Introduction. Corporate branding

Transcription

1 Exploring the relationship between corporate, internal and employer branding Carley Foster, Khanyapuss Punjaisri and Ranis Cheng Nottingham Business School, Chaucer Building, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK Abstract Purpose The corporate branding concept places an emphasis on employees attitudes and behaviours. This has given rise to internal branding and employer branding, which argue for a closer alignment between the employees values and those of the corporate brand. However, few studies have attempted to provide a platform by which the two concepts could be synergised to achieve a strong, consistent corporate brand. This paper therefore seeks to explore and demonstrate how the three concepts of branding are interrelated through a new framework. Design/methodology/approach Three bodies of literature (corporate branding, internal branding, and employer branding) were selected for review and examination in terms of their implications for the proposed framework that conceptualises the relationships between the three areas. Findings The review of the literature highlights the importance of employer branding and internal branding, and its potential to support the corporate brand-building initiatives, whilst maintaining their distinctiveness in the literature. It also sheds light in terms of the inter-relationships among the three concepts of branding. Originality/value The analysis of the literature reveals a degree of synergy and integration between employer branding and internal branding. It also facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the implications of the two concepts for branding and integrated corporate brand management. Keywords Corporate branding, Brand management, Employees attitudes, Employees behaviour Paper type Conceptual paper An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article. Introduction Balmer and Gray (2003) advocate that a strong, favourable corporate brand is a powerful navigational tool to a variety of stakeholders, which include not only existing employees and shareholders, but also potential employees. This underlines that effective corporate brand management needs to balance an external orientation with an internal orientation. The importance of existing employees internal stakeholders has been recognised in the literature due to the rise of the service era. Because employees are central to corporate brand management, internal branding and employer branding have recently been introduced to the branding literature. While internal branding focuses largely on the adoption of the branding concept inside an organisation to ensure that employees deliver the brand promise to the external stakeholders, employer branding offers a way of ensuring that an organisation recruits the right people in the first instance. However, the relationship between corporate branding, internal branding and employer branding are yet to be fully explored in the corporate branding literature. Although there are a number of studies which investigate corporate branding, internal branding and employer branding, this research tends to regard these concepts as The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at 19/6 (2010) q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN ] [DOI / ] stand alone elements. Few papers (e.g. Mosley, 2007) have discussed internal branding and employer branding together. Still, they have not clearly addressed how the two concepts could be adopted together to ensure the consistent corporate brand experience. Furthermore, how the three concepts of branding, namely corporate branding, internal branding, and employer branding, are fundamentally inter-related has been overlooked. Without this basic understanding of their interrelationships, it is difficult to understand how a consistent corporate brand can be achieved, and to pursue any future research to understand how these inter-relationships may vary by the type of industry, market and organisation. The aim of this paper is therefore to explore and demonstrate through a proposed conceptual model how corporate branding, internal branding, and employer branding relate to one another. Although back office staff play a role in corporate, employer and internal branding activities, the focus of this paper is customer-facing staff, since these represent the crucial interface between the organisation and customers (King, 1991). Consequently, the model put forward in this paper is most relevant for those organisations operating in a service environment. Corporate branding As a corporate brand is an explicit promise between an organisation and its key stakeholder groups (Balmer, 1998), it is important that the promise is kept at all times for all company constituencies. All attributes of the organisation s identity need to be made known in the form of a clearly defined branding proposition, which underpins organisational efforts to communicate, differentiate, and enhance the brand vis-à-vis key stakeholder groups and networks (Balmer, 2001a). Simply put, corporate branding concerns the systematic planned management of behaviour, 401

2 communication, and symbolism in order to attain a favourable and positive reputation with target audiences of an organisation (Einwiller and Will, 2002). More specifically, the behaviour aspect could refer to the employees behaviours in delivering on the promise of a corporate brand. Because a brand acts as a promise between an organisation and its potential and existing customers, the promise has to be understood internally and the entire organisation has to be committed to deliver on it. It needs to permeate throughout all actions of a company (Tilley, 1999). Effective communication is therefore key to successful corporate brand management (Ind, 1998). Alignment between an organisation s vision and employees values must also be met (Hatch and Schultz, 2001) so that a brand promise and values delivered by employees can facilitate the communication of a consistent brand image and its associations to external constituents (Berry, 1995, 2000; Bitner, 1992; Ind, 1998). King (1991) advocates that employees are the interface between the organisation and customers. Likewise, de Chernatony et al. (2003) argue that service brands are about the delivery of promises through personal interactions between the customer-facing staff and customers. Employees are thus a key element of building an organisation s corporate brand (King, 1991) as corporate brand management requires the total commitment of all staff within an organisation (Balmer, 2001b) to deliver the brand promise to the stakeholders. Although one might argue that viewing a brand as a promise focuses on attracting and retaining customers (e.g. McQuiston, 2004; Tarantin, 2002), the corporate brand promise is derived from understanding the corporate identity and its culture. This is because the corporate identity represents what the corporate brand stands for as it encompasses the organisation s ethos, aims and values. Furthermore corporate identity acts as a link between the organisation and customers (Aaker, 2004). It creates a sense of individuality for an organisation that can be used as one of the sources of differentiation for the organisation (de Chernatony and Harris, 2000) and according to Balmer (2001a), corporate identity represents the foundation of a corporate brand. The behaviour of employees is seen as having a major influence on how external stakeholders perceive the corporate brand and make sense of its identity and image (Anixter, 2003; Hatch and Schultz, 2001). The importance of employees in the corporate branding literature has been extensively highlighted (e.g. de Chernatony and Harris, 2000; Harris and de Chernatony, 2001), as Ind (1998, p. 324) argues that employees have the potential to make or break the corporate brand. Therefore, close alignment of the employees with the organisation s brand values may provide an organisation with a sustainable competitive advantage (Pringle and Thompson, 2001). Furthermore, it is important to note that at the heart of corporate branding is the idea of nurturing existing employees as well as attracting and recruiting the right candidates in the first instance (Ind, 1998). However, potential employees as a key stakeholder group of the corporate brand have been overlooked in the existing corporate branding literature (Hatch and Schultz, 2003). Internal branding to fulfil the corporate brand promise The service and corporate branding literature has highlighted the influences of staff on existing and potential customers and other stakeholders brand perceptions through their role in delivering both functional (what are delivered) and emotional (how they are delivered) brand values (de Chernatony, 2002). As such, internal branding has as its focus the internal constituencies, namely existing employees. However, since the effective delivery of the corporate brand promise is reliant on individual employees, each service encounter may potentially lead to variability of the corporate brand experience. This concerns not only the interactions between customer-facing staff and existing and potential customers but also those between the customer-facing staff and the back office staff. According to Heskett s (1987) service profit chain, internal service quality is the key driver of customer satisfaction, and hence organisational performance and profitability. The premise is that individual staff must provide and receive excellent service to ensure the best possible service to customers. This reflects the notion of effective internal branding, which proposes that both customer-facing staff and back office staff are important to ensure the consistent delivery of the brand promise. That is, every employee across the organisation needs to understand the corporate brand values. If this is achieved, it is argued that their appreciation for their roles and their commitment to delivering the brand promise will increase (Heskett, 1987). Recent studies reveal that internal branding can also enable organisations to fulfil the brand promise proposed to external constituencies (e.g. Drake et al., 2005). The premise is that internal branding activities communicate and educate employees about the brand values to enhance their intellectual and emotional engagement with the brand (de Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2001; Thomson et al., 1999). Based on this clear understanding of the brand promise, employees can behave and act naturally during the service encounter whilst still effectively communicating the brand promise (Mosley, 2007). Drawing upon social identity theory (Ashforth and Mael, 1989), unique and distinctive brand values can also provide a focal point to help employees identify with the organisation and internal branding can act as a tool for enhancing employees identification with the organisation. Furthermore, the organisational identification theory suggests that employees who identify with the organisation will endeavour to accomplish the company s strategic interest (Brown and Williams, 1984; Cheney, 1983; Dutton et al., 1994; Van Dick, 2001) and similarly, the organisational commitment theory suggests that employees are more likely to be emotionally attached to an organisation if they accept the values of the brand (Cook and Wall, 1980). Although a universal definition has not yet been proposed, authors agree on a key principle underpinning internal branding, that is that it ensures that employees transform the espoused brand values, which set customers expectations about the organisation, into reality during the delivery of the brand promise (e.g. Aurand et al., 2005; Boone, 2000; de Chernatony and Cottam, 2006; King and Grace, 2008; Manhert and Torres, 2007). This demonstrates the importance of existing employees and internal branding 402

3 activities in achieving overall corporate brand consistency and that an internal branding programme should be managed and implemented together with a corporate branding strategy. Limitations of the internal branding research Recent research has been conducted to understand the outcomes of internal branding on employees brandsupporting behaviours (e.g. Punjaisri and Wilson, 2007; Punjaisri et al., 2008, 2009). These have highlighted the importance of an integrative internal branding framework encompassing functions such as human resources and marketing. Specifically, Punjaisri et al. (2009) have shown that the coordination of human resources and marketing is key to successfully implementing internal branding and engendering positive outcomes such as employees brand identification, brand commitment, brand loyalty, and brandsupporting behaviours. Although various authors within the internal branding vein have acknowledged the importance of aligning marketing and HR functions, Mosley (2007) has observed that HR roles are still restricted to communication support rather than playing a more strategic role in people management practices to ensure the delivery of the brand promise. Drake et al. (2005) argue that internal branding is realised through the practice of internal marketing and a review of the IM literature (e.g. Ahmed et al., 2003; Berry and Parasuraman, 1991; Cahill, 1995; Gummesson, 1991; Sasser and Arbeit, 1976) demonstrates that training is not the only important activity, but other HR practices such as recruiting, rewarding, and retaining staff are pivotal. Kundu and Vora (2004), for example, argue that recruiting the right people is critical, particularly for organisations that rely on employees to represent brand values and deliver their brand promises. Furthermore, Halbesleben and Buckley (2004) suggest that hiring patterns affect the organisation s culture, service standards, and reputation; thereby affecting the success of corporate branding. However, most internal branding studies have not provided a solution on how to recruit the right people into an organisation and instead, recent studies (e.g. Punjaisri and Wilson, 2007; Punjaisri et al., 2009) have focused on how to use internal branding to secure the employees brand-supporting behaviours. This is despite work by Punjaisri and Wilson (2007) highlighting that senior managers in their study had difficulties recruiting suitable candidates who shared similar values to that of the organisation and de Chernatony (2001) arguing that staff recruitment based on the level of value congruence is sometimes more viable than focusing merely on technical/ operational skills as values are a driver of staff behaviours and yet are difficult to change. In effect then, the internal branding literature focuses on influencing existing employees to deliver on the brand promise, but fails to address how an organisation can recruit the right candidates whose values fit with the organisation in the first place. Employer branding the concept While internal branding has focused largely on ensuring that existing employees deliver on the brand promise, firms, as part of the corporate brand management process, have begun to realise the importance of recruiting employees whose values fit with an organisation (Ind, 1998; Hatch and Schultz, 2003). This is achieved through developing an employer brand which creates a perception of the organisation as a desirable place to work within the external labour market (Sullivan, 2004). Employer branding allows the firm to differentiate itself from other employers competing for talent and to attract applicants who ideally possess similar, if not the same, values as the organisation (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). Employer branding therefore provides an organisation with the benefits of increasing applicant quantity and quality (Collins and Han, 2004) and organisational performance (Fulmer et al., 2003). From corporate branding to employer branding Moroko and Uncles (2008) argue that consumer, corporate, and employer branding share similar characteristics; that is, a brand has to be noticeable, relevant and resonant, and unique. A comparison of the definition of an employer brand provided by Ambler and Barrow (1996) with Park et al. s (1986) more general brand categorisation further reinforces this argument. Ambler and Barrow (1996, p. 187) state that an employer brand is the package of functional, economic, and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company. Similarly, Park et al. (1986) categorise brands based on how they fulfil the functional, symbolic and experiential needs of customers. Further similarities between corporate branding and employer branding can be observed when considering the promise made between the organisation and the stakeholder group. Moroko and Uncles (2008) suggest that an employer brand can be regarded as a psychological contract between an employer and employee, and similarly the corporate branding literature (e.g. Olins, 2004) has long considered a brand as a promise from an organisation to customers. For this promise to be successful in an employment context (as it would in a product/service context), the employer brand propositions should be established to ensure that the rational and emotional benefits are congruent with existing and potential employees expectations (Mosley, 2007). Referring to the person-organisation fit concept, research has found that potential applicants compare their needs, personalities and values to the employer brand image, which is formulated based on the organisation s intent statements to attract prospective employees (e.g. Byrne and Neuman, 1992; Cable and Judge, 1996; Judge and Cable, 1997). If an employer fails to deliver their employer brand promise to new staff and new recruits look to validate their employment decision, it is likely that the post-entry performance of employees will be negatively affected and staff turnover will increase (Schein, 1985; Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). This further stresses the importance of providing accurate brand messages about the organisation s culture, identity, and values to potential applicants so as to form a realistic psychological contract that can and will be reflected by their employment experience. The necessity of aligning corporate branding with employer branding becomes even more important when we consider the increasingly complex identities of stakeholders who have a significant impact on corporate brand management. In this instance, potential applicants may also be the customers of an 403

4 organisation, and in corporate management terms both are considered to be the key external stakeholder audiences (Knox and Freeman, 2006). Existing and potential customers have perceptions towards the corporate brand based on the organisation s external brand-related communication activities, such as being exposed to the company s advertising and interacting with customer facing-staff, particularly in the service sector (Balmer and Wilkinson, 1991; Nguyen and Leblanc, 2002; Parasuraman et al., 1985). Indeed the importance of frontline staff has been highlighted in a study carried out by Rynes et al. (1991). Their findings show that the employer brand image is established through the actions of front line employees rather than the employer s controlled recruitment activities and materials. It can be argued then that this customer experience would also inevitably impact on an individual s perceptions of the firm as a place to work. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile emphasising that company-wide involvement from all staff is critical to ensure the effective delivery of the corporate brand promise, particularly within the service sector, where employees are the personal manifestation of the brand (Berry and Lampo, 2004; Olins, 2004). Thus, without the integration between the corporate brand and employer brand, inconsistencies may occur in the minds of the general public, which may lead to the corporate brand negatively impacting on the employer brand and vice versa (Moroko and Uncles, 2008). Ultimately this could lead to a reduction in the organisation s competitiveness in the labour market and increased staff turnover (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). Aligning corporate branding with both internal branding and employer branding Although most authors argue that employer branding aims to communicate to both prospective and existing employees that the organisation is a desirable place of work (e.g. Lloyd, 2002), most research focuses upon enhancing the process of person-organisation value-matching through effective communication during the recruitment process (e.g. Davies, 2008; Knox and Freeman, 2006; Mosley, 2007). This is because achieving alignment between an individual s values and those of the organisation assumes that diversity of opinion can create performance-related issues, such as internal conflicts, for managers (Foster and Harris, 2005) and ignores other literature that suggests that diversity of opinion and values can enhance an organisation s performance (Appelbaum et al., 1998; Pelled et al., 1999). The primary focus of the employer branding literature therefore concerns how an organisation externally communicates its brand to potential recruits rather than how this should be done internally to existing staff. Similarly, the internal branding literature has as its focus existing employees, i.e. internal stakeholders, but fails to explore how these employees could be recruited from an external labour market in the first place. This paper therefore argues that there is a need to align internal branding and employer branding to ensure that effective corporate brand management is achieved. Moreover, because a corporate brand promise is derived from the organisation s identity and culture, this paper argues that the corporate brand values should act as a guide for both internal branding and employer branding. Concurrently, employer branding should clearly understand what promise of benefits its corporate brand can offer prospective and current employees to avoid the perceived violation of a psychological contract. Internal branding can ensure that the new recruit continues to understand what the brand stands for and what values the corporate brand is proposing to the external stakeholders (e.g. Aurand et al., 2005; Thomson et al., 1999; Vallaster and de Chernatony, 2006). This process is important since the role of employer branding does not end at identifying what prospective employees can expect from the organisation in terms of rational and emotional benefits (Mosley, 2007). Aligning internal branding with employer branding should in theory lead to a closer working relationship between the HR and marketing functions and ultimately an increase in organisational performance and a strengthened corporate brand. So, for example, research shows that the effectiveness of internal branding is determined by work environment factors such as reward systems and remuneration schemes which are typically the responsibility of the HR function (Punjaisri et al., 2008, 2009). Similarly, Mosley (2007) remarks that internal branding has focused more on the communication-led aspects of the process, despite recognising that HR and marketing practices need to be more coordinated. Employer branding is key to ensuring the total employer brand experience as illustrated by the conceptual framework proposed by Mosley (2007), which reveals that an employer brand s focus should extend beyond recruitment to include orientation, reward and recognition. This model could be extended further by integrating internal branding with employer branding. Training staff in internal branding activities could present opportunities for career advancement thus enhancing the total employer brand experience (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004) and encouraging employees to remain with the organisation (Baruch, 2004; Punjaisri and Wilson, 2007; Punjaisri et al., 2008). Conclusion and implications for corporate branding, employer branding, and internal branding research and scholarship This paper has brought to light the inter-relationships that exist between the corporate branding, employer branding, and internal branding concepts. Based on these insights, this paper proposes a conceptual framework (Figure 1) that concludes the key issues reviewed. This framework provides a useful commencing point for corporate branding scholars to appreciate the synergy that exists between employer branding and internal branding, and to acknowledge the importance of different stakeholder groups, including existing employees and customers and potential customers and staff, in corporate brand management. The paper and model exposes areas where internal branding could be supported and enhanced by employer branding and vice versa, thereby proposing the possibilities for integrating the two concepts to attain the success of a corporate brand. This paper has also emphasised the importance of a corporate brand as a powerful navigational tool (see Balmer and Gray, 2003). The framework shows that overall, corporate branding concerns promise management. Internal branding (A) and 404

5 Figure 1 The relationship between internal, employer and corporate branding employer branding (C) are shown to support this brand promise delivery, albeit from different perspectives. Internal branding has an internal focus while employer branding tends to focus on the external constituencies, namely potential employees, which could also be an organisation s customers (D). As an organisation s existing and potential customers tend to interact with its customer-facing staff (B), they may form a perception of the organisation as a place to work, i.e. the employer brand based on these interactions, which may ultimately persuade them to join/not join the organisation (E). Once a new employee, they may then become customerfacing staff and exposed to internal branding activities (E). It is also implicit in the model that the employer and internal branding activities should precisely and consistently articulate what the organisation, based on its culture and values, can offer its employees and customers (potential and existing), therefore highlighting the need for an integrative framework across human resources and marketing. This will ensure that the corporate brand provides consistent experiences at every touch point, while adapting to the changing environment. The model also indicates where the gap exists in the branding literature (as indicated by the broken line in Figure 1 (F)), which is the failure thus far to identify the link between internal and employer branding as part of the management of the corporate brand. The authors have attempted to address this gap by proposing that closer conceptual links should be made between internal and employer branding, and have indicated where these links might occur. However, a limitation of what is presented here is that it draws upon the limited amount of employer and internal branding literature. Empirical studies, in particular qualitative case studies, which would enable the researchers to explore the activities of both HR and marketing functions, would further our understanding of how employer and internal branding might link to enhance the corporate brand and how the two concepts could be better aligned. Furthermore, empirical work that explores the implications this model might have for organisations that do not rely so heavily on direct interactions between customer-facing staff and customers would be beneficial. References Aaker, D.A. (2004), Leveraging the corporate brand, California Management Review, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp Ahmed, P.K., Rafiq, M. and Saad, N.M. (2003), Internal marketing and the mediating role of organisational competencies, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 9, pp Ambler, T. and Barrow, S. (1996), The employer brand, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp Anixter, J. (2003), Transparency or not? Brand Inside: Brand Outside TM the most obvious yet overloaded next source for the brand s authentic evolution, in Ind, N. (Ed.), Beyond Branding, Kogan Page, London. Appelbaum, S., Shapiro, B. and Elbaz, D. (1998), The management of multicultural group conflict, Team Performance Management, Vol. 4 No. 5, pp Ashforth, B.E. and Mael, F. (1989), Social identity theory and the organization, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp Aurand, T.W., Gorchels, L. and Bishop, T.R. (2005), Human resource management s role in internal branding: an opportunity for cross-functional brand message synergy, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp

6 Backhaus, K. and Tikoo, S. (2004), Conceptualizing and researching employer branding, Career Development International, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp Balmer, J.M.T. (1998), Corporate identity and the advent of corporate marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 14 No. 8, pp Balmer, J.M.T. (2001a), Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing: seeing through the fog, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 Nos 3/4, pp Balmer, J.M.T. (2001b), The three virtues and seven deadly sins of corporate brand management, Journal of General Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp Balmer, J.M.T. and Gray, E.R. (2003), Corporate brands: what are they? What of them?, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 Nos 7/8, pp Balmer, J.M.T. and Wilkinson, A. (1991), Building societies: change, strategy, and corporate identity, Journal of General Management, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp Baruch, Y. (2004), Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths, Career Development International, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp Berry, L.L. (1995), Relationships marketing of services, growing interest, emerging perspectives, Journal of Academy Marketing Science, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp Berry, L.L. (2000), Cultivating service brand equity, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp Berry, L.L. and Lampo, S.S. (2004), Branding labourintensive services, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp Berry, L.L. and Parasuraman, A. (1991), Managing Services, The Free Press, New York, NY. Bitner, M.J. (1992), Servicescapes: the impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, pp Boone, M. (2000), The importance of internal branding, Sales & Marketing Management, Vol. 9, pp Brown, R.J. and Williams, J.A. (1984), Group identification: the same thing to all people, Human Relations, Vol. 37, pp Byrne, D. and Neuman, J. (1992), The implications of attraction research for organizational issues, in Kelly, K. (Ed.), Theory and Research in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, Elsevier Science, New York, NY, pp Cable, D.M. and Judge, T.A. (1996), Person-organization fit, job choice decisions and organizational entry, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 43, pp Cahill, D.J. (1995), The managerial implications of the learning organisation: a new tool for internal marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp Cheney, G. (1983), On the various and changing meanings of organizational membership: a field study of organizational identification, Communications Monographs, Vol. 50, pp Collins, C.J. and Han, J. (2004), Exploring applicant pool quantity and quality: the effects of early recruitment practices, corporate advertising, and firm reputation, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 57, pp Cook, J. and Wall, T. (1980), New work attitude measures of trust, organizational commitment and personal need nonfulfilment, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 53, pp Davies, G. (2008), Employer branding and its influence on managers, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 42 Nos 5/6, pp de Chernatony, L. (2001), From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. de Chernatony, L. (2002), Would a brand smell any sweeter by a corporate name?, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 5 Nos 2/3, pp de Chernatony, L. and Cottam, S. (2006), Internal brand factors driving successful financial services brand, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Nos 5/6, pp de Chernatony, L. and Harris, F. (2000), Developing corporate brands through considering internal and external stakeholders, Corporate Reputation Review, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp de Chernatony, L. and Segal-Horn, S. (2001), Building on services characteristics to develop successful services brands, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 17 Nos 7/8, pp de Chernatony, L., Drury, S. and Horn, S. (2003), Building a services brand: stages, people, and orientations, The Service Industries Journal, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp Drake, S.M., Gulman, M.J. and Roberts, S.M. (2005), Light Their Fire, Dearborn, Chicago, IL. Dutton, J.E., Dukerich, J.M. and Harquail, C.V. (1994), Organizational images and member identification, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 39, pp Einwiller, S. and Will, M. (2002), Towards an integrated approach to corporate branding an empirical study, Corporate Communications, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp Foster, C. and Harris, L. (2005), Easy to say, difficult to do: diversity management in retail, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp Fulmer, I.S., Gerhart, B. and Scott, K.S. (2003), Are the 100 best better? An empirical investigation of the relationship between being a great place to work and firm performance, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 56, pp Gummesson, E. (1991), Marketing orientation revisited: the crucial role of the part-time marketer, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp Halbesleben, J.R.B. and Buckley, M.R. (2004), Managing customers as employees of the firm: new challenges for human resources management, Personnel Review, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp Harris, F. and de Chernatony, L. (2001), Corporate branding and corporate brand performance, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 35 Nos 3/4, pp Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (2001), Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate brand?, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79 No. 2, pp Hatch, M.J. and Schultz, M. (2003), Bringing the corporation into corporate branding, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 Nos 7/8, pp

7 Heskett, J.L. (1987), Lessons in the service sector, Harvard Business Review, No. 65, pp Ind, N. (1998), An integrated approach to corporate branding, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp Judge, T.A. and Cable, D.M. (1997), Applicant personality, organizational culture, and organization attraction, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 50, pp King, C. and Grace, D. (2008), Internal branding: exploring the employees perspective, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 15, pp King, S. (1991), Brand-building in the 1990s, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp Knox, S. and Freeman, C. (2006), Measuring and managing employer brand image in the service industry, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 22 Nos 7/8, pp Kundu, S.C. and Vora, J.A. (2004), Creating a talented workforce for delivery service quality, HR. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp Lloyd, S. (2002), Branding from the inside out, Business Review Weekly, Vol. 24 No. 10, pp McQuiston, D.H. (2004), Successful branding of a commodity product: the case of RAEX LASER Steel, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33 No. 4, p Manhert, K.F. and Torres, A.M. (2007), The brand inside: the factors of failure and success in internal branding, Irish Marketing Review, Vol. 19 Nos 1/2, pp Moroko, L. and Uncles, M.D. (2008), Characteristics of successful employer brands, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp Mosley, R.W. (2007), Customer experience, organisational culture and the employer brand, Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp Nguyen, N. and Leblanc, G. (2002), Contact personnel, physical environment, and the perceived corporate image of intangible services by new clients, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 13 Nos 3/4, pp Olins, W. (2004), Wally Olins on Brand, Thames & Hudson, London. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L. (1985), A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp Park, C.W., Jaworski, B.J. and MacInnis, D.J. (1986), Strategic brand concept-image management, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50, pp Pelled, L., Eisenhardt, K. and Xin, K. (1999), Exploring the black box: an analysis of work group diversity, conflict and performance, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp Pringle, H. and Thompson, M. (2001), Brand Spirit, Wiley, Chichester. Punjaisri, K. and Wilson, A. (2007), The role of internal branding in the delivery of employee brand promise, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp Punjaisri, K., Evanschitzky, H. and Wilson, A. (2009), Internal branding: an enabler of employees brandsupporting behaviours, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp Punjaisri, K., Wilson, A. and Evanschitzky, H. (2008), Exploring the influences of internal branding on employees brand promise delivery: implications for strengthening customer-brand relationship, Journal of Relationship Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp Rynes, S.L., Bretz, R.D. and Gerhart, B. (1991), The importance of recruitment in job choice: a different way of looking, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 44, pp Sasser, W.E. and Arbeit, S.P. (1976), Selling jobs in the service sectors, Business Horizon, June, pp Schein, E. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Sullivan, J. (2004), Eight elements of a successful employment brand, ER Daily, 23 February, available at: 2BBC366659E26892A.asp (accessed 20 September 2009). Tarantin, D. (2002), Managing image and brand, ABA Bank Marketing, Vol. 34 No. 8, p. 38. Thomson, K., de Chernatony, L., Arganbright, L. and Khan, S. (1999), The buy-in benchmark: how staff understanding and commitment impact brand and business performance, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 15 No. 8, pp Tilley, C. (1999), Built-in branding: how to engineer a leadership brand, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 15, pp Vallaster, C. and de Chernatony, L. (2006), Internal brand building and structuration: the role of leadership, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Nos 7/8, pp Van Dick, R. (2001), Identification and self-categorization processes in organizational contexts: linking theory and research from social and organizational psychology, International Journal of Management Review, Vol. 3, pp About the authors Carley Foster is currently a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Retail Management at Nottingham Business School. Her research interests include diversity management, employer branding and retail marketing. She has recently embarked on research which explores how the diversity of customer-facing retail staff might influence the shopping experiences of customers, women s career progression in retailing and employer branding across different sectors. Carley Foster is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: carley.foster@ntu.ac.uk Khanyapuss Punjaisri is a Lecturer in Marketing at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. She completed a PhD at the University of Strathclyde Business School in the area of services marketing, focusing on the hotel industry in Thailand. Ranis Cheng is a Lecturer in Marketing at Nottingham Trent University with research interests in corporate identity and corporate brand management. She has published her work on corporate identity in the UK fashion retail sector in European Journal of Marketing. 407

8 Executive summary and implications for managers and executives This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the material present. Most scholars agree that a strong corporate brand is essential to different stakeholders of an organisation. Alongside current employees and shareholders, potential employees have been included in this category. In light of this, it is feasible to assume that corporate brand management demands both an internal and an external focus in order to be effective. Internal branding Internal branding is already key within many companies, and the role of employees in corporate brand management is widely recognised. Consequently, ensuring that the branding concept is embraced inside the organisation is the core aim of internal branding initiatives. This is vital if employees are to deliver properly the brand promise to customers and other external stakeholders. Those responsible for delivering the promise must understand the identity and culture of the organization in terms of, for example, its aims and values. The branding proposition therefore needs to be clearly defined, as it reflects the behaviour, activities, symbolism and communication that can differentiate the company from others and create a favourable impression on its target audience. How external stakeholders perceive the brand is considerably influenced by how employees behave. Indeed, some belief exists that employees have the power to determine the fate of any corporate brand through the brand values they choose to deliver to current and potential customers and the manner in which they deliver them. Given these claims, firms should make securing alignment between the company vision and employee values a core objective. A general assumption here is that employees who more closely engage with brand values are likely to display greater commitment and be more intellectually and emotionally connected to the organisation. In this regard, several analysts have noted the scope for internal branding to help boost employee identification through various activities designed to further educate the workforce about brand values. Customer-facing staff are the logical target of such endeavours, but communicating a consistent brand message demands a high degree of understanding throughout the whole organisation. That way, there is a greater likelihood of the positive interaction between frontline and back office employees that some scholars believe to be vital if the customer is to receive quality service from the company. The importance of internal branding is undisputed, as is the suggestion that related activities and programs need to be implemented and managed alongside the corporate branding strategy. To this end, researchers have commented on the need to develop an internal framework that includes key functions like marketing and human resources (HR) to facilitate the implementation process. Employee training is viewed as one important HR activity, while staff recruitment and retention are other key practices. Recruitment is especially significant, but the focus of internal branding research on brand-supporting behaviours among existing employees means that this issue has not been considered in great depth. However, one study did find evidence that senior managers found it hard to recruit candidates whose values closely matched those within the firm. Granted the assumption that individual values are entrenched and therefore difficult to change, this appears highly significant and adds weight to the argument that value congruence can prove more valuable than accentuating relevant skills, as is the norm. Employer branding This growing realisation about the importance of attracting the right employees at the outset has prompted scholars to suggest that these objectives can be attained through the development of an employer brand. Such an approach can help to differentiate the firm to prospective candidates and nurture the perception that it is a desirable environment in which to work. Through employer branding activities, organizations can attract the calibre of employee needed to improve performance. An employer brand has been described as a psychological contract between employer and employee. To others, it encompasses the functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by a company to its workforce. That the benefits should align with the expectations of current and potential employees is a significant point made by some analysts. Statements of intent made by the company therefore become key reference sources for candidates to compare their needs and values with those of the organization. Just as a failure to deliver the brand promise will alienate customers, a comparable outcome concerning the employer brand promise is likely to impact negatively on the morale and performance of the workforce. Retention thus becomes more difficult and staff turnover increases. Foster et al. argue that this scenario can be avoided if communication to prospective employees about the firm s identity, culture and values is accurate from the start. It is nevertheless worth noting that certain scholars believe that a firm s performance can actually be enhanced if its workforce boasts some diversity in terms of opinions and values. Branding alignment The authors maintain that consistency between corporate branding, internal branding and employer branding is essential. To illustrate the point, they note the possibility for stakeholders to have increasingly complex identities, such as in situations where prospective employees are also customers of the firm. In their guise as existing or potential customers, these individuals evaluate the corporate brand based on relevant external communications that include advertising and encounters with customer-facing staff. Employer branding must therefore function to ensure that these perceptions remain steadfast. On the other hand, the 408

9 inconsistencies that occur when the corporate brand and employer brand are misaligned inevitably triggers doubts among the general public that can negatively impact upon employee satisfaction, brand credibility and competitiveness. This situation is less likely to arise if internal branding and employer branding are guided by corporate brand values. Most studies that have examined employer branding and internal branding have considered them as separate entities. It is the opinion of Foster et al. that this is inappropriate because of the concurrent nature of their relationship. For instance, the employer brand prepares the foundations for the psychological contract between the brand and its new employees that is then reinforced through internal branding activities that indicate what the corporate brand offers to external stakeholders. Alignment between internal branding and employer branding also extends the relevance of the latter beyond recruitment to issues such as how employee efforts are rewarded and recognised. Different researchers also suggest that alignment fosters closer working relations between HR and marketing functions and note the positive impact on organisation performance and brand strength. Ultimately, organisations must comprehend the synergy that exists between employer branding and internal branding and are urged to create a framework that blends HR and marketing. This can help deliver consistent communication based on company values and culture that promotes the organisation to current and potential employees and customers. The need for closer conceptual ties between internal and employer branding as proposed by Foster et al. could be further explored within empirical research using qualitative case studies. Additional investigation into the contribution of HR and marketing functions may provide greater insight into how the association between employer and internal branding can enrich the corporate brand. (A précis of the article Exploring the relationship between corporate, internal and employer branding. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.) To purchase reprints of this article please reprints@emeraldinsight.com Or visit our web site for further details: 409