The Nobel Prize: the identity of a corporate heritage brand
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the identity of the Nobel Prize as a corporate heritage brand and its management challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate brand identity framework.
Findings
The Nobel Prize is a corporate heritage brand – one whose value proposition is based on heritage – in this case “achievements for the benefit of mankind” (derived directly from Alfred Nobel’s will). It is also defined as a “networked brand”, one where four independent collaborating organisations around the (Nobel) hub create and sustain the Nobel Prize’s identity and reputation, acting as a “federated republic”.
Research limitations/implications
The new and combined application of the Heritage Quotient framework and the Corporate Brand Identity Matrix in the Heritage Brand Identity Process (HBIP) offers a structured approach to integrate the identity of a corporate heritage brand. In a networked situation, understanding the role of stewardship in collaborating organisations is essential: The network entities maintain their own identities and goals, but share common values of the network hub.
Practical implications
The integrated frameworks (HBIP) provides a platform for managing a corporate heritage brand.
Originality/value
This is the first field-based study of the Nobel Prize from a strategic brand management perspective.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the cooperation of representatives of the Nobel Foundation and its several related institutions. The authors especially thank the present and former Executive Directors of the Nobel Foundation, Lars Heikensten and Michael Sohlman, and the Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestand. The authors also thank Nobel laureates and committee heads with whom we spoke. The authors are also grateful to Annika Pontikis of the Nobel Foundation for facilitating our unusual research endeavour. The authors also appreciate the comments of two anonymous reviewers. This research received no financial support from the Nobel Foundation. In addition, Gustav Källstrand (Nobel Museum), Stuart Roper (Manchester Business School), Jens Hultman, Rita Rakauskaite, and Carlotta Zorzi (all three Lund University), John Balmer (Brunel University) and Mario Burghausen (Essex University) provided meaningful insights. The authors also thank the Harvard Business School Division of Research for publishing a more comprehensive treatment of our research on the Nobel Prize, HBS Working Paper 15-010, 2014.
Note: Phrases in this paper related to “managing the brand” are ours, and not necessarily those of Nobel Prize representatives.
Citation
Urde, M. and Greyser, S.A. (2015), "The Nobel Prize: the identity of a corporate heritage brand", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 318-332. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-11-2014-0749
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited