The purpose of this study is to develop a brand orientation model based on Malaysian SMEs context. Semi-structured interviews were selected as the research method in order to get an expert opinion from Small and Medium Size Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). Both agencies operate under Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to support SMEs and they were chosen for this study because they have long experience in promoting branding to SMEs. Four major levels of brand orientation have emerged from the data analysis: absent, low, medium, and high. This paper highlights the importance of branding for Malaysian SMEs and emphasizes the crucial issues related to the adoption of branding process and the solutions provided by Malaysian government to enhance brand development. This research is among the restricted works that have studied brand orientation from the governmental perspective and have proposed a related model. It suggests considering the proposed model and referring to SME Competitiveness Rating for Enhancement (SCORE) for future studies on branding in Malaysian SMEs.
Aaker, D. A. (1996). Measuring brand equity across products and markets. California management review, 38(3), 102-120.
Aaker, D. A., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2012). Brand leadership. Simon and Schuster.
Abidin, S. Z., Effendi, R. A. A. R. A., Ibrahim, R., & Idris, M. Z. (2014). A Semantic Approach in Perception for Packaging in the SME's Food Industries in Malaysia: A Case Study of Malaysia Food Product Branding in United Kingdom. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 115, 115-130.
Ahmad, N., & Iqbal, N. (2013). The impact of market orientation and brand orientation on strengthening brand performance: An insight from the beverage industry of Pakistan. International review of management and business research, 2(1), 128.
Ahmad, N.H., Seet. P.S. Dissecting Behaviours Associated with Business Failure: A Qualitative Study of SME Owners in Malaysia and Australia. Small Business Economics, 5(9), 98–104.
Anees-ur-Rehman, M. (2014). Clarifying the Brand Orientation Construct for Business-to- Business Sector. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(12), 62-73.
Anees-ur-Rehman, M., Wong, H. Y., & Hossain, M. (2016). The progression of brand orientation literature in twenty years: A systematic literature review. Journal of Brand Management, 23(6), 612- 630.
Asamoah, E. S. (2014). Customer based brand equity (CBBE) and the competitive performance of SMEs in Ghana. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 21(1), 117-131.
Balmer, J., T. (2013). Corporate brand orientation: What is it? What of it?. Journal of Brand Management, 20, (9), 723–741.
Baumgarth, C. (2010). Living the brand: brand orientation in the business-to-business sector.
European Journal of Marketing, 44(5), 653-671.
Baumgarth, C. & Schmidt, M. (2010). How strong is the business-to-business brand in the workforce? An empirically-tested model of ‘internal brand equity’ in a business-to-business setting. Industrial Marketing Management, 39 (8), 1250-1260.
Baumgarth, C., Merrilees, B. & Urde, M. (2013). Brand orientation: past, present, and future.
Journal of Marketing Management, 29 (9-10), 973-980.
Birnik, A., Birnik, A., & Sheth, J. (2010). The branding challenges of Asian manufacturing firms. Business Horizon, 53, 523-532.
Centeno, E., Hart, S. & Dinnie, K. (2013). The five phases of SME brand-building. Journal of Brand Management, 20(6), 445-457.
Cheng, W. H., Kadir, K. A., & Bohari, A. M. (2014). The strategic planning of SMEs in Malaysia: a view of external environmental scanning. International Journal of Business and Society, 15(3), 437.
Churchill, G., A. (1991). Marketing research: Methodological foundations. Fort Worth., TX: Dryden Press.
Erenkol, H. A. D., & Özta?, Y. B. B. (2015). Entrepreneurial Brand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, 1138-1145
Fatoki, O. (2014). The Causes of the Failure of New Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 922–927.
Gromark, J., & Melin, F. (2011). The underlying dimensions of brand orientation and its impact on financial performance. Journal of Brand Management, 18(6), 394-410.
Hirvonen, S., Laukkanen, T., Salo. J. (2016). Does brand orientation help B2B SMEs in gaining business growth? Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(4), 472-487.
Horan, G., O’Dwyer, M. & Tiernan, S. (2011). Exploring management perspectives of branding in service SMEs. Journal of Services Marketing, 25(2), 114-21.
Ihua, U. B. (2009). SMEs Key Failure-Factors: A Comparison between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Journal of Social Science, 18(3), 199–207.
Khalique, M., Shaari, J. A. N., Isa, A. H. Md., & Ageel, A. (2011). The challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia: in intellectual capital perspective. International Journal of current research, 3(6), 398-401.
Khan, M., W., & Khalique, M. (2014). An Overview of Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia and Pakistan: Past, Present and Future Scenario, 2(2), 38–49.
Keller, K.L & Lehmann, D.R, (2006). Brands and Branding: Research findings and future priorities.
Marketing Science, 25(6), 740-759.
Knight, R. F., & Pretty, D. J. (2000). A survey of brand risk management. Journal of Brand Management, 7(5), 353-365.
Lew, S., & Sulaiman, Z. (2014). Consumer Purchase Intention toward Products Made in Malaysia vs. Made in China: A Conceptual Paper. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, 37-45.
McDonald, M.H., de Chernatony, L. & Harris, F. (2001). Corporate marketing and service brands- Moving beyond the fast-moving consumer goods model, European Journal of Marketing, 35(3/4), 335-352.
Odoom, R., & Odoom, R. (2016). Brand-building efforts in high and low performing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23(4), 1229-1246.
Odoom, R., Odoom, R., Narteh, B., Narteh, B., Boateng, R., & Boateng, R. (2017). Branding in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Current issues and research avenues. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 20(1), 68-89.
OECD. (2017). Enhancing the contributions of SMEs in a global and digitalised economy. OECD Publishing, Paris.
Ojasalo, J., Natti, S. & Olkkonen, R. (2008). Brand building in software SMEs: an empirical study.
Journal of Product and Brand Management, 17(2), 92-107.
Premalatha, J. (2013, September 18). Why SME Corp is proud of its SCORE. Retrieved from http://www.thesundaily.my.
Reijonen, H., Párdány, S., Tuominen, S., Laukkanen, T., Komppula, R. (2014). Are growth-oriented SMEs more likely to adopt market and brand orientations?. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 21(2), 250-265.
Renton, M., Daellenbach, U., Davenport, S., & James, E, R. (2016). Finding fit: An exploratory look at SME brand orientation and brand management in the New Zealand food and beverage sector. Journal of Brand Management, 1–17.
Roll, M. (2013). China branding: opportunities and challenges. Business Strategy Series, 9(5), 231-237.
Singh, R., K., Garg, S., K., &Deshmukh, S.G. (2009). The competitiveness of SMEs in a globalized economy Observations from China and India. Management Research Review, 33(1), 54-65.
Spence, M. & Essoussi, L.H. (2008). SME brand building and management: an exploratory Study.
European Journal of Marketing, 44 (7/8), 1037-1054.
Urde, M. (1994). Brand Orientation - A Strategy for Survival. Joumal of Consumer Marketing. 11(3), 18-32.
Urde, M. (1999), “Brand orientation: a mindset for building brands into strategic resources”, Journal of Marketing Management, 15 (1-3), 117-33.
Urde, M., Baumgarth, C., & Merrilees, B. (2013). Brand orientation and market orientation - From alternatives to synergy. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 13–20.
Wang, C. L. (2012). Handbook of Contemporary Marketing in China: Theories and Practice. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Wong, H.Y. & Merrilees, B. (2005). A brand orientation typology for SMEs: a case research approach.
Journal of Product and Brand Management, 14(3), 155-162.
Wong, H. Y., & Merrilees, B. (2007). Closing the marketing strategy to performance gap: the role of brand orientation. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 15(5), 387-402.
Xie, H. Y., & Boggs, D. J. (2006). Corporate branding versus product branding in emerging markets.
Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 24(4), 347-364.
Raki, S., & Shakur, M. M. A. (2018). Brand Orientation in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from Malaysian Government Perspective. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(347-358).
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode