Brand Strategy and Brand Identity: Exploring the Co-creation of Brand Strategy and Brand Identity Through Analysing a Branding Agency's Internal Co-creation Process

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UNIVERSITY OF EASTER FINLAND Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies Business School

BRAND STRATEGY AND BRAND IDENTITY

Exploring the Co-creation of Brand Strategy and Brand Identity Through Analysing a Branding Agency's Internal Co-creation Process

Master’s Thesis, Innovation Management Gerly Matihaldi (306021)

8 July 2021

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2 ABSTRACT

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies Master's Program in Innovation Management

MATIHALDI, GERLY: Brand Strategy and Brand Identity: Exploring the Co-creation of Brand Strategy and Brand Identity Through Analysing a Branding Agency's Internal Co- creation Process.

Master's Thesis: pages 89 Supervisor: Pasi Hirvonen July 2021

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Key concepts: knowledge sharing, information transformation, brand strategy, brand identity

This study aims to enlighten the understanding of the internal meetings process and context of creative agencies. Taking a closer look at the team knowledge sharing and information transformation process in those creative briefs and clarifying the internal meetings' characteristics, and emphasizing the importance of data and team member roles in this transformation. Moreover, finding innovation initiators in teams and what their tasks are compared to other team members.

Theoretical framework and empirical discussion support understanding internal information process flow and its content of building brand strategy and creating a brand visual identity. The study focuses on defining characters that are relevant for knowledge sharing—showing the relevance of trust, team roles, work experience, team diversity, educational background, and openness innovation. The synthesis of team ability to innovate when other team members provide the opportunity and space continues the theoretical framework.

The qualitative case study method has been applied to empirical research. The case study was a creative agency, including three brand strategy building cases that support the example case study in this research. The focus is on one client's example because of the team's availability and spoken language. The data for this research was collected by ob- servation; frame and content analysis was performed on the transcripts.

The study emphasizes the importance of creating a perfect environment for knowledge sharing in teams during internal meetings, improving the information transformation process among team members, and fostering innovation in that process. The study provides an overview of the creative agency's internal procedure in building brand strategy and brand visual identity creation, and the results show how vital brand strategist and creative director roles are. In conclusion, successful knowledge-sharing meeting characteristics depend on team trust, roles, work experience, team diversity, educational background, willingness to listen, feedback possibilities, and openness to innovation. Managerial implications are made based on the theoretical framework, and research findings presented.

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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ... 4

1.1 The role of innovation in the internal communication process ... 5

1.2 The role of innovation in creatives' creative process ... 6

1.3 The purpose of the study ... 7

1.4 Key concepts and structure of the study ... 9

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 11

2.1 Brand Strategy ... 11

2.1.1 Brand strategy stages and key concepts ... 13

2.1.2 Communicating brand strategy ... 19

2.2 Brand Identity ... 19

2.2.1 Brand visual identity stages and key concepts ... 21

2.2.2 Acquiring information for brand visual identity ... 24

2.2.3 Communicating brand visual identity... 25

2.3 Team's collaboration and communication in organizations ... 27

2.3.1 Internal communication process ... 30

2.3.2 Types of communication ... 33

2.3.3 Creatives' roles in communication ... 34

2.4 The connective elements ... 35

2.4.1 Trust, roles, communication, and openness for innovation ... 36

2.4.2 Research focus on internal processes ... 38

3 RESEARCH METHODS AND ANALYSIS ... 42

3.1 Methodological approach ... 43

3.2 Data collection ... 45

3.3 Analysis of the data ... 48

4 RESULTS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ... 50

4.1 Building brand strategy ... 51

4.2 Building brand visual identity ... 53

4.3 Team knowledge sharing characteristics ... 55

4.4 Setting up the team for knowledge receiving success ... 69

4.5 Summary of the research results ... 71

5 CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION ... 73

5.1 Key results ... 73

5.2 The key contribution of this study ... 77

5.3 Future research and new process implications ... 79

5.4 Research limitations ... 79

REFERENCES ... 81

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4 1 INTRODUCTION

Brand identity creation is tightly connected to brand strategy (Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532;Keller & Brexendord 2019; Purchase & Volery 2020, 776; Keller & Swaminathan 2020, 329) and is one of the first steps towards creating a brand strategy for the company (Lalaounis 2021). Brand identity and visual identity contain aspects of the name, symbols, logo, URL's, jingles (Keller et al. 2008, 36; Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532), type font (Lieven, Grohmann, Herrmann, Leandwehr & Tilburg 2015, 147), characters, packaging, slogans (Keller et al. 2008, 36; Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532), brand color (Keller et al. 2008, 36; Cunningham 2017, 195; Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532), tone of voice, mission, vision, and values (Quirke 2008, 36; Urde 2013, 747).

Whenever the product or service is introduced to the markets, it has gone through the first steps of the global brand positioning process within the organization, including business strategy, internal legacy, and internal conversation. The following steps impact brand expression – brand positioning, brand identity, and brand personality. (Van Gelder 2004, 41.) Creating a recognizable brand among consumers is part of marketing innovation and is tightly connected to product introduction (Purchase & Volery 2020, 775-776). A brand visual identity outcome "trademark" is one of the powerful aspects of innovation and bases of creating a recognizable brand (Flikkema, Castaldi, de Man & Seip 2019, 1351- 1352); also, "trademarks are the legal building blocks of brands in that they protect the value of a brand against impairment" (Block, Fish & Sander 2013, 152).

Not so much attention has been brought to outsourcing the brand work to marketing agencies, how this internal process is held, and the topics discussed during internal meetings. Many researchers focus on brand strategy from consumers' perspectives (Aaker &

Jacobson 2001, 491-492; Schreiber 2002, 12). Others intensively emphasize the importance of branding, finding its value and financial benefits (Holtz 2004, 6, 12; Quirke 2008, 36). Aaker (2007, 8-9, 23) represents the innovation aspect of branding and its purpose

"the innovation objective is to improve the attractiveness of the product for potential cus- tomers and to increase the loyalty of existing customers. […] Branding has the potential

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to own an innovation over time, to add credibility and legitimacy to the innovation, to enhance its visibility, and to make communication more feasible and effective."

Furthermore, outsourcing innovation is driven by a lack of needed human resources and specific talent. Innovation is possible to establish as an in-house process; however, it re- quires information and communication technology changes that are not beneficial to ac- quire in the long run. (Materia, Pascucci & Dries 2016, 261.) Hellsröm (2004, 644-645) explains innovation as social action and finds a meaningful contribution to the process in terms of participants with the purpose to act; in the work environment where norms and roles are settled, but providing the opportunity for new concepts to emerge. Also, innovation is seen as a continuous process, reflecting on the past and vision of the future. The journey is not linear, it includes ups and downs, but the reward is worth the efforts.

(Garud, Gehman, Kumaraswamy & Tuertscher 2016, 459.)

Every process should start with proper planning (Holtz 2004, 57-65). Should include message sender and receiver (Pardillo 2019, 5), and provide an appropriate moment for the information transformation, for example, internal meeting (Quirke 2008, 21; Hirvo- nen 2019, 448-449; Pardillo 2019, 56) or in the form of internal briefing (Laurie & Mor- timer 2019, 240; Díaz-Méndez & Saren 2019, 13, 22; Blakeman & Taylor 2019, 40).

Communication needs a team and quality data to be shared (Quiekr 2008, 8). Hench, team members, have critical roles to play in that communication process (Belbin 2010, 29; Frigotto & Rossi 2012, 793, 816-817; Millia, Windles & Broyles 2013) and in the innovation process (West & Wallace 1991, 312).

1.1 The role of innovation in the internal communication process

"Everything communicates, like it or not. Words obviously communicate, but actions and even silence also send strong messages" (Holtz 2004, 1). Holtz emphasizes the im- portance of internal communication because employees are ambassadors for the company, and through open communication, they are able to innovate, collaborate, and produce successful results for their clients. It has not always been like that. 1970s communication

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phenomena were unknown to the business world. Nowadays, the work is lead by the information-driven economy, and the right people must have the latest and most relevant information on demand. (Holtz 2004, 6-8, 12.) Over the years, information sharing speed has increased rapidly, thanks to technological improvements (Quirke 2008, 13). Howev- er, it has given a fresh perspective to the organization to reach their audiences on new platforms.

"Business communication consists of a continuous flow of appropriate information"

(Partdillo 2019, 3). The organization communicates externally and internally. External communication focuses on external stakeholders (business associates, customers, possible job seekers, etc.) The language chosen is formal; the channels that can be used include a newsletter, emails, social media, adverts, and merchandise. For internal communication, can be used informal group discussions, feedback, meetings, different communication platforms online, etc. (Pardillo 2019, 3, 40.) Through internal communication, organizational trust is built, which leads to knowledge transfer that creates knowledge creation, leading to innovativeness, pinpointing the fact that trust needs to be built first (Sankowski 2013, 95-96). Stipp, Pimenta, and Jugend (2017, 88) define innovation

"As any change in the organization noticeable to individuals, such as communication, services or procedures, implemented radically or incrementally, resulting in improve- ments and advantages for the institution."

1.2 The role of innovation in creatives' creative process

Innovation is based on creative thinking; it starts with brainstorming; occasionally, innovation emerges without the immediate need for it, but it is adaptable to different contexts.

One way to define creativity is that it is a road to an individual's accomplishments by changing its perspectives and approach; this is a discontinuous process. Innovation is about efficacy, improvement of ways of doing things and updating systems, continuous action, and shared responsibility among employees in the work environment. (de Bara- bandere 2005, 18-20.) Creativity and innovation are two contrasting concepts; however,

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they can repeatedly depend on each other efforts (de Barabandere 2005, 18-20; Uphill 2016, 52). Amabile (1988, 126) takes a more practical look into creativity and defines it as "is the production of novelty and useful ideas by an individual or small group of indi- viduals working together" and continues with "organizational innovation is the success- ful implementation of creative ideas within an organization." Individual creativity is de- pendent on the interface of "intelligence, personality, domain knowledge, and social in- fluences" (Taggar 2002, 326).

A creative workforce represents spiritual and creative business models; it also reflects the management mindset towards creativity and adds value to their business (Zsolnai & Illes 2015, 202-203; Uphill 2016, 52-53). The same thought in management goes towards innovation as well (Amabile 1997, 52). Other criteria that reinforce creativity in the organization are well structured and managed processes with immediate technical support.

When those are inlined, creativity can flourish and not depend on the financial issues and deadlines, giving employees the space to create. Individual creativity is the origin of collective creativity; when the results are represented as team efforts, it increases customer satisfaction and, in a long run, reflects an increase in economic outcomes. (Cirella 2016, 340-341.) Also, it is essential to share credits for the ideas in teams to build trust among the members and maintain justice (Breugst, Patzelt & Rathgeberg 2015, 89-90). Overall, recruiting the right people, selecting the right employees for the tasks, providing proper guidance and training, helping them through difficulties, and providing them with the latest product development instructions can guarantee the project's success (Stevens, Bur- ley & Divine 1999, 467).

1.3 The purpose of the study

Based on the theoretical framework and empirical findings, the study aims to enlighten how the internal communication process flow occurs and how the roles are formed in this context. Specifically, attention is drawn to the brand strategist's role in the team and role's influence on team innovation. Also, defining the characteristics and content of the creative branding agency's internal information sharing process focuses on clients' work, in-

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cluding brand strategy and brand identity creation. Those questions find answers on the information transformation from brand strategy work to brand identity. From which, the innovation takes place in the form of creating brand identity.

Furthermore, finding connective elements in team collaboration and communication to pursuit better results and fasten internal processes. The case study agency had difficulties defining critical aspects of brand strategy data transformation to the next stage of creative work. With this study, I try to bring a deeper understanding of the process and its content.

The value of shared information and the creation of brand identity is part of the innovation process itself.

For the purpose and goals of this study, I have formed research question:

1. How is the team information sharing achieved in internal meetings in the crea- tive agency?

Answering the question brings objectives to this research, investigating the more pro- found understanding of teamwork and shared knowledge. Identifying the characteristics of the information-sharing meetings and variables in that content affects the successful outcome of the creative process. To reach my objective in this study, I have formed supporting questions as follows:

2. How do different roles come about as part of building brand strategy and brand identity, especially the role of brand strategist in team innovation?

4. What are the key elements that need to be presented when giving the knowledge of brand strategy work to the next stage of brand identity work?

Supporting questions try to expand the case study theoretical work and define essential pieces that need to be present for creatives to establish fruitful knowledge sharing that drives creativity and innovation. Further, looking to find connective elements by con- structing my theoretical framework and analyzing the communication process content in teams in internal meetings. This study's contribution is to expand our knowledge and un-

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derstanding about the relevance of information sharing and how it is vital for creative work and innovation; to bind those concepts together, creating an environment where employees can thrive. Making a trusted work surrounding and pushing for open discussions in meetings can foster minor innovation within the innovation process.

This research brings a practical overview of internal team meetings' information transformation process and content shared and supports future research for branding agency internal processes and supports innovativeness in teams. Hench, bringing the value of trust and creativity in groups in the context of shared knowledge among team members.

1.4 Key concepts and structure of the study

The key concepts of this study are trust in a team, team communication, team roles, brand strategy building, and brand identity creation, more precisely, how they are dependent on each other and needed to foster creativity among team members.

The topic touches on creative agency internal meetings in terms of information sharing and retrieving, overlooking the brand strategy process creation and how to gain information can be reflected in brand visual identity creation—identifying the critical characteristics of the meetings in order to pursue successful outcome and taking a deeper look into the content of those meetings. The scope of the arrangements should reveal the valuable information that is needed to create a brand visual identity.

This academic paper is structured as follows; first, chapter 2 gives a theoretical overview of brand strategy, brand identity creation, team communication, and the relevancy of trust and roles in teams. At the end of the chapter, the research's theoretical framework is presented with a connection to previous academic studies. Chapter 3 overlooks the research methodology approach, explaining why this method was chosen and the data collection process from the case study example. At the end of the chapter, I represent extensive data content analysis. In chapter 4, I describe the results of the empirical research from differ-

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ent aspects, supported by the previous theoretical framework. Example pool provides a new perspective on the internal meeting process and defines characteristics for a successful team, emphasizing the relevance of team roles. Finally, chapter 5 concludes the research with key results, explaining the research's importance to previous conducted in- vestigations and contribution to the field. Also, it recommends to proceed future research in this field and shortly explaining this research limitation.

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11 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter represents the theories behind the information transformation process in internal meetings. First, it takes a closer look into brand strategy and brand identity key concepts in previous studies and the importance of those theory contexts in communication. Then my research will focus more on the teams, communication in groups and roles in groups, building up the theoretical research framework of the team internal meeting process and information transformation. Furthermore, this research provides a solid ground for my theoretical framework of connective elements.

2.1 Brand Strategy

Product awareness comes through advertising and creates customers that see the benefits of the product while neglecting other competitive products in the market; that is the base of the brand creation. When the company communicates its plans, strategies, aspirations, vision, and expectations to its employees, it has a more significant probability of being profitable. (Holtz 2004, 6, 12; Quirke 2008, 36) Core for the company strategy comes from the employees themselves, their viewpoints, personal motivation (Lehtimäki 2017, 100), and values (Quirke 2008, 36). This creates a cycle of communication internally and externally that can be reflected in operational wellbeing and revenue in the long run. The brand is an asset; based on that, the company can demand a premium price from its customers. (Gelder 2004, 40; Quirke 2008, 36, 39; Sellers-Rubio & Calderón-Martínez 2019, 80-81.)

Brand strategy is about building a synergy between "people, systems, culture, and struc- ture of the company," and the business strategy should influence it. Brand strategy can be divided into two categories global and country-specific strategy. Global brand strategy is seen as top to bottom approach when the strategy is developed from a global perspective to build global brand leadership (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 2000). It is very beneficial to local markets because the worldwide approach can push for global collaboration and sharing (Ewing & Matanda 2012, 10). The country-specific brand strategy (e.g. bottom-

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up) focuses on modifying the brand according to local market needs. The brand strategy needs a brand champion, a person who nurtures, represents the brand, and speaks for the brand globally. (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 2000.)

Brand strategy starts with information retrieval. It is essential to define stakeholders in the information retrieving process. Stakeholders can be employees, suppliers, retailers, customers, top management, etc. The preferred contacted approach to the stakeholder is their interviews; however, considering the time and costs, many companies share ques- tionnaires among the stakeholders and ask for their honest perspective on the company and/or its products/services. (Vallaster & Lindgreen 2011, 1133-1138.) In other words conducting a brand's current state analysis (Brooks 2016, 59). Based on the findings, the target market and segments can be determined (Quirke 2008, 33). Also, the brand archetypes can be created to link different relations together—the main archetypes being calcu- lative, heuristic, and dynamic (Högström, Gustafsson & Tronvoll 2015, 400, Brooks 2016, 59). Brand architecture is part of brand strategy and includes more than a brand name; it is about the logotype, how it is designed and written, the brand image represents the people's thoughts about the company (Kapferer 2016, 6-7).

According to Aaker (2013), the brand strategy should consider product category and sub- category relevancy into consumer perspective, reflecting the business's strengths (creating "pull" phenomena; Uphill 2016, 150-151), weaknesses, and strategy. The actions that can support the smooth changes are the ability to monitor potential markets, consumer behavior within the market, and technological improvements and distribution changes.

Keeping the brand active, full of life, and energy helps the brand stand out from competitors and brings it into the present time and surroundings. Aaker recommends involvement in promotion, repositioning of the product, participating in "compelling advertising, sup- porting the higher-order purpose, a viral video, a website, and active community." Fur- thermore, it is essential to find events and happenings that can act as brand energizers with their authenticity, tight connection with the brand, and connect with consumers' emotional level; not discarding brand portfolio and the value of branding. Those issues need to be focused on if required to be changed accordingly to the situation. Also, preparation for the consumer purchasing declining (negative reputation of the product and

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brand) is one aspect that brand strategy should focus on and prepare for possible solutions, that can include bringing the problematic decisions into part of the conversation with solutions. (Aaker 2013.)

2.1.1 Brand strategy stages and key concepts

The internal analysis consists of familiarizing oneself with how the global and local brand view has been established (van Gelder 2004, 40-41; Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 158). It takes an overview of the company's business strategy, internal culture, structure, architecture, and the brand's importance to the company. The company's history and character also play a significant role in the formation of current state analysis; brand expression, including "brand positioning, its identity, and its personality." The external environment is essential for consumer brand experience, and for that reason, a good view of the marketing mix and implementation plans are vital. On the other hand, the external analysis takes on an overview of the local conditions that affect the consumer segments from the perspective of the brand. A starting point for external brand strategy is brand perception and brand recognition (van Gelder 2004, 40-41, 44.)

Keller and Brexendord (2019) found that strategic brand management should consist of

"identifying and establishing brand positioning and values, planning and implementing brand market programs," the possibility to "measure and interpreting brand performance and focusing on growing and sustaining brand equity" (see Fig. 1). The first step of iden- tifying and developing brand plans is to get an insight into the company from consumers' perspective; it can be conducted with brand auditing (Keller & Brexendord 2009, 157;

Brooks 2016, 56). Hence, positioning contains four different concepts, a competitive frame of references in terms of other possible competitors in the target market and their characters. The second concept is points-of-differences from a consumer perspective to a brand in hand; what makes the brand unique and desirable to consumers can be delivered by the company and differentiates from the competitors. Points-of-party can be defined by category and competitive, meaning being good in their class above competitors; how-

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ever, competitive points-of-party associations represent the brand's weaknesses where competitors are favorable. Based on the findings, the core elements for brand values can be created. (Keller & Brexendord 2009, 157-161; Keller & Swaminathan 2020, 29.) Brooks (2016, 58) emphasizes the importance of the brand's emotional aspect to consumers and how it affects brand positioning. The brand mantra (Keller 2015, 159; Keller &

Swaminathan 2020, 29) is the second last step in the brand positioning phase and sums up the brand core message in short expressions and represents brand spirit. The first phase is finalized with internal brand support, meaning the brand is familiarized to employees (Keller & Brexendord 2009, 157-161). However, Keller, Apéria, and Georgson (2008, 35) focused on core brand associations when later realizing that the push for the brand needs to come internally from the company's brand.

After establishing internal messages and boosting inspiration among employees through brand DNA, the second step, strategic brand management, is planning and implementing marketing programs. This process includes brand elements and identities, marketing activities, and promotion programs that support the marketing plan and other similar brand associations. (Keller & Brexendof 2019, 163-164) In the brand strategy creation phase, obstacles may occur, and those need to be addressed. After the challenges have concurred and information moves along reciprocally, the process continues to unfold the gained knowledge and translate it to brand identity work.

Choosing brand elements that reflect the message of the brand is critical. Those elements contain "brand name, URL's, logos, symbols, characters, slogans, jingles, and packages."

Selection is made based on the message defined in the first stage of the brand strategy. It reflects the brand awareness and unique associations to the brand; six criteria are essential: memorable (to recall the brand and be recognizable), expressing the information or benefits of the brand, likable, transferable, adaptable, and flexible, and "legally protecta- ble and competitively defensible." (Keller 2013, 142-147; Keller 2015, 163-164; Keller &

Swaminathan 2020, 30.) The programs where the brand can be integrated need to build brand equity. One opportunity relies on relationship marketing, where consumer thought is precious towards the brand and actions that reflect the customer care are mass customi-

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Figure 1. The strategic brand management process (Keller & Swaminathan 2020, 29) zation, aftermarket, regular-customer programs. Product strategies are a powerful way to create brand associations and connect with the audience; based on their feedback, improvements can be made to the current product or open up the possibility for new innova- tions. The pricing strategy measures the value of the brand and enlightens the consumer perceptions. Channel's strategy represents the possibility of reaching consumers on a different level and being available for their grasp. The communications strategies include everything where the consumers can experience and have contact with the brand. What comes to leveraging secondary associations means the brand can be knowledged or rec- ognized through the brand's relevant source factors, such as geographical regions, unique distribution channels, other brands and products, unique qualities, influencers, etc. (Kel- ler & Brexedorf 2019, 163-165.)

Without the possibility to measure the results of brand strategic management would not make a difference. With all the marketing efforts, the value for the brand should be reflected in the consumer mindset in terms of brand, its awareness, associations, attitude,

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attachment, and experience. With each action, there is a response from consumers in six different ways. They respond to "price premiums, price elasticities, market share, brand expansions, cost structure, and brand profitability." Those responses reflect the brand value and affect the "stock price, the price/earnings mutable, and market share." The challenge lies in the company's track, analysis, and trigger internal actions based on the retrieved data, fast market adaption, and reaction to changes. Updating the information and building the feedback relationship with consumers should be a routine task for the company. (Keller & Brexedorf 2019, 166.) Brand audits used to be in this phase in 2008 (Keller et al. 38); however, the brand strategy management's perspective has shifted the focus on current brand positioning. The change back to brand audits in this stage emerged in 2020 and investigates the already created brand identity and campaigns (Keller &

Swaminathan 2020, 329; Lalaounis 2021, 256-267). The perception of the brand in the past is done at the beginning of this process. Creating a brand equity charter will also help define the concept of brand equity, its relevance, how it should be strategically managed and measured, outline the brand's tactical marketing guidelines, and specify the form of desired equity. Based on the cornerstones of the brand strategy plan brand equity report can be built that will be reported regularly to the management, including the overview of the happenings and data analysis of why it is happening. (Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 167-168.) Brand strategy efforts should be measurable, for example, when using a digital advertisement for brand awareness creation (Sellers-Rubio & Calderón-Martínez 2019, 80-81). Those strategic measurement actions help the company reach its long-term goals and, when needed, modify marketing plans quickly. (Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 167-168.)

The last stage in brand strategy management is growing and sustaining brand equity.

With previous steps, the brand's strong leadership position over competitors can be ob- tained, maintained, and possibly expanded. Those actions are not easy to handle because of various categories, market segments, geographical variations, and brand associations.

Creating a good branding strategy is relevant for the brand-product matrix and brand hierarchy. In the brand-product matrix, the focus is on the variations of the company's products and company's geographical locations. It is about building a relationship be-

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tween each product and the brand and estimating their potential to expand. The brand hierarchy includes the standard and differentiating brand components across the company's product selection and the company's relationship with the products and the company's brand. In this case, brand elements create brand associations, which are different on each level with various products. (Keller et al. 2008, 38; Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532; Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 165-169.) Brand associations are dependent on the product they produce, what actions it takes, and tone of voice how they communicate with their audience. (Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 170). When managing brand equity, the decision perspective needs to be long-term and cover the core thinking of the products that this brand represents? How can the suppliers benefit from that relationship, and what needs are vital to satisfy? How to prioritize the products in consumers' eyes and build a strong brand association. This thinking needs to reach all countries where the company operates or sells the products, making the product differential dependent on the cultural and segment changes. (Erdil 2013, 127; Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 171-172.)

Business-to-business (B2B) branding differs from consumer branding in many ways. The amount of customers is smaller than in business-to-consumer markets, and it is divided between more extensive geographical areas. The urge for the B2B products is driven by consumer markets; however, the changes in demand do not affect the price changes quickly. In B2B markets, demand for manufactured goods can be varying fast, for a reason changing needs and new competitors emerging. Also, B2B branding is conducted directly, by mutable phone calls and contacts; it is and professional purchasing process and can have several buying influences. Furthermore, B2B branding is more about building long-lasting relationships and customizing the customer's needs. (Keller 2009, 14.) Keller points out the six differences of branding to B2B markets. First, the whole organization should understand the value of the brand and support brand management. It is about onboarding the employees and management. The brand strategy adoption should happen vertically and horizontally, with top management providing resources and guidelines. In internal vertical branding, the organization's leader would act as a brand ambas- sador to work on internal and external branding; horizontally, brand supporters are sales

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personnel. The strong brand mantra should be the priority of internal branding and value why this organization exists. Secondly, creating a clear brand hierarchy builds brand credibility, fostering the organization's expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability. Thirdly, the framing of value perceptions helps to stand out from the competitors and get closer to the customer's thoughts and purchasing initiatives. The fourth difference is the brand associations in terms of non-product-related. This area is more focused on how the brand is seen from a bigger perspective, and it starts with immediate steps in customer service.

The fifth difference is the emotional association with brands in the B2B market that brings customers to purchase; they look for security, social approval, and self-respect.

The sixth difference is the segmentation of the customers with customized marketing.

What makes this segmentation unique is an approach within the organization and identifying key roles in the purchasing decision process. Those can be initiators, users, influencers, deciders, approvers, buyers, and gatekeepers. Each is having very specified func- tions but can overlap with other roles. (Keller 2009, 15-29; Keller & Swaminathan 2020, 11-12.)

Overall, managing strong brands needs a deep understanding of the brand and market possibilities to position the brand correctly. The company is creating brand associations through complimentary brand elements and providing supporting marketing activities. A company offers over-exceeding product benefits with a special delivery to consumers with excellent communication intentions and a personalized brand tone. Also, understanding the product and band value to the consumer, the pricing and distribution should be managed accordingly. Creation of brand personality and focusing on creating a brand image the brand credibility should increase, and it should be kept relevant through openness for innovation. Finalizing the brand hierarchy and completing the brand portfolio help to make long-term strategical decisions and offer opportunities to expand the brand.

(Keller & Brexendorf 2019, 173.)

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19 2.1.2 Communicating brand strategy

Brand strategy message should reach a wide range of stakeholders with inspiration and provide a deeper understanding of the consumers. The strategy should encourage continuous learning and boost the culture of curiosity in consumers, meaning the environmental changes foster consumer empathy to develop and expand. This relationship is nurtured over a long period. The company should build the same urge for the employees and other stakeholders. Establishing a mutual understanding of the strategy needs to be told in the form of strategic storytelling. Using the storytelling method helps the listener reflect on individual experiences and makes the strategy more relevant. (Brooks 2016, 181-183).

The brand strategy consists of integrated marketing communication, which supports the bridge between brand visual identity strategy and customer-based brand equity. Brand strategist supports this bridge, and their workload continues throughout the process, helping the brand identity creators. This process's end result is material that supports the customer's marketing communication style colliding in harmony with the clients' corporation internal changes. (Madhavaram, Badrinarayanan & McDonald 2005, 70, 77.) This means to the client's corporation's a long-term commitment and communication to their employees and customers (Vallaster & Lindgreen 2011, 1139). However, the team members need to be skilled, engaged, and have time to work with the brand strategy and guarantee the process's successful outcome (Brooks 2016, 78).

2.2 Brand Identity

A brand architecture strategy or, in other words, brand visual identity, includes recog- nizable elements for the brand - name, symbols, logo, colors (Brexendorf & Keller 2017, 1532), type font (Lieven, Grohmann, Herrmann, Leandwehr & Tilburg 2015, 147) characters, packaging, slogans; those elements are vital for brand recognition across the company's products (Keller, Apéria & Georgson 2008, 36). The value of the brand color is reflected in consumer purchasing behavior in a way that color can trigger emotional responses, deliver strong brand associations, and mirror brand communication (Cunning-

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ham 2017, 195). Urde (2013, 747) gatherers' thoughts about how brand visual identity can be looked at from internal brand-oriented and external market-oriented perspectives.

In an external market-oriented approach, the focus on customer relationship, benefits of the product/service to the customer, and consumer values giving customers a reason to believe in the product/service, or brand, brand image, positioning of the brand itself compared to competitors, value proposition, brand's self-image, and reflection. Brand visual identity internal brand-oriented approach focuses on the internal culture, establishing a definite mission, vision, and core values, finding the purpose of the existence, not forget- ting organizational values and culture in a bigger perspective. Urde joined those two perspectives into one core concept, "product and corporate brand identity frameworks,"

including the brand's visual identity, expression of the product and organization, and how they both have "tone of voice" to speak to their audience. Also, the brand personality talks for the identity, expresses the core values and promises and gives the brand's es- sence. (Urde 2013, 747.)

Connolly and Davenport-Firth (1998, 168-169) represent Visual.Planning; the model (see Fig. 2) represents the importance of brand strategy in forming creative thinking, leading to brand visual identity creation. Strategy and research are the basis for this process to develop forward. Creative advantage emerges from visual planning and verbal language by the team's brief and fosters creative thinking. This information flow helps to create a the wow-scale pay-off to create something unique and memorable for the consumer, in other words, creative advantage (Connolly & Davenport-Firth 1998, 168-169.) Focusing on the brand's visual identity enables the company to reflect and communicate its brand contiguously and gather vital feedback for future integrated marketing communication (Madhavaram et al. 2005, 77).

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Figure 2. Visual.Planning model (Connolly & Davenport-Firth 1998, 170)

2.2.1 Brand visual identity stages and key concepts

The creative process takes an opportunity to dive into creative minds and find links between multiple ideas that visually represent brand strategy views. This process needs emotional openness, fast adaption, and courage to fail fast in dead ends from creatives.

To overcome failures and succeed in the process, it takes a lot of resilience and an entre- preneurial approach from the creatives. (Ivcevic & Brackett 2015, 484.) Amabile (1986, 367) presents the creativity process and explains how the individual is gathering and using information, "collaborative working and allowing the freedom to dream a little" (Up- hill 2016, 52). Amabile improves the model in 1988 (see Fig. 3). The first step is the task motivation step an external individual presents the information. The second step is the preparation that is based on the gained knowledge; she notes that the amount of data is not relevant. However, the fewer data creatives have, the more creative they are in their work. In the third step, connections for previous work experiences and possible outcomes are generated. In the fourth step, the creative relevant skills come to be valuable assets, and possible solutions are tested. The fifth step is dependent on the fourth step, ensuring the correct outcome is made, and a possible return to step 1 is confirmed. (Amabile 1988, 141.)

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Figure 3. The componential framework of individual creativity (Amabile 1988, 138) Botella, Nelson, and Zenasni (2017, 211-212) argue that the creative process can be divided into macro- and micro-levels. They show that both levels include multiple stages and are dependent on the conducted studies. The creative process itself can be looked at more in-depth in the way of self-analysis (macro-level) containing three to nine steps, or micro-level that looks closer to the process's cognitive mechanism. Micro-process com- bines two ways of thinking – divergent thinking and associative thinking. (Botella et al.

2017, 211-212.) Divergent thinking fosters multiple original ideas, and the authenticity of the ideas is part of creativity (Runco & Acar 2012, 66). Associative thinking is the ability to connect and create a link between different ideas (Simonton 1999, 122).

Botella, Zenasni, and Lubart (2018) conducted research to get a brother perspective on creative process stages by visual art students themselves. They found 17 stages, starting from the creative introducing themselves with the topic, listening, and absorbing all information; this first stage is called immersion. The next stage of reflection comes with a deeper understanding of the topic and demands brainstorming and visualization. The creative is eager to draw more information and counts on the available documents and connective references in the research stage. The fourth stage is called inspiration; it can be expressed in the way of instinct and formation of the idea. In the illumination stage, the idea is finally formed, and the process moves on to the next stage of trails when notes are transformed to sketches and testing can begin. The seventh stage of assembly gives an opportunity to combine ideas gained in previous stages and thought that the eighth stage

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of ideation the new combinations can foster grander possibilities of solutions to explore.

From the selection stage, the best ideas are accumulated. More focused actions are taken in the technique stage in terms of selecting styles and typography. In the eleventh stage, the realization emerges, including production work, positioning, and ruling out unneces- sary elements. Naturally, the next stage is called specification when clarifying and detail- ing the end concept is done. In stage thirteen, finalizing the correction of details and giving finishing touches show the creation process's end. This provides an excellent opportunity for creative to step back and explore the final product; this stage is called examina- tion. Confident with the result, the creative is ready for to presentation stage and prefera- bly will guide the client through creation with rich explanations and justifications of choices. The second last stage is a break; this stage is for the rest and digest. The final seventeenth stage is called abandoning, where the idea is put to rest. (Botella et al. 2018, 8.) This creative process is not linear and overlaps in many stages; some new ideas may emerge during the creation process, and many of those lead to dead ends (Sawyer 2016, 138).

Creatives rely on their past experience to be successful in the current projects; they also need a team's support. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation play a critical role since intrinsic motivations foster more creativity than extrinsic motivation when the target is to com- plete the task or prize (Amabile 2018, 15). Tagger (2002, 316, 325-326) research, including business students on their creativity in open-task group work assignment, found that team needs creative people to foster creativity, and the process of creativity is relevant to be efficient. The success of the group is determined by the social environment of the team and creativity-supporting behavior (Tagger 2002, 326, Botella, Gleveanu, Zenasni, Storme, Myszkowiski, Wolff & Lubart 2013, 167). Positive correlations have been found between individual-, group creativity and technological support, which fosters client satisfaction and positive economic results (Cirella 2016, 337). Negative correlations between creativity and unfavorable changes in the working environment have been found and may continue months after the events happen (Amabile & Conti 1999, 637).

As Parker and Kyj (2006, 40) explain, subordinates have more insight into data usage based on their previous work experience and divergent thinking. It is also shown that

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creatives include their feelings into their creative process. During the process, they un- dergo obstacles and determine their wants and goals for the outcome, making it a very personal process. (Botella et al. 2013, 168.) In other words, creatives need a complex task, support from their superiors, freedom to work on the job, and informational feedback in order to reach a high level of creativity (Shalley, Zhou, Odham 2004, 942). Crea- tives have an opportunity and can express the information in the right way. Brand visual identity depends on the creator's openness, his/her divergent thinking, and previous experience in the field. For that reason, at the end of this creative process, the results should be presented to the customer and explained the creative process's choices.

2.2.2 Acquiring information for brand visual identity

"Intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity. Controlling extrinsic motivation is detri- mental to creativity, but informational or enabling extrinsic motivation can be conduc- tive, particularly if initial levels of intrinsic motivation are high." (Amabile 1997, 46.)

Amabile and Gryskiewicz (1987, ref. Amabile 1988, 147) found that organizational envi- ronments that foster creativity in the top three are having control over your tasks, good communication skills, and accessible information. Information efficiency can be created with structured processes and technological support that benefit the collective imagination in teams. Also, leaders who have invested in well-established communication, proper planning, specified deadlines, defined straightforward tasks, and clear roles to employees are more successful with collective creativity outcomes. However, group creativity is not dependent on resources that express budget, time, and space. (Cirella 2016, 338, 340.) Brooks (2016, 96) calls this stage "a strategic learning journey" in teams and puts the researcher in customers' shoes. In some cases, the company has a solid wish for reflecting their autobiography, cultural heritage, or personal aesthetic sensibility (feelings towards the product and brand) included in the brand identity work (Buschgens, Flguelredo &

Rahman 2019, 271, 280).

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As we can see from the creative process, gaining information takes place in two stages:

immersion and the research stage. In the immersion stage, the creatives focus on the in- formation they are given and dive into the concept for a period of time, dependent on the deadline. The original challenges may be unclear in the beginning. In the research stage, creatives focus on the requirements of the challenge and start visualizing the final result.

(Botella et al. 2018, 7-8.) They look for more specified knowledge regarding the challenge and boos their imagination for new ideas for solutions. More specifically, the information comes from "consumers, brand history, competitors, and merchandising"

(Connolly & Davenport-Firth 1999, 166). Critical and creative personality reflective decisions are made in the technique stage, where individual creativity decides over the style, typography, guidelines, and codes. (Botella et al. 2018, 7-8.) Also, trust in the work environment and good relationships with other employees should foster informative and work-focused feedback on the performance (Amabile 1997, 55) and help the individual exceed personal goals and develop in their abilities.

2.2.3 Communicating brand visual identity

The brand Oatly represented innovation in science, and the brand has functional positioning. Oatly brand speaks to the audience about lifestyle choices opening up new options to explore and be environmentally conscious without giving up daily goods. Now, Oatly is working towards sustainability and taking political sides; Oatly has used activist branding and positioning. This way, the brand has become relevant to affect the bigger picture, not just focusing on the target market. (Koch 2020, 603-604.)

As significant as the color of the brand has a clear reflection on consumer purchasing behavior, that color can trigger emotional responses, deliver strong brand associations, and mirror brand communication (Grimes & Doole 1998, 813-814; Cunningham 2017, 195). However, the color alone is not decisive; it needs a color palette and other support- ive elements to stand out from competitors (Ward, Yang, Romaniuk & Beal 2020, 400).

Schmitt and Simons (1997; ref. Lalaounis 2021, 80) found that red, orange, and yellow

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are associated with energetic, extroverted, active, hot vibrant words in their research in the visual sense dimension. When green, blue, and purple can be correlated with calming, extroverted, gentle, and peaceful. Black is linked with darkness, mystery, impurity, and evil; white represents sunny, happiness, pureness, and innocence. Siver and gold can be connected to the image of brightness, luxury, and convey elegance. (Schmitt & Simons 1997; ref. Lalaounis 2021, 80.) The brand elements research on firm logos and colors has found that natural elements in a logo, such as birds, plants, faces, animals, etc., reflect the brand's feminine side. When cultural objects, for example, vehicles, buildings, etc., represent masculinity in the brand. Furthermore, the results point out that even the color mat- ters, darker colors support virility when lighter colors represent the brand's feminine side.

(Lieven et al. 2015, 162; Machado, Fonseca & Martins, 2020, 164-165.) Also, the font type has an impact on the gender representation of a brand when the product can be connected to a specific category. (Lieven et al. 2015, 162). Also, if the font is hand-written- like, it expresses a brand of low-key, people-orientation and appears unthreatening. If the font is all in capital letters, it is seen as a sign of authority and aggressiveness. Low-case letters can be linked with daring and understanding brand image. (Schmitt & Simons 1997; ref. Lalaounis 2021, 80.) Everything depends on the target group that the brand needs to approach and communicate with them (Machado et al. 2020, 164-165).

Brands communicate to the audience and create trust during the shopping experience. It can be said that brands even make purchasing decisions easier. Some brands can provide emotional benefits as well; the feeling of being taken care of or luxury products talk about their high quality and social status. Branding is relevant to B2B business as well;

most often, the well-known are preferred in B2B purchasing moment because they reduce the risk of this transaction. (Steenkamp 2017, 6-8, 10.) However, the brand identity elements, such as product slogans, are not relevant in B2B markets. Brand name, as one of the brand identity elements, has an important task towards the consumer. Choosing the right name helps the consumer connect with the brand and reflect it on themselves. This action leads to brand characteristics and "favorable brand evaluation." Deciding on the brand name can lead to future categories and can appear powerfully, creating a competitive advantage in highly competitive markets. (Kara, Gunasti & Ross 2020, 617-618.)

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Creating the brand for the company that is focusing on consumer products, the brand's visual identity should talk to the end consumer and justify the brand elements selections with the visual outlook. The message and communication style should "speak" to the end- user and represent elements that are relatable. In B2B markets, brand visual identity does not play a significant role; it is more about meeting agreed timelines, purchasing activities can be trusted, and delivery times can be accountable. In other words, the image of the brand and the credibility of the company matter (Kuhn, Alpet & Pope 2008, 50-51).

2.3 Team's collaboration and communication in organizations

Being part of an organization and accepting its way of doing business builds responsibili- ties and fosters loyalty among employees. Commitment is built on trust, involvement, and role knowledge (Holtz 2004, 26). Mishra and Morrissey (1990, 444) defined trust as providing advantages for improving communication, increasing employee confidence and dependability, and providing predictability. Furthermore, it decreases employee turnover (Mishra & Morrissey, 1990, 454; Meng & Berger 2012, 350), fosters openness and willingness to listen (even when negative feedback is given), brings in new business, and reduces the friction between employee relationships. The core benefits of building trust between employees have increased productivity and personal growth, improved corpora- tional credibility, loyal customers, increased sales to existing customers, improved overall decision-making, and more efficient collaboration between employees and employers.

(Mishra & Morrissey 1990, 454-455.) However, giving feedback from poor performance may shake the trust in teams; for that reason, the performance input needs to be done with deep thought and care (Jaakso, Reino & McClenghan 2019, 41-42). Furthermore, a team that operates with members that have multicultural backgrounds are very verbal in communication when sharing and expressing their feelings, but their heritage does not affect trust build in the team (Jarvenpaa & Leidner 1999, 812). Involvement of employees in the organization's communication supports employees' internal hunger to be involved, be part of decision making, and establish their need to be valuable. Thanks to the internet and

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digital communication tools, employee involvement has improved and provides instant knowledge sharing, enhancing decision-making. (Holtz 2004, 29-30.)

In the industrial era, experience and education started to play a significant role in labor markets; in the post-industrial age, the teams and personal orientations became vital in assigned work criteria. Nowadays, employees with a considerable range of different abilities are more beneficial to groups. (Belbin 2010, 10, 18.) The role of knowledge is based on the ultimate satisfaction of employee's tasks and that the results make a difference.

The immediate supervisor and compensation for work are two powerful motivations for satisfaction. The supervisor acts as the translator and brings the higher vision and strategy into the day-to-day work tasks in micro-level communication. (Holtz 2004, 30-31.) Belbin (2010, 4) represents the senior principle by giving older employees advantages to carrying all the needed wisdom and feel confident in their performance. Also, she adds that with team role behavior comes multiple aspects that affect the action: who you are as a person (introvert or extrovert), mental abilities, personal motivation and values, environmental factors, previous experience, and cultural factors lastly learning your role in the team (Belbin 2010, 29).

Belbin (2010, 22, 56) identifies nine team roles that contribute to the team and express their weaknesses (see Fig. 4). She explains how the variety of different people in groups allows for compensating each other's faults and thriving on communication with people who matter. Teams can find support in their team role profiles and encourage each other for success; for example, shaper and implementer, plant and monitor evaluator can thrive on each other's faults. (Belbin 2010, 57.) Amabile (1988, 128) defines the plant's qualities (problem solver) who promotes creativity; their personal traits include being persistent, curious, having energy, and honest. They are also self-motivated, special cognitive abilities, risk-oriented, have expertise in the area, bring synergy in the group, have diverse experience, excellent social skills, intelligence, and naive in seeing things from a new perspective (Ambile 1988, 129).

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29 Roles and description –

team role contribution

Allowable weakness in behavior

Not allowable weak- nesses in behavior Plant Creative, imaginative,

unorthodox. Solves difficult problems.

Ignores details. Too pre- occupied to communicate efficiently.

Strong 'ownership' of the idea when coopera- tion with others would yield better results.

Resource investigator

Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Ex- plores opportunities.

Develops contacts.

Overoptimistic. Loses interests once initial en- thusiasm has passed.

Letting clients down by neglecting to follow-up arrangements.

Co-ordinator Mature, confident, a good chairperson.

Clarifies goals, promotes decision- making, delegates well.

Can be seen as manipula- tive. Delegates personal work.

Taking credit for the effort of the team.

Shaper Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure.

Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles.

Can provoke others. Hurts people's feelings.

Inability to recover the situation with good hu- mour or apology.

Monitor Evaluator

Sober, strategic, dis- cerning. Sees all options. Judges accurate- ly.

Lacks drive and ability to inspire others. Overly critical.

Cynicism without logic.

Teamworker Co-operative, mild, perceptive, diplomatic.

Listens, builds, averts friction, calms the waters.

Indecisive in crunch situations. Can be easily influ- enced.

Avoiding situations that may entail pressure.

Implementer Disciplined, reliable, conservative, efficient.

Turns ideas into practical actions.

Somewhat inflexible.

Slow to respond to new possibilities.

Obstructing change.

Completer Finisher

Painstaking, conscien- tious, anxious. Search- es out errors and omis- sions. Delivers on time.

Inclined to worry unduly.

Reluctant to delegate. Can be a nit-picker.

Obsessional behavior.

Specialist Single-minded, self- starting, dedicated.

Provides knowledge and skills in rare sup- ply.

Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities. Overlooks the 'big picture.'

Ignoring factors outside own area of competence.

Figure 4. The nine team roles and their weaknesses (Belbin 2010, 22, 56)

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Each process starts with proper planning. Planning for communications is the most vital part of the process. It needs a satisfactory background check and explaining how work has been done, then moving to analyze phase where the issues and causes are specified.

Furthermore, goals for the accomplishments need to be set; they help the employees focus and engage. Messages that will be presented need to be audience-specific, and employees can relate and understand the language. There is a need for communication, strategic planning, set objectives, and tactics for execution in more prominent organizations.

The planning phase would benefit the most if it could be measured and evaluated. (Holtz 2004, 57-65.) We can say that communication is a two-way process that begins with one side acting as a message sender and the other part is acting as a message receiver (Par- dillo 2019, 5).

Quirke (2008, 18) continues with the planning phase: content contribution to team participants, including "data, information, ideas, and concepts." This all should be nicely in- serted into context to ease the information processing and bring relevant context to the participants. Participants are open to comment on the context and create meaning. Brand strategist's (BS) responsibility is to represent the bigger picture. During the next phase of conversations and questions, the participants can test and show their perspective of the challenges that will face them. The last step is feedback to ensure the information gained and what results can be drawn from it. (Quirke 2008, 8.)

Mallia, Windles, and Broyles (2013) emphasize the importance of communication in this process and recommend the creative director (CD) to take part in brand strategy work from an early stage. The CD's participation would increase gathered information sharing productivity in the next phase of brand visual identity work and improve the customer experience process. However, the amount of collected data may lose its focus on the client's real needs and drift from the original challenges (Mallia et al. 2013).

Communication between divergent employees could present various amounts of perspectives on the challenges and lead to conflicts; however, it may provide an extensive range

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of possible solutions. Employees' different backgrounds (ethnic, educational, previous work experiences, etc.) may cause conflict in the long run on client challenges because the challenges can be interpreted differently. For that reason, it is essential to recognize and measure the diversity in the team. Team leaders should give a realistic estimation of the team members' abilities to solve problems and interact with each other. This would reduce the knowledge gap between the members, provide an efficient workflow, provide opportunities to learn from each other, and improve members' competence in their field.

(Frigotto & Rossi 2012, 793, 816-817.) West and Wallace (1991, 312) explain innovative teams to be experimental in a controlled environment, be tolerant to a diversity of ap- proaches, and support the initiated ideas and develop these further. It is also about main- taining a team member and accepting the team's values and goals with perceiving efforts for the whole team.

When talking about teams and team communication, there might be a time when employees may face interpersonal and intra-personal barriers that need to be overcome to nor- malize the workflow. The obstacle is weak and temporary, and most of the team can overcome it. Overcoming those barriers the creative leadership is essential to have as facilitators. All tighter seven factors need to be aligned to overcome the challenges; the first needs to be created is the platform of understanding. The creative leader is responsi- ble for expressing how the team can benefit from shared knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions. The second factor is shared vision, including the team's shared perspective; it is easy to demolish by changing the habits and destroying assumptions. The third factor: the team's climate needs to be encouraged to be and stay positive. (Tuckman & Jensen 1977;

ref. Rickards & Moger 2000, 277-280.) It enables the employees to collaborate in a safe environment and find ways to challenge each other (Fine & Hallett, 2014, 1788). The fourth factor is resilience, where a creative leader enables the team to seek different perspectives when primary expectations cannot be reached. In the fifth factor of idea own- ers, the creative leader supports the unique ideas based on the employee's expertise. Also, visionary leaders are expected to find solutions in their network, and they work as net- work activators in the sith factor. The last element is learning from the creative leader's experience to gain the current position as a leader. (Tuckman & Jensen 1977; ref. Rick-