Improving Relative Brand Attractiveness through Commercial and Social Innovations
The growing demand for innovative solutions, sustainable practices and digital experiences has challenged the brand landscape. Can corporate brands win over their competitors by prioritising one of these areas in their strategy?
DIG researchers Seidali Kurtmollaiev, Line Lervik-Olsen and Tor W. Andreassen, has published the chapter "Honey or Condensed Milk? Improving Relative Brand Attractiveness through Commercial and Social Innovations" in The Routledge Companion to Corporate Branding.
Abstract
By defining what a corporate brand is and stands for, managers influence the brand’s attractiveness in the eyes of the customers. Although many corporate brands still follow the traditional price-quality positioning approach, the growing demand for innovative solutions, sustainable practices and digital experiences has considerably challenged the established brand landscape. In two quantitative studies and one qualitative study based on data from The Norwegian Innovation Index, this chapter examines whether corporate brands can win over their competitors by prioritising one of these areas in their strategy.
The first study demonstrates that consumers perceive innovative brands as significantly more attractive than non-innovative brands. Although innovative brands are also more attractive than brands that are purely socially responsible, prioritising investments in social and environmental innovations is the best strategy.
The second study shows that brands using digital innovation to generate social innovations are in a better strategic position than brands prioritising social innovation alone or brands implementing digital solutions for merely operational or commercial reasons.
The third study uncovers significant discrepancies in meanings and understandings regarding brand innovativeness between managers and consumers as well as among consumers. A solution lies in managers facilitating close cooperation throughout all stages of the innovation process, cultivating multiple forms of communication and evaluating social and environmental outcomes of innovation together with various stakeholders.