CORPORATE BRANDING, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURING, BRAND STRATEGY, AND CONSULTING: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND PROPOSAL OF A MODEL FOR THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Abstract

This article examines how corporate branding, organizational structuring, and brand strategy can support the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, proposing an advisory model oriented toward reputation building, adaptation, and competitiveness in international markets. It presents an integrative, analytical-conceptual literature review based on a transparent search and selection protocol covering studies published between 2021 and 2026. The review considered publications retrievable from Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Emerald, SciELO, and Google Scholar, combining descriptors related to corporate branding, brand orientation, strategy, marketing capabilities, internationalization, reputation, business processes, networks, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The synthesis connects corporate branding, the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, internationalization and learning, market orientation, standardization versus adaptation, process structuring, business networks, and governance. Findings indicate that a brand can operate as a strategic capability when translated into identity, positioning, promise, culture, processes, experiences, and recognizable evidence in target markets. For SMEs, advisory support is particularly relevant because it reduces knowledge asymmetries, organizes priorities, selects markets, structures routines, coordinates partners, and transforms limited resources into coherent value propositions. A seven-stage advisory model is proposed: diagnosis, definition of the brand core, market and value proposition choices, process structuring, adaptation and validation, assisted implementation, and monitoring. The article concludes that SME international competitiveness depends less on isolated communication and more on the integration of strategy, brand, operations, learning, and governance.