ABSTRACT
According to the latest Forbes ranking, Apple is the world’s most valuable brand, with a brand valuation of $182.8 billion. The top 100 Forbes-rated brands for 2018 spanned 16 countries, crossed 20 broad industry categories, and had a cumulative brand value of $2.15 trillion (Forbes 2018). How do successful brands such as these gain trust and legitimisation from their brand users? Is brand loyalty and trust based on emotional or rational criteria, and why is it that some brands are perceived as authentic and others not? The nature of brands, the products they represent, communications policies, and overall reputation seem to be important components, but how do these all fit together? The following chapters aim to explore these questions. In particular the book considers how public relations practitioners have taken on a pivotal role in corporate brand reputation management because of their stakeholder focus, dialogical communications skills, and their understanding of how 21st century brands have to dynamically respond to their social environments. The theoretical argument developed as the book unfolds aims to challenge existing ideas about corporate identity and corporate brand personality management arguing that a digital turn in public relations has realigned public relations as an important discipline in determining and focusing corporate brand personalities and narratives. Branding is not traditionally mainstream to public relations activity, but as the behaviour of umbrella and group organisations which own brands becomes more important to consumers (Portal et al 2018), so the link between corporate branding and reputation becomes closer and more aligned. In addition to this, the need for organisations to be able to present and deliver a consistent narrative, and a believable corporate character (Arthur W. Page Society 2007, Watson 2010), has become more important in an age where global communications has been empowered and democratised by digital media (Gilpin et al 2010), and where corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental concerns have come to the forefront of branding and corporate reputation issues.
