Today’s globalization has led to a much higher degree of competition between countries to obtain attention, trust and respect from investors, tourists and consumers as well as media. A powerful and positive brand is therefore an important advantage in the competition. Countries need to make themselves heard in order to stand out from the competition, and by using event marketing a country can be able to meet the public in a different way. One unique way is by using a ship as an event marketing tool to promote a country. The main problem of this study is therefore how a ship as an event can work as a marketing tool in terms of branding/promoting a country. Methodologically, a qualitative, single case study approach was used and interviews have been undertaken with professionals in the field of nation branding or/and that have a relation to The Swedish Ship Götheborg and its expedition to China, which has been our case of focus. The findings indicate that there is a need for clear and realistic objectives which are congruent in every part of the event marketing organization in order to promote a country. Using a ship is also a unique way of performing event marketing and therefore it is a good way of differentiate and expose a country, as well as it has an extended possibility to place market a country abroad and not just at home. This is due to that a ship has the ability to move all around the world. Our conclusions of how a ship as an event can work as a marketing tool in terms of branding/promoting a country resulted in a model which we created for nation branding organizations to consider in order for the event marketing to turn out successful. Due to the increasing competition among countries to obtain attention, the need for an extraordinary way of standing out is crucial. We believe that not only a ship, but all means of transport can be used as a form of event marketing with the purpose of promoting a country, since it is an unusual approach and has the mobile ability to reach a bigger audience all around the world. Consequently, we felt the need for a new term to be coined, namely Mobile Event Marketing. Our recommendations are therefore aimed at nation branding organizations that want to use a mobile event to market their country.

In the recent years, the mobile phone from analog era to the 2G era and more to 3G, mobile phones is not only a single kind of communication products, but also it became an integral part in daily life. Advances in hardware and the popularity of telecommunications providers to provide 3G network service, makes smart phones became convenience and functional. It brings consumers a new experience. In June 2007, Apple led the launch of the iPhone. Its intuitive touch interface, multi-application software, and humanness designs, coupled with value-added services to mobile carrier model, and combined Internet community effect, creates a leading mobile company. Consumers still demand for the smart phones, and drive to the multi-function in the compound-oriented. Thus, a powerful portable devices become a must need. However, in varied mobile phone manufacturers, the most representative product is iPhone. In order to understand the niche market, we have to study the customer loyalty. And, we create literature related subject and conceptual framework for the iPhone users. In the study, the main structures are how customer satisfaction, brand identity and customer lock-in affect the customer loyalty. And, we will discover the co-related factors of the main frame. However, the point of view for the iPhone user will be also considered if the customer satisfaction (affection) will influence in customer loyalty. The affection factors will be considered as perceived usefulness, ease of use, compatibility and enjoyment. Last, w will reveal the analysis result and implication management.

A corporation which is aiming to create a world class brand should evaluate its existing product portfolio as a first step to configure its future products better. Therefore, this study is performed with the collaboration of Temsa Global Company, who desires to create a global brand in the commercial vehicle area: Temsa. The aim of the study is to find out the relationship between the brand specific design characteristics and visual product design features with a semantic approach, through a case study on a local commercial vehicle manufacturer: Temsa Global Company.

<p><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:9.0pt; margin-left:0cm; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --><!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} > <! [endif] ></p><p>Throughout time, marketing activities have moved from a transaction perspective to a relationship building perspective on the idea that service quality is an essential part to achieve competitive advantage. In building a strong service culture internal marketing can be used as a tool to increase the employees' commitment to their customers and raise the standards. Also, internal marketing can be used to make employees aware of and be a part of the brand identity of the company. One business where relationship marketing has become increasingly important is the banking sector. Today, a financial crisis is swiping over the world which has lead to questions about the stableness of banks.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and analyse how Swedbank and Forex Bank use internal marketing to effectively transfer their brand identity to the employees. The focus will be on internal marketing and communication in crisis.</p><p>This study has been conducted from a qualitative approach base on case studies of Forex Bank and Swedbank. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews with people at different levels within the companies.</p><p>In both the cases of Swedbank and Forex Bank the conclusions of this study showed that the employees were well aware of their respective companies' brand identities and was trying to live up to them as they were deeply rooted in the companies culture. Interviews revealed that none of the companies uses a clear internal marketing strategy. However, both Swedbank and Forex Bank use different internal marketing activities though with a slight difference in their focus. It was concluded that they would both benefit from having a structured internal marketing strategy. During the crisis Swedbank successfully use and enhanced their brand identity when communicating with their customers. Forex Bank on the other hand was not as successful, and some employees felt they were given some of the blame for the crisis, where the top management could have used the strong brand identity of the company to calm worried employees about the situation.< ><--></p>

<p>Background: Literature regarding brand identity within the service industry is relatively under developed. As a result one theory is used for both the service and product brands, even though there is a significant difference between a product and a service. As a result of this, the brand identity within the service industry has consequences. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the brand identity within the service industry. This is done by focusing on how and why this work is done. Accomplishment: Empirical data have been gathered through interviews with relevant people. </p><p>Result: The fundamentals of a brand identity are the same within the service industry as the product industry. The foundation for both industries is to stipulate the identity by recognizing the values which makes the company unique and competitive. The employees within these companies are a major part of the brand identity as they are the ones to influence it the most. Up to this statement current theories are accurate but when it comes to the correspondence between brand identity and corporate culture there aren’t enough theoretical support to find. In order to come a step further integration of organization theory and marketing is required.</p>

Design har gått från att beröra produktestetik till att idag innefatta ett tillvägagångsätt samt en resurs vid strategisk affärsstyrning. Beroende på företags erfarenhet och kunskapsnivå betraktas och nyttjas design på olika nivåer i en verksamhet. Sedan 1960-talet har design management kommit att få en erkänd roll inom näringslivet. Däremot existerar fortfarande en spänning mellan design och marknadsföring, som kan försvåra företags vilja att investera i design management. Studiens syfte är att öka förståelsen för hur design management kan fungera som strategisk resurs, genom att uppmärksamma och undersöka vad design har för betydelse i en varumärkesidentitet. Den frågeställning som studien önskar utreda lyder; Vad har design för betydelse för en varumärkesidentitet? Uppsatsförfattarna har utifrån ett hermeneutiskt synsätt genomfört en kvalitativ studie, där en fallstudie motiverats genom triangulering. Betydelsen av design för en varumärkesidentitet har utforskats genom ett studieobjekt; varumärket SATS. Teori och insamling av empiri ha varvats genom ett abduktivt tillvägagångssätt, där intervjuer har genomförts utifrån tre perspektiv; expert-perspektivet, varumärkesperspektivet och varumärkesidentitetsbärarperspektivet. Studiens teoretiska referensram består av identitetsteori och designteori. Teori och empiri har tillsammans med etablerade resonemang inom design management kopplats samman, där Aakers modell, Brand Identity Planning System, har valts ut som central. I en avslutande diskussion binds studien ihop, där uppsatsförfattarna väljer att definiera strategisk design för att kunna belysa studiens slutsats. Studien slutsats är att designs betydelse för en varumärkesidentitet är skapandet av dess helhet och konsekvens genom användarcentrering, tvärdisciplinärt samarbete samt innovativ problemlösning. Design möjliggör för en varumärkesidentitet att förmedla känslomässigt, funktionellt och identifierande värde. / Design that originally only affected products' aesthetics is today known as a key success factor in competitive strategic business management. As a result of the lack of awareness for strategic design capabilities, a broader knowledge for the importance of design management investments is required. The purpose of this essay is therefore to enlighten the potentiality of design management and exploit how design can contribute to the brand identity. The ambition is to be able to answer the question; what significant importance has design to enhance brand identity? From a hermeneutic approach a qualitative method motivated triangulation and abduction. The brand SATS was selected as an investigation objective. The theoretical framework consists of theories of brand identity and strategic design. The main theory is called The Brand Identity Planning System and is in combination with the strategic design theories analysed and presented as the base for the discussion. In conclusion, the authors established a definition for design and found that design has the power to improve the brand identity through a user-oriented perspective, using an interdisciplinary and innovative problem-solving approach. Design can create a consistent brand identity, which along with identification adds superior emotional and functional value.

Bakgrund:1 juni 2009 avreglerades det svenska apoteksmonopolet och marknaden öppnades upp för konkurrens. Antalet apoteksaktörer har sedan dess tilltagit vilket sätter press på företagen att särskilja sin verksamhet för att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga i kampen om apotekskunderna. Det råder fortfarande restriktioner på apoteksmarknaden som förhindrar aktörerna att sätta egna priser på receptbelagda läkemedel, vilka utgör 80 procent av marknadens omsättning. Marknaden karaktäriseras vidare av relativt homogena produkter, vilket försvårar aktörernas möjlighet att erbjuda ett unikt sortiment. Differentierade företag erhåller ofta en bättre lönsamhet och varumärket har en stor betydelse i hur företag kan utmärka sig. Verktygen för detta är varumärkesidentitet, där varumärkets unikhet och värde specificeras samt positionering av varumärket, vilka är de åtgärder en organisation vidtar för hur varumärket uppfattas i medvetandet hos konsumenten i relation till konkurrenterna. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur apoteksmarknadens fyra största aktörer tänker och agerar kring områdena för varumärkesidentitet och positionering. Med detta som grund vill författarna utföra en analys för att stärka befintliga teoretiska ramverk i vilka hänsyn inte har tagits till marknader där monopol nyligen upphävts. Slutsats: I studiens gestaltning av aktörernas varumärkesidentiteter är det framträdande att associationerna till apoteksbranschen innefattas av det ansvarsfulla, trovärdiga och kompetenta. Apoteket AB har tidigare haft ensamrätt att bedriva apoteksverksamhet och dessa associationer, till hur ett apotek ska vara, är starkt relaterade till företaget. Varumärkesidentiteternas unikhet skildras främst i aktörernas företagskultur och i varumärkets fysiska utformning. Studien visar vidare på att de nya aktörerna inte tillämpar en utmärkande positionering, då de främst inriktar sig på att bekräfta en kategoritillhörigt som apoteksaktör. Resultatet stärker befintliga teorier om att positionering är en process, där företag först måste befästa sig som en trovärdig aktör inom branschen, innan det är möjligt att positionera sig utifrån varumärkets unika fördelar. Studien indikerar att utvecklingen av handelsvaror och tjänster kommer att utgöra en viktig del i att stärka aktörernas positionering. / Background: The pharmacy monopoly was deregulated in June 2009 and the number of competitors has since then increased rapidly which has lead to the importance of differentiating the business, to become more competitive in the battle for pharmacy customers. There are still some restrictions on the market, which prevents the pharmacy-chains to set their own price on prescription drugs, which amounts for 80 percent of the total turnover. The pharmacy market is also characterised of homogenous products, which limits the possibility to offer a unique assortment. Brands play a large factor in how a company can differentiate itself and be profitable. Commonly used tools for this are brand identity which is the uniqueness and the value of the brand, and brand positioning which are the measures an organisation takes to affect the perception of the brand in relationship to competitors. Aim: The aim is to examine how the four largest pharmacy-chains in Sweden thinks and acts in the fields of brand identity and brand positioning. On this basis, the authors will perform an analysis to strengthen the existing theoretical framework in which account has not been taken into markets where monopoly has recently been repealed. Conclusion: In the study of the pharmacy-chains brand identities, it is prominent that the associations with the pharmacy industry are represented by the responsible, credible and competent. Apoteket AB has previously had the exclusive right to operate on the pharmacy market and these associations, to how a pharmacy should be, are strongly related to them. The uniqueness of the brand identities are primarily portrayed in the companies’ culture and in the physical characteristics of the brand. Furthermore the study shows that the new pharmacychains do not apply a distinctive positioning, as they primarily focus on confirming their category membership as a pharmacy operator. The result strengthens the existing theories that positioning is a process in which companies first have to confirm themselves as a credible player in the industry, before it is possible to position themselves on the brand’s unique benefits. The study indicates that the development of commodities and services will form an important part in strengthening the pharmacy-chains positioning.

Berättelser har sedan urminnes tider fängslat och fascinerat människor men idag är berättelsen inte bara ett sätt att förmedla sagor och fabler utan sker även inom företag och organisationer. Kraften i berättelser har under de senaste decennierna börjat användas inom företagsvärlden för att förmedla berättelser om företag och varumärken. Detta sätt att använda berättelser har kommit att kallas storytelling och är en populär strategi inom marknadsföring idag. Storytelling har blivit ett allt viktigare inslag i marknadsföring hos företag inom livsmedelsbranschen då konkurrensen från inhemska och utländska varumärken har ökat i samband med Sveriges inträde i EU. Syftet med uppsatsen är att ur ett företagsperspektiv undersöka hur företag använder storytelling i sin marknadsföring för att stärka sitt varumärke. Studien är också ett försök att upprätthålla ett analysverktyg utifrån de teoretiska begreppen brand identity, brand heritage och core &amp; extended identity för att teoretisera begreppet storytelling och hur det används i marknadsföring av varumärken. Resultatet påvisar att stortyelling används i marknadsföringen för att uttrycka vilka företagen är men också berätta den historia som ligger bakom varumärket samt de värderingar och budskap som varumärket vill förmedla. Studien indikerar att det framtagna analysverktyget kan vara ett möjligt sätt att teoretisera och förklara hur företag kan arbeta med storytelling i sin marknadsföring, då den empiriska undersökningen visar att de valda teoretiska begreppen är tydliga inslag i samtliga företags arbete med storytelling.

Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera och klargåra kundens bild av varumärket Erikshjälpen, klargöra organisations identitet och hur man inom organisationen vill att varumärket ska uppfattas på marknaden. En ambition är att analysera butiken som en marknadsföringskanal. Empirimaterialet har samlats in genom personliga intervjuer med respondenter som har direkt koppling till Erikshjälpen samt fokusgruppsintervjuer bland kunderna i fyra butiker. De slutsatser jag har kommit fram till har baserats på de tendenser som visat sig tydligt i min analys. Då jag inte haft för avsikt att generalisera är detta ett sätt att lyfta fram återkommande påstående från respondenterna. Under uppsatsens gång har det visat sig att ett varumärke har olika författare och som varumärkesinnehavare är det viktigt att vara den som styr, annars blir varumärkets image något annat än vad den ursprungliga tanken var. Det blev också tydligt att butiken har en viktig roll för varumärket som kommunikationskanal både i sin funktionalitet men också emotionellt genom den upplevelse den skapar mot kunden. / To create a strong brand, it is important to continually evaluate the relationship between identity and image. In this thesis, I have investigated what the charitable organization, Erik's Development Partner intends to communicate with their brand (referred to as identity) and how their customers interpret the brand (referred to as image). The purpose was to analyze differences and similarities between identity and image focusing on customers at Erik's Second Hand Stores as a marketing environment. The theoretical framework regards theories such as the different authors of brand development, an exploration of the brand identity - brand image linkage, the relationship marketing process, and the impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. The study demonstrates both differences and similarities between the identity and image. It became evident that a brand develops through its many different authors and that it is important for the owner to control communications, otherwise the brand image will become something other than what was originally meant to be. It also became clear that secondhand stores have an important role in brand communication, both through their functionality but also emotionally, providing customers with a positive shopping experience.

Introduction  Globalization has opened up for opportunities, as well as challenges, for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to distinguish themselves in a competitive environment. A branding strategy that aims to develop a strong reputation and recognition can be an attempt for Swedish SMEs to create awareness and differentiate themselves in the European market. This thesis is composed of three major bricks; branding, and how the firms exercise it; SMEs resource constraints, in terms of employees and financial assets; and internationalization. All these combined become special challenges for SMEs. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Swedish SMEs exercise branding internationally in order to develop a strategic model of how they can continue their brand expansion in the European market. Method In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, a qualitative study based on four Swedish SMEs were included in the sample. Through semi-structured interviews (six face-to-face and one telephone interview). The respondents were the owners, external CEOs, product or marketing managers of the SMEs. The collected data was categorized and each SME was analyzed in order to finally construct a model. Conclusion  The findings in this thesis show that all the investigated SMEs, to different extents, use branding strategies in order to succeed in the international market. Generally the findings conformed to a certain degree to previous findings concerning branding. Further, the importance of international fairs and networking while developing the brands outside the Swedish market was found. The authors came forward with the SME European Brand Expansion-model, which is strongly influenced by the empirical findings in this thesis.