Managing across a corporate and product brand portfolio: evidence from a large South African service organization
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1182 |
| Pages | 18-28 |
| Date | 12 February 2018 |
| Published date | 12 February 2018 |
| Author | Louise Sevel,Russell Abratt,Nicola Kleyn |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Managing across a corporate and product
brand portfolio: evidence from a large
South African service organization
Louise Sevel
Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Russell Abratt
Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA and Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, South Africa, and
Nicola Kleyn
University of Pretoria, Sandton, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to understand how a large service organisation with a brand portf olio manages its corporate brand relative
to its portfolio of product brands.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors use an interpretivist research paradigm to investigate four research questions concerning the
relative roles of corporate and product brands, the role of the CEO, the structures and capabilities that support the development of brand equity
(including the role of the marketing function) and the role of employees in building corporate brand equity. A case study design was used, and the
Tsogo Sun, one of the largest hotel and casino organisations in Africa, was the focus of the investigation.
Findings –The findings highlight the important role of both the CEO and the marketing department in optimising brand equity and managing
across corporate and product brands. Employees were found to play a critical role and the need to clarify their relative roles as both recipients and
expressors of brand identity across corporate and product brands emerged as an important theme.
Originality/value –Although the corporate brand has received much attention in recent years, much of literature remains conceptual. In addition to
responding to calls for empirical research, the paper also contributes to deepening understanding about how to manage a corporate brand
alongside a number of product brands.
Keywords Brand portfolio management, Corporate branding, Services branding
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There is a growing body of evidence linking brands with both
the building of competitive advantage and increasingthe firm’s
value (Balmer and Gray, 2003;Keller and Lehmann, 2006;
Rao et al.,2004;Wiles et al.,2012).The resource-based view of
the firm recognises that bothproduct and corporate brands can
be seen as organisational resources that are valuable, rare,
inimitable and non-substitutable (Capron and Hulland, 1999;
Grant, 1995). It is therefore important for firms to develop
capabilities that enable them to acquire, build and develop
brands that build a firm’s competitive advantage and increase
its value to stakeholders. Building strong brands requires the
development of management processesthat are systematic and
structured (Merrileeset al.,2011).
An important part of any organisation’s brand management
strategy includes the identification and implementation of an
optimal corporate brand architecture (Urde, 2003).
Architectural choices range from the adoption of a single
“branded house”to the managementof a portfolio of brands –
a“house of brands”approachwhich incorporates the corporate
brand and any number of product or even ingredient brands
(Aaker, 2004b;Keller and Lehmann, 2006;Muzellec and
Lambkin, 2009).
In addition to the extensive literature that adopts a product
branding perspective, research on corporate brands has
burgeoned in the past 20 years. Balmer (1995) was the
first to discuss the strategic importance of corporate
brand management. Also, in the late 1990s, Ind (1997)
popularised corporate branding with a book in 1997. In 1998,
he outlined the benefits of becoming a powerful corporate
brand and defined the barriers that undermine effective
communications (Ind, 1998). In the early 2000s, there was a
plethora of work on corporate branding. Harris and de
Chernatony (2001) explored the implications of corporate
branding for the management of internal brand resources.
Hatch and Schultz (2001) stated that the three essential
elements of a corporate brand strategy must be aligned:vision,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
27/1 (2018) 18–28
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1182]
18
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