Service branding: the development of a typology of service brands at the corporate level

Abstract

This paper shows and discusses a typology of service brands at the corporate level. The typology emerges from a combination of two constructs: ‘customer base’ and ‘competitive environments’. The service brands are conceptualized as modes of maintenance, surveillance and dynamic changes, which are shown in a 2x2 matric. The service brand typology is discussed, and the paper explains that dynamic change is preferred in turbulent, competitive, complex and dynamic environments with a shifting and dynamic customer base. A set of implications is offered, i.e. theoretically that a high degree of customer and competitor focus is in alignment with the service brand conceptualized as dynamic change. The paper contributes to the extant knowledge of service branding by its discussion of a typology of service brands at the company brand level in service enterprises.