Leslie de Chernatony

Corporate branding and corporate brand performance

Corporate branding necessitates a different management approach. It requires greater emphasis on factors internal to the organisation, paying greater attention to the role of employees in the brand building process. This paper explores the implications of corporate branding for the management of internal brand resources. We describe a model for managing brands through narrowing the gap between a brand’s identity and its reputation and, building on this, identify three key factors that affect brand perceptions and brand performance. Finally, we review some of the mechanisms that may be used to facilitate greater congruence of brand perceptions within the brand team and communication of a brand’s identity to employees.

Brand Management Through Narrowing the Gap Between Brand Identity and Brand Reputation

Classical models of brand management pay insufficient attention to staff as brand builders, placing more emphasis on external issues such as image. This paper explores the significant contribution from employees and considers the need to align their values and behaviours with the brands desired values. It clarifies the importance of culture in brand building and discusses how an adaptive, strategically appropriate culture, consistently apparent throughout an organisation is likely to be associated with healthy brand performance. A model is proposed, suggesting that stronger brands result from a homogeneous brand identity, with congruent identity components. It argues that reputation is a more appropriate external assessment of a brand than image. By auditing the gaps between brand identity and brand reputation, managers can identify strategies to minimize incongruency and develop more powerful brands. It is concluded that brand reality is an important aspect of branding.

The criteria for successful services brands

There are few valuable services brands, which may be due to the lack of services branding knowledge and the inappropriate use of product‐based branding advice. To contribute to services branding knowledge the authors undertook a review of the services management and services branding literature and postulated a model of services branding. In‐depth interviews with 28 leading‐edge consultants showed the appropriateness of this model. The study found a need for ruthless clarity about positioning and the corporations genuinely felt values. Success is more likely when everyone internally believes in their brands values. When management behaviour is based on genuine conviction, shared values are more likely. Through shared values, there is a greater likelihood of commitment, internal loyalty, clearer brand understanding, and importantly, consistent brand delivery across all stakeholders. By viewing these factors within a systems perspective, greater services brand consistency can result.

Corporate marketing and service brands ‐ Moving beyond the fast‐moving consumer goods model

Examines the issues associated with the creation and development of service brands in corporate branding. Initially considers the increasing importance of the services sector, the appropriateness of corporate versus individual branding and how service organisations have challenged the traditional approach to business. By analysing the success and failure of corporate branding in financial services, illustrates how thinking about service branding needs to change. Outlines the differences between product and service branding and considers how the fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) approach to branding needs to be adjusted for the services sector. Particular emphasis is placed on the intangible nature of services and corporate branding and how problems linked to intangible offerings can be overcome. Concludes with an examination of the roles that employees and consumers play in the delivery and strengthening of the corporate service brands.

Experts' views about defining services brands and the principles of services branding

Abstract There is a dearth of research into the nature of services brands and the principles of services branding, which we address by interviewing 20 leading-edge brand consultants. The consensus view was that branding principles are common between products and services at the conceptual level. In either sector, brands must be developed as the link mirroring the set of functional and emotional values created by the company and the way these are perceived by consumers. However, at the operation level, there may be differences in the emphasis given to the manifestation of specific elements of services brands. Moreover, the current inconsistency of delivery of services brands was raised as a critical challenge. Suggested ways of resolving this include a consumer-delighting culture that permeates every department, with greater emphasis on internal communication and training.

Added value: its nature, roles and sustainability

Much has been written about the strategic importance of added value as a means for achieving competitive advantage, but little attention has been paid to the meaning of the term “added value”. For the concept to realise its purported advantages, a better understanding of added value is crucial. To gain greater insight into the concept we undertook depth interviews with 20 leading‐edge brand experts to explore their views about the nature, roles and sustainability of added value. We conclude that added value is a multidimensional construct, playing diverse roles, and interpreted in different ways by different people. The more sustainable added values are the emotional values.

Consumer-based brand equity conceptualization and measurement:a literature review

Although there is a large body of research on brand equity, little in terms of a literature review has been published on this since Feldwicks (1996) paper. To address this gap, this paper brings together the scattered literature on consumer-based brand equitys conceptualisation and measurement. Measures of consumer-based brand equity are classified as either direct or indirect. Indirect measures assess consumer-based brand equity through its demonstrable dimensions and are superior from a diagnostic level. The paper concludes with directions for future research and managerial pointers for setting up a brand equity measurement system.

Internal brand building and structuration: the role of leadership

Purpose – The paper aims to clarify the relationship between organisational structures and individual brand supporting behaviour. It proposes modelling the social transformation process and outlining why and how leadership is important throughout the internal brand building process. The study aims to expand the domain of corporate branding by including a broader range of human resource and leadership‐related aspects than is normally found in the branding literature.Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for an exploratory study using the open‐ended approach of grounded theory, including 30 depth interviews and one expert group discussion with employees representing middle and senior management having mainly a marketing and corporate communications background. The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including brand documents, descriptions of internal processes, and copies of employee magazine articles.Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how change is brought about duri...

The effect of brand extension strategies upon brand image

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect that a brand extension strategy has on brand image. Specifically, the paper analyzes how variables related to the parent brand and the extension influence brand image after the extension. From a sample of 389 consumers the paper demonstrates that the extension strategy dilutes the brand image. Through a regression analysis it is shown that the perceived quality of the brand and consumers’ attitudes towards the extension positively influence both the general brand image (GBI) and the product brand image (PBI) after the extension. While familiarity with the products of the brand only affect the GBI, the perceived degree of fit affects the PBI.

Building on Services' Characteristics to Develop Successful Services Brands

Little has been published about services brands, even though we are in a services economy. The literature shows services have unique characteristics, but their implications for brand building have not been explored. To understand how to develop and sustain successful services brands with their unique characteristics, we undertook in depth interviews with 28 leading brand consultants. They have brand categorisations, which provide rich inspirations for services brand strategies. Ways of circumventing the problems of intangibility and heterogeneous quality were elicited and opportunities for relationship building were identified. Services branding, unlike product branding, is more about internal consistency, places more emphasis on managing the total services brand experience and is more about social processes. It stresses the need for accepting the brand inside and outside the organisation.