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The purpose of this paper is to engage with the issue of construct clarity in corporate communications research giving particular attention to corporate branding and identity whereby a critique of existing alignment models provides a basis for a shift in the debate geared towards an alternative approach.

The commentary offers a discussion of a particular challenge to theory development around the clarity and specification of key constructs such as corporate identity and corporate brands. This leads to an elaboration of existing models of corporate branding and identity management and the subsequent suggestion for a shift towards alternative analytical interpretive models that are not premised on ontological assumptions of a conduit model of communication and objectivist assumptions of alignment and consistency. Shifting the debate in this direction has significant implications for research as well as practice.

There is a need to move away from sender‐dominated conduit models of communication and towards a constitutive model. This emphasizes the constitutive character of communication thus giving credence to the role of language and framing in the processes and products of organizational branding and identity. It also considers the relational or social process in the ascriptions of identity.

The paper proposes a new approach to corporate branding and identity and highlights the need for a more integrated understanding of the role of communication in the creation and promotion of these brands and identities.

The purpose of this paper is to show that information goods allow new forms of second degree price discrimination because of their economic special features. In addition, it shall be explained why it makes economical sense for information providers to make offers free of charge, and how price discrimination can assist them thereby.

This paper is a literature‐based and practical/analytical depiction, showing in which context the three price discrimination forms have developed and how they are effectively applied.

Windowing, versioning, and bundling are very effective strategies of price discrimination for information goods. This can be illustrated through various application examples. With the division of information content and media carriers a clear distinction between windowing, versioning, and bundling is achieved.

Information providers receive support for the design of their pricing policy. It is obvious, that with the aid of the depicted price discrimination variants, both market penetration with cost free offers and the generation of revenues from product sales can be aimed for.

What is new about the paper is the first time comparative portrayal of three recent second degree price discrimination forms and their application to information goods.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate born global (BG) business organizations that (from or near their founding) seek superior performance.

The methodology is based on a multi‐case analysis of interviews conducted with five BG enterprises in which it evaluates, compares and contrasts the views of owner founders.

It seems clear to the authors that organizational structure, the entrepreneurial processes adopted in creating firms, as well as marketing and learning orientation are all crucial ingredients in the successful early internationalization of enterprises from emerging economies.

Although there are a number of studies on BG firms and a well‐developed literature on entrepreneurial marketing, to the best of the knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies evaluating the synergetic effect of entrepreneurial marketing and issues that arise from the commingling of organisational dynamics, resources and the performance of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from emerging economies in the international arena. The paper contributes to scholarly discourse on the internationalization process of BG firms. The paper has practical relevance to entrepreneurs and SME from in emerging markets.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the essential role that internal branding plays in successful university settings.

Case studies from businesses and universities, as well as reviews of the pertinent literature and research, provide the data for the paper's analysis of university branding successes and failures.

The paper concludes that, in the complex university realm, internal branding helps an institution overcome internal resistance to branding efforts. It helps the institution take an identity‐development strategy beyond traditional approaches, such as new logos, snappy taglines and expensive advertising campaigns, to an embedded cultural approach that guides everything from communications, fund‐raising, marketing and personnel policies to enrollment management and program development.

The evidence indicates that the biggest mistake universities make when undertaking branding initiatives is failure to embrace an inside‐out approach to brand development. Those universities that succeed in their branding efforts are willing to borrow strategies from the corporate world to get buy‐in by engaging all interested constituents – faculties, staff, students, alumni and others – in the process.

This paper examines an emerging phenomenon within higher education marketing, one that, as of yet, has not been explored fully in the marketing literature.

This paper is devoted to describe how innovation should be branded and bridge the gap between branding and innovation, where the role of branding capability is crucial. The study aims to discuss the link between branding and innovation, both theoretically and empirically.

On the basis of current resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory and brand management, the research explores the role of branding capability for innovative companies. For the empirical part, an event study is first used to calculate the abnormal returns from new product announcement. Second, different regression models are analyzed to check the effect of branding capability on the stock market reaction to new product announcements made by those innovative companies.

The stock market response to new product announcements is related to branding capability, but negatively. The reason could be that the more famous the brand is, the higher expectations the investors would hold with its new products.

The empirical study is based on the computer/electronics industry, and the pooled sample consists of those strong brands in the marketplace, which is not representative for the innovative companies as a whole. Thus, this paper has limited scope to generalize the results.

With the development of wireless communication technologies, the new offerings from innovative companies would not be simply categorized by tangible devices or intangible services. Moreover, the brand alliance strategy in the tablet and handset market, or even PCs and netbook market, is much more complicated than simply choosing partners.

The main contribution of this paper is to extend the prior researches in branded innovation and fill in the gap between innovation and brand.

This article aims to advance comprehension of corporate brands via the adoption of identity‐based perspectives of corporate brands. It aims to outline a normative, diagnostic, model of corporate brand management – The AC⁴ID Test. The origins of the model date back to the late 1990s. The model is predicated on the need to understand the seven identity types forming a corporate brand constellation. The seven corporate brand identity facets are the actual, communicated, conceived, covenanted, cultural, ideal and desired corporate brand identities. As a general but not an absolute rule there should be meaningfully strategic alignment between the corporate brand and other identity modes in the corporate brand constellation. The notion of temporal misalignment is also articulated. Temporal misalignment is important since different identity types inhabit diverse time frames and, sometimes, temporal misalignment can be perilous (it is often a necessary dynamic too). The notion of the identity‐wheel of change is articulated: a change of one identity may trigger a chain reaction throughout the corporate brand identity constellation.

This article is enlightened by extant research and conceptualisations on corporate brands and corporate branding theories. It is also informed by recent, cross‐disciplinary reviews of the identity literatures. The AC⁴ID Test framework incorporates recent insights vis‐à‐vis the diagnostic framework in corporate branding contexts.

Adopting identity‐based perspectives of corporate brands provides an advance in terms of our comprehension of them. A corporate brand can be viewed as a distinct identity type. An identity mode that is capable of being separate and divisible from the corporate identity from which it is derived. Corporate brands have multiple/attendant identities, which may be characterised as a constellation of corporate brand identities: these identities inform the identity of the AC⁴ID Test of Corporate Brand Management.

The AC⁴ID Test corporate brand identity framework outlined in this article draws on recent advances in the field and adapts earlier versions of the framework so that it has a utility for the corporate branding domain.

The marketing of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) can face many challenges, particularly for those operating within the creative industries. The purpose of this paper is to describe an inductive and exploratory case study approach to empirically investigate the issues and complexities uncovered when taking a mainly internal, organisational perspective to creativity, identity and the brand.

Issues of commitment, identification and alignment were considered and how these relate to the SME brand. Then the relevance and advantages associated with adopting an inductive case study approach, from an interpretative perspective were discussed. This incorporates multi‐level interviews and thematic analysis with the aid of various qualitative data analysis software packages (C‐I‐Said, NVivo and QDA Miner).

The themes uncover and explore some of the subtle complexities involved with organisational marketing for SMEs within the creative industries. These themes also present a number of important implications for the academic and practitioner communities to reflect upon, particularly in relation to the relevance of attempting to achieve a “desired” or “ideal” identity and brand. Issues relating to the evolving nature of SMEs, various forms of employee egos as well as multiple foci of employee commitment have been identified. The authors' research has also uncovered a number of instances of “disidentification” amongst creative employees. Rather than being seen as a threat or risk, some creative organisations see a benefit for encouraging, or at least not suppressing deidentification or disidentification, in relation to their creative brand and image.

By taking a rigorous exploratory and inductive approach, a grounded understanding of the problematic nature of organisational creativity and organisational marketing in relation to SMEs in the creative industries have been provided. Practitioners can also benefit from the observations as they are empirically based upon a number of case studies.

Brand communities may manifest the ultimate degree of connectedness between a consumer and a brand. Research typically approaches such communities as collections of highly homogenous members but generally fails to recognize them as individual persons with their own idiosyncratic backgrounds and reasons to join the community. This article aims to explore whether a community population can be meaningfully segmented on the basis of different motivations to join.

Information from two communities is collected, following the customer‐centric model of brand community of McAlexander et al.. The relationship variables in this model are used as a segmentation basis in cluster analysis to identify various segments. Different kind of motivations can be identified with the relationship variables of the McAlexander et al. model.

Multiple segments based on different consumption motivations exist. Two investigated communities show significant overlap in the identified segments. Furthermore, the findings suggest that segments evolve in relation to the lifecycle stage of the community.

Segmentation is important for fine‐tuning marketing efforts, particularly for brand communities. Members of communities share dedication to the brand but are heterogeneous in many respects.

Treating a brand community as a marketing tool requires an understanding of the composition of its population. This study explores how to achieve this understanding and links community characteristics to theoretical concepts surrounding consumer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the different segments of consumers in the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI) and their relationship with product/brand positioning for Islamic financial services (IFS).

In‐depth interviews were conducted with individuals in managerial positions among the key market players in the IFSI to explore the segmentation of consumers and their buying motives.

Four segments of IFS consumers emerged, namely, Religious conviction group; Religious conviction and economic rationality group; Ethical observant group; and Economic rationality group. These segmentation groups were appropriately categorized through a psychographic (value)‐based approach.

The empirical findings of this study pave the way for embarking on promising and relevant future research, which is needed to substantiate and enrich the academic understanding and managerial practice of linking market segmentation and brand positioning for IFS in the global market. Future research should focus on analysing these issues from the perspective of consumers of IFS to identify the purchase trend.

The study provides empirical evidence of the bases or initial dimensions of consumer segmentation for IFS. The findings are useful in guiding the management of institutions offering IFS in making decisions relating to the marketing communication and promotion strategy as well as product and brand positioning strategy.

For both academia and the IFSI, this study provides useful knowledge in strategically using market segmentation to position IFS in the global market.