CORPORATE BRANDING

FedEx

FedEx-Strong brand awareness

Miller Lite Brand Communication

Best Buy’s In-Store Identity

In-Store Branding is well known

Well-Known US Retail Brands

Brand Building

Is more than designing logosIs more than a nameIs more than great communication about the

organisation.It is about a promiseIt is about reputation managementIt is about your staff

Corporate Brand defines the firm that will deliver and stand behind the offering that the customer will buy and use.

Has access to organizational as well as product associations, e.g., Dell, UPS, SONY, Samsung, IBM.

It is the ultimate “Branded House”.It represents the organization that stands

behind its products.It is well suited to play an endorser role,

e.g., Courtyard (by Marriott), MSN (by Microsoft), Lion King (by Disney).

Corporate Branding

1. A Rich Heritage e.g., L.L. Bean and the Bean family heritage GE tracing itself back to Thomas Edison Honda engine development back in the 1940’s

and ‘50’s

2. Assets and Capabilities e.g., Wal-Mart has the technology Singapore Airlines can deliver outstanding

service Prudential has financial assets behind it

3. People e.g., Bill Gates at Microsoft Michael Dell at Dell Richard Branson at Virgin

Elements of Corporate Brand

4. Values and Priorities What will not be compromised no matter what?

Some firms have a cost-driven culture Others have Innovation, e.g., 3M and HP Others a concern for customers, e.g. Southwest

Airlines

5. A Local or Global Frame of Reference Being local strives to connect to local outcomes Being global means people everywhere respect the

brand

6. Citizenship Programs e.g. Concern for the environment

7. A Performance Record Is the firm successful? Do the products and services “click” with the market?

1. It can potentially find differentiation in the organizational associations. e.g., Wells Fargo is very different from Bank of

America in terms of personality, style and heritage.

2. It can draw on organizational programs that provide energy to product brands. Major sports sponsorships

3. Corporate brands provide credibility. e.g., A trustworthy organization will be given

the benefit of the doubt. An organization will be liked because of its citizenship activities.

Why leverage the corporate brand?

4. Corporate branding makes brand management easier and more effective.

5. The translation of the corporate brand internally to employees must be supported by the mission, goals, values, ad culture of the organization.

6. A corporate brand provides a message for the customer relationship that can be very different from that of the product brand.

e.g., it can represent the heritage and allow the product brand to inject energy.

The Corporate Brand: Challenges and Potential Impact

Corporate Brand

• Heritage•

Assets/Capabilities

• People• Values/Priorities• Local/Global• Citizenship• Performance

Challenges

• Maintaining Relevance• Creating Value Positions• Avoiding Visible Negatives• Managing the Brand across

Contexts• Making the Brand Identity

Emerge

Potential Impact

• Organizationally Based Differentiation• Corporate Programs as Branded

Energizers• Credibility – Liking, Expertise, Trust• More Effective Management of the Brand

Portfolio• Support for Internal Brand Building• Provides a Message to Supplement the

Product Brand• Support for Communication to Audiences

such as Investors, Prospective Employees, Political Leaders

• Provide the Ultimate Branded House

1. Maintaining Relevance The heritage associated with the brand will affect its effort to adapt. Xerox and Kodak have struggled to enter the brands world in which digital

imaging systems are dominant.

2. Creating Value Propositions A corporate brand will work best when it delivers a functional benefit. e.g., Dell with its direct model, generated benefits that included customization and

access to the latest technology.

3. Avoiding Visible Negatives The Exxon Valdez oil spill, Firestone tire crisis and the firms’ responses affect the

corporate brands. Key is to provide a visible fix.

4. Managing the Brand in Different Contexts There should be consistency across contexts. e.g., GE is in the jet engine,

appliances and financial services markets. Core identity should work everywhere.

5. Making the Corporate Brand Identity Emerge Brand identity needs to be developed and managed. What is behind the brand?

Challenges in Managing the Corporate Brand

1. Corporate brands can reduce costs. e.g., Nestlé and Unilever are reducing the number of

product brands to exploit economies of scale.

2. They give customers a sense of community. Apple and Virgin provide customers with a distinctive

positioning across products.

3. They create common ground. McDonald’s golden arches appeal to different cultural

groups.

4. They provide a seal of approval. Sony stands for competence, quality and service over

a number of products and service groups.

What a Corporate Brand Can Do for the Firm

Product brands Corporate brands

Management Middle manager CEO

Responsibility Middle manager All personnel

Cognate discipline(s) Marketing Strategy/multidisciplinary

Communications mix Marketing communications

Total corporate communications

Focus Mainly customer Multiple internal and external stakeholder groups and networks

Values Mainly contrived Those of founder(s)+ mix of corporate+ other sub-cultures

A comparison between corporate and product brands