Abstract
This study addressed the themes affecting the brand salience and brand differentiation of the Florida Forest Service (FFS). Six focus groups were conducted at different locations in Florida. FFS suffered from a lack of brand salience and differentiation. Brand salience is the extent to which a brand comes to mind for the public. Brand differentiation is the extent to which a brand separates itself from competitors in the public’s perceptions. Three themes emerged that affected brand salience: the importance of forests, brand identifiers, and external communications. Two themes emerged for affecting brand differentiation: forest and natural resources organizations and communications. The following recommendations were made for public organizations: ensure the organization’s brand is present in the public’s external environment, create salient messages and brand identifiers, test messages and brand identifiers prior to implementation, and consistently use messages and brand identifiers. The following recommendations were made for future research: replicate the research to other settings to address the transferability of the findings, conduct quantitative research to address brand salience and differentiation for public organizations in a generalizable manner, and research perceptions of public organizations’ communications.
Recommended Citation
Settle, Quisto; Goodwin, Joy; Telg, Ricky; Irani, Tracy; Carter, Hannah; and Wysocki, Al
(2012)
"Brand Salience and Brand Differentiation of the Florida Forest Service,"
Journal of Applied Communications:
Vol. 96:
Iss.
3.
https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.1139
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