Abstract
The study views a corporate brand as more than just an outward
manifestation of an organisation (its name, logo and visual
presentation), or as an organising proposition that helps to shape an
organisation’s value and culture and guide the organisation’s
processes that generate and support value creation (Bickerton,
2001:43).
Corporate brands are adored by stakeholders and organisations alike
the world over because they provide enormous value to their
organisations by differentiating their organisations from competitors,
bestowing added value on products and services and contributing to
a firm’s margins.
According to Balmer (1995:30) the Catholic Church and ancient
universities are regarded as representing “the apotheosis of
corporate brand management, because, the two institutions have
been astute in knowing what, how and when to change whilst
preserving their core identity”. The study focused on these
“apotheoses” to use as benchmarks for interrogating the approaches
to corporate brand management in South Africa.
In so doing, the study examines the nature, characteristics,
importance and management practices of corporate brands in the
South African market by confirming the meaning of corporate brands,
the meaning of corporate brand management and the benefits
provided by the adoption of a corporate brand strategy. The study
also focused on the relationship between corporate brands and
product brands; it identified stakeholder saliency and the process of
corporate brand management.
There were two reasons for undertaking this study. The first was to
add to the body of empirical research in the area of corporate brand
management, as empirical studies are few and far in between in thi s
area, and the second to examine how organisations in South Africa
manage their corporate brands. The study therefore involved a twostage
process; the first phase was a detailed review of the literature
on corporate brands to establish the current body of knowledge on
corporate brand management. The second phase consisted of
primary research, used to test the output of the literature review.
A total of 41 online questionnaires dealing with the subject matter
were completed by individuals responsible for the management of
corporate brands in various organisations. The study’s findings
cannot be generalised to the population of interest, owing to the size
of the sample. Nevertheless, the findings confirmed that corporate
brand management consists of a parallel process that requires
management of a corporate brand internally while ensuring that it is
relevant and meets stakeholders’ expectations, thus creating a
positive reputation.
Some of the findings contradicted the existing literature, for
instance:
• Although more respondents confirmed that a corporate brand
must consist of a name and logo, the related mean score was
relatively low (see Chapter 5 section C).
• Secondly, contrary to what the literature suggests, based on
the responses a corporate brand is not seen as an explicit
formal written agreement between an organisation and its key
stakeholders (see Chapter 5 section B).
• Furthermore, corporate brands were not seen to offer reduced
advertising and marketing costs (see Chapter 5 section B).
• There was also a definite response to the responsibi l i t y of a
chief executive officer (CEO) in terms of managing a corporate
brand. The respondents made it clear that the responsibility of
managing a corporate brand does not lie with CEO only
(Chapter 5 section C).
Mr. H.B. Kruger