Scrutinising the British Monarchy: The corporate brand that was shaken, stirred and survived

Purpose – The principal purposes of this article are to provide normative advice in terms of managing the British Monarchy as a Corporate Heritage Brand and to reveal the efficacy of examining a brand’s history for corporate heritage brands generally. Design/methodology/approach – Taking a case history approach, this article examines critical events in the Crown’s history. This article is also informed by the diverse literatures on the British Monarchy and also marshals the identity literatures and the nascent literature relating to corporate brands. Six critical incidents that have shaped the monarchy over the last millennium provide the principal data source for this article. Findings - In scrutinising key events from the institution’s historiography it was found that the management and maintenance of the Crown as a corporate brand entail concern with issues relating to (1) continuity (maintaining heritage and symbolism), (2) visibility (having a meaningful and prominent public profile), (3) strategy (anticipating and enacting change), (4) sensitivity (rapid response to crises), (5) respectability (retaining public favour), and (6) empathy (acknowledging that brand ownership resides with the public). Taking an integrationist perspective, the efficacy of adopting a corporate marketing approach/philosophy is also highlighted. Research limitations – The insights derived from this article are based on the extant literatures on the Monarchy: richer insights would, of course, be derived from undertaking research within the institution. However, the difficulty in gaining access to the Royal Household in undertaking empirical/publishable research renders most methodologies currently used within management research virtually unavailable. Practical implications – There are two. In terms of the Crown a new tripartite dictum is offered which is broader in scope than Bagehot’s and takes account of the Monarchy’s constitutional, societal and symbolic obligations. As such, the Crown should be Dutiful to the tenets of a constitutional monarchy; Devoted to the peoples of the realm and Dedicated to maintaining royal symbolism. In terms of the management of corporate brands/heritage brands a five- faceted approach/modus operandi is introduced which is called: ‚Chronicling the Corporate Brand.‛ These are: (a) chronicling the brand’s history; (b) assembling a cross-section of individuals to set down the corporate brand narrative; (c) documenting and communicating the insights from the aforementioned (d) marshalling the narrative vis a vis corporate brand management/crisis management; (e) revisiting the brand’s history for new insights. Originality/value – This is one of the first articles to examine the British Monarchy through a corporate branding lens. It confirms that the Crown is analogous to a corporate brand and, therefore, ought to be managed as such

The BP Deepwater Horizon débâcle and corporate brand exuberance

This article is available to download from the publisher’s website at the link below.No abstract available (Editorial)

Heritage branding orientation: The case of Ach. Brito and the dynamics between corporate and product heritage brands

The notion of heritage branding orientation is introduced and explicated. Heritage branding orientation is designated as embracing both product and corporate brands and differs from corporate heritage brand orientation which has an explicit corporate focus. Empirical insights are drawn from an in-depth and longitudinal case study of Ach. Brito, a celebrated Portuguese manufacturer of soaps and toiletries. This study shows how, by the pursuance of a strategy derived from a heritage branding orientation Ach. Brito – after a prolonged period of decline – achieved a dramatic strategic turnaround. The findings reveal how institutional heritage can be a strategic resource via its adoption and activation at both the product and corporate levels. Moreover, the study showed how the bi-lateral interplay between product and corporate brand levels can be mutually reinforcing. In instrumental terms, the study shows how heritage can be activated and articulated in different ways. For instance, it can re-position both product and/or corporate brands; it can be meaningfully informed by product brand heritage and shape corporate heritage; and can be of strategic importance to both medium-sized and small enterprises

Corporate identity: The concept, its measurement and management

Articulates the main trends in the literature on corporate identity; defines corporate identity; explains the rationale for corporate identity management and describes the main methods used to reveal the desired and the actual corporate identity. Particular reference will be made to two recently developed models used to reveal an organization's identity: Balmer's Affinity Audit (BAA) and The Rotterdam Organizational Identification Test (ROIT). Concludes that while empirical research on the area will increasingly be multidisciplinary marketing will, nonetheless, play a pivotal role in an understanding of corporate identity

Corporate brands: what’s new?

2001 marked the tenth anniversary of a seminal article on corporate branding written by the distinguished English advertising consultant Stephen King (1991). In this article King’s contribution to the emergent theory relating to corporate branding in the context of recent scholarship is appraised. This article outlines the benefits and characteristics of corporate brands. It details the differences between product and corporate brands and summarises the relationships between corporate brands and corporate identity and corporate reputation. The author’s survey of the business environment reveals there to be proliferation of new corporate branding types. As such, six new corporate branding categories have been identified which are termed: familial, multiplex, shared, surrogate, supra and federal. King’s prediction that the last decade will witness increased importance to corporate brands does have a contemporary resonance. Looking ahead to the next decade, and picking up a theme of an earlier article (Balmer 1998) the author predicts that a new management area will emerge: an area that he calls “corporate marketing”. It will be multidisciplinary in scope and will encompass organisational, corporate and visual identity, corporate branding, reputation and corporate communications

The corporate brand and strategic direction: Senior business school managers’ cognitions of corporate brand building and management

This revelatory study focuses on top Financial Times (FT) ranked British business school managers cognitions of corporate brand building and management. The study insinuates there is a prima facie bilateral link between corporate branding and strategic direction. Among this genus of business school, the data revealed corporate brand building entailed an on-going concern with strategic management, stakeholder management, corporate communications, service focus, leadership, and commitment. These empirical findings, chime with the early conceptual scholarship on corporate brand management dating back to the mid-1990s. These foundational articles stressed the multi-disciplinary and strategic nature of corporate brand management and stressed the significant role of the CEO. As such, this research adds further credence to the above in terms of best-practice vis-à-vis corporate brand management. Curiously, whilst senior managers espouse a corporate brand orientation, corporate brand management is seemingly not accorded a similar status in the curriculum. Drawing on general embedded case study methodological approach, data was collected within eight leading (FT-ranked) business schools in Great Britain at Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Bradford, Cranfield, Warwick, Lancaster and City (London) Universities. Each of these eight British business schools can be deemed as ‘top’ business schools by virtue of their inclusion in the influential Financial Times (FT) worldwide list of top business schools. The primary mode of qualitative data collection was the 37 in-depth interviews with business school Deans, Associate Deans and other senior faculty members and other managers

The corporate identity, total corporate communications, stakeholders’ attributed identities, identifications and behaviours continuum.

© John M.T. Balmer. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose – (a) Introduces a new strategic framework entitled, “The corporate identity, total corporate communications, stakeholders’ attributed identities, identifications and behaviours continuum” and (b) elucidates the central and strategic importance of corporate identity. Design/methodology/approach – Article and framework is informed by: (i) corporate marketing and strategic perspectives; (ii) incorporation of the legal theory of the firm, social identity branch theories, and stakeholder theory; (iii) discernment of corporate identity effects and management in terms of a continuum; and (iv) accommodation of Tagiuri’s (1982) scholarship. Findings – the formal introduction and explication of “The corporate identity, total corporate communications, stakeholders’ attributed identities, identifications and behaviours continuum”. Corporate identity management is an on-going strategic senior management/strategic requisite. Notably, the legal theory of company law – routinely overlooked – and its impact on corporate identity management is accepted, acknowledged and accommodated. The importance of stakeholders and stakeholder identification (a derivative of social identity theory) is underscored. Practical implications – Via the explication of the continuum, managers can: 1 comprehend the nature and importance of corporate identity; 2 appreciate that corporate identity adaptation/change is on-going; 3 comprehend its interface/s with corporate communications, stakeholder attributed identities, identifications and the business environment; 4 understand the need for on-going fidelity to an institution’s legally-based core purposes and corporate identity traits (juridical identity); and 5 cognise the efficacy of constant stakeholder and environmental analysis. Corporate identity sustainability requires corporate identity to be advantageous, beneficial, critical, differentiating and effectual. Stakeholder prioritisation is not solely dependent on power, legitimacy, and urgency, but on legality, efficacy, ethicality, and temporality as well. Originality/value –The model’s/framework’

Carbon dioxide concentrations in eutrophic lakes: undersaturation implies atmospheric uptake

Understanding concentrations and contributions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in aquatic ecosystems is an important part of a comprehensive global carbon budget. Current dogma suggests that world lakes are important emitters of CO2 to the atmosphere. We estimated the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (ρCO2) in 131 agriculturally eutrophic lakes over a 7 year sampling period. Values of ρCO2 in these lakes ranged from 0.1 to 40 392 μatm with a median of 322 μatm (n = 3049). In contrast to previous analyses of CO2 in lakes, 60% of the eutrophic lake samples were undersaturated with CO2. Correlation analysis implied that nutrient-driven primary production, reflected by high oxygen concentra­tions, drives CO2 concentrations below atmospheric equilibrium. Multiple regression analysis showed several limno­logical and catchment characteristics that explained a statistically significant amount of variability in ρCO2 (R2 = 0.32). Important variables included chlorophyll a concentration and the ratio of total nitrogen to total phosphorus. Our estimated ρCO2 values were significantly (p < 0.0001) lower than a previously published dataset of world lake ρCO2 values derived primarily from oligotrophic-mesotrophic lakes. High-nutrient lakes, especially those that are small and rich in oxygen from primary production, could act as net atmospheric CO2 uptake sites

Relationship between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification: an exploratory case study

Purpose – How organizations view, value, and manage their place architecture in relation to identification and corporate identity has received little research attention. The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrative understanding of the relationships between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification from a multi-disciplinary approach. It is assumed that characteristics of the organization and of the way a corporate identity and place architecture are managed will affect employees’ and consumers’ identification. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a theory-building case study within the phenomenological/qualitative research tradition. The data were gathered through 15 in-depth interviews with top management who were working at a London-Based Business School. In addition, six focus groups were conducted with a total of 36 academics, and new empirical insights are offered. NVivo software was used to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. Findings – Drawing on one case study, our findings confirm that firms are utilizing the conceptualizations of corporate identity and place architecture, including the leveraging of tangible and intangible forms of consumers’/employees’ identification, towards a university business school. Originality/value – The relationships between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification have received little research attention and have hardly been studied at all from the perspective of this paper. This paper has value to researchers in the fields of marketing, corporate identity, place architecture, design, as well as professionals involved in managing a company’s architecture. Drawing on the marketing/management theory of identity and architecture alignment, managers and policy advisors should devote attention to each element of the corporate identity and place architecture and ensure that they are in meaningful as well as in dynamic alignment