Can public sector organizations be coherent corporate brands?

Abstract

This article discusses the potential challenges of introducing corporate branding in public sector organizations. While the corporate branding ideal is to seek a precise and coherent definition of the organizational identity and achieve message consistency in the organization's self-presentation, public organizations are often characterized by contradictory and inconsistent values and multiple identities. This makes the ideal of consistency difficult to achieve. It is argued that public organizations will benefit more from branding on the basis of inconsistent values and multiple identities rather than trying to promote one set of values and one identity at the expense of others.