insights from the british monarchy - BURA - Brunel University

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From the above it can be inferred that a corporate brand covenant should be
projected not only through corporate communications (Van Riel 1995) but,
moreover, through total corporate communications (Balmer and Gray 1999):
the latter is based on the notion that the activities, behaviours, and
communications associated with a corporate brand has a communications
effect. Based on the premise, the corporate brand promise should be manifest
unceasingly, and over time, through service quality, product performance,
price, salary, conditions of work, corporate and boardroom behaviour, as well
as through corporate symbolism and architecture.
Consider the brand promise associated with well-known corporate brands
such as Disney (wholesome family entertainment), the city of Paris (romance),
and BBC (authoritative news and quality radio and TV output). Strap lines
often attempt to capture the essence of the brand promise. Consider IBM’s
‚business solutions,‛ Philips ‚sense and simplicity,‛ and HSBC’s ‚local
knowledge.‛
The management of corporate brands is typically more difficult than the
management of product brands. In part this is because a corporate brand
community consists of many stakeholder groups whereas a product brand’s
primary focus is its customers and the distribution channels that reach them.
It is the task of senior executives to know the breadth and depth of their
corporate brand community and to communicate with them marshalling the
plethora of corporate communications channels that are available.
One way of conceptualising the above is to consider the relevance of a
particular corporate brand to (a) its customers and (b) its stakeholder groups.
Of course, there are many forms of brand association and for some
individuals there will be multiple forms of association owing to their
membership of several stakeholder groups. The relevance of corporate brands
can be seen in terms of consumption (e.g. customer loyalty to the BMW
brand), employment (a preference to work for Waitrose vis a vis other
supermarkets), endorsement (industrial endorsement evidenced by loyalty to
Boeing rather than Airbus), association (the prestige accorded to parents
whose daughter has won a place at Yale University), acquisition (The Tata
Group’s procurement of celebrated car marques such as Jaguar and Range
Rover), aspiration (the purchase of a Brooks Brothers tie rather than the
coveted Brooks Brothers suit).
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