عوامل تعیین کننده عملکرد برند: نقش برند داخلی Determinants of brand performance: the role of internal branding

Introduction Brands are intangible assets that represent value and provide firms an opportunity to extract higher rents and prices from customers (Keller and Lehmann 2006). It is not surprising that firms strive to build strong brands. Much of the literature on brands and brand management is discussed from the consumer perspective (Baumgarth and Schmidt 2010; Santos-Vijande et al. 2013). Only recently have researchers started paying attention to brand management from an organizational perspective (Baumgarth and Schmidt 2010; Merz et al. 2009; Santos-Vijande et al. 2013). The literature in brand management from an organizational perspective focuses on the brand orientation (Urde 2016; Urde et al. 2013), strategic brand management (Keller 1993; Keller and Lehmann 2006), and internal branding (Burmann and Zeplin 2005; de Chernatony 2001; King and Grace 2008; Piehler et al. 2016; Punjaisri and Wilson 2007, 2011). While these three components are seen as the cornerstones for improving brand performance, the links among them have not been established. Specifically, the role of employees, and the organization’s effort to align their employees and brands with each other, i.e., internal branding in the organization’s brand management strategy, has not been fully investigated (Sirianni et al. 2013; Tavassoli et al. 2014). The importance of understanding the role of internal branding in facilitating brand performance is anchored in the notion that employees represent resources whose skills and knowledge can be harnessed to provide a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations (Punjaisri and Wilson 2011). Employees are also considered as brand ambassadors and internal stakeholders, whose actions are pivotal for the execution of brand strategies. The role of internal stakeholders contributing to a brand’s success is also consistent with the literature on brand identity. The development of a strong brand identity is dependent on the motivation and willingness of the internal stakeholders to execute the brand vision (Burmann and Zeplin 2005; de Chernatony and Riley 1999; Harris and de Chernatony 2001; Simo˜es et al. 2005). There have been calls for organizations to have a brand-oriented mindset and to manage brands from a strategic perspective (Keller 1993; Urde et al. 2013). But these efforts can only succeed when the employees in the organization are working toward the strategic brand goals set by the organizations. Therein, lies the problem. Marketing employees’ turnover, especially for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and brand managers, is extremely high (Bennett 2011; Ellett 2016). This poses a problem for the execution of strategic brand management objectives in two ways.