Revisiting brand origin: expanding the strategic portfolio of brand-level attributes

ABSTRACT The concept of brand origin was introduced two decades ago in response to the restrictive nature of ‘country-of-origin’ research in marketing; however, research to this day has remained constrained to geography. This paper leverages brand narrative to reconceptualize brand origin with the goal of enabling a broader array of strategic and positioning options to brand managers and brand origin researchers. The results of an exploratory study suggest that unburdening the scope of origin from geography enables the evolution of brand management to enlarge the scope and domain of the concept of ‘origin’ fivefold. Avenues for both management practice and future research exploration related to the multidimensional nature of brand origin are proposed.