An interpretive enquiry into the creation of a CEO personal brand and stakeholder engagement via social media
(A2019-8333)

AUTHORS

Krista Kajewski, Educated Change Ltd.; Sharifah Faridah Syed Alwi, Brunel University London; Khanyapuss Punjaisri, Mahidol University

KEYWORDS

Personal brand; Corporate brand image; Stakeholder management

ABSTRACT

Social media has altered the corporate communication environment. Organisations have put their CEOs on social media to build image and create a strong personal brand. However, creating a personal brand online is complicated and problematic, especially when the personal brand serves various stakeholders. While CEOs become recognised as a brand, little research has explored how a CEO personal brand can be created and what impacts it has on stakeholders. To address these questions, this study adopted a multi-method research, combining qualitative in-depth interviews with netnography to understand CEO personal branding from both a CEO’s and stakeholders’ perspectives. The findings indicate key CEO characteristics and employee involvement as pre-requisite to developing a CEO personal brand. Also, by bridging corporate branding and online personal branding literature, this study illustrates how a CEO personal brand influences corporate brand image, employee advocacy and consumer loyalty.