The Role of Branding in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The purpose of this article is to show the relationship between branding and brand management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Traditionally, branding was associated with large and global corporations. However, we often forget that small and medium-sized enterprises also deal with their own names (brands) in their own way. The study identified four types of businesses, regardless of their association with brands. We named these four types, as follows: Ignorant; User; Low-Cost Producer; and Differentiation Producer. If the first two types (i.e. Ignorant and User) differ primarily in the extent to which they use simple branding activities, and are used mainly in the local market where the enterprises tend to operate, we found that the last two types (i.e. low-cost producers and differentiation producers) design their branding strategies in accordance with their generic strategies and mode of growth.