The service sector’s constant growth is followed by an increasing competition among service companies. Followed by this, the process of internal branding has become essential within the service brand building process, i.e. aligning the service company’s brand promise with employees’ behavior. Hence, customer- facing employees within the service organization have become a valuable and competitive asset as they manage to deliver the brand promise. A literature review showed that understanding the brand promise and brand commitment are two essential drivers of internal branding. An implicit and positive relationship between those two issues was presented. Absence of empirical studies regarding this relationship was revealed. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between employees’ understanding of the brand and their brand commitment. The purpose motivated a hypothesis; employees understanding of the brand promise are positively associated with their brand commitment. The results are based on a quantitative survey conducted among customer- facing employees within the Swedish bank industry. The analysis is both founded in the discussion of the conceptual literature and the similar completed empirical study that was found within the research area. The findings of this research supported this thesis’ hypothesis. The relationship between bank customer- facing employees’ understanding of the brand promise and their brand commitment is shown to be positive and fairly strong. Almost two fifths of brand commitment can be explained by the understanding issue. However, it shows a need for further research in identifying more factors influencing employees’ commitment towards the brand.

Problemformulering Den befintliga forskningen om vad som motiverar anställda att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet är ostrukturerad. Forskare använder olika nämnare för att beskriva vad som motiverar anställda men det saknas forskning som sammanställer och ger en strukturerad bild av ämnet. Därför är det nödvändigt att systematisera nämnarna för att strukturera den befintliga forskningen. Syfte Syftet med studien är att systematisera de nämnare som driver anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet. Forskningsfråga Hur kan nämnarna som driver anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet systematiseras? Metod Studien består av en tvärsnittsstudie av anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet. Det genomfördes en kvantitativ undersökningsmetod där kvantifierbar data samlades in med hjälp av enkäter. Slutsats För att strukturera befintlig forskning framkom det att nämnarna kunde systematiseras till de fyra faktorerna självständighet, delaktighet, ledarskap och bekräftelse. Det är dessa fyra faktorer som systematiserar de nämnare som leder till anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet.

I det moderna samhället är arbetet inte längre enbart en inkomstkälla utan ett verktyg för självförverkligande. Ur de anställdas perspektiv är företagens attraktivitet, sociala värden, ekonomiska fördelar och utvecklingsmöjligheter viktiga aspekter som tas i beaktning när man söker sig till ett företag och därför betydelsefulla för företagen att efterleva. Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram sätter därför arbetsgivarlöftet och vikten av att det följs i centrum. Vi har funnit ett flertal forskningsstudier relaterade till arbetsgivarlöften, som genomförts inom olika branscher, men saknar undersökningar i textilbranschen där vi ser flera anledningar till varför det skulle vara aktuellt. Studiens syfte är därför att undersöka preferenser bland anställda inom funktionerna inköp och design på företag inom textilbranschen och se hur väl dessa uppnås för att kunna dra slutsatser om förbättringsområden. Samtidigt vill vi se hur stor inverkan den geografiska platsen har och hur benägna de anställda är att yttra sig om arbetsplatsrelaterad information på sociala medier. Studien har genomförts med en kvantitativ ansats, där datainsamling skett genom webbenkäter via bekvämlighet- och snöbollsurval för att nå ut till relevanta personer. Enkäten samlade in åsikter från drygt 23 % av urvalsramen. Av dessa hade nästan 84 % en eftergymnasial utbildning och 30 % hade varit anställda i över 5 år, vilket bekräftar att deltagarna besitter erfarenhet och kompetens som är värdefull för arbetsgivarna. Sociala värden var absolut viktigast för respondenterna i vår undersökning och att ha en god relation till kollegor och chefer toppade listan. En härlig och kul stämning på arbetsplatsen kom inte långt därefter. Lyckligtvis är det också en känsla av tillhörighet som arbetsgivarna lyckas uppfylla bäst. 65 % anger betyget 7 eller högre på hur nöjda de är med sin arbetssituation. Det finns dock utrymme för förbättring, speciellt när det kommer till faktorer som lön, förmåner och självbildskongruens. Resultatet visade att arbetsorten i sig inte var anmärkningsvärt viktig och så länge arbetet är meriterande behöver inte arbetsplatsen ligga i en storstad. Studiens deltagare anger att de är aktiva på sociala medier, men få av dem uttrycker sig positivt eller negativt om sin arbetsgivare via dessa plattformar i dagsläget. Här ser vi ett potentiellt förbättringsområde när det kommer till att få de anställda att bli varumärkesambassadörer för företagets employer brand. / In modern society, our work is no longer just a source of income but a tool for self-realization. From the employees' perspective corporate attractiveness, social values, economic benefits and development opportunities are important aspects taken into consideration when applying for a job and therefore important for companies to acknowledge. The theoretical framework therefore puts the employer brand promise and the importance of its compliance in focus. The study aims to investigate preferences among employees in the purchasing and design functions in the textile industry, and see how well they are achieved to draw conclusions about areas for improvement. At the same time, we want to see how much influence the geographical location has and how likely the employees are to share workplace-related information on social media. The study was conducted with a quantitative approach, where data was collected through web surveys with a convenience and snowball sampling method to reach out to relevant people. The survey gathered opinions from more than 23% of the sample field. Of these, almost 84% had post-secondary education and 30% had been employed for over 5 years, which confirms that the participants possesses experience and expertise that is valuable to their employers. Social values were regarded most important and to have a good relationship with colleagues and managers was ranked as the number one preference. A fun atmosphere scored second place. Fortunately, it is also a sense of belonging that employers seem to meet the best. 65% of the respondents graded 7 or higher on job satisfaction on a scale of 1-10. However, there is room for improvement, especially when it comes to factors such as salary, benefits and self-image congruency. The result shows that the workplace location in itself was not remarkably important and as long as the job is meritorious it does not need to be situated in a big city. The study participants indicate that they are active on social media, but few of them express any positive or negative aspects about their employers on these platforms. Here we see a potential area for improvement when it comes to turning the employees into brand ambassadors for the company's employer brand. This research paper is written in Swedish.

This thesis provides a thorough definition of corporate branding, including its benefits when used as a strategic marketing tool. There are many who believe that the logo of a corporation is its brand. However, the logo is only one interpretation of the brand. The brand is the corporation's ethos. It is the fundamental character or spirit of the corporation. It is an expression of who the corporation is. It is the essence that links the corporation's product or service with its consumer through loyalty and emotional attachments. Corporations use various processes and methodologies when they begin to create and enhance their corporate brand. Corporations must define their corporate personality, build recognition, standardize, and fulfill brand promises. There are also obstacles and challenges that corporations face in their endeavor to implement a branding guideline, and the chance of overcoming them without defined leadership is unrealistic. This study focuses specifically on existing literature about corporate branding and cites case study examples to show what makes the best brands successful and where failing brands could have been more successful. The study concludes by providing insight into the future for corporate branding and offering suggestions for technical communication professionals who find themselves a part of the brand building and defining process. There are various rules to branding and traits that are common to every top brand in the world. By instilling its brand with such traits, and following certain processes with focus, passion, and persistence, and most of all a long-term commitment to the brand, a corporation will find its brand among the most recognized brands in the world.

The role of best practice in delivering Company Strategy-Brand Promise delivering "Escape through Glamour," has become an issue for the management of Ster-Kinekor as the competitive set in the entertainment arena, increases and becomes aggressive. This has compounded by the digital explosion which has made home entertainment sexy and raised the benchmark of picture and sound quality. Prices are extremely competitive and this practice is supported by the criminal element, i.e. Piracy. The increase in live and televised sports entertainment, television entertainment in general and outdoor activities has contributed to the pressure in growing revenue. Ster-Kinekor has identified the new middle income segment as an opportunity for growth and has identified perceived value of the entertainment format as a key barrier. This is true for the Living Standard Measures (hereafter, LSM) 8, 9 and 10 segment of the market as well. The need to increase the perceived value of the brand and the entertainment it offers has been identified as a key issue by senior management. This study will highlight the concepts of branding and best practice within a review of Ster-Kinekor operational (best practice) interventions. This will be followed by a detailed analysis and interpretation of 800 intercept interviews which will inform the study concerning the market impact of the interventions. In addition, informal interviews were held with various members of management. Ster-Kinekor has introduced a number of initiatives, including a number of best practice interventions under a project entitled "Good to Great." This interventions are aimed at installing best practice within the business with the overall intention of improving customer experience and thereby driving the bottom line. The study therefore will analyse the impact of this these initiatives as intended by Ster-Kinekor management. In conclusion, the study will provide recommendations for consideration in order to enhance the perceived value. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

Background: All brands need to keep moving and to keep building their stories by bringing new and exciting products or experiences. During the last twenty years, companies have been more and more convinced that their brands are among their most valuable resources and today we see an increasing trend of brand extension attempts, however with a significant number of failures, as well.The strategies of how a brand extension should be done, have been published in several books during the last decades. Despite of this, some companies still do not see the link between brand extension and business development. There seem to be a certain lack of knowledge and understanding of the underlying factors that affect a brand extension. In this study, we would therefore like to examine and identify these different factors in order to create a greater understanding of branding strategies.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to research, describe and analyse the nature of horizontal brand extensions in order to create a theory regarding the essential key factors to take into consideration before considering an extension. Based on the theory, the hypothesis will be tested empirically in order to strengthen- or reject it.Methodology: This study is made with a deductive approach, where the theoretical framework, based on previous presented theories, has led to the conformation of our hypothesis, which has later on been applied to the findings from the empirical researches in order to confirm or discard our hypothesis.The empirical basis consists of qualitative interviews with respondents from two companies with experience from horizontal brand extension: Craft of Scandinavia and Peak Performance.Conclusion: Our conclusion from this research is that for a horizontal extension to be successful it must:‐ Be a part of a brand with a clear brand image and plan, for the brand ­‐ Fit the brand ‐ Live up to the original brand promise - Fit with the old associations and generate new, positive associations to the brand ­‐ Have high perceived quality and trust in the mind of the customer- Be a part of a risk evaluation in order to limit the risks and obtain a more realistic view of the extension. / Program: Textil produktutveckling med entreprenörs- och affärsinriktning