Olutayo Otubanjo, Temi Abimbola and Olusanmi Amujo
This paper aims to theorise the concept of corporate brand covenant.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to theorise the concept of corporate brand covenant.
Design/methodology/approach
Christian theology is drawn on to define and identify the source of the notion of covenant. Similarly, a review of the literature on the meaning and management of corporate branding is presented. Following a thorough review of the literature, the notion of a corporate brand covenant is conceptualised and discussed. This is firmly supported by a semiotic deconstruction of a corporate advertisement from HSBC.
Findings
Six important findings emerged from the study. The first is the Christian theological insight into the notion of covenant. This finding drew the attention of corporate branding academics to the source of this phenomenon. Second, a total of six cardinal principles (initial scenario; a covenanter, a covenant and a covenantee; the covenant is binding on all parties; the covenant is perpetual; the covenant is irreversible; the covenant stems from God and is then handed on to man) were proposed. Third, a template highlighting how the biblical covenant is managed was conceptualised. Fourth, six mandatory components of corporate branding: firm's personality; corporate positioning; interactions; corporate communications; stakeholders; corporate reputation/image; were identified. Fifth, an integrative framework highlighting the points of linkages between the biblical covenant and the corporate brand‐oriented covenant was developed. Sixth, a new definition of corporate brand covenant was suggested and supported by a semiotic deconstruction of HSBC's corporate advertising campaign.
Research limitations/implications
There is little literature devoted to corporate brand covenant. The majority of works addressing this concept have done so anecdotally. Thus, by addressing this phenomenon via a Christian theological lens, the study solidifies the corporate branding literature, which at the moment lacks a strong foundation in social science theory.
Practical implications
Practitioners are encouraged to remember that the successful management of a corporate brand begins with a thorough understanding of what a corporate brand covenant means. An understanding of this concept will enable managers to define and deploy strategies that will promote corporate branding issues.
Originality/value
The paper extends the frontiers of existing anecdotal discourse on corporate brand covenant. In so doing, a fuller and more robust understanding of the concept of corporate branding among academics and practitioners is achieved.
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Gábor Nagy, Carol M. Megehee and Arch G. Woodside
The study here responds to the view that the crucial problem in strategic management (research) is firm heterogeneity – why firms adopt different strategies and structures, why…
Abstract
The study here responds to the view that the crucial problem in strategic management (research) is firm heterogeneity – why firms adopt different strategies and structures, why heterogeneity persists, and why competitors perform differently. The present study applies complexity theory tenets and a “neo-configurational perspective” of Misangyi et al. (2016) in proposing complex antecedent conditions affecting complex outcome conditions. Rather than examining variable directional relationships using null hypotheses statistical tests, the study examines case-based conditions using somewhat precise outcome tests (SPOT). The complex outcome conditions include firms with high financial performances in declining markets and firms with low financial performances in growing markets – the study focuses on seemingly paradoxical outcomes. The study here examines firm strategies and outcomes for separate samples of cross-sectional data of manufacturing firms with headquarters in one of two nations: Finland (n = 820) and Hungary (n = 300). The study includes examining the predictive validities of the models. The study contributes conceptual advances of complex firm orientation configurations and complex firm performance capabilities configurations as mediating conditions between firmographics, firm resources, and the two final complex outcome conditions (high performance in declining markets and low performance in growing markets). The study contributes by showing how fuzzy-logic computing with words (Zadeh, 1966) advances strategic management research toward achieving requisite variety to overcome the theory-analytic mismatch pervasive currently in the discipline (Fiss, 2007, 2011) – thus, this study is a useful step toward solving the crucial problem of how to explain firm heterogeneity.
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Timo Muhonen, Saku Hirvonen and Tommi Laukkanen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance effects of brand identity in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance effects of brand identity in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine whether brand identity mediates the relationship between brand orientation and brand performance, and further, whether brand performance leads to better financial performance. The authors also study whether these performance effects are moderated by customer type and industry type. Differing from earlier research, this study analyzes brand identity through its constituent components: brand values, brand vision and brand positioning. The data include altogether 721 effective responses from Finnish SMEs. Structural equation modeling is used for testing the research hypotheses.
Findings
Brand positioning and brand vision have a direct positive effect on brand performance, which in turn, positively affects financial performance. Brand orientation drives the components of brand identity. Importantly, there is variation in some of the relationships between brand orientation, brand values, brand vision and brand positioning across business-to-business firms and business-to-customer firms, and across firms in service industries and in production industries.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a single-country sample. Including additional factors for the model with the potential to moderate the described relationships is also called for. Future research could also consider new potential brand identity components currently not addressed in the paper.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by increasing the knowledge of SME branding.
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Musa Pinar, Tulay Girard, Paul Trapp and Zeliha Eser
The purpose of this paper is to examine customer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and its dimensions utilizing a services…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine customer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and its dimensions utilizing a services branding triangle framework in the banking industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from customers, managers, and contact personnel of three types of banks in Turkey – state, private, and foreign.
Findings
The study finds significant external branding gaps between the perceptions of managers and customers and interactive branding gaps between the perceptions of contact personnel and customers, but no internal branding gaps between the perceptions of managers and contact personnel with respect to CBBE dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was limited to Turkish adult citizens of a single major metropolitan area in Turkey and bank personnel in three cities.
Originality/value
The services branding triangle framework used in this study allows service brand managers to understand not only the differences in the perceptions of brand equity dimensions of bank customers, managers, and contact personnel, but also provides an opportunity to identify the external, internal, and interactive branding gaps of each of the brand equity dimensions. The findings provide an empirical test for the three promises theory and identifying potential branding gaps resulting from differences between consumer, management, and contact personnel perceptions of CBBE and its dimensions. The paper discusses the implications of the findings in developing a strong services brand and brand equity.
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Rui Vinhas Da Silva and Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi
The purpose of this paper is to examine which brand attributes need to be emphasised/addressed by retailers in order to achieve a positive representation of the corporate brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine which brand attributes need to be emphasised/addressed by retailers in order to achieve a positive representation of the corporate brand images in an online setting. Using bookstores as the research context, the research's main aim is to investigate the association between the functional brand evaluation (represented by brand attributes in this study) and emotional brand evaluation (represented by the corporate brand image). Specific research questions are: Are there any associations between the brand attributes and corporate brand image of an online e‐tailer?; What are the most important corporate brand attributes/drivers of online corporate brand image?
Design/methodology/approach
Using the brand triangle framework developed by de Chernatony and Christodoulides, the current study investigates the associations between brand attributes and corporate brand image of an online e‐tailer.
Findings
The findings show that factors such as ease of use, “personalisation”, security and customer care are significant in determining the corporate brand image of the online e‐tailer.
Practical implications
The practical contribution of the study and its managerial implications are in the provision of strategic directions and positioning the corporate brand in an online context.
Originality/value
It has been suggested by recent branding literatures that both functional and emotional brand characterizations should be adopted in order to better model consumer responses. Ailwadi and Keller pointed out that the priority of research should be to understand how corporate brand image and retailer brand attributes interact. The impact of corporate brands on the internet has been the object of study (e.g. Phillips; Lindstrom). The originality of the work is in linking online brand attributes and online corporate brand images and the role of functional and emotional attributes in brand evaluation in an online context.
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Jin‐Feng Uen, Ting Wu, Huei‐Chun Teng and Yu‐Shuan Liu
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the messages delivered by transformational leaders to front‐line employees to build an organizational brand climate and encourage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the messages delivered by transformational leaders to front‐line employees to build an organizational brand climate and encourage employees' branding behaviors, to attain better company performance within the Taiwanese hotel industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were obtained from 34 human resource managers and 326 customer contact employees working in Taiwanese hotels.
Findings
Transformational leadership was found to have both direct and indirect positive influences on the development of organizational brand climate and employees' branding behavior.
Practical implications
Results suggest that transformational leaders may facilitate employees' branding behaviors by developing an organizational brand climate to distinguish the organization from its competitors and develop long‐term customer relationships.
Originality/value
This study advances the knowledge of antecedents and outcomes of the organizational brand climate by applying a multilevel approach to reflect the hierarchical nature of brand distinctiveness within the Taiwanese hotel industry.
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This study seeks to examine the impact of brand management strategies on the employee role in the deliverance of the service experience consistent with the brand from a management…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the impact of brand management strategies on the employee role in the deliverance of the service experience consistent with the brand from a management perspective. In doing so, furthers understanding of an area that, to date, has received little empirical attention.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study approach with data gathered via in‐depth interviews with managers of a service organization.
Findings
Several themes identified provided the foundation for discussion, namely, direction, involvement, employee selection, relevance, employee satisfaction, flexibility, management role, comprehension of differences, influencing role, control, foundation, internal marketing, management role, enhancers and element of control. The themes of relevance and comprehension of differences had not previously been considered in the literature and therefore explored in depth.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of a case study methodology include insufficient precision (i.e. quantifiable), objectivity and rigor. The development of a case study database and the formalisation of the interview process increased the likelihood of trustworthiness and credibility in the results.
Practical implications
Emergence of new themes in relation to the implementation of brand management strategies provided a framework on which managerial implications are identified.
Originality/value
In‐depth interviews conducted with managers that were not experts in the brand management field, yet were responsible for supporting brand management initiatives. The contribution of this paper is embedded in the insights afforded through research in an applied setting, providing an opportunity to identify emergent issues not previously discussed.
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Employees are now viewed as playing a crucial role in brand management as they facilitate the interface between the organization and the market. This study, therefore, seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees are now viewed as playing a crucial role in brand management as they facilitate the interface between the organization and the market. This study, therefore, seeks to examine the role of employees in the delivery of the brand and, in doing so, further one's understanding of an area that, to date, has received little empirical attention from an operational management perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study demonstrated the use of a qualitative methodological approach to inductively and holistically understand the operational management perspective in a context‐specific situation. A case study approach was adopted and data were gathered via semi‐structured interviews with managers of a customer‐focused organization.
Findings
Several themes were identified from the interviews, namely, control, foundation, internal marketing (IM), management role, direction, employee satisfaction, enhancers and element of control. As such, these themes provide the foundation for the discussion and implications of this study.
Research limitations/implications
With respect to employing a case study methodology, the inherent limitations that are generally associated with this method include insufficient precision (i.e. quantifiable), objectivity and rigor. As such, the development of a case study database and the formalisation of the interview process increased the likelihood of trustworthiness and credibility in the results.
Practical implications
The themes identified in both the extant literature and this study, for example, IM, evidence the need for methods, in addition to systems and procedures, to be employed so as to ensure that employees are successful in delivering a service that is consistent with the organization's communicated brand values. Further to this, employees, being aware of the organization's brand and how to deliver the brand promise, are believed to create direction and influence employee behaviour. In doing so, employee role ambiguity and conflict are decreased.
Originality/value
The value of this paper lies in the presentation of empirical evidence and evaluation of employees' roles in delivering the brand promise. Moreover, the emergence of global brands across all industries ensures that the insights of this study, afforded by the application of a qualitative methodology, have relevance both internationally and across industries.
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Kalle Joukanen, Tette Niinimäki and Jesper Sundell
Corporate Brand Identity is concerned with an internal process in a firm to develop and communicate its brand as a basic strategic perspective toward business markets. In…
Abstract
Corporate Brand Identity is concerned with an internal process in a firm to develop and communicate its brand as a basic strategic perspective toward business markets. In business-to-business (B2B) markets, the market consists of specific firms and organizations as key counterparts. Brand identity thus needs to focus on creating value for potential others through understanding its own brand identity, i.e. what the firm stands for. Branding activities should be managed together with employees and matched with the central values of the brand. The brand identity is communicated toward key business partners who, in turn, perceive the brand and the value the firm promises to deliver in practice. Corporate identity and image are thus closely related issues. An important part of the corporate brand deals with relationships between actors on the market. This chapter presents two prominent corporate brand identity models and uses them jointly in order to analyze a practical case dealing with property management business in Finland. The chapter ends by offering suggestions for managing corporate brand identity processes in practice.