Collective Brand Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Regional Growth: The Role of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

Abstract

This research aims to interconnect entrepreneurship theories with brand theories. The study analyzes how this can be accomplished in the context of smaller agricultural firms, considering how intellectual property rights can be used strategically in entrepreneurial activities, ultimately creating regional growth. A firm has several options to protect its brands. Producers of similar products within a limited geographical area can protect the shared designated origin. Use of a collective brand, such as Champagne and Roquefort in France or Parmeggiano Reggiano in Italy, has been studied as a strategy to protect products from a given region. In the case analyzed here, a particular Austrian collective brand – Gailtaler Almkäse – was safeguarded within a protected designation of origin (PDO), providing producers a safe haven from which to enhance their collective brand in competitive markets. The PDO registration of the brand represents a central entrepreneurial strategy for manufacturers. To the region where the brands originate, the PDO has become a specific aspect of entrepreneurship that leads regional development.