Successful hotel branding requires the management of both external and internal branding. External branding has been widely studied to understand how hotel brands connect with customers; however, internal branding targets internal employees, and the practice is not well understood by hoteliers. For that reason, this study proposes a framework for implementing internal branding in hotel organizations. We analyzed an internal branding project for three consecutive years using a participatory action study. The findings of this study support a six dimensions framework for implementing internal branding strategies: (1) corporate support; (2) leadership of managers; (3) reciprocal learning; (4) being proactive at the personal level; (5) characteristics of departments; and (6) performance evaluation. In the proposed framework, we applied a combined social identity and social exchange approach to identify how these approaches function in different paths which contributes new theoretical insights to the understanding of internal branding.

Introduction

To build strong brands, both internal and external branding initiatives are needed (Davies & Chun, 2002). Brands need to maintain relationships with both internal and external stakeholders by improving both internal organizational identity and external customer identity (Urde, 2003). When considering internal branding, employees are vital assets to building and maintaining a favorable corporate reputation and brand image (Gofton, 2000). Organizations and customers are better served if employees have a strong attachment to and a positive image of their own companies. Employees’ identification with and internalization of a company’s brand values and norms can reflect strongly on their service to external customers (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994; Gotsi & Wilson, 2001) which is particularly relevant to front-line team members in the service industry. The central role of service employees in the hotel industry cannot be overemphasized. Service organizations are labor-intensive, and they depend on employees to maintain and deliver brand promises to guests. Because of their many interactions with customers, the perception of employee service and the actual delivery of service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985) determine the scope of service quality and, ultimately, customer satisfaction with the brand. During service delivery, employee attitude and brand-related competencies are highly valued (O’Neill & Mattila, 2010); therefore, the benefit of well-trained employees who “live the brand” (Gotsi & Wilson, 2001) is growing, yet few service studies have comprehensively examined employee brand education (Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016).