Corporate communication analysis of a long-standing Turkish brand: Is törkiye işbank a heritage brand?

Abstract

Having a deep-rooted corporate history is considered very important in the public relations and marketing literature. However, heritage brand concept has emerged as a distinct category following the studies in which particular similarities between the communication strategies of monarchies and long-standing brands have been analysed. Turkey has many brands that give new insights into heritage brands. This paper focuses on Törkiye Işbank, which was founded in 1924 as the first national bank of Turkey, and aims at exposing how the bank uses its historical corporate identity in its communication activities. For this purpose, archival materials representing the bank's public relations and advertising activities that illustrate the turning points in its history were analysed through qualitative methods. The study showed that the concept of heritage has been important in the bank's corporate communication since its foundation.