It’s all in the brand

Creating value through successful B2B relationships

rand creation and clear dissemination of values have long been an important facet

B of organizations that are within the business-to-consumer (B2C). The underlying

concept is one of giving an organization a brand which runs across all their
offerings, presenting a united concept of the platform from which an organization operates.
From this an organization can create a list of values for which it stands, which become
indelibly liked to the brand. Therefore, rather than an organization having to explain what it
does and stands for with each series of advertisements and product or service releases,
potential customers already know these details due to the prevalence of the branding and
message.
Within the business-to-business (B2B) sphere, brand creation and value linking are less
prominent and under-utilized. Successful corporate brand management can reduce the
typically high costs associated with initiating and maintaining customer relationships
through the clear linking of values to branding. This not only allows potential customers a
quick method of understanding what an organization does and stands for, but also acts to
disseminate headline details of an organization to its stakeholders about its corporate brand
and delivered values. Within B2B marketing, the business customer of a supplying
organization will be more concerned with the branding and values of this supplying
organization as this will impact the business customer’s own reputation and customers’
perception. The values of a supplier are starting to becoming a major factor in the success
of organizations, with the actions of a supplier being linked to the performance of an
organization.

Shared responsibilities
The actions of suppliers are coming more into the spotlight now transparent business
practices and supply chains are being demanded by consumers. The now well-
documented contention of the state control of the Uighurs in China has had a profound
impact on the fashion industry, with revelations that at least one-in-five fashion brands
source textiles from factories that use forced-labor in the Uighur region of China. The
accusations of slave labor and oppressive treatment of the Uighurs has led to fashion
brands having to distance themselves with these suppliers, and their claims that they did
not know where their textiles came from are ringing hollow with customers. Ignorance is no
longer an acceptable defense, and the values of suppliers are paramount to the success of
an organization. Similarly, the actions of the textile factories in Leicester, UK, during the
COVID-19 crisis, with people forced to continue working to supply fashion sites such as
BOOHOO in direct contravention to UK Government guidelines has led to a colossal fall-out
and fierce public backlash. Again, the claims of BOOHOO executives that they did not
know, nor condone such actions by their suppliers have been met with ridicule and harsh
criticism.

DOI 10.1108/SD-08-2020-0143 VOL. 36 NO. 10 2020, pp. 15-16, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543 j STRATEGIC DIRECTION j PAGE 15
 Within the business-to-business (B2B) sphere, brand creation
and value linking are less prominent and under-utilized.

Successful corporate branding ties all the elements, subsidiaries, and shareholders of an
organization into one cohesive identity, creating a singular focus for all products and
services to be aligned with. It is important for suppliers looking to create a cohesive brand
to successfully train their staff to understand and demonstrate the organization’s values and
branding with their interactions with their B2B customers. For organizations looking to
create a branding and values package, it is key that they include the following aspects of
the organization:
䊏 corporate business culture;
䊏 relationships with internal and external stakeholders;
䊏 products;
䊏 identity; and
䊏 personality.

Brand boost
Organizations that create a cohesive brand are typically able to evidence how doing so
supports the initiation and management of relationships with business customers. When a
supplier struggles to attain a suitable brand, it becomes a less attractive option for potential
customers, and therefore struggles to gain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, a
customer business is likely to choose a supplier organization if its branding is seen to be a
benefit to the image and reputation of the customer business. Strong branding that exhibits
values akin to those of the customer business are able to boots performance of both
organizations, as well as increase competitive advantage. For both parties, there are
tangible and intangible benefits to a strongly branded and good value-holding supplier. A
successful supplier will be able to supply better quality goods or services. But their strength
creates an intangible value stream through the benefits of being associated with them. Both
tangible and intangible benefits should be considered by an organization looking for a
Keywords: supplier based on their branding and values.
Business-to-business,
Brand value,
Relationship management, Comment
Corporate brand,
Relationship initiation, The review is based on “Corporate branding and value creation for initiating and managing
Corporate brand relationships in B2B markets” by Ozdemir et al. (2020), published in Qualitative Market
relationships Research.

Reference
Ozdemir, S., Gupta, S., Foroudi, P., Wright, L.T. and Eng, T.Y. (2020), “Corporate branding and value
creation for initiating and managing relationships in B2B markets”, Qualitative Market Research, available
at: https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-12-2017-0168.

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