Brand Building Overview

Principles

Definition

Brand building is a strategic process and academic concept focused on the systematic development and management of a brand's identity, equity, and market position. As a research area, it investigates the principles, processes, and outcomes associated with creating, communicating, and sustaining a brand's value proposition and relationship with stakeholders, characterized by its long-term orientation, multifaceted nature, and critical role in achieving competitive advantage and organizational value.

Ontological type

Core Dimensions

Strategic Frameworks

Consumer Relationship Effects

Key developments

Key Figures

Consumer-Based Brand Equity era

Kevin Lane Keller [1] is a foundational figure in consumer-based brand equity, with affiliations at Stanford University [3] and Duke University [4] during this era. His key contributions include Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity [6], Consumer Evaluations of Brand Extensions [7], and The Effects of Brand Name Suggestiveness on Advertising Recall [8], which collectively linked brand knowledge to differential consumer responses and loyalty. Jennifer Aaker [2] is a key contributor with ties to Stanford University [3] and the University of California, Los Angeles [5] in this era. Her work includes Dimensions of Brand Personality [9], which helps explain how brands signal consistent meanings across products and touchpoints, reinforcing consumer-based brand knowledge and loyalty.

Brand Value Governance era

Eric J. Arnould[1], affiliated with the University of Arizona[3] and the University of Illinois Chicago[4], stands as a key figure in Brand Value Governance during 2004–2010. His 2009 paper How Brand Community Practices Create Value[6] articulates how brand communities generate value, translating symbolic resonance into tangible economic outcomes and informing governance routines. Hope Jensen Schau[2], affiliated with the University of Arizona[3] and Temple University[5], co-authored the same work on brand communities, contributing to governance-oriented brand value in this era[6]. Schau[2]'s contribution, as reflected in How Brand Community Practices Create Value[6], demonstrates that brand communities can translate cultural symbolism into measurable firm value, reinforcing internal branding, leadership alignment, and cross-functional governance as essential mechanisms for this governance-focused era.

Digital Engagement and Authenticity era

Wayne D. Hoyer [1] is a scholar whose work in this era is associated with the University of Bern [3] and The University of Texas at Austin [4]. His key contribution centers on Emotional Brand Attachment and Brand Personality: The Relative Importance of the Actual and the Ideal Self [7], a finding that helped anchor authenticity and consumer-brand engagement in digital contexts. Cleopatra Veloutsou [2] is a scholar whose work in this era has been affiliated with the University of Glasgow [5] and the University of Edinburgh [6]. Her contributions include Consumer engagement in online brand communities: a social media perspective [8] and Unveiling heterogeneous engagement-based loyalty in brand communities [9], which collectively advance understanding of how online communities drive engagement, loyalty, and authentic brand meaning in digital ecosystems.