Jumping on the brandwagon. (business-to-business brand management)

A good reputation can be difficult to earn but very easy to lose. Even worse is the fact that a company's reputation seems to belong to the consumer rather than to the company. All the company can do is try to influence the customer's perception.

Increasingly, companies are looking towards business branding for the answer. Companies such as Intel, Anderson Consulting and Mercury have decided to manage their reputation actively, rather than leave it in the hands of the customer. Just as a consumer brand, such as Kellogg's cornflakes or Heinz baked beans are actively managed, so businesses are taking matters into their own hands.

At the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing's Conference, "Change -- The Marketing Challenge", the issue of business branding was addressed by Stan Maklan, Chairman of Forefront, and Ian Ryder, Marketing Director of Computer Sciences Corporation. In their presentation, "When the Business is …