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The purpose of this article is to propose an overall framework for brand community formation that separates antecedents that lead to the formation of a brand community from those outcomes that are associated with established communities.

The authors approached this review through an interdisciplinary literature review that delineated psychological, structural and behavioral processes that underline the formation of the brand community, often illustrated by contemporary cases in the sport industry.

The findings outline 18 different constructs, categorized in three overarching dimensions, separating structural, behavioral and psychological constructs. The authors posit these 18 constructs are at the heart of brand community formation. These constructs provide managers with a guide to inform their efforts to form a new brand community.

It is emphasized that brand community formation is a complex process that is paradoxical in nature and requires organizations to balance a non-interventionist approach that would allow for consumer empowerment, with a pro-active approach that creates conditions for a successful brand community formation process.

The purpose of this paper is to use user-generated content (UGC) on social media platforms to infer the possible place brand identities of two famous metropolitan areas in Bangkok, Thailand, namely, Khaosan Road and Yaowarat (Bangkok’s Chinatown), both of which are famous for their street vendors and nightlife. These two places are interesting study sites because of recent identity conflicts among their stakeholders. The method developed in this research can help other places to better understand place brand identities and, as such, effectively plan for and manage those places.

The author used content analysis to study 782 user-generated images on Flickr and 9,633 user-generated textual reviews of Khaosan Road and Yaowarat from TripAdvisor and Google Maps’ Local Guide. MAXQDA was used to code all the images. User-generated textual reviews were studied using Leximancer. The author also introduced a positivity of concept analysis to identify positive and negative components of place brand identity.

The author developed a place brand identity framework that includes three pillars, namely, place physics, place practices and place personality. Content analysis of the images generated 105 codes and a count of the frequency of the codes that represent place brand identity. Content analysis of textual reviews created the concepts in the three pillars and identified the positive and negative concepts for both places. The results of both image and text analyses showed that street food vending is one of the most salient components of place brand identity for both Khaosan Road and Yaowarat.

The author suggested several place branding strategies for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration such as turning Khaosan Road into a music scene for both visitors and locals, controlling excessive and aggressive commercialism, sponsoring the production of creative and authentic content, initiating a compelling online campaign that focusses on the items sold in Yaowarat, hosting a spotlight event such as a seafood festival and improving hygiene and walkability.

Both the advancement of digital technologies and the complexity of stakeholders create a need for empirical studies on place branding involving the participation of the widest possible range of stakeholders and studies on the influence of social media. This research is the first to use both image and text analyses to study place brand identity from UGC. The use of both analyses allows the two methods to complement one another while mitigating the weaknesses of each.

This study aims to develop a sustainable brand identity model to help organizations align their managerial practices to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and examine its applicability for a Brazilian electrical sector company.

A systematic qualitative review of the literature was carried out to provide a theoretical basis for the attributes chosen to compose the sustainable brand identity management (SBIM) model. To apply the model, the authors collected the data from internal and public domain documents, semi-structured in-depth interviews and non-participant observation of the company's work environment.

The first SBIM model was developed. The Brazilian power sector company implemented sustainable actions related to most of the models' attributes, contributing to the SDGs. A research agenda was presented.

The theoretical contribution is provided toward brand identity and sustainability literature with the sustainable brand identity model development and the conceptual explanation regarding its attributes.

The practical implications are provided from the model application to an electrical company leading to some managerial suggestions that might be used to companies willing to align their practices to sustainability.

The studies on SDG and brand identity models were analyzed in order to create the first SBIM model. This article extends the concept of the brand identity of marketing theory by linking its core to sustainability actions, so far not addressed in academic studies.

Organisations differ in the ways that they organise their communication disciplines. Contemporary literature features contributions from a number of noted authors, all focusing on the centralisation of communication. Scant attention, however, is paid to factors that are potentially capable of identifying the differences to be found in practice. This paper describes the results of a qualitative research project involving 16 major companies in the Netherlands. This project was initiated by Bennis Porter Novelli and designed to investigate the influence of corporate identity structure on the organisation’s communication structure. The research clearly shows that organisations with monolithic, branded and endorsed identity structures differ in the way they structure and coordinate their external communication disciplines.

Concepts equip the mind with thought, provide our theories with ideas, and assign variables for testing our hypotheses. Much of contemporary research deals with narrowly circumscribed concepts, termed simple concepts herein, which are the grist for much empirical inquiry in the field. In contrast to simple concepts, which exhibit a kind of unity, complex concepts are structures of simple concepts, and in certain instances unveil meaning going beyond simple concepts or their aggregation. When expressed in hylomorphic structures, complex concepts achieve unique ontological status and serve particular explanatory capabilities. We develop the philosophical foundation for hylomorphic structures and show how they are rooted in dispositions, dispositional causality, and various mind–body trade-offs. Examples are provided for this emerging perspective on “Big concepts” or “Big Ideas.”

The purpose of this study is to understand the identity of the Nobel Prize as a corporate heritage brand and its management challenges.

An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate brand identity framework.

The Nobel Prize is a corporate heritage brand – one whose value proposition is based on heritage – in this case “achievements for the benefit of mankind” (derived directly from Alfred Nobel’s will). It is also defined as a “networked brand”, one where four independent collaborating organisations around the (Nobel) hub create and sustain the Nobel Prize’s identity and reputation, acting as a “federated republic”.

The new and combined application of the Heritage Quotient framework and the Corporate Brand Identity Matrix in the Heritage Brand Identity Process (HBIP) offers a structured approach to integrate the identity of a corporate heritage brand. In a networked situation, understanding the role of stewardship in collaborating organisations is essential: The network entities maintain their own identities and goals, but share common values of the network hub.

The integrated frameworks (HBIP) provides a platform for managing a corporate heritage brand.

This is the first field-based study of the Nobel Prize from a strategic brand management perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to define the brand religiosity phenomenon and develop a theoretical process model showing the interrelationships between brand religiosity and other related concepts leading to the formation of a distinct brand sub-culture or community.

A large volume of prior literature on consumer–brand relationships has been reviewed to develop the conceptual framework.

The framework developed shows several actionable antecedents and desirable marketing outcomes of brand religiosity. The framework also depicts that brand religiosity leads to the creation of social anti-structure by forming a distinct brand community that frees individuals from the regular social structure and motivates them to adopt a distinct brand sub-culture formed. Theoretical contributions and business policy-related implications of brand religiosity are discussed.

Value of the study lies in conceptualizing brand religiosity and developing an integrative process model centering the concept.

The aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within organizational-level visual identity (VI) in order to identify potential avenues of theoretical advancement of VI as an independent construct.

An integrative review approach offers a structured, nuanced perspective on the concept by synthesizing extant literature through an iterative, critical and qualitative process.

The synthesis identifies three overlapping terms [corporate visual identity (CVI), visual brand identity (VBI) and VI] and two main themes (visual consistency and authenticity). The dominant assumptions underpinning consistency and authenticity are challenged by alternative understandings, which provide a platform for perceiving visual consistency and authenticity in new ways.

The review offers an overview of organizational-level VI that helps define the concept as well as critical reflections which open up for additional research avenues that may develop it and point to potential areas for exploration.

The review provides practitioners with a platform for discussing how to approach visual identities with regards to consistency and authenticity.

The review contributes with a synthesis of VI literature covering 50 years. It offers a structured presentation of and critical discussion on the underlying, dominant assumptions. By challenging these dominant assumptions, a palette of future research opportunities, with potentials to nuance and develop the concept as a unique construct, are presented.

In the context of a merger, the management of corporate identity – in particular of corporate names and logos – assumes a critical role. This paper aims to explore how name and logo design characteristics, and specifically figurativeness, influence consumer preferences in the context of a brand merger, in the banking sector.

This study develops a typology of the alternative corporate identity structures that may be assumed in the context of a brand merger by drawing on a literature review and secondary data, as well as an exploratory study analyzing consumers' preferences regarding alternative branding strategies.

The results suggest that there is a clear preference for figurative logos. Furthermore, there is evidence that logos may be as important as the company name in a merger situation, in terms of assuring consumers that there remains a connection to the brand's past. The data show that the logo chosen by consumers reflects their aesthetic responses, whereas the selected name reflects their evaluation of the brand's offers or its presence in the market.

The paper uses an innovative research design which gives respondents freedom to choose their preferred solution; hence, the richness of the results is enhanced. The results should guide managers in their evaluation and choices regarding post‐merger branding strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of culture on consumers’ perception of brands, specifically brand identity in Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar), and how brands entering new markets, launching new products or modifying existing brands can gain important insights from this to make the brand culturally acceptable.

This study includes both inductive and deductive approaches. The literature review has been conducted to identity the factors of brand identity and culture, followed by the blending of the factors through Delphi method. The relationship that was identified through qualitative approach was further tested through a quantitative survey (n=1,152). The analysis includes, hypotheses testing using the Kruskal–Wallis test.

The results of hypothesis testing proved that culture does play a significant role in shaping how consumers perceive brand identity. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference across three cultures. Only two constructs that were not ranked significantly different across three cultures were brand as a stance and brand through place and time. Findings of this study supported the culture-specific branding, i.e. Islamic branding in the studied context.

Brand identity can be said to be the focal point of all branding activities. Brand identity creation starts with the starting of the product or services and is passed on through the process of brand communication and is manifested through the brand image formation by customer. Once the brand identity for a brand is created, it is very tough to change it; hence, from the very beginning, marketers have to take care of the brand identity. Thus, the findings of this study can be used by brand managers and marketers to create or modify brand identity according to the culture of the target consumers. These findings could also be incorporated for designing Islamic branding strategy for the studied context.

This research uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify the brand identity and culture variables and subsequently probes the relationship among them. This study would help the brand managers in designing the brand identity for the brand operating or planning to enter in the Gulf countries.