The Birth of a Business Icon through Cultural Branding: Ferrari and the Prancing Horse, 1923–1947
研究了法拉利如何将一战王牌飞行员的徽章改造为跃马标志，借助其文化关联和政治背书在法西斯统治下生存，并揭示了新企业通过借用流行符号建立强大品牌形象的策略。
This article examines the origin of the “Prancing Horse” symbol and its role in helping the racing team Ferrari survive under the fascist regime in Italy. Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder, adopted the coat of arms of Francesco Baracca, the most renowned Italian military aviator during World War I, as the logo of his new racing team. By repurposing it from military aviation to motorsport, he benefitted from powerful cultural associations and strong political and cultural endorsement of Baracca’s persona. Drawing from scholarship on cultural branding and consumer culture, this study shows how new companies can establish powerful business icons by borrowing symbols connected to populist worlds and national ideologies, and transferring them to various industries. Strategic repurposing thus emerges as a distinct process within cultural branding to obtain institutional support and establish powerful brand identities in challenging contexts.