Monarchical Perspectives on Corporate Brand Management

We report the insights gained from a major international landmark study into Monarchies as Corporate Brands. We were granted privileged and unprecedented access to Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden, to members of the Royal Family and to Senior Officials of the Royal Household of Sweden. Our study, drawing on field research and drawing on the extensive literature on monarchy, resulted in identifying nine elements, relevant to managing a corporate brand. We call this ‘The Corporate Brand Management Protocol.’ The protocol requires orchestrating nine elements, which we identify as responsibility, identity, affinity, philosophy, activity, community, consistency, sensitivity, and connectivity. A key affirmation from our study is the necessity for on-going guardianship of corporate brands: we label this duty ‘Corporate Brand Custodianship. For monarchies this resides with Sovereigns and their Royal Courts and, in business contexts, this falls to the CEO and to Senior Management. They are the ultimate defenders of the corporate brand.