Entering a complex market: How hybrid branding helps new brands create distinctive and resonant identities

Nicole Gorman () and Pierre-Yann Dolbec ()
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Nicole Gorman: Concordia University
Pierre-Yann Dolbec: Concordia University

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2025, vol. 53, issue 4, No 12, 1208-1229

Abstract: Abstract In today’s competitive markets, creating a distinctive brand identity is crucial yet challenging, especially for new entrants. Complex markets with conflicting institutional logics offer unique opportunities to create a distinctive and resonant brand identity. We introduce hybrid branding as a novel strategy that resolves market-level cultural contradictions to create such identities. Our qualitative analysis of lingerie brand Savage X Fenty identifies four mechanisms of hybrid branding—selective adopting, selective distancing, juxtaposing, and integrating—through which the brand resolved contradictions between the conflicting ‘bombshell’ and ‘body-positive’ logics structuring the lingerie market to create an identity centered on inclusive sexual empowerment. We also identify threats that hybrid brands face: perceived deviations from logics, amplification of contradictions, and hybridization failures. We contribute to theory by introducing hybrid branding as a means of navigating institutional complexity and by identifying market complexity as a source of novel meaning creation. We also offer insights on managing brand authenticity, legitimacy, and hybrid brands.

Keywords: Brand; Complexity; Hybrid; Institution; Lingerie; Logics; Market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11747-024-01072-3

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