Abstract This present study aims to investigate how The Body Shop and CAIA Cosmetics use storytelling to create a strong brand identity and engage their audience on social media. We ask ourselves the questions: "How do brands utilize storytelling in their content on social media platforms to communicate their values, products, and brand identity?" and "How do different brands storytelling strategies differ on social media platforms? What similarities and differences can be found by comparing them?". By using a multimodal critical discourse analysis, the brands’ website and Instagram have been analysed, along with a video and an image for each brand. Furthermore, an analysis of brand building and brand identity with cultural theory and convergence culture as a starting point has been applied. The study has been conducted through six theoretical starting points: brand identity and branding, cultural theory, transmedia storytelling, digital storytelling, digital storytelling in social media and seven elements for digital storytelling. The results show that brands have several effective tools to use in the digital era. Social media has proven to be particularly effective platforms for creating engaging stories. The study shows that both The Body Shop and CAIA Cosmetics diligently use storytelling to engage their audience and strengthen their brand identity on social media platforms. While the approaches sometimes differ, brands’ have a common aspiration of using stories to communicate both their products and values. / Sammanfattning Föreliggande studie ämnar undersöka hur The Body Shop och CAIA Cosmetics använder storytelling för att skapa en stark varumärkesidentitet och engagera sin publik på sociala medier. Vi ställer oss frågorna ”Hur utnyttjar varumärken storytelling i sitt innehåll på sociala medieplattformar för att kommunicera sina värderingar, produkter och varumärkesidentitet?” och ”Hur skiljer sig olika varumärkens storytelling-strategier åt på sociala medieplattformar? Vilka likheter och skillnader kan påträffas genom att jämföra dem?”. Med en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys har varumärkenas webbplats och Instagram analyserats, samt en video och en bild från varje varumärke. Vidare har en analys av varumärkesbyggande och varumärkesidentitet med kulturteori och konvergenskultur som utgångspunkt tillämpats. Studien har genomförts genom sex teoretiska utgångspunkter: varumärkesidentitet och varumärkesbyggande, kulturteori, transmedial storytelling, digital storytelling, digital storytelling i sociala medier samt sju element för digital storytelling. Resultatet visar på att varumärken har en rad effektiva verktyg att använda sig av i den digitala eran. Sociala medier har visat sig vara särskilt effektiva plattformar för att skapa engagerande berättelser. Studien visar att både The Body Shop och CAIA Cosmetics idogt använder storytelling för att engagera sin publik och stärka sin varumärkesidentitet på sociala medieplattformar. Även om tillvägagångsätten ibland skiljer sig åt, har varumärkena en gemensam strävan av att använda berättelser för att kommunicera både sina produkter och värderingar.

This study focuses on the extent to which the various elements of corporate brand identity as identified in the literature are perceived to contribute to corporate brand image formation. In doing so, a theoretical perspective is adopted for this study that borrows from both marketing communication and corporate communication theories. Three data collection techniques – Q methodology, an online questionnaire and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) – were used to determine to what extent these elements are perceived significant in corporate brand image formation among participants from 106 South African organisations across various business sectors. Four categories were identified to be perceived as significant for corporate brand image formation, namely transformational leadership and management, positioning and differentiation strategy, brand equity and employee orientation and mentorship. To date, a comprehensive measuring instrument that theoretically includes all the corporate brand identity elements perceived to be significant in corporate brand image formation has not been developed. Based on the research findings, the study aims to propose a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument that includes all the corporate brand identity elements deemed significant in corporate brand image formation as perceived by South African organisations. The objective of providing a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument is to enable organisations to assess the role of their corporate brand identity in corporate brand image formation among their stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework includes the four identified categories perceived as significant in corporate brand image formation. It indicates which of the corporate brand identity elements included in the four categories are perceived to be more significant in corporate brand image formation by South African organisations. In addition, it provides assumptions on how these corporate brand identity elements are perceived to work in synergy to enhance corporate brand image formation based on the research results. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

This study focuses on the extent to which the various elements of corporate brand identity as identified in the literature are perceived to contribute to corporate brand image formation. In doing so, a theoretical perspective is adopted for this study that borrows from both marketing communication and corporate communication theories. Three data collection techniques – Q methodology, an online questionnaire and computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) – were used to determine to what extent these elements are perceived significant in corporate brand image formation among participants from 106 South African organisations across various business sectors. Four categories were identified to be perceived as significant for corporate brand image formation, namely transformational leadership and management, positioning and differentiation strategy, brand equity and employee orientation and mentorship. To date, a comprehensive measuring instrument that theoretically includes all the corporate brand identity elements perceived to be significant in corporate brand image formation has not been developed. Based on the research findings, the study aims to propose a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument that includes all the corporate brand identity elements deemed significant in corporate brand image formation as perceived by South African organisations. The objective of providing a theoretical framework for establishing a measuring instrument is to enable organisations to assess the role of their corporate brand identity in corporate brand image formation among their stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework includes the four identified categories perceived as significant in corporate brand image formation. It indicates which of the corporate brand identity elements included in the four categories are perceived to be more significant in corporate brand image formation by South African organisations. In addition, it provides assumptions on how these corporate brand identity elements are perceived to work in synergy to enhance corporate brand image formation based on the research results. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

This project is a simulation of the redesign of Växjö Lakers ice hockey club brand identity. A conversation about Co-branding and participatory design to include fans and people in general to take part in designing the brand identity of the club they support. My role as designer is to test, examine and analyse to come up with design methods and tools (Create your own logo website) that will enable fans and everyone to design their own version of the Växjö Lakers identity. In order to connect and create a bridge between club and fans that are willing to take part in such project, this will result of creating designs that would be more relevant to the image of the club that fans imagined.

Företaget Google är i dag ett av världens mest kända varumärke och deras sökmotor står för 70 % av internetsökningarna i USA och 90 % i Europa. De har lyckats få en dominans på sökmotorsmarknaden framför sina konkurrenter som Yahoo, Ask och Bing. Människor över hela världen använder flera utav Googles tjänster varje dag och många av dem reflekterar inte över den makt som Google har. Kan den här monopolliknande positionen Google har vara så pass transparent att användarna inte ens reflekterat över det? Vår önskan med uppsatsen är att ge läsaren en inblick i Googles varumärkesstrategi och hur användarnas attityder är gentemot företaget. Vi vill ta reda på om användarnas attityder stämmer överens med vad Google vill kommunicera till sina användare och om användarna reflekterar över den maktposition och dominans Google har på internet. För att samla empiriska data, valde vi att göra en webbenkät som besvarades av medie- och kommunikationsstudenter på Högskolan i Jönköping. Utifrån resultatet kunde vi konstatera att en stor del av respondenterna är väl medvetna om den dominans och maktposition som Google har på marknaden. Trots denna medvetenhet har vi inte sett detta påverka respondenternas generella attityder om Google som företag. Däremot kunde vi urskilja viss skepticism hos respondenterna när det kom till en del av Googles funktioner. / Google is today one of the world’s most known brand and their search engine stand for 70 % of the internet searches i the U.S. and 90 % for those i Europe. That means that they have managed to reach monopoly on the search engine market prior to its competitors such as Yahoo, Ask and Bing. People all over the world use several of Google’s services each day and many of them doesn’t reflect over the power that Google has. Can this monopoly and their positions of power be that translucent that the users don’t reflect on it? Our desire with this thesis is to give the reader a deeper understanding about Google’s marketing strategy and about the user’s attitudes towards the company. We want to find out if the attitudes of the user’s correspond to what Google wants to communicate to its users. We also want to find out if the users reflect any on the monopoly and positions of power that Google has on the Internet. To be able to gain empirical data, we chose to design a web-based survey and had media and communications student at Jönköping University to answer it. From the results we found that a large proportion of the respondents is very much aware of the monopoly and positions of power that Google has on the market. However, despite this awareness we could not see that this affected the user’s general attitudes towards the company. On the other hand, we could notice some skepticism when it came to some of the functions of Google’s services.

<p>Abstract:</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to learn how brand heritage and retro brands can help HQM strengthen their brand identity.</p><p>Background: Companies with a long history have a strategic choice to make re-garding the use of their heritage in marketing communications. Such companies also enjoy a history of interesting products, for which some may exist the possibility for a retro relaunch. Husqvarna is such a company, which made it interesting to find out how these two strategic tools can or cannot strengthen the studied company‘s brand identity.</p><p>Method: Through an inductive and exploratory case study with interviews of the personnel at Husqvarna Motorcycles, Italy, three theoretical areas emerged to be researched, brand identity, brand heritage and retro brands. The latter two required the help of real life examples for better understanding. The analysis had a deductive approach where the studied theory was applied to the companies, and conclu-sions were drawn from the accumulated knowledge to help streng-then the brand identity of Husqvarna Motorcycles.</p><p>Conclusions: HQM is a brand with heritage in the process of taking a strategic de-cision to use its heritage as a tool to strengthen the brand identity, hence on the way to become a heritage brand in the true meaning of the definition. As the oldest brand on the market, HQM can use its heritage to differentiate itself from the competition, creating uni-queness impossible to copy. A retro product can be a useful vehicle to carry the newly uncovered heritage to surface. With the help of theory and a real life example, a contender within the historical company product portfolio was recognized. Finally, the band identi-ty as stated by HQM was redefined according to the findings.</p>

Title: The marketing research of the image of sports brands Objectives: The objective of the inquiry is to identify the image of the 5 best known sports brands on the Czech market from the Prague generation Y point of view, whose age limit is defined by Bergha (2012). At the very end of the survey we then compare the acquired results with one another. Methods: The center of interest was the brand and how the consumer perceives it. The marketing research, used in this survey in the form of the electronic inquiry, can be assessed as quantitative with the use of qualitative techniques. It is based on studying the respondents' approach to competitive brands from one market segment. As crucial in the questionnaire was a battery of personal qualities, which was however supplemented by modified projective techniques, i.e. association tests and emotional connection of brands with colours. Results: The inquiry results show that among strongly perceived personal qualities of the examined sports brands is "trustworthy" which gives the impression of active life and health. Among neutrally perceived attributes is "exciting" and quite unapt characteristic is "aggressive". When evaluating the emotionality of the brands by means of limbic mapping, colours like black, white, blue and red predominantly dominate....

The video game industry is a rapidly growing industry due to technology advancements andhas made video games to a mass phenomenon. The diffusion of today’s technologies has created and expanded the video game market, both demographical and geographical, which has attracted more customers and increased the intensity of the competition. Companies in the industry have to professionalize their marketing processes and business strategies in a moreflexible and quickly fashion than before to be able to stay competitive. An overcrowded market with thousands of products released every year creates problems for actors to get recognized. The purpose of this dissertation has been therefore to study small start-ups brand identity in its inception phase within the video game industry to assist their brand strategic approach and be able to strengthen their competitive advantage in a saturated market. The dissertation has adopted the corporate brand identity matrix framework by Urde (2013) and investigated the brand-driven elements in a start-up context; thus, the framework has only been applied incorporation-setting where the companies are large and known. Five indie game developers from northern Sweden participated in the study’s field research. The dissertation shows that the corporate brand identity matrix is adaptable for start-ups and are not dependent on the company size. Findings confirm early signs of brand identity and found correspondence between competence and value proposition, expression and personality and culture and relationship, which address interconnection between its brand-elements and its brand core. The unique findings where they all show signs of social engagements, passion and a fan-centric ambition of doing business and most of all everyone had a “community first” approach and were more inspired to deliver value to its customers rather than how they can achieve value for themselves. A concept model for start-ups in the inception phase of the video game industry has been made based on the empirical results of the study that can be adopted early in a company's start-up process and provide guidance and support for its future brand identity development to address the issues of discoverability.

Sustainability is increasing in importance nowadays and Sweden is one of the most sustainability- focused countries in the world. Environmental sustainability is considered to be a key factor for business growth and companies incorporate this aspect in their brand marketing strategies. The purpose of this study is to get a broader understanding of the field of environmental sustainability work in connection to brand equity in Sweden. The main contribution of this study derives from studying how companies work with environmental sustainability to improve brand equity from a company’s perspective in Sweden. A qualitative approach was chosen, which included semi- structured interviews with seven companies that operate in Sweden. This paper develops an analytical model in order to analyse the findings from the interviews. The findings suggest that companies can work with environmental sustainability to improve their brand equity in Sweden by using strategies and practices that fit the company. It is important to consider the local context of Sweden, the market demands and requirements of its stakeholders and adopt a holistic approach in order to improve brand equity. Companies can choose to incorporate environmental sustainability work as an add-on to their brand or base the core of the brand around their work.

Frågeställning: Vilka åtgärder kan ett nystartat konsultföretag i marknadsföringsbranschen vidta för att etablera sig på en lokal, konkurrenskraftig och växande marknad? Syfte: Syftet är att öka förståelsen för företagsetablering på en lokal, konkurrenskraftig och växande marknad genom att undersöka små företags uppfattning om konkurrenssituationen, hur och om de differentierar sig samt vilka konkurrensfördelar de innehar. Detta undersöks på konsultmarknaden i Eskilstuna där blivande aktörer ska kunna ta del av denna studie samt den framtagna etaberingsmodellen. Metod: Semistrukturerade intervjuer i två omgångar har legat som grund för studien i något som kan liknas vid en induktiv ansats där utgångspunkten varit ett empiriskt problem. Slutsats: Studien presenterar ett förslag till modell som visar en möjlig process vid etablering. Bidrag/värde: Modellen är en bra början till vidare forskning inom ämnet och angränsande branscher samt angränsande geografiska städer. Den ger upphov till nya frågor så som om den praktiskt fungerar samt om den går att utforma på andra ställen / Question: What steps can a start-up consulting firm in the marketing industry take to establish themselves on a local, competitive and growing market? Objective: The aim is to increase understanding of the business establishment on a local, competitive and growing market by examining small business perception of the competitive situation, and how they differentiate themselves as well as the competitive advantages they hold. This is examined in the consulting market in Eskilstuna, where aspiring actors to take part in this study, and the produced establishment model. Methods: Semi-structured interviews in two waves have formed the basis for the study of something that can be likened to an inductive approach where the starting point was an empirical issue. Conclusion: This study presents a proposal for a model that shows a possible process of establishment. Contributions / value: The model is a good start for further research in the subject and related industries, as well as adjacent cities. It gives rise to new issues such as the practical application and if it is possible to design this model in other industries or cities.