Corporate innovation at 3M

1. CORPORATE INNOVATION AT 3M
Deepika Saxena|PGP31148
Designing and implementing
brand architecture strategies

2. 3M: A well known and respected brand

3. About the Company
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, headquartered in Minnesota
Employs more than 75,000 people worldwide, produces more than 50,000 products
Regularly ranks among top 10 U.S. companies each year in patents received
With around $30 bn in sales, 3M budgets roughly 5-6% of sales to R&D activities
Culture of innovation promoted by a corporate environment that facilitates new discoveries

4. 3M Range of products
Post-it Notes
Adhesives
Contact lenses
Tapes
Optical filmsIndustrial Abrasives

5. History of Innovation
3M was
founded
First sandpaper
sale was made
Waterproof
sandpaper-
world’s first
water resistant
coated abrasive
patented &
introduced
Scotch
cellophane first
introduced
Scotchgard
fabric &
upholstery
protector
introduced
First metered
dose asthma
inhaler
introduced
LED illuminated
projection
engine for
integration in
personal
devices
introduced
Cubitron II
industrial
abrasives were
introduced
World’s largest
aperture
trough for
concentrated
solar power
was unveiled
1902
1906
1921
1930
1956
1995
2008
2012
2010

6. What makes 3M so innovative?
3M’s “15 percent time” allows the staff to spend 15% of their time working on projects of personal interest to explore new
ideas
3M encourages everyone, not just engineers, to become “product champions”. A culture of healthy competition among
highly motivated peers helps the company innovate and create
Promising new ideas are assigned to a multidisciplinary venture team headed by “executive champions”. Venture teams
whose new products earn more than $2 mn in U.S. sales or $4 mn in worldwide sales within three years of commercial
introduction are awarded
3M expects some failures and uses them as opportunities to learn how to make products that work. Further, a dual ladder
approach allows senior, technically inclined individuals with attractive career opportunities to advance, without having to
switch to management

7. 3M: One strong brand, complemented by
many strategic brands
 One of the best 100 global brands by strategic brand
consultancy, Interbrand in 2012
 Market leading strategic brands
 Strategic brands play an important role in strengthening the
3M brand allowing the company to deliver tangible results
that enable customer success

8. Branding strategy or Brand architecture
 Branding strategy for a firm reflects the number and nature of common brand elements applied to different
products sold by the firm
 Brand architecture improves brand awareness, customer understanding and communicates similarity and
differences between individual products
 Brand architecture also enhances the brand image by maximizing transfer of equity to/from the brand to individual
products, thus improving trial and repeat purchase

9. 3M Brand architecture strategy
Articulate Brand vision:
3M Technology Advancing every company
3M products enhancing every home
3M innovation improving every life
Define Brand boundary:
3M has limited its operations in the
industrial, healthcare, consumer, electrical,
safety and cleaning segments. These
segments are in alignment 3M’s vision &
positioning, appealing to a sizeable market
Brand positioning:
3M has positioned itself as a product
leader. It strives to have consistently better
products than its competitors through its
innovative approaches.
Step 1- Define brand potential
Step 2- Identify brand extension
opportunities
Step 3- Brand new products and
servicesThrough its consistent innovation, 3M has
managed to achieve brand extension in
most of its business segments. Some of the
extension opportunities 3M has capitalised
upon are:
a. Traffic safety products
b. Advanced healthcare products
c. Cubitron II abrasives
d. Authentication products
e. ESPE LAVA
f. ACCR
Though 3M spends around $1.8 billion a
year on research and development and
employs 8,500 researchers in its labs world-
wide, it is known to the public mainly for a
few household and office products
including Scotch tape and Post-it Notes.
3M’s higher-tech materials, including films
used to brighten the screens of
smartphones, often are hidden inside other
company’s products.
To make sure that it is a science-based
company, 3M recently introduced a new
tagline : “3M Science. Applied to Life.”

10. Alternative branding strategies
The 6 main brand architecturesPositioning alternative branding strategies

11. 3M: Endorsing brand strategy
Brand hierarchy for an endorsing brand
 Brand endorsement can be graphic (placing the
emblem of the endorser next to the brand name)
 Endorsing brand allows greater freedom of
movement; profits less from its products
 Endorsing brand strategies is one of the least
expensive ways of giving substance to a company’s
name

12. Brand-Product Matrix
A Brand-Product matrix must define:
 Product-Brand relationships (columns)
• Brand portfolio
 Brand-product relationships (rows)
• Line & category extensions
Products
Brands B
C
A
321

13. Designing a Brand portfolio
• The number and nature of different brands marketed in the product class sold by
a firm is referred to as brand portfolio
• The reason for creating a brand portfolio is to pursue different market segments,
different channels of distribution, or different geographic boundaries
• The objectives while creating a brand portfolio should be to maximize market
coverage and to minimize brand overlaps

14. 3M Brand Portfolio
Through its focus in these segments, 3M
has taken concrete steps to ensure
a. Maximization of its market coverage
so that no potential customers are
being ignored
b. Minimization of brand overlap so that
brands aren’t competing amongst
themselves to gain same customer’s
approval

15. Brand roles in the portfolio
High-end prestige brands
Low-end entry level
Cash cows
Flankers
3M CORE Brands

16. Corporate Branding at 3M
Corporate Image Dimensions
Common product attributes, benefits or attitudes
• High quality corporate image association
• Innovative corporate image association
People and relationships
• Customer-focused corporate image association
Values and programs
• Socially responsible corporate image association
• Environmentally concerned corporate image association
Practices at 3M
Innovative corporate image association- Strong emphasis
on a culture of innovation, facilitation of new discoveries
and brainstorming sessions
Customer-focused corporate image association- Focus to
provide best customer solutions and become product leader
Environmentally-concerned corporate image association-
Commitment to sustainable development through a
proactive approach to environmental protection
Corporate credibility
• Expertise
• Trustworthiness
• Likability
3M delivers on all three parameters

17. e
Corporate Brand Equity
• It occurs when relevant constituents hold strong, favourable and unique associations about the corporate
brand in memory
• Encompasses a much wider range of associations than a product brand

18. Objectives of Corporate Brand Campaign
Possible objectives
 Build awareness of the company & the nature of its business
 Create favourable attributes & perceptions of company credibility
 Link beliefs that can be leveraged by product-specific marketing
 Make a favourable impression on the financing community
 Motivate current employees and attract potential recruits
 Influence public opinion on issues

19. 3M’s Corporate Brand Campaign
Corporate key messages
 3M is a diversified technology company
 3M applies innovation systematically to anticipate & respond to customer needs
 Practical & ingenious solutions are a strong part of 3M’s legacy
 3M is a global company with local presence throughout the world
 3M consistently fulfils its commitment to investors, customers, employees & communities
 3M fosters a culture of leadership at all levels
 3M can be trusted to do the right thing

20. Summary
 3M has a creative corporate culture that promotes innovation
 One of 3M’s major strengths is that it works closely with customers to find new opportunities and trends in the market
 The company operates across five major business segments that maximize customer coverage and minimize brand
overlap
 3M follows an endorsing brand strategy that allows greater freedom of movement
 Through its corporate key messages, 3M aims to build a strong corporate identity

21. These slides have been created as part of an individual assignment during the PGP
Brand Management cuurse taught by Prof. Sameer Mathur at IIM Lucknow.