Brand Identity Development and the Role of Marketing Communications: Brand Experts’ View

Recently academics outlined the importance of brand relationships and brand experiences as building blocks of brand identities. New marketing communication tools, which enable interactions and consumer engagement, are among the most important tools mentioned for strengthening brand relationships and enhancing brand experiences by academics. Therefore the paper analyses the understanding of brand identity building blocks by brand experts and their usage of new marketing communication tools. Twelve in-depth interviews have been conducted among brand experts in Slovenia. Our findings imply that brand experts’ knowledge about brand identity is not consistent with the newest brand identity conceptualizations, by not considering brand relationships and brand experiences as building blocks of brand identity. Even if new marketing communications have been adapted to the great extent, traditional marketing communication tools still prevail and therefore new marketing communication tools, especially mobile advertising is in majority still in its infancy.