Recovering the corporate brand: Lessons from an industry crisis.

Abstract

Purpose: Building on crisis management studies, this paper advances research on brand recovery from the existing focus on product brand/customer dyad into stakeholder marketing and corporate branding. Design/methodology/approach: Uses a single case of industry-dominant corporate brand in an enriched context through in-depth analysis of industry informant and secondary data. Findings: Uncovers a novel framework of corporate brand and stakeholder interactions designed to recover corporate brand and restore trust in the industry. Research limitations/implications: The study offers an evidence-based framework of stakeholder interactions designed to support corporate brand recovery (CBR). The rich data are bounded within a single case. Practical implications: The framework illustrates the importance of drawing on stakeholders in CBR, particularly in an industry crisis, emphasises trust restoration and reveals the peripheral role of customers in corporate brand recovery. Social implications: The significance of stakeholder networks, particularly in insurance and financial services, in addressing social and ethical issues related to corporate misdeeds is identified. Originality/value: The study contributes new significant insight to brand recovery research in two ways: firstly, by investigating the recovery of brands at corporate level and, secondly, by revealing the interactions of stakeholders and the corporate brand that are geared towards recovery, all within a stricken industry.