The roles of business partners in corporate brand image co-creation

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the roles of business partners in co-creating a corporate brand image.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts different business partners’ perspectives to analyse corporate brand co-creative actions through a case study within a business-to-business company (B2B SME) context. Interviews with the case company’s manager and key business partners were used as the primary source of empirical data.

Findings

The study suggests a typology of seven roles which business partners adopt in corporate brand image co-creation: co-innovator, co-marketer, brand specialist, knowledge provider, referee, intermediary and advocate. The study also highlights the management of co-creative relationships in corporate brand image co-creation in the context of business partners.

Practical implications

This study increases the understanding of the complexities and dynamics related to corporate brand image construction and helps managers size the potential of business partner relationships in corporate branding and manage co-creative brand partner relationships.

Originality/value

The roles are examined by applying a conceptual framework built by combining branding research in a novel way with the role theory. The study also provides a multi-stakeholder perspective to brand co-creation.

Citation

Törmälä, M. and Saraniemi, S. (2018), "The roles of business partners in corporate brand image co-creation", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 29-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-01-2016-1089