• by Aaron Baar , April 12, 2010

Some may think that appealing to small- and medium-sized businesses might be tricky, but in reality, the only trick seems to be to make sure your brand makes their owners' jobs easier.

According to a new study being released today by Portfolio.com, brands that score well among businesses that have between 5 and 500 employees are the ones that offer a clear case of doing business easier, specifically technology, business services and value-oriented brands.

Southwest tops the list of the top 25 brands in the survey, followed by Apple, UPS and Intuit. Other than Apple (which has broad appeal to everyone), those top brands have a specific appeal to small- and medium-sized businesses, Godfrey Phillips, vice president of research for Portfolio.com parent American City Business Journals, tells Marketing Daily. Southwest offers discount fares for business travelers with no hidden fees, UPS is a reliable business service and Intuit even has a small-business-focused unit called Grow Your Business, he says.

"This market really rewards you when you focus on them," he says. In fact, 85% of the survey respondents said they seek out brands that demonstrate their customers are of value. "It's value for sure [and that is] any quality that helps them with their business."

The popularity of budget brands isn't surprising, particularly given the recessionary economy, Phillips says. Three-quarters of the survey respondents said the tough economic times showed who the solid brands are. (Yet 63% said they considered name, quality and service before the price of products.)

It's also not surprising that the list of Top 25 brands favored by small and medium businesses were technology brands, considering how important technology is for businesses to get work done, Phillips says. Of note, however, is that while brands and products such as Apple and iPhone, Motorola, BlackBerry and LG make the Top 25 list, there were no telecom carriers cited.

"It's not the carriers that stand out; it's the companies that make the handsets for the carriers," he says. "The networks can only fail you."