A framework for brand competitiveness

This paper introduces an integrated conceptual framework for brand competitiveness, designed to trigger a paradigm shift in marketing from an absolute to relative perspective for academics and practitioners alike. Brand competitiveness is an emerging concept, integrating literature from marketing, management and economics. Quintessentially, brand competitiveness is the outperformance of competing brands. To advance the embryonic work on the construct, the objective of this article is to develop an integrated conceptual framework to understand brand competitiveness more comprehensively within its nomological network. This article presents consequences of brand competitiveness and draws on strategic orientations – guiding principles, influencing marketing and strategy-making activities to achieve superior performance – as antecedents. Suggested drivers of brand competitiveness include (internal brand orientation, market orientation (customer, competitor, internal market orientation, relationship orientation, innovation orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. This article is the first to develop a holistic model of brand competitiveness.