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The purpose of this paper is to design and test a model for the internal anchorage of a business‐to‐business brand via corporate brand orientation.

Data from 261 usable responses to a questionnaire distributed in the German business‐to‐business sector, were applied to model estimation by the “soft modelling” partial‐least‐squares regression technique.

The structure of the brand orientation model is supported by the results. The findings demonstrate the positive influence of brand orientation on market and economic performance. Smaller business‐to‐business companies exhibit lower levels of brand orientation than larger counterparts, to their strategic disadvantage. Line of business and management type had no influence on brand orientation in this survey.

Business‐to‐business brand managers now have empirically‐based evidence for the benefits of intensive implementation of brand orientation. The associated four‐level conceptual model of the phenomenon offers them an enhanced understanding of the process, procedures and probable outcomes. It can be used for management control as well as strategic planning and implementation.

The paper is the first empirical study to examine the internal aspects of branding in the business‐to‐business sector, and one of the first large‐scale surveys that is not industry‐specific to analyse the link between brand management and company performance.

Reaching customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in a business-to-business setting is still an area of rising interest to both researchers and practitioners. Compared to consumer branding, there is notably very little known about the success factors of industrial branding and how to convince buyers rationally and emotionally in business-to-business markets. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the success factors of branding in a business-to-business setting and analyze their performance impact on customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

In total, 258 buyers of mechanical and plant engineering companies participated in an online survey. Data analysis was performed by using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The results reveal that rational brand quality consists of the three dimensions, product quality, service quality and distribution quality, whereas consistent advertising style, brand image, country-of-manufacture image and salesperson’s personality are dimensions of emotional brand associations. All dimensions positively influence customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

This study offers a certain value compared to the relevant literature mentioned in literature review. Compared to a large majority of the papers, the integration of rational and emotional factors in an integrative and complex model implies novelty. For example, Davis et al. (2008) and Baumgarth and Binckebanck (2011) focus on specific exogenous factors in their studies, namely, brand awareness and brand image, respectively, sales force impact combined with product quality and non-personal communication. In contrast, Van Riel, Pahud de Mortanges and Streukens (2005), Chen et al. (2011) and Chen and Su (2012) conceptualized a more complex model but did not separate rational and emotional factors. Jensen and Klastrup (2008) were the only authors who made this separation, but they did not include well-known emotional success factors such as brand image or country-of-manufacture image in their research model. Furthermore, an endogenous causal chain representing an observable consumer behavior is missing. This paper fills this gap.

The research and the authors spotlighted in this book represent a series of recent exciting developments in the topic of business-to-business (B2B) branding. The papers in this book enhance our understanding of practice in this important facet of the marketing discipline. Furthermore, each author presents areas for future research and important managerial implications. The papers in this book cover a broad spectrum of industries and continents as well as both product and service offerings. The papers address a wide range of B2B applications including resellers, retailers, logistics service providers, subcontractors, hairdressing services, and a producer of high-tech materials. In addition, two papers address branding in B2B markets and pricing more generally. These papers provide details of the research background, methodology, analysis of each study. The topic coverage of this volume is extensive as the following list shows: (1) Building a Strong B2B Brand; (2) Building a Strong Brand to Resellers; (3) B2B Brand Equity: Theory, Measurement, and Strategy; (4) Effective Strategies for B2B Service Brands; (5) Brand Meaning and its Impact in Subcontractor Contexts; (6) Brand Image, Corporate Reputation, and Customer Value; (7) Internal Branding Theory, Research, and Practice; (8) Pricing Theory and Strategy Applications in B2B Brand Management.

Collectively these papers address most aspects of the marketing mix for B2B and industrial marketers. Each of the papers provides valuable brand management insights for managers.

This chapter describes the main issues in scientific literature related to industrial branding. First, we set the background focusing on industrial branding, followed by brand equity and measurement, and brand orientation in business markets. The second section relies on controversies and problems inherent in the gaps in theory and implementation of branding. The third section proposes several solutions and recommendations for academics and practitioners, followed by proposals for future research directions and conclusions. We also present a case study and several case questions arising.

This paper presents the approach of a one‐to‐one relationship for branding in business‐to‐business markets. With qualitative evidence, the paper seeks to clarify the links between branding, relationship marketing and purchase intention of resellers and to discuss the contribution of brand personified as brand representatives to the brand knowledge of resellers. The aim of this paper is to understand how this transfer of knowledge by brand personified as representatives of the brand is reflected in the selection process of brand for resale by resellers.

The theory is used to develop a testable model. Information from the field was gathered through 12 in‐depth interviews of brand managers of international IT brands. These interviews helped to give a deeper insight into the topic and contributed to the categorization of different themes to be developed into constructs. Components that emerged from the interviews were from different disciplines and were useful in making linkages between these disciplines.

Interviewees associated the role of brand personified (as brand representative) as a conduit between brand and resellers. Given the findings, brand when personified as a human can be used to manage reseller relationships in a business‐to‐business network. The brand personified with its metaphorical properties enables the resellers not only to clearly understand brand‐related information but also to make positive evaluations about the brand. Empirical research would be helpful to establish the indicators of brand personification and to enhance the understanding of the concept.

The study will be useful for senior managers of brands operating in competitive and complex business‐to‐business networks. It will enable them to use the categories and components to ensure that their brand is the preferred brand for resellers operating in the network.

The approach will be helpful in linking different functions of the organization to measure the contribution made by employees representing the brand to resellers in competitive markets by imparting knowledge about the brand to resellers.

In the past decades, a growing body of studies has assessed the importance of brands in business-to-business (B2B) markets. However, until date, a comprehensive understanding of B2B branding strategies is lacking. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to select and manage B2B branding strategies.

This study’s arguments are developed in line with MacInnis’s (2011) guidelines on conceptual contributions in marketing.

As a result of the arguments of this study, a framework is developed to identify the relationships between the types of B2B contexts and effective B2B branding strategies.

Despite deriving from an extensive analysis of the literature, the framework requires future empirical validation. Moreover, the relationship linking a supplier to its customer is unique, and hence, each supplier should carefully select a branding strategy depending on the specific situation.

The suggested framework provides actionable insights to inform managers’ decisions about the most effective B2B strategy for their firm, based on the relational complexity (number of customers, intensity of co-production and co-creation, and dyadic vs multiple-actor view).

This is the first study to provide a comprehensive model of B2B branding strategies. Therefore, it contributes to both advance theoretical knowledge and managerial practice.

The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the affective components of brand association influence the key stakeholders of business‐to‐business (B2B) brands. The aim is to demonstrate the importance of branding to organisations involved only in B2B markets by testing three hypotheses: that the customer's affective brand associations predict satisfaction with the company; that customer and employee affective brand associations correlate, and; that the better the training employees believe they receive, the stronger their affective brand associations and the higher their satisfaction with the organisation.

The paper uses a survey of the customers (280) and employees (367) of two construction companies involved only in B2B markets using a multidimensional measure of corporate brand personality. Structural equation modelling and regression are used to test the hypotheses.

Customer satisfaction is predicted by corporate brand personality. The customer view correlates significantly with the employee view. The quality of training in turn helps predict the employee view and their satisfaction.

Building affective associations with a pure B2B brand is an effective way to increase customer satisfaction. This in turn appears to depend on the employee view which depends, inter alia, on their view of the quality of training they receive. Further work is required to identify other factors that may influence the employee view of a B2B brand and how the employee view influences the customer view.

Few studies in B2B marketing are of companies involved only in B2B markets, despite the large number of firms and the volume of business that is conducted in this sector. The study demonstrates both the influence of a strong brand image in B2B marketing but also how customers might acquire such an image.

Companies in all industries are searching for new sources of competitive advantage since the competition in their marketplace is becoming increasingly intensive. The resource-based view of the firm explains the sources of sustainable competitive advantages. From a resource-based view perspective, relational based assets (i.e., the assets resulting from firm contacts in the marketplace) enable competitive advantage. The relational based assets examined in this work are brand image and corporate reputation, as components of brand equity, and customer value. This paper explores how they create value. Despite the relatively large amount of literature describing the benefits of firms in having strong brand equity and delivering customer value, no research validated the linkage of brand equity components, brand image, and corporate reputation, simultaneously in the customer value–customer loyalty chain. This work presents a model of testing these relationships in consumer goods, in a business-to-business context. The results demonstrate the differential roles of brand image and corporate reputation on perceived quality, customer value, and customer loyalty. Brand image influences the perception of quality of the products and the additional services, whereas corporate reputation actions beyond brand image, estimating the customer value and customer loyalty. The effects of corporate reputation are also validated on different samples. The results demonstrate the importance of managing brand equity facets, brand image, and corporate reputation since their differential impacts on perceived quality, customer value, and customer loyalty. The results also demonstrate that companies should not limit to invest only in brand image. Maintaining and enhancing corporate reputation can have a stronger impact on customer value and customer loyalty, and can create differential competitive advantage.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Brands are playing an increasingly influential role in business-to-business markets. Suppliers can become better positioned to exploit the opportunities offered by devising and implementing branding strategies appropriate to the nature of the relationship with and requirements of each customer type.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.