11 Taxonomy of brand
management 1985–2006
After having guided you through the seven brand approaches, in this chapter we
provide an overview of the different perspectives on key subjects in brand
management reflected in the seven approaches to brand management. The taxonomy
(figure 11.1) sums up the key learning points from the seven approach chapters. The
background of this book and taxonomy is a systematic analysis of 300+ brand
management research articles spanning the period of 1985–2006. The analysis has
been executed in accordance with the logic of the methodology The Dynamic
Paradigm Funnel(Bjerre, Heding and Knudtzen 2008). The Dynamic Paradigm
Funnelis based on theory about how science evolves: the philosophy of science
developed by Thomas Kuhn. The result of this extensive analysis – a new taxonomy
of brand management consisting of seven different approaches – is according to that
analysis what constitutes the academic discipline of brand management.
Other writers have however also proposed categorizations of different
approaches to brand management and this chapter will finish off with a look at
how some of these alternative categorizations of brand management can be
compared with the categorization and taxonomy proposed in this book.
Taxonomy of brand management 1985–2006
In figure 11.1, the most significant traits of each approach are presented side by
side. By going through the characteristics of each approach, a clear overview of
the seven brand approaches is gained. It is important to notice that each approach
Learning objectives
The purpose of this chapter is to:- Get introduced to the Kuhn-based taxonomy of brand management
1985 – 2006 - Get an overview of the seven brand approaches
- Compare the proposed categorization of this book with other catego-
rizations of brand management