habits of our life

It may take to change the destination use and experience of existing touchpoints to transform a showroom into a broadcast space to manage training or promote the products, empowering through technologies the interaction in the presence or in a remote way.

 

On the other side, it may take to think out of the box with brand new touchpoints and experience between physical and digital to improve and optimize the standard approach and related costs, experimenting with a new way to reinforce the bond with the stakeholders, even increasing the moments of touch.

There is also a new mindset to evaluate sharing investments with coherent, synergic partners or realities in need to use differently their touchpoints, optimize their investment, people and together reach new and different clients.

These kinds of needs could match well with the common re-thinking of spaces we are facing: from 100\200 sqm free in the company headquarter because the increasing smart-working to showroom now not so cost-effective as before or less attractive “must be there” exhibitions.

As always, it is all about mixing business goals and brand values with the focus on people (because business and companies are people indeed) new expectations and needs, sometimes going beyond that and beyond companies’ comfort zone.