Why Internal Branding Matters: The Case of Saab
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Volume 5 Numbers 2 and 3
Why Internal Branding Matters: The Case of Saab Alan Bergstrom and Dannielle Blumenthal Institute for Brand Leadership Scott Crothers Independent Strategic Brand Consultant
ABSTRACT In this paper, the concept of internal branding is reviewed and its importance to the overall brand engagement is outlined, as is its relationship with the field of reputation management. The Brand Consultancy’s internal branding methodology is introduced in theoretical terms, and then applied to a successful engagement with Saab Automobiles. Challenges, lessons, and broader implications are discussed.
INTRODUCTION Branding, as a field, is currently enjoying its 15 minutes of fame. As purveyors of a mainstream business tool, brand consultants no longer need to justify their existence. They can take the time to investigate their work more thoroughly, and emerge with more refined theories of brand, as well as methodologies for investigating, implementing, and measuring it. Yet in a way, the very success of branding has begun to obscure its true nature in postmodern, postindustrial society. What began as a descriptive exercise, and a means of communicating quality, has morphed into the attempt to personify products and services in terms of some higher meaning. Already by 1955, in a landmark article, ‘The Product and the Brand,’ (Harvard Business Review,
March–April), Gardner and Levy called for an understanding of: The more fundamental issues a manufacturer and his (sic) advertising people should face. . . a greater awareness of the social and psychological nature of ‘products’ — whether brands, media, companies, institutional figures, services, industries, or ideas [emphasis added]. Yet, there persists a lack of clarity about the term ‘brand,’ one that is reflected even in this short excerpt, which places ‘brand’ in the category ‘product’ and distinguishes it from companies, services, ideas, and so on when in fact all of these things can be branded. This linguistic tension persists today as the word ‘brand’ is used loosely and interchangeably for everything from product (‘we have a line of brands’) to message (‘is this on-brand?’) to logo (‘this is our brand identity’), advertising (‘branding our line of clothing’) and more. Thus, for clarity’s sake, before discussing what an internal brand is we will begin with a definition of brand and a distinction between brand and reputation. Brand To us, a brand is the sum total of all per-
Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 5, Nos. 2/3, 2002, pp. 133–142 # Henry Stewart Publications, 1363–3589
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Why Internal Branding Matters: The Case of Saab
ceived functional and emotional aspects of a product or service. Therefore, we argue that everything, and everyone, is ‘branded’ (whether they like it or not) because all actions communicate a meaning of some kind. Branding — the verb — is about adding a higher level of emotional meaning to a product or service, thereby increasing its value to customers and other stakeholders. A brand’s value is positively related to the exten
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