Importance of business-to-business branding

: global strategy of a B2B Brand : a case study of Sugal

Abstract

Sugal is an internationally operating tomato producer operating in the business-to-business market, growing from a local to a global player. In recent years Sugal to launched the next steps towards world market leadership. This expansion cannot simply be managed by adjusting volume and price. It requires a new dimension. This dimension is the creation of a strong business-to-business brand. This dissertation aims to provide the reader with a profound understanding of the increasing relevance of marketing and branding for business-to-business companies. Furthermore it extracts the most critical success elements, which will help to establish the best starting of using B2B Branding to create positive impact. It offers insights about the company’s background and explores their current marketing efforts in order to understand the brand Sugal and how it can be developed further. Finally, using primary and secondary research, a detailed situational overview of Sugal’s brand perception from three different perspectives is given and recommendation for the future brand development is made. After comparing the results of all sources it is shown that Sugal already integrated and communicates the most important brand elements into their branding strategy and message, but still lacks complete alignment across literature, costumer perception and own awareness. Here Sugal needs to align their values more with the consumer and create a closer and more honest dialogue with its clients. This dissertation is designed as a case study about Sugal and creates an understanding about their brand image and identifies opportunities to develop a strong B2B brand.

Date of Award	30 Oct 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)