Brand Orientation and Market Orientation — from Alternatives to Synergy

JBR-07309; No of Pages 8
Journal of Business Research xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

Brand orientation and market orientation — From alternatives to synergy ☆
Mats Urde a,⁎, Carsten Baumgarth b, Bill Merrilees c a b c

Lund University, Sweden Berlin School of Economics and Law, Marketing Division, HWR Berlin, Germany Department of Marketing, Griffith Business School, Gold Coast Campus Queensland 4222, Australia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This paper explores the interaction between brand orientation and market orientation. Brand orientation is an inside-out, identity-driven approach that sees brands as a hub for an organization and its strategy. Similarly, market orientation is an outside-in, image-driven approach. Initially, brand orientation and market orientation appear to be two different strategic options. Though synergistic combinations are also possible, they are not explored in previous theories, nor labeled as part of branding practice and philosophy. A new type of orientation, a hybrid between brand and marketing orientation, is among the key findings of this study. The paper articulates typical trajectories for evolving the orientation and aspires to move the discussion from the tug-of-war between the two paradigms by developing a more dynamic view. The study paves the way for better understanding, operationalization and evaluation of alternative approaches to marketing. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 1 October 2010 Received in revised form 1 March 2011 Accepted 1 April 2011 Available online xxxx Keywords: Brand orientation Market orientation Strategic orientations Synergy

1. Introduction The discussion about market orientation and brand orientation is in essence concerned with a company 's or organization 's approach to brands and the market. Is it the brand identity or the brand image that serves as a guiding light?

References: Aaker DA. Managing brand equity. New York, NY: The Free Press; 1991. Alvesson M, Berg PO. Corporate culture and organizational symbolism: an overview. Berlin: De Gruyter; 1992. Amazon. Amazon values. Available at; 2010 http://www.amazon.com/Values-CareersHomepage/b?ie=UTF8&node=239365011 [last access: 29. November 2010]. Ambler T, Kokkinaki F, Puntoni S. Assessing marketing performance: reasons for metric selections. J Marketing Manage 2004;20(3/4):475–98. Amnesty International. About amnesty international. Available at; 2010 http://www. amnesty.org/en/who-we-are/about-amnesty-international [last access: 29 November 2010]. Avis. Blog Avis. We try harder. Available at; 2010 http://www.wetryharder.co.uk/ category/we-try-harder/ [last access: 29 November 2010]. Baker WE, Sinkula JM. The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance. J Acad of Marketing Sci 1999;27(4):411–27. Balmer MT, Greyser SA. Revealing the corporation: perspectives on identity, image, reputation, corporate branding, and corporate-level marketing. London & New York: NY: Routledge; 2003. Barney JB. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J Manage 1991;17(1): 99–120. Barney JB. Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Reading, MA: AddisonWesley; 1997. Barrow S, Mosley R. The employer brand. Chichester: Wiley; 2005. Baumgarth C. Brand orientation of museums: model and empirical results. Int J Arts Manage 2009;11(3):30–45. Baumgarth C. Living the brand: brand orientation in the business-to-business sector. Eur J Marketing 2010;44(5):653–71. Baumgarth C, Merrilees B, Urde M. Kunden- oder Markenorientierung: Zwei Seiten einer Medaille oder alternative Routen [Customer or brand orientation: two sides of a coin or alternative routes]? Marketing Rev St Gallen 2011;28(1):8–13. Beane TP, Ennis DM. Market segmentation: a review. Eur J Marketing 1987;21(5):20–42. Berthon P, Hulbert JM, Pitt LF. To serve or create? Strategic orientations towards customers and innovation. Calif Manage Rev 1999;42(1):36–58. Beverland MP. Building brand authenticity: 7 habits of iconic brands. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan; 2009. Birkigt K, Stadler MM. Corporate identity—Grundlagen [Corporate identity basics]. In: Birkigt K, Stadler MM, Funck HJ, editors. Corporate identity. 11th ed. München: Moderne Industrie; 2002. p. 13–23. Body Shop. Body shop values. Available at; 2010 http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/ beauty/against-animal-testing [last access: 29. November 2010]. Bridson K, Evans J. The secret to a fashion advantage is brand orientation. Int J Retail and Distrib Manage 2004;32(8):403–11. Burmann C, Jost-Benz M, Riley N. Towards an identity-based brand equity model. J Bus Res 2009;62(3):390–7. Cameron KS, Quinn RE. Diagnosing and changing organizational culture. 2nd ed. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons; 2006. Christodoulides G, de Chernatony L. Consumer-based brand equity conceptualisation and measurement. Int J Market Res 2010;52(1):43–66. Collins J, Porras J. Built to last. London: Century Business Books; 1998. Cornelissen J. “Integration” in communication management: conceptual and methodological considerations. J Marketing Manage 2000;16(6):597–606. Davis SM, Dunn M. Building the brand driven business. San Francisco: Jossy-Bass; 2002. de Chernatony L. From brand vision to brand evaluation. 3 rd ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2010. de Chernatony L, Drury S, Segal-Horn S. Building a services brand: stages, people and orientations. The Serv Ind J 2003;23(3):1–21. de Chernatony L, McDonald MHB, Wallace E. Creating powerful brands. 4th ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2011. Dell M, Fredman C. Direct from Dell: strategies that revolutionized an industry. New York: Harper Collins; 2000. Deshpandé R, Webster FE. Organizational culture and marketing: defining the research agenda. J Marketing 1989;53(1):3–15. Deshpandé R, Farley JU, Webster FE. Corporate culture, customer orientation, and innovativeness in Japanese firms: a quadrad analysis. J Marketing 1993;57(1):23–7. Diamond SA. Trademark problems and how to avoid them. 26th ed. Chicago: Crain Books; 1981. Dierickx I, Cool K. Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Manage Sci 1989;35(12):1504–13. Drucker PF. The practice of management. New York: Harper & Row; 1954. Electrolux. Branding and design. Internal document, Stockholm: Sweden; 2009. Electrolux. Brand Electrolux. Available at; 2010 http://group.electrolux.com/en/brandelectrolux-644/ [last access: 29 November 2010]. Ewing MT, Napoli J. Developing and validating a multidimensional nonprofit brand orientation scale. J Bus Res 2005;58(6):841–53. Franke N, Keinz P, Steger CJ. Testing the value of customization: when do customers really prefer products tailored to their preferences? J Marketing 2009;73(5):103–21. Gatignon H, Xuereb J-M. Strategic orientation of the firm and new product performance. J Bus Res 1997;34(1):77–90. Grant RM. Contemporary strategy analysis. Cambridge: Blackwell; 1995. Gromark J, Melin F. The underlying dimensions of brand orientation and its impact on financial performance. J Brand Manage 2011;18(6):394–410. Hamel G, Prahalad CK. Strategic intent. Harv Bus Rev 1989;67(3):63–76. Hamish P, Gordon W. Brand manners. Chichester: Wiley; 2001. Hankinson P. Brand orientation in the top 500 fundraising charities in the UK. J Prod Brand Manage 2001;10(6):346–60. Hankinson P. The impact of brand orientation on managerial practice: quantitative study of the UK 's top 500 fundraising managers. Int J Nonprofit Voluntary Sect Marketing 2002;7(1):30–44. Hatch MJ, Schultz M. Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate brand? Harv Bus Rev 2001;79(2):128–34. Hatch MJ, Schultz M. Taking brand initiative — how companies can align strategy, culture, and identity through corporate branding. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2008. Please cite this article as: Urde M, et al, Brand orientation and market orientation — From alternatives to synergy, J Bus Res (2011), doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.018 8 M. Urde et al. / Journal of Business Research xxx (2011) xxx–xxx Olson EM, Slater SF, Hult TM. The performance implications of fit among business strategy, marketing organization structure, and strategic behavior. J Marketing 2005;69(3):49–65. Persson N. Understanding the nature and relevance of brand orientation and brand equity in B2B brand management, paper presented at the 19th Business Administration Conference (NFF). Norway: Bergen; 2007. Persson, N. (2009) Tracing the drivers of B2B brand strength and value. Lund: Lund University Press, (PhD dissertation). Prahalad CK, Hamel G. The core competence of the corporation. Harv Bus Rev 1990;68 (3):79–91. Punjaisri K, Wilson A. The role of internal branding in the delivery of employee brand promise. J Brand Manage 2007;15(1):57–70. Reid M, Luxton S, Mavondo F. The relationship between integrated marketing communication, market orientation and brand orientation. J Advertising 2006;34 (4):11–23. Reinartz W, Krafft M, Hoyer WD. The customer relationship management process: its measurement and impact on performance. J Marketing Res 2004;41(4):293–305. Roberts G. Ben & Jerry 's builds on its social-values approach. Int Harald Tribune 2010;11 (17):9. Rust RT, Lemon KN, Zeithaml VA. Return on marketing: using customer equity to focus marketing strategy. J Marketing 2004;68(1):109–27. Schein EH. Organizational culture and leadership. 3 rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2004. Schultz DE, Tannenbaum SI, Lauterborn RF. Integrated marketing communications: pulling it together and making it work. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 1995. Shapiro BP. What the hell is ‘market oriented’? Harv Bus Rev 1988;66(6):119–25. Simoes C, Dibb S. Rethinking the brand concept: new brand orientation. Corporate Commun: An Int J 2001;6(4):217–24. Spiro RL, Weitz BA. Adaptive selling: conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity. J Marketing Res 1990;27(1):61–9. Urde M. Brand orientation: a strategy for survival. J Consum Marketing 1994;11(3):18–32. Urde, M. (1997). Märkesorientering [Brand Orientation]. Lund: Lund University Press (PhD dissertation). Urde M. Brand orientation: a mindset for building brand into strategic resources. J Marketing Manage 1999;15(1–3):117–33. Urde M. Core value-based corporate brand building. Eur J Marketing 2003;37(7/8): 1017–40. Urde M. Uncovering the corporate brand 's core values. Manage Decis 2009;47(4):616–38. van Riel CBM, Balmer JMT. Corporate identity: the concept, its measurement and management. Eur J Marketing 1997;31(5/6):340–55. Venkatesan R, Kumar VA. Customer lifetime value framework for customer selection and resource allocation strategy. J Marketing 2004;68(4):106–25. Volvo. Volvo core values policies. Internal document, Gothenburg: Sweden; 2007. Wedel M, Kamakura WA. Market segmentation: conceptual and methodological foundations. 2nd ed. Norwell: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2002. Weisenbach Keller E, Conway Dato-on M. Testing the premise that marketing attitudes and brand orientation correlate with nonprofit performance: connecting research and practice. Paper presented at the AMS conference; 2010. Wong H, Merrilees B. Closing the marketing strategy to performance gap: the role of brand orientation. J Strat Marketing 2007;15(5):387–402. Wong H, Merrilees B. The performance benefits of being brand-orientated. J Product Brand Manage 2008;17(6):372–83. Yoo B, Donthu N. Developing and validating a multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale. J Bus Res 2001;52(1):1–14. Zhou KZ, Yim CK, Tse DK. The effects of strategic orientations on technology- and market-based breakthrough innovations. J Marketing 2005;69(2):42–60. Homburg C, Pflesser CA. Multiple-layer model of market-oriented organizational culture: measurement issues and performance outcomes. J Marketing Res 2000;37 (4):449–62. Ind N. Inside out: how employees build value. J Brand Manage 2003;10(6):393–402. Ind N. Living the brand: how to transform every member of your organization into a brand champion. 3 rd ed. London: Kogan Page; 2007. 2007. Ind N, Bjerke R. The concept of participatory market orientation. J Brand Manage 2007;15(2):135–45. Itami H, Roehl TW. Mobilizing invisible assets. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1987. Jaworski BJ, Kohli AK. Market orientation: antecedents and consequences. J Marketing 1993;57(3):53–70. Kapferer J-N. The new strategic brand management. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page; 2008. Keiningham TL, Aksoy L, Perkins-Munn T, Vavra TG. The brand–customer connection. Marketing Manage 2005;14(4):33–7. Keller KL. Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. J Marketing 1993;57(1):1–22. Keller KL. Strategic brand management. 3 rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education; 2008. King S. Brand-building in the 1990s. J Consum Marketing 1991;8(4):43–51. Knapp DE. The brand mindset. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2000. Kohli AK, Jaworski BJ. Market orientation: the construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. J Marketing 1990;54(1):1–18. Kuhn TS. The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press; 1962. Kuhn TS. The essential tension: selected studies in scientific tradition and change. Chicago IL: The University of Chicago Press; 1977. Kumar N, Scheer L, Kotler P. From market driven to market driving. Eur Manage J 2000;18(2):129–42. Kunde J. Corporate religion. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall; 2000. Leone RP, Rao VR, Keller KL, Luo AM, McAlister L, Srivastava R. Linking brand equity to customer equity. J Serv Res 2006;9(2):125–38. LePla JF, Davis SV, Parker LM. Brand driven, London: Kogan Page; 2003. Louro M, Cunha P. Brand management paradigms. J Marketing Manage 2001;17(7/8): 849–75. Low GS, Fullerton RA. Brands, brand management, and the brand manager system: a critical–historical evaluation. J Marketing Res 1994;31(2):173–90. Meehan SA. What do we really know about market orientation? Bus Strategy Rev 1996;7(1):47–53. Melin, F. (1997). Varumärket som konkurrensmedel [The brand as a competitive tool]. Lund: Lund University Press, (PhD dissertation). Melin F, Urde M. Varumärket – en hotad tillgång [The brand as a strategic asset]. Stockholm: Marknadstekniskt Centrum; 1990. Miles MP, Arnold DR. The relationship between marketing orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. Entrepreneurship Theory Pract 1991;15(4):49–65. Mintzberg H. Mintzberg on management. New York, NY: The Free Press; 1989. Mitchell C. Selling the brand inside. Harv Bus Rev 2002;80(1):90–105. Napoli J. The impact of nonprofit brand orientation on organisational performance. J Marketing Manage 2006;22(7/8):673–94. Narver JC, Slater SF. The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. J Marketing 1990;54(4):20–35. Noble CH, Sinha RK, Kumar A. Market orientation and alternative strategic orientations: a longitudinal assessment of performance implications. J Marketing 2002;66(4):25–39. Olins W. The corporate personality: an inquiry into the nature of corporate identity. London: Thames and Hudson; 1978. Please cite this article as: Urde M, et al, Brand orientation and market orientation — From alternatives to synergy, J Bus Res (2011), doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.018