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Abstract
Most of the knowledge about brands is derived from consumer products. From the author's own extensive experience in industry and knowledge of company decisions, it seems that brand strategies are not as well developed for making brand decisions that are relevant to diversified companies or industrial business-to-business (B2B) companies. These companies are often uncertain as to whether the consumer-product brand strategies are applicable in their markets.
This paper seeks to offer a framework for making brand strategy decisions in diversified and industrial companies that is focused on the key interests to the customers of the company's products and services. While the framework was developed with diversified and industrial companies in mind, it is applicable to all industries, giving it greater utility and value to marketing executives and brand strategists. The paper suggests that the most important variables of drivers for making brand decisions are the amount of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) at the point-of-purchase consideration and decision, along with the complexity of the buying decision (CBD). The paper also provides a model for making brand strategy decisions when entering partnerships and alliances.
INTRODUCTION
There is a considerable body of research and information on brand management and brand equity. The focus of most of the writings has been on consumer-based products and services. Consumer product companies have considerable guidance on how to develop, manage and enhance the brands of their companies.
Diversified and industrial companies face different marketing branding issues and concerns than do consumer products companies. In the consumer products world, there is a high need for brand awareness and recall at the point of purchase.1 For many non-consumer products, particularly business-to-business products, customer purchasing decisions are not driven by awareness, but rather by a complex set of decision variables that include price, quality, service, ability to meet deadlines, past history of the relationship, and others.
Marketing executives in diversified companies are usually overseeing a product portfolio, which may include both consumer and non-consumer products. At the same time, markets and technologies are converging, making it more and more difficult to determine in which market category products and services fall. For example, there have been an increasing number of prescription drugs being approved for the over-the-counter market, and...