Corporate branding is far more than just a logo and a visual identity. It’s your story. Corporate branding is all about YOU, as a company. It’s about what, how and why you do your business. And more than that, it’s about who are you doing it for. Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. The activities and thinking are different from product and service branding because the scope of a corporate brand is typically much broader. Although it is a distinct activity from product or service branding, these different forms of branding can, and often do, take place side-by-side within a company. The ways in which corporate brands and other brands interact is known as the corporate Brand Architecture.

Corporate branding affects multiple stakeholders (e.g., employees, investors) and impacts many aspects of companies such as the evaluation of their product and services, corporate identity and culture, sponsorship, employment applications, brand extensions

It is a vital aspect of a company’s overall marketing strategy. Branding consists of a number of tactics, actions and guidelines that establish the identity and unique values of a particular company and its products. However, a corporate brand transcends what many people may think of as branding that simply uses a logo, a slogan or a particular color scheme. It’s about a special kind of brand management. You need to stand out from the crowd, to be distinctive and authentic, to create a strong and emotional bond with the customers, followers or fans. Successful corporate brands also reflect the company’s core values. It reflects its personality and mission in every touch point with its customers.

The role of corporate branding for brand architecture

Brands can be classified according to different characteristics, such as the brand of the brand, the range of the brand or the breadth and depth of the brand architecture. When looking at the brand architecture, the relationship between corporate branding and the other brands of a company is that it stands as a roof over all offered services.

A single-brand strategy in the sense of Brands architecture corresponds to the classic approach: one brand – one product – one product promise. Each individual product brand of a company positions itself independently in the competitive environment. Single-brand strategies are predominantly found in consumer goods and consumer products.

In an umbrella-brand strategy a common brand name is chosen for all products and thus a common core competence is emphasized. Umbrella brands are more frequently found in the service and industrial sectors as well as in the manufacturing industry.

Author:

Liliana Țene is Marketing Director at }exghts.

A Jedi digital marketer and a courageous parachute jumper. See more about her here.