2.1 Principal B2B market theory In order to facilitate for the reader, a short presentation to the B2B market will be introduced so also the concept of B2B marketing. To create a better understanding these two concepts will be compared to a more known concept within Marketing Principles i.e. B2C. The main difference between B2B and B2C markets is that firms in B2B markets are buying from other firms instead of private consumers buying from firms, which is the case in B2C markets (Ford, Berthon, Brown, Gadde, Håkansson, Naude, Ritter, and Snehota 2002). Anderson and Narus (2004, p.4) define business markets as “firms, institutions, or governments that acquire goods and services either for their own use, to incorporate into the products or services that they produce, or for resale along with other products or services to other firms, institutions, or governments.”

2.2 Branding2.2.1 Brand equity

An important area for firms is brand equity, which is the positive differential effect that

knowing the brand name has on consumer response to the product or service (Kotler and

Armstrong, 2004). Keller (2003, p.60) gives a formal definition of Customer-based brand

equity as “the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand”. He further discuss that brand equity occurs when the customer has a high level of awareness and familiarity with the brand and that it holds some strong, unique and favor-able associations in memory. There are several aspects that need to be fulfilled in order to reach brand equity. One of them is brand awareness.

2.2.2 Brand awareness

According to Kapferer (1992, p.88) “a brand without awareness is but a blob on a product – voice-

less and devoid of meaning” Firms need to build awareness and knowledge about their brand in order for it to be pow-erful and increase customer loyalty. People must be familiar with the brand and must also feel good about it. (Aaker and Biel, 1993)

The concept of brand awareness is a common measure of marketing communication effec-

tiveness and is related to the strength of the brand presence in the mind of the consumer.

Brand awareness is reflected by consumer’s ability to identify and remember the brand un-

der different conditions ranging from recognition (i.e. have the customer been exposed to this

brand before), to recall (i.e. what brands of this product class can the customer remember),

2.2.3 B2B branding

The increased competition in many markets today puts a lot of pressure on companies to

differentiate themselves in order to be competitive. One way to do that is through brand-ing. Marketing theories often state that companies with a strong brand often get a competitive advantage in comparison with those companies with weaker brands.

According to Anderson and Narus (2004) business market managers are always striving to

establish and build their brands. They further state that the managers believe that they, by

adapting concepts and practices of their counterparts in the consumer markets to the B2B

settings, can build brand equity and also benefit from it.

In order to build brands in business markets, Keller (cited in Anderson and Narus, 2004,

p.159) propose some guidelines.

• Create a well-defined brand hierarchy by adopting a corporate or family branding

strategy.

• Link non-product-related image associations (i.e. social benefits as “peace of mind”

or “ease of doing business”).

References :

1.Aaker, D.A., (1991). Managing Brand Equity – Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name. NYork: THE FREE PRESS.

2.Aaker, D.A., Biel, A.L. (1993). Brand Equity and Advertising: Advertising’s Role in Building Strong Brands. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

3.Anderson, J., C. & Naurus, J., A. (2004). Business Market Management: Understanding, Creating,

and Delivering Value (2nded.). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., Upper Sad-dle River