The soft side of branding: leveraging emotional intelligence

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to support the need for further research and theory building on emotions in business-to-business (B2B) industries. Specifically, this research conceptualizes emotional intelligence (EI) as an alternative to building brand equity for B2B companies beyond name recognition, product quality and catchy slogans. Additionally, the authors closely analyze social media content marketing by B2Bs as a channel through which to exercise EI with the goal of enhancing brand image and growing brand equity. Design/methodology/approach - This study takes a conceptual approach, building on current literature to develop a model of functional and emotional paths to B2B brand equity. The study uses content analysis methodology to examine 11 "best in class" B2B companies recognized for their social media content marketing. The analysis reveals the level to which each company demonstrates the collective EI of the firm through content marketing. Findings - EI is a learned skill that can be an essential behavioral asset. In addition to hard skills such as product development and process refinement, leveraging a firm's soft skills and collective EI is also a viable route to increasing brand equity. Additionally, B2B companies that are considered the best at content marketing demonstrate EI through their online communication strategies. Research limitations/implications - This research reveals another avenue through which B2B firms to increase brand equity, but there is a need to empirically validate the model and connections made in this paper. Practical implications - Leveraging EI in B2B firms through content marketing is a source of or key driver of competitive advantage and increased brand equity. Originality/value - By providing the history and importance of EI, and by connecting existing knowledge of B2B communications to concepts of improving brand equity, this study offers a unique, extended framework that urges further research to expand this field.