Purpose -There is general agreement that global brands should ensure that they incorporate social responsibility. To do this properly, organisations must understand what it means to be socially responsible and how they can leverage their actions. The paper proposes consideration of three distinct areas: the range of social responsibility issues, what the organisations actually do and how to leverage those corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. This paper seeks to conceptually develop these three areas of complexity -Issue, Organisational and Communication -as it is only after organisations understand these three areas that they can effectively leverage socially responsible activities in their brands. Design/methodology/approach -This research undertakes a review and synthesis of the academic, practitioner and industry literature examining CSR and the brand, addressing the three areas of complexity -issue, organisational and communication.Findings -The research finds that within these three areas of complexity there are a number of sub-issues that must be addressed if CSR is to be strategically integrated into a global brand. This includes sub-issues associated with social issue complexity (identification, heterogeneity, measurement, and interpretation); organizational complexity (overall corporate brand, multiple products and brands, functional activities, and supply chain); and communication complexity (intensity of action/positioning, communicating action, types of programs utilised, and integration issues.) It thus provides an agenda for future research. Research limitations/implications -There is limited academic literature examining how global organisations incorporate CSR activities into their brand and the research proposes the issues that need to be considered when integrating CSR into branding strategy. Future research needs to be undertaken to explore the internal processes that global firms use to develop their CSR positioning strategies and some research propositions for future research are proposed. Additionally further exploration of each of the issues (and sub-issues) identified in this paper is warranted, and some suggestions are made for this. Practical implications -The results of this study show that developing a CSR leveraged brand in a consistent way that is salient to all stakeholders is no simple task for global organisations. By considering the three areas of complexity developed here organisations will be able to better understand and align their activities in line with CSR related issues. Being global means that organisations will likely need to ensure they address the highest set of global expectations, as any lower level may be criticised as being less than appropriate. Originality/value -The paper develops the sub-issues of issue, organisational and communication complexity associated with global brands' CSR activities. This strategic perspective goes beyond focusing on the tactical activities undertaken or the philosophical issue of whether CSR should be undertaken. The work ...

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present a call to action for universities to practice what they preach in developing and communicating differentiated brands. Design/methodology/approach -Reviews some recent literature on university branding and contrasts this with other industries. Findings -For the benefit not just of intending students, but also for the benefit of potential and existing staff as well as research clients and graduate employers, universities should develop meaningfully differentiated brands to communicate their strengths. Research limitations/implications -University brand managers should seek to clearly differentiate their offerings from the competition. Aspects of a university's brand attract students, staff, and industry seeking staff or consultancy. Originality/value -The large amounts of expenditure on university marketing would be more efficiently used if the principles of brand management taught within them were applied properly.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate reactions to the divine proportion (a ratio of 1: 1.618) in logo design across different cultures.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is a survey in three different countries: Australia, Singapore and South Africa.FindingsResults showed there is universal preference for the divine proportion across cultures. Logos based on forms found in nature that were expressed in the divine proportion were most preferred, but for artificially constructed logos, a 1:1 ratio was preferred.Research limitations/implicationsA limited set of ratios were considered. Further research could investigate different ratios and different logos.Practical implicationsInternational brand managers should commission designs that use natural forms based on the divine proportion. Different national cultures react similarly to logo designs, in contrast to many other fields of business where strong cultural differences exist.Originality/valueThis paper is the first exploration of responses to the divine proportion in logo design across cultures.

Many small businesses in the 1990s are compelled to compete beyond their comfort zone (local markets) due to the globalization and internationalization of the marketplace. At the same time, the commercialization of the Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for small businesses to engage in national and international marketing campaigns which could have been unaffordable due to the huge amount of resources required. This paper discusses why the Internet is particularly important for small business international marketing. It then investigates how small business network exchange can be initiated and supported using the Internet, which in turn provides a platform for international marketing. It abo explores strategies for carrying out marketing activities on the Internet, considering the different kinds of inter-organizational relationships that exist within small business networks. Finally, it is argued that marketing is only one aspect of how small business networks can gain strategic advantage in using the Internet. The fundamental issue is to build useful inter-organizational systems to support not only marketing activities among small businesses on the Internet but also to transform activities on different parts of the small business value chain.

Purpose of the Manuscript-To discusses the importance of understanding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by analysing the issues that comprise CSR. Without this understanding it will not be possible for organisations to develop responsible brands. Approach-The paper draws on the existing business and marketing literature to define four aspects of issue complexity. It also draws on a range of real and hypothetical examples affecting local and global organisations to explain the four components. Limitations-The work is conceptual in nature and additional research needs to be undertaken to better understand how organisations define the CSR issues that they will integrate into activities and how the management of these issues can be undertaken to ensure system wide implementation. Practical Implications-The work suggests that by understanding the four components of issues complexity organisations will be in a better position to integrate CSR related branding. Without understanding these issues, organisations may potentially unintentionally exaggerate claims or set themselves up to be criticised that they are unfairly exploiting consumers' interest in CSR issues. Value-Previous research has documented the value of CSR, but to date there have been only limited attempts to systematically examine how managers could know whether they have considered the issue completely and realistically.