How To Manage A Corporate Brand

The term ‘corporate branding’ refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity. This is as opposed to brands of specific products or services. The activities and thinking that go into developing and maintaining a corporate brand are different from product and service branding.

This is because the scope of a corporate brand is typically much broader. It should also be noted that while the process of corporate branding is a different activity from product or service branding, these different types of branding can, and frequently do, take place side-by-side within a given organisation.

What’s The Difference Between Corporate Branding and Product Branding?

Corporate branding involves marketing various products or services under the name of a company. Product branding, on the other hand, is a marketing strategy wherein a business promotes and markets an individual product without the company name being front and centre in the advertising campaigns or even on the product labelling.

Management strategies for choosing which avenue to pursue or a combination of the two in branding vary by business and each approach produces results.

Corporate brands generally have the following characteristics:

• A rich tradition and heritage
• A high level of capability and assets
• A local and international presence
• Influential and prominent founders
• Particular values
• Excellent performance records

What Are the Advantages Of Corporate Branding?

Facilitating Communication

One definite advantage of corporate branding is the way in which it facilitates communication between a business and its customers. Corporate branding generally utilises trademarked images and slogans. Each of these elements is carefully selected in order to convey the company’s image of itself as well as its preferred way of appearing to customers.

The words which a company uses in order to brand itself get at the core values and goals of the business. These may also indicate what type of customers the organisation wants to attract. Consumers synthesise this information and then develop opinions even before they experience a company’s products first-hand.

Controlling Costs

Corporate branding spreads out the cost of establishing a brand image over an extensive period of time. This saves on money versus creating as well as promoting a new brand image for each new product. It also permits companies to roll out new products without the need for a new brand strategy. Rather, the company is able to rely on the pre-existing corporate brand when time is of the essence.

An existing corporate brand offers price flexibility. The company is able to choose to develop new brand images within the corporate brand for major new products while – at the same time – depending on the existing corporate brand for others.

Value

Strong corporate brands gain value which is separate from the products that they represent. This value comes from the time as well as money which organisations invest in developing a brand which, over time, becomes identifiable to consumers.

Those consumers who have positive experiences with products which carry the corporate brand will naturally respond more positively to the brand in the future, while consumers who are familiar with the brand but not its products will already have a built-in sense of the brand that makes marketing easier. Companies with established brands can license the brand, sell it outright or use it as leverage in negotiating mergers and acquisitions.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

A huge part of what makes a company successful is its corporate brand. Learn how to develop a corporate brand – as well as other aspects of brand management – with our Brand Management Course. Follow this link for more information.