ABSTRACT
The product paradigm reflects an approach to branding where the brand is a low strategic priority and the customer is seen as a passive player in the branding process. The product paradigm reflects a product-centered approach to brand management. The brand is seen as a strategic entity that should be used as a template for the overall business model. The relational brand management paradigm in the Louro and Cunha framework is the opposite of both the lack of review of the actions of the customers in the projective paradigm and the ‘excessive’ focus on the active customer in the adaptive paradigm. The proposed taxonomy of the eight approaches hence complements existing frameworks or categorizations of brand management even though it stems from a different background. The taxonomy provides much detail to enhance understanding of brand management, both when it comes to width and when it comes to depth.
