Conducting successful business requires a clear and steady brand identity, which is a part of brand management (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1992, de Chernatony, 1999). Sticking to the core values and the traditions of the brand is beneficial. However, it seems advantageous to possess a flexible brand identity for the brand to be able to adapt to market trends and development. This could be of even more importance if the brand is existing in a dynamic market (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). This study aims to understand and further describe the role of flexible brand identity in a dynamic market, from a corporate point of view. The study was made according to an inductive approach of qualitative research, which enabled data collection from two case companies. The Swedish coffee market was chosen as the case market. Hence, five in-depth interviews were conducted with people working for two established coffee brands in Sweden.    The empirical findings showed the importance of working on the brand identity to stay relevant in the Swedish coffee market. Factors and stakeholders such as consumers, retail, shops, origin of the coffee, changes in consumer interests, and market trends were mentioned. Communication, and brand transformation, also appeared to be important factors within the study. The empirical findings have been analysed in comparison to the previous research on brand identity and dynamic markets, as well as further developed and discussed.  Altogether, the study aimed to discuss concepts and the empirical findings, and by the inclusion of the research questions: 1) How do companies work on transforming their brand identity? 2) How can a flexible brand identity be favourable when existing in a dynamic market? In conclusion, the Swedish coffee market appears to be moderately dynamic, and the benefits of a flexible brand identity is the ability to adapt and adjust for market trends, as long as the core values are taken into account during the changes. / Att driva framgångsrik business innebär ett behov av en tydlig och stabil varumärkesidentitet, vilken är en del inom varumärkeshanteringen (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1992, de Chernatony, 1999). Det är föredömligt att hålla sig till varumärkets grundvärderingar och traditioner, men kan även vara fördelaktigt att bedriva en mer flexibel varumärkesidentitet för att kunna anpassa den till marknadstrender- och utveckling. Det kan vara om än mer viktigt om varumärket verkar på en dynamisk marknad (da Silveira, 2013; Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). Den här studien syftar till att förstå och vidare beskriva innebörden av en flexibel varumärkesidentitet på en dynamisk marknad, och detta utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. Den kvalitativa studien utfördes genom en induktiv ansats, med datainsamling från två olika företag på den svenska kaffemarknaden. Sammanlagt har fem anställda inom två svenska kaffevarumärken har intervjuats.    Den empiriska datan visade på att det är viktigt att jobba med varumärkesidentiteten för att vara relevant på den svenska kaffemarknaden. Faktorer och intressenter, såsom konsumenter, dagligvaruhandeln, kaffebutiker och kaffets ursprung, nämndes upprepat. Trender och svängande kaffeintresse samt kommunikation och varumärkestransformation var också centrala aspekter. Den empiriska datan har analyserats och jämförts med tidigare forskning men har också utvecklats och vidare diskuterats.    Sammantaget syftar studien till att diskutera koncepten och den empiriska datan och syftet har brutits ned i två forskningsfrågor: 1) Hur kan företag arbeta med att transformera sin varumärkesidentitet? 2) Hur kan en flexibel varumärkesidentitet vara fördelaktig på en dynamisk marknad? Utifrån analysen drogs slutsatsen att den svenska kaffemarknaden är “moderately dynamic” och fördelarna med en flexibel varumärkesidentitet är att den kan anpassas efter marknaden och dess trender, så länge grundvärderingarna tas i beaktning genom förändringarna.

This thesis explores how organisations communicate and perform marketing nowadays, with social media platforms at the core of their strategic plan. Due to its high relevancy in B2B, the research is focused on LinkedIn and the effect of its affordances which will help dig deeper into the possibilities of using this particular social media platform as a means to define, build and shape company image and brand identity. It is a qualitative research that was conducted using mixed methods of case study, ethnography and corporate ethnography, where I benefited from my privileged role as a researcher and an employee to gather and use restricted and confidential data and information. This gave the study a broader perspective and, therefore, a better understanding of the phenomena from different focal points. However, knowing the limitations that being professionally involved with the company might bring, I have built my research on extensive literature and framed it within theories of 1. Social Media Marketing, 2. Brand Identity, and 3. LinkedIn Affordances, finding objectivity by justifying my thoughts or personal experiences with existing literature and theories. The study was conducted by gathering all LinkedIn posts after the launch of the company’s new website, considered the greatest event regarding communications. Hence, A total of 59 posts were then analysed and coded into the six main LinkedIn affordances (1. Networking, 2. Building a Connected Identity, 3. Personal and Professional Branding, 4. Professional Knowledge and Skills, 5. Communication and Etiquette, 6. Seeking and Securing Opportunities). The presented empirical data revealed how this case study located in Finland is no exception to the high potential organisations see in social media as part of their marketing and communications strategy and manifests several behaviours and uses explained along the 3. Literature Review, and 4. Theoretical Framework sections.

Companies today are faced with competitive markets where a large number of similar products and services are offered, which leads to companies with strong brands gaining competitive advantage, as brands facilitate consumers rational decision-making. Previous studies explore the importance of a well-established brand and how to build a strong brand identity through brand identity management (BIM). The studies explain that BIM builds the foundation for wellbeing in the workplace, which in turn is reflected to the customer. Previous studies are aimed at different industries and the purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of a strong brand identity in the fast food industry to contribute more knowledge in that specific industry. The study is deductive with a qualitative approach and thus a qualitative case study has been conducted of Bastard Burgers to answer the research questions, in order to analyze how a company in the fast food industry works with BIM to deliver the brand promise and what result this has on the employees. The results show that brand identity is a crucial factor for companies in today's fast food industry as well as the quality of the food and service. To have a strong brand identity, you need a brand with a personality that is evident through the visuals such as the restaurant's appearance, clothes and logos. The results of the study show that working with BIM strengthens employees' identification with the organization. This in turn results in the employees being more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth, being satisfied with their job and are willing to do the little extra in the workplace.

More intense competition has meant that companies have to take new measures to cope on the modern market. Therefore, many companies choose to change their brand in some way. This is called rebranding and is however a risky process. To reduce the risk companies can hire external parties in form of design agencies. The purpose of this study is to investigate which factors that are required to achieve a successful rebranding, when carried out in collaboration with an external agency. The study will do so by asking the question "What are the success factors of a rebranding when carried out in collaboration with an external agency?". To do so the researchers assumed a qualitative case study where semi-­structured interviews have been implemented. The empirical data gathered was then analyzed using theories covering the areas of rebranding, internal marketing, and previous research on the cooperation between agency and company. The conclusions of this study shows that one success factor is found in the fact that agencies has greater experience of rebranding, compared to most companies. Another success factor is the outside perspective agencies add, which enables the companies to see new aspects of their brand. Companies should involve employees in the process to the point of collecting their opinions before the work begins, but the study shows that there should only be a few people involved in the actual rebranding process to achieve good results. The best result is  achieved when all final decisions are made by the company, the agency should only come up with guidelines and suggestions.

The purpose of the study was to find out how well companies succeed in trying to convey the identity of their trademarks to the consumers. The study was quantitative with a survey design. A sample of 109 respondents participated. Brand identity and brand image was the focus of the study and was measured in three companies; Odd Molly, Filippa K and Björn Borg. These three were selected partly because of their different profiles. One survey was sent to the companies and one survey was distributed to the consumers. The majority of the questions in the surveys were based on a model designed to measure brand identity and brand image and gap in between them. The study presents three central theories; Profile, Image and Identity, Brand Equity and The Corporate Personality Scale. The first two gives a background to the concept of the words. The Corporate Personality Scale was created and designed to assess image and identity and the gaps in between them. The results showed that there were gaps in between the brand identity and the brand image in all three of the selected companies. However there were also signs of coherence between them. The companies succeeded in some part, in their trying to convey the identity of their trademarks to the consumers. There were both clear gaps and clear coherence between Brand Identity and Brand Image. In some cases the image was graded higher than the identity and vice versa.

Titel: Att visualisera identiteter: en kvalitativ studie om hur visuell design relaterar till en varumärkesidentitet. Författare: Paulin Arvola och Johanna Sandborg Handledare: Dan Halvarsson Examinator: Bertil Hultén Insitution: Ekonomihögskolan, Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö. Kurskod: 2FE23E, Inrednings- och butikskommunikation, kandidatuppsats 15hp. Bakgrund: Visuell design kan vara av betydelse för att konsumenter skall uppfatta ett företags utsända signaler. Den visuella designen kan åskådliggöra skillnader mellan olika varumärkesidentiteter. För att företag ska lyckas behövs kunskap kring hur konsumenter upplever företagets utsända signaler. Genom att skapa förståelse för konsumenten kan företag möjliggöra utveckling av starka varumärkesidentiteter som kan öka kundvärdet genom tillämpning av visuell design utifrån ett mottagarperspektiv. Forskningsfråga: Vad gör konsumenter för kopplingar mellan visuell design och en varumärkesidentitet? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera och förklara hur visuell design relaterar till en varumärkesidentitet. Metod: Kvalitativ studie, undersökande forskningsdesign, semi-strukturerade fokusgrupper. Slutsats: Studien visar att det finns en relation mellan visuell design och en varumärkesidentitet om den visuella designen kommunicerar en direkt funktion för varumärkesidentiteten. Endast när visuell design bidrar till att kommunicera direkta funktioner kan kopplingar göras till varumärkesidentiteten. Det har påvisats att samtliga attribut och gestaltningar kan utgöra relationen om de lyckas kommunicera minst en direkt funktion för varumärkesidentiteten. Relationen mellan visuell design och en varumärkesidentitet är beroende av hur respektive mottagare tolkar de visuella signalerna. Nyckelord: Visuell design, Varumärkesidentitet, Konsumentuppfattning, Tolkning. / Title: To visualize identites: A qualitative study about the relationship between visual design and brand identity. Authors: Paulin Arvola and Johanna Sandborg Tutor: Dan Halvarsson Examiner: Bertil Hultén Institution: School of Economics, Linneaus University, Växjö Course code: 2FE23E, Interior Decoration and Visual Merchandising, Bachelor Thesis 15 credits. Background: Visual design can be a useful tool for companies in purpose to increase consumer recognition. Differences between brand identities can be illustrated through visual design. To gain the advantage of visual design companies need to understand how the consumer perceive the effects of visual design. Companies can develope their brand identities by understanding the consumer and create value from a consumer perspective by application of visual design. Research question: How do consumers make a connection between visual design and brand identity? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyze and explain how the visual design have a relationship to a brand identity. Methodology: Qualitative research metholgy, explorative research design, semi- structured focus groups. Conclusions: The thesis shows a relationship between visual design and brand identity when the visual design communicates a direct function of the brand identity. The visual design can only be connected to the brand identity when it visualize a direct function of the brand identity. The study shows that attributes and configurations can represent the relationship only if at least one direct funtion manage to communicate the brand identity. The relationship between visual design and brand identity dependens on how each reciever interprets the visual signals. Keywords: Visual Design, Brand Identity, Consumer Perception, Interpretation.

時尚精品產業的發展行之有年，歷經了時代的淬練，誕生了如英國的Vivienne Westwood、Burberry、Pringle；法國的Dior、Chanel、Celine、LV、Hermes、Agnes b、BALENCIAGA、YSL；義大利的Gucci、Prada、Fendi、BOTTEGA VENETA、MIU MIU、Chloe、Gianni Versac、Giorgio Armani、MaxMara、Ferragamo；日本的三宅一生；美國的Calvin Klein等等知名品牌。而這些品牌也的確一直被視為品質的保證、品味的象徵，在過去的市場表現有不菲的佳績。而奠基於品牌背後的是其品牌形成歷史故事與過程，這些內涵強壯了品牌的表現，蔚為時尚的經典。然而隨著時代的變遷，環境的改變，時尚品牌也面臨著巨大的考驗，當市場成長趨緩，客層年齡的移動，對於時尚品味的演變，導致品牌面臨品牌形象僵固化、抑或品牌形象已不符合時代的潮流，或者是顧客的不同需求。又時尚品牌與其他產業不同，有其不可磨滅之傳統與歷史，影響時尚品牌重定位的空間寬廣度。 過去對於時尚品牌相關論文研究，多從消費者面著手，較少探討企業面的做法，以及對於重定位議題之直接文獻也為少數，所以本研究探討時尚品牌因大環境或自身條件的改變及限制的因應對策為何，即時尚品牌重定位階段的因應做法為何？並利用David Aaker的品牌識別理論、及品牌識別執行工具檢視時尚品牌重定位的做法，並歸納出以下結論： 一、 時尚品牌形成的內涵，奠基於工匠精神對品質的要求，與時代發展、文化背景結合。發展品牌時，可以擁有一至兩個或以上的品牌識別概念。 二、 時尚品牌重定位時，善用過去的歷史文化、傳統，在摩登與傳統中取得平衡，以增加品牌識別的概念，加強消費者對於品牌的認知。 三、 時尚品牌重定位時，應用品牌識別執行工具，透過對外一致的形象廣告、場所的打造、品牌標誌的設計，可呈現品牌識別概念。整頓產品系列與通路的掌握是必要的，設計創新、材質創新、時裝成衣為切入重點。「執行長」與「創意總監」為建構時尚品牌的重要角色。

The objective of this study was to analyze the visual communication of fashion brand identity through the concept of window displays. Window displays are often categorized as an aspect of a much larger concept of visual merchandising that should be seen as a crucial part of the entire marketing communications. Although the concept of window displays is not new, their effect on the overall brand image creation remains relatively unexplored. The interpretation of communication in a visual form is complex in nature, and this research approaches the matter from a semiotic perspective. The approach was selected due to its capability to explore deeper meanings behind visual objects. In this study, window display is understood as a crucial part of the sign system of a fashion store. Window display is commonly regarded as the starting point of the entire shopping experience, and therefore in the lack of previous research, it is a logical starting point for this study. The analytical framework of the study follows the thee metafunctions of semiotic modes as discussed in the Theory of the Grammar of Visual Design by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006). The analytical framework is then applied to analyze six different window displays produced by the same fashion brand. Findings of the research are discussed in terms of the three metafunctions of ideational, interpersonal and textual, and the purpose is to increase the knowledge of how window displays can be used to depict different relations between brand, people, places and things. In terms of brand identity communication, the most important contribution is to understand the complex relationship that is formed between the window (the brand) and its viewer (the customer). As a result, this research finds that the window displays are loaded with multiple visual cues all of which intend to serve the same purpose of brand identity communication. Clothing and accessories are the most salient elements used and they can be understood as the embodiment of the brand identity. Images of models and mannequins are used to address the viewers and create a specific relationship with them. The less salient elements in the window displays are used to support the message the brand is conveying through the display.

Title: Brand personality Škoda Auto and its influence on sponsored international sport events Objective: The aim of this thesis is to measure the brand personality of Škoda Auto and to define its effect on the sponsored international sport events Ice Hockey World Championship and Tour de France. The level of concordance of the personality characteristics will be measured by comparing the results of brand personality between the brand Škoda Auto and the brands of sponsorship. High level of concordance of personality characteristics of brands is assumed in long-term sponsorship. Methods: To identify the brand personality, the standardized method of measuring brand personality by Belgian authors Geuens, Weijters, De Wulf 2009 is utilized, which allows to measure and compare brands of different product categories. The agreement rate of personality characteristics gets measured by comparison of averages of brand personality characteristics and regression and correlation analysis. Results: Škoda Auto is perceived as a stable and responsible brand. International sport events Ice Hockey World Championships and the Tour de France are perceived as active and dynamic brand. During comparison of averages of brand personality characteristics, a higher level of concordance between the brands Škoda Auto and Ice...

Being one of the fastest growing industries, tourism has a trend to offer more innovative products and services. New opportunities and challenges have come for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Heritage tourism is one type of experience-based tourism where people can get historical or cultural experience. The potential of heritage tourism has attracted many entrepreneurs. It has been recognised activities are motivated by attitude within an entrepreneurial setting, however how the destination brand identity impacts the relationship from a supplier’s perspective is not clear. This thesis investigates the influence of destination brand on the entrepreneurs in a heritage tourism. A qualitative research design was constructed and the research strategy of a case study of the Swedish World Heritage site of Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland (Hälsingegårdar) was chosen. There are only seven farmhouses to represent the UNESCO site and also 34 non-listed farmhouses open to the public. After examining both groups, it could be concluded that the destination brand of a World Heritage Site will motivate the entrepreneurs to look for opportunities, which will strengthen their attitudes. However, the relationship between attitude and activity is weak due to the effect of other external factors.