Internal branding in business-to-business environment – measuring holistic brand image through employee brand perceptions

Abstract

After the boom of the information technology branch in the 1990s, companies around the world are facing major challenges. Nowadays, it is not enough to have efficient logistic capabilities or unique production methods; there must be some completely new ways to make the difference between company and one’s competitors. The initial concept of competitive advantage is getting fundamentally new aspects as the brands, instead of products, are becoming the real source of competitive advantage.

The meaning of the employee brand perceptions has raised its head during the last few years. For example, according to Colin Mitchell (2002), it is a fact of business, that if employees do not care about or understand their company’s brands, they will ultimately weaken their organizations. Internal branding, when done well, allows employees to move from simply being informed to actually understanding the information, becoming committed, so that they can change their behaviour in support of the company goals (Steinmetz, 2004:9).

The purpose of the study is to examine ways to measure the holistic brand image through internal branding in the business-to-business environment. As an outcome from the study, a three dimensional internal brand management scale was formed based on an exploratory factor analysis. The scale creates a foundation for internal branding research by emphasizing the company personnel’s important role in holistic brand building. Founding on the theoretical framework created built on a literature review, an empirical survey was conducted to test and apply the scale in real life situation.