Brand positioning in the B2B online

environment: A case from the UK

print industr y
Received (in revised form): 14th March, 2008

NICOLAS VIRTSONIS
is Research Director of PRiNTELLIGENCE(tm), a market research consultancy specialising in the UK print industry,
having previously completed research in the print industry as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership associate at Oxford
Brookes University. Nicolas has conducted research for the British Print Industry Federation (BPIF) and major print
media groups such as Associated News and WEBMART®, and presents the research through the print industry’s trade
press and industry trade associations such as the BPIF and the International Confederation for Printed and Allied
Industries (INTERGRAF).

SALLY HARRIDGE-MARCH
is a Senior Lecturer in marketing at Oxford Brookes University. She supervised the successful KTP project at
WEBMART, which resulted in this article. Her research interests include direct marketing, online marketing, trust
online, wine marketing and the use of social networks for marketing purposes.

Keywords
brand positioning;
online branding;
business-to-business (B2B);
print industry; content
analysis
Abstract
This paper examines the way in which brand positioning elements are manifested in the business-
to-business (B2B) online environment. The case of the UK print industry is presented, investigating
the use of brand positioning elements through the examination of corporate web pages of 30 UK
print suppliers. A framework is developed to show how brand positioning is operationalised in the
online environment. The paper concludes by giving recommendations about how the framework
can be used by practitioners in order to reconcile their online and offline branding activities. The
framework may also be useful for academics to undertake empirical research.
Journal of Brand Management (2009) 16, 556–570. doi:10.1057/bm.2008.9;
published online 16 May 2008

INTRODUCTION help influence perceptions of the brand.

Sally Harridge-March
Oxford Brookes University
Business School
Wheatley
Oxford OX33 1HX, UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1865 485
Fax: + 44 (0) 1865 485742
E-mail: spharridge-march@
brookes.ac.uk
A brand’s position can be conveyed
through various media, one of which is
the internet. Company websites can be the
means of delivering many messages and
brand information. This is especially
important in business-to-business (B2B)
service environments as it is difficult for a
customer to assess the quality of service
without firsthand experience of the
service.1 In the B2B environment, often
services are customised which hinders
online comparison. Green2 suggests, there-
fore, that marketing communications are
important in this area and the internet can
On this basis, the online marketer has the
opportunity to influence consumers using
brand positioning statements.
Visual appeal and content are not the
only important elements in website com-
munications. As in traditional advertising
marketers may be tempted to use design
for creativity’s sake. Kim et al.3 produced
a review of literature covering a very wide
range of website aspects such as speed of
loading, navigability, usability and intui-
tiveness of interface, currency of informa-
tion, structure and support, Alper4 as cited
in Kim et al.,3 however, found that

© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570

www.palgrave-journals.com/bm
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
browsers are more concerned with infor-
mation content and ease of use. While the
impact of other website communications
elements such as those mentioned is
recognised, the focus of this paper is on
the online text that organisations use in
an attempt to position their brand. As
technologies and ideas develop rapidly in
the online arena, this paper posits the need
to strengthen the link between media
technologies, content and integrated com-
munications strategy.
Brand positioning is an area researched
extensively by academic and practitioner
researchers and is recognised as a critically
important and influential component of
corporate strategy. Theory has concen-
trated on what constitutes a brand,5,6 what
makes a brand different and how a brand’s
positioning can be communicated through
the marketing mix,7 and disseminated
through the marketing communications
mix.8 The purpose of brand positioning is
to promote a brand that differs from that
of competitors and to ensure that the
brand has a particular position in the
market which is of value to potential cus-
tomers.9 This involves active marketing
communications, including the internet,
to target audiences to bring about the
desired perception of the brand’s value.
The term brand positioning embraces the
competitive position that the brand occu-
pies in a chosen market, how that brand
can be compared to its competitors and
attitudes that the organisation wishes its
customers to have towards the brand.9
Yet, in many industries, brands are not
developed on the lines of suggested theo-
ries and practitioner guidelines. According
to Gattiker et al.10 and Rowley,11 online
branding and transactions for technical
products, particularly in the area of B2B
marketing, have been under researched.
Simmons12 suggests that branding on the
internet is a challenge for reasons of com-
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
plexity and also the dynamic nature of the
internet and as a result, positioning may
not be so simple when looking at pro-
moting the brand online. Generally, brand
positioning is based on the relevant advan-
tages of the product when compared to
its alternatives.13 This paper examines the
way in which brand positioning is mani-
fested in the online B2B environment.
The objective of this research is to develop
a framework of the elements of brand
positioning online.
Through this study, a model of brand
positioning components, manifested
through websites, is created from the ele-
ments captured by the process of content
analysis of the websites in the sample of
organisations studied.
The order of this paper is as follows:
First, a review of the literature on online
branding is presented. Secondly, an over-
view of the UK print industry is given,
followed by the research design. The find-
ings are discussed and then conclusions are
outlined.
BRANDING IN THE ONLINE
ENVIRONMENT
Okazaki,14 who researched online brand
personality as part of positioning, states
that despite the abundant literature on
brand personality in general, little atten-
tion has been paid to how companies
attempt to formulate brand personality on
the internet. Okazaki’s14 study aimed to
explain how multinational corporations
attempted to formulate brand personality
on the internet, for the consumer market.
Online branding has gained recent
research attention.5,11,14,15 There have
been attempts to address brand positioning
components, for example, Christodoulides
and De Chernatony’s5 online brand equity
components, but there has not been any
research into the manifestation of these
557
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
components online, with the exception of
Okazaki’s14 exploration of online brand
personality.
Literature regarding other media such
as television, radio and print is widespread
and has been covered in a variety of mar-
keting academic sources, be it in journals
or textbooks. The familiarity of these
media allows practitioners to consider the
use of few and important variables gener-
ally understood in the industry, such as
message, copy, images, sounds, sequences
and timing. The fact that traditional media
tend not to be interactive simplifies their
planning process, which has allowed
theory to develop. There is a research
interest in the internet as a medium for
branding, but it has been rather limited.
Relatively few researchers have been active
in the online arena since the delivery of
the internet to the public.
Online retailing research is still in its
infancy. Research in offline retail, covering
areas such as in-store design, layout and
point of sale promotion has been wide-
spread16–19 and disseminated through aca-
demic journals and university textbooks.
Online retail market research has tended
to remain privy to the researcher’s organ-
isation and is not widely disseminated, due
to trade sensitivity.
Components of brands are parts of the
brand broken down from the marketer’s
perspective to aid the process of branding.
Customers do not perceive brands broken
down into components; rather they view
them in a holistic approach. Brand com-
ponents have been researched by various
academics.6 According to Rowley,11 expe-
riencing a website conveys the brand posi-
tioning to the browser. This brand
positioning can be analysed in two ways:
the meaning of this message can be ana-
lysed or the vehicle through which mes-
sages are manifested can be the object of
analysis. In this paper, the latent content
558 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
of the message is considered, and the aim
is to understand the brand impacting mes-
sages. These messages form brand posi-
tioning elements.
Studies of website elements have been
conducted, such as those by Ghose and
Dou20 cited in Okazaki14 and Kim et al.3
These differ from the research presented
in this paper in three ways. First, they are
concerned with the consumer market and
not the B2B environment. Secondly, they
are concerned with the message vehicle
and not the message content. Thirdly, they
aim to confirm and not to explore. The
method used in these papers is that of
measurement of occurrence of predeter-
mined factors. The research in this paper
identifies and measures variables as they
occur in the websites analysed, rather than
uses pre-determined factors.
This paper examines elements of
positioning in the online environment,
looking at current practices in the B2B
environment.
The British print industry
The total size of the print market in the
UK is estimated at approximately £12bn
for 2006.21 Print suppliers within the UK
are many and disparate, nearly 12,000
diverse suppliers, according to Keynote.22
This includes companies which produce
packaging and other print-related prod-
ucts as well as mainstream print. There are
only 370 companies with a turnover of
over £5m.
The British print industry is one with
a strong production orientation and tech-
nical tradition, which in recent years has
started to face the challenge of new media
and new forms of competition, as ‘business
is not about putting ink on paper, but
helping firms execute corporate commu-
nications’, according to Datamonitor23
(p. 7). With consolidation occurring in the
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
industry, what has been a technically led
marketplace has evolved to develop into a
service-led sector. Traditional print sup-
pliers have been facing competition from
print management companies, which in
their simplest form act as intermediaries
catering for print buyers’ needs through a
supplier base of print suppliers. Histori-
cally, there has been an emphasis on tech-
nical suitability to provide for a particular
type of print rather than other factors, as
certain printers are best suited for some
types of print while other printers can be
more suitable for other types of print. As
a traditional B2B industry, print suppliers
rely on typical B2B marketing channels,
including the internet in the form of com-
pany websites.
RESEARCH DESIGN
This research is of an exploratory nature
with the aim to develop a framework that
describes the various positioning elements
that are manifested in B2B print industry
websites.
The sampling process undertaken pro-
vided a wide variety of organisations that
included a range of themes in their web-
site text so that the analysis was more
inclusive. These organisations also provide
rich content for analysis so that a high
ratio of usable data over the organisations
researched could be achieved.
A list of the Industry’s top 60 suppliers
was compiled from data provided by
Printweek24 and Fame.25 Of the almost
11,000 British print suppliers, approxi-
mately 30 per cent of the print industry’s
annual sales volume is held by these top
60 print suppliers. This list of print sup-
pliers included companies that claimed to
be either printers, or print management
companies. Owing to the complex struc-
ture of the supply chain in the print
industry and the various levels within it,
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
suppliers tend to describe their position
in the supply chain. A print supplier could
be, for example, a printer or could be a
direct mail and fulfilment marketing
agency that sources printing while man-
aging paper procurement. Alternatively,
some claimed to be printers who also
undertook print management. Because
turnover formed part of the criteria for
determining whether an organisation
would be included in the list, a variety of
companies was included in the study.26
The sample selected also considers firms
that are likely to be medium sized as
opposed to small enterprises where online
content is relatively poor. The sample’s
richer website content is supported by the
random review of another 30 print sup-
pliers’ websites. From the list of the top
60 suppliers, a quota sample of ten each
printers, print management and print/
print management companies was com-
piled. Commercially available search
engines were used to generate the URL
addresses for the sample companies.
Each of the organisation’s websites were
accessed and viewed to ascertain what text
they contained that might be perceived as
brand positioning. The method of content
analysis was used. Owing to the explora-
tory aim, the attention given to the arising
themes on these websites is measured to
build the model.
The content analysis followed an itera-
tive path similar to that proposed by
Altheide27 quoted in Bryman.28 Codifica-
tion of the themes arising was not done
before the analysis was undertaken or with
a rigid structure. This ‘bottom-up’ approach
derives context-dependent units to explain
the use of text in the websites.29 This
type of analysis is rather intuitive, using
terms which are defined by the analyst.30
As a single coder was involved in the
analysis, inter-coder reliability was not a
concern, and with reference to intra-coder
559
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
reliability, the data collection spanned only
three days, reducing its impact on the data.
To further substantiate the coding process,
both authors reviewed the coding scheme,
which made use of a very basic classifica-
tion system, reducing the risk of misinter-
pretation. The interpretation of the themes
required no particular experience of the
print industry; however, the coder’s back-
ground as a practitioner in the print
industry reduced the risk of misinterpreta-
tion or data omission. The codes evolved
during the analysis; each new code entered
prompted the review of the previously
coded themes. Codes were identified as
separate and mutually exclusive themes
that differed between each other, yet
within the code, occurrences were similar.
Theory was not used to build themes but
only as a guide to interpretation of latent
meaning.
The websites were used to pull out
recurring common themes, which
constitute the brand positioning compo-
nents researched. Berelson,31 quoted in
Krippendorff 32 (p. 21) defines content
analysis as
‘a research technique for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of
the manifest content of communication.’
The adopted approach enabled the defini-
tion of components and then measured
their occurrence in the sample. The units
of analysis were subjects and themes arising
from the text of the websites, which as
Bryman28 claims is a more interpretative
approach that pays attention to not just
manifest content but latent content as
well.
The codes could be explicit or implied;
the explicit relationship theme is identifi-
able in the following quote:
‘Each client relationship is unique and our
agreements reflect this.’ (Print management
company, Surrey)
560 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
The implied theme of transparency is
identifiable in the following quote
‘…we work in an open and honest….’ (Print
management company, Nottinghamshire)
Once the thematic coding was completed,
a quantitative analysis was carried out
using the themes as categories. This
allowed for flexibility in the exploratory
process and higher inclusivity during
quantification. Altheide’s27 method is
characterised as more exploratory than
quantitative content analysis and encapsu-
lates the context in which the research
takes place.28 The codes were tabulated in
spreadsheet format against individual cases,
and totals were calculated. Comparisons
were considered between the three types
of firm sampled; however, the results did
not yield significant variances.
Other studies have been conducted
using quantitative content analysis to con-
firm pooled variables from literature.14
This analysis is concerned only with the
textual content and interaction elements
(primarily forms). Graphics, aesthetics,
structural design, navigability, semantics,
imagery, sound, animation, functionality
and ergonomics were omitted because
although they have an impact on browser
perceptions,3,11 they are outside the scope
of this study. Acknowledging that ‘posi-
tioning is not what is done to the product
or brand, it is what is created in the minds
of target customers’,33 the focus of the
research is specifically on the textual ele-
ments of communications. The units of
analysis in the research are the textual
themes through which perceptions are
attempted to be altered.
Textual elements through which posi-
tioning can impact are: brand taglines,
structural elements such as company
profiles, case studies, product and service
information and corporate standard copy
such as mission statements, etc.
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

DEMONSTRATION OF CREDIBILITY
WEB SITE POSITIONING ELEMENTS

1. Benefits and features

2. Value chain position and offering
3. Pricing and value statements
4. Competitive advantage Browser /
5. Product and service information Website Elements
Audience
6. Information on processes
7. Relationships and partnering
8. Leadership claims and corporate power
9. Comparative statements
10. Corporate social responsibility

ONLINE BRAND POSITIONING Table 1 Content themes: occurrence of frequency

ELEMENTS Positioning elements Frequency
The content analysis yielded ten brand
Benefits and features 30
positioning elements which relate to the Value chain position and offering 28
literature themes and have been docu- Pricing and value statements 28
mented in academic research. Competitive advantage 28
Product and service information 28
The brand positioning elements are
Information on processes 24
depicted in the box in Figure 1. Relationships and partnering 22
The brand positioning elements take Leadership claims and corporate 21
the form of textual content of a webpage. power
Comparative statements 17
The positioning is manifested through Corporate social responsibility 14
website elements and reaches interaction
with the browsing audience. In order for Credibility of claims Frequency
Demonstration of credibility 28
these messages to be accepted by the
browser, as in other media, the messages
must be believable and underpinned by
demonstrated credibility. The credibility of the themes is taken in turn and
the messages on the right side of the box examples are given of how organisations
affects all elements and claims a supplier utilise the brand positioning components
makes. Each of the elements in the website in the text that they use in their
positioning framework is described in the websites.
following section.
Table 1 illustrates the frequency of
occurrence of the identified themes in the 1. Benefits and features
analysed cases. Benefits and features are the most fre-
quently quoted items and are pervasive in
every single case of the sampled websites.
Expansion of findings shown in The unique benefit and feature codes
Table 1 counted are 61 (not including value and
The following section discusses the price statements), and cover a very
findings as depicted in Table 1. Each of wide range of benefits. Examples of these

© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570 561
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
are: timeliness, print quality, service quality,
dependability, consistency of performance
and innovation. These are often supported
by claims of credibility, but not in all cases.
In some cases, there have been attempts
to structure sections of copy around
benefits that are pertinent to particular
market segments. An example of this is
one London-based print management
company’s website with separate sections
for different client industries. Sections
titled: ‘financial’, ‘commercial and adver-
tising’, ‘pharmaceutical’, ‘professional
services’, and so on aim to tailor website
content for particular browsers, thus
positioning the brand as appropriate for
that particular industry. In the pharma-
ceutical section, understanding of the
pharmaceutical business environment and
legislation was a benefit communicated. In
the commercial and advertising section,
quality of print and return on campaign
investment were promoted as these are
factors likely to be of interest and impor-
tance to such segments.
2. Value chain position and offering
The Print Industry Research Association
(PIRA) reported that some print buyers
preferred that print management compa-
nies are independent of printers, as
printing facility ownership may dilute
their capability to source objectively and
independently the best printer for the best
job.34 Given the diverse attitudes of print
buyers towards these varying value forms,
there is a definite impact on how providers
are perceived according to their position
in the value chain. From the content
analysis, it is evident that the vast majority
28 of the sample (93 per cent) have
made their value chain position clear
through their website. Typically this infor-
mation is manifested in sections such
as ‘company profile’, ‘about us’, ‘what
we do’.
562 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
The following excerpt refers to the
value chain position and offering descrip-
tion:
‘We can act as your outsourced production
facility; we can provide consultancy
and advice; or we can simply help you
produce on time, excellent quality
marketing print on a project-by-project
basis. The choice is yours.’ (print supplier,
Nottingham)
In some cases, the unique value configura-
tion can be a subtle but pervasive
theme for many of the benefits depicted
throughout the website. This is often the
case when printers promote their offerings
against those of print management com-
panies and vice versa.
3. Pricing and value statements
As the print industry is going through
consolidation, price competition plays a
dominant role in marketing communica-
tions. From the sample, nearly all of the
websites refer to savings made for buyers.
Forty per cent explicitly mention improved
return on print marketing expenditures,
and 23 per cent claim to offer the lowest
prices in the industry. PIRA reported that
cost is the main issue driving the choice
of suppliers in many markets for print,
even where prices are not easy to establish
and compare.34 In the print industry, envi-
ronment pricing can be complex, as there
are many price impacting variables to con-
sider. Because pricing is a relatively com-
plex and technical process, there are no
print suppliers that provide indicative
prices on their website and very few that
have an online price estimation tool. This
requires an interaction between the buyer
and seller for price information to be
given. Until the point that a potential cus-
tomer asks for an estimate, any indication
of price and value is based on supplier
claims. The analysis yielded various forms
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
of value statements and price claims, for
example:
‘Reducing cost without compromising
quality and service…. 30–40 per cent
typical cost reduction with guaranteed
savings.’ (Print management company,
Northampton), and ‘we can guarantee
the best print and the best printing
prices….’ (Print management company,
Oxford)
4. Competitive advantage
Sources of competitive advantage are often
used by print suppliers to substantiate their
claims of superiority and
almost half did so. An example of such
a claim is:
‘… competitive through sustained
investment in innovative print production
technologies.’ (Print supplier, Cambridge)
Claims of competitive advantage underpin
most statements and aim to demonstrate
capability and reason for each statement.
Competitive advantage as part of commu-
nications messages and brand positioning
is not extensively researched. A distinction
can be made between product/service
benefits and supplier features. In the case
of these messages, the supplier’s feature (eg
purchasing power) can act as justification
for a benefit (eg lower prices). A self-pro-
claimed characteristic of a supplier is sub-
ject to acceptance by the buyer on the basis
that it is believable. Statements of capability
act as evidence for claims, but can often be
directly sought by customers in order to
describe a potential supplier. For instance,
in competitive bidding, a minimum of
years in business may be required as an
indication of experience and security.
5. Product and service information
The analysis demonstrated that 87 per cent
of the sample described, in one way or
another, service and product elements
of their offering. The provided service
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
information was mostly general, without
much detail:
‘variable data printing enables elements of
every copy of a printed document to be
personalised to suit the needs of individual
customers.’ (Printer, Wakefield)
Product and service information are
critical in the B2B environment, particu-
larly for noncommodity products, as price
is not the only differentiator. In the
print market, the same print project can
be produced through different processes at
different costs and with different specifica-
tions. Often, specifications can change
through the briefing process. Description
of products and services impact on
brand perceptions as their range, structure
and availability impact on expectations,
attitudes on suitability and capability.
6. Process descriptions
Of the sample, 80 per cent of the cases
described their business processes. Process
descriptions are used in order to provide
information to the web browser and state-
ments are used to differentiate between
organisations:
‘we follow a six-staged plan to provide
a rounded solution to your needs: First we
listen… before we build we plan….’ (Print
management company, Northampton)
As previously discussed, it is hard for
prospective clients to judge service until they
have experienced it. The description of proc-
esses can alter perceptions of service quality2
and the description of such processes can aid
the organisation to positioning their brand
as one which is customer-focused.
7. Relationships and partnering
Relationships are used in two ways in the
websites researched: to illustrate how sup-
pliers work and to demonstrate commit-
ment and almost three quarters of the sites
investigated had some statement relating
563
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
to their relationships. These are often
referred to as ‘partnerships’, between firms
that are ‘working together’. Relationships
are described in sections on processes or
in case studies that the organisation
presents of how they work with others in
sections entitled, for example, ‘our
approach’ and ‘what makes us different’. In
three cases the word ‘partner’ appears as
part of the brand’s tagline. As a statement,
partnering can be classed as a benefit or
a source of competitive advantage or a
process, depending on how it is used in
the text. Other themes relating to relation-
ships are references to shared objectives
with clients, integration into client opera-
tions and understanding client needs.
8. Leadership claims and corporate power
These two areas are discussed together
because of the similarity they may carry in
latent meaning. Leadership refers to claims
of superiority, whereas corporate power
refers to sheer size, financial backing and
power. In both cases, there is an attempt to
create a image of superiority over other
firms, which differs only on the basis of
the feature in which firms claim they lead,
be it size, power, innovation or low cost.
Claims of a leading position are wide-
spread in the print supply industry, with
almost three quarters of the cases sampled
making such claims. Some of these conflict
with each other, as many claim to be cost
leaders; however, there are various specialist
areas in which many suggest they lead. For
instance, there are leading printers in par-
ticular technologies, leading print manage-
ment firms, leading communications
partners and so on. Leadership claims are
prevalent throughout company profile sec-
tions but often are encountered throughout
content, supporting claims of capability:
‘As well as being the UK’s largest print
manufacturer, we are also Europe’s leading
564 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
direct mail producer. We have achieved this
position by continually investing….’ (Print
supplier, Leeds)
In three cases, the word ‘leader’ is used as
part of a supplier brand’s strapline.
Corporate power in this study refers to
the supplier’s claim of superiority in the mar-
ketplace due to significant corporate resource.
Half of the researched websites made explicit
reference to some form of corporate power
from which some advantage emanates.
9. Comparative statements
Many of the samples make some kind of
comparison between themselves and other
suppliers. Ownership of functions and
processes is sometimes mentioned through
a distinction between internally managed
processes and outsourced processes. Com-
parisons to other value forms such as, for
example, a printer, a print management
firm or an integrated marketing commu-
nications agency, are made in 60 per cent
of the studied cases. In these, it is typical
for one firm to present itself in a favour-
able manner, contrasting itself to other
value chain configurations. A print man-
agement firm claims:
‘We have no in-house manufacturing
capabilities so we can utilise best-fit
manufacturing on every project.’ (Print
supplier, Nottingham)
Some printers on the other hand have
attributed lower costs and higher control to
their ownership of production facilities. It is
therefore understood that there is competi-
tion between different forms of supply. The
type of print provider a firm is will impact
on buyers’ attitudes towards it as previously
discussed. Statements on other types of pro-
viders are given in an attempt to position
themselves against competition.
10. Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Particularly in the print industry, ele-
ments of CSR are significant aspects of a
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
supplier’s capability, mostly in the case of
public sector markets. Elements of CSR
comprise environmentally friendly pro-
duction, local sourcing, employee relations,
health and safety, community involve-
ment and supporting the print industry.
These areas offer suppliers the opportunity
to demonstrate capability and substantiate
their claims through credible external
parties. Almost half the surveyed websites
contained information relating to CSR.
Demonstration of credibility
One of the key themes occurring in
the analysis was that of credibility, with
93 per cent of researched cases making
some attempt to instil credibility. Credi-
bility statements are pervasive and aim
to provide substantiation for claims
made. Credibility is implied in all of
the above themes and is therefore con-
sidered separately. Some of these elements
are:
Case studies through which suppliers
put their claims in the buyer’s context and
illustrate the implementation of their solu-
tions, the benefits of using them, their
experience and understanding of the
client’s needs. The description of processes
is also conveyed.
Online demonstrations are another vehicle
employed in order to give more insight to
potential customers and to demonstrate
capability. These have been less prevalent
in the researched sample and are more
common when the main offering ele-
ments can be demonstrated through such
a platform.
Client lists have been used in two-thirds
of the researched websites, aiming to dem-
onstrate experience, and implying that
they are trusted by important clients.
Client statements bring credibility for
particular messages and, as a source can be
identified with potential customers. Of
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
the sample, 23 per cent of the websites
contained client statements.
Third-party accreditation, such as awards,
membership, affiliations, links, accredita-
tions, is very common in the print industry,
with a large variety of third-party accred-
itations available. A total of 65 unique
third-party sources were used to provide
some sort of credibility.
Market sector-specific copy and research is
employed by some websites to convey spe-
cific benefits to specific segments. This is
also relatively common practice, particu-
larly for larger suppliers that cater for a
variety of segments. The quoted research
attempts to demonstrate understanding
and empathy with client needs.
Unsubstantiated claims for credibility
were identified in 12 specific cases. These
were based on good will. Examples are
firms that claim to have a high preferred
supplier status with many clients (but
do not mention which clients), a large
customer base (that is not demonstrated)
and firms that claim to enjoy a strong
reputation in the marketplace (which may
be hard to evaluate).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Some of the elements described are found
in the traditional marketing literature
regarding the marketing mix. Product
information, distribution, pricing, com-
munications are all elements that are iden-
tifiable in the elements described below.
In addition, elements from the extended
version of the marketing mix are also
noted: processes35 also form online
branding elements. It is evident that com-
panies in this market use text in an attempt
to position and differentiate themselves
from others in the marketplace. In its sim-
plest form, the ‘P’s’ of the marketing
mix are used as a platform for conveying
positioning information. As media for
565
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
communication are constantly changing,
so should the approach to their use evolve
with them. Despite the fact that little
attention has been directed towards com-
municated text content of websites in
the B2B environment, it is interesting to
note that the meaning of the arising
themes is documented in other research.
The following discussion points out
the similarities in the research that sub-
stantiates these findings, starting with the
marketing mix ‘P’s’.
Processes constitute one of the three
extended ‘P’s’ of the marketing mix35 and
therefore are academically recognised as an
impacting variable on brand positioning.
Processes can also indicate levels of integra-
tion between suppliers and buyers in a
relationship, allowing the development of
perceptions and expectations.
Product has historically been regarded
as a critical element of brand positioning
as it constitutes one of the four marketing
mix’s four ‘P’s’. Green2 stated that in the
B2B environment, advertising plays an
informative role as business audiences seek
information more actively in order to
improve their business. Information on
individual types of service and products
are provided in the vast majority of
researched cases.
Price and value are also documented in
vast amounts of academic literature as
important aspects of an offering.36 This is
also portrayed by their role in the mar-
keting mix as one of the ‘P’s’. Product and
service information can be traced back to
the ‘P’s’ as well.
Relationships have been identified to
play a role in online marketing in other
research.11 Relationship marketing is
contrasted against the marketing mix as a
different viewpoint through which com-
munication can be facilitated.
Competitive advantage is addressed as a
theme in advertising copy. Okazaki’s13
566 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
study in the consumer market, which
identified competitive, unique and rational
stimuli as elements of brand personality
confirmed the use of competitive advan-
tage in copy as an emerging theme. Green2
suggests that statements must be made
believable through relevant competencies.
For instance, a larger firm may make claims
of resource as a source of competitive
advantage whereas a small firm can claim
that they are closer to their customers.
Both these sources of competitive advan-
tage are used by the organisations
researched to underpin the same benefit:
better customer service.
The use of benefits in advertising copy
is also addressed in other literature. Benefits
are key to shaping expectations of service
and perceptions of brands, as they can only
be described through communications or
service encounter.2 Benefits are recognised
as an important element in communica-
tions and it is for this reason that benefit
segmentation is of particular value. Benefits
have also been identified with rational
backing in Okazakis’s14 study.
Literature on the effect of claimed brand
leadership and its manifestation in com-
munications is lacking. Brand performance
characteristics however have been addressed
by Harris and De Chernatony37 (p. 444)
who suggest that ‘a set of functionally dis-
tinct capabilities that differentiate a brand
should be derived from the brand’s core
values’. On this basis, a firm that has a
relatively unique value chain position that
differentiates their brand can use this to
leverage a leadership claim.
With reference to CSR, Hartmann et
al.13 suggest that green brand positioning
has a positive overall effect on brand per-
ceptions in the consumer market. This has
not been confirmed in the B2B environ-
ment; however, eco-friendly printed com-
munications and packaging are often used
by print buyers as a vehicle for demon-
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
strating commitment to their CSR strategy,
and so can also be considered a benefit
statement.
Finally, source credibility is an area
researched relatively thoroughly, and the
remedy of using third parties to build mes-
sage credibility is common practice.36 Cred-
ibility is important in the B2B environment
as experiences cannot often be shared easily
between buyers. Credibility is also recog-
nised in Okazaki’s14 study as a critical com-
ponent of online communications without
which messages are less believable.
The existing literature supporting the
individual elements of the proposed model
is fragmented and does not provide a
holistic view of the online themes through
which positioning can be achieved. This
is the area that this paper addresses.
The findings have pointed out that
there is an amazing similarity in the con-
tent of websites in terms of vocabulary,
structure and the recurring themes.
Often these are portrayed in similar man-
ners with resembling underpinning
credibility statements. This may indicate
either a lack of originality and differen-
tiation in terms of communication, or
an attempt to benchmark website
content against competitors, leading to
common themes.
The similarities in phrasing may be an
attempt to be understood by people in the
print trade. The understanding of browsing
customers or prospects, however, may be
overlooked. Practitioners in the print
industry may need to reconsider their
audiences during the development of tex-
tual copy for their websites.
The bombardment of browsers with
mixed, unstructured benefit statements
throughout text makes it hard for them to
ingest and absorb the information. In
many cases the attempt to cram as many
benefits as possible into a paragraph may
render it confusing and unconvincing.
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
This also indicates the ineffective use of
the interactivity of the internet as a
medium. The text that is crammed with
benefits could be structured in such a way
that browsers have the choice to seek the
information that they consider important.
By developing well-structured links rather
than making browsers read pages of text
before they accidentally stumble across the
particular information that they seek
reduces the chance that they navigate away
from the website. The internet is a medium
that caters for information needs at the
level of detail and interaction that the
browser requires, yet websites are not
designed with browser needs in mind.
One suggestion arising from this finding
is that interactivity of website communi-
cations could be researched further by
academics.
Print suppliers can use their websites to
alter their brand image through posi-
tioning their offerings and brands in the
marketplace. As a strategic tool, there may
be a failure to make full use of the oppor-
tunities the internet offers in terms of
positioning and communications. The
model proposed can act as a checklist for
planning website communications; how-
ever, practitioners need to understand that
their website is not just a portal for good
news and online presence but part of a
larger, integrated communications strategy.
Similarly, it is difficult for companies to
convey multiple associations and may
result in confusion among potential cus-
tomers who may not perceive the brand
to be really useful to them.38
Audiences and browsers may also
require stronger academic and practitioner
consideration. The existence of CSR ele-
ments indicates derived demand for such
information through consumers or end
users that form the market for business
clients. In addition to this, the existence
of value chain configuration elements
567
 VIRTSONIS AND HARRIDGE-MARCH
could be an indication of supplier com-
petition issues.
The process of developing an optimised
website for a variety of brand and com-
munications objectives is an iterative one
that requires gathering information from
existing site visitors, analysing this infor-
mation and using it. Many methods may
be used to gather site visitors’ information.
Some are qualitative such as participant
observations, eye tracking studies, in-depth
interviews, focus groups and feedback
forms. Others are quantitative means such
as website tracking analytics, surveys and
comparative experiments. Using informa-
tion on visitors can aid practitioners to
understand the information requirements
that need to be fulfilled, as well as the
experiential aspects of the website that
may need redevelopment.
Web designers sometimes test websites
for ergonomic aspects, usability and other
functional variables. Part of a webmaster’s
duties is often the creation of the copy for
a website. Without an understanding of
marketing concepts, an IT specialist web-
master may fail to create the positioning
image that is so crucial in communica-
tions. Similarly, the outsourcing of the
copy to a design agency can have the same
effect. Textual content of copy is directly
linked to positioning and a firm’s
offering and therefore should be viewed
as a priority and not second to graphic
presentation.
Besides the importance of textual copy
on brand positioning, there is an indirect
impact on a brand’s awareness. The use of
search engine optimisation techniques to
make a website more easily accessible and
more prominent in the searches that buyers
perform incorporates the use of textual
content as part of the tactical arsenal for
the reach of higher rankings on search
engines. Search engine algorithms per-
form textual analysis of websites and give
568 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 556–570
higher relevance scores to the websites that
carry more relevant and rich textual infor-
mation. As a result, having the correct
textual content in place increases a web-
site’s reach, resulting in higher sales and
brand awareness.
Academics can direct more research
towards the online branding arena. Despite
the existence of so many technologies and
new research methods, little research into
online branding and communications is
published, and there is scope for practi-
tioners to adopt online branding and com-
munications research techniques to
evaluate more than just website usability
and ergonomics.
Content analysis as a research tool has
also proven to be a very powerful method
for analysing website content. The adapta-
tion of Altheide’s method27 can be used
in a variety of ways for analysing online
content, from websites to forums and dis-
cussion rooms. The following section will
outline some areas through which this
method can be directed to complement
this research.
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER
RESEARCH
The above findings are supported by
other literature as the discussion shows.
Relationships, however, could benefit
from further testing in order to provide
additional grounding for the model under
the various circumstances of different
industries.
This research is focussed on one B2B
market sector and the findings cannot
therefore be transferable to the B2C envi-
ronment or other B2B markets. The
framework requires development to
further determine the nature, relationships
and extent of the online brand positioning
elements and their manifestations. Some
variables such as experiential aspects, the
 BRAND POSITIONING IN THE B2B ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
interpretation of colour, structure, images
and sounds, speed and design have not
been accounted for in this study. They
could form the basis of further research
but cannot be used to infer brand posi-
tioning attempts through the method of
content analysis. This would be an inter-
esting area for future qualitative research
to demonstrate the transferability of the
findings in retail literature to the online
environment.
Further research can also be directed
towards understanding which website ele-
ments are used in practice for the delivery
of each positioning component and where
browsing prospects seek to find such
information. The authors of this paper
intend to expand this research further by
producing a follow-up research paper on
the website elements through which the
content is manifested.
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