Question

Topic: Branding

B2b Brands That Have Transitioned To B2c?

Posted by Anonymous on 10/1/2012 at 5:10 PM ET 250 Points
I need some extra brain power on this. Can you help me think of a few brands that have had a strong B2B presence and then transitioned to B2C? I am interested in any example, but would be especially excited to see examples in the food industry.

Finally, if you can point me toward any case studies that show how this worked that would be great. I am trying to get an idea of what potholes might be out there that we need to address.

Thanks so much!
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  • Posted by mgoodman on 10/1/2012 at 6:19 PM Accepted
    The example that first pops into my mind is Nylon carpet fiber made by DuPont. For years, DuPont made and sold its Antron Nylon fiber to carpet mills (B2B). The advantages were all meaningful to the mills, and consumers thought all Nylon fiber was the same. (There were consumer advantages, but the mills didn't want to preclude changing suppliers, so they didn't promote the advantages.)

    Then DuPont decided there was leverage in reaching out to consumers and promoting the advantages they'd get when they purchased carpeting that contained its fiber. They named the product Stainmaster and promoted it directly to consumers (B2C). Mills who wanted to use the fiber had to agree to brand it with the Stainmaster name and meet certain quality and marketing support standards.

    It was, BTW, a big success for DuPont -- a $1 billion brand back in the 1980s!

    Full disclosure: The Carpet Fibers Division at DuPont was a client of mine then, and I was intimately involved in that transition from B2B to B2C.

    I'm sure there are other examples, but that one stands out in my mind.
  • Posted on 10/1/2012 at 6:41 PM Member
    Off the top of my head, IBM...They were strictly mainframes for businesses until the advent of the PC...

    They sold off the bulk of their PC division to Lenovo a few years ago and now they're back to B2B...
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 10/3/2012 at 2:07 PM Member
    a couple more ...

    The military Humvee (B2M) becomes the Hummer brand of trucks and SUVs,

    Intel goes consumer with its "Intel Inside" campaign.
  • Posted by modza on 10/3/2012 at 4:28 PM Member
    More: Asus and HTC, both of which were contract electronics manufacturers before they went b2c.

    Back to Intel: they actually tried to manufacture and sell products direct to the consumer -- not just the Intel Inside branding/licensing -- but failed.

    HP, of course, started with oscilloscopes. They are having trouble now, but they had a good 20-year run...

    Tool companies have played the line well. Snap-on only sells to mechanics, officially... and Home Depot has made fortunes for some power tool companies.

    Autodesk has sold its CAD software mainly to professionals, but is now introducing free and cheap versions for the consumer. See Wired.com.

    Food: I don't know the industry structure in detail, but I would nominate the artificial sweeteners. They got their packets placed on restaurant tables before they sold in stores, I believe. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of the growers, like Taylor Farms, haven't moved from anonymous suppliers to grocery stores, to branded bags of organic lettuces.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 10/5/2012 at 10:13 PM Accepted
    Volvo case study titled "Volvo Cars Corporation: Shifting From a
    B2B to a “B2B+B2C”Business Model"
    https://ebusiness.mit.edu/research/papers/2012.04_Tannou_Westerman_Volvo%20...
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