Corporate marketing management and corporate‐identity building

Abstract

Purpose

Corporate identity has become one of the major topics in the field of corporate marketing studies, but the relationship between corporate marketing management and corporate‐identity building seems still stuck at the stage of operational rather than strategic considerations. Corporate identity is understood largely in terms of instrumentality for enhancing competitive advantage, and corporate marketing is mostly discussed as only an execution part in representing corporate identity to the stakeholders. To address this issue, the purpose of this paper is to propose a model which explicates the strategic roles the corporate marketing manager plays in building effective corporate identity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores strategic management of the corporate‐identity construction process and marketing communication management of corporate‐identity representation from the perspectives of sociology, organisational psychology and corporate marketing communication, primarily based on the narrative paradigm. Detailed theoretical exploration, coupled with several conceptual propositions as well as analyses of exemplary cases, provides academic and practical implications for corporate marketing researchers and managers.

Findings

The proposed model conceptualises that the corporate marketing manager assumes three strategic roles for building effective corporate identity: narrative coordinator to manage the narrative construction process, narrative‐network weaver to manage the narrative network, and narrative co‐author to manage the external communication programmes. These roles define the strategic relationship between corporate marketing management and corporate‐identity building.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to furthering the understanding of how to use the narrative paradigm for effective corporate‐identity building, which may help enhancement of business performance.

Citation

Tsai, S. (2008), "Corporate marketing management and corporate‐identity building", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 621-633. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500810902866