Branding & Design
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – 2022/2023 – February/March 2023
Lecture 1 – What is corporate
branding?
What is a brand
A brand is “a name, term, symbol or design, or combination of these, which is intended to identify goods or
services of one seller, or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”
Talking about symbols
- A symbol is any object, word or action that stands for something else.
- There is a physical way in which brands are symbols: the logos, names, and even color choices of a
brand make it recognizable and distinctive
- But there is more: brands engage in many symbols at the same time, which are interpreted by
consumers and which, ultimately, convey meaning.
The meaning of meaning
When a brand works, each of its elements (name, logo, even music associated with it) does not only
remind us of an organization, but also:
- Reminds us about previous encounters with the organization
- Says something about the company values and leadership
- Communicates something about the products
Imagine a consumer buying a t-shirt from the following brands.
Do you visualize the same person?
Brands & identity
Stakeholders* include corporate brands within their identities. This can mean, for example:
- Driving an expensive car to (subconsciously?) communicate status
- Looking for a parttime job at Marqt rather than Albert Heijn because more sustainable
- Or...trying to engage with brands as little as possible (is still an attribution of meaning, and a
rejection of whatever that meaning stands for).
*Stakeholder – everyone affected by the activities of an organization (e.g. consumers, governments, local
communities) or who affects the activities of an organization (e.g. managers, employees, suppliers,
regulators etc).
Product vs corporate brand
Products and corporate brands can both convey emotions, ideas and memories and can be associated with
substantial value. They are, however very different.
1
,Product brand
- Can have a completely different identity than the organization behind it (Pringles was owned by
Procter & Gamble until they sold to Kellogg’s in 2012)
- It only really concerns one product, or a small group of products
- It targets consumers only
- It’s only meant to survive as long as the product survives
Corporate brand
- If endorsed (such as HEMA) it adds to all the products of an organization, no matter what kind.
- It originates from the company’s heritage, its values and beliefs, and what members of the
organization have in common
- It targets all stakeholders, including employees, managers, suppliers and even politicians
- It’s meant to be long lasting
corporate branding is hard to change (successfully)
VCI alignment model
What British Airways did wrong
Culture/vision gap: management
- Did not involve employees in the decision making behind the airplane redesign
- Planned an expensive airplane re-design as well as a plan to cut costs (likely, resizing personnel)
Vision/image gap: management
- Ignored how UK consumers would react to the airplane redesign
- Discounted the appreciation consumers from the rest of the world had about the Britishness of BA
before
measuring the value of brands
Intangible assets
Economists (hi!) measure the value of organization based on their assets (NL: activa), that is, the capital
that they have generated. Assets typically divide themselves in two categories:
2
, 1. Tangible assets: buildings, cash, investments, equipment etc
2. Intangible asset: elements of value that do not exist physically,
such as patents and indeed brand equity
Brand Equity
Brand equity represents the value of a brand in the market place. It is defined by five elements:
Symbolic value
Consumers (but more broadly stakeholders) of a certain organization attribute a value to its brand because
it defines a degree of belonging based on the creation of a common ground of understanding.
Based on the values conveyed by the brand, stakeholders
- buy branded products
- invest in the company stock
- work for the company behind the brand
- promote the brand, as consumers
- Invest trust in the brand
this symbolic value of a brand translates into financial value.
3
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – 2022/2023 – February/March 2023
Lecture 1 – What is corporate
branding?
What is a brand
A brand is “a name, term, symbol or design, or combination of these, which is intended to identify goods or
services of one seller, or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”
Talking about symbols
- A symbol is any object, word or action that stands for something else.
- There is a physical way in which brands are symbols: the logos, names, and even color choices of a
brand make it recognizable and distinctive
- But there is more: brands engage in many symbols at the same time, which are interpreted by
consumers and which, ultimately, convey meaning.
The meaning of meaning
When a brand works, each of its elements (name, logo, even music associated with it) does not only
remind us of an organization, but also:
- Reminds us about previous encounters with the organization
- Says something about the company values and leadership
- Communicates something about the products
Imagine a consumer buying a t-shirt from the following brands.
Do you visualize the same person?
Brands & identity
Stakeholders* include corporate brands within their identities. This can mean, for example:
- Driving an expensive car to (subconsciously?) communicate status
- Looking for a parttime job at Marqt rather than Albert Heijn because more sustainable
- Or...trying to engage with brands as little as possible (is still an attribution of meaning, and a
rejection of whatever that meaning stands for).
*Stakeholder – everyone affected by the activities of an organization (e.g. consumers, governments, local
communities) or who affects the activities of an organization (e.g. managers, employees, suppliers,
regulators etc).
Product vs corporate brand
Products and corporate brands can both convey emotions, ideas and memories and can be associated with
substantial value. They are, however very different.
1
,Product brand
- Can have a completely different identity than the organization behind it (Pringles was owned by
Procter & Gamble until they sold to Kellogg’s in 2012)
- It only really concerns one product, or a small group of products
- It targets consumers only
- It’s only meant to survive as long as the product survives
Corporate brand
- If endorsed (such as HEMA) it adds to all the products of an organization, no matter what kind.
- It originates from the company’s heritage, its values and beliefs, and what members of the
organization have in common
- It targets all stakeholders, including employees, managers, suppliers and even politicians
- It’s meant to be long lasting
corporate branding is hard to change (successfully)
VCI alignment model
What British Airways did wrong
Culture/vision gap: management
- Did not involve employees in the decision making behind the airplane redesign
- Planned an expensive airplane re-design as well as a plan to cut costs (likely, resizing personnel)
Vision/image gap: management
- Ignored how UK consumers would react to the airplane redesign
- Discounted the appreciation consumers from the rest of the world had about the Britishness of BA
before
measuring the value of brands
Intangible assets
Economists (hi!) measure the value of organization based on their assets (NL: activa), that is, the capital
that they have generated. Assets typically divide themselves in two categories:
2
, 1. Tangible assets: buildings, cash, investments, equipment etc
2. Intangible asset: elements of value that do not exist physically,
such as patents and indeed brand equity
Brand Equity
Brand equity represents the value of a brand in the market place. It is defined by five elements:
Symbolic value
Consumers (but more broadly stakeholders) of a certain organization attribute a value to its brand because
it defines a degree of belonging based on the creation of a common ground of understanding.
Based on the values conveyed by the brand, stakeholders
- buy branded products
- invest in the company stock
- work for the company behind the brand
- promote the brand, as consumers
- Invest trust in the brand
this symbolic value of a brand translates into financial value.
3
