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

Abstract

Purpose Recent branding failures (e.g. Kodak and Krispy Kreme) have cast considerable doubt on the widely accepted contention that to develop a strong brand, firms must continuously strive to be brand oriented or innovation oriented. This study aims to examine the curvilinear and interactive effects of brand orientation and innovation orientation on brand performance. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were drawn from a sample of 181 firms operating in the consumer goods sector (i.e. fashion, consumer electronics and automobile) and tested through a hierarchical regression analysis. Findings This study finds that the sole and exclusive focus on either brand orientation or innovation orientation is detrimental to the realisation of superior brand performance because increased levels of this focus lead to diminishing returns. Critically, this study finds that the key to achieving superior brand performance lies in the extent to which the firm integrates both brand orientation and innovation orientation. Originality/value This study extends current knowledge by showing that focusing on either brand orientation or innovation orientation in isolation is actually detrimental to the firm’s realisation of superior brand performance. The integration of brand orientation and innovation orientation is the key to achieving superior brand performance because the inherent limitations associated with each are overcome by their integration.

Drivers of autonomous vehicles—analyzing consumer preferences for self-driving car brand extensions

“…Although radical innovations typically create a high amount of perceived consumer uncertainty and brands can help mitigate uncertainty, it is surprising that research about this intersection is relatively sparse (Brexendorf et al, 2015). One of the few studies is Lee et al (2016) that shows that medium levels of brand and innovation orientations increase brand performance. High levels of brand orientation, i.e., strictly adhering to the core brand identity, can prevent firms from innovating.…”

Brand orientation: a systematic literature review and research agenda

“…The adoption of another orientation strategy, also called a hybrid strategy, was still proposed by studies such as those by Anees-ur-Rehman et al (2017), Lee et al (2017) and Reijonen et al (2012, 2014). There are also, in Cluster 2, several articles related to small and medium enterprises (Ciunova-Shuleska et al , 2016, 2017; Hirvonen and Laukkanen, 2014; Hirvonen et al , 2013, 2016) and the effects of adopting this positioning strategies in companies of this size (Chovancová et al , 2015; Laukkanen et al , 2013, 2016; Lee et al , 2016). Reijonen et al (2012) suggest that small and medium growing companies are more brand and market oriented than other companies (stable or declining).…”

“…It is also worth investigating when, how and what market positioning leads to the adoption of a certain strategy (Urde and Koch, 2014). And, the use of hybrid strategies in different contexts might be explored as a U-shape relationship instead of a linear relationship (Lee et al , 2016). Moreover, within the mix of characteristics that a certain segment can present, putting together, for example, small and medium-sized B2B and B2C companies from different countries with different strategies, the multi-group analysis can be a powerful tool to analyse these distinctions, as in the study by Reijonen et al (2015).…”

“…Innovation seems to play a crucial role in performance, be it financial performance, brand performance or customer performance (Agostini and Nosella, 2016; Gisip and Harun, 2013; Lee et al , 2016; Wong and Merrilees, 2008). Lee et al (2016) argue that an excessive focus on a single strategy (brand orientation or innovation orientation) may decrease returns of brand performance.…”

Regional Branding: Customer's Experience with the Certified Products

“…A region thus represents a system with a target behaviour. The expression and instrument of support for this cooperation can be clusters -groups of companies and other 1 Bohemian Paradise Regional Product institutions for mediation of contacts, information and resources (Skokan, 2004;Blažek et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2016;Mauroner and Zorn, 2017).…”