Lecture 1: Corporate branding Flashcards
What is a brand?
A brand is “a name, term, symbol or design or combination of these, which is intended to identify goods or service of one seller, or group of seller and of differentiate them from those of competitors”
What is a symbol?
Any object, word or action that stands for something else. There is a physical way in which brand are symbols: the logos, names, and even color choices of a brand make it recognizable and distinctive
But there is more: brands engage in many symbols at the same time, which are interpreted by consumers and which, ultimately, convey meaning
When a brand works, each element associated with it reminds its audience of the associated organization, but also:
- It recalls previous encounters with the organization
- It says something about the company values and leadership
- It communicates somehting about the products
Brand & identity
Stakeholders include corporate brand within their identities. Give some examples
- Driving an expensive car to (subconsciously?) communicate status
- Lokking for a part time job at EKOplaza rather than AH because more sustainable
- Trying to engage with brands little as possible (but still an attribution of meaning, and a rejections of whatever that meaning stands for)
Products vs corporate brands
Products and corporate name can both convey emotions, ideas and memories and can be associated with substantial value. They are, however, very different
What is the difference between product brand and corporate brand?
Product brand:
- It can have a completely different identity than the organization behind it (e.g. Pringles was owned by P&G utnil they sold to Kellogg’s)
- It only really concerns one product or a small group of products
- It targets consumers only
- It is only mean to survive as long as the product survives
Corporate brand:
- If endorsed (such as HEMA) it influences all the products of an organization, not matter what kind
- It originates from the company’s heritage, its values and beliefs, and what members of the organization have in common
- It targets all stakeholders, including employees, managers, suppliers and even politicians
- It is meant to be long lasting
VCI Alignment Model: What are the 3 different determinanten of Organizational Identity?
- Strategic vision
- Organizational culture
- Stakeholder images
VCI Alignment Model: What does VCI stand for?
Vision, Culture and Images
VCI Alignment Model: what is “strategic vision”?
Management decides what needs to be done
VCI Alignment Model: What kind of questions arise in the vision-culture gap?
Are your vision and culture adequately differentiated from those of your competitors?
Does your company’s vision inspire its subcultures?
Does your company practice the values it promotes?
VCI Alignment Model: What kind of questions arise in the vision-image gap?
Who are your stakeholders?
Do you know what you stakeholders want from your company?
Are your vision and values attractive to and supported by your stakeholders
VCI Alignment Model: What kind of questions arise in the image-culture gap?
What images do stakeholders associate with your company?
In what ways do employees and stakeholders interact?
Do your employees care about what costumers think about the company?
Corporate branding is hard to change succesfully. A example is British Airways. Where went BA wrong?
Culture-vision gap:
- Management did not involve employees in the decision making behind the airplane redesign and
- Planned an expensive airplane redesign as well as a plan to cut costs (likely, resizing personnel)
Vision-image gap:
- Management ignored how UK consumers would react to the airplane redesign
- Discounted the appreciation consumers from the rest of the world had about the Britishness of BA before
Measuring the value of brands
Economists: based on their assets (the capital that organizations have generated)
Assests divide themselves in two categories:
Tangible assets: buildings, cash, investments, equipment…
Intangible assets: elements of value that do no exist physically, such as patents and indeed brand equity
