Narrative construction of corporate branding: ambiguities, mixed feelings and ambivalence

This paper investigates how ambiguities, mixed feelings and ambivalence emerge during a corporate brand driven strategic change process and how these emotions are embedded in the narrative constructions of the change over time. Drawing on rich ethnographic data from an industrial B-to-B organization, the empirical analysis leads to distinguishing four time-sensitive, yet partly overlapping narratives: Unification, Alignment, Streamlining and Withdrawal. Over time, the interpretation of the corporate brand building project changed from an invigorating internal development endeavour to a perception of an adversarial marketing tool. Ambiguity, mixed feelings and ambivalence characterized the unfolding corporate branding process, eventually leading to a dissolution of the project. Our paper contributes to the growing body of organizational research on corporate branding by elucidating the multivocal, ambiguity-filled, constantly changing interpretations of a corporate branding project. Furthermore, it deepens understanding of emotions in organizations by shedding light on how ambiguities, mixed feelings and ambivalence constitute unconscious dynamics in influencing the way change unfolds.