This paper addresses a gap in the literature on communication of change in corporate identity (CI) by investigating the brand migration of Bosch in India. Bosch was founded in Germany in 1886 and manufactured automotive components for leading automobile brands in the world. It started operations in India in 1951 as Motor Industries Co. Ltd. (MICO), a wholly owned subsidiary. To align the brand architecture in India with the global architecture, change in corporate identity was done from MICO to Bosch in a gradual manner from year 2004 to 2008. Apart from rebranding another objective was to build the brand Bosch. The change in corporate identity from MICO to Bosch is a powerful and interesting narrative of complexity in communication characterised by multiplicity of audiences, messages, business divisions, and media making the task of coherence in communications particularly arduous. This paper contributes to the literature on communicating change in CI by identifying research propositions based on a holistic and an in-depth case study of Bosch, which is a multifaceted examination of a situation. It develops new propositions from case-based empirical data, rather than relying on essentially quantitative, deductive, theory-testing research paradigms. The richness of the case has few parallels and provides a blueprint from which others may learn. The case context enabled the development of seven propositions and conceptualisation of a framework for strategic communication of change in CI. The key propositions centre around strategic orientation, a constituency focussed approach, dual branding as an intermediate stage, integrating product messages with corporate messages, having a long time horizon to prevent loss of continuity, measuring effectiveness with a hierarchy of effects, and harnessing reciprocity of advertising and public relations.
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