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The most successful companies today are said to have strong brands. But what is a strong brand? What makes a brand strong? How do we build a strong brand? This paper develops a customer‐based brand equity model to help address these important questions. The developed model is a cause‐and‐effect model linking customer‐brand relationships to rational and emotional brand associations, as well as rational and emotional brand evaluations. The customer‐brand relationships are characterized by loyalty, based on both behaviour and attitude. As branding is a very complex concept, it is important to determine which of the many branding elements should be included in the model. This paper discusses why a given aspect is important for a brand’s equity and which relations exist between the included variables from a theoretical perspective. The model provides insight into the creation of a brand’s equity and can thus be used in the brand management process to achieve brand excellence.

The chapter aims to consider current approaches to brand management and brand value assessment with substantive analysis of the positions of Russian and foreign scientists.

Considering the numerous definitions outlined in scientific and educational literature, the author's definition of the term ‘brand’ is given; the history of development and current approaches to the definition and identification of the role and importance of branding in large international and domestic companies are analysed; attention is focused on the features and stages of branding in companies. Particular attention is paid to the essence and relationship of strategic company management and brand valuation.

The authors reveal proactive branding as a transition from unbranded goods to consumer loyalty. A matrix of brand strategies is drawn up. Professional marketing standards for entrepreneurs are systematised. The management of the brand's life cycle in the matrix ‘profitability – the cost of the brand’ is proposed.

The authors define prospects and provide recommendations for improving the practice of brand management and brand value assessment, making it possible to increase the effectiveness of strategic marketing business management.

This chapter focuses on the importance of emotions, as a notable part of corporate branding in a business-to-business (B2B) context. Since the issue of emotions has often been neglected in B2B branding research, the chapter focuses on ascertaining what kind of emotional differences exist in B2B, compared to B2C context. It also explores how rational versus emotional impressions affect decision-making processes in business environment, and whether the B2B sector can turn emotions into an advantage in corporate branding. The qualitative case study is conducted, focusing on the Suomen Henkilöstötalo Company. The case offers interesting findings and managerial contributions by highlighting both emotional decision making and the importance of business relationships for strengthening the position of the company in its business market.

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.

With increasing investments being made in brand development by destination marketing organisations (DMO) since the 1990s, including rebranding and repositioning, more research is necessary to enhance understanding of how to effectively monitor destination brand performance over time. This chapter summarises key findings from a study of brand performance of a competitive set of destinations, in their most important market, between 2003 and 2012. Brand performance was measured from the perspective of consumer perceptions, based on the concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). The results indicated almost no change in perceptions of the five destinations over the 10-year period. Due to the commonality of challenges faced by DMOs worldwide, it is suggested the CBBE hierarchy provides destination marketers with a practical tool for evaluating brand performance over time; in terms of measures of effectiveness of past marketing communications, as well as indicators of future performance.

The relationship between brands and consumers is seen as an important element of strategic brand management. Past studies have examined different aspects of branding (e.g. brand equity, brand personality, brand image, brand loyalty), but there has been limited research investigating the quality of the relationship between consumers and brands. The present study aimed to examine various dimensions of the brand relationship quality from the European consumer’s point of view in the context of restaurant brands using Fournier’s (1994) short version of the brand relationship quality (BRQ) scale. The findings provided strong support for the validity of the brand relationship concept. Of the seven dimensions tested, four were found to be valid and reliable. The study produced a scale to measure the relationship between consumers and restaurant brands.