CORPORATE

BRANDING

Rise of Corporate Branding

Benefits of Corporate Branding
Difficulties of Corporate Branding
Guiding Principles of Corporate Branding
Examples

Top 20 Brands
Coca-Cola
Microsoft
IBM
GE
Intel
Nokia
Toyota
Disney
McDonalds
Mercedes-Benz

Citi
Marlboro
Hewlett-Packard
American Express
BMW
Gillette
Louis Vuitton
Cisco
Honda
Samsung

Stakeholders
Increasing sophistication.

Consumers

More cautious and sceptical.

Trust has to be earned.
Can Filter out messages.

Shareholder action groupings, environmental and

social pressure groups, the press local community
groups.
Environmental Issues / Corporate Ethics
(Employees in different levels / locations inculcate
values / standards, One mistake can damage
company)

Global Operations / Marketing

Products / Services becoming increasingly similar (Petrol / Computer)
Companies going beyond national boundaries (ABB in
East Europe / India, Carrier in China, Korea, India)
Changes due to Merger, Acquisitions, diversification, etc.(Asea Brown Boveri / Conflicts in various cultures)
Knowledge Worker Self Directed / Providing context for
decisions
Cost of creating and supporting brands.
Increasing retailer power --- stand-alone brands.
Fragmented
ineffectual.

brand

management

inefficient

and

Consumer Trust in Top Brands, 2003 (Europe)

Amnesty International

62

World Wildlife Fund

62

Greenpeace

51
49

Oxfam
47

Microsoft
42

Bayer
38

Ford Motor Company

Coca-Cola

37

BASF

36
34

Uniliever
0

13

26

39

52

65

MORI - Survey
Corporate image is one of their
major concerns. The reputation of
a company affects every part of
corporate
recruitment,

life:
sales,

share

price,

acquisitions,

divestments, and so on.

SURVEY OF CHAIRMEN
MORI

Benefits
DISTRIBUTORS: Help hold current distributors and sign up new ones by
showing that it is a good company to represent.
STOKEHOLDERS: Build support and goodwill and help spread stock
ownership.
FINANCIAL CIRCLES: Build stature with the financial community Easier
for the company to get investment capital, float loans at favorable rates,
etc.
EMPLOYEES: Help recruit and hold the best skilled and unskilled labour, at
reasonable wages.
COMMUNITY: Establish the companys reputation as a good CITIZEN of
the community.
GOVERNMENT: Gain the goodwill of various governmental groups.
COMPETITORS: Promote fair competition and discourage destructive
competition.
SUPPLIERS: Encourage confidence in the company as a good out-let for
their products.
New Product launches and brand extensions become cheaper and more
efficient.
Provides a long-term, strategic focus for brand development.

THE INTEL CASE

In late 80s Intel completed its financial
turnaround and become the leader in
microprocessor market.
Microprocessor Component of a PC,
usually less than 5% of the computer retail price.
In 1991 awareness of companys chip was mainly
through 386.
Intel had sued for trademark protection and
expected to win.
Verdict in March 91 it lost.

THE INTEL CASE

Dennis Carter, VP Corporate Marketing had a major
problem
How to create an identity
Microprocessors were sold with numerical
nomenclature 8026, 80286, etc.
Were numbers suitable for identity?
How best to create awareness and preference for its
products?
Consultant had suggested Intel, the computer
inside
In Japan they had successfully tried out Intel in it

THE INTEL CASE

After a long and intense weekend Carter
suggested. Intel Inside
Also a co-operative advertising allowance for PC
makers who agreed to use the logo in their own
ads.
The first Intel Inside TV commercial.
A journey through the inwards of a PC, ending
with the microprocessor stamped with Intel logo.

THE INTEL CASE

Awareness of Intel with PC buyers
1992

22%

1994

80%

Fortune Most Admired Corporations

1989

1995

THE WORLDS MOST VALUABLE BRANDS

Sony, Samsung and LG have built

global

businesses

by

focusing

clearly on the visions and values of

the corporation.
Have a global brand umbrella, which
acts as the corporate glue when
entering new geographic markets or
product areas.

Difficulties of Corporate Branding

Organizations extremely complex.
Wide variety of audiences makes consistent
communication difficult.
Cover a number of businesses - generally
easier to build a strong reputation and brand
image for one product or service.
Tend to be led from the top, who can be
difficult to pin down on day-to-day brand
management.
Business directors and leaders historically
have backgrounds in finance or in the
operations not in marketing.

Corporate and product brands: the differences

MANAGEMENT

PRODUCT
middle manager

CORPORATE
CEO

RESPONSIBILITY

middle manager

all personnel

COGNATE
DISCIPLINE

marketing

strategy / multi
discplinary

COMMUNICATIONS
MIX

marketing
communications

total corporate
corporations

FOCUS / FOCI

mainly customer

VALUES

mainly contrived

multiple internal and

external groups and
networks
those of founder(s)
+ mix of corporate
+ other sub cultures

Balmer (2001)

Three Guiding Principles

Leadership: Brand management function
needs to have a senior voice. Companies
should appoint a board member as brand
champion.
Buy-in: Most effective when it is practised
by everyone in the organization. Employees
need to understand the brands vision and
personality.
Communication: Must be communicated
clearly, frequently and consistently within
the organization.

Leadership
If one thinks of the most-focused
and

well-managed

corporate

brands they are often inextricably

linked to the personality and vision
of

their

founder

(Richard

Bransons Virgin, Anita Roddicks

Body Shop, Bill Gatess Microsoft).

You must

be

the
change you wish to see in
the world.
Gandhi

Vision The Usual Phrases

High Performance - World Class Diversity

Empowerment

Employees are Our Most Important

Asset - Exceeds - Delights - Right the
First Time - Everyone's Job - Puts
People First - Puts the Customer First
- Puts Employee Bonuses First.

Brand Architecture

Three Alternatives:
A Monolithic Structure.
An Endorsed Brand Architecture.
A Hybrid Structure.

Brand Architecture
MONOLITHIC STRUCTURE

BLOGGO
Group

BLOGGO
Engineering

BLOGGO
Aerospace

BLOGGO
Plastics

BLOGGO
Chemicals

Brand Architecture
ENDORSED STRUCTURE

BLOGGO
Group

TAYLOR
Engineering

Sparks
Aerospace

BUNGIE
Plastics

TENKO
Chemicals

Part of Bloggo

Part of Bloggo

Part of Bloggo

Part of Bloggo

Brand Architecture
BRANDED IDENTITY

BLOGGO
Group

TAYLOR

Sparks

BUNGIE

TENKO

A GREAT BRAND
WHEN A BRAND CREATES A MYTH, CONSUMERS
PERCEIVE THE MYTH AS EMBODIED IN THE
PRODUCT. THEY BUY THE PRODUCT TO CONSUME
THE MYTH.
NIKES

MYTH

OF

INDIVIDUAL

ACHIEVEMENT

THROUGH PERSEVERANCE.
APPLES

COMMUNED

WITH

THE

COMPANYS

MYTH OF REBELLIOUS, CREATIVE, LIBERTARIAN

VALUES AT WORK IN A NEW ECONOMY.

We are in the twilight of a society based on data. As

information and intelligence become the domain of computers,
society will place more value on the one human ability that
cannot be automated: emotion. Imagination, myth, ritual - the
language of emotion - will affect everything from our
purchasing decisions to how we work with others.

Companies will thrive on

the basis of their stories
and myths. Companies will need to

understand that their products are less important than their

stories. Rolf Jensen, Copenhagen Institute
for Future Studies

In the end, management

doesnt change culture.

invites

Management
the workforce itself to change
the culture.
Lou Gerstner

The Vision-Culture-Image (VCI) Model

Vision - Culture Gap

Vision
(Managers)

Image

Culture

(Stakeholders) (Employees)

Image Culture Gap

Image Vision Gap

Source: Based on Hatch & Schultz (2001)

Organizational Challenges for the

LEGO Brand

VISION
Brand
Management &
Organization
Guidelines

Weak strategic brand leadership:

Need for brand management processes &
support system
Lack of brand guidelines & follow up
processes in brand execution
Lack of clarity in brand responsibility at
corporate level
Need for stronger brand balance:
A hybrid unbalanced matrix in brand
organizing between product lines and
markets
A lack of consistency in relations between
corporate and 5 regions
A lack of integration between old and new
business areas

Organizational Challenges for the

LEGO Brand

CULTURE
Brand Mindset &
Competencies

Local perspective dominates:

Silo-thinking, autonomy & independence in
brand expressions
Product is king;Product driven rather than
brand driven attitude
Lack of discipline in implementing company
brand decisions
Learning & Competency challenges:
Lack of campaign ability & communication
skills
Need for project & campaign organization
Need to learn from brand experience across
company

Organizational Challenges for the

LEGO Brand
Limited knowledge of what consumers
associate with the LEGO Company
name across different regions and
business areas.
IMAGE
Consumer Insights

Incoherent segmentation of
consumers across national markets
and business areas
Little knowledge of how consumers
experience the LEGO brand across
different channels

The Advisor Vs. The Firm

UBS

Confidence in Advisor / Firm Orientation

Peace of Mind /
Security
Values
Connected to
Advisor / Firm
Emotional
consequences
Confidence
in Advisor
Functional
consequences
Good
Relationship
with Advisor
Attributes

Confidence
in Company

Honest
Advisor
Top Quality
Advisor

Good
Reputation /
Stable Company

UBS

Applying the Brand Strategy

UBS

UBS

It is more important to know who you are

than where you are going, for where you
are going will change as the world
around
you
changes.
Leaders
die,
products
become
obsolete,
markets
change, new technologies emerge, and
management fads come and go. But core
ideology in a great company endures as a
source of guidance and inspiration.
James Collins and Jerry Porras Harvard Business Review (Oct96)

If

it

were

possible

to

establish

conditions where people could become

united with a firm spirit of teamwork,
and exercise to their hearts desire
their technological capacity, then such
an organization could bring untold
pleasure and untold bounty.
(Sonys original corporate vision)