B2B Brand Management

As products become increasingly similar, companies are turning to branding as a way to create a preference for their offerings. Branding has been the essential factor in the success of well-known consumer goods such as Coca Cola, McDonald's, Kodak, and Mercedes. Now it is time for more industrial companies to start using branding in a sophisticated way. Some industrial companies have led the way... Caterpillar, DuPont, Siemens, GE. But industrial companies must understand that branding goes far beyond building names for a set of offerings. Branding is about promising that the company's offering will create and deliver a certain level of performance. The promise behind the brand becomes the motivating force for all the activities of the company and its partners.

Our book is one of the first to probe deeply into the art and science of branding industrial products. We provide the concepts, the theory, and dozens of cases illustrating the successful branding of industrial goods.

From the reviews:

"Just received my copy of B2B Brand Management - what a beautiful piece of work! Thank you for this advancement to our practice! (Ralph A. Oliva, Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Business Markets Professor of Marketing, Smeal College of Business, Penn State University)

"Proliferation of similar products, increasing complexity of customer needs (moving from stand-alone products to solutions), and high price pressures will force b2b marketers to focus on brand building. If you are a b2b marketer already thinking along those lines, then this book is the weightiest corroboration you could have asked for." (TMCnet, October 2006)

"When it comes to marketing, there is no name bigger than Phillip Kotler. … In this book, co-authored with … Professor Waldemar Pfoertsch, Kotler makes a case for brand management in business-to-business (b2b) marketing as well. … The core proposition in the book is that in the new globalized world ‘being known’ rather than ‘being one of many’ is the need of the hour. … How does branding help in overcoming … challenges? The authors offer a huge list-it helps with differentiation … ." (Business Today, October, 2006)

Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. He received his Master's Degree at the University of Chicago and his PhD Degree at MIT, both in economics. He did post-doctoral work in mathematics at Harvard University and in behavioral science at the University of Chicago.

Professor Kotler is the author of: Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, the most widely used marketing book in graduate business schools worldwide; Principles of Marketing; Marketing Models; Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations; The New Competition; High Visibility; Social Marketing; Marketing Places; Marketing for Congregations; Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism; The Marketing of Nations; Kotler on Marketing, Building Global Biobrands, Attracting Investors, Ten Deadly Marketing Sins, Marketing Moves, Corporate Social Responsibility, Lateral Marketing, and Marketing Insights from A to Z. He has published over one hundred articles in leading journals, several of which have received best-article awards.

Professor Kotler was the first recipient of the American Marketing Association's (AMA) "Distinguished Marketing Educator Award" (1985). The European Association of Marketing Consultants and Sales Trainers awarded Kotler their prize for "Marketing Excellence". He was chosen as the "Leader in Marketing Thought" by the Academic Members of the AMA in a 1975 survey. He also received the 1978 "Paul Converse Award" of the AMA, honoring his original contribution to marketing. In 1989, he received the Annual Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award. In 1995, the Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) named him "Marketer of the Year".

Professor Kotler has consulted for such companies as IBM, General Electric, AT&T, Honeywell, Bank of America, Merck and others in the areas of marketing strategy and planning, marketing organization and international marketing.

He has been Chairman of the College of Marketing of the Institute of Management Sciences, a Director of the American Marketing Association, a Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, a Director of the MAC Group, a former member of the Yankelovich Advisory Board, and a member of the Copernicus Advisory Board. He has been a Trustee of the Board of Governors of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Drucker Foundation. He has received honorary doctoral degrees from the Stockholm University, University of Zurich, Athens University of Economics and Business, DePaul University, the Cracow School of Business and Economics, Groupe H.E.C. in Paris, the University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Budapest University of Economic Science and Public Administration, and the Catholic University of Santo Domingo.

He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and South America, advising and lecturing to many companies about how to apply sound economic and marketing science principles to increase their competitiveness. He has also advised governments on how to develop stronger public agencies to further the development of the nation's economic well-being.

Waldemar Pfoertsch currently holds the position of Professor for International Business at the University of Pforzheim, and he is visiting lecture at the Executive MBA Program of the Liautaud Graduate School of Business, University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition he is an Online Tutor for MBA Program International Management University Maryland College Park and at the Steinbeis University in Berlin.

He received two Master Degrees (economics & business administration) and his Doctorial Degree in social science at the Free University Berlin. He did his post-doctoral work in industrial planning at the Technical University Berlin.

His latest publication in German cover the areas of Business-to-Business Marketing, Brand Management and Ingredient Branding, I also published: Living Web and Internet Strategies. In preparation is Blogs: The new business language. He also published several articles in German, Chinese and English language on international management issues.

Professor Pfoertsch has consulted for such companies as DaimlerChrysler, HP, IBM, and many medium size corporations in Europe, Asia and North America in the areas of international marketing and brand management. He is on the advisory board of various companies and non profit organizations.

His other teaching positions had been at the University of Cooperative Education Villingen-Schwenningen, Visiting Associate Professor at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and Lecturer for Strategic Management at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Prior to his teaching appointments, he was a Management Consultant for international consulting companies. In this position, he has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North America working with companies in developing international strategies. His earlier positions include being an Economic Advisor to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization where he worked as an advisor to the government on how to develop internationally competitive industries. He also worked for many years in the automation industry, serving automotive companies.