The increasing competition severely affecting industrial markets is leading several Authors to try to determine whether branding could help companies to establish longlasting competitive advantages in these contexts. Starting from a detailed review of the recent literature about business-to-business branding, this paper first of all aims to challenge a part of the available knowledge on this topic. An analysis of a study by Kotler and Pfoertsch (2006) is then conducted, showing the potential inefficacy of a direct extension of branding principles from B2C to B2B markets. Finally, some theoretical propositions are derived drawing on the relational framework, in order to show the need for an approach based on circumstances.
Keywords: Branding, business-to-business marketing, brand management, relational approach