ASK CHANNELNOMICS: Do Vendor Brands Matter?

At Channelnomics, we field questions about best practices, partner strategies, and channel programs every day. In this series, called “Ask Channelnomics,” we answer some of the questions we receive most from vendors.

Question: Hey, Channelnomics, here’s a question: Our head of marketing is asking why we’re funding partner campaigns that don’t play up our brand or even comply with some of our marketing guidelines. Our CMO insists we’re throwing money away. Our channel teams, however, can point to business gains. This raises the question of whether or not our brand matters much now in a world of managed and cloud services. Does it? What about in the future?

Answer: Vendors like to think their brands have value that attracts end customers. In reality, most brands don’t resonate beyond the walls of corporate IT departments, if even there.

Vendors also believe their brands re...