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Danielle Falconer [00:00:00]:
I would say, especially in this space, in this modern era, a joint commitment investment in the post purchase brand experience for both the manufacturer and the dealer starts with the OEM and the dealer both deciding to own the problem together and to own the opportunity together. It’s like the purchase belongs to both of them.

Joe Mills [00:00:25]:
Welcome to the Inventory, the show designed to give OEMs and dealers like you actionable insight on channel marketing from co op programs to product portfolio design. We’ll arm you with the information you need to excel, to enter new markets successfully, to build lasting OEM dealer relationships and ultimately to move more inventory. Let’s get started. On today’s episode I am joined by Danielle Falconer. Danielle is a senior Vice president here at element3 and we are going to talk about the considerations that you need to be taking for your brand if you exist inside of the B2B 2X business model. So if you’re an OEM or you’re a dealer, what are the differences in the way that you need to manage your brand in comparison to a company who sells directly to their end consumer or to another business? Hope you enjoy. Danielle. Hi Joe, thanks for joining today.

Danielle Falconer [00:01:12]:
Thanks for inviting me.

Joe Mills [00:01:13]:
I’m excited. We are going to talk about the differences that exist for a brand inside of this B2B2X business model. We talk about and how that compares and contrasts to a traditional B2B company and a direct to consumer or B2C company. So I think to start it would be really helpful just to make sure everyone’s on the same page. Can you define when we talk about this business model of B2B2X, what do we mean?

Danielle Falconer [00:01:39]:
I think what’s really unique and differentiated in this B2B to X environment is that you’re really managing and navigating what is a three way brand relationship. You’ve got the manufacturer, the dealer and the end customer. So it’s a really complex dynamic that I think makes communication and brand management on steroids because you are managing a more complex system. You’re essentially managing a relationship three ways and you’re competing for attention and loyalty of both the dealer and the end consumer. So you have to create value, value propositions that work for everyone in the entire chain. I think what’s even more complicated about it is that the dealer is not, I’m using air quotes for those who can’t see me officially on the team. And they not only are not officially on the team, independent dealers might also be frenemies of yours, meaning they carry and sell other brands. And what’s unique about the dealer is that you need them, they need you.

Danielle Falconer [00:02:50]:
It’s an interdepend relationship. But they control so many of your brand touch points, they’re out of your hands. And so you as the OEM manufacturer who cares about your brand so deeply, has to entrust it in a second party, third party, however you want to think about it and how it moves about the world. So I was thinking about this before we met up today, drawing a comparison even to my own life of what that dynamic must feel like. And I think about, I’m a parent, so I hear other parents saying things like having a child is like watching your heart move around in the world. And I think that must be how business leaders of manufacturers feel like is I’m entrusting you to my brand. You want to give them all the tools to manage your brand really well and then also a little bit take your hands off and trust that they have those day to day conversations with the end consumer and they know their local markets or they know their lines of business or whatever the case may be, but that you are treating each other so well in that interdependent relationship that they are stewarding your brand as well as you would, or at least hopefully just with the most integrity possible.

Joe Mills [00:04:04]:
The parallel drawback into the business world there is on a mixed lot environment where a lot of our clients live, automotive is not often mixed lot, ever. Maybe mixed lot. Sometimes on the youth side it’s mixed lot, I suppose. But you sell GM but that same GM dealer might own a Honda dealer down the road. So kind of mixed a lot. But in a mixed lot environment, what you’re trying to get as the OEM is that when the consumer walks on the lot or the end user walks on the lot in a B2B2B environment, the dealer doesn’t have an incentive to point them towards a different brand and you end up paying for a lead that maybe you drove that goes to a different logo.

Danielle Falconer [00:04:42]:
So that’s a good point.

Joe Mills [00:04:43]:
Similar situation there. I’m curious if you have an example for us of it going poorly. You don’t necessarily have to call a brand out, but if you want to, great where it it gets dropped or where the management of an OEM’s brand is not done well on the dealer lot and it’s at least partially due to a lack of intentionality or a lack of good management on the manufacturer’s part.

Danielle Falconer [00:05:05]:
I don’t know if I could point to an example where it wasn’t done well. I would Say, what I hear from dealers more often than not as it relates to brand management and stewarding a brand, is that the OEM is as thoughtful or complete in providing resources, assets and tools that would be useful to them. So it could be schematics and floor plans, it could be good imagery that they can put on their own website or video. Maybe a better way to think about it is those OEM brands have a set it and forget it mindset, which is really never the kind of mindset you want to have in brand management in general. We told them once and we gave them the stuff and isn’t that good enough? We all know as humans it’s not. And so that repetition, the consistency, the showing up for each other, that’s when things go best.

Joe Mills [00:05:58]:
If you were evaluating an OEM’s brand management through their dealer network, through their distribution network, are there any pillars you would think there is? Like hey, these are the places to start evaluating. Oh, do we have a problem or are we good?

Danielle Falconer [00:06:09]:
Yeah, I would point to a couple of things. One, the first piece of, even before I offer tips per se, is to have a sense of as the OEM manufacturer, to have a self awareness that you are likely an enterprise organization or inching toward that, if not already. And so you have tools, resources, technologies that become commonplace in your organization that are not necessarily inherent in the dealer size space. Whether they’re mom and pop, small dealer or a more sophisticated multi location dealer, it sort of doesn’t matter. The assumption that they are operating off of the same technologies, systems, shared understandings. That’s a flawed starting point. So I would say that self awareness is really important just to remember who you’re working with and treating them like how do you bring them into the fold as part of your team? I would say like the second thing is we would really encourage brands in the OEM space to have this, what we like to call like spike and sustain mindset. So you’re constantly doing baseline brand awareness.

Danielle Falconer [00:07:14]:
It’s like the undertone of everything that you do. It’s an always on activity. But then you’re creating big moments of impact, whether that’s around product launches or key selling seasons, like peak seasons, whatever that is, and that you’re providing the dealer and also the end consumer. There’s this like echo chamber of memorable hooks that they’re starting to hear the same things, say the same things, just some more integration. So you can think of like really popular campaign themes like the Ford Tough or even, you know, nothing runs like a deer there. There are Just some brand creative differentiation that cuts through. So when that goes well, it makes a real big difference because then it allows the end consumer to have some brand awareness and recall before they even step foot on the lot. And then I think finally is the OEM invests in both product innovation and brand building.

Danielle Falconer [00:08:11]:
So it’s this, it’s this dichotomy of we know we have to sell a thing and also we’re in it for the long game. It is keeping an eye on both. So the short term, quarter over quarter sales and also how are we known and loved in the market and how do people talk about us and how they feel about us and how do they experience us? So OEMs that do that really well and pull that into their dealer relationship and then all the way through to their consumer relationship find great success.

Joe Mills [00:08:44]:
The thing that came to my mind is that the last two points you made there around the spike in sustain and the investment in let’s say brand perception and product innovation and development, those play together really well because you can use a product launch or a model year turn as an area to spike from. And it’s empowered by already having perception and awareness in the marketplace at a higher level. I’d like your take on this. Mack Trucks is currently in their 125th year of business. They have a big event coming up in Brooklyn later in this year where they’re going to do a big product launch announcement and it’s celebrating where they came from. They were launched in Brooklyn. They’re bringing in a lot of their major fleet customers, so their end users and a lot of their major dealer customers. And it’s an interesting example of them using who we’ve always been as this like brand foundation messaging along with a major product announcement.

Joe Mills [00:09:40]:
I don’t know what that product’s going to be, but they’re doing a good job of creating hype and creating like that spike you were talking about. I think it’s a good example of a brand who really does an excellent job of brand management in the commercial landscape. Just like making a point, an example of your point.

Danielle Falconer [00:09:56]:
So they’ve gone through, I would say their own timeline journey of different inflection points on their own company history, so to speak. Mack Truck is, it’s almost like in our common day vernacular it’s like Kleenex. Like you would say, oh, I feel like I get hit by a Mack Truck. That’s a reality. They don’t want to lose that. That wasn’t the most positive association. Sorry. Mack Truck point Is shows strength.

Joe Mills [00:10:21]:
And you’re thinking about these trucks that have to go across the countries they operate in, which are many. And to be like, oh, I got hit by a Mac. It’s really strong.

Danielle Falconer [00:10:29]:
Which is what you want it to be. Yeah, I love that they’re doing that. One is like bringing others into the fold of like you’re part of this thing, you belong is really great. Companies that celebrate their brand and love their brand. It shows it matters. It matters inside your walls, it matters inside of your dealerships, it matters inside of your community, your buying community. So I love that they’re doing it. I’d be really interested to be a, an observer.

Joe Mills [00:10:54]:
I know. I wish I could go.

Danielle Falconer [00:10:55]:
Right.

Joe Mills [00:10:55]:
It’s obviously an invite only thing. I actually to prove your last point there we were at a trade show with Mac recently and they were doing a thing I had not seen done in a B2B trade show before. This happens in more B2B2C landscapes. Think boat companies might do it and Power Sport and RV will do it because they have like consumers walking through buying things in the show. But in a B2B environment you might have a few order sales happening. But this is not like, I’m going to buy a sweatshirt today. Mack Trucks had a, a shop.

Danielle Falconer [00:11:29]:
Yeah, they did.

Joe Mills [00:11:30]:
On their floor in their booth and they had a line forever.

Danielle Falconer [00:11:33]:
That is so cool.

Joe Mills [00:11:34]:
Selling stuff, selling swag. The fact that you have other people who are walking around that show floor next to your competitors, buying your gear, it actually reminded me of what Carhartt managed to pull off. I’m going to like date myself 26 years, something like that. Where.

Danielle Falconer [00:11:50]:
Sounds about right.

Joe Mills [00:11:50]:
Where they like became a, a consumer brand that people were, you know, flaunting on like Fashion Week and Street style in New York. It’s like when brands make that sort of step, you’re like, you guys are winning at a different level.

Danielle Falconer [00:12:03]:
I would say, especially in this space, in this modern era. And that is a joint commitment investment in the post purchase brand experience for both the manufacturer and, and the dealer. I think in the earlier days before we were as connected as we were, it felt less relevant or even less possible maybe than it is today. And I would say part of that is it starts with the OEM and the dealer both deciding to own the problem together and to own the opportunity together. The purchase belongs to both of them. And this while passing the buck. Hey dealer, it’s your problem now. You made the sale.

Danielle Falconer [00:12:44]:
It goes better when, if the customer does have an issue, a problem needs a Part or repair, that’s cumbersome or, I don’t know, unusual that they share the problem together. I think that is another mark of a really strong OEM to dealer dynamic. And as part of that, I would say, you know, consider each other on the same team and on the same side in terms of data sharing, in terms of who’s buying what, what’s moving what’s not, why, I mean, we now, today, in 2025, have the privilege and luxury of really good data where honestly, Joe, if we were having the same conversation, I don’t know, five, seven, eight years ago, it wouldn’t have been as possible. People wanted it, but it wasn’t as possible as it is today.

Joe Mills [00:13:28]:
Yeah, it’s an interesting call out. I totally agree with that. It kind of reminds me of, to bring it back to, you know, everyday life again. I remember when I was getting married, somebody said to me, a mentor of mine said, look, the difference is that you came wearing the jersey with your family’s name on it, and she came with the jersey of her family’s name on it. And now you’re going to both take off that jersey. We were both athletes, so this made a lot of sense to us. You’re going to both take this jersey off, you’re going to put on a new jersey that is your family and your decision making. The way that you operate together jointly in that is different than where you come from.

Joe Mills [00:14:00]:
And I think that what you’re describing is a lot of dealers and OEMs see like a cooperative but kind of competitive landscape. The farther along a customer gets in their journey with it, the dealer starts wanting to own more of that relationship and the OEM wants to like, own the data or overview of it and like relation, like that relationship as well. And so they start fighting over it. And you can feel it in the brand experience as a consumer, whether you’re a business buyer or a, or, you know, you and I out at a, a car lot buying a car. And so I think it’s about those people recognizing when we work together, we get a lot more from this. And to your point, stronger brands tend to do that better. The brands that do that, well, it’s like a sign of their brand strength.

Danielle Falconer [00:14:43]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Joe Mills [00:14:45]:
Well, Danielle, anything else you’d like to say before we wrap?

Danielle Falconer [00:14:47]:
I would encourage those who are thinking about the tension that exists between investing in our brand and what we call it. Element three, moving metal at the direct sales, you know, the bottom of the funnel activities. It’s not either or. It’s both. And there are times when it is totally appropriate to move metal, move inventory off your lot. You have to. There are associated expenses beyond just having the inventory on your lot. Totally get it.

Danielle Falconer [00:15:16]:
And there are times to build your brand, reposition your brand, amplify your brand. And most times it’s actually both. The challenges is the proportion and distribution of the trouble and the base. Like how much trouble, how much base and knowing what the perfect formula is of how much should we be turning up the brand awareness volume and how much should we be turning up the move inventory. We’ve got to get some this specific product. Yeah. We just got to get it off our, off our books, off our inventory. And I would say there’s no perfect answer.

Danielle Falconer [00:15:50]:
And that’s part of the art and science of this journey. And I would encourage those performance marketing teams and the brand building teams to hold hands together and do it together. Because when you’re both working toward that best and highest use, man, it’s just magic.

Joe Mills [00:16:07]:
Awesome. We’ll leave it there. Thanks, Danny.

Danielle Falconer [00:16:09]:
Thanks, Joe.

Joe Mills [00:16:10]:
Element three is a full service marketing agency that bridges the gap between OEMs and their dealers. For more insights on how to go to market well in the dealer model, head to element3.com.