This article discusses the potential challenges of introducing corporate
branding in public sector organizations. While the corporate branding ideal is
to seek a precise and coherent definition of the organizational identity and
achieve message consistency in the organization's self-presentation, public
organizations are often characterized by contradictory and inconsistent values
and multiple identities. This makes the ideal of consistency difficult to
achieve. It is argued that public organizations will benefit more from branding
on the basis of inconsistent values and multiple identities rather than trying
to promote one set of values and one identity at the expense of others.