TY - JOUR
T1 - Assembling the Start-up Brand
T2 - A Process Framework for Understanding Strategic Communication Challenges
AU - Chaudhri, Vidhi
AU - Pridmore, Jason
AU - Mauck, Carola
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022/3/29
Y1 - 2022/3/29
N2 - The proliferation of start-ups and their contribution to the global economy is well-documented as is their high failure rate, a paradox attributable in large part to the inadequate attention start-ups ascribe to establishing a strong brand. Premised on the idea that brand-building is an active process of meaning-making and an assemblage of layers of professional and material activities, our study offers an empirically grounded approach to start-up branding. Based on an inductive analysis of interviews with co-founders of 15 start-up and scale-up brands, we propose a process framework of start-up branding that highlights the strategic communication processes by which entrepreneurs bring their products to market. Through this contribution, we make clear that entrepreneurial brand building is not a one-size-fits all process and that there is no linear pathway. While the framework is not predictive of success, it is indicative of a new formulation of how strategic communication can be used to understand and evaluate brand processes within entrepreneurial organizations.
AB - The proliferation of start-ups and their contribution to the global economy is well-documented as is their high failure rate, a paradox attributable in large part to the inadequate attention start-ups ascribe to establishing a strong brand. Premised on the idea that brand-building is an active process of meaning-making and an assemblage of layers of professional and material activities, our study offers an empirically grounded approach to start-up branding. Based on an inductive analysis of interviews with co-founders of 15 start-up and scale-up brands, we propose a process framework of start-up branding that highlights the strategic communication processes by which entrepreneurs bring their products to market. Through this contribution, we make clear that entrepreneurial brand building is not a one-size-fits all process and that there is no linear pathway. While the framework is not predictive of success, it is indicative of a new formulation of how strategic communication can be used to understand and evaluate brand processes within entrepreneurial organizations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127525517&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2021.1976784
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2021.1976784
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127525517
VL - 16
SP - 206
EP - 221
JO - International Journal of Strategic Communication
JF - International Journal of Strategic Communication
SN - 1553-118X
IS - 2
ER -