Background: In the XX Winter Olympics 2006 in Torino the Swedish Olympic Team succeeded by winning 14 medals. The best result that Sweden has ever made during a Winter Olympics. The happiness was shortly after mixed with disputes between the Swedish Olympic Committee and Swedish companies. There were companies who wrongly had used the trademark ‘OS’ in their marketing campaigns. The disputes happened because the use of the protected trademarks concerning the Olympic Games are reserved only to the Swedish Olympic Committee’s sponsors. Title: Seeking Opinions Concerning… - the Swedish Olympic Committee and its Trademarks. Problem: What attitudes do people hold towards the Swedish Olympic Committee after the XX Winter Olympics 2006? Purpose: The study aims to get an understanding about if people’s attitudes towards the SOC and its trademarks have changed after what has been written and said in media after the XX Winter Games 2006. In order to reach this understanding I will look at people’s knowledge about the SOC’s trademark, their prior knowledge and thoughts and finally their prior knowledge about the ‘Olympic pizza’. Theory: By going from an initial description of the factors that make up a good brand and the different meanings to the word ‘brand’, the reader is taken through different steps to finally in the end see how attitudes are created. Method: The study was done with a quantitative method through questionnaires, looking at the problem from the perspective of the Committee who are the ones affected by the results of the study. The collection of data was done through a non-random convenience selection in the community of Storuman with a total number of 76 respondents. Further, the study has a positivistic view and a deductive approach. Result: The results were that the respondents’ first thought about the Swedish Olympic Committee was mostly indifferent, it seems like they did not have an opinion. Digging deeper it seems like after what has happened in the media the respondents’ attitudes have changed. There was not a big difference however in the number of people who had had an attitude change after the ‘Olympic pizza’ story compared to those who had not. The ones who had experienced attitude changes had had them towards the negative side.

How the distributor uses merchandising to sell his own products?

Dissertation about how the distributor uses the different strategies of merchandising to sell his products in the point of sales.

Abstract Date: September 1, 2008 Course: EFO705 Master Thesis International Marketing Tutor: Peter Dalin Authors: Muhammad Rizwan mrn07003@student.mdh.se Qin Xian xqn07001@student.mdh.se Title: Study of Brand Awareness and Brand Image of Starbucks Problem: To investigate to what extent the Swedish youths have brand awareness about the brand of Starbucks and what kind of brand perception of Starbucks as reflected by the brand association held in target customers’ memories (brand image). Purpose: Carrying with the conception of brand awareness and brand image packaged into the case of Starbucks brand, the authors aim to investigate the degree of Starbucks’ brand awareness among the Swedish youths’ minds (brand awareness) and the perceptions of Starbucks brand as reflected by the brand association held in target customers’ memories (brand image). Method: Primary data is collected through qualitative interviews with Swedish students of Mälardalen University in vasteras. Secondary data is collected from articles and literatures in journals and through internet. Conceptual Model: A model of keller about Brand Image and Brand Awareness is used as the conceptual framework of whole thesis. The relevant theories and definitions are used during the research process. Conclusions: After the investigation we can come to the conclusion that the focal respondents’ acquaintance to Starbucks brand stay on the basic level—they are able to recognize the focal brand and retrieve it when given some type of probe as a cue. Although the general spirit embedded into Starbucks is consistent with what the customers comprehend, still some commitments and symbol involved into Starbucks are ignored or misunderstood by focal respondents. The concrete explanation is concluded underneath:

Aim: This study deals with Brand Management after acquisitions. Since this subject is still quite unexplored, a case study backed the theoretical review in order to answer the two research questions. Furthermore, the work educes a model which shows the ascendancies that are involved in the field of Brand Management after acquisitions. It is the aim to reveal the necessity of strong branding for acquired companies and the importance of the continuity of their presenting brand values. I hope this paper adds new knowledge in the Brand Management sector in connection with acquisitions and gives the reader a proper understanding about the issue. Method: The study occupies a theoretical and an empirical study. The theory part presents a selection of theories and models developed by scholars in the field of business administration. While the first research question concerning brand equity after acquisitions is addressed in the theoretical review in chapter 3, the second question regarding brand image is mainly discussed during the empirical part. The data for the latter was primarily obtained by a case study which is a qualitative method and occupies interviews and discussions. Result: Brand Management has become a key issue for companies and is a sensitive subject in the context of Merger and Acquisition. Hence, it is a challenge for the acquirer and the acquired company to manage control and adapt to the new situation. Brand equity as a key asset of Brand Management is the amount of loyalty a customer has towards a brand and it is certainly influenced by such transactions as M&A. In the real-life comparison of the specific case it proved to be successful for the acquirer to maintain the autonomy of the acquired brand and continue the meaning of the brand. In addition, the loyalty of the customers is of great importance to assure a smooth process of the business operations. Suggestions for future research: Due to the current situation and constant changes it would be interesting to repeat the study some time in the future for a final conclusion. Furthermore, since the findings for the empirical part of this study are based on a strong acquired brand, it would be interesting to investigate the case of another company of weaker nature, and maybe of a different branch. The high profile of the target firm and its strong brand values had a remarkable influence on the revelations of this study. Contribution of the thesis: The result of this study helps companies to maintain their brand values during an acquisition. The research adds new knowledge in the brand management sector in connection with acquisitions, and it is useful for companies which are involved in M&A activities.

Personality and brand factors were examined to determine if consumers of certain personality dimensions would be more favorable toward specific brand factors of three major sports media companies: Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Fox Sports News. College-age sports news followers were tested to ascertain personality, brand evaluation, and media usage. Findings disclosed associations of personality dimension and brand preference, for example, “Agreeable” participants favored ESPN branding. Participants scoring low on “Extroversion” favored the Sports Illustrated brand. Other findings included an association between “Agreeableness” and TV; and frequent digital media users favored ESPN. Findings have implications for integrating personality research in marketing strategies that target college-age consumers.

Much previous research has studied high brand equity acquiring high brand equity or high brand equity acquiring low brand equity. However, very little research has been conducted to understand how that low brand equity acquiring high brand equity changes the low brand equity especially in China. This paper is on the case of Geely Group acquiring Volvo Car which was a typical acquisition of a high brand equity company by a low brand equity company. The aim of the paper is to verify whether this type of acquisition could increase the acquirer’s brand equity evaluated by consumers. This paper selects two brand strategies, ‘the house of brands strategy’ and ‘the endorsed brand strategy’, as the study objects of post-acquisition brand integration, and attempts to find the differences on consumers’ expectations and what is better suited for the new joint company. Therefore, a survey research strategy was used in this paper. A conceptual framework which included brand loyalty and perceived quality was developed from a review of the existing literature. Samples of data collected from Chinese consumers have been analyzed for the changes of consumers’ evaluation on the brand equity of Geely after its successful acquisition. Our research result proved that, a low brand equity company could enhance its brand value through acquiring an internationally known brand. After the acquisition, no matter what brand strategy applied, consumers had a more positive attitude towards the brand. The conclusion reached was that firms should be careful to choose an acquisition strategy by considering its strengths. But when faced with a decision of acquisition, the most important thing is to focus on the final success of the acquisition, while the brand integration strategy might be adjusted flexibly.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att fastställa konsumenters uppfattning om SAS varumärkesattribut och utröna vilka av dessa som har påverkats av den ekonomiska kris som företaget genomgick under hösten 2012. Metoden utgjordes av en tvåstegsmodell med fokusgrupp som inledande stadie i studien i syfte att ta reda på vilka attribut konsumenter associerar med SAS, samt en enkätundersökning för att ta reda på huruvida det har skett en förändring i uppfattningen om dessa attribut tillhörande SAS. Teoretisk anknytning har tagit utgångspunkt i Aakers (2002) modell för varumärkeskapital samt teorier om attribut och konsumenters uppfattning. Resultatet visar att ingen stor förändring i uppfattningen har skett kring den övergripande uppfattningen om SAS, dock kunde tendenser till förändring i uppfattning anas om ett antal av SAS varumärkesattribut. I undersökningen framkom att lojala kunder hade en mer positiv uppfattning om SAS efter krisen i jämförelse mot icke-lojala kunder, att SAS EuroBonusklubbmedlemmar hade en mer positiv uppfattning om SAS efter krisen i jämförelse mot icke-medlemmar, samt att yngre respondenter i högre utsträckning upplevde att deras uppfattning om SAS var mer negativ efter SAS senaste kris jämfört mot äldre.

Background  China is highly relevant in today’s economic environment and will be even more important in the upcoming years, since the Chinese economy, including its domestic consumer market, will keep growing. The country has changed from a merely manufacturing nation to a fast growing consumer market that offers promising marketing opportunities for Western companies. However, successful branding in China remains a challenge. In order to operate successfully, global companies need to position themselves strategically and adjust their marketing strategies to address this very diverse target market. This includes the branding of products. Since consumers’ cultural backgrounds shape their perception of brands, applying brand names to the Chinese market becomes a challenging task for multinational companies. Purpose  The purpose of this thesis is to explore different factors that are crucial for brand naming in China. The findings derived from a thorough literature review will be evaluated in front of empirical research and tested of their applicability to the practice of brand naming in China. Method  A qualitative research approach has been chosen in which the findings of a profound theoretical study are crosschecked via semi- structured in-depth interviews with multiple experts that are currently working in the field of branding in China. Conclusuion  This thesis concludes with stating different factors that have been confirmed and elaborated throughout the research. These factors are categorized in four different perspectives that have been established in the theoretical framework of this thesis: marketing, sociocultural, linguistics and legal. Moreover, the authors conclude that the four different perspectives cannot be seen independently and emphasize their interrelation. Thus, a model is provided that incorporates the crucial factors for brand naming in China and illustrates their interrelation. The authors emphasize that the results cannot be seen as conclusive, however, they provide valuable insights and a sound foundation for further research.

Iconic brand is a new topic in the field of branding that has started to attract researchers’ attentions; yet, it is still mostly discussed in the non-academic field. Brand community is also an evolving topic in marketing. These two new concepts are the focuses of this research. The main subject of this research is to explore the componential factors of iconic brand and brand community and the influences of the former ones on the latter ones. Even though there are few books and articles related to iconic brand, so far no quantitative research has been conducted. Thus, in this study, quantitative method is used to explore the componential factors of iconic brand. The same method is applied to brand community as well to explore the impacts of iconic brand on brand community. This research also accounts for a fact that cultural differences of the three countries (Sweden, Taiwan, and Vietnam) may affect respondents’ perceptions on the factors of iconic brand and brand community, as well as the impact levels between them. This study starts with examining the relevant literatures of branding, iconic brand, brand community, and cultural aspects of branding. Then, the hypotheses and research model are proposed based on theories. Questionnaires are distributed to Swedish, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese respondents in accordance with convenience sampling and snowball sampling. A total collection of 486 accepted questionnaires (which includes 171 questionnaires from Sweden, 163 ones from Taiwan, and 152 ones from Vietnam) is coded and analyzed by using SPSS and AMOS. Factor Analysis (EFA and CFA) and Cronbach’s Alpha are used to test the measurement reliability and consistency. Together with them, other statistical techniques, such as ANOVA and SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) are employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Semi-structured interviews are then conducted, based on the results of quantitative analysis, with six dynamic consumers from the three countries to explore further the cultural differences for the topic in Sweden, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The results show that iconic brand has three componential factors: brand personality, brand myth, and brand storytelling, while brand community has two factors: brand loyalty and emotional attachment to brand community. Also, the findings reveal that brand personality has the most positive impacts on brand loyalty while brand storytelling has the lowest positive impact on brand loyalty. Other impacts of iconic brand’s factors on brand community’s factors are positively moderate. Furthermore, both quantitative and qualitative results confirm the hypotheses of cultural differences in respondents’ perceptions (in the three countries) on iconic brand’s factors, brand community’s factors, and the positive impact levels between them.