Introduction to the special section “Brand and Innovation Interdependency”

Abstract

Over the past decade, a number of empirical studies and analytical models have contributed to our understanding of brand and innovation management. Although branding and innovation are both popular and fruitful areas of academic research, we suggest a more expansive discussion to consider the interrelationship between the two in greater detail. To help address this complex interdependency, we issued a call for papers to encourage research that unites the two often disparate disciplines. The timing of the special issue is appropriate because many firms today are based and deeply rely on both strong brands and product and service innovations for their long-term survival and success. For example, many fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies focus on strengthening brands with products and services of superior value supported by new technologies and innovations to improve the lives of consumers (e.g., Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Unilever).The articles in this special section offer a more complete understanding of the interrelationship of branding and innovation with the goal of helping marketers make important decisions such as which innovations to launch under which brand. The objective of this introductory note is to provide an overview for the articles that comprise the special section. After undergoing a rigorous review process, four articles have been selected from all submissions to be included in the special section, each with its own distinctive contribution to expanding our knowledge of the brand and innovation interdependency. Through these four papers, we aim to bridge the branding and innovation research streams to gain insight and encourage further research that explicitly combines these two areas.