Our third annual survey of 2016’s Most Innovative B2B Tech Brands found B2B consumers’ view of innovative tech brands currently focused on innovative companies able to increase marketing, business, and sales efficiency. That’s good news since the seven most expensive words in business are, “We have always done it that way!”
More and more B2B consumers are seeking innovative technological solutions to business and marketing issues, and in a more complex marketplace they’re looking for innovation from brands that are able to not only provide products and services, but that are seen to better meet customer expectations when it comes to technology. Those are the brands that become preferred providers, no matter how one chooses to classify them.
Top-20 Most Innovative B2B Tech Brands
This year 900 B2B consumers were asked – on an unaided basis – to name the companies and brands that they felt were leaders when it came to technological innovation, with the following top-20 results. Numbers in parentheses indicate movement up or down the list from last year. Bolded names indicate new B2B consumer mentions for 2016.
Alphabet (+1)
Apple (-1)
Amazon (+1)
IBM (-1)
Siemens (+4)
Facebook (–)
GE (+5)
Cisco (-1)
LinkedIn (+2)
Salesforce.com (new)
Intel (-3)
Samsung (-7)
Square (+3)
Slack (+3)
SAP (-5)
HubSpot (new)
Mindbody (new)
Equinix (new)
Tesla (-1)
Kickstarter (–)
The B2B consumer’s expectations for constant innovation, and the expansion of technological innovation making business more efficient accounts for the addition of the four new brands on this year’s list with each new brand providing B2B with the opportunity to grow and become more profitable. Those four new brands include:
Salesforce.com (#10): A customer relationship management cloud computing company.
HubSpot (#16): An inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers.
Mindbody (#17): A software leader for class- and appointment-based businesses.
Equinix (#18): A company that provides carrier-neutral data centers and Internet exchanges to enable interconnection.
GE and Siemens showed the biggest movement up the list and Samsung was the brand that moved down most. Four brands that weren’t mentioned by enough B2B consumers to make this year’s top-20 list included Dell, HP, Uber, and YouTube.
It’s clear that B2B consumer attitudes toward innovation have not only shifted dramatically. B2B consumers have come to see innovation and change as an opportunity to partner with innovative companies and create real synergy.
It was billionaire, Aristotle Onassis who recommended, “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows,” which is a great definition for innovation. One thing is clear, seven other words companies should remember when it comes to B2B innovation are: “It’s not business as usual any more!”
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.
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