CHAPTER 15
Brand building
LESLIE de CHERNATONY
Introduction
Brands are clusters of functional and emotional
values which promise stakeholders unique
experiences. The functional values are less
sustainable than the emotional values. Product
or service functionality is now a taken for
granted expectation amongst stakeholders.
Emotional values represent a source of sustain-
able competitive advantage. Many organiza-
tions recognize that good communications
raises stakeholders’ expectations about brand
promises, yet it is staff who embody the brand.
A well co-ordinated, committed group of
employees enables an organization to deliver a
welcomed difference based on what the cus-
tomer receives (functional values) and how
they receive it (emotional values).
Brands are intangible assets and, because
of their ethereal nature, interpretations of a
firm’s brand can vary between members of the
management team. Without surfacing the
diverse interpretations of a firm’s brand
amongst managers, it is likely that different
parts of the organization will be ‘pulling in
different directions’, due to diverse views about
the firm’s brand. This chapter therefore opens
with a review of the different meanings of the
brand concept.
Historically, brand management solely
focused on customers, based on the assumption
that efficient production processes could be
managed to guarantee the brand’s functional
capability. Brand managers were responsible
for planning and co-ordinating branding activ-
ity. In today’s competitive environment, where
the services sector is far more dominant, there
is a realization that attention needs to focus on
customers and staff. Advertising performs a
useful role promoting a brand promise and
enrobing a product or service with emotional
values, but it is staff who deliver the promise.
Without sufficient understanding and commit-
ment, staff may not be delivering the promised
benefits. To therefore ensure a co-ordinated,
pan-company approach to delivering the
brand, there has been a move towards teams of
senior managers planning and co-ordinating
brand building activity. As a consequence of
these issues, this chapter will also look at the
importance of internal branding and culture. It
will explain a strategic brand building proce-
dure that facilitates a more integrated, pan-
company approach which should engender a
greater likelihood of brand coherence.
The chapter opens by reviewing the spec-
trum of brand interpretations. A sequential,
iterative process for building and sustaining
brands is overviewed. Each block of this process