Branding processes and brand / marketing strategy alignment - the case of two B2B industries in Australia

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Branding is an issue for many businesses and as such has been the focus of academic research for over 30 years. The focus of this thesis is an area of branding known as Business-to-Business (B2B) branding. While it has not received the attention of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) branding it is still considered of relevance and importance to companies operating in B2B markets. B2B branding is recognised as an important contributor to competitive advantage for businesses engaged in B2B marketing. An extensive literature review indicates a scarcity of empirical data relating to the way brand strategies are chosen by companies involved in B2B marketing, particularly in an Australian industry context. Is it a deliberately chosen process by management? Can the process be identified? What brand elements are considered important? Why are they important? Are they considered as equally important to each firm in a particular industry environment? The extant literature does not tell us. The research of this thesis looks to address the gap in the literature. The approach to branding described in B2B brand literature concentrates on only parts of brand element grouping with little indication they are or even can be linked to marketing strategies. Yet, firms that are established in a given industry are proof that what ever their operating processes may be, they have been sufficient for that firm to continue to exist and for their competitive advantage to be sufficient for their continued existence. Whether they offer an opportunity for continued growth in a global economy when they are exposed to global companies becoming locally based competition to existing local companies, should capture executive and marketing operatives’ attention. Attention to the brand is one area of opportunity. The purpose of this thesis was to undertake research into this important area of branding in an Australian B2B marketing environment and to report on observations of B2B branding activity, or lack of it, as practised by Australian firms. Through the careful choice of two industries, namely the Bread Manufacturing Industry and the Corporate Travel Industry, the anticipated outcome was that the knowledge gap would be addressed. Both industries offered a situation where one of two major players tended to dominate the industry, with several SMEs competing with them. As such, several areas of investigation could be conducted at the same time. One was the area of how B2B businesses conduct branding and if they have processes in place to produce a brand strategy formula. A second was the area of activities of large firms and SMEs, where a comparison of these two groups would offer insights into their brand related activities. A multiple-case-study approach applying a semi-structured interview protocol supplemented by observations and documents was the basis for collecting data from thirteen firms in the two nominated industry sectors. Within-case study analyses were conducted between each firm in the one industry, as well as a more widely constructed analysis of the two industries side-by-side. The key findings from the research identified differences in the practice of B2B branding between industries and between firms, some of which was in conflict with the academic literature, thereby providing incentives for further research. The results of the research were not entirely unexpected. Most firms, if not all, were of the mind-set that a brand is a stylised name or logo with or without a slogan attached. Although it was observed in the corporate travel industry, some rudiments of a basic, if intuitive, recognition that there could be more to a brand and that it could incorporate company attributes. However, irrespective of any involvement or association the CEO, MD (managing director) or owner-entrepreneur had with their brand, processes and included developing a brand strategy vision that enabled a brand strategy to be executed were not observed in most cases. The longevity of the firms in their respective industries gave testimony to the success, in varying degrees, of the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. What was found interesting was that a few firms categorise their marketing strategies loosely into such groups as presented in the academic literature. Areas such as organisational buyer behaviour, customer value and relationship between the buyer and the seller are examples. However, when the eight areas of marketing strategy were presented to each firm in the nominated industries in the information rich interview proceedings, participants were able to identify with them, as not only being part of their marketing strategies to a greater or lesser degree, but when questioned, agreed that brand strategies could be linked to them. Based on the findings of the research, it was concluded that within the firms studied, little was known about a marketing strategy process or for that matter, a brand strategy formula process. The observation was that strategies emerged from a management belief that certain things worked and others did not. It could be said that almost entirely, executives participating in the interviews had no formal training in marketing or branding. That is not to say that they did not have practical training, particularly in marketing. Emerging from the academic literature was the identification that there was a scarcity of frameworks available and structures to guide brand managers. As a result, the brand strategy formula model developed for this thesis is presented as a framework to give more enlighted knowledge of the processes of brand stategy formulation development and is designed to address this deficiency