ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to consider the issues associated with the way brands can be developed in business to business markets. One way of appreciating this is through understanding how organizations buy brands. We open by making the point that brands play as important a role in business to business as they do in consumer markets. The nature of brand equity in organizational markets is addressed. The unique characteristics of organizational marketing are considered, along with brand implications. We identify the people likely to be involved in organizational brand purchasing and discuss their roles. The stages involved in brand purchasing are presented, with a consideration of the effort put in by the buyers. The importance of value in industrial brands is reviewed, focusing on the tangible and intangible components of four aspects of brand performance. The contribution of relationship marketing to industrial branding is considered, including the criteria used to assess the appropriateness of potential partners, characteristics associated with successful relationships, how these vary over the duration of the relationship, and factors which build brand loyalty in organizational markets. The rational and emotional factors affecting brand choice are reviewed. The traditional way that marketers present brand information is compared with buyers’ views of the most useful sources, and the two main routes by which buyers are influenced by sellers are considered. Finally, we address the important role played by corporate identity programmes and the corporate images perceived by buyers.
