We have just made available the programme brochure with the book of abstracts for this year's ICIG symposium. We have also shared a number of photographs on our website as little mementos of the event (please click here). Enjoy!

Speaking to the general theme of the 19th ICIG symposium Dr Christine Vallaster (FH Salzburg, MRM) presented the paper „Corporate CSR brands and Resilience: Implications from an Entrepreneurial Perspective” in which she explored the conditions for resilience of social entrepreneurship as one possible answer to the various challenges that organisations and societies face in the changing economic, social, cultural and ecological landscape of the early 21st century.

Social entrepreneurs develop new hybrid business models with which they seek to reconcile financial viability and instrumental interests with social and ecological concerns based on a focus on long-term viability and sustainable flourishing rather than short-termism and unlimited growth.

These new forms of organising for a ‘post-growth’ economy and in light of existential threats to our eco-system and the social cohesion of human societies was one of the many interesting themes explored during the 19th ICIG symposium 2016. These emerging trends and developments pose pressing and urgent questions for corporate marketing, corporate identity and identification, corporate branding and corporate communication academics and practitioners alike.

We thank all academic delegates and guests from industry, government and public organisations who attended the 19th Symposium of the International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG) which was hosted by Essex Business School at Wivenhoe House this year.

During the three days of the symposium the ICIG debated the various challenges and opportunities organisations face in a changing and turbulent world. We discussed and explored new empirical insights, theoretical perspectives and practical solutions for corporate marketing, corporate identity, corporate brand, corporate reputation and corporate communication management and strategy.

The combination of cerebral scholarly reflection and practical relevance has been a hallmark of the ICIG symposia and we are happy that this year’s event continued with this tradition. The intimate country house style nature of the event and its collegial, encouraging and gracious atmosphere are a second pillar on which the lasting legacy of the ICIG symposia has been built since their inception in 1994.

We are happy that all delegates and guests nurtured and sustained this ethos so generously once again at the 19th ICIG symposium this year. A big thank you from the organisers – Prof John M.T. Balmer and Dr Mario Burghausen – for making the symposium such a memorable and thought-provoking event and see you at the 20th ICIG symposium in 2017!  

We are very excited and look very much forward to welcoming all delegates and keynote speakers to the 19th Symposium of the International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG) hosted by Essex Business School at Wivenhoe House Hotel next Monday. We wish all participants a pleasant and safe journey to Colchester. Welcome to Essex!

We are delighted that we can today publish the final programme for the 19th Symposium of the International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG) taking place at the exclusive Wivenhoe House Hotel and hosted by Essex Business School in June 2016 (13-15 June). The impressive line-up includes leading academics and journal editors as well as practitioners from business (BP plc), governmental (German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy), and public (The British Museum) organisations. 

A special issue of the journal International Studies of Management & Organization (Volume 46, Issue 4) has just been published. This special issue is linked to the 15th Symposium of the International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG), which was held at the School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark. During the symposium we discussed the complexities of mutliple stakeholder interactions vis-à-vis corporate marketing issues. A select number of international authors elaborate the theme in this special issue, which was co-edited by the guest editors John M.T. Balmer, Trine S. Johansen and Anne Ellerup Nielsen. 

The interest in the 19th ICIG symposium has been tremendous and we received a great number of very interesting abstracts. We are delighted to announce that about 25 excellent academic contributions have been selected now for presentation at this year's ICIG symposium. In addition, a number of experienced practitioners will share their insights with us as well. We are very excited about the diverse line-up, which will surely make for a memorable and thought-provoking event. We look very much forward to welcoming about 30 delegates at the prestigious Wivenhoe House Hotel (Essex University) in June this year: Welcome to Essex.

We are happy to announce that a special issue of the Journal of Brand Management (Vol. 23 No. 1) linked to the 17th Symposium of the International Corporate Identity Group (ICIG), which took place in Cape Town (South Africa) in August 2014, has just been published. The special issue was co-edited by the guest editors John M.T. Balmer, Russell Abratt and Nicola Kleyn. 

The new ICIG website is now up and running. We hope you enjoy exploring these pages. This site is still in development and we are working hard to add new content and information about the ICIG and our work as we go along. Please visit again soon. Thank you and welcome!