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,
Hkansson, 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 Branding
2.2.1 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 voiceless 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 consumers ability to identify and remember the
brand under 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: Advertisings 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