Corporate branding in the retail sector: a practitioner’s perspective

It can be argued that corporate branding is essentially a strategic task spanning across functional boundaries and internal and external sphere of the organisation. What is the opinion of practitioners on the concept? This paper presents the findings from a study in the UK retail sector. The purpose of the study is to assess whether the practitioners share the view that the corporate brand is an integrative device and the process of corporate branding is holistic in nature

Corporate Heritage Stewardship: A Corporate Marketing Perspective

Purpose: Focusing on the nascent corporate heritage identity domain, this empirical study introduces the theory of corporate heritage stewardship. In particular, the research explores managers’ collective understanding of their organisation’s corporate heritage and how the latter is marshalled, and strategically represented, by them. The case study was undertaken in Great Britain’s oldest extant brewery. Established in 1698 Shepherd Neame is one of UK’s oldest companies. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical research informed by a theory-building, case-study using qualitative data. This study draws on multiple sources of data generated through semi-structured interviews, the analysis of documents and non-participant observations. The analysis of data was facilitated by a multi-stage coding process and a prolonged hermeneutic interaction between data, emerging concepts, and extant literature. Findings: Corporate heritage identity stewardship theory argues that the strategic enactment of a corporate heritage identity is predicated on a particular management mindset, which is meaningfully informed by three awareness dimensions expressed by managers (i.e. awareness of positionality, heritage, and custodianship). These awareness dimensions are underpinned by six managerial stewardship dispositions characterised by a sense of: (1) continuance; (2) belongingness; (3) self; (4) heritage; (5) responsibility; and (6) potency. The findings are synthesised into a theoretical framework of managerial corporate heritage identity stewardship. Research limitations/implications: The insights from this empirical case study meaningfully advance our theoretical understanding of the corporate heritage identity domain. Whilst the empirical contribution of this study is qualitatively different from statistical/substantive generalisations, which seek to establish universal laws, the research insights are valuable in terms of theory-building in their own terms and are analytically generalisable. The insights from this study have the potential to inform further studies on corporate heritage identities, including research underpinned by a positivistic, and quantitative, methodology. Practical implications: The findings have utility for corporate marketing management in that they illustrate how a collective corporate heritage mindset can both inform, as well as guide, managers in terms of their stewardship of their firm’s corporate heritage identity. The theoretical framework is of utility in practical terms in that it reveals the multiple dimensions that are significant for management stewardship of a corporate heritage identity. Originality/value: The research confirms and expands the notion of management stewardship in corporate identity in corporate marketing contexts by identifying how a multi-dimensional managerial mindset has constitutive and instrumental relevance. Moreover, this study identifies the distinct characteristics of this corporate identity type – corporate heritage identity – which are revealed to have a saliency for managers. Both insights underpin the corporate heritage identity stewardship theory explicated in this article. Keywords: Corporate Heritage, Corporate Heritage Identity, Corporate Marketing, Corporate Identity, Case Study, Qualitative Research Article Classification: Research pape

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

Marketing, the past and corporate heritage

Argues for a more expansive conceptualisation of the past’s relevance in, and for, marketing. Such a differentiated approach to the past is pregnant with possibilities in terms of advancing scholarship apropos temporal agency in marketing along with consumption practices. Symptomatic of this perspective is the increased mindfulness of the rich palate of past-related concepts. Significantly, the corporate heritage notion - because of its omni-temporal nature - represents a distinct and meaningful vector on the past by coalescing the past, present and future into a new type of temporality. As such, the authors reason this expansive conceptualisation of ‘the past-in-marketing’ is both timely and efficacious. Whilst sensitive of the importance of the historical method in marketing and the history of marketing scholarship and practice per se. This broader marketing approach to and of the past highlights the ideational and material manifestations of the past-in-the-present and an envisaged past-in-the future

Repertoires of the corporate past: Explanation and framework. Introducing an integrated and dynamic perspective

Purpose – The repertories of the corporate past perspective is introduced and articulated and is placed with the corporate communications and corporate marketing domains. The framework consolidates and expands the comprehension of multifarious actualisations of the past as a corporate-level phenomenon. The paper aims to discuss these issues

Explicating Corporate Hertiage, Corporate Heritage Brands, and Organisational Heritage

Recently, considerable academic and management interest has focussed on corporate heritage and, in particular on the corporate heritage brand notion. This article provides a thorough overview of the field and includes latest developments in the territory including the formal introduction of the organisational heritage concept. In this paper the contexts, foundations, fundamentals, and advances in the broad corporate heritage field are outlined. This critique also examines key constructs within the domain including corporate heritage brands, corporate heritage identity, and organisational heritage. Both theoretical and managerial aspects of the field are addressed. Drawing on the extant literature, the article explores five themes relating the area: contexts, foundations, fundamentals, advances, and empirical insights. Reference is made to prominent case study research from Great Britain and China namely Shepherd Neame (Britain’s oldest brewery with an official founding date of 1698), and Tong Ren Tang (the renowned traditional Chinese medicine corporate brand dating back to 1669)

Corporate heritage identity management and the multi-modal implementation of a corporate heritage identity

This article advances the theoretical and instrumental understanding of corporate heritage identities. This exploratory, empirical study focuses on both the nature and the relevance of corporate heritage identity as employed by managers for corporate identity management purposes. The research is undertaken within Britain's oldest brewery – one of the oldest corporate entities in Great Britain with a provenance spanning many centuries – and utilizes a qualitative and theory building case study. The research reveals two classes of management responsibilities vis-à-vis corporate heritage identity management, namely corporate heritage management activities and corporate heritage implementation strategies, which follow a particular corporate heritage identity implementation pattern identified. A normative framework synthesizes and marshals the findings. The empirical study provides insight into corporate heritage identity management and is potentially useful to both scholars and practitioners. This study advances the nascent area of corporate heritage identity management by providing empirical and theoretical insight into the salience and strategic relevance of corporate heritage identity as a resource for corporate marketing. The article provides a normative framework of actionable categories of activities related to the management and implementation of substantive corporate heritage identity dimensions

Marketing, the past and corporate heritage

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by SAGE. Argues for a more expansive conceptualisation of the past’s relevance in, and for, marketing. Such a differentiated approach to the past is pregnant with possibilities in terms of advancing scholarship apropos temporal agency in marketing along with consumption practices. Symptomatic of this perspective is the increased mindfulness of the rich palate of past-related concepts. Significantly, the corporate heritage notion - because of its omni-temporal nature - represents a distinct and meaningful vector on the past by coalescing the past, present and future into a new type of temporality. As such, the authors reason this expansive conceptualisation of ‘the past-in-marketing’ is both timely and efficacious. Whilst sensitive of the importance of the historical method in marketing and the history of marketing scholarship and practice per se, this broader marketing approach to and of the past highlights the ideational and material manifestations of the past-in-the-present and an envisaged past-in-the future