Prelims

Half Title Page

DEVELOPING INSIGHTS ON BRANDING IN THE B2B CONTEXT: CASE STUDIES FROM BUSINESS PRACTICE

Title Page

DEVELOPING INSIGHTS ON BRANDING IN THE B2B CONTEXT: CASE STUDIES FROM BUSINESS PRACTICE

EDITED BY

NIKOLINA KOPORCIC

Åbo Akademi University, Finland

MARIA IVANOVA-GONGNE

Åbo Akademi University, Finland

ANNA-GRETA NYSTRÖM

Åbo Akademi University, Finland

JAN-ÅKE TÖRNROOS

Åbo Akademi University, Finland

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2018

Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78756-276-9 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-275-2 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78756-277-6 (Epub)

About the Editors

Dr. Maria Ivanova-Gongne is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer in International Marketing at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Her research interests include business-to-business marketing management, particularly the aspects of business interaction, managerial sensemaking, and culture in international business-to-business relationships and networks. Her work has appeared in international top journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, and European Management Journal.

Dr. Nikolina Koporcic is a Postdoctoral Researcher in International Marketing, affiliated with the School of Business and Economics (Åbo Akademi University), and Turku School of Economics (University of Turku). Her research interests include areas of corporate branding, business-to-business relationships, and networks. In particular, she is studying the importance of Interactive Network Branding for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in business markets. Nikolina has published her research in Industrial Marketing Management and Econviews. Nikolina Koporcic can be contacted at: nikolina.koporcic@abo.fi.

Anna-Greta Nyström, DSc (Econ.), is a Senior Lecturer at Åbo Akademi University School of Business and Economics. Anna-Greta holds a Doctoral Degree in International Marketing from the Åbo Akademi University School of Business and Economics. Her doctoral research focused on industry change in the Finnish telecommunications sector, with a special focus on technological convergence and business network dynamics. Anna-Greta has published her research in Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, AMS Review, and Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, among others. Anna-Greta’s current research interests include business networks and change, business opportunities in high-tech industries, media convergence, and changing media consumption patterns.

Jan-Åke Törnroos is Professor Emeritus of International Marketing at the School of Business and Economics at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. He has published his research in the areas of Business Marketing in Networks, International Marketing, and Inter-Cultural Management. He has also done research in qualitative inquiry and process research in business market management. His research is published in, for example, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.

List of Contributors

List of Abbreviations

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Appendices

Preface

In planning and writing this book, it has become increasingly apparent that the role of corporate branding is a topical area for both business practice and academic research. The brand management research area has developed since the 1980s, but has been, up until now, strongly dominated by business-to-consumer (B2C) perspectives. Despite its importance for modern companies’ business operations, the corporate branding approach in business-to-business (B2B) marketing has so far gained much less attention from both marketing scholars and practitioners.

Business marketing denotes the significant role of business relationships and networks as regards corporate branding. The “market,” as such, consists of firms and organizations, which are interdependently producing value in the form of products and services, or combined offerings to other firms on the market. These key characteristics of business markets furthermore set the scene for how corporate branding of a single company, or group of companies, in business markets could and should be managed. With this in mind, we believe that it is time to develop our understanding of this relevant field of marketing research and practice.

This book started as a joint effort at our business school, where the graduate student teams wrote chapters on diverse themes related to corporate branding, during an advanced level course titled “Management of Industrial Brands.” During the course, we could see a clear interest in exploring different perspectives of the concept, and how the topics explored would have a practical relevance for business managers. The aim of the book was to tackle the key concepts of corporate branding, and evaluate them in specific practical settings. In most chapters, the themes have been explored through specific case firms, and practical examples of how they have dealt with corporate branding in B2B markets. The presentations have gone through several peer reviews, and the texts are written in an easy-to-follow manner. In each of the chapters, the authors have addressed the implications for practitioners as regards to corporate branding. Subsequently, we have been able to present a multi-facetted view on corporate branding through the 11 chapters of this edited volume.

The editors have critically examined the chapters during and after the course. The final editing was conducted after a decision to publish was made by the Emerald Publishing Company. The editors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Publisher in the final editing process.

We hope that the book finds its readers both in business schools around the world and among practitioners and aids in identifying the importance of corporate branding in business marketing.

Nikolina Koporcic

Maria Ivanova-Gongne

Anna-Greta Nyström

Jan-Åke Törnroos

The Editors