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Brand image remains a “nebulous” construct with very few frameworks dedicated to understanding the process of uncovering brand image. This is supported by explicit calls for greater clarity on how to examine brand image, particularly in different settings. Political branding is one setting that has received some attention, however, research has focused on “party” political brands and neglected “non-party” brands (independent candidates). Therefore, this study aims to examine how young citizens interpret independent non-party brands through the theoretical lens of brand image in the context of Guernsey and develop a systematic brand image framework that provides greater clarity to this topic area.

A qualitative interpretivist approach using focus group discussions was adopted to investigate the phenomenon from the perspective of young voters 18–24 years of age. Focus group discussions ceased upon reaching theoretical saturation and a six-staged thematic analytical strategy was adopted to analyse the findings.

This study revealed deep insight into the political brand image of non-party brands from the perspective of young voters in an under-explored context. More specifically, this study uncovered that Guernsey’s political brands were seen as “accessible”; however, there was little differentiation, identification and connection between young voters and politicians. Further, this study uncovered a series of opportunities for strategists such as the desire for a younger generational view and younger representation in the Guernsey Parliament and greater clarity, distinction and authenticity related to political brand image.

This study addresses explicit calls for further research on brand image with a distinct focus on non-party political brands. Further, this study concludes by presenting the “consumer brand image schema”; a systematic framework which can be used to uncover brand image within and beyond the setting of politics. Further, the framework operationalises the complex concept of brand image and provides a three-stage process to examine and develop brand image. This will enable strategists to develop targeted strategies and adopt appropriate tactics to manage brand image to ensure brands are differentiated and interpreted as authentic, relatable, engaging, accessible and identifiable.

We operate in a complex dynamic world where human activities interfere with the environment in ways that may cause unpredictable extreme outcomes that reflect exposure to uncertainty and unknown factors as opposed to identifiable risk events. As humans, we tend to downplay the effects of uncertainty and create a false sense of security by adopting formal control-based management practices where we in truth face more uncertainties than we realize. Hence, we attempt to assess extreme disaster events to mitigate adverse effects but fail to address the underlying causes for the exposures rooted in the way we have organized global economic activities. Exposures partially derive from the way enterprises govern their economic assets while systemic exposures derive from the way we conduct our global business practices. Identified exposures are typically local whereas the systemic causes are global with collective societal effects. Therefore, mitigating enterprise exposures will not address the global systemic causes for the extreme societal effects. To reach more sustainable solutions we must involve businesses that operate the global economy as well as the societies they operate in around the world. Given the extreme uncertainty of systemic risks, grand solutions cannot be derived from computational analytics but require experimentation among engaged public and private organizations and open collaborative learning to identify viable solutions from diverse insights. We must embrace uncertainty to explore innovative opportunities for proposed solutions and implement them in gradual co-evolving progression to develop viable sustainable economic outcomes.