Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study practices associated with corporate brand alignment enacted
by marketing managers in an emerging business to business market.
Design/methodology/approach – The “Marketing-as-practice” perspective is used to examine brand
alignment-related practices. A five months fieldwork was undertaken wherein primary data were collected
using in-depth interviews of 30 managers representing steel, mining, energy, engineering consulting and
Information Technology/Information Technology-Enabled Services’ sectors along with observational data
from event sites and industry meets. Secondary data stemmed from marketing plans and events’ rosters. Data
were analysed adopting the practice turn.
Findings – The constitution of three practices concerning brand alignment is unearthed: (1) practice of identifying
key stakeholders, (2) practice of narrativization of brand promises and (3) practice of engaging key stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications – This study highlights the dynamic nature of corporate brand
alignment requiring a continuous gap analysis to verify coherency between internal and external brand
elements. It also highlights the elicited relation between alignment, authenticity and advocacy. Suggestions
for further research are provided.
Practical implications – This study elucidates managers’ role as intrapreneurs in the process of alignment
and provides a possible solution to the new marketing myopia which impairs stakeholder management.
Originality/value – This research identifies that brand alignment is not an abstract concept but a set of
practices that help convert the symbolic capital held in brands into cultural and social capital.