A Comprehensive Analysis: Corporate Branding and Cultural Branding

This essay provides a detailed comparison of corporate and cultural branding strategies. It begins by defining corporate branding as a method of promoting a company's overall image, culture, and values, impacting various stakeholders and facilitating the acceptance of new products. Cultural branding, pioneered by Douglas Holt, is presented as a discipline that identifies cultural opportunities and builds brand strategies around them, emphasizing authenticity and a strong brand culture that resonates with consumers. The essay further outlines the principles of cultural branding, including recognizing societal disruptions, creating a sense of community, delivering exceptional customer experiences, offering high-quality products and services, and maintaining a consistent brand infrastructure. It highlights how cultural brands aim to change perceptions and foster brand loyalty by creating experiences and communities, contrasting this with corporate branding's broader, more general approach.

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Introduction
Branding is the process which helps in creating a unique name and image of the product, services or
company’s name in the mind-set of the consumers (Sivertzen, Nilsen & Olafsen 2013). This is
primarily done through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme in mind. The underlying
reasoning for branding is to establish a top of the mind recall for the company, product or its
services which then helps to attract and retain loyal customers as well as to establish a positive
image amongst the stakeholders (App, Merk &Büttgen, 2012).
It is a known fact that there are multiple branding strategies, akin to that there are 5 different types
of branding involved namely, Employer, Cause, Co-branding, Spirit, cultural and community branding
(Leekha & Sharma, 2014). All these types of branding are extremely relevant in the present era and
have their own benefits and utilities. For the purpose of this study however, the attention will be
focussed on corporate & cultural branding, their individual roles, purpose and differences in these
two types of branding.

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Corporate Branding
As the name suggests, corporate branding is the practice of promoting the brand name of the
corporate entity/company, as opposed to the offering of products and services. It is essential for any
business in existence which wants to develop an image and reputation in the marketplace. Anything
to everything the company does has an effect on its image, thus the image and reputation of the
brand become the pillars on which the firm stands. A corporation has to promote or market its
product/services, its corporate culture, its contribution towards the community and sometimes its
employees as well, all this becomes a function of corporate branding. Corporate branding can also
be understood as an aide to other forms of branding exercise that the firm undertakes side by side
to attract and retain customers (Leekha, 2014). Corporate branding also makes the promise of
delivering quality products and services to its customers.

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As mentioned in the earlier part, corporate branding has an effect over different stakeholders
(employees, shareholders, investors) and also impacts many aspects of companies on the likes of
product and services, culture, sponsorship, corporate identity etc. One key feature of corporate
branding is that it results in economies of scope, primarily because one advertising campaign can be
used for multiple products. Hence, with creation of one advertisement, it can find its utility in
promoting the product and services as well as branding of the company (Fetscherin & Usunier,
2012). Thus corporate branding can be understood as an umbrella which takes care of various
branding functions all in one go. Another key aspect of corporate branding Is that it helps to
facilitate acceptance of new product, primarily because the target audience is already aware of the
name of the company, hence pushing a new product becomes relatively easier (Pillai, 2012).

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The brilliance of corporate branding lies in the fact that it is not limited to a specific mark or a name,
and it accommodates multiple touch points in just one campaign. Some of these touch points
include company logo, employee training, packaging, quality of product and services, customer
services and stationery (Biraghi & Gambetti, 2015). A successful corporate branding can be seen as
the coherent effort of the top management’s visionary approach, the know- how and believe of the
company’s employees and perception of the external stakeholder’s, combining the synergies of all
these three emblem results in a formidable corporate branding. Any kind of misalignment in these
three factors leads to underperformance of the corporate brand.

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Cultural Branding
Douglas Holt a Former Harvard professor and chair at oxford pioneered the discipline of cultural
branding, which revolutionized the understanding of brand strategy and brought in a disruption in
the way brands interact. Cultural branding is one of the most powerful strategic tool which helps in
driving innovation and problem solving. Cultural branding can be thus understood as a discipline
which scientifically guides brand innovation and pin points the cultural opportunities which are
emerging in the society and build brand strategies across them to leverage those opportunities
(Carah, Brodmerkel & Hernandez, 2014).
Cultural branding reiterates that the old model of branding which is based on creating an external or
sometimes frictional brand image does not exist anymore, and people do not buy a manufactured
brand image anymore, what people look for is the truth behind the brand. Brand culture thus offers
a new model of branding suggesting that a brand can operate like a culture. Hence, a brand culture
cannot be faked, the values of brand has to be real because consumers are sick and tired of the ad
campaigns and slogans which are incongruent to how a brand operates, thus brands have to build a
culture which can make a connect with its present and potential audience. Building a brand culture
is not an easy task, it requires successful articulation of the brands values which can be absorbed by
the leadership and the employees. Brand culture does not involve only the marketing department,
but the entire organization has to be involved in build the brand culture. Once a successful brand

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culture is built it lays down the foundation which drives the present, future, internal & external
actions and communication of the brand. Advertising though is a very powerful tool in building a
brand culture, but it is not the comprehensive tool, because brand culture demands new ways of
engaging with the consumers and expressing the brand values.
Cultural branding is more than a logo, tagline or a webpage; it is more of a conceptual way of
thinking that defines a tangible and sensory way of being. It is more than an object, it’s an action
which touches every part of the company and engages each sense (Christensen, Raynor & McDonald,
2015). Cultural branding empowers and connects employees, clients and customers. It is something
which leaves an impression on the users mind and creates a memorable experience.
Principles of creating cultural branding and how is it different from
corporate branding
 Cultural brands recognize a disruption in the society- Cultural branding is more solid,
intense and dedicated. This branding recognizes what is the disruption in the society and
aims to fulfil it. The idea of cultural branding is to change the way people think, perceive and
view brands. These brands disrupt the already existing protocols, they position their product
and services in such a fashion that the customer associates strongly with the brand, thus

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disrupting the entire market (Guttentag, 2015). Their marketing campaigns and
advertisements and so strong and relatable that people immediately connect with the brand
and wish to be a part of it. This in turn disrupts the previously existing brands and creates an
entirely new wave which people tend to follow. Example being Facebook, IKEA, Apple. The
moment Facebook launched in the market, the previous players like Orkut and Myspace
automatically became obsolete and people switched to Facebook. Since then till now, the
brand has become a culture. It is so embedded in its user’s minds that it has eventually
become a part of their lifestyle (Sultan & van de Bunt-Kokhuis 2012).
 Cultural brands create a sense of community in consumers- Cultural brands tend to keep
their customers together. They are so promoted as a community that automatically instils a
sense of brand loyalty. Brands which reach iconic cultural status are no more linked to their
offering of product and services. Owning that particular product becomes a sense of feeling,
an accomplishment, and an experience for its customers, thus forming a community in itself
(Aaker, 2012). This community eventually leads to brand loyalty. People tend to buy
different products of the same brand. Repeat purchases become a naturally occurring
phenomena and in some cases a switch in the brand is informally mocked upon that
community. Examples being Google, Apple, IKEA, NIKE. Apple’s I phone, I pad, Mac Books
have created such a strong community that people who own an I phone find it difficult to go
back to another brand. Moreover, almost all their gadgets are replaced by their Apple
counterparts. The sense of community is so strong in apple customers and they have
together combined to form this community. Certain strategies by the brands also encourage
the building of this community. For example, Apple’s I phone’s do not have a Bluetooth or a
Radio feature as opposed to Android. This makes it easy for these customers to connect.
Another example of this community is Harley Davidson. The customers of Harley Davidson
find is extremely difficult to ride any other bike. They take an immense sense of pride and
prestige in owning a Harley Davidson (Habibi, Laroche & Richard 2014). The brand as well
celebrates birthdays of its customers. They even organize Harley Davidson gatherings and
rallies where all the Harley owners of a particular area get together and connect.

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 Cultural brands create an experience with the consumer- The marketing is not just limited
to giving customers the products or services promised. The product no doubt is the primary
offering of the company but apart from giving out great products and services; these cultural
brands tend to create an experience surrounding the brand. The experience strikes a chord
with the customers and they buy the product and services for the experience. This
experience is what they sell and this is what the people relate with. The perfect example for
this would be Starbucks. Anyone who has ever been to Starbucks will safely agree that no
doubt the coffee is great but do we really go there for the coffee? Well the answer to that
question is no. Customers visit Starbucks to enjoy a brilliantly made coffee in a cup that has
their name on it while sitting on comfortable couches and browsing the internet while
meeting with their friends or colleagues (Gurski, 2014). Therefore, the offering does not end
at coffee. Rather it starts and there and goes on for several attractive features that make
Starbucks what it is. This experience is a very important part of the brand and the frills that
come with the product become a very integral part in determining the customer buying
behaviour.
 Cultural brands offer strong product and services- There is no surprise when it comes to the
quality of products and services offered by these cult brands building their own culture. It is
rather imperative that the quality of products offered by these brands are top notch
(Paryani, 2011). This is different from corporate branding because a relatively average
quality product can be sold and branded well by selling at a lesser price. But when the brand

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needs to build a culture out of it products and services, it is mandatory that the primary
product they offer is worth the quality. No company can win a customer just by providing a
strong customer experience. Strong product/service offering is a must. Apple is sitting at the
Zenith of technological innovation because of the sole reason that it every time surprises its
customers with strong products. There are various aspects in which Apple clearly surpasses
the quality offered by Android. Similarly, Harley Davidson is bought for its image but that
image is backed by a great engine, effective mileage, sturdy structure and a well-built bike.
 Cultural brands are supported by a consistent brand infrastructure- Complimenting a
strong product or service is the infrastructure which surrounds it, this is the essence of what
the brand stands for and how the company operates. The infrastructure of the brand is
primarily composed of the entire eco system within which the brand operates. Customer
connects with the story, the community and the infrastructure which delivers it all with
consistency. The fact that uber is such a success today is largely owed to the efficiency of its
mobile application, the promptness of their help desk and the large number of fleet which
has now become a part of the uber network. Similarly, the entire ecosystem of Starbucks
including the quality of the couches, the fluent English of the servers and their customer
base who regularly visit the outlet are what supports the brand. This brand infrastructure
thus plays a vital role in supporting the brand and taking it up a rung on the ladder of
success.

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