B to B branding : creating synergies in the value chain

BtoC brands have already reached a maturity stage while BtoB brands remain in a fast-growing stage, both in terms of marketing & brand manager positions and in terms of allocated budgets for brand promotion.

Consequently, one of the main goals of this book is to provide companies, schools and universities support to better promote their brands. Without a brand strategy, companies stay invisible in the value chain: no name, no gain! From then on, they have to create value through a fitted professional branding policy.

There are two ways to create value: the first one comes directly from the selling of products/services made under the brand promoted; the second one comes from the new value of brand funds. By integrating the latest practices and research results, this academic-rooted book meant for functional purposes defines new strategic paths aiming at managing the BtoB brand policy depending on the final target. For the first time, a synthetic and clearly BtoB oriented approach offers useful and practical perspectives meant for brand management:

• BtoB: the target is the client organization and it is impossible to precisely identify the individual beneficiaries
• BtoBtoC: the brand addresses the end-consumers of the final products (manufactured by the client organization). This approach is characterized by the strong prescription role of the client company's marketing department and can lead to a vertical co-branding (or in-branding).
• BtoBtoE: the final customers of the brand are the employees of the public or private client organization. The goods and services are sold to the latter but are meant for the company's employees use. In this approach the Human Resources department can have a prescription role.
• BtoAtoU: The brand does not target a consumer but a user (sometimes called road-user in public transportations). Lobbying techniques are particularly effective in this case.

Aside from functional recommendations, this book contains many examples illustrating these diverse BtoB approaches. It provides useful practical tools to teachers and university/business and management school/engineering school students who wish to master brand policy in the BtoB context.