Bringing the Corporation into Corporate Branding

Due to the need for differentiation in a world of proliferating products and services, the locus of competitive advantage is shifting from products to organizations. A commensurate shift from product to corporate branding is underway. We contend that this shift moves branding well beyond the traditional discipline of marketing and reframes it within strategic, organizational and communicational practices and perspectives. This paper describes corporate branding as an organizational tool whose successful application depends upon attending to the context in which it is used. A model to help managers analyze context in terms of the interplay between strategic vision, organizational culture and corporate image is resented. Use of the model is illustrated by examining the stages of development that British Airways passed through in the creation of its corporate brand. The paper concludes with some specific advice for managing the process of corporate branding, wherein keeping up with the continuous adjustments of vision, culture and image is essential.