Branding and design Stakeholders include corporate brands within
their identities. This can mean, for example:
Master Marketing and Corporate
Communication - Driving an expensive car to
(subconsciously?) communicate status
Lecture 1: What is corporate branding? - Looking for a part time job at
EKOplaza rather than Albert Heijn
What is a brand?
because more sustainable
A brand is “a name, term, symbol or design or - Or… trying to engage with brands
combination of these, which is intended to little as possible (is still an attribution
identify goods or service of one seller, or group of meaning, and a rejection of
of seller and of differentiate them from those whatever that meaning stands for)
of competitors”
Symbol
Products vs Corporate brand
Any object, word or action that stands for
Products and corporate brands can both convey
something else. There is a physical way in
emotions, ideas and memories and can be
which brand are symbols: the logos, names,
associated with substantial value. They are,
and even color choices of a brand make it
however, very different
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
The meaning of meaning
When a brand works, each element associated
with it reminds its audience of the associated Product brand
organization, but also:
- Can have a completely different
- Recalls previous encounters with the identity than the organization behind it
organization (Pringles was owned by Procter &
- Says something about the company Gamble until they sold to Kellogg’s in
values and leadership 2012)
- Communicates something about the - Only really concerns one product, or a
products small group of products
- Targets consumers only
- Is only mean to survive as long as the
Imagine a consumer buying a t-shirt from the product survives
following brands. Do you visualize the same
person? Corporate brand
- If endorsed (such as HEMA) it
influences all the products of an
organization, no matter what kind
- Originates from the company’s
heritage, its values and beliefs, and
what members of the organization
have in common
Brand & Identity
, - Targets all stakeholders, including
employees, managers, suppliers and
Where BA went wrong?
even politicians
- Is meant to be long lasting Culture/Vision gap:
- Management did not involve
employees in the decision making
Corporate branding is hard to change
behind the airplane redesign and
(successfully)
- Planned an expensive airplane
redesign as well as a plan to cut costs
(likely, resizing personnel)
Example: A tale of two airlines
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
Intangible assets
- Economists measure the value of
organization based on their assets (NL:
British Airways: They did not really consider activa), that is, the capital that they
what the consumers wanted. have generated
- Assets typically divide themselves in
Southwest Airlines: put the culture at front. It’s
two categories:
what the employees and stakeholders wanted
o Tangible assets: buildings,
cash, investments,
equipment…
VCI Alignment Model o Intangible assets: elements of
value that do not exist
physically, such as patents and
indeed brand equity
Brand equity
Represents the value of a brand in the market
place. It is defined by five elements:
Strategic vision: management who decides 1. Market behavior
what needs to be done 2. Awareness
3. Association and differentiation
4. Quality
5. Loyalty
, Symbolic values
Consumers (but more broadly stakeholders) of
a certain organization attribute a value to its
brand because it defines a degree of belonging
based on the creation of a common ground of
understanding
Based on the values conveyed by the brand,
stakeholders
- Buy branded products
- Invest in the company stock
- Work for the company behind the
brand
- Promote the brand, as consumers
- Invest trust in the brand
This symbolic value of a brand
translates into financial value
