It's an exciting time for a co-manufacturer! Your B2B products are taking off, and white-label services are delivering excellent results. You're getting validation that you've got a great product, so why not use your expertise to claim a piece of the branded market as well?

It’s a common transition, and with the benefits of existing capabilities and more nimbleness than larger branded companies, B2B companies are finding success launching their own consumer-facing brands. When done strategically, it can open up incremental volume and sales for your company, improve margins and deepen buyer relationships. However, without a clear strategic plan in place, it can threaten your existing business relationships and create inefficiencies for your plant.

To set your B2C brand up for success, here are some essential tips to keep in mind:

1. Protect Your B2B Base

Your first priority should be to safeguard your existing revenue streams. Having direct channel conflict can be a common misstep.

• Review & Differentiate: Before launching, thoroughly review all existing B2B contracts with distributors, wholesalers, and white-label clients. Your new B2C brand should avoid directly competing with their offerings or violate any exclusivity agreements. You can differentiate your new B2C brand through formulation, product benefits, or positioning in the market.
• Be Transparent: Trust is your most valuable B2B asset, make sure you aren’t jeopardizing the hard-earned relationship you’ve built with your B2B clients. Get ahead of any concerns by being upfront about your plans with current clients. Explain the steps you’re taking to protect their business, and goals to grow the overall category. Depending on your goals, you may even choose to position your B2C launch as an innovation lab platform, so even your B2B clients can benefit from your testing and learning in the market.

2. Define Your "Reason for Being"

In the B2B world, your "reason for being" could include technical ability, product expertise and supply chain reliability. In B2C, you need to articulate a clear benefit or value to the consumer.

• Know what problem you are solving: Your B2C brand should bring something new to the table that consumers are seeking from the category. Are you focusing on innovative flavors or packaging, sustainability, premium quality, ingredient transparency, or a unique functional benefit?
• Define your audience: Don’t try to be everything to everyone. The more you’re able to define who your consumer is, the better you’ll be able to serve them. What are their needs, where do they shop, and what are they currently dissatisfied with? Your brand should be built to meet those specific, underserved needs. This focus allows you to gain momentum with your core demographic, with the opportunity to scale as momentum builds.

3. Create a Brand, Not Just a Logo

A logo is a key design element that provides a distinctiveness to your brand and serves as your mark, while a brand is the entire experience and feeling people have about your product. In B2B, the focus is on your factory's capabilities; in B2C, the focus is on lifestyle and connection.

• Look & Feel: While having a logo is a key element to every brand, a logo on its own doesn’t justify the product’s reason for being, it merely represents it. Working with a branding partner, you develop a complete brand identity that includes voice, tone, color palette, typography, and imagery. Through this process, your brand will do the heavy lifting of speaking to your target consumer, communicating the brand’s reasons for being, and creating an emotional connection with consumers. The goal is for your brand to become part of your consumers’ lifestyle.
• Packaging as Marketing: Think of your packaging as the main billboard for your brand. What are you trying to communicate with your target consumer? How can your brand instantly evoke an emotional connection while articulating the key information you need to share that will motivate purchase? Expert branding partners can help you not just share what’s in the package, but also why that solves a problem your target consumer is facing.

4. Develop a Go-to-Market Strategy

Your B2B strategy is often a linear sales pipeline. Your B2C strategy must be an omnichannel roadmap of growth.

• Omnichannel is Table Stakes: Depending on your capabilities, your B2C growth may want to extend beyond retail distribution and include a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) e-commerce channel to be fully competitive in today’s markets. This gives you control over pricing, branding, and allows you to directly learn more about your customer.
• From Funnel to Flywheel: Unlike the transactional B2B funnel, a B2C model relies on additional resources to help acquire and grow your customer base through marketing, social media, paid search and other tactics. Develop a plan outlining how to engage with your target audience to provide them an exceptional buying experience. Then take it one step further and see how you can ensure a stellar post-purchase experience. This helps turn customers into ambassadors for your B2C brand, driving loyalty, repeat business and helping to spread the word about your B2C brand. This flywheel approach ensures continual engagement with your consumer.

5. Tell a Clear, Consistent Brand Story

Your manufacturer's expertise is a great asset, but it must be reframed for the consumer. Your brand story should articulate why you are the right brand to solve their problem.

• Own Your Story: Leverage your manufacturing expertise—your "why" and your "how"—but translate it into consumer benefits. Use your brand story on pack and online to highlight your expertise at making the best products and how they will benefit the consumer. Understanding the skilled techniques, care and thoughtfulness that goes into making your products helps consumers see why they should buy your products over the competition.
• Consistency: Ensure your brand story and style is consistent across every touchpoint to develop brand awareness. The more consumers see your brand, the more it reinforces your messaging and encourages trial.
  • Packaging: Visual cues and benefit-driven copy.
  • Selling Materials: Retail shelf talkers and e-commerce product pages.
  • Consumer Marketing: Social media, website, and digital ads.

Expanding from B2B to B2C is about shifting your mindset from producer to brand builder. By adhering to these principles, engaging the right branding partner, and treating your new B2C brand as a distinct, valuable entity, you can unlock a powerful new chapter of growth.

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