Conceptual model of corporate storytelling for branding

Abstract

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to ascertain the relationship between corporate storytellingfor branding and internal stakeholders’ perceptions of the corporate brand. The paucity of existingknowledge found in reviewing a variety of literature sources relating to corporate brand storytellingspurred the authors into carry out the research. The link between themes and elements of corporatestories for branding and strategies for impression management indicates that these elementsrelate to audiences’ perceptions of the corporate brand. From the literature review, there is a linkbetween elements of corporate stories for branding (such as corporate personalities, corporateactivities, corporate values, and corporate associations) and internal stakeholders’ perceptionsand emotional attachment to a corporate brand. Corporate management needs to actively involveinternal stakeholders in developing corporate stories for branding as this is crucial in creatingpositive corporate brand perceptions. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by allowinglisted corporates to maximise the effectiveness of their corporate stories for branding in shapingthe internal stakeholders’ corporate brand perceptions. The paper suggests a conceptual modelfor depicting the relationship between corporate storytelling for branding and internal stakeholders’corporate brand perceptions.