Articulo_7_EN_Doxa_27

Corporate Culture Department (what is shared as member of an organization depends on the identity of the corporate brand). This is the reason why this research will take into account the influence of this set of intangibles in the communi-cation strategies carried out by corporate brands in Spain today, with a future-oriented approach.

Thirdly, corporate brand communication is significantly limited by the company’s brand architecture. This concept refers to the way in which the company’s brand portfolio, the relationships established between different brands (Aaker, 2004) and the corporate brand are organized. As mentioned before, corporate brand has an influence on the communication strategies of commercial brands. Brand architecture will be the element defining the level of influence of corporate iden-tity on the communication strategies for products and services.

Overall, brand architecture can be divided into the following strategies: 1) branded house, the same name (brand) for all services and products of the organization (Kotler & Keller, 2006), 2) endorsed brands, when an institutional brand supports all the brands of the organization with its corporate identity (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000a), and 3) house of brands, a strategy in which the company presents each product or commercial brand with a different name (brand) and visual identity (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000b). The choice of a certain strategy will limit or enhance the company’s com-munication strategies and relationships with stakeholders, since the communicational focus will rest on the corporate or commercial brand strategy chosen. In branded house and endorsed brand architectures, corporate brand may relevantly influence the communicative style of commercial brands, since corporate identity shapes the core of the products and services communicated.

In either case, the message of corporate brands must be consistent with their identity and should prevent generating contents that may end up “focusing exclusively on their area of activity” (Capriotti, 2007: 53). Therefore, communication should reinforce a certain image that stems from identity. Literature exposes tools and platforms for corporate brand communication, such as:

Corporate advertising (press, radio, television, cinema, outdoor advertising – advertising ads on print media, spots, bill-boards and monopoles, etc.) (Ortega Martinez, 1997, p.78), – or internet (built-in and floating formats, social networking, marketing e-mails or websites, etc.) (Pintado et al., 2010).

Public relations, such as internal magazines, bulletin boards, posters, events, annual reports, brochures, guided vis-its, publicity, congresses, conferences, contests, sponsorships inaugurations, social collaboration or social action pro-grammes (Reinares & Calvo, 2001:25).

All these tools and platforms are aimed at communicating corporate brand actions, rooted in the creation of an image in line with corporate identity. Intangible assets are capable of generating content communicable through these means. In branded house or endorsed brand architectures, corporate brand communication reinforces the perception of products and services among consumers. However, it is found that the communication tools described are not only designed to have an impact on consumers, but to provide the brand with a multi-stakeholder vision. This means that there are other audiences for corporate brands, and that management of the relationships with stakeholders will determine what is com-municated and who is the recipient, from the corporate communication standpoint.