B2B Branding

Strong brand names are an important success factor in all business models. This factor maybe be obvious in business to customer markets however is not as visible in business to business markets and are less successful than they could be. Brands in B2B are considered to be; something customers ask for by name, the name people use when talking about the product to someone else, when people think of the brand rather than the product, something which has developed a personality beyond the product and something people would pay a premium for under that and no other name. In the past, most people were focussing on consumer markets. Just recently in the last few years the focus was shifted more towards brands and their equity in the business-to business (B2B) field. The main reason for shifting the focus to this area is that suppliers find themselves more and more in a commodity trap.

To further explain branding the most important elements are; Brand Relevance Analysis, Brand Concept, Brand Placement, Brand Strategy. It is most important to check upfront how relevant a brand name is for the own business, that is why setting up and managing a brand is a costly and complex task. Studies prove the general relevance of a brand name. The potential brand relevance from a supplier’s point of view can be estimated by, first, checking whether a brand concept is possible and if it is then it is economically reasonable to set up and manage a brand. If there are cases where the brand relevance analysis shows that a brand should be set up, a closed brand concept needs to be created. This concept mainly consists of a brand strategy and a brand placement. Good characteristics of a good brand placement include relevance, concentration, differentiation, sustainability, flexibility, continuity and credibility. The problems associated with brand placement is that there re placement arguments which could result in a profile that is not sharp and that does not support the communication about...