Corporate branding

Corporate branding
See also
Brand management Brand innovation Importance of business ethics Areas of marketing Creative strategy Quality of public administration Brand promise Process of business communication Organizational culture

Corporate branding is how a brand differentiates itself from its competitors. It is not difficult to find organizations that have mastered this technique.

Corporate branding, what is it?

To give a quick and simple definition, corporate branding is a clear promise between an organization and its key stakeholders. It is important that a company always keep her promise in all areas of the company. All attributes of an organization's identity must be communicated in the form of a well-defined branding proposition that verbalize the organization's efforts to communicate, differentiate and enhance its brand to main stakeholders . Corporate branding is the systematic and conscious management of attitudes, communication and symbolism in order to achieve a good and positive reputation among an organization's target group .

Corporate brands and corporate identity

Corporate identity; definition

Brand identity has been studied from various fields. This interdisciplinary nature has resulted in a variety of definitions and conceptual frameworks that reflect the complex idea under it. Globally, brand identity includes a set of traits and aspects that determine how a brand is, thinks, and behaves. Brand identity is consequently an important concept in branding as it not only defines the purpose and meaning of the brand, but also the way it should follow . According to de Chernatony L. the definition of corporate identity is the following; "The distinctive or central idea of a brand and how the brand communicates this idea to different stakeholders". And it includes the following components :

1. Vision: provides a clear sense of direction for the compnay
2. Culture: determinant factor to achieve the vision
3. Positioning: manifestation of the brand's functional values
4. Personality: it brings the brand's emotional values to life
5. Relationships with different stakeholders: staff, customers and other stakeholders

Links between the two ideas

A way to understand the relationship between corporate identity and corporate brand is to view the relationship as a form of harmonious blend; a new-born entity is created. This is based on the idea that a corporate brand develops from a corporate identity . An organization's corporate identity is distilled into more easily defined, familiar, and understandable associations. These associations are like company shorthands: shorthands that are closely related to a company name or brand (Values, Behaviors, Standards, etc.). At this point, a separate corporate brand identity is created. These associations with corporate brand appellations and/or brands mean that corporate brands can have their own life as their own identity type. As alike, it is separable from the corporate identity and has its own value. As an evidence of that, corporate brands can even be sold or leased through franchise accord .

Corporate storytelling

Corporate storytelling has been proposed to demonstrate the importance of the corporate brand to internal and external stakeholders, establish a company's position against its competitors, and help companies connect with their employees. Storytelling has been suggested to offer knowledge transfer benefits by helping to organize, remember, and understand information. It is also proposed to generate emotion in brand communication which is nowadays very important. Because it suggests that emotional appeal evokes stronger emotions and interest, creating visual memories of the brand and thus capturing consumer attention. A brand image can be built or enhanced through an emotional approach . Also a corporate brand identity should represent not only a functional and symbolic aspect, but also an emotional one. This is only possible thanks to storytelling .

References

• Balmer, J.M.T. (2012), "Corporate brand management imperatives: Custodianship, credibility, and calibration" California Management Review , Vol. 54 No. 3
• Balmer, J.M.T. (2012), "Strategic corporate brand alignment: Perspectives from identity based views of corporate brands", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 46 No. 7/8, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley.
• Buil, I., Catalán, S., Martínez, E. (2014) " The Importance of Corporate Brand Identity in Business Management: An Application to the Uk Banking Sector", BRQ Business Research Quarterly, Volume 19, Issue 1, Elsevier Espana, Barcelona.
• Chernatony L. (2010), "From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation", Routledge, London.
• Foster, C., Punjaisri, K. and Cheng, R. (2010), "Exploring the relationship between corporate, internal and employer branding", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 19 No. 6, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley.
• Spear, S. and Roper, S. (2013), "Using corporate stories to build the corporate brand: an impression management perspective", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 22 No. 7

Author: MATHIEU Amaury