Academic literature on the topic 'Brand/branding'

Purpose- The purpose of the study was to investigate how employees perceive and understand their company brand values. The aim was to show the importance of internal branding when communicating brand values in an organization to employees. Design/methodology/approach- The methodology used in this research was a quantitative survey study. Three warehouses were chosen for the study, in Älmhult, Helsingborg and Malmö. The sample was 129 employees and questionnaires were handed out to them. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed in the data program SPSS. Findings- Result from the study shows that the employees have a good understanding and share a mutual perception about the brand values. Although the employees have good knowledge the study shows that they are not committed on a personal level to the brand values. Since internal branding is about implementing the brand values with the employees the result shows that the internal branding is not as embedded as it should be in the organization. Research limitations and implications- Due to the timeframe given, the research was a cross- sectional study. A suggestion for future research is to do a longitudinal design in order to see changes over time. A theoretical implication is given to the two concepts of brand citizenship behavior and brand commitment since the results in this research are different from other studies. For the managerial implications, the commitment to the brand should be taken into consideration in the internal branding process. Originality/ value- The value that this study brings is to the internal branding process by showing the lack of brand commitment even though the knowledge about the brand values are high.

Magister Commercii - MCom<br>The focus of branding is often externally focused, yet it is the employees through their direct interaction with the brand, that can make or break the brand promise. Despite the important role of employees in building the brand, they are often overlooked in brand building strategies. The purpose of the study was to test the effect of internal brand management on brand commitment and brand trust in a government organisation. Front-line employees of the South African Post Office, a state-owned organisation in South Africa was selected to collect the data using convenience sampling. Cronbach Alpha and content validity was used to test the reliability and validity of the measurement instrument. The data was not normally distributed and non-parametric tests were performed during data analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the basic characteristics of the respondents and the correlation coefficient (Rho) was used to test the relationships between variables. All three hypotheses were accepted. The results are consistent with previous research, however, new developments are emerging. For front-line employees to commit to the brand, they must trust the brand, which in turn is created through brand identity. Negative external communication influences the ability of front-line employees to deliver the expected brand promise. Importantly, the role of top management in fostering internal brand management cannot be overlooked.

The aim of this study is to investigate how self-employed entrepreneurs create and manage their brands and how the entrepreneurs engage customers to their brands in online and offline contexts. Furthermore, the viewpoints of entrepreneurs towards branding will be explored To answer the research question, a qualitative, multiple case study was conducted. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews and the secondary data was obtained by studying the entrepreneur´s social media behaviour. This study found that entrepreneurs build their brands by utilizing their own personalities and characteristics. The brands created have loyal following and the customers are positively engaged. The engagement process itself is due to the relationships built between the company and the customers. Even if the brands are effective, there is not much strategic elements to them but are rather very organic.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Problem: Branded products can be seen everywhere around us at all time, and is a way of communication for the buyer of the product But, what if one cannot build a brand based on visibility, an example is underwear, then how is it possible to create a brand and add value to it? Is it actually feasible to create a strong brand when not leveraging upon visibility? The organization Stargate Brand Group and its brand Frank Dandy Superwear have been used in order to obtain a deeper understanding around the topic.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to research how to create brand value for an invisible brand within the fashion industry.</p><p>Method: To help fulfill the purpose a qualitative approach has been used. Personal interview with the CEO of Stargate Brand Group, telephone interviews with 20 fashion retailers combined with focus groups consisting of potential underwear buyers. The authors believe this approach helped to understand customer behaviour, branding techniques and how to create a brand value from an invisible branded product.</p><p>Result: The most important elements in order to create brand value for an invisible brand are quality and perceived quality. To become a successful underwear brand, since that is the invisible brand that the authors choose to focus upon, quality must be highly emphasized, and offering a high quality product is one way of creating brand value to customers.</p><p>The overall understanding of invisible products and brands is that they are bought primarily to fulfill the customer’s need of feeling comfortable and leverage upon people’s desire of well-being. An invisible brand cannot leverage upon its user to the same extent as other products, since it is not shown to the public.</p>

This dissertation aims to address the research gap which was evident on the apparel industry. The authors identified that additional research is required on how corporate identity influences the designing of a brand image on apparel industry. In order to address the gap the authors first formed a research model based on literature review or secondary data. Later on, primary data was collected through qualitative research method from 14 garments companies in Pakistan. Moreover, the primary data and secondary data was synthesized in order to analyze and conclude the research.The finding shows that the communication is a main issue when forming the brand image and it must be in line with the corporate identity in order to form a successful brand.

Purpose    The aim of this study is to explore if there is a gap between brand identity and brand image in the city of Baku. Background Having a strong city brand based on the positive perceptions from both internal and external stakeholders’ point of view is very important in today’s world of globalization when cities have to constantly compete for the share of tourists, investors etc. Therefore, in terms of the thesis we aspire to investigate if Baku has been successful to build a strong brand identity and whether the brand image mirrors it from the Swedish people’s perception. Method The study constructed upon a mixed research method, which based simultaneously on inductive and deductive approach. Interviews representing the qualitative reasoning approach are utilized in order to reach the data related the city brand image and city brand identity. Conclusion The city has a firm and rationally established brand identity. The current research revealed the gap between brand image and brand identity in Baku. Thus, that the city’s brand image is not fully reflecting the real brand identity, in particular due to the internal facts.

Branding is essential for a business success although it may be difficult to decide what branding strategy to use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of branding, and more explicitly the strategies of umbrella branding and brand extensions and how it relates to value, in practice. A case study of an ice cream company, SIA Glass, was conducted to answer the research question of how SIA Glass’ branding strategy affect its’ brands. The method used was based on a deductive approach with semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that SIA Glass’ decision to offer a more diverse brand portfolio created problems in its’ internal communication and the focus was lost on brands less prioritized. Instead of focusing on the SIA Glass brand, the company wanted to connect SIA Glass to its’ corporate heritage and the Bertegruppen group, and offer products in new segments with less connection to the SIA Glass brand. Conclusions from the study imply that it is difficult for a company with limited resources to have an extended brand portfolio. In addition, as brand value is co-created with consumers and customers it demand more emphasis in practice, as well as in branding research.

There are a lot of different business strategies for any company. However, in the fashion industry, the best way to become successful is to develop the brand using special branding strategies. Hence, a brand is the main weapon for fashion companies, which helps to launch international market and to create loyal customers around the world. Nowadays, due to the difficult current political situations and the collapse of oil and the dollar a lot of companies in different industries have to change their business strategies. It is especially true for fashion companies, because they depend on consumers ' income and their purchasing power. In the case of the fashion industry, branding strategy development can be more effective, than just business strategy. Hence, this thesis discusses the following problem: What branding strategy should Russian and Swedish fashion companies choose in order to build a strong brand and enter the international market.  The purpose of this thesis is to analyze various branding strategies of Russian and Swedish fashion companies during the process of entering foreign markets. At the end of this thesis, practical contribution in their process of international branding strategy creation will be discussed. In order to answer research questions more broadly and accurately, the mixed research method, using quantitive and qualitative study through interviews and survey was chosen. Semi-structured interviews were made with the CEO and brand managers of Russian and Swedish fashion companies. Moreover, the survey was made with two different questionnaires: for Russian and for Swedish customers. In the case of qualitative research, the author found that fashion companies from Russia and Sweden have got not just some features and differences, but also common aspects. The primary data from interviews allowed the author to understand the specifics of brand management in the fashion industry. It was found, that there are some useful aspects in Swedish strategies, which can be used by Russian companies to develop their brands on the international market. In the case of quantitative research, preferences of consumers from Russia and Sweden were analyzed and also some features were identified. Survey results provided the author with a common understanding about purchase habits, attitudes and perceptions to fashion brands. According to these, some hypothesizes, which are formulated in the first part of the thesis, have been proven or disproven. It was found, that preferences of Russian and Swedish people are pretty the same, however Russian customers do not like to risk with new brands and prefer well-known and trusted brands while Swedish customers are open for any brand, which can satisfy their tastes.

<p>Asian companies have turned to be multinationals. Many factors could be the reasons of this phenomenon, these days, cooperation strategies, especially, co-branding is an issue. Therefore, this study pursues to study which contexts Asian companies face and how Asian firms use co-branding. This study will study three cases: LG-PRADA, Sony-Ericsson, and Lenovo-IBM of co-branding. This research will analyze each case company’s portfolio with regional matrix and study how company use co-branding with co-branding typology. After reading this paper, readers can have an integrative view over Asian companies’ contexts and its co-branding strategy as its growth strategies.</p>