Sustainable brand-based innovation: The role of corporate brands in driving sustainable innovation

Abstract

Nicky Nedergaardis employed by the Danish Design Centre as an industrial PhD fellow and affiliated with the Department of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School. His dissertation examines relationships between corporate brands and strategic management of design and innovation. Richard Gyrd-Jonesis an Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Marketing at Griffith University. His main areas of research are brand management, corporate branding and stakeholder relations. His work is focused on examining management challenges of implementing brands across organisations. Current research projects include integrating brand communities into brand innovation processes, the impact of functional silos in implementing corporate rebrands and studying emerging social practices around brands.ABSTRACT The role of the corporate brand as a strategic resource in orienting innovation projects has only been cursorily addressed in the literature. As innovation is a key driver of brand growth, this article discusses how corporate brands can contribute to both guiding and driving such innovation processes. The article applies the concept of design thinking to develop a framework for Sustainable Brand-based Innovation. It is suggested that traditional market-oriented strategies should be complemented with intuitive thinking and abductive reasoning as associated with the concept of design thinking. On the basis of this framework, a conceptual model is elaborated integrating the three key management imperatives of: (i) orienting innovation and investments around the brand (brand orientation); (ii) thinking on a human scale to generate unique customer insights (intuitive customer orientation); and (iii) considering the current and future scope of firm resources needed to attain and sustain competitive advantages (resource orientation). The article illustrates the framework through analysing the processes behind new business development and innovation of the luxury consumer electronics brand Bang & Olufsen. Implications for brand leadership in innovation management and avenues for further research into the brand-innovation interface are discussed.

Why doesn’t our branding pay off: optimising the effects of branding through innovation

“…Specifically, brands are a valuable source of growth that provide a sense of direction on how product portfolios can be successfully extended into new and profitable categories or markets (Nedergaard and Gyrd-Jones, 2013). Thus, brands should be managed prudently so that they can be a critical business asset that sustains a firm's market competitiveness (Morgan, 2012;Barney, 2014).…”

“…Specifically, at lower levels of brand orientation, firms are not developing a clear sense of what the brand stands for and the values it represents (Nedergaard and Gyrd-Jones, 2013). As a result, they are not able to highlight and express to consumers the idiosyncratic identity that is associated with their brands, thus deterred from achieving superior brand performance (Urde, 1999;Urde et al, 2013).…”

Design thinking between rationalism and romanticism—a historical overview of competing visions

“…Similarly, brand management studies undertaken during this period began to focus increasingly on the role of design as an organizational strategic resource and capability (e.g., Abbing & van Gessel, 2008;Karjalainen & Snelders, 2010) and organizational, cultural mind-set for strengthening the management of brand identities (e.g. Nedergaard & Gyrd-Jones, 2013). …”

Introduction to the special issue: Harnessing the power of brand and co-created innovation

“…We now know much about the interdependencies between brand and innovation management (e.g. Hatch and Schultz 2010;Hultink 2010;Iglesias et al 2013;Nedergaard and Gyrd-Jones 2013). A handy framework for thinking about these interdependencies is the brand-innovation virtuous circle, whereby: (i) brands support the introduction and adoption of innovation, (ii) innovations influence brand perceptions, attitudes and usage, and (iii) brands provide strategic focus and guidance to innovations (Brexendorf et al 2015).…”