Corporate Brand

This entry defines and outlines the concept of the corporate brand, which is the branding of an entire organisation vis-à-vis all its various stakeholders. The presented definition is derived from a synthesis of the major conceptual developments in the literature, encompassing managerial and instrumental views as well as more critical perspectives. Thus, a corporate brand is presented here as an entity that makes an organisation identifiable and distinguishable versus other organisations and actors, enabling stakeholders to symbolically relate to that organisation in a relevant and meaningful way. It is instrumentally contingent and is based on purposively chosen tangible and intangible brand elements (e.g., name, logo, designs, core values, behavioural patterns, cultural associations) that provide a focal point of reference for strategically differentiating, symbolically situating and socio-culturally legitimating the organisation versus other social and institutional actors.