PFORZHEIMER FORSCHUNGSBERICHTE NR.

B2B BRAND DEFINITION -

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF BRANDS
IN BUSINESS AND CONSUMER MARKETS

WALDEMAR PFOERTSCH, CHRISTIAN LINDER, FREDERIK

BEUK, BORIS BARTIKOWSKI, CHERYL ANN LUCZAK

• IAF •

INSTITUT FÜR ANGEWANDTE FORSCHUNG

 PFORZHEIMER FORSCHUNGSBERICHTE NR. 9

B2B Brand Definition - Understanding the

Role of Brands in Business and Consumer
Markets

Waldemar Pfoertsch, Christian Linder, Frederik

Beuk, Boris Bartikowski, Cheryl Ann Luczak

Juli 2007

ISSN 1612-0396

Herausgeber:
Institut für Angewandte Forschung der Hochschule Pforzheim
Tiefenbronner Str. 65, D-75175 Pforzheim
Tel.: +49-7231-28-6135, Fax: +49-7231-28-6130
URL: http://www.hs-pforzheim.de/iaf
 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Authors

Waldemar Pförtsch
Professor International Business
Pforzheim University, Germany

Christian Linder
Research Assistant
Pforzheim University, Germany

Frederik Beuk
PhD Candidate
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Cheryl Ann Luczak

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Boris Bartikowski
Euromed Ecole de Management,
Marseille France

Corresponding author:

Waldemar A. Pfoertsch, Pforzheim University,

Tiefenbronnerstrasse 65, D-75175 Pforzheim, Germany
[email protected]

Pforzheimer Forschungsberichte Nr. 9 © • IAF •

Table of Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................................................ - 1 -

1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................... - 2 -

2 Roles of Individuals .......................................................................................................................... - 3 -

3 Roles of People ................................................................................................................................ - 4 -

4 Different Kind of Brands .................................................................................................................. - 5 -

5 Examples of these Classifications in Real Life.................................................................................... - 6 -

6 Conclusion and new Research Areas................................................................................................ - 7 -

References ............................................................................................................................................ - 8 -

Figures
Figure 1: Roles affecting Individual Behavior in B2B and B2C Markets................................................... - 4 -

Figure 2: Comparison of B2C to B2B Marketing Characteristics ............................................................ - 5 -

Figure 3: Directions of Role Behavior in Branding Situations .................................................................. - 6 -

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Abstract

This article intends to establish a characterization system for industrial brands. Although the
understanding of consumer brands has been widely accepted, industrial or Business-to-Business (B2B)
brands have the need for clarification. This work classifies brands into three main classes based on the
characteristics of the target group(s). Many dimensions determine the existence of B2B brands. Here it
will be argued that individuals play three archetypical roles ranging from naive consumer, the informed
citizen and the decision influencing professional. These roles are crucial in establishing the class a brand
belongs to, and consequently influences the way the brand needs to be operated.
The first class is the well established field of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) brands, most directly linked with
the archetype of the naive consumer, supported by the notion of the individual as the informed citizen.
The second category of brands is Business-to-Business (B2B) brands where the characteristics of the
decision influencing professional play a central role. Both the role of individuals as informed citizen and
naive consumer influence the B2B brand, but to a lesser extent than the requirements linked to the
individual’s role as a decision influencing professional. As a third category Business-to-Business-to-
Consumer (B2B2C) brands are introduced. Brands in this category are predominately B2B in origin, but
have found ways to appeal to the typical naive consumer to strengthen their brand proposition.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

1 Introduction

Branding and brand management receive massive attention in popular press and to a somewhat lesser
extent in the scientific community (Aaker 1996, 2004). Nevertheless, classification of brands based on
underlying characteristics of the transaction, has not taken place sufficiently. Classification schemata are
of fundamental importance to organize phenomena for systematic investigation in the early phases of
theory development (Hunt 2002). It is often acknowledged that brands need to form strong relationships
with their customers (Keller 2003; Aaker/Joachimsthaler 2000). However, this relationship depends on
the role the customer is performing. In line with identity theory (see e.g. Hogg, Terry and White 1995) we
argue that individuals perform three archetypical roles in relation to businesses. Depending on time and
situation, individuals play the role of naive consumer, the role of decision influencing professional or the
role of an informed citizen. Our brand classification is based on these roles.
Besides understanding the role brands play in consumer marketing, business markets have several other
dimensions to consider. For example, given that they consist of organizations that acquire goods and
services used in the production of other products or services that are sold, rented or supplied to others
(Kotler/Keller 2006), marketing in B2B relations is usually about understanding and meeting the needs of
other businesses.
Typically, business markets are understood as being distinctively different from consumer markets
because of several different characteristics. From the producers point of view, the most imported
difference is that a small number of customers dominate the sales ledger. For B2B companies it is not
unusual to have less than 100 consumers. This could be so even for the largest Business-to-Business
companies (Backhaus 2004). Because of the small number of B2B customers, their needs and demands
are of even higher importance than in the B2C market; therefore B2B purchasers have much more power
over their suppliers.
Another difference is that in B2B markets, the traded products and services are far more likely to be more
complex than their counterparts in consumer markets. Where the purchase of a consumer product
requires little expertise, the purchase of an industrial product frequently requires a qualified expert.
Where consumer products are largely standardized, industrial products often require high levels of fine-
tuning. While even relatively complex consumer products tend to be chosen on fairly simple criteria,
industrial products require the services of a professional purchaser. In fact, business marketers have to
provide a great amount of technical data about their product and its advantages over competitors’
products.
Usually there is more than only one person involved in the industrial buying process. The decision to buy
takes place within a large team, and depending on the complexity of the product, their decision making
process can be over a protracted period. Often the decision making unit (DMU) changes during this
negotiation period as specialists enter and leave it to make their different contributions. People in the B2B
DMUs often know as much about the products they are buying as the companies that are selling them
these products. Research shows (Hague 1996), that high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty are
driven by the softer issues that are easy to ignore in the so called “rational” buyer.
This buying decision making unit is called the buying center. Referring to Webster/Wind (1972; Bonoma
added to Webster/Winds model the initiator 1982) we can describe different roles individuals plays in
such an association. Industrial buying is a combination of individual and organizational decision making
processes with certain roles in the buying center. These roles have been defined as initiators, users,
buyers, deciders, influencers, and gatekeepers, summarized as:

1. initiators define the buying situation and start the buying process;
2. users actually use the product;
3. buyers can commit the organization to spend money;
4. deciders have the authority to choose among potential product offerings and vendors;
5. influencers add information or constraints in the buying process;
6. gatekeepers can control the flow of information into the buying process.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

It is often assumed that, in contrast to business buying decisions, private consumer buying decisions are
more strongly influenced by emotions. These emotions are influenced by cultural factors which have a
fundamental impact on a person’s wants and behavior, just as social factors like reference groups, family,
social roles and status. Further personal factors also influence people’s consumption like age, stage in the
life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, personality and self concept, life style and values
(Kotler/Keller 2006). Indeed, while professionals are educated to make their managerial decisions on a
rational basis, professionals are people too and people don’t leave their emotions at home when they
come to work. It can be argued that professionals are just as much influenced by the factors affecting
private consumer‘s buying decisions, yet only have to deal with the additional requirement of having to
justify their decisions after the fact. This necessary justification is likely to influence the previous decision,
but by no-means has to be the primary determining factor. In most industries and situation, there simply
is not one right answer to a buying decision, rather there are many sufficiently acceptable alternatives
that can all be rationalized if so required. Interesting, and to the knowledge of the authors under-
researched, questions are whether professional buyers behave differently in the year before their pension
than in other years, whether their self reported emotional state is of importance etcetera.

2 Roles of Individuals

Identity, exemplified in the form of the different roles people perform in different situations, is an
essential concept that links the social structures with individual actions (Hogg, Terry and White 1995).
Similarly, the role individuals perform shapes the way they operate within the brand landscape Individuals
perform a vast amount of different roles. With the increase in complexity of society, it is no longer an
exception for someone to perform the roles of caregiver, parent, employee, employer, member of a
church, student, volunteer and professional all within the span of one single day.
In the marketing literature two dichotomies are often used to describe different roles of people. The first
dichotomy is the consumer versus professional (e.g. Hite and Fraser 1988) and the second one consumer
versus citizen (e.g. Batley et al 2001). Since both dichotomies share the consumer, three separate roles
can be extracted. As archetypes, the three roles that we specify are mutually exclusive; yet as they are
archetypes they are not intended to be an exhaustive representation of the roles people engage in.
These three roles cannot replace other more situation specific roles. For example, the parent-role draws
on aspects of the role as a consumer (Dotson and Hyatt 2000), the role as a citizen (Davies/Kanaki 2006)
as well as the role of a professional (Süßmilch-Walther 2002).

Naive consumer

The word ‘naive’ holds several negative connotations, yet we use the word to distinguish this archetype
from the often used term consumer that encompasses many more nuances and dimensions. With the
term naive consumer we indicate the basic role of the consumer, unaffected by experiences gained in the
other two roles. Naive also in the sense that his consumption is not burdened by guilt or social
obligations (McGregor 1998). In reality, few individuals will actually behave like truly naive consumers, as
it is likely that over time a cross fertilization between experiences in other roles has taken place. However,
as an archetype it is relevant for our classification scheme. In line with Gabriel and Lang (1995) we see
the naive consumer as someone who by consuming attempts to enjoy freedom, and pursue happiness.
Consumption from this perspective can be a means to achieve social status and meant to increase the
standard of living.

Decision influencing Professional

The word professional in this paper will be used more broadly than the narrowly defined highly educated
service provider for which the word is sometimes reserved. Professionals are those individuals who
perform a role as part of their employment. In this sense we include truck-drivers as well as highly paid
corporate lawyers and decision making CEOs. Other than the traditional worker-citizen (see e.g. Turner
2001), we add the criterion of decision influencing. Especially in the context of corporate consumption it
matters if individuals can influence the process in which the decision is made to purchase a particular
good or service. This decision influencing criterion is much more lenient than decision making per se.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Most companies will listen to the opinions and beliefs of many more people than are formally part of the
decision making process.
In line with the other two roles we focus on the decision influencing professional as an individual. Much
research into group decision processes has already focused on characteristics of the individuals involved in
the decision making. Sitkin and Weingart (1995) looked for example at the effects of individual risk
perceptions and risk propensity, whereas Leonard, Beauvais and Scholl (2005) linked group cognitive style
with the individual cognitive style. Especially where brand associations are concerned, we argue that
these associations live in the minds of the individuals involved, and not in the group (Davies/Kanaki
2006).

Informed citizen

The notion that individuals are concerned with more than cheap quality products and that this
phenomenon influences brands directly, is well demonstrated in popular books like Klein’s (2000) No
Logo and Gobé’s (2002) Citizen Brand. Citizens are concerned with the public problems of the world
around us. This includes social as well as moral problems. The citizen struggles for control over these
problems and a deeper sense of community and general welfare (McGregor 1998). Although our
definition of an informed citizen is narrower than Marshall’s (1964), the potential impact of actions taken
by informed citizens is similar as they modify the negative impact of the capitalist market.

Figure 1: Roles affecting Individual Behaviour in B2B and B2C Markets

For companies, the license to operate depends primarily on the opinion of individuals in their role as
citizen. Unlike the role as a consumer, the role as a citizen is not directly related to consumption. The
salience of this role in relationship to consumption will need to be provoked; the citizen has to become
‘informed’. Often times this is only the case when flagrant discrepancies between one’s standards and
perceived corporate behavior are detected. The media and opinion leaders are important instigators for
this. Although most people will exhibit aspects of the citizen role several times per day, only a small
percentage of people will have their behavior defined by their citizen’s role. Yet when this happens, the
impact can be big and radical; think for example of whistle-blowing professionals or boycotting
consumers. However, under normal circumstances the role as a citizen will only indirectly influence
consumption and decision making (Dahrendorf 1958).

3 Roles of People

The different roles that people perform are closely related to behaviors (Hogg, Terry and White 1995) and
perceptions and evaluations of others (Callero 1985). This in turn influences the way a brand offering
needs to be positioned. For example, professionals need to be able to explain and defend their decisions
to others. The brand needs to convince the professional as well as their bosses and peers. Therefore
brands aimed at professionals cannot be purely emotional, as that hampers there defendability to others.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Moreover, professionals are expected by their peers to behave rationally. Procuring goods or services to
gain status, prestige, affinity and self-security are looked down on by peers. As a consequence, brands
that exclusively appeal to these reasons are at a disadvantage when marketed towards professionals.
Consumers on the other hand seldom have to defend their own decisions, and although a certain degree
of rationality behind a purchase can make a consumer feel better about the choice, brands can be
entirely based on emotion. Likewise, for the individual in the role of consumer, brands can deliver status
and prestige and in certain cases the brand is the only selling point. Finally, because the way the role as a
citizen influences the behaviors performed by individuals that are primarily in their role as consumer or
role as professional, perceptions about for example the social responsibility of the brand, influence the
buying decision as well.

4 Different Kind of Brands

Based on these archetypical roles of individuals we propose a brand structure that is influenced by this.
In order to do so we look at the acronyms b2b, b2c and b2b2c that have been popular as classifications
for business models, especially in relation to internet based organizations (see e.g. Seigel 2000 for an
early application of the term B2B2C in a business model context). More recently these acronyms have
also been used to identify specific branding strategies (see e.g. Kotler/Pfoertsch 2006). As B2B-brands
and B2C-brands mimic the consumer versus professional dichotomy, their existence has been
acknowledged by several authors (e.g. Malaval 2001; Hague 1994). Especially at the far end the
characteristics of each brand are clear. See table 1 for a short impression:
However, this dichotomy does not do justice to brands that do not fall in the clear B2B nor B2C category.
We will discuss three types of brands that cannot be captured by the B2B and B2C dichotomy. With the
B2C brands they share the fact that, at least in part, these brands are aimed to the end-user.

B2B B2C
Aimed at intermediate Aimed at the end-user
value provider
Two way Relationship Transaction or one directional
‘relationship’
Small focused target market, Mass market, large number of
small number of customers consumers
Buyers can most effectively be Buyers are reached through mass
reached through specialized media
media
Multi-step buying Short sales cycle
cycles
Relatively complex product Relatively simple product offering
offering
Never on impulse Purchase can be an
impulse
Marketing is about Marketing is about convincing
educating
Brand is about the first Brand can be the reason to buy
impression; it opens the door but
does not sell

Figure 2: Comparison of B2C to B2B Marketing Characteristics

For example, ingredient brands appeal to the individual in the role of the consumer even though they are
primarily sold to other businesses and do therefore also take the individual as professional into account
(Rao, Qu, and Ruekert 1999; Shocker, Srivastava, and Ruekert 1994). In the case of ingredient brands the
business to business angle is mediated by the role of the consumer (McCarthy/Norris, 1999, Desai/Keller,
2002).

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Corporate brands are another group of brands that fit in neither the pure B2B nor B2C category. They
can be directed at the individual as a professional, or the individual as a consumer, to load certain
attributes of the parent company’s product portfolio to specific products. This happens when a new
product is launched and it is placed in the parent brands hierarchy (a new model Mercedes, the Apple’s
iPhone, New Holland’s CR9000 harvesting equipment et cetera). In all these cases experiences and
attributes of previous offerings are transferred via the corporate brand onto the new product. The
corporate brand can also be used to appeal to the individual as a citizen, as they can load a corporate
socially responsibility image to the ultimate products (Kotler/Lee 2005).

Figure 3: Directions of Role Behavior in Branding Situations

Finally, there is a group of mixed brands that exist of both strong B2C divisions and B2B divisions that
share the same brand name. As we demonstrated that one individual performs multiple roles, with all
individuals also performing the role of consumer, the B2B aspect will inevitably be influenced by the B2C
brand. An overview of the three main categories of brands and the relationship with the role of the
individual is given in the Fig. 2.

5 Examples of these Classifications in Real Life

Pure B2B brands are those that market products and services that are only relevant to other organizations
and have no direct link with the final end product. Examples of well known brands of these pure B2B
companies are McKinsey, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, SAP, Oracle, New Holland, Packard, and MAN.
Their products and services are known only to individuals as part of their role as professionals, or as part
of their role of informed citizen.
Pure B2C brands are those products that are sold exclusively to the end user. It is possible their sales are
not directly realized with the end-user, but are mediated by wholesalers, retailers or restaurants. Well
known examples are Coca-Cola, Dove, Pampers, McDonalds, MTV and Macy’s. Their products and
services are known by many individuals in their role as consumer, and by some professionals performing
roles earlier in the value chain of these products. As with the pure B2B brands, individuals can also be
familiar with these B2C brands in their role as informed citizen.
B2B2C brands are perhaps the largest and definitely most diverse group. Most often the B2C aspect will
influence the B2B brand activities as well, due to the fact that every individual is a consumer, yet not
every consumer is also a professional involved with the brand.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Some examples of ingredient B2B2C brands that actively target consumers and as a result generate a pull
effect higher in the value chain (illustrated in figure 1 by an arrow going from the ingredient brand to the
individual as a professional) are Intel, NutraSweet and Dolby Surround. All these brands have effectively
established an end-user preference that gives them strong benefits in selling their brands to value chain
partners.
Mixed B2B2C brands are those that share the same brand name for two distinct divisions. One division
targets the B2B market, the other targets the B2C market. Clear examples can be found in the
automotive industry where Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes market both trucks and personal cars in most
markets. Sometimes the same core product or service is used, but specific markets get enticed with
additional services. For example, many airlines target both B2C and B2B markets, where preference
amongst the first consumer is stimulated with air miles or loyalty programs and the B2B purchaser is
awarded with corporate credit card programs or incremental savings at certain flight volumes.

6 Conclusion and new Research Areas

From the fundamental differences of B2B and B2C markets we can draw conclusions that these
differences affect the roles people play when they act as decision makers in markets. In today’s world
where it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish one product from another, it is even more
important to have the support of a powerful brand. Clear definitions of brand strategy are a basis for
successful management. Knowing that the most neglected marketing opportunity in the Business-to-
Business arena is the building of a strong brand (Hague 1996) leads to the necessity to have a clear basis
for distinction. The relevance of a classification beyond the B2B and B2C dichotomy is that it better
describes the complexity in the world of brands, as well as that it helps in understanding the
interdependencies of different types of brands. It shows how brands in the form of ingredient brands,
corporate brands or mixed B2C and B2B brand influencing the end-user and how that in turn reflects on
relationships earlier in the value chain. Our classification also predicts that for most B2B2C brands the
B2C component has a bigger chance to influence the B2B component than vice versa, as the prevalence
of mass media uses to reach individuals as consumers ensures that individuals will almost always know
about the brand from a consumer perspective and might only later learn the exact content of the brand
from a B2B perspective. Finally, by linking brands to the roles people are performing, role specific
marketing strategies can be developed. Especially for the companies that operate B2B2C brands, insights
in and understanding of potential role conflicts can help them manage these brands better. For successful
enterprises, the full understanding of branding is necessary to stay competitive (Malaval 2001; Hague
1994). Due to the complexity of the market and buying situations, it is difficult to measure the precise
contribution of a company’s brand to the buying decision. This is an area we suggest future research
should focus its attention on to help to establish ways and means to manage and control B2B brand
companies. To make that possible, an understanding of the full meaning of the brand in many more
companies is necessary. A consequence out of this would be to properly position the brand and to create
a brand resonance with the customer (Keller 2003; Kotler/Pfoertsch 2006). Another area of future
analysis is the understanding of ROI of branding investments and the developments of proper
instruments of management tool for a long-term B2B brand management. We hope that we have added
some new dimensions of brand knowledge for industrial brands.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Business-to-
Business Brand
Management.
The Success Dimensions of
Business Brands
Philip Kotler, Waldemar Pförtsch
Gebundene Ausgabe: 357 Seiten
Verlag: Springer, Berlin; Auflage: 1 (August
2006)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 3540253602

Abstract:
As products become increasingly similar, companies are turning to branding as a
way to create a preference for their offerings. Branding has been the essential
factor in the success of well-known consumer goods such as Coca Cola,
McDonald's, Kodak, and Mercedes. Now it is time for more industrial companies
to start using branding in a sophisticated way. Some industrial companies have
led the way...Caterpillar, DuPont, Siemens, GE. But industrial companies must
understand that branding goes far beyond building names for a set of offerings.
Branding is about promising that the company's offering will create and deliver a
certain level of performance. The promise behind the brand becomes the
motivating force for all the activities of the company and its partners. Our book is
one of the first to probe deeply into the art and science of branding industrial
products. We provide the concepts, the theory, and dozens of cases illustrating
the successful branding of industrial goods.

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 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Die Marke in der

Marke
Bedeutung und Macht des
Ingredient Branding
Waldemar Pförtsch, Indrajanto
Müller

Gebundene Ausgabe: 204 Seiten

Verlag: Springer, Berlin; Auflage: 2006
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3540300570

Kurzbeschreibung
Marketing lebt von der Innovation und dem Kundennutzen.
Unternehmen, die beides kombinieren können, sind auf dem Weg zum
Erfolg. Mit Ingredient Branding bekommen Lieferanten und Endprodukt-
Hersteller ein neues Instrument an die Hand, das ihnen echte
Wettbewerbsvorteile verschafft. Intel mit der Ingredient-Branding-
Konzeption ?Intel inside" hat es vorgemacht. Mehr als 90% Marktanteil
sind der beste Beweis für das Funktionieren dieses Vorgehens. Das Buch
stellt zahlreiche weitere Beispiele vor, die den Lesern Anregungen geben,
wie sie ihre Marke in der Marke erfolgreich gestalten.

Pforzheimer Forschungsberichte Nr. 9 - 11 - © • IAF •

 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

B2B-Marken-
management.
Konzepte - Methoden -
Fallbeispiele
Waldemar Pförtsch, Michael Schmid

Gebundene Ausgabe: 605 Seiten

Verlag: Vahlen; Auflage: 1 (Januar 2005)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 380063144X

Kurzbeschreibung
Wer sind wir? - Was machen wir? - Und warum sind wir wichtig?
Falls Sie nicht alle drei Fragen schlüssig und schnell beantwortet haben, dann
sollten Sie dieses Buch intensiv studieren. Dieses im deutschen Sprachraum
einmalige Werk wird Ihnen alle Werkzeuge an die Hand geben, um Ihre Marke
aufzuladen und in der Wahrnehmung ... nachhaltig zu unterstützen. (Philip Kotler)
Während sich Wissenschaft und Praxis frühzeitig und intensiv mit Marken im
Konsumgüterbereich beschäftigten, wurde die Markenpolitik im
Industriegüterbereich lange Zeit vernachlässigt. Erst im Zeitalter verschärften
Wettbewerbs, veränderter Rahmenbedingungen und neuer Herausforderungen
auf Investitions- und Industriegütermärkten steigt nicht nur das Interesse, sondern
auch die Notwendigkeit zum Aufbau neuer und nachhaltiger Wettbewerbsvorteile
durch Markenmanagement. Hightech-Lieferanten müssen sich auf ihre
ureigensten Potenziale und Kernkompetenzen konzentrieren, indem sie bereits
frühzeitig im Innovationsprozess ei n wirkungsvolles, auch auf den Endabnehmer
fokussiertes Markenmanagement aufbauen.
In diesem Standardwerk sind zum ersten Mal alle wesentlichen B2B-Marken-
Konzepte und neueste Einsichten zum Markenmanagement zusammenfassend
dargestellt und mit aktuellen Fallbeispielen beschrieben. Die hier vorgestellten
Konzepte und Instrumente werden von den Autoren sowohl in Hochschulen und
in der Weiterbildung als auch in Beratungsprojekten mittelständischer und
internationaler B2B-Unternhemen zur Steigerung des Geschäftserfolgs eingesetzt.
Außerdem wird die Bedeutung von B2B-Dienstleistern ausführlich behandelt.

Pforzheimer Forschungsberichte Nr. 9 - 12 - © • IAF •

 B2B Brand Definition: Understanding the Role of Brands

Business - to -
Business Marketing
Rob Vitale, Joe Giglierano
,
Waldemar Pfoertsch
Gebundene Ausgabe: 350 Seiten
Verlag: PrenticeHall; Upper Saddle River,
New Edition, (November 2008)
Sprache: Englisch
ISBN-10: 3540xxxx

Abstract:

The art and science of Marketing has evolved well beyond early concepts. The
differences between Business–to−Business markets and consumer markets have
grown such that many generalizations of one market are not useful in the other. Yet,
the basic precepts, the product life cycle, the marketing mix and the promotion mix,
to name a few, still apply. Added concepts of customer value, market ownership, and
Total Offering management add new dimensions to Business−to−Business
marketing. When these ideas are integrated and combined they provide a richness
and depth to market understanding. However, this integration has not always come
about in a way that is manageable for students.
This text, Business to Business Marketing, starts with a basic review of concepts and
then differentiates the differences between business and consumer markets. In a
down-to-earth fashion, these basics are then integrated in a way that each supports
the other, providing an anchor for the student. These combined experiences of these
authors, Vitale, Giglierano, and Pfoertsch, academics, consulting, public agencies,
major industries and small industries, as both customers and marketers, delivers an
approach that is understandable yet comprehensive, logical yet enlightening to both
students and professionals of Business−to−Business marketing. Real companies in
real situations, combined with believable academic exercises demonstrate the
experience and depth of the authors. Their effort provides an opportunity to
understand the complexities of these markets where others have been vague and
somewhat arcane. This book gets to the heart of business−to−business marketing −
it’s a good read for students with just the right nurturing of the subject while it is also
a good read for professionals, with just the right touch of insight to provide “ahaas”
for both groups. .

gs EMAC 2006 Conference, Athens.

Pforzheimer Forschungsberichte Nr. 9 - 13 - © • IAF •