B2B Brand Management (eBook)

Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He received his Master's Degree at the University of Chicago and his PhD Degree at MIT, both in economics. He did post-doctoral work in mathematics at Harvard University and in behavioral science at the University of Chicago. Professor Kotler is the author of: Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, the most widely used marketing book in graduate business schools worldwide; Principles of Marketing; Marketing Models; Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations; The New Competition; High Visibility; Social Marketing; Marketing Places; Marketing for Congregations; Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism; The Marketing of Nations; Kotler on Marketing, Building Global Biobrands, Attracting Investors, Ten Deadly Marketing Sins, Marketing Moves, Corporate Social Responsibility, Lateral Marketing, and Marketing Insights from A to Z. He has published over one hundred articles in leading journals, several of which have received best-article awards. Professor Kotler was the first recipient of the American Marketing Association's (AMA) "Distinguished Marketing Educator Award" (1985). The European Association of Marketing Consultants and Sales Trainers awarded Kotler their prize for "Marketing Excellence". He was chosen as the "Leader in Marketing Thought" by the Academic Members of the AMA in a 1975 survey. He also received the 1978 "Paul Converse Award" of the AMA, honoring his original contribution to marketing. In 1989, he received the Annual Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award. In 1995, the Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) named him "Marketer of the Year". Professor Kotler has consulted for such companies as IBM, General Electric, AT&T, Honeywell, Bank of America, Merck and others in the areas of marketing strategy and planning, marketing organization and international marketing. He has been Chairman of the College of Marketing of the Institute of Management Sciences, a Director of the American Marketing Association, a Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, a Director of the MAC Group, a former member of the Yankelovich Advisory Board, and a member of the Copernicus Advisory Board. He has been a Trustee of the Board of Governors of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Drucker Foundation. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from the Stockholm University, University of Zurich, Athens University of Economics and Business, DePaul University, the Cracow School of Business and Economics, Groupe H.E.C. in Paris, the University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Budapest University of Economic Science and Public Administration, and the Catholic University of Santo Domingo. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and South America, advising and lecturing to many companies about how to apply sound economic and marketing science principles to increase their competitiveness. He has also advised governments on how to develop stronger public agencies to further the development of the nation's economic well-being.   Waldemar Pfoertsch currently holds the position of Professor for International Business at the University of Pforzheim, and he is visiting lecture at the Executive MBA Program of the Liautaud Graduate School of Business, University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition he is an Online Tutor for MBA Program International Management University Maryland College Park and at the Steinbeis University in Berlin. He received two Master Degrees (economics & business administration) and his Doctorial Degree in social science at the Free University Berlin. He did his post-doctoral work in industrial planning at the Technical University Berlin. His latest publication in German cover the areas of Business-to-Business Marketing, Brand Management and Ingredient Branding, I also published: Living Web and Internet Strategies. In preparation is Blogs: The new business language. He also published several articles in German, Chinese and English language on international management issues. Professor Pfoertsch has consulted for such companies as DaimlerChrysler, HP, IBM, and many medium size corporations in Europe, Asia and North America in the areas of international marketing and brand management. He is on the advisory board of various companies and non profit organizations. His other teaching positions had been at the University of Cooperative Education Villingen-Schwenningen, Visiting Associate Professor at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and Lecturer for Strategic Management at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Prior to his teaching appointments, he was a Management Consultant for international consulting companies. In this position, he has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North America working with companies in developing international strategies. His earlier positions include being an Economic Advisor to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization where he worked as an advisor to the government on how to develop internationally competitive industries. He also worked for many years in the automation industry, serving automotive companies.

Foreword 5
Preface 9
Acknowledgements 11
Contents 15
Chapter 1 Being Known or Being One of Many 17
Chapter 2 To Brand or Not to Brand 31
2.1 B2B = B2C 36
2.2 B2B Brand Relevance 50
2.3 Power of the Business Brand 66
Chapter 3 B2B Branding Dimensions 81
3.1 Brand Distinction 89
3.2 Brand Communication 122
3.3 Brand Evaluation 139
3.4 Brand Specialties 140
Chapter 4 Acceleration Through Branding 173
4.1 Brand Planning 176
4.2 Brand Analysis 179
4.3 Brand Strategy 184
4.4 Brand Building 197
4.5 Brand Audit 207
Chapter 5 Success Stories of B2B Branding 223
5.1 FedEx 225
5.2 Samsung 231
5.3 Cemex 240
5.4 IBM 248
5.5 Siemens 255
5.6 Lanxess 262
5.7 Lenovo 265
5.8 Tata Steel 277
Chapter 6 Beware of Branding Pitfalls 293
Pitfall No. 1: A Brand Is Something You Own 294
Pitfall No. 2: Brands Take Care of Themselves 296
Pitfall No. 3: Brand Awareness vs. Brand Relevance 298
Pitfall No. 4: Don’t Wear Blinders 301
Pitfall No. 5: Don’t Let Outsiders Do Your Job 305
Chapter 7 Future Perspective 313
7.1 Corporate Social Responsibility 315
7.2 Branding in China 318
7.3 Design and Branding 330
7.4 Lovemarks and Brand Leadership 337
About the Authors 343
Bibliography 347
Company and Brand Index 359
Subject Index 367

CHAPTER 1 Being Known or Being One of Many (p. 1-2)

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Sherlock Holmes

When talking about brands most people think of Coca Cola, Apple, Ikea, Starbucks, Nokia, and maybe Harley Davidson. These brands also happen to be among the most cited best-practice examples in the area of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) branding. For these companies their brand represents a strong and enduring asset, a value driver that has literally boosted the company’s success. Hardly any company neglects the importance of brands in B2C.

In Business-to-Business (B2B), things are different – branding is not meant to be relevant. Many managers are convinced that it is a phenomenon confined only to consumer products and markets. Their justification often relies on the fact that they are in a commodity business or specialty market and that customers naturally know a great deal about their products as well as their competitors’ products. To them, brand loyalty is a non-rational behavior that applies to breakfast cereals and favorite jeans – it doesn’t apply in the more "rational" world of B2B products. Products such as electric motors, crystal components, industrial lubricants or high-tech components are chosen through an objective decision-making process that only accounts for the so-called hard facts like features/functionality, benefits, price, service and quality etc. Soft-facts like the reputation of the business, whether it is well known is not of interest. Is this true? Does anybody really believe that people can turn themselves into unemotional and utterly rational machines when at work? We don’t think so.

Is branding relevant to B2B companies? Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Intel, HP, Cisco Systems, Dell, Oracle, SAP, Siemens, FedEx, Boeing – they are all vivid examples of the fact that some of the world’s strongest brands are B2B brands. Although they also operate in B2C segments, their main business operations are concentrated on B2B. Then why are so many B2B companies spurning their fortune?

Take for instance the Boeing company. Only a few years ago a very interesting incident happened at the Boeing headquarters in Seattle. Shortly after Judith A. Muehlberg, a Ford veteran started as head of the Marketing and Public-Relations department, she dared to utter the "B" word in a meeting of top executives. Instantly, a senior manager stopped her and said: "Judith, do you know what industry you’re in and what company you’ve come to? We aren’t a consumer- goods company, and we don’t have a brand."2 Since then US aerospace giant Boeing has come a long way. Nowadays, branding and brand management do matter in a big way to them.

In 2000, the company’s first-ever brand strategy was formalized and integrated in an overall strategy to extend its reach beyond the commercialairplane business. Today, the brand spans literally everything from its logo to corporate headquarters. Even the plan to relocate its corporate headquarter from Seattle to Chicago has been devised with the Boeing brand in mind.3 In 2005, Boeing introduced its new flagship aircraft. In a worldwide campaign with AOL, they searched for a suitable name and invented the Dreamliner, which was inaugurated by Rob Pollack, Vice President of Branding for Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing.