Retaining existing brand equity when refreshing global corporate brands : Case Nokia
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Global corporate brands and the research on them has increased recently, as a growing number of
companies are eager to differentiate themselves in the increasingly competitive markets. Through
strategic brand management, corporations can grow brand equity and make their global corporate
brand a valuable asset for the business.
As brands and their context are constantly evolving, brand management strategies must adjust
accordingly. Research has proven, that brand refresh is an effective way to respond to the
dynamism of the brand and its environment by retaining existing brand equity while
simultaneously bringing in new sources of value for the brand. However, there is a lack of
knowledge on what kind of tactics go into brand refresh projects to retain existing equity while
also building new sources of it. Therefore, this thesis investigates how global corporate brands
can retain existing brand equity in a brand refresh.
This study was conducted as a qualitative case study through an interpretive approach. Already
existing knowledge revealed through an extensive literature review was consolidated with
evidence from the case of brand refresh of a global corporate brand, Nokia, in 2023. For data
triangulation, data from semi-structured expert interviews was combined with secondary data
gathered from documents. The empirical data from the interviews was analysed through thematic
analysis, whereas content analysis was the method of choice for the data collected from the
documents. Empirical findings were combined with the theoretical framework to provide both,
theoretical and practical implications on the research subject.
This study has confirmed that global corporate brands are dynamic and evolve over time, and that
their equity is built through two components – brand image and brand awareness. This study has
demonstrated, that to retain existing brand equity and to reposition itself simultaneously, a global
corporate brand should be tuned up with new sources of value while concurrently demonstrating
also the already existing sources of equity in the brand experience. The selected launch strategy
and the scope of change in the brand refresh have proven to impact the perceived magnitude of
change in both the brand and the organization behind it. Additionally, this study has confirmed
the interrelatedness of brand refresh projects to wider corporate strategies.