Articlehybrid2022

Building a warm and competent B2B brand personality

Ulf Aagerup · Svante Andersson · Gabriel Baffour Awuah

19 citations0/0 files storedEuropean Journal of Marketing

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Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification Marketing and Advertising Strategies Corporate Identity and Reputation

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) companies build brand personality via the products they provide and via their interactions with customers. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study, which spans 10 years, investigates via interviews, observations, workshops and document analysis how two fast-growing B2B companies selling industrial equipment to manufacturers build brand personality. Findings The studied companies concentrate on different brand personality dimensions depending on the activities in which they engage. By focusing on brand competence in the realm of the actual product and brand warmth in the realm of the augmented product, the companies manage to create a complete and consistent brand personality. Research limitations/implications The research approach provides in-depth knowledge on how the companies build brands for a specific type of B2B product. However, the article’s perspective is limited to that of management and therefore does not take customer reactions into account. Practical implications The study describes how firms can build strong B2B brands by emphasizing competence in product design and R&D and warmth in activities related to sales and customer service. Originality/value The study introduces a conceptually consistent view of brand personality in the form of warm and competent brands to the B2B marketing literature. It builds on and contributes to the emerging research on B2B brand personality. By relating the companies’ brand-building activities to the type of products they sell, this study illustrates how context affects B2B brand building, and by integrating brand personality theory with product levels and marketing philosophy, it extends previous theory on B2B branding.

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References

1991Culture and the Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation 1989Building Theories from Case Study Research 2013Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research 2007Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges 1993Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity 1998Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research 2002A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition.1999Strategies for Theorizing from Process Data

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