Exploring the impact of organizational silos on brand consistency

Abstract

Brand consistency, the seamless delivery of a brand promise across all touchpoints, is essential for reinforcing a firm's identity and establishing unique positioning. Consistent branding hinges on internal brand alignment beyond mere understanding, but in the integration and translation of the brand's core values into actionable behaviors across touchpoints. However, the presence organizational silos can challenge the mechanisms needed to achieve effective brand alignment. Through leveraging a single firm setting, this study investigates how organizational silos manifest within an organization, their effects on internal brand alignment, and how alignment, impacted by silos, influences overall brand consistency. Despite having a well-­established brand and internal cultural alignment, various process barriers contribute to siloed information flow. This fragmented knowledge creates disjointed perceptions of brand responsibility, leading to inconsistencies in brand enactments across touchpoints. Consequently, a misalignment emerges between the brand's aspirational image and its actual day-­to­-day delivery. By highlighting the influence of process barriers on brand consistency, this research contributes to the understanding of the challenges faced by siloed organizations.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Parada (Supervisor)