Stephen A. Greyser

Corporate marketing: Integrating corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation

– The aims of the paper are to examine the nascent area of corporate marketing., – The paper draws on some of the key literature relating to the history of marketing thought., – The study reiterates the case that corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, and corporate reputation should be integrated under the umbrella title of corporate marketing. The paper introduces the 6Cs of corporate marketing., – The paper integrates British and US perspectives on the area and draws on Balmers work vis‐a‐vis corporate marketing and Greysers historical overview of marketing written for the Marketing Science Institute (MSI)

Managing the Multiple Identities of the Corporation

In the wake of corporate acquisitions, mergers, and spin-offs, considerable senior management attention has been devoted to corporate identity and its communication to key stakeholder groups. This article provides a framework to help management achieve clearer understanding and better management of their corporations identities. Many firms operate with a belief in a single monolithic corporate identity. Our research leads to a different view: organizations have multiple identities. We delineate five kinds of identity, within a framework termed the AC²ID Test™(ACCID), namely, the actual, communicated, conceived, ideal, and desired identities. These reflect respectively: the current, distinct attributes of the organization; what the organization communicates about itself; the perceptions of the corporation by stakeholders; the optimum positioning for the organization; and corporate vision from the perspective of the CEO or management board. Not only should management understand its multiple identities, it also should be alert to critical misalignments among them, as these can seriously weaken a company.

ADVANCING AND ENHANCING CORPORATE REPUTATION

This article describes corporate reputation as it pertains to corporate practice. Key areas treated are worldwide executive opinion on their ability to affect corporate reputation; three specific strategic benefits and goals of strong corporate reputation (preference in doing business with a company when products/services are similar, support for a company in time of controversy, and company value in the financial marketplace); the six key factors that drive corporate reputation; examples of how these drivers vary in importance in different countries, in different industries in the same country, and in the context of the three different goals; and illustrations of how company behaviour, relative to public expectations, can erode corporate reputation. Credibility is cited as the central link between company behaviour and public confidence, also encompassing the “promise/performance gap” between consumer expectations and product/service delivery.

Consumer Views of Redress Needs

Betty J. Diener is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Stephen A. Greyser is Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, and Executive Director, Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA. The research reported here was supported by the Marketing Science Institute. cently cited by Gregory J. Ahart, director of the human resources division of the Government Accounting Office, and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Donald Kennedy before the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Feb. 3, 1978. Their point was that the FDA was unable to regulate the cosmetic indus ry properly because, in part, it lacked the power to obtain complaint records from cosmetic manufactur-

Corporate brand reputation and brand crisis management

Purpose – This paper aims to provide insights into the what, why, and how of recognising corporate brand crisis through a synthesis of organisational experiences with threats to brand reputation, and to offer guidelines for analytic approaches and suggested organisational actions.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of a clinical set of examinations and interpretation of a substantial number of recognised corporate brand crisis situations. The analysis and suggested approaches in the paper have been tested with corporate executives and communications counselors in classrooms and private applied situations.Findings – The main points are: reputational trouble can come in many forms, from many sources and many publics; the most serious situations are those that affect the distinctive attribute/characteristic – “the essence of the brand” – most closely associated with the brands meaning and success. A number of specific examples illustrate this point. However, past and present corporate ...

The monarchy as a corporate brand: Some corporate communications dimensions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of corporate communications on behalf of the monarchy as a corporate brand.Design/methodology/approach – Draws on the preliminary findings of a major study on monarchies.Findings – Argues that corporate communications is an important aspect of corporate brand management (especially in relation to constitutional monarchies).Research implications – That monarchies are analogous to organisational brands and are amenable to being managed as such.Originality/value – Draws on a unique study relating to monarchies as corporate brands.

The Nobel Prize: the identity of a corporate heritage brand

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand the identity of the Nobel Prize as a corporate heritage brand and its management challenges. Design/methodology/approach – An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate brand identity framework. Findings – The Nobel Prize is a corporate heritage brand – one whose value proposition is based on heritage – in this case “achievements for the benefit of mankind” (derived directly from Alfred Nobel’s will). It is also defined as a “networked brand”, one where four independent collaborating organisations around the (Nobel) hub create and sustain the Nobel Prize’s identity and reputation, acting as a “federated republic”. Research limitations/implications – The new and combined application of the Heritage Quotient framework and the Corporate Brand Identity Matrix in the Heritage Brand Identity Process (HBIP) offers a structured approach to integrate the identity of a corporate heritage brand. In a networked situation, understandi...

U.S. consumers view the marketplace

This report focuses on characterizations by a cross-sectional national sample of U.S. consumers toward balance in the marketplace between “buyer beware” and “seller beware.” It is based on data from three trend studies (made in 1977, 1979, 1981), exploring views about todays, tomorrows, and the ideal marketplace.Overall, Americans see “todays marketplace” as having a dominantly buyer beware character (2.83 on a 7-point scale). This represents modest improvement over the publics earlier ratings. The public anticipates conditions moving further toward seller beware in the next “three or four years” (3.05). However, these views of todays and tomorrows marketplaces contrast with where they position the “ideal marketplace” — virtually at the midpoint of the scale (3.98, and with 53% placing it at “4”).That Americans consistently (over the three studies) see the ideal marketplace near the midpoint on the spectrum suggests not only that they seek more balance in the marketplace, but also that balance — not a seller-beware marketplace — is their stated goal, consistent with the American cultural tradition of compromise.ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag behandelt Verbrauchermeinungen über die gegenseitige Marktmacht von Käufern und Verkäufern auf Konsumgütermärkten, die in einer nationalen Stichprobe in den Vereinigten Staaten erhoben wurden. Er basiert auf drei Studien aus den Jahren 1977, 1979 und 1981. Die Verbrauchermeinungen beziehen sich auf den “Markt von heute”, den “Markt von morgen” und auf den “idealen Markt”.Insgesamt halten Amerikaner den Markt von heute für einen “Verkäufer-Markt” (mit einem Wert von 2.83 auf einer 7-Punkte-Skala). Dies zeigt eine leichte Verbesserung der öffentlichen Einschätzung gegenüber früher. Allgemein wird erwartet, daß sich die Verhältnisse in den nächsten drei bis vier Jahren etwas mehr in Richtung “Käufer-Markt” bewegen (3.05). Immer noch aber hebt sich diese Ansicht über den Markt von heute und den Markt von morgen ziemlich stark ab vom idealen Markt, der auf der Mitte der Skala liegt (3.98, wobei 53% ihn genau auf die 4 legen).Die Daten zeigen überraschend wenige demographische Unterschiede. Keine Untergruppe liegt beispielsweise mit ihrer Einschätzung des Marktes von heute über 3.1 oder unter 2.6.Die Amerikaner sind offenbar mit den Marktbedingungen des Jahres 1981 in höherem Maße zufrieden als in den Jahren 1979 und 1977. Die Autoren führen dies zum einen auf das zurück, was die Konsumentenbewegung in den 70iger Jahren tatsächlich erreicht hat, und zum anderen auf die veränderten Erwartungen der Konsumenten. Nur wenige Befragte (22%) halten den Markt von heute für einen idealen Markt, 62% halten die Marktmacht der Verkäufer für zu hoch.Auf eine weitere Frage äußert die Hälfte der Befragten, daß die Konsumentenbewegung offenbar an Schlagkraft verloren habe. Im Jahre 1979 waren es 44%, die dieser Meinung waren, und im Jahre 1977 sogar nur 20%.Die Tatsache, daß Amerikaner über den Zeitraum der drei Studien hinweg den idealen Markt stets nahe dem Mittelpunkt des Kontinuums lokalisieren, zeigt, daß sie nicht nur eine bessere Ausgewogenheit des Marktes wünschen, sondern auch, daß sie mit Ausgewogenheit nicht eine einseitige Marktmacht der Käufer meinen — eine Zielvorstellung, die der traditionellen amerikanischen Tendenz zu Kompromissen entspricht.Die jüngsten starken Veränderungen in der amerikanischen Marktpolitik verdecken das nach Meinung der Autoren weit verbreitete Empfinden, daß es noch zehlreiche Anlässe zur Verbesserung der Marktsituation gibt. Dies steht im Einklang mit den Befunden anderer Untersuchungen, die zeigen, daß Maßnahmen zum Schutz des Verbrauchers nach Meinung amerikanischer Konsumenten keinesfalls überflüssig geworden sind.

A Reader in Marketing Communications

About the Editors. Acknowledgements. Introduction and Overview of Marketing Communications. From Advertising to Integrated Marketing Communications. Reading 1. Advertising: What to Say, When. Reading 2. Sales Promotion. Reading 3. From Direct Mail to Direct Response Marketing. Readings 4 and 5. Marketing PR. Reading 6. Sponsorship. Reading 7. Personal Selling. Reading 8. Internet and the World Wide Web. Reading 9. Roots of Relationship. Marketing. Reading 10. Measuring the Success Rate of Marketing Communications. Reading 11. Summary and Conclusion

More Effective Sports Sponsorship Management for Rights-Holders: Adding Value to Sports Events by Resource Integration with Sponsors (An Extended Abstract)

Sponsorship is a core marketing activity for many companies and a vital source of income for many sports entities, such as the Olympics, the World Cup, and other major international events, as well as leagues. On a global level, investments in sponsorship have almost doubled over the past 10 years, and in 2015, companies were projected to invest 45.2 bn USD in sponsorship (compared to 26.7 bn in 2006) (PWC 2015). With higher investments, there has also been an increased professionalization on the part of sports organizations in supporting the business strategy of their sponsors. Sports entities (rights-holders) are being evaluated as strategic marketing platforms by their sponsors, and sports organizations increasingly invest in competencies and capabilities that support the business model of their partners (Farrelly et al. 2006; Greyser and Teopaco 2009; Ryan and Fahy 2012).