Lecture 7

The Corporate Brand: An

Organizations Covenant

Objectives
An introduction to different branding types
The characteristics of corporate brands
Differences between corporate brands and product
brands
Differences between corporate brands and corporate
identities
Similarities between corporate brands and corporate
identities
Corporate Branding Relationships (corporate
branding architecture)
Model of the Moment: Adjusting the AC 2ID TestTM
so as to accommodate the corporate brand p.251

Understanding Branding Types: i

Brands, in their various guises, have
become a lingua franca
Traditionally, two types of branding
have been identified:
ERSTWHILE BRANDS
ESTABLISHED BRANDS

Understanding Branding
Types: ii
Erstwhile: in its simplest sense a brand is a name,
logotype, or trademark. Often used as a mark of
ownership.
Established: refers to the added values that a
brand brings to a product. For the main, such
values are synthetic in that they are superimposed
on the product by marketing and communications
managers and creatives
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Understanding Branding
Types: iii
However, there a new, and quite
distinct, type of brand has emerged
over recent years. This refers to those
brands which refers to brands as
applied to corporate entities. This
branding category is called

EMERGENT
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Understanding Branding
Types: iv
Emergent: equally applicable to countries, regions,
cities etc it is most often applied to corporations and to
their subsidiaries
Corporate brand values (unlike product brands) are not
contrived but are bona fide.
The corporate branding philosophy, at its core,
represents an explicit COVENANT between an
organization and its key stakeholder groups, including
customers
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Corporate and product

brands: the differences: i
PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT

CORPORATE
middle manager

CEO

RESPONSIBILITY

middle manager

all personnel

COGNATE
DISCIPLINE

marketing
discplinary

strategy/multi

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)

Corporate and product

brands: the differences: ii

Of particular importance to the

establishment, maintenance, and
comprehension of corporate brands
are company personnel and company
culture(s).

Corporate and product brands: the differences: iii

Moreover, corporate brands often boundaryspan organizations.

Consider the Rolls Royce corporate brand. The Rolls Royce
brand is, on the one hand linked to(a) an aero engines group, and
(b) an automotive manufacturer. Two companies, sharing the
same, quintisentially British corporate brand name: the latter is a
subsidiary of the German automobile group BMW.

Corporate brands and

corporate identities: the
differences: i
The identity concept is applicable to all entities in a
way that the corporate branding concept is not.
A corporate brand will, almost certainly, have its
origins in an identity.

However, once a corporate brand has been established

an organizations identity elements need to be in
alignment with the corporate brand covenant (the
promise that is explicit in a corporate brand).

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Corporate brands and

corporate identities: the
differences: ii
In addition corporate brands differ from identities in
that they typically have a:
Longer gestation
External foci
Higher profile
Particular reliance on corporate communications, and
strong verbal and visual identifiers
Portability (can be bought, sold, and may be extended to
other corporations, products, and services)
Financial value that may be independent of the
corporation itself.
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Similarities between
corporate brands and
corporate identities
The importance of:
Personnel and of sub cultural groups in their
formation, maintenance, and comprehension.
Their multidisciplinary roots
The necessity for ongoing CEO/Senior
Management support and sensitivity.

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Corporate Branding
Relationships: i
(corporate branding architecture)

Olinss categorization of the three principal types of branding

relationship remain influential.

Monolithic: the use of a single (corporate) brand name. This is used to identify
the organization in addition to its products and/or services.
Example: Shell
Endorsed: the use of a distinct brand name by a subsidiary (corporate brand) is
accompanied by explicit reference to the the holding corporations brand (the
same may occur for a product and/or service.)
Example: General Motors.
Branded: the use of a distinct brand name by a subsidiary, product or service
which makes no reference to the holding corporations brand.
Example: Jaguar, a subsidiary of the Ford Group.

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Corporate Branding
Relationships: ii
It is important to note, however, that:
the aforementioned categories (monolithic, endorsed,
and branded) primarily relates to the degree of profile
they wish to give to their corporate brand/corporate
brand. The focus is very much on the corporate
brand/name as a VISUAL IDENTIFIER.
Most large corporations do not ascribe solely to one
of the three branding categories.

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Corporate Branding
Relationships: iii
In recent years, it has become apparent that there are
other types of corporate branding relationships. As
such, behind a single corporate brand may lurk a
variety of strategic arrangements. Thus, in addition, to
monolithic, branded, and endorsed branding categories
the following, additional, categories may be added:
FAMILIAL
SHARED
SURROGATE
MULTIPLEX
FEDERAL
SUPRA

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Corporate Branding
Relationships: iv
FAMILIAL: the adoption of the same corporate brand by two
entities within the same industry. Example: HILTON
SHARED: as above, but with companies operating in
distinct, markets.
Example: ROLLS ROYCE
SURROGATE: a franchise arrangement whereby one
organizations products/services are branded as those of
another.
Example: British Regional Airways use of the BRITISH
AIRWAYS brand

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Corporate Branding
Relationships: v
MULTIPLEX: the muliple use, and sometimes multiple
ownership/rights, of a corporate brand among a variety of
entities in a variety of industries.
Example: VIRGIN
FEDERAL: the creation of a new corporate brand by separate
companies that pool their resources in a joint venture.
Example: AIRBUS
SUPRA: a quasi, arch brand used to supra-endorse any
number of corporate brands. Common in the airline sector
(airline alliances)
Examples: ONE WORLD/STAR/QUALIFIER

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Model of the Moment: the

AC3ID TestTM: i
Building on the AC2ID TestTM pp.15-30 a
corporate brand can be viewed as an
independent organism and, as such, may be
viewed as a sixth identity type. This identity
type we call the
COVENANTED IDENTITY.

(underpinning any corporate brand is an explicit covenant,

or promise, that acts as a standard by which an
organization or group organizations interact with key
internal and external groups and networks.)
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Model of the Moment: the

AC3ID Test TM: ii
See page 251
The same principles relating the AC2ID TestTM can be applied to
the AC3ID TestTM as shown on page 251 (including the REDS2
methodology for operating the model.
Note that the covenanted identity is depicted as a five pointed star
OUTSIDE the original pentagon. This reflects some of the
abiding characteristics of corporate brands in that they can be
applied to:
other identities and entities
shared with other organization
have a life, reputation, and financial worth of their own.

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C3

THE AC3ID TESTTM

Section V Exhibit One

ACTUAL

C3 = Covenanted Identity

C2

COMMUNICATED

CONCEIVED

I
IDEAL

C3

D
DESIRED

[28]
Balmer 200220

Decus et tutamen
An ornament and a safeguard
This Latin inscription is used as one of the inscriptions on
the rim of British pound coins.
To us it epitomizes the worth of another currency: that of
corporate branding.

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