This master thesis deals with the marketing strategy of A-Derma brand on the Czech and Slovak market. In the theoretical part I summarized basic information about marketing mix, brand and strategic brand management. In the practical section there is an introduction of marketing strategies of all the Pierre Fabre brands. Furthermore I focus on detailed analysis of A-Derma marketing strategy and suggest how to imporove it. The analysis evaluates marketing mix and individual campaigns in 2010 and proposes a strategy for 2011.

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.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 julio.pdf: 5397569 bytes, checksum: 65cbc1465f01e36aa3c1da2497235a32 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-29 / The purpose of this work is to analyze the activities Brazil uses to build the brand Cafés do Brasil to conquer a privileged position, changing the image of a great exporter of quantity instead of quality. Colombia will be a standard of comparison, because its brand Café de Colombia is well recognized as a case of success, especially in the largest coffee consumer market, USA. To better understand this subject, a conceptual review was made regarding the Coffee History in the World and in Brazil, besides the data about the coffee market. A conceptual review about branding management was conduct, analyzing the theoretical models, including analysis about the concept Country Brand, a relevant aspect in this work. The relevant elements extracted from the theoretical review were confronted with the reality found in the organizations responsible by Cafés do Brasil branding management. The major conclusions of this study show that Brazil is focused in functional aspects of the product, due to the wide number of activities related to quality warranty and promotion of the Brazilian grounds and there are opportunities in the branding practice. There are several indicators that Brazil could utilize aspects of its national identity to search a point of differentiation in its product and the organizations in charge of the brand have realized the necessity of going deeper in this strategy, Obviously this work has its limitations, but one of its contributions is to warn the Brazilian organizations which manage the Cafés do Brasil brand identity that through using branding their competitiveness would be better against their competitors / O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar as atividades que o Brasil realiza para construir a marca Cafés do Brasil , no intuito de conquistar uma posição de destaque no mercado internacional, mudando a imagem que possui de grande exportador de quantidade e não de qualidade. Para tanto, a Colômbia servirá como parâmetro de comparação, já que sua marca Café de Colombia é reconhecida como um caso de sucesso, especialmente no maior mercado consumidor de café, o americano. Para maior entendimento do assunto, foi feita uma revisão bibliográfica sobre os temas relacionados à história do café no Brasil e no mundo, além de pesquisas sobre os dados do mercado desse grão. Além disso, também foi feita uma revisão sobre a gestão de marcas, em que se analisaram os modelos teóricos, incluindo um levantamento do conceito de marca-país, aspecto relevante para este trabalho. Os elementos da revisão teórica foram confrontados com a realidade encontrada nas organizações responsáveis pela gestão da marca Cafés do Brasil . As principais conclusões do estudo mostram que o Brasil ainda encontra-se voltado aos aspectos funcionais do produto, diante da gama de atividades realizadas para garantir e divulgar a qualidade dos grãos brasileiros e que ainda existem oportunidades na prática de gestão de marcas. Existem indicativos que revelam que o Brasil poderia utilizar aspectos de sua identidade nacional para buscar a diferenciação do seu produto, e que as organizações responsáveis pela marca já percebem a necessidade de se aprofundar esta estratégia. Este trabalho, naturalmente, apresenta algumas limitações. No entanto, uma de suas contribuições é alertar as organizações brasileiras que administram a identidade da marca Cafés do Brasil , que a utilização do branding poderá melhorar sua competitividade em relação a seus concorrentes

Although tourism has been recognised as an important subfield in nation branding little research have focused on its role in the nation branding process. A managerial perspective was assumed to examine what role tourism has in nation branding. This study adopts a deductive approach reviewing existing literature on nation branding, brand management strategies and tourism stakeholders. A case study on how tourism is integrated in nation branding strategies and how stakeholders operating in the tourism sector perceive their own influence on the nation-brand was conducted in Sweden using a qualitative method. Data was collected through interviews with managers in organisations that directly or indirectly work with tourism while being involved in the strategic nation branding of Sweden. A conceptual framework was developed to illustrate how the nation-brand is created and communicated through tourism. The study concludes that tourism can have a significant role in nation branding and affect other subfields if the right circumstances are given. Strong collaborations are a prerequisite for effective nation branding and strategies should incorporate national identity and country-of-origin for authenticity. Future research could focus on comparing the role of tourism in nation branding with other subfields as well as comparing how organisations on the same level work with nation branding strategies.

The goal of my diploma thesis is to describe and evaluate relationship of young people in Czech Republic towards brands. In first chapter I describe historical development of marketing approach towards brands, the function of a brand, its elements and the differences between brands and products. I mention and compare two diverse concepts of brand management - Kellers CBBE concept and Roberts Lovemarks concept. In the second chapter I characterize young Czechs at the age between 15 and 30. I do so thanks to information gathered from different sociological studies and from papers about phenomenom of generation Y. Last chapter follows the previous two and is purely about relationship of young pepople towards brands. I used for it facts described in the thesis above and data that I get from particular qualitative research as well as quantitative research that I realised by myself.

The main topic of the diploma thesis “Marketing mix of a sports facility” is a detailed analysis related to a marketing strategy of the company that offers services in the area of sports and physical training. The theoretical part is devoted to the general basis that is essential for further elaboration of following practical sections. The analytical part deals with analysis of the current situation within the sport facility. On the basis of the conclusions from analytical part, the specific recommendations are presented to be implemented in the analysed company in order to significantly strengthen its overall marketing strategy.

Researchers have shown that strategies focused on building long-term competitive advantage tend to be more profitable for businesses. Further, companies have traditionally put their focus on strategies and on marketing tangible attributes of products and services such as quality, price and so on to differentiate from the competitors (Mascarenhas et al, 2006). Nonetheless, researchers have studied that consumers do not put any more emphasis in those characteristics when purchasing product or services underlining the needs to put the consumer as central aspect of a firm’s strategy (Morrison & Crane, 2007). In addition, it has been found that focusing on customer experience and use of correct brand management techniques and marketing initiative nowadays drives the company to have a competitive advantage and long-term economic sustainability. All being said it is true both generically speaking and in the specific context of kitchen appliances. In fact, market research suggests that in the kitchen appliances industry companies have begun to compete along new dimensions, whereby putting the consumers and their experiences as a central aspect of the business has become increasingly important for actors who wish to stay and be competitive in the business. However, in the existing literature, there is not accordance on how to define customer experience and scholars identified that it depends on the context, which makes it difficult and confusing when marketing experts and firms want to identify the key aspects to improve the experience of their customers. On top, it has been found that brand identities are more or less relevant depending on the context, country culture and such, where the brand market its product and services. In according to what said, the purpose of this study is to explore and identify the most important dimensions and touchpoints in the specific kitchen appliances context that has more impact on the customer experience, with the aim to better define customer experience in the kitchen appliances context that could give indication to companies operating in the market how to address to some extent those problematics. The research adopted an exploratory qualitative study design. Interviews were used to gather primary empirical data that together with secondary empirical data and insight from the literature review had allowed the researchers to explore and address the research questions and state conclusions that however cannot be considered conclusive according to the nature of the study. In addition, the research reveals that consumer experience is a broad topic that accounts for and depends of many different aspects all interconnected one to another. In addition, it has been found that the aspects around brands, consumer experience and its touchpoints vary not only in relation to the context in study, but as well according to different stakeholders that deal with them. In addition, in the consumer journey, critical aspects reside in both tangible attributes of products and services and intangible attributes that together become critical and in the specific context shape how people think about the brand, and consequently their experiences. Finally, a possible definition of customer experience according to what found was given

本研究基於文獻探討發現品牌權益內涵看法分歧，且缺乏理論背景。因此以交易成本理論為基礎，提出一具基礎理論(Microfundation)的交易成本觀點之顧客基礎品牌權益模型。說明消費者購買產品時，是處於Williamson所稱的市場失靈情況，除了要考慮商品的實際售價外，另外必須對市場不完全下產生的交易成本納入考量。品牌可視為一種能夠降低消費者購買產品時產生之交易成本的機制。而品牌權益來自於顧客對不同品牌認知交易成本差異而反應於財務上的價值。 交易成本的高低取決於資訊搜尋成本、道德危機成本、遲滯成本；當顧客面對某品牌所投注的資訊搜集成本及購買後面對的道德危機成本相對其他品牌愈少，交易成本即愈低。若顧客與品牌間產生之資產專屬性愈高，則其被遲滯的程度愈大，欲轉換至其他品牌的轉換成本愈大，相對於其他品牌而言，繼續使用資產專屬性較高的品牌，顧客所須付出的成本較低。綜合資訊收集成本、道德危機成本與遲滯成本形成顧客面對的交易成本。顧客知覺交易成本高的品牌，品牌權益較低。反之顧客知覺交易成本相對較低的品牌，則反應出較高的品牌權益。 研究發現品牌策略的典範移轉情形大致為創造品牌知識、至品牌信任、再到品牌依賴。品牌知識由品牌形象及品牌知名度構成；品牌信任則由消費者知覺品牌的品質、創新、關懷三者所組成；品牌依賴則由消費者對產品實體利益、品牌心理認同、與社會規範形成。籍由對品牌知識、信任、依賴的建立可以減少消費者的交易成本，增加品牌權益。 本研究並由品牌權益理論發展與模型建構，輔以文獻整理與佐證，發展了19項品牌權益內涵的命題，且就行銷組合、市場與競爭情況、次要聯想、消費者面等因素，探討對品牌權益的影響。 最後提出對理論與實務的涵意，對學術界，本研究統整了複雜且眾多的品牌權益構面，有助於了解品牌權益的意義及內涵全貌，並可作為品牌權益研究的基礎。對實務界，建議行銷人員應減少消費者購買產品所產生的交易成本，增加品牌權益。透過思考品牌權益發生的根本原因，可以清楚的掌握品牌權益建立的重心。另從品牌管理重心的演變觀之，追求品牌依賴是可見的趨勢。因此本研究對企業界有極大的幫助，可以建立起行銷人員品牌權益管理的架構。 目錄 第一章 緒論 1 第一節 研究背景 1 第二節 研究動機 2 第三節 研究問題與目的 4 第四節 研究架構 8 第二章 品牌權益與交易成本理論之文獻探討 12 第一節 品牌權益 13 一、品牌權益的定義 13 二、品牌權益研究的發展 21 三、品牌權益的構面 26 第二節 交易成本理論 40 一、交易成本簡介 40 二、交易與交易成本 42 三、交易成本的主要內涵 43 四、投機主義的介紹 49 五、交易的特性 51 節三節 文獻探討評論 54 第三章 交易成本理論觀點之品牌權益模型 56 第一節 品牌權益模型 56 第二節 交易成本與品牌權益 62 第四章 品牌權益內涵之探討 69 第一節 品牌知識與資訊成本 70 第二節 品牌信任與道德危機成本 75 第三節 品牌依賴與遲滯成本 81 第四節 品牌權益內涵比較 92 一、與Keller 架構之比較 92 一、與Aaker 架構之比較 92 第五章 影響品牌權益內涵相關因素之探討 95 第一節 行銷組合策略對品牌權益的影響 95 一、產品策略 95 二、價格策略 96 三、通路策略 96 四、促銷組合策略 97 第二節 市場與競爭情況 98 一、競爭品牌數目 98 二、產品間的品質差異程度 99 節三節 次要聯想對品牌權益的影響 99 第四節 消費者因素對品牌權益的影響 100 第六章 結論與建議 105 第一節 研究結論 105 一、品牌權益理論發展與模型建構 105 二、品牌權益內涵命題發展 106 第二節 理論與實務涵意 110 一、對學術界的涵意 110 二、對實務界的涵意 110 第三節 研究限制 113 第四節 後續研究建議 114 參考文獻 117 一、中文部份 117 二、英文部份 120 表次 表2-1 品牌權益定義彙整 19 表2-2 品牌權益分涵分類彙整表 39 表4-1 交易成本觀點下品牌權益命題彙整 88 表6-1 品牌權益內涵命題發展結果 107 圖次 圖 1-1 本研究架構圖 11 圖 2-1 Aaker之品牌權益架構 30 圖 2-2 Keller之品牌權益架構 33 圖 2-3 Magajan、Rao & Srivastava 之品牌權益架構 35 圖 2-4 組織失靈架構 46 圖 3-1 品牌權益內涵與交易成本關係圖 58 圖 3-2 交易成本理論觀點之品牌權益模型 61 圖 3-3 交易成本與品牌權益之關係 62 圖 4-1 顧客基礎品牌權益內涵 69 圖 2-4 本研究品牌權益模式與Aaker、Keller 架構之比較 94 圖 5-1 品牌在不同消費者決策階段扮演之角色 101

面對經營疆界( Business Boundary)越趨模糊的新世代，高科技電子消費性終端產業不斷展現誘人商機；隨著傳統映像管電視機式微，取而代之的薄型電視機進入市場，關鍵組件及軟體等科技研發競賽不斷推陳出新，刺激需求；原家電品牌(製造服務)業者主宰整個電視機產業，如今卻面臨強烈挑戰；覬覦液晶電視機(LCD TV)快速引爆市場需求，成長力道強勁並快速整合產業加值鏈，各業者競爭激烈，積極進場，甚至Electronic Manufacturing Service(EMS)大廠、資通訊業者等皆企圖搶奪液晶電視機市場。 液晶電視機產業能夠快速席捲市場，主要歸功於相關產業，積極投入研發與佈局，特別在投資新代線LCD面板廠、視訊晶片(IC)及設計代工的快速帶動下，讓產業加值鏈呈現蓬勃發展；而台商在此加值鏈佔有最重要的產業群聚。 從2009年德國柏林IFA、2010年美國CES Show、Computex等展覽中觀察到世界大廠不斷在技術研發向前推進；科技浪頭的百家爭鳴，似乎引領電視機產業來到一個不連續又不斷變動的競爭氛圍。在面臨產品生命週期短促、面板價格波動劇烈、多重廣播標準與門檻及終端市場需求變化巨大的經營挑戰下，產業加值鏈持續透過整合或外包策略因應；本研究個案廠商，考量資源分享極大化以提高競爭力，大多在此階段同時選擇代工(OEM/ODM)與自有品牌經營(OBM)。 本研究藉由文獻蒐集與個案深度訪談，得到來自不同資源基礎的四類個案廠商中，無論是選擇代工或自有品牌為主的商業模式，皆在任一模式佔總營收比重超過80%時，雖然產生部份限制，但從企業追求競爭力的角度來探討「驅動力」，其在降低成本、提高營業利益、養成關鍵技術Know-How、經營顧客服務等將展現最佳營運能量與效率；進一步就商業利益的角度檢視「平衡點」，其對於提高市場佔有率、構築自有品牌、經營顧客關係等亦將呈現效益最佳化。 至於，選擇代工與品牌並重之個案公司，則陷入較為不利之經營局面；然而，若能調整以自有品牌經營為主，與代工做切割，在創新能力、整體(含音質與畫質)設計能力等做到最具精緻特色，此亦極有機會先穩固區域品牌經營，再伺機擴張。最後對個案廠商未來發展做出策略建議，以及後續研究之方向，期為業界在強化競爭力與提高營業利益等經營議題，提供參考。 / The rapid penetration of Slim-Type TV with the price decline which is raised by the great progress of LCD related technology and increasing huge investment on new generation Fab. Taiwanese firms play significant roles in this worldwide prosperity and firmly integration at all-stream for a strong supply chain. As supply chain players keep implementing integration strategy to catch up with the cross-boundary opportunities, various business models have emerged. To address this phenomenon, a novel two-phase analytic framework was conducted to study the driving force and balance condition of Taiwan LCD TV vendors’ contract manufacturing (OEM)/OBM Model Choice. Through case-study and secondary data collection, we found that while facing tough business environment, Most of Taiwan LCD TV firms with different resource-bases , have choose both OEM/ODM and OBM to achieve economic scale for revenue increasing. Also, it’s a way to do cost reduction by sharing the resources. However, this study yielded different results when four-case companies implementing both OEM/ODM and OBM strategy, we found that if no appropriate resource allocation and right people/mechanism, increase another business model to existing model will bring the reverse effect. This paper finally concluded that different resource bases companies should consider various driving force and transform to the most suited business model through continue leveraging their own competences to catch the transient market opportunities.

This research addresses an urgent contemporary problem within advertising and brand management in the new era of social networks - how do companies act on social networking platforms and how is this perceived by consumers? Being successful on Facebook is, seemingly, not as straight forward as many might think, and the misuse deriving from misperceptions can create negative brand impacts. This research aims to shed light on the yet under researched topic of firm-created Social Media advertising and its effects on the consumer mindset. This has lead to three overarching research questions, which provides a strong theoretical and practical contribution to the status quo:   RQ1:          What is the influence of the gap between motivational factors to “Like” a brand’s Facebook page and the subsequent firm-created Facebook advertising on perceived advertising value?   RQ2:          What is the influence of perceived advertising value on consumer brand-related activities?   RQ3:                      What is the influence of (1) perceived advertising value and (2) consumer brand-related activities on brand equity?   A quantitative research approach was adopted using a self-administered survey among 101 European Facebook users between 18 and 35. The framework of this research comes from four elements of theory; Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory to identify the underlying motivational factors to engage with a brand on Facebook, advertising value by Ducoffe (1995), to measure how the brand’s advertising is perceived, consumer brand-related activities (COBRA) by Muntinga, et al. (2011) to classify the level of consumer involvement with the brand on Facebook, and the brand value chain by Keller & Lehmann (2003), which is closely related to consumer-based brand equity as developed by Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993).   The main conclusions of this research include that the gap between initial motivations to start a brand-relationship on Facebook and the subsequent activities performed by the firm is smaller for those in a currently active brand-relationship while it is considerable larger for those who have decided to exit the relationship. Moreover, while not statistically confirmed a clear tendency was identified that the perceived advertising value of a brand on Facebook is attributable to the extent of this gap. In the same vein, the decision to continue or exit a brand-relationship on Facebook is attributable by the level of perceived advertising value. The type and level of interaction with a brand is influenced by the perceived advertising value, however, can be influenced by targeting specific motivations to interact. Both the perceived advertising value and the level/type of interaction with a brand were found to influence the consumer mindset. Especially the form (entertaining, enjoyable) in which advertising is dispersed on Facebook proves to be important.