The brand core and its management over time
| Published date | 21 March 2016 |
| Pages | 26-42 |
| Date | 21 March 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2015-0875 |
| Author | Mats Urde |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
The brand core and its management over time
Mats Urde
Lund University School of Economics and Management, Lund, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand core and its management over time. The aim is to develop a framework for
managing the core of a brand for continuity and change.
Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal case study of the Volvo brand’s core and its management serves as the empirical basis for a
qualitative analysis of the “brand core” using rhetorical perspectives.
Findings – The management of the brand core for both continuity and change is an unsolved paradox in strategic brand management literature
and practice. Existing conceptualisations offer little or no guidance regarding managing a brand’s core over time. The Volvo brand has evolved by
adding and shifting mindsets, which has kept its core surprisingly stable.
Research limitations/implications – The new framework mitigates a paradox and, by defining the brand core as a point of reference, allows for
brand management to address both continuity and change and consider a range of stakeholders while doing so. The integration of rhetoric into the
framework makes it applicable to product, service and corporate brands, or indeed anything that can be considered a “brand”. The brand core is
defined as “an entity of core values and a promise”.
Practical implications – By shifting perspectives on a brand’s core over time, change and development are stimulated while preserving its inner
values and promise.
Originality/value – The brand core framework integrating rhetoric theory was supported by a longitudinal case study to resolve a strategic brand
management paradox.
Keywords Brand identification, Market orientation, Brand orientation, Brand meaning, Brand core, Brand essence, Brand rhetoric
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to explore the brand core and
its management over time. In principle, all established
brands have an inner core, even though it may vary in terms
of content, depth and clarity. Essentially, the core of a
brand is what it can be reduced to without losing its
fundamental meaning or its utility as a point of reference in
long-term management. The aim of this study is – through
employment of a strategic brand management perspective –
to develop a framework that enables continuous
management, preserving the brand core while stimulating
progress and development by dynamically managing
change. The framework is therefore intended to mitigate
the paradox of managing for both continuity and change
over time (Collins and Porras, 1998;De Wit and Meyer,
2010;Prahalad and Hamel, 1989).
The research is based on a 10-year longitudinal study of
Volvo’s management of its brand covering the period from
1927 to 2015. By observing and taking part in the discussions
regarding the Volvo brand’s core values – safety, quality and
environmental care – I became aware of their importance to
the organisation and its management. Particularly intriguing
was the continuity with which the brand seemed to have been
managed. Volvo’s three core values have remained unchanged
for decades, as has the positioning of the brand in relation to
safety. A Volvo manager responded to my question of whether
“safety” is to be classified as a functional, emotional or
self-expressive benefit as follows: “We view our core values
from different viewpoints and we do not limit them to be this
or that, rather all at the same time. They all say Volvo for life”
(interview, December 2005). This statement surprised me and
raised fundamental theoretical questions about “the brand
core and its management”.
Volvo is a unique case with which to investigate the inner
elements of a brand and how it is managed over time. First,
the organisation has long-standing core values. Second, Volvo
is a well-known brand with a recognised international brand
position. The company’s safety position is in fact an oft-cited
illustration in the strategic brand management literature
(Kapferer, 2012;Aaker, 1996;de Chernatony, 2006). Third,
Volvo’s transition from a product brand to a corporate brand
provided a rare opportunity to study the implications for its
brand core.
The notion of the brand core is equally relevant for new
brands such as Airbnb, Spotify and Uber, as for established
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
25/1 (2016) 26–42
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-05-2015-0875]
The author appreciates the cooperation of representatives of the Volvo
Group and Volvo Cars. The feedback from colleagues attending the
Global Brand Management Conference (Merrilees, 2015) is also much
appreciated. In addition, Stephen A. Greyser (Harvard Business School),
Anders Sigrell (Lund University), Torbjörn Jönsson (Stockholm School of
Economics) and Richard Gryd-Jones (Copenhagen Business School)
provided helpful comments. Finally, the author values the insightful
comments of the two anonymous reviewers.
26
ones like British Airways, Nestlé and Harley-Davidson. For
the distinct category of “heritage brands” (The Nobel Prize,
Louis Vuitton, SC Johnson and successful constitutional
monarchies), safeguarding the brand’s core while embracing
change in society and markets is essential (Balmer et al.,
2006). Arguably, the notion of the brand core is important for
all types of brands – product, service and corporate
(organisational) brands.
Three key questions related to the brand core sum up the
formidable challenges facing strategic management and
theory:
Q1. How to define what the core of the brand is, and what
it is not?
Q2. How to use the brand core as a point of reference in all
branding efforts?
Q3. How to stay true to the brand’s core while still adapting
to change?
In principle, without a defined core, strategic brand
management will lack a general course to follow (de
Chernatony, 2009). The reality is that most brand managers
struggle to understand what their brands essentially represent
(Balmer and Greyser, 2002). The problem is not usually the
lack of potentially significant key elements, but rather the issue
of which of those elements are most central (Lencioni, 2002).
Defining and implementing elements that are not core, or
those that deviate from the core when formulating a brand
strategy, can potentially derail a brand-building process and
endanger brand assets (Kapferer, 2012). Not knowing what
constitutes the brand core engenders risk – that change might
result in the brand losing its identity and market position.
Even with a carefully defined core, the challenge remains of
how to ensure its evolution and adaptation to change over
time (Gryd-Jones et al., 2013a,2013b).
The “brand essence” concept is the most commonly
encountered in the literature and among marketing
practitioners relating to the brand core notion. This
concept was primarily developed for product brands by Ted
Bates advertising agency in the 1970s and is often applied in
the management of fast-moving consumer goods brands.
Other related terms are “brand concept” (Park et al. 1986);
“brand mantra” (Keller, 1999); “brand vision” (de
Chernatony, 2006); the “promise” (Knapp, 2008);
“covenant” (Balmer, 2010); and the brand’s “core
ideology” (Collins and Porras, 1998). For decades, exactly
what constitutes the core of a brand and how it can be
defined and managed have intrigued academics from a
range of disciplines (Grant, 2010;Gardner and Levy, 1955;
Peirce, 1934). Traditionally, however, the focus of strategic
brand management research has been on product branding,
with corporate branding receiving less attention (Balmer,
2010). Furthermore, the management of brand image –
rather than brand identity – has been in focus. Customer
benefits are considered key in defining a brand’s core,
rather than brand values (Park et al., 1986). Theory lacks an
agreed-upon brand core framework applicable to different
types of brands for continuous and dynamic management.
The rhetorical theory of communication serves as a
theoretical foundation for the conceptual framework of this
paper. In rhetoric, “essence” comprises the attribute or set of
attributes that fundamentally define an entity (Crowley and
Hawhee, 2004). I selected this theoretical approach for the
exploration to mitigate the inherent tension between
managing for continuity and managing change. More
specifically, this paper focuses on the analytical capacity of the
rhetorical theory (not on rhetoric as related to “eloquence” or
“persuasion”) to explore the nature of the brand core and its
management over time. The rhetoric perspectives (logos,
ethos and pathos) are integrated in the brand core framework
introduced in this paper, without having a single type of
brand, target group or particular approach in mind. Rhetoric
is a “science of sciences”, which makes it part of many existing
theories, frameworks and concepts (McCloskey, 1998,2000;
Iglesias and Bonet, 2012;Sigrell, 2008). However, to my
knowledge, this is the first application of rhetoric theory in the
specific exploration of the brand core.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. I
start by reviewing the literature, with its definitions and
approaches to the concept of the brand core within the
fields of marketing, advertising, brand management and
general management. This reveals a gap in the literature
regarding managing for both continuity and change.
Second, criteria for a new framework are listed based on the
identified theoretical gap. Third, rhetoric is presented as a
theoretical foundation, focusing on its three perspectives:
logos, ethos and pathos. Then, the brand core framework is
introduced. Fourth, the methodology section explains the
analysis of the Volvo case using the new framework, and its
integration with two established product brand and
corporate brand frameworks. Having discussed and
analysed the case, the paper concludes with implications for
theory and practice, its limitations and suggestions for
further research.
2. Literature review
A common theme in the reviewed literature is the notion of a
“brand core” and “an extended brand core” (Figure 1).
Definitions and frameworks related to the notion of the brand
core follow a similar logic, in which a fuller image or identity
encompasses a number of brand elements and associations,
which are distilled into a “brand core”.
Figure 1 The core of a brand
Extended brand core
Brand core
Brand core and its management
Mats Urde
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 25 · Number1·2016·26–42
27
To continue reading
Request your trial