Guest editorial

Citation

Balmer, J.M.T. (2013), "Guest editorial", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 18 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij.2013.16818caa.001

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Volume 18, Issue 3

As befits a journal which supports leading and cutting edge research and scholarship it is highly appropriate that the first ever special edition devoted to the important, albeit nascent, domain of corporate heritage should appear in the CCIJ.

It is becoming apparent that corporate heritage in its broadest sense (encompassing the corporate heritage identities and corporate heritage brand constructs among others) is meaningful to a significant number of organisations. Corporate heritage affords a strategic leverage and advantage to many organisations but also demands new modes of management. Significantly, it requires scholars and practitioners of corporate communication and corporate marketing to reappraise extant theories and instrumental approaches of the aforementioned as they apply to corporate heritage institutions and to corporate heritage brands.

The genesis of this special edition draws on the papers presented at the First International Symposium on Corporate Heritage, History and Nostalgia which was held at Brunel University, London and at the Royal Overseas League Club, St. James’s, London over two days in November, 2011.

Leading scholars along with doctoral students in the field from Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, the USA – among other countries – presented papers during one of the symposium. The second day was devoted to key-note presentations on corporate heritage which were delivered by the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, John Micklethwait; by the Chief Executive of Coram (one of England’s oldest charities), Dr Carol Homden; and the owner/CEO of celebrated Savile Row tailors Norton and Son, Mr Patrick Grant.

Fittingly, the final symposium dinner, took place at Browns Hotel, Mayfair (the renowned corporate heritage hotel brand) and, fittingly, this dinner also marked the tenth anniversary to the day that Dr Mats Urde (Lund University) and I, at a breakfast meeting at the same hotel during the ICIG symposium, agreed to jointly work on a ground-breaking project on corporate heritage brands focussing on the Swedish Monarchy

The published output from this research led to the initial articulation of the corporate heritage brand construct and the articulation of its core facets (Balmer et al., 2006)..

At a follow up breakfast meeting (where only coffee was sipped on my part!) I persuaded a very reluctant Professor Stephen A. Greyser to take on the role as special advisor to the project. As they say, the rest is history and, for me personally, the dinner ten years on not only brought to a conclusion a very successful symposium but was, in addition, a fitting celebration of two, momentous, breakfast meetings.

Since 2011, I have organised or co organised a further symposium has been held at Brunel University in the spring of 2012 and a third symposium took place in the spring of 2013, at Jönköping International Business School, Sweden.

The four articles comprising this ground-breaking special edition are representative of some of the cutting-edge research and scholarship on the area which informed the first symposium and includes empirical, theoretical, instrumental and conceptual perspectives on the corporate heritage domain.

It would be sorely remiss of me if I did not thank Brunel University for their munificence in sponsoring this first symposium. (The funding came about as a result of a competitive, university-wide, competition which led to the six awards being given for 2010-2011). The award, in part, was in recognition of the cutting-edge work being undertaken by faculty and other researchers within the Centre for Research in Marketing vis-à-vis corporate heritage at Brunel University, London. I also wish to salute my esteemed colleague, Dr Natasha Slutskaya, who kindly worked with me in preparing our grant proposal and it is fair to say that her input was of material input in securing financial support from Brunel University.

Finally, I wish to thank the team of reviewers who provided feedback to the authors in a most expeditious manner and I am also grateful to the Editor of CCIJ, Dr Wim Elving, for his support, encouragement and patience.

I have no doubt, that this special edition meaningfully advances our general understanding of the corporate heritage field. Read on and enjoy!

John M.T. BalmerGuest Editor