Contemporary Issues in Branding

This book provides students and academics with a comprehensive analysis of the theory and practice of branding. The challenge to explore new and effective ways of harnessing the power of communication to engage with company stakeholders in interactive, immediate and innovative ways is ever-present in the digital era. Digital marketing and social media create opportunities for managers to communicate their brand?s identity to their consumers and stakeholders. Yet, limited empirical research exists to elucidate these issues, and less still that assists our understanding of branding issues at an international level.

Recognising the complexity and plurality at the heart of the branding discipline, this text explores the relationship between brands, identity and stakeholders. Working through building, designing and maintaining a brand, the authors consider such aspects as strategic planning and campaign management, research and measurement, media relations, employee communication, leadership and change communication, and crisis branding. Critically, differing methods and approaches applied to branding and communication research design are assessed, including both qualitative and quantative methods.

Proposing a mixture of theory and practice with international case studies, this book is an invaluable companion for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics of marketing and strategic brand management, as well as managers and decision makers globally.

Part 1: Introduction 1. Introduction to Branding: Issues and Perspectives Part 2: Building a Brand 2. Understanding Brands with Contemporary Issues 3. Branding: Performance and Profit 4. Brands, culture, leadership and differentiation: testing the effectiveness of highly performance-oriented appeal in four European countries 5. The impact of GDPR on brands responsibility: Between a "new normal" customer-centricity and the risk of reputational damage 6. Branding: Ethic, sustainability, and Inclusion Part 3: Designing a Brand 7. Branding: Aesthetics. Building Brand Value through Art and Architecture 8. Branding: Voice 9. Sensory Branding: What it is, why it matters, and how to use it 10. Branding: Virtual space: past, present and new directions in virtual worlds Part 4: Branding and Stakeholders 11. Branding: Internal and External Stakeholders 12. Global branding 13. Office Branding in the Digital Age 14. Branding: Online community Part 5: Conclusion 15. Consumer-Brand Relationship: Building Consumer value, Consumer loyalty and Business Performance 16. Branding Customer Value

Pantea Foroudi is business manager and Solution Architect at Foroudi Consultancy, and a member of the Marketing, Branding, and Tourism department at Middlesex University London, UK.

Maria Palazzo is a research fellow at the Department of Political and Communication Sciences (DISPC) at University of Salerno, Italy, where she is also a member of the Sustainability Communication Centre (SCC).