Designing social entrepreneurial brand meaning

Branding traditionally has been associated with products and services; however, the emerging branding
perspective focuses on brands as social processes and claims that brand value is co-created by multiple
stakeholders. In the same vein, a few publications in the nonprofit literature highlight the relevance of
stakeholder relationships in brand value creation. In this context, trust and legitimacy is ultimately achieved
through interactive relationships with customers, partners and other stakeholders over time. Despite the
increasing awareness of the relevance of branding for hybrid concepts, such as Social Entrepreneurial
Organisations (SEOs), insights into the design process of social entrepreneurial brands have been limited.
Drawing on the gaps in the previous literature, this study examines the phenomenon of brand meaning in
the context of SEOs. It goes beyond previous concepts in the for-profit and nonprofit literature by presenting
initial insights into the processes of actions and interactions through which social entrepreneurial brand
meaning is created, expanded, protected, and revitalized.