Last week the Business Marketers Association (BMA) – Houston Chapter luncheon treated members and non-members to “7+1+6=1 Strategic Market Plans and the Power of One Master Brand” featuring Robin Swanger, Director – Global Branding and Communications from Baker Hughes. Swanger spoke about the oil and gas industry giant’s journey to develop a master brand. To this end, Gelb Consulting helped the corporation evaluate Baker Hughes’ overall brand equity and that of its different divisions to conclude that the master brand, Baker Hughes, is indeed the strongest.
Key Items Needed to get united under one name:
- Have ONE single goal. A company needs revenue, customers and something to sell. Baker Hughes took all these components under one umbrella with a single focus: “Increasing market share with a long-term profitable growth”
- Have ONE strategic marketing plan to achieve their goal: Consolidating different brands and divisions under one brand is a tough process but may be successfully managed by developing a strategic marketing plan that aligns and speaks to the organization as a whole.
- Inspired by the “Wizard of Oz,” Baker Hughes identified 3 things needed to implement their strategic marketing plan and to get through “The Branding Process” (aka Oz)
- Brain: Brand Research, Brand Strategy and Product Branding i.e., data to support the direction and strategy.
- Heart: Since people tend to love their brands and every brand has its own culture, it is a challenging and emotional process to cut ties with those brands and adhere to one master brand; although, it will lead everyone to a better place.
- Courage: Courage is required to manage unexpected issues that come along the way including avoidance, resistance, criticism and gossip.
In the end, what did Baker Hughes learn from this journey? “There is no man behind the curtain,” Robin explained. There are no easy answers, and the journey to develop and build a solid master brand never ends.
Baker Hughes no longer finds itself in a tornado as in 2009 when they faced the daunting task of trying to develop a strategic marketing plan for a corporation with multiple brands. Now that they have united under one brand, it’s a consistent work in progress. Echoing Dorothy’s words, Robin concluded “There is no place like home.”
