Purpose: The purpose of this study is to, first, analyze the past years of research on international branding and, second, building on an early literature review, to analyze patterns in the field and suggest future research.

Design/methodology/approach: The analyzed papers were compiled using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The author searched papers published between 2007 and 2023 that used terms related to international branding in their title, abstract and keywords.

Findings: This paper structures and identifies key institutions, papers, regions and authors in the field. It provides an overview of the past years of research in the area. The study identifies important gaps in the literature and suggests further research dealing with, for example, the B2B sector and emerging markets.

Originality/value: Despite the increase in international branding studies, few literature reviews have been published since 2007. This review fills this research gap. It identifies future research areas dealing with branding in the B2B sector, branding in emerging markets, branding process and implementation studies using longitudinal methods and more practical research. © 2024, Manoella Antonieta Ramos.

Purpose: This study describes how a multinational enterprise (MNE) gains acceptance after rebranding acquired brands from different countries among its internal and external stakeholders and identifies factors that influence this process.

Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a single case-study approach, including 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with employees of a firm involved in the rebranding process in six countries. The countries are Sweden, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

Findings: The findings reveal how the MNE integrated brands it acquired in different international markets into one overarching corporate brand. The study shows that in emerging countries, external legitimation (external implementation process, country profiles and customer buy-in) constitutes the most significant challenge. By contrast, in developed countries, internal legitimation (employee buy-in and internal implementation process) is more challenging.

Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to and extends the rebranding literature by using a legitimation lens to analyze the rebranding process. This lens shows how internal and external stakeholders are both crucial to successful rebranding. The study provides a comprehensive perspective of the process, identifies challenging factors and differentiates between their importance in emerging and developed countries.

Originality/value: To address the dearth of research on how firms legitimize a new brand in different national contexts, the study compares the rebranding process in multiple countries and discusses the factors influencing the rebranding process.

This study examines how a firm rebrand acquired brands, which brand dimensions matter most for customers and employees, and how companies in a rebranding situation can transfer the brand equity from the original brand to the brand that is absorbing it. Using a case study of a multinational business-to-business life sciences company undergoing global rebranding process, we find that for customers and employees on a strategic level, support or resistance is primarily functional, and the critical brand knowledge dimension is awareness. At operational level, individuals value brand’s symbolic value, and the brand knowledge dimension critical for success is image. In a rebranding process, B2B brand managers should focus on brand image in the minds of employees and users who work closely with the product, and focus on brand awareness with strategic buyers. 

Purpose: This study examines the challenges that multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the life sciences industry face during international product launches. The focus is on understanding the barriers MNEs encounter in various national contexts and aims to explore how institutional environments shape the product launch process and the strategies MNEs use to gain acceptance across different markets.

Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach is used, with 20 interviews with key employees from multiple sites and countries within one MNE involved in launching new products. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and supplemented by internal documents.

Findings: The study develops a framework that summarizes key factors influencing the launch process, including pricing, dynamic capabilities, brand awareness, and regulatory compliance. A typology is created to categorize markets into four distinct quadrants based on brand awareness and price sensitivity levels

Originality: This research contributes to the literature by integrating theories of legitimation and institutional influence with the process of new product launches. It offers a framework for understanding the dynamic factors at play and proposes a typology that focus on the complexities of launching products across different market contexts, particularly in the heavily regulated life sciences sector.

The introduction of new products in emerging markets presents specific challenges for firms. While these countries offer novel and expanding markets, their inherent institutional instability and lower per capita income introduce commercial risks which make these markets uncertain. Existing literature concentrates on individual domestic markets, offering limited direct cross-national comparisons. Most studies tend to treat emerging markets as a homogeneous group, overlooking the crucial differences and specific nuances inherent into each market. Furthermore, scant studies investigate new product launches in emerging markets, particularly those that account for the distinct characteristics and uncertainties of these diverse environments. While previous research literature has explored legitimacy in the context of long-term growth prospects, its role in the introduction of new products in emerging markets is understudied. Using a case-study method and legitimacy theory lens, this study investigates the main challenges an organization faced during new product launches and how it responded to these challenges to legitimize its new products in uncertain emerging markets. The findings highlight the importance of internal and external legitimation and the utilization of different legitimation strategies as necessitated by the different forms of uncertainties in the emerging country where the product is launched.