13-11-2012, 01:55 PM
Internal Branding in an Indian Bank:An Initial Exploration
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Abstract
The last decade has witnessed a significant research interest in the concept of internal
branding. While the focus on the external brand has always been there, with the increase in
service sector the focus has now shifted to the internal brand. People are the key resources in
a service brand and they are ultimately responsible for delivering promises made to customers.
Accordingly, they need a shared understanding of their service brand's values, along with
strong commitment and identification, to encourage brand supporting behaviour (Vallaster
and De Chernatony, 2005).
In this paper we examine the extent to which a multinational bank in India has adopted
internal branding practices from an employee perspective. The empirical study has revealed
that employees are cognizant of the efforts put in by the management towards internal
branding. Customer feedback and complaints were the most effective measure of internal
branding. Employees perceived internal branding as an activity of 'Top Management' and
'Marketing Department' and lack of effective communication within the organization was
the major obstacle in building an internal brand.
INTRODUCTION
With the growth of service sector
worldwide, the importance of
employees and their contribution
towards building a successful service
brand has been widely accepted.
Companies spend lavishly for building
the external brand but the same
conscious effort is not accorded towards
building the internal brand.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The term ‘Internal Marketing’ has been
used alongside internal branding,
Czaplewski, Ferguson and Milliman
(2001) believe that internal marketing is
‘an important way to obtain, develop,
motivate, and retain skilled staff and
energize employees who in turn provide
high quality service’. Mitchell, (2002)
purport that the creation of internal
branding is through the practice of
internal marketing. The review of
different authors’ viewpoints on internal
marketing (Berry and Parasuraman,
1991; Tansuhaj et al., 1991), provide
support to recent studies (Punjaisri,
Evanschitzky and Wilson, 2007;
Vallaster and de Chernatony, 2006)
within the internal branding context that
argue for the coordination between
human resources and internal
communication disciplines to
successfully achieve internal branding
objectives. Internal branding is definitely
more holistic than internal marketing.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research has aimed at identifying
the current internal branding practices
followed at the selected bank.
Employees working at various levels in
the bank were surveyed using a
structured questionnaire. The sample
consisted of executive trainees,
probationary officers and assistant
managers. Non probability quota
sampling method was used and data
were collected through e-mail. The
questionnaire was developed on the
basis of a previous study titled “Internal
Branding Best Practices Study” by
MacLaverty, McQuillan and Oddie
(2007). The researchers tried to explore
which department was responsible for
internal branding, the challenges faced
by companies in the implementation of
internal branding, the major tools and
techniques used by companies for
building the internal brand and finally
measuring the effectiveness of internal
branding strategies.