M3 Business & Brand Consulting is an agency for the development of brands and business models for the industry. M3 stands for people, brands and markets. (in German: Mensch, Marke, Markt). M3 develops brands for companies and products in B2B. Based in Düsseldorf, the agency mainly works for clients in Europe, but also worldwide.
Interview with Winfried Altmayer, CEO of M3 Business & Brand Consulting.
Easy Engineering: Why are personal contacts important for success in B2B?
Winfried Altmayer: B2B buyers are people, and people are emotional. People largely make decisions relying on their first impressions of stored memories, images and feelings. These emotions impact economic decision making. In one sense, brands inherently operate on an emotional level by stimulating that part of the brain that stores emotional reactions. By nurturing the right brand associations in your prospects’ minds, you can begin closing the deal before the selling has even started. Trust can be achieved by being the dominant player in your market, or by achieving thought leadership early in the buying cycle.
E.E: What are the benefits of a strong B2B Brand?
W.A: B2B businesses can benefit greatly from a strong brand. A strong B2B Brand:
- ensures your brand stands out and cuts-through in its category – it gives customers reason to choose your brand over competitors
- creates customers with a predisposition towards your brand, and an increased willingness to try it
- shortens the sales cycle
- enables your brand to charge and sustain a price premium
- enables your brand to build trust with its key stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, distributors, partners, intermediaries etc.
- it creates loyal customers, advocates, and even evangelists, out of those who buy
- lowers sensitivity to price increases
- attracts and retains the best employee talent.
- the financial pay-off
E.E: How you support mergers and acquisitions with Branding?
W.A: At M3 Business &Brand Consulting we’ve worked with many medium and large organisations through periods of mergers and acquisitions activity. For us, brand is the most powerful tool for communicating to the market the power and value of an M&A transaction. Our belief is when brand is front and centre, the merged, acquired or new business will have more energy, seek more opportunities and achieve greater success in the market.
E.E: Who are the clients of M3 Business & Brand Consulting?
W.A: Our customers are sometimes start-ups, sometimes bigger corporations. But in 90% of all cases, it is medium-sized companies, mostly based in Europe. An essential part of our work consists of supporting our customers in the development of export markets. The aim is to transfer the brand to the other culture without changing the identity.
We are not fixed on specific activities. However, almost all of our customers come from industry.
Our experience in mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, vehicle construction, electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics and medical technology is particularly extensive.
E.E: How can companies work together with M3 Business & Brand Consulting?
W.A: We often start with a keynote speech, for example at a sales meeting or in preparation for a trade fair. The second step is a brand workshop. We analyse the status quo. We look at the brand from the outside, like a customer. Then we develop the core of the brand together, the positioning, the brand design and the communication. The customer receives a brand book and a roadmap that they can use to develop their brand independently. In fact, we accompany our customers beyond the workshop.
