Brand Management

Research, Theory and Practice

Tilde Heding, Charlotte Knudtzen, Mogens Bjerre

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317619192
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

For more than three decades it has been argued that the brand is an important value creator and should be a top management priority. However, the definition of what a brand is remains elusive.

BRAND MANAGEMENT: RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICE fills a gap in the market, providing an understanding of different 'schools of thought' in brand management and offers deep insight into the opening question of the opening question of almost every brand management course: 'What is a brand?'

This comprehensive second edition offers an exhaustive scientific analysis of various approaches to brand management developed over the past thirty years. It also delivers a thorough understanding of the strategic and managerial implications of different brand perspectives.

Part I
Setting the scene

1
Introduction

‘As markets change, marketing theories must also change to accommodate them’

(Kozinets et al. 2010, p. 71)

Brands are interesting from many different perspectives. Corporations spend millions planning and implementing brand activities. New research is published and frameworks are developed on a daily basis in the attempt to find the holy grail of brand management. Since the mid-1980s, in particular, researchers and practitioners alike have explored the domain, scope and potential of the brand. Many different concepts, theoretical frameworks and ideas have seen the light of day and, as a result, a wide spectrum of different perspectives on how a brand ought to be conceptualized and managed is in play today. Therefore, to obtain an overview of the field of brand management is an overwhelming task.

This book provides a complete overview of brand management by taking you through seven brand approaches. These seven ‘schools of thought’ represent fundamentally different perceptions of the brand, the nature of the brand–consumer exchange and how brand equity is created and managed. Understanding the seven brand approaches separately provides a deep insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and hence the potential of brand management as a whole. This comprehensive understanding will enable the reader to create customized brand strategies matching the unique challenges and possibilities facing a brand at any time.

The seven approaches are:

• the economic approach: the brand as part of the traditional marketing mix;
• the identity approach: the brand as linked to corporate identity;
• the consumer-based approach: the brand as linked to consumer associations;
• the personality approach: the brand as a human-like character;
• the relational approach: the brand as a viable relationship partner;
• the community approach: the brand as the pivotal point of social interaction; and
• the cultural approach: the brand as part of the broader cultural fabric.

The identification of the seven approaches is based on an extensive analysis of the most influential brand research articles published between 1985 and 2015 (500+ articles from the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Harvard Business Review and European Journal of Marketing). This body of literature is supplemented with key non-research literature, which has shaped the field of brand management since the mid-1980s. The analysis has been conducted using a methodology uncovering the development of scientific knowledge. The methodology is based on a theory developed by American philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn (Kuhn 1996, Berthon et al. 2003, Bjerre et al. 2008) (read more about the methodology in Chapter 3). Since (scientific) knowledge is in constant development, new brand approaches most likely will emerge in the future.

Traditionally, brand management textbooks offer an introduction to main concepts and a wide array of theories, but often fail to discriminate between how different approaches result in very different outcomes and why. It is important for us to stress that the aim of this book is to deconstruct brand management to enhance understanding and reflection on the differences. The different approaches to brand management draw on many different scientific traditions such as economics, strategic management, organizational behaviour, consumer research, psychology and anthropology just to mention a few. We believe that understanding this will equip students and practitioners with a more precise understanding of brand management. A complete overview of brand management hence requires multidimensional thinking. Most textbooks take on this multidimensionality through the integration of several perspectives in all-encompassing frameworks. If you look at the list of brand approaches, you will most likely recognize many of the brand elements (e.g. personality, relation and consumer) that are encompassed in the classical textbook models (e.g. see Aaker’s brand identity model (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2002), Kapferer’s brand prism (Kapferer 1997) and Keller’s customer-based brand equity pyramid (Keller 2003)). The integrated frameworks are, however, not necessarily ideal when it comes to understanding and getting an overview of the field of brand management. Integration tends to blur the differences and similarities between different approaches in brand management and leaves the reader rather confused. Still, the integrated frameworks have the advantage that a strategist can take into consideration all relevant aspects, without losing oneself in details.

This book can be read in two ways: either as a stand-alone textbook or as a supplement to the textbooks by the above-mentioned authors. Read as a supplement, the book offers the inquiring reader the opportunity to understand the components of the traditional models in depth. Read alone, the book offers the opportunity to evaluate the most important schools of thought in brand management and create his or her brand management model featuring the components that are most relevant for the challenge at hand. Furthermore, it provides a chronological account of 30 years of brand management and marketing theory.

Resting on a comprehensive analysis of brand management as a scientific discipline, Brand Management: Research, Theory and Practice offers the reader a scientifically grounded overview of the main schools/approaches in brand management, and of their managerial implications. Brand Management: Research, Theory and Practice presents each approach separately and as an ‘ideal type’ based on the conviction that understanding the exact content of each approach and its origin will better equip the reader to combine different approaches, being in an educational or a managerial setting.

The four layers of an approach

The seven ‘schools of thought’ are ‘clusters’ of literature sharing distinct brand perceptions. In each cluster, there is coherence between assumptions, theories and methods/data. The three ‘scientific layers’ (assumptions, theories and methods/data) add up to managerial implications. The structure of the seven approach chapters is guided by this coherence between assumptions, theories, methods/data and managerial implications.

Assumptions are not to be understood in a high-flown sense of the word. Each approach holds its own implicit view of the nature of the brand and the premises of the brand–consumer exchange. Clarifying these assumptions facilitates the understanding of the theories, methods and managerial implications of each approach. Assumptions also illuminate the intangibles inherent in the nature of the brand.

Figure 1.1 The logic of the approach chapters

The ‘theory’ layer represents the concepts, models and figures, which are key to the understanding of each brand approach. The third layer of ‘methods and data’ provides insight into what data to look for and how to collect them when researching the content of a specific brand strategy. These three scientific layers add up to managerial implications guiding how the assumptions, theories and methods of each approach can be converted into a brand management strategy. The four layers comprising an approach are thus closely interconnected. The scientific clarification and the practical implications of the approaches will enable the reader to reflect on the compatibility of different elements of brand management strategies and ensure the creation of more accurate brand management.

True to its objective, Brand Management: Research, Theory and Practice does not provide one ‘how to’ solution meaning that we refrain from being normative when it comes to the overall management of a brand. Still, we are normative within each approach and leave it to the reader to reflect upon how different situations and circumstances require different means of action. It is our hope that this book will equip readers with an overview and a deeper understanding that will enable them to create splendid customized brand management strategies, and that this somewhat different approach to the communication of brand management will provide a sound platform for anyone interested in the field.

It is our hope that this book will provide its readers with a critical as well as a creative sense to be activated the next time they are presented with an easy-peasy solution to create a strong brand. Branding is indeed a complex management discipline and deserves attention and thoroughness for its potential to be fully unfolded.

A reader’s guide

The chapters of this book fall into three parts.

Part I, ‘Setting the scene’, consists of three chapters: Introduction (Chapter 1), Overview: brand management 1985–2015 (Chapter 2) and Taxonomy of brand management 1985–2015 (Chapter 3).

Chapter 1: Introduction. The reader is introduced to the seven brand approaches, the literature analysis they stem from, and arguments supporting the importance of understanding these approaches separately before combining them in real-life brand management strategies.

Chapter 2: ‘Overview: brand management 1985–2006’ provides an overview of the chronological development brand management has undergone since it became a management priority in the mid-1980s and until 2006. The seven brand approaches are presented in a contextual and chronological setting. This overview facilitates the further reading of the seven brand approach chapters.

Chapter 3: ‘Taxonomy of brand management 1985–2015’ presents a precise overview of the chronological development of brand management. It is an overview as well as a checklist. The chapter will, through comparison, give a clear picture of the differences and similarities of the seven approaches.

Part II, ‘Seven brand approaches’, consists of seven chapters, one for each brand approach. Chapters 4–10 follow the structure presented below:

• There is a short introduction, followed by the assumptions of the approach.
• The theoretical building blocks of the approach are presented. This presentation is divided into supporting themes and core theme. Supporting themes clarify the concepts that brand management ‘borrows’ from other disciplines, making up the core theme. The core theme clarifies the theoretical building blocks in a brand management context.

Figure 1.2 A reader’s guide

• Methods and data are reviewed. The approaches stem from different scientific traditions, which are all associated with specific methods and perceptions of validity. Understanding the methods associated with each approach enables the reader to request the best data possible.
• The managerial implications associated with the assumptions, theories, methods and data of each approach will round off the approach chapters. The assumed role of the marketer is explained as well as the managerial ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’.
• Each chapter is rounded off with a short overview of the academic evolution of the approach.
• Each chapter also features a text box overview focusing on present scope and future directions of the approach by one or two of its academic ‘founding fathers’.
• You will find online supplementary material for each chapter on the book’s accompanying website; for example, student questions, cases, supplementary reading.

Part III, ‘Other perspectives’, consists of two chapters: Chapter 11: ‘Other categorizations of brand management’ and Chapter 12: ‘Keywords in brand management’.

Chapter 11: ‘Other categorizations of brand management’, provides a comparison between the proposed taxonomy of this textbook and other brand categorizations.

Chapter 12: ‘Keywords in brand management’. The reader is provided with an introduction to key elements in brand management and brand management strategy. Being familiar with these elements is essential when reading the seven approach chapters, since each approach implies a distinct take on these elements. Besides the basic vocabulary of brand management, ideas from the approach chapters, which are important although not crucial to the understanding of the approach, are explained.

References and Further Reading

Aaker, D. A., and Joachimsthaler, E. (2002), Brand Leadership, Sydney: Free Press Business.

Berthon, P., Nairn, A. and Money, A. (2003), ‘Through the paradigm funnel: Conceptual tool for literature analysis’, Marketing Educa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of boxes
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• PART I Setting the scene
• PART II Seven brand approaches
• PART III Other perspectives
• Author index
• Subject index