Volume 15 (2026-27)

This paper introduces instruments applicable to planning and evaluating business growth, and dives into marketing and sales enablement and marketing synergy impact that drive year-on-year revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation – EBITDA – acceleration. The paper explores the evolution of the marketing funnel and its transformation into a unified growth model, and provides practical advice on how to align marketing and sales in business-to-business environments. It argues that the traditional linear funnel no longer reflects contemporary buying behaviour, as customers move through iterative loops of evaluation, engagement, and advocacy. Using telecom and technology sector examples, the paper demonstrates how integrated data systems, shared metrics, and consistent brand messaging drive higher conversion efficiency and customer lifetime value. It also analyses how organisations can optimise internal resources to manage rising acquisition costs by leveraging customer insights, redefining the ideal customer profile, and adapting strategy. It further underscores that sustainable growth results not from siloed departmental performance but from collaborative, data-driven orchestration across the full revenue cycle. The final section outlines a practical framework for embedding the unified funnel in organisational practice linking brand strategy, sales enablement, and customer relationship management analytics to achieve scalable business growth and maximise return on marketing investment. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: unified marketing and sales funnel; B2B marketing strategy; seamless customer journey; brand alignment; ROMI; sales and marketing integration

Wineries in competitive heritage regions increasingly invest in unconventional visitor experiences to heighten brand engagement and differentiation. However, innovation may threaten authenticity when encounters diverge from established narrative or provenance cues. This paper examines how award-winning wineries navigate the tension between brand authenticity and alternative brand contact experiences. An exploratory qualitative design identified cases through the Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism Awards (Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences, 2022–2025). Documentary analysis informed sampling, followed by semi-structured interviews with brand, marketing, and experience managers across eight wineries in Napa Valley and the Cape Winelands. Thematic analysis, supported by reflexive memoing, produced clear guidelines for the planning of authentic alternative experiences. These guidelines, in context of current literature, underpin a proposed Authentic Alternative Brand Contact Experience Grid, detailing best-practice planning principles: (1) a genuinely distinctive brand story; (2) an on-brand unconventional experience that honours brand congruence over time; (3) a lived stewardship that is both experienced and expressed by custodians; (4) the creation of an immersive multisensory experience; (5) expert curation; (6) responsible implementation; and (7) a commitment to continuous refinement and evolution of the experience. The paper advances theories of brand authenticity and experiential innovation, providing management guidance for heritage-positioned brands seeking differentiation with narrative congruence. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand authenticity; heritage branding; experiential innovation; narrative congruence; alternative brand contact; planning principles; AABCE Grid

This paper addresses the differentiation crisis in which 77 per cent of brands could disappear without consumer concern. It argues that purpose-driven strategies prove insufficient because purpose operates vertically towards singular causes while stakeholder capitalism demands horizontal care across multiple dimensions. The paper introduces two complementary frameworks. Firstly, a four-stakeholder model (people, product, customers, world) that maps where care must manifest across the organisation. Secondly, an extraction–creation–distribution cycle that explains how internal operational care translates into external competitive advantage through a continuous, always-on process distinct from conventional campaign thinking. Drawing on empirical evidence, including findings that stakeholder-oriented firms deliver higher annual returns, the paper demonstrates that care operates uniquely at the intersection of authenticity, differentiation, and growth, creating competitive advantage that traditional strategies cannot replicate. Three operational principles and a practical diagnostic for brand leaders provide actionable guidance for implementation. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand differentiation; stakeholder capitalism; competitive advantage; care-driven brands; brand authenticity; strategic brand management

Understanding what drives engagement on social media is a key challenge for media brands seeking to strengthen relationships with digital audiences. This study investigates the influence of emotional tone on digital customer engagement on X by analysing interactions between users and major Colombian media brands. Using a dataset of more than 100,000 Spanish-language tweets collected over a one-year period, the research examines how specific emotions — calmness, sadness, anger, and fear — affect engagement behaviours measured through likes, retweets and replies. Advanced natural language processing and machine learning techniques were employed, combining the BETO and ROBERTA models to classify sentiment and emotional tone, while thematic analysis was used to identify content categories including politics, entertainment and sports. The findings indicate that emotional tone is strongly associated with engagement patterns. High-arousal emotions, particularly anger and fear, generate the greatest levels of active engagement through retweets and replies, whereas calmness and sadness are more closely linked to passive engagement through likes. Political content was found to attract the highest levels of interaction, while entertainment content produced more moderate responses. The study highlights the importance of considering both emotional tone and emotional intensity when developing social media strategies. These findings provide practical guidance for media brands seeking to optimise audience engagement through emotionally resonant content while contributing to the growing literature on emotion-driven digital engagement. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand; customer engagement; emotional; influence; social media

This paper is a comparative study of the consumer cultural positioning of two wine brands: Yellow Tail of Casella Wines of Australia and Casillero del Diablo of Concha y Toro of Chile. These two brands have made meaningful gains in many markets across the globe despite the high fragmentation in the world of packaged wines and a general lowering of demand. A qualitative content-analysis-supported case study reveals that both brands were able to reap benefits from a hybridised global consumer culture positioning supported by foreign and local consumer culture positionings. Success lay in utilising the hybridised strategies by the two brands to align their brand value propositions with the evolving global culture of wine consumption. In this effort the two brands, however, chose different strategic moves. The findings should act as a best practice guideline to marketers in utilising consumer culture-based positioning to support their global branding efforts. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: consumer culture positioning; global positioning; global branding; consumer culture

The energy sector has long been regarded as a low-engagement, mistrusted commodity market where brands struggle to differentiate. Octopus Energy Group challenges this orthodoxy by treating brand not as a marketing veneer but as the operating system of the company. This paper, written from the perspective of Octopus’s Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Creative Officer, explores how brand philosophy shapes behaviour across technology, culture, product design and customer service. Drawing on established brand and marketing theory, the paper demonstrates how creativity and emotional design are engineered into every interaction, how Kraken — Octopus’s proprietary technology platform — acts as a brand engine at scale, and how the company’s wider moral imperative creates value simultaneously for customers, employees, society and the planet. Culture is presented as the kernel of the operating system, ensuring coherence and resilience as the company grows. The paper concludes with lessons for brand leaders in any industry: coherence between promise and practice, technology as an expression of values, culture as a safeguard and morality as strategy. Octopus Energy shows that even a utility can build trust, loyalty and love when brand becomes the system through which the whole organisation operates. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand strategy; brand as an operating system; customer experience design; service dominant logic; organisational culture; creating shared value; energy transition

Public evaluations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives increasingly hinge on perceptions of authenticity rather than on CSR activity alone. Understanding how organisations design and execute CSR programmes that are viewed as authentic is therefore of value to both scholars and practitioners. This paper examines the factors that contribute to CSR authenticity through a qualitative case study of the Philadelphia Eagles Autism Foundation, a team‑operated initiative launched by a National Football League franchise. Drawing on publicly available documents and in‑depth interviews with senior foundation executives, the study analyses the formulation and implementation of the initiative. The findings show that CSR authenticity is achieved through a combination of cause selection grounded in personal relevance to organisational leadership, a long‑term and organisation‑wide commitment, alignment with the team’s mission and values, transparent communication, and the credible distribution of all funds to scientific research and community programmes. The case further demonstrates how a professional sports organisation can leverage distinctive resources—including a passionate fan base, players, venues, sponsors, and high‑visibility communication platforms—to drive engagement and fundraising while maintaining authenticity. The paper contributes to the CSR literature by illustrating that authenticity is not the result of a single attribute but a comprehensive, ongoing process embedded in strategic decision‑making. Instructive elements are extrapolated to guide organisations seeking to plan, implement, and sustain authentic CSR initiatives. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: corporate social responsibility; authenticity; Philadelphia Eagles; autism

In spite of decades of technology investment, data silos remain persistent because organisations misdiagnose the problem as purely technical. This paper argues that barriers to data sharing are predominantly strategic, operational and cultural rather than technological. Using recent research identifying five dimensions of data-sharing resistance (strategic, operational, technological, cultural and regulatory), this paper presents a diagnostic framework enabling brand leaders to identify which barriers are dominant in their organisations. For brand management, these silos create fragmented customer experiences, inconsistent brand positioning and missed commercial opportunities. The paper provides six evidence-based interventions matched to specific barrier types: leadership modelling, transparency building, cross-functional collaboration, clear communication of benefits, training and support, and data governance. Implementation guidance includes diagnostic tools for auditing barrier profiles, decision rules for sequencing interventions and documentation of common failure modes including premature celebration, compliance mandates without meaning, vendor distraction and leadership inconsistency. Readers will gain practical frameworks for understanding and diagnosing their organisation’s specific barriers, selecting targeted interventions based on evidence rather than assumptions, and implementing change that addresses human behaviour alongside technical infrastructure. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: data silos; organisational behaviour; change management; brand strategy; digital transformation; AI strategy

Consumers frequently develop strong relationships with brands and thus are profoundly affected when these beloved brands are deleted from firm portfolios. The purpose of this research is to develop a fine-grained understanding of brand deletion from the consumers’ perspective, by identifying their key responses to brand deletion and developing self-report measures to assess these responses. A practical framework was developed to help firms understand and measure consumer reactions through an instrument and an overarching model conceptualising consumers’ responses to brand deletion. Consumers’ responses to brand deletion were found to emerge as a three-stage process: 1) thoughts and interpretations of the brand’s discontinuation; 2) emotional reactions such as sadness and/or betrayal; and 3) actions that can include complaining and/or negative word of mouth. Prior research has focused on a variety of specific atomistic consumer responses to brand deletion, including grief, rage and retaliation. In contrast, the research applies an integrated approach grounded in the tripartite model of cognition-affect-behaviour and the theory of cognitive appraisal. Actionable insights are offered for brand managers to anticipate consumer backlash and design effective communication strategies to plan and implement brand deletion decisions effectively. This framework equips businesses to reduce risk and maintain customer loyalty in the event of brand deletions. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand deletion; consumer responses; measurement instrument; measurement scale; conceptualisation; validation

This paper proposes the utilisation of blockchain technology to improve focus group research, to address long-standing challenges in participant recruitment, data security, transparency and incentivisation. Traditional focus group methodologies often suffer from logistical limitations, recruitment issues, privacy concerns and data management inefficiencies. Blockchain’s decentralised, transparent and immutable architecture offers innovative solutions to these issues. Specifically, the paper explores how blockchain can enhance participant anonymity and authenticity, automate fair and timely incentive distribution and facilitate secure, real-time collaboration across geographic boundaries. Through a synthesis of academic literature and conceptual application, the paper contributes to the growing discourse on blockchain in qualitative research and offers actionable insights for qualitative researchers seeking to explore ways to integrate blockchain into their methodological practices. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: blockchain; focus groups; participant recruitment; qualitative research

Brand management has become a respected science with various subdisciplines. At the same time, researchers have noted that the field tends to solidify popular paradigms and neglects critical contributions that challenge them. This could lead to concerns about the future of brands and brand management. The dominance of the co-creative school of brand management has resulted in a lack of consideration for other schools of thought, potentially leading to a loss of practical relevance. Brand sociology, a school of thought developed in Germany, has received little international attention despite its popularity in German-speaking countries. This perspective challenges existing explanatory patterns and offers a critical view of popular brand management approaches. This paper introduces the theory of brand sociology and develops four principles that are fundamental to brand management from this perspective. These principles are applied to the topic of purpose-driven brands, and it is demonstrated how brand sociology can provide new insights and challenge current marketing practices. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
Keywords: brand sociology; provoking theory; trust; self-similarity; gestalt; purpose-driven-marketing