INTEREST CATEGORY: MARKETING STRATEGY
POSTING TYPE: Revisits

Author: Pantea Foroudi

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5th International Colloquium on Corporate Branding, Identity, Image and Reputation

Deadline for the submission of extended abstracts: 15 June 2023

21 September (Doctoral Colloquium)

22 – 23 September (Conference)

Theme:

A Celebration of Professor TC Melewar’s Contribution to Corporate Branding, Identity, Image and Reputation Research

https://cobiir.co.uk/

Special Issues: Corporate Reputation Review; International Journal of Advertising

Corporate branding, identity, image and reputation have become of increasingly important in academic research and management practice. The growth has been driven in large part by the prodigious, prestigious research and publication output of Professor TC Melewar and colleagues over a couple of decades. From early work on corporate visual identity published in world-leading journals such as Journal of International Business Studies, as far back as the previous millennium, TC’s work has led the development of scales for corporate visual identity, progressing to a research agenda encompassing all aspects of corporate branding, identity, image and reputation across a wide spectrum of traditional and new channels. Leadership of the field has been assured through papers published in key journals such as Corporate Reputation Review and globalisation applications in publications such as Journal of Global Marketing. Over the ensuing decades, Professor Melewar has defined, broadened and led this field. His research published in the European Journal of Marketing in 2006 demonstrated that there is a considerable divergence in opinions among practitioners concerning the fundamental components of corporate identity. Over the following decade TC’s research has made great strides in unifying the concepts.

Professor Melewar’s research further broke new ground by going beyond the role that visual identity plays in the corporate identity and corporate image literature to encompass non-visual cues. TC’s holistic perspective incorporates all sensory stimuli based on the five human senses (i.e. seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching), proposing the construct of corporate sensory identity. Corporate sensory identity incorporates these five sensory dimensions in a consistent way that reflects all senses by which an organisation can convey its identity to all of its internal and external stakeholders. Other research published in papers in Journal of Business Research in 2014 links corporate logo, image, and reputation. The main antecedents of favourable corporate logo are corporate name, design and typeface. Logo enhances corporate image, attitude towards advertisements, recognizability, familiarity, and corporate reputation. Further studies published from 2014 onwards extend understanding of corporate impression formation to online communities and corporate website favourability.

In all, Professor TC Melewar’s 160+ journal publications, 12,000 citations and h-index of 60 thus embrace and indicate the widest scope of corporate branding, identity, image and reputation concepts, antecedents, mediators, moderators and consequences, in contexts ranging from finance to education, technology and pharmaceuticals. By its very nature, though, this body of work poses many future research questions. These include, for example, what are the effects of antecedents such as corporate communication, design, culture, behaviour, strategy, structure, organisation, leadership, financial and social performance on consequences including customer loyalty, trust and commitment across the whole range of possible contexts? This colloquium thus aims to bring together researchers addressing research areas such as these in determining what and how customers seek to engage with an organisation and its offerings.

Customers engage with brands through many channels including word-of-mouth, social networks and mobile apps. As the economic environment becomes more customer driven, corporate and brand identity become essential aspects of organisation strategy driven by customer demands for value co-creation. Hence brands – corporate, products, service – today are collectively defined by their customers, based on personal or business requirements for economic, emotional or experiential value, deriving from personal experiences and word-of-mouth.

The themes of this Colloquium are therefore to be interpreted broadly. The Colloquium acts as a forum for examining current and future trends in corporate branding, identity, image and reputation. Submissions of papers are sought that engage with literature and ideas from corporate (external) and organisation (internal) identity perspectives as they relate to brand management, corporate reputation, marketing communications, social media, smart technology, experiential and sensory marketing. Papers that incorporate current thinking and developments by both academics and practitioners, combine a comprehensive theoretical foundation with practical insights, and provide insights to assist managers in their daily decision making and long-term brand decisions are especially welcomed. Papers can either be empirical, conceptual or practical. Papers can also adopt a multidisciplinary approach or can be guided by different perspectives. Only extended abstracts will be published in conference proceedings.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Sensory and experiential emotions, value and image in corporate brand, identity, image and reputation;
• Experiential and sensory techniques in corporate branding, identity, image, and reputation, for example, aural, aroma, touch and visual;
• Cognitive vs affective responses to corporate brand and identity stimuli;
• Luxury, symbols and identity;
• Influence of new technologies in corporate identity, reputation and brand communication;
• Integration of different communication channels and platforms to maintain and reinforce corporate image and reputation;
• Consumer research and corporate communications;
• The management of corporate brands and identities;
• Corporate social responsibility, branding and ethical corporate identities;
• Digital (smart) and social media in corporate branding, identity, image, and reputation;
• The impact of user-generated reviews on corporate branding, identity and reputation;
• B2B branding: organisation identity and corporate strategy;
• Place, nation branding and the world order in a new interconnected world;
• The impact of user-generated reviews on brand equity, internal branding and employee engagement;
• Innovation in corporate branding, identity and reputation.

Special Issues

Corporate Reputation Review

(only papers that are related to corporate identity, including visual identity and

related aspects of identity)

Corporate Reputation Review was created to provide a forum for research and analysis about reputations and reputation management for companies, as well as social organizations and entities as diverse as non-profit groups, cities, regions, and countries whose reputations have similar epistemological roots. The journal explores

relationships between corporate reputation and strategic positioning: corporate identity, communications, and image; branding and profiling; valuation and performance.

International Journal of Advertising

(only papers that are related to advertising’s role in corporate reputation)

The International Journal of Advertising (IJA) publishes original contributions on all aspects of marketing communications from the academic, practitioner and public policy perspectives. It includes advertising and media, direct marketing, sales promotions, sponsorship, public relations and integrated marketing communications (IMC).

Format for extended abstracts

Papers should follow the Conference style. British English is the language of the Conference and all related publications.

Length:

Extended abstract 1000 words.

Contents:

– Purpose and objectives of the paper
– Originality – what is new about it?
– Research methodology
– Findings and discussion
– Theoretical and practical implications
– Research limitations
– Conclusions

Format for full Papers

Full papers should follow the Journal of Business Research style. English is the language of the Colloquium and all related publications.

Length:

Full-length papers: 6,000 words in total, including references and a maximum of 5 tables/figures. Maximum page length 45 pages including title page, tables, figures and references.

KEY DATES

Submission of extended abstracts opens: February 1 2023
Registration opens: February 1 2023
Deadline for the submission of extended abstracts: June 15 2023
Feedback to authors on extended abstracts: June 30 2023
Deadline for submission of full papers: July 31 2023

Organising Committees

Professor TC Melewar
Professor Charles Dennis
Dr Pantea Foroudi

You may direct any enquiries about this colloquium to:

Dr Pantea Foroudi, Pantea.Foroudi@Brunel.ac.uk