Building a B2B digital brand: the strategic role of KIBS in accelerating Digital Transformation

This thesis investigates the essential role that Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) play in supporting digital transformation and branding strategies for Business-to-Business (B2B) companies, emphasizing sustainability as a critical component. It examines how KIBS facilitate innovation, value creation, and digitalization by providing specialized consulting services and technological solutions. The study highlights the distinction between Professional KIBS (P-KIBS), offering traditional consulting services, and Technology KIBS (T-KIBS), specializing in IT and research and development. Key digital branding strategies supported by KIBS, such as storytelling, content marketing, SEO/SEM, and social media engagement, are analyzed, alongside essential tools like CRM systems, marketing automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the research addresses sustainability concerns by exploring the environmental impacts of digital practices, particularly in data centers and cloud computing, and identifies strategies employed by KIBS to mitigate these impacts. An empirical case study is presented to illustrate how KIBS can effectively guide companies toward successful digital branding while embedding sustainability, thus ensuring long-term competitive advantage and environmental responsibility.