Every now and then new theories, conceptual additions and innovative practices related to brand management come to the fore and enlighten us. A lot of contemporary research shows that the domain knowledge from the arena of brand management is influencing and enhancing the conceptual domain of other allied disciplines.

One such allied stream which has been enriched by the application of various concepts from brand management is Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). This amalgamation is not only enriching the allied field, it is also broadening the scope of application of an array of brand management concepts. The first paper in this issue is a testimony to this phenomenon. Bilal Mustafa Khan in his paper titled, “Brand Personality and Consumer Congruity: Implications for Advertising Strategy”, examines the influence of brand personality on advertising response in the concept of fashion lifestyle branding. The author explores the measurement and application of Brand Personality Congruence (BPC) and attempts to establish a relationship between self-congruency and advertising response measures. The paper presents a comparison between self-congruity and brand personality. This empirical study is able to show the predictive power of consumer personality on brand preferences; and the results are consistent with previous research findings that consumers use brands to express their actual personality.

The second paper in this issue also integrates concepts from the domain of IMC with brand management concepts. Meenal P Dhotre and Sarang S Bhola in their paper, “Analytical Study of Association Between Celebrity Advertising and Brand Recall”, attempt to explore various dimensions of celebrity endorsements and their impact on brand recall. Through their empirical research, the authors conclude that only traditional entertainment channels have a better recall when it comes to the top-of-mind recall. The research findings also reveal that film personalities, at least in India, are preferred over the sports personalities.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is another area that is employing concepts from the domain of brand management to devise successful strategies. Vikram Kapoor, in his paper, “Employer Branding: A Study of Its Relevance in India”, highlights the stated phenomenon. The author tries to ascertain the relevance of employer branding in India, whether it is merely superficial or is there something more innate to it. Employer branding is no doubt one of the most important precepts of modern management, one that offers a fine blending of the science of marketing with the art of enlightened human relations management.

Paulo De Lencastre and Ana Côrte-Real, in their paper titled, “A Brand Triangle Model to Avoid Branding Myopia”, take the metaphor of myopia to explain the most limited vision of brand, understood as the identifying sign of a product. The authors apply a model which broadens the concept of brand to three dimensions—that of the identity sign itself, the object the sign refers to and the response of the market to the sign. According to the authors, the model proposed by them enables people associated with brand management to look at brand as a concept which brings together all the marketing actions of the organization.

Brand alliance is not a new concept, but today we see innumerable brand alliances all around us. But what are the theoretical research challenges for brand alliances in the present and the future scenario? This question is addressed by Henrik Uggla and Per Åsberg in their paper, “A Psycho-Semiotic Research Agenda for Strategic Brand Alliances”. The authors propose a research agenda with six strategies based on the identification of binary oppositions in brand alliance exploration. For each research area, a reconciling concept is identified by the authors and they discuss it in relation to the empirical highlights. According to the authors, the research areas proposed by them, along with aligned epistemological strategies, can facilitate brand strategy development within the co-branding area in the future.

A contemporary area in the domain of brand management is brand accounting. A D O Otonkue, B E Edu and Echeng Ezak in their paper, “Accounting for Brands: Contemporary Issues and Alternative Options”, dwell on areas related to brand accounting, which include—the need for accountants in the valuation and management of brands, reliability of cost measurement of brands, accounting treatment for brands, revaluation of intangible assets and disclosure requirements. According to the authors, brand valuation appears to be the most promising technique capable of illustrating the importance of brands to managers while bridging the different orientations between accountants and marketing managers.

Application of brand management concepts are widespread in the tourism industry. But what is important to the consumers? What are they looking for in a tourist destination? What prospective brand image should a tourist destination portray? A host of such questions are continuously being debated in the tourism industry. The next paper attempts to address a few of such questions. Neeraj Kaushik, Jyoti Kaushik, Priyanka Sharma and Savita Rani in their paper, “Factors Influencing Choice of Tourist Destinations: A Study of North India”, attempt to determine the factors which are considered more important by tourists while selecting their destination. The authors suggest that there are seven factors, namely, communication, objectivity, basic facilities, attraction, support services, distinctive local features and psychological and physical environment that tourists deem important. Thus brand appeal based on these factors would be successful in attracting tourists to a particular destination.

- Nitin Gupta
Consulting Editor