Brand management to protect brand equity: A conceptual model

Corporate and product brands are increasingly accepted as valuable intangible assets of organisations, evidence of which is apparent in the reported financial value that strong brands fetch when traded in the mergers and acquisitions markets. However, while much attention is paid to conceptualising brand equity, less is paid to how brands should be managed and delivered in order to create and safeguard brand equity. In this article we develop a conceptual model of corporate brand management for creating and safeguarding brand equity. We argue that while legal protection of the brand is important, by itself it is insufficient to protect brand equity in the long term. We suggest that brand management ought to play an important role in safeguarding brand equity and propose a three-stage conceptual model for building and sustaining brand equity comprising: (1) adopting a brandorientation mindset, (2) developing internal branding capabilities, and (3) consistent delivery of the brand. We put forward propositions, which, taken together, form a theory of brand management for building and safeguarding brand equity. We illustrate the theory using 14 cases of award-winning service companies. Their use serves as a demonstration of how our model applies to brand management practice. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.