Public Relations, Branding and Authenticity

5 The riparian brand

Exploring polyphonic corporate brand identity and public relations

This chapter explores the theoretical background to a new understanding of how corporate brand identity is emerging in the 21st century, which develops into the book’s central theme of the riparian brand. Traditional perspectives of branding have focused on tangible brand construction as an important element of brand design and marketing (Moor 2007), and have seen public relations as a servant, supporting master brand values (Morris and Goldsworthy 2012). This chapter will instead consider the theoretical origins of a move towards an understanding of identity as projective and dynamic (Lury 2004). It will build on the current emphasis on the co-creation of ...