Brand Identity Construction Research Articles

From Linguistic Landscape to Semiotic Assemblages in a Local Market

Abstract Landscape can be seen as a set of signs, landscape is foreground rather than background, and signs are semiotic items rather than just forms of public signage (Pennycook 2021), therefore the present research moves away from the traditional, text-centred approach of landscape analysis in order to examine not only the linguistic signs but the non-linguistic elements as artefacts, which take place in the brand identity construction of a local small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). The article argues that these elements as assembling artefacts become parts of semiotic assemblages inhabiting the space and represent a key feature of brand identity construction with a focus on the commodification of languages, cultures, and identities. The data consist of observation notes, photographs, and interviews obtained from an ethnographic fieldwork in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. The analysis presents a case study based on the concept of semiotic assemblages. The assemblage of linguistic and other resources, such as the smell of smoked meat products, the tune of Szekler folk songs, together with assembling artefacts such as sausages and other Szekler products attract customers to participate in meaning making. The effects generated by an assemblage have the ability to make something happen, in our case attract customers to SMEs.

Construction of Brand Identity through Language in the Video Advertisements of Pakistani Telecom Companies

This research explored the construction of brand identity in the video advertisements of Pakistani telecom companies. Brand identity is constructed mainly by showing competitor’s submissive and weaker image rather than by using creative and unique advertising techniques. Data for this research was collected from five advertisements of five telecom companies. Positioning theory was applied on these advertisements. The data showed that all cellular companies of Pakistan were using positioning techniques to make their advertisements and construct the language of their ads to communicate with the society at large. The cellular companies have engaged in such kind of social communication due to the competition in the market of cellular services. This type of positioning in the language of advertisements is helpful in the conflicting and competitive business environment and explicitly or implicitly promotes competition. The research found that the cellular companies are using second order acknowledgement status and putting competitors in the third order status in their advertisements. The study found that Ufone is the company using this language technique mostly in its advertisements.

Exploring professional human brand identity through cultural and social capital: a typology of film director identities

ABSTRACT Our research focuses on film director human brands. It addresses the issue of human brand identity construction through the social valuation of identity attributes linked to cultural capital. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social capital, we examine the identity attributes on which human brand identities are built through the acquisition of legitimacy. We conduct a qualitative study combining three context levels of analysis (external, internal and individual). Our results reveal the existence of four human brand identity types (i.e. chameleon conformist, niche archetypecast, mass archetypecast, cultural influencer), thus enriching and extending previous research. Each identity type is characterised by a set of culturally valued identity attributes, associated with legitimacies – specific, bourgeois, popular and institutional – bestowed by human brand constituencies.

Methodological Framework for the Analysis of Brand Identity Construction

Methodological Framework for the Analysis of Brand Identity Construction

Crafting Extraordinary Stories: Decoding Luxury Brand Communications

Advertising is central to creating brand meaning by endowing brands with symbolic values and embedding them within their broader sociocultural context. This study analyzes how the symbolic meaning of luxury brands is constructed in print advertisements. In particular, the study shows how brand communications of luxury brands systematically differ from those of premium and mass-market brands. Through a comparative analysis of thematic and formal characteristics of 208 print advertising campaigns consisting of about 1,700 individual ads from the primary advertising campaigns of four luxury brands, four premium brands, and four mass-market brands, this study identifies three distinguishing factors of luxury brand communication: enrichment, distancing, and abstraction. First, luxury brand advertising enriches the communication content by using more complex campaign templates that make more frequent use of symbolism, rhetorical structures, and storytelling. Second, luxury brand advertising systematically uses distancing techniques, such as temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical distancing. Third, luxury brand ads use higher-level discourses that allow for different interpretations of brand advertisements. Therefore, this study provides insights into the construction of brand identity in the luxury field, as well as the broader sociocultural construction of luxury and the evolution of its core symbolic constituencies.

Non-effectual, non-customer effectual, or customer-effectual: A conceptual exploration of the applicability of the effectuation logic in startup brand identity construction

Primarily evolving from the marketing and entrepreneurship literature, entrepreneurial marketing has enjoyed many milestones in its acceptance as an area of marketing. Entrepreneurial marketing is now advancing towards theory construction. Since startup brand identity construction is unique, it merits entrepreneurial marketing researchers' attention. Accordingly, this study conceptually explores the applicability of the effectuation logic to startups' brand identity construction. Here, we argue that whether the effectuation logic applies to startups' brand identity construction depends on the pre-existence of a market or a brand community.

Stakeholder value-based place brand building

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the place brand building process based on multi-stakeholder perceived value. It contributes to an understanding of how place brands are developed, providing diverse benefits, and proposes a conceptual framework for place brand building and value measurement scales.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the place brand Sud de France. Qualitative data from stakeholder interviews is used to investigate the main place brand value dimensions. A survey of consumers from the Languedoc-Roussillon region is conducted to measure consumer place brand values. Quantitative data is analyzed using structural equation modelling.FindingsResults indicate that place brand value is a multiple-perspective and multidimensional construct that includes new measurement scales related to dimensions such as quality of life, a common local identity and local development. Brand identity is not only constructed on place identity, but should also incorporate stakeholder values and provide value to consumers.Practical implicationsFor place brand managers, this study provides a methodology that helps identify the main place image and stakeholders values to be integrated into place brand identity construction. The place brand value measurement scales can be used to ensure a permanent match between brand identity and consumption trends.Originality/valueLiterature dealing with place equity has focused mostly on country-of-origin or destination image effects from a non-local consumer or tourist perspective. The originality of this study lies in analyzing the perceived benefits of a regional brand by its local stakeholders, leading to a new brand building framework and value measurement scales.

Conceptualizing the Roles of Founder Personality Traits in Startups' Construction of Brand Identity

ABSTRACTFounder personality traits (FPT's in short) play unique roles in a start-up organization's brand identity construction (BIC in short) and hence merit more research attention (Miller 2015). Here, startup FPT's are theorized to play three different roles that give rise to three different startup brand identities because of start-ups' BIC.The first role played by startup FPT's is an indirect one that gives rise to a startup brand identity called a sticky identity. In order to build the sticky identity, we propose that startups focus on innovative product features regardless of FPT. The second role played by startup FPT's is a long-term-oriented direct one that gives rise to a startup identity called a static identity. In order to build the static identity we propose that startups with joiner-cultured FPT's focus on long-term gains such as loyalty. The third role played by startup FPT's is a short-term-oriented direct one that gives rise to a startup identity called a fluid identity. In order to build the fluid identity we propose that startups with non-joiner cultured FPT's focus on short-term gains such as transient, sporadic, but profitable transactions.

From brand identity to polysemous brands: Commentary on “Performing identities: Processes of brand and stakeholder identity co-construction”

The commentary endorses the view of brands as complex social relations that develop among a multitude of enacted stakeholder identities and discusses in what ways this perspective may lead to a novel paradigm of brand building – one that highlights the dynamic and fluid character of brand identity. The author underlines the importance of better understanding the many ways in which (internal and external) stakeholders can contribute to brand identity construction. Suggesting how this novel brand building paradigm can contribute to resolving confusions stemming from current misunderstandings within the branding literature, the commentary sees the opening of a new avenue of fascinating research questions that can lead to a better understanding of stakeholders' roles in the construction of polysemous brands identities.

The Face of the Brand: How Art Directors Understand Visual Brand Identity

This study interviewed 15 art directors to explore their understanding of visual brand identity. Art directors define visual brand identity as the holistic look and feel of a brand, manifest as consistency among the brand, its strategy, and all its individual visual elements, ongoing over time. Art directors search for “ownable” visual elements within the competitive space and rely on examples of previous brand advertising to start ideation. We identified four possible routes that visual brand identity construction can take, corresponding to whether existing visual brand identity is strong or weak, and whether many or few client mandatories are imposed. The interviews also indicated that conflicts with clients may arise because elements that contribute to a brand's visual identity may be selected, in part, based on art directors’ personal taste preferences and felt emotion. Implications for managing visual branding and for future research on brand identity are discussed.

User-Generated Brands and Social Media: Couchsurfing and Airbnb

The aim of this paper is to examine the brand identity construction of user-generated brands (UGBs), using discursive and visual analysis of UGBs’ social media material in an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of this relatively new branding phenomenon. We specifically focused on two such brands: Airbnb and Couchsurfing. Our main findings reveal the emerged themes: the access to the private sphere, the human dimension and meaningful inter-personal discourses, and authenticity. The value of our research lies in identifying the specificities of the identity construction and visual representation of UGBs. Lastly, we offer practical suggestions and ideas for future research.

Compreendendo os valores das marcas: aplicação da lista de valores em diferentes indústrias

O que faz uma marca ser desejada? Várias são as evidências de que os consumidores escolhem marcas que tenham valores congruentes com os seus. Baseado nesta perspectiva, este trabalho objetiva verificar e avaliar os valores percebidos nas marcas, tomando como referência o conceito de personalidade de marca. Para isto, foi utilizada a lista de valores (LOV) na avaliação de marcas atuantes em três diferentes indústrias (moda, aviação civil e supermercados). Uma amostra de 296 respondentes foi consultada. Os dados indicaram uma tendência na percepção dos valores das marcas por indústria, sendo que um mesmo valor foi o mais importante para as marcas de cada um deles. Além disto, foram descobertas novas dimensões de agrupamento dos valores apresentados na LOV. Pode-se concluir que os valores das marcas investigadas têm como base características de personalidade orientadas para os sistemas mentais relativos ao id e ao superego. Implicações gerenciais sobre a construção de identidades de marcas são discutidas no final do artigo.

TELE‐BRANDING IN TVIII

In the era of TVIII, characterised by deregulation, multimedia conglomeration, expansion and increased competition, branding has emerged as a central industrial practice. Focusing on the case of HBO, a particularly successful brand in TVIII, this paper argues that branding can be understood not simply as a feature of television networks, but also as a characteristic of television programmes. It begins by examining how the network as brand is constructed and conveyed to the consumer through the use of logos, slogans and programmes. The role of programmes in the construction of brand identity is then complicated by examining the sale of programmes abroad, where programmes can be seen to contribute to the brand identity of more than one network. The paper then goes on to examine programme merchandising, an increasingly central strategy in TVIII. Through an analysis of different merchandising strategies the paper argues that programmes have come to act as brands in their own right, and demonstrates that the academic study of branding not only reveals the development of new industrial practices, but also offers a way of understanding the television programme and its consumption by viewers in a period when the texts of television are increasingly extended across a range of media platforms.

The Supermalt identity: how Brixton‐based Afro‐Caribbean consumers construct a Danish malt beer brand as one of their own

PurposeThe objective of this article is to conduct a case study of the Supermalt brand of malt beer, which has become the preferred beverage of Afro‐Caribbean consumers in Brixton on a very limited marketing budget.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses the concepts of personal identity and brand identity in a qualitative study to explore how Brixton‐based Afro‐Caribbean consumers construct their self‐identities and the brand identity of Supermalt. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 14 Afro‐Caribbean consumers. Each interview was divided into three parts. The first part focused on consumers' self‐identities. The second part explored the role of food and beverage products in the construction of self‐identities. The final part focused on the construction of brand identity for Supermalt.FindingsThe article provides information on the self‐identities constructed by Afro‐Caribbean informants. The food and beverage consumption of informants reflects their mixed cultural identity. The brand identity Supermalt appears to be malleable, with ample room for consumer co‐construction. Perceptions of brand identity differ markedly among informants, who are all able to construct Supermalt as one of their own.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are based solely on semi‐structured interviews with a small sample of Afro‐Caribbean consumers. The findings are therefore not generalizable.Practical implicationsThe Supermalt brand represents an interesting case for companies aiming to develop strong brands with a limited marketing budget. Based on the Supermalt case, suggestions are made regarding branding in relation to ethnic minorities.Originality/valueThis article provides a study of a brand that has become strong within a narrowly defined group of consumers.