The concept of brand management has increased attention in recent years. Building andmaintaining a brand provides valuable growth and profitability for a company. To establish astrong brand, a company creates its brand identity for products and differentiates it from otherproducts. Brand identity and brand image are integrated with brand management, andcommunication is needed to convey brand image (or identity) to brand identity (or image).Brand identity is the internal view of a company, and the brand image is the external view byits customers. Between brand identity and brand image, factors are conveyed through media. This study explores the adaptation of brand management to a market; specifically, the adaptation of a brand in a foreign market. Ascertaining how Korean automobile companiesadapt brand management in the Swedish market is the primary objective. Kia Motors Sweden AB, a sales-oriented organization and a subsidiary of a Korean automobile manufacturer, KiaMotors Corporation, small and medium sized cars in the Swedish automobile industry, will be this study’s case company. In terms of methodology, a qualitative, single case study approach of Kia Motors Sweden AB was employed. An interview of a marketing manager from the company was analyzedand interpreted to figure out internal brand identity and external brand image. In this study, anintegrated framework that companies can use to justify brand identity and brand image is developed. The factors of brand identity and brand image are indicated and there are relevant factors which convey brand image to brand identity or vice versa. In addition, the factors of brand identity are imparted to brand image through different communication channels. The case study also reveals that apprehending brand identity and distinguishing it from brand image are vital to effective brand management. Moreover, using several communication channels and finding the effective channels also help to convey the desired image. Therefore, Kia Motors Sweden brand management has been identified in my framework.

I denna uppsats undersökte vi fenomenet personligt varumärkesbyggande, vilket kan definieras som en persons namn och de värderingar som kopplas till det. Syftet med uppsatsen var att utifrån befintlig teori samt intervjuer med yrkesverksamma inom området, undersöka om det går att bygga personliga varumärken på samma sätt som traditionella varumärken för företag och produkter. Vi presenterade en översikt över litteraturen kring personligt varumärkesbyggande samt teori om Customer-based brand equity-modellen, vilken vi lät representerade den traditionella teorin. I uppsatsens analysavsnitt diskuterades och analyserades intervjudeltagarnas svar i förhållande till teorin och slutsatsen drogs att personligt varumärkesbyggande har fler likheter än skillnader med det traditionella varumärkesbyggandet. Dock ansåg vi att CBBE-modellen ej var lämplig för direkt applikation på människor, utan presenterade en reviderad modell för byggande av ett starkt personligt varumärke, där bland annat möjligheter med sociala medier inkluderades. Modellen utgår från beståndsdelarna identitet, betydelse och synlighet och kallas Personal-based brand equity (PBBE).

<p>Abstract</p><p>In 1974 - 81 Björn Borg conquered the tennis courts and his opponents around the world (International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006). Today Jonas Björkman, Robin Söderling and Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson are the most successful Swedish tennis players according to the ATP ranking (2007). Svenska Tennisförbundet (2007) has a vision, that through the engagement of tennis clubs around Sweden secure the position as a world leading tennis nation. Bankeryd Tennisklubb is one of those engaged tennis clubs and is situated in Bankeryd, a smaller village in the outskirts of Jönköping. The organization was established in 1958 and has 230 members. They are striving to achieve a feeling of “we” among its members (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007).</p><p>Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb wants to find out what their core activity is and if this is clear to their members. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to examine the core activity of Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb to improve and strengthen the organization’s brand. Core activity within business and organizations is the inner core of importance, the main thing about a service or a product according to Eagan and Harker (2005). This is in turn dependent on the core competencies discovered within the organization (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). The theoretical framework also includes brand management and since the core activity of BTK is interrelated with the brand BTK the two concepts are not separated.</p><p>To answer the purpose a questionnaire was distributed among the members of Bankeryd’s Tennisklubb. To get a deeper understanding about the feelings of the members, four focus groups were carried out. The data collected was then analyzed with the support of the theoretical framework.</p><p>From the analysis it was found that the members thought the core activity of BTK should be the tennis practice and that the feeling of “we” at the club and that surrounding activities are less important. The deciding factor of whether or not to stay as members within the club was the quality level of the tennis practice. Conclusions drawn are that BTK should focus more on tennis practice but not be a professionalized club striving to reach the elite by themselves. With the “we” feeling and the corporate culture combined with knowledge about customer expectations on high-quality tennis practice they can build a stronger brand.</p> / <p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Björn Borg, svensk tennis spelare som blev en av världens främsta tennis spelare, erövrade tennisbanor världen över 1974 -81 (International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2006). Idag är Jonas Björkman, Robin Söderling och Joachim ”Pim-Pim” Johansson de mest framgångsrika svenska tennisspelarna enligt ATP rankingen (2007). Svenska Tennisförbundet (2007) har en vision att genom engagemang från tennisklubbar runt om i Sverige kunna säkra positionen som världsledande tennisnation inom en snar framtid. Bankeryds Tennisklubb är en av de klubbarna och finns i Bankeryd, en ort strax utanför Jönköping. Organisationen grundades 1958 och har idag 230 medlemmar. De strävar efter en ”vi” känsla bland medlemmarna och inom klubben (Bankeryds Tennisklubb, 2007).</p><p>Bankeryds Tennisklubb vill gärna ta reda på vad deras kärnverksamhet är och om den är tydlig för deras medlemmar. Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att undersöka och förtydliga Bankeryds Tennisklubbs kärnverksamhet för att stärka organisationens varumärke. Kärnverksamheten inom företag och organisationer är den innersta kärnan; den huvudsakliga servicen eller produkten enligt Eagan och Harker (2005), som i sin tur är beroende av kärnkompetens som finns inom organisationen (Beech & Chadwick, 2004). Den teoretiska referensramen förklarar även konceptet brand management och eftersom kärnverksamheten på Bankeryds Tennisklubb står i så pass nära relation till varumärket BTK separeras inte de två koncepten.</p><p>För att kunna besvara syftet med uppsatsen gjordes en datainsamling genom en enkätundersökning bland medlemmarna på Bankeryds Tennisklubb. Fyra fokusgrupper genomfördes sedan för att få en djupare förståelse för medlemmarnas tankar och känslor. Den insamlade informationen analyserades sedan utifrån och med stöd av den teoretiska referensramen.</p><p>Analysen visade att medlemmarna ansåg att kärnverksamheten inom BTK skulle vara tennisträning och att “vi”-känslan framstod som mindre viktig. Faktorn som avgör om medlemmarna stannar inom klubben eller ej är nivån på tennisträningen. Slutsatserna blev att BTK ska fokusera mer på tennisträning som främsta aktivitet, men inte bli en klubb som satsar på professionell tennis på egen hand. ”Vi”-känslan och den interna kulturen i kombination med kännedom om medlemars förväntningar på tennisträningens kvalité kan bygga ett starkt varumärke.</p>

<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 paper seeks to examine how major college athletics have grown into a billion dollar industry, and the way businesses, advertisers and the schools themselves can effectively grow their brands. By understanding the theoretical framework referenced by the social identity theory, disposition theory and identity through mass media, this paper offers a look into the reasoning for America’s strong affinity towards college athletics. Resulting in a mass market for intercollegiate sports delivered though various media outlets, and the business models that conferences and television networks operate in an effort to capitalize on their demand. In addition, the observation and analysis for organizational dissension between conferences and membership is explored in order to better understand the reasoning for shifts between university teams and conferences. / text

Abstract 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. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to research how to create brand value for an invisible brand within the fashion industry. 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. 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. 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.

The SAWS is interested in demonstrating the economic and social benefits of the products or services it provides to the public, industries and other organisations. It is also important for the organisation to carry out ongoing performance assessment of public and commercial weather services to ensure that these services are efficient and effectively meeting the public's and customer's needs and contribute to longer term commercial and societal objectives. Some other National Weather Services has developed "Service Charters" which detail their pledge of performance to the user communities, specifically, customers and the general public. These service charters provide a brief overview of the services provided, a commitment of performance against specific targets and a commitments to consult and identify a means by which the customers and the public may register their concern. As a result the service charters has become an important component of the Weather Services branding measurement strategy. The acceptance of the SAWS products or services by the public and other weather users depends on a number of factors. Scientific accuracy is just one of those factors. Also the health of the SAWS depends on the perceptions from full spectrum of weather users ranging from individual citizens, media, aviation, ... Ill marine, industry, government departments, construction companies, and insurance. These perceptions include those about requirements, accessibility, availability, accuracy, timelines, utility, comprehension, sufficient and packaging. The objective is to ultimately measure performance from the user perspective and identify user's needs. It is also to measure the acceptance of the services provided from such dimensions as expectations, understanding, importance, satisfaction, and utility. This study has been framed within the hypothesis that the SAWS brand associations are not strong, not favourable and not unique to create a positive brand. It has come critical to assess the level of customer awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand so as to improve the dissemination mechanisms of the weather forecast information. Based on a literature review, two types of brand association are identified. One is product association including functional attribute association and non-functional attribute association. The other is organisational association including corporate ability association and corporate social responsibility association. It has been found that, the greater the number of the core brand association, the higher the brand equity. The feedback received on the questionnaire and interviews directed at awareness and familiarity with the SAWS brand indicated that, a need exists to educate the public and potential customers about the products and services of the SAWS. Of paramount important is the improvement of the SAWS dissemination mechanisms and partnerships with other scientific research organisations. This will enable the SAWS to reach a wide range of the public and weather users and to safeguard property and life of all South Africans. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

This study examines Corporate Social Responsibility in Sustainable Development and the notion of the Triple Bottom Line as an imperative in today’s socially responsible corporation. Standardization is used as a tool for integrating social and environmental costs and benefits into the financial bottom line of an organization. This research aims to discover what standards or methods are used to measure social and environmental progress in three organizations in Houston, Texas and the implied potential for CSR as a driver for profitability. The primary data included in this research was captured through semi-structured qualitative interviews with upper level management of the three companies included in the final study. The results consistently supported positive correlations between CSR and improvements in company image and stakeholder relations. One participant was also able to report evidence of increased profitability through cost containment as a result of their integration of CSR initiatives throughout their organization.

Buckman Laboratories (Pty) Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Buckman Laboratories) is an international, privately owned, specialty chemical manufacturer. The company's marketing strategy is based on customer intimacy and knowledge sharing and currently segments its markets (pulp and paper, water, leather and mining) by means of customer categorization based on industry potential sales. The Buckman brand is synonymous with the heavy industries (Sasol, ArcelorMittal, Mondi, Sappi, Eskom). For the company to grow and increase its profitability, Buckman Laboratories has to identify and select innovative brand drivers to stay competitive in the heavy industry market segment as well as identify other market segments to compete profitably in. In this study the Logical brand management model was specifically applied in terms of the customer perspective. Brand and cost drivers were identified from the company's and customers' perspective to identify opportunities in the current market segments (pulp and paper, water and leather). Metrics utilized were traditional gap analysis as well as the Opportunity Algorithm from Ulwick. Of importance was the consistent alignment of the model with Buckman Laboratories' strategy. The model includes continuous improvement, on-time delivery, product innovation, knowledge sharing, and providing a holistic product/service offering as brand drivers that will ensure innovative growth of the Buckman Laboratories brand. The conclusion is that the Logical brand management model as developed by Marc Logman may be successfully utilized to identify brand drivers to grow the Buckman Laboratories brand innovatively in future. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Buckman Laboratories (Pty) Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Buckman Laboratories) is an international, privately owned, specialty chemical manufacturer. The company's marketing strategy is based on customer intimacy and knowledge sharing and currently segments its markets (pulp and paper, water, leather and mining) by means of customer categorization based on industry potential sales. The Buckman brand is synonymous with the heavy industries (Sasol, ArcelorMittal, Mondi, Sappi, Eskom). For the company to grow and increase its profitability, Buckman Laboratories has to identify and select innovative brand drivers to stay competitive in the heavy industry market segment as well as identify other market segments to compete profitably in. In this study the Logical brand management model was specifically applied in terms of the customer perspective. Brand and cost drivers were identified from the company's and customers' perspective to identify opportunities in the current market segments (pulp and paper, water and leather). Metrics utilized were traditional gap analysis as well as the Opportunity Algorithm from Ulwick. Of importance was the consistent alignment of the model with Buckman Laboratories' strategy. The model includes continuous improvement, on-time delivery, product innovation, knowledge sharing, and providing a holistic product/service offering as brand drivers that will ensure innovative growth of the Buckman Laboratories brand. The conclusion is that the Logical brand management model as developed by Marc Logman may be successfully utilized to identify brand drivers to grow the Buckman Laboratories brand innovatively in future. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.