Background: Brand managers are always trying to find ways to increase brand profitability and creating a stronger competitive advantage. Part of the marketing activities implemented by brand managers is geared towards building brand equity. Managers have now recognized the importance of the customer in creating brand equity and therefore implement co-creation as a way of creating value together with the customer. Co-creation allows for the firm to bring the customer closer. Two dimensions of brand equity which are brand loyalty and brand experience were chosen for this study. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain the effects of perceived co-creation benefits on brand loyalty and brand experience (CBBE). Methodology: To meet the purpose, the study proposes an explanatory design with a quantitative approach. After reviewing relevant literature, three benefits were found important for the customers and in connection to the purpose of a researched model based on six hypotheses was developed. The empirical data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed online with a total of 119 responses which were recorded and passed the qualification question whether they follow a brand on social media. Findings: The authors found evidence that perceived co-creation benefits have an effect on CBBE. It was found that particularly hedonic benefits have a significant effect on brand loyalty. Another finding was that social integrative benefits also has an effect on brand experience.

Devido à progressiva importância atribuída à marca e, em especial, ao seu gerenciamento, diferentes teorias e modelos de compreensão, análise e prescrição foram e vêm sendo desenvolvidos, procurando se orientar abordagens e decisões estratégicas de negócio. Embora seja possível identificar algumas diferenças conceituais e/ou estruturais, dois aspectos, na prática, estão sempre presentes na análise de marcas e podem ser considerados decisivos na compreensão e gestão dessas: identidade e posicionamento de marca. Em relação a este segundo conceito, torna-se, ao longo do tempo, mais relevante, decisivo e crucial o processo de análise e avaliação da eficácia, adequação e relevância do posicionamento, em termos organizacionais, o entendimento da condição da marca e sua relação com o mercado, assim como modelos e procedimentos de avaliação para a decisão por sua eventual modificação ou adequação ao longo do tempo: o reposicionamento. Atualmente, o exame e a decisão de um reposicionamento de marcas está presente no cotidiano de profissionais de marketing e comunicação, porém não existe consenso ou uniformidade de abordagem deste tema, resultado, entre outras razões, da limitada literatura desenvolvida acerca do assunto. Este trabalho se propõe a abordar de forma estruturada conceitual e estrategicamente condições, desafios e riscos da adoção de uma estratégia de reposicionamento de marcas, utilizando argumentação baseada em literatura disponível, somada a intervenções exploratórias de exemplos reais, e propondo uma tipificação para as decisões e estratégias de reposicionamento, assim como orientações e alternativas para a gestão de marcas. A decisão por um reposicionamento de marca envolve desafios, investimentos e riscos, sendo que, na maioria das vezes, este processo se impõe ao gestor de marca. Com o objetivo de contribuir no exame e/ou avaliação do reposicionamento de marcas, este trabalho aborda as condições, as decisões e os impactos potenciais, oferecendo uma classificação e uma estrutura de análise orientadas para operação e gestão de estratégias de reposicionamento. / Different theories and comprehension, analysis and prescription models were and are being developed associated to progressive importance of brand management. Their objectives, in general, are to offer approached-based and strategic decisions for business. However, it is possible to identify some conceptual and/or structural differences among these papers, two aspects, in practice, are always present in brand’s analysis and may be recognized as decisive to understanding and administration brands: identity and positioning. This second concept is becoming more important and crucial as time goes by, playing a fundamental role in the brand efficacy evaluation, relevancy and compatibility of positioning and, particularly, the brand condition comprehension and its relationship with the market, as evaluation procedures and decision models for brand positioning change: the repositioning. Nowadays, brand repositioning analysis and decision are part of daily activities of marketing and communication professionals, but there is not approach consensus or uniformity to deal with this concept. As matter as fact, it is result – among other reasons – of limited developed literature about this issue. That thesis proposes itself to approach structurally, conceptually and strategically the conditions, challenges and risks to the adoption of brand repositioning strategy, using argumentation based on available literature added exploratory intervention in actual cases and proposing a taxonomy for repositioning strategies and decisions and brand management orientation and alternatives. Brand repositioning decision involves challenges, investments and risks. In general, this process in not a management decision, but an external imposition as a function of realized brand performance. With the objective to contribute to analysis and evaluation of brand repositioning, this research effort focus conditions, decisions and potential impacts, offering a structure and a classification oriented to repositioning strategies an operation management.

Atualmente, os valores intangíveis são cada vez mais importantes no processo gerencial de empresas e governos, implicando a necessidade de informações mais precisas. Dentre os ativos intangíveis mais importantes encontram-se as marcas. É por meio das marcas que os consumidores escolhem e memorizam suas compras, e assim destinam seu dinheiro para algo que possa solucionar problemas em suas vidas. Marcas são formas de empresas e países conseguirem se diferenciar no mercado competitivo globalizado, e estas últimas são denominadas marca-país. A marca-país é fonte de conhecimento e associações no mercado, e torna o país mais ou menos atraente para os estrangeiros. Para se medir o valor de uma marca-país (country brand equity) utilizamse métodos específicos. Essa métrica perceptual é uma construção de valores baseados na marca-país, como conhecimento, associações, imagem, qualidade percebida e lealdade. Este trabalho visa compor um modelo de mensuração de country brand equity aplicável à realidade brasileira. Para tanto foram apresentados diversos modelos de avaliação de marcas e marca-país, por serem complementares, e testados empiricamente. Os dois principais modelos utilizados neste trabalho foram o modelo de valor de marca de Yoo, Donthu e Lee (2000), e o modelo de valor de marca-país de Pappu e Quester (2010). Como o construto de valor de marca-país é derivado de dimensões formativas que o compõem, foram somadas nessa equação as dimensões de imagem baseada na personalidade (AAKER, 1997) e percepção de cultura (NEWMAN; NOLLEN, 1996; HOFSTEDE; BOND, 1984). Todas as variáveis e composições de dimensões foram avaliadas quanto à sua confiabilidade, linearidade, normalidade, heterocedasticidade, multicolinearidade, correlações, formação de fatores e, por fim, avaliadas em regressões e modelos de equações estruturais. Foram criados dezesseis (16) modelos iniciais, nos quais se avaliou o poder de explicação dos construtos com a variável dependente proposta por Zeugner-Roth, Diamantopoulos e Montesinos (2008). Verificou-se pouca variabilidade entre os modelos. Em seguida, foram elaborados mais oito (8) modelos com a proxy de valor de marca-país pela reputação de marca-país, proposta por Kang e Yang (2010), na qual se pôde observar que os modelos com maior número de dimensões se mostraram melhores para explicar a variável dependente. Além disso, verificou-se a importância das dimensões de imagem e percepção de cultura nesses construtos. Por fim, esta tese apresenta modelos mais consistentes de avaliação de marca-país. / Nowadays, the intangible values are more and more important in the management process of companies and governments, implying the need of more accurate information. Among the most important intangible assets, there are the brands. It is through brands that consumers choose and memorize their purchases, and, thus, allocate money for something which can solve problems in their lives. Brands are how companies and countries can differentiate themselves in such competitive global market; the later one is called Country Brand. The country brand is the source of knowledge and associations in the market which makes the country either more or less attractive to foreigners. In order to measure the country brand equity, specific methods are used. Such perceptual metrics is a construction of values based on the country brand, such as awareness, associations, image, perceived quality and loyalty. This work aims to build up a model of country brand equity measurement which can be applied to the Brazilian scenario. Therefore, several brand and country brand evaluation models were presented, since they are complementary, and empirically tested. The two main models used in this work were Yoo, Donthu & Lee´s (2000) brand equity model, and Pappu & Quester´s (2010) country brand equity model. Since the construct of country brand equity is derived from formative dimensions which are part of it, the image dimensions based on personality (AAKER, 1997) and culture perception (NEWMAN & NOLLEN, 1996; HOFSTEDE & BOND, 1984) were summed. All the variables and dimension compositions were evaluated concerning their reliability, linearity, normality, heteroscedasticity, multicollinearity, correlations, factor formation and, finally, they were assessed in regressions and structural equation models. Sixteen (16) preliminary models were created, in which the power of explanation of constructs with the dependent variable proposed by Zeugner-Roth, Diamantopoulos & Montesinos (2008) were created. Little variability between the models was seen. Afterwards, eight (8) more models were elaborated with the proxy of country brand equity by the country brand reputation proposed by Kang & Yang (2010), in which it was possible to observe that the models with greater number of dimensions were better to explain the dependent variable. Moreover, the importance of image dimensions and culture perception in these constructs were checked. Finally, this thesis presents more coherent country-brand evaluation models.

Em um comércio internacional globalizado, tecnológico, dinâmico e competitivo, o conceito de marca passou a ser aplicado aos países, surgindo o termo marca-país. As nações passaram a ser vistas e a agir como marcas, a fim de adquirir vantagem competitiva e se desenvolver em grande escala. Uma marca-país deve ser forte e agregar valor aos seus consumidores estimulando e atraindo turistas, moradores, investidores e compradores ao país para ser bem sucedida nesse cenário. Para isso, é necessário um processo de nation branding (gestão de marca-país) bem estruturado. Mais ainda, uma marca-país deve ser capaz de provocar reações e intenções comportamentais nos consumidores internacionais, as denominadas conações em relação a um país e que abrangem o vínculo com tal país, a vontade de viajar, investir, fazer negócios, trabalhar e adquirir produtos e serviços provenientes dele. Deste modo, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar a existência da relação entre o valor da marca-país do Brasil e as conações em relação a este país. O Brasil é um país emergente, cujo potencial da marca-país é grande, mas pouco estudado. O estudo foi iniciado por uma revisão de literatura sobre imagem de país e efeito país de origem, conações em relação a um país, marca-país e valor de marca-país. Em seguida, a partir de dados primários coletados por meio de um levantamento com 202 consumidores estrangeiros- mais especificamente com estudantes de universidades internacionais vinculados à Universidade de São Paulo (USP) por programas de intercâmbio, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo e descritivo. Este utilizou a técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais, que permite verificar a relação de dependência entre a conação do Brasil e o valor de sua marca. Verificou-se por meio dessa análise que o valor de marca-país do Brasil é um construto muldimensional, formado por três dimensões: qualidade percebida, imagem macro técnica e lealdade, que se inter-relacionam de maneira positiva, bem como se agrupam para formar o construto de valor de marca-país do Brasil. Finalmente, averiguou-se que o valor de marca-país do Brasil influencia positivamente as conações em relação ao país, em termos de investimentos, negócios e trabalho. Esses resultados fornecem informações valiosas que podem colaborar com o governo para desenvolvimento estratégico de ações para a melhora e o crescimento da marca e da imagem dos países (principalmente do Brasil), pois é possível notar que investir em marca-país e na sua gestão traz retornos para o país. Por exemplo, os governos podem ajustar os programas de marketing voltados aos consumidores internacionais e à venda de produtos no exterior; modificar as campanhas de divulgação de marcas brasileiras internacionalmente e oferecer subsídios e facilidades para investimentos e negócios com o Brasil. Além disso, a pesquisa proporcionou reflexões teóricas para pesquisas na área de imagem de país e valor de marca-país. / In a globalized, technological, dynamic, and competitive international trade, the brand concept is now applied to countries, making arise the term country brand. The nations are now seen and act as brands, in order to gain competitive advantage and develop in large scale.A country brand should be strong and add value to their consumers stimulating and attracting tourists, residents, investors and buyers to the country to be successful in this scenario. For this, a well-structured process of nation branding is needed. Moreover, one country brand must be able to provoke reactions and behavioral intentions in international consumers, which are called country specific conations, and it comprises ties with the country, the desire to travel, to invest, to do business with, to work and to purchase goods and services from a country. Thus, this study aimed to verify the existence of the relationship between the country brand equity of Brazil and the country specific conations regarding this country. Brazil is an emerging country whose potential of the country branding is great, but little studied.The study was initiated by a literature review on country image and country of origin effect, country specific conations, country brand and country brand equity. Then, based on primary data collected through a survey of 202 foreign consumers - more specifically with students from foreign universities accredited with the University of São Paulo (USP) in exchange programs, it was conducted a quantitative and descriptive study. This was used the technique of structural equation modeling, which allows to check the dependency relationship between country specific conations of Brazil and its country brand equity. This analysis showed that the country brand equity of Brazil is a muldimensional construct made of three dimensions: perceived quality, macro technique image and loyalty, which are interrelate in a positive way and relate to form the construct of Brazil country brand equity. Finally, it was found that the country equity of Brazil has a positive influence over the country specific conations, in terms of investment, business and labor. These results provide valuable information that can collaborate with the government to develop strategic actions for the improvement and growth of the brand and image of countries (mainly Brazil), because it is possible to note that invest in country brand and its management brings returns to the country. For example, governments can adjust the marketing programs geared to international consumers and the sale of products abroad; modify the publicity campaigns of Brazilian brands internationally and offer subsidies and facilities for investment and business with Brazil. In addition, the research provided theoretical reflections for research in the country image area and country brand equity.

Sociala medier, som ingår i Web 2.0, används idag av företag och organisationer i stor utsträckning för att exponera sina varumärken och förvalta eller skapa relationer med både befintliga och potentiella konsumenter. Steget till sociala medier har inte alltid varit självklart, särskilt för lyxvarumärken som vissa forskare menade skulle skada deras varumärke och särskiljande associationer som legitimerar deras ställning och status som lyx. Idag är det klart att en övertygande majoritet av lyxmärken har antagit sociala medier och implementerat marknadsföringsstrategier för att hantera det. Om diskussionen för några år sedan var centrerad om lyxmärken skulle ha social medianärvaro, är den mer relevanta frågan idag hur lyxvarumärken ska använda sociala medier samtidigt som varumärket bibehålls. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur varumärkeskapitalet i ett lyxmärke påverkas av sociala medier genom konsumenternas perspektiv för att ge ett svar på hur lyxiga märken ska förhålla sig till sociala medier. Undersökningen är begränsad till konsumentbaserat varumärkeskapital (CBBE) och kommer inte att behandla den finansiella aspekten av varumärkeskapital. Data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med potentiella konsumenter och ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt har applicerats av forskarna. Denna studie visar att ett restriktivt tillvägagångssätt från lyxmärken bör appliceras med en tydlig koppling till deras arv om de vill behålla sin status som lyx. Kanaler som inte kontrollerades av varumärket ansågs vara mer tilltalande att följa och konsumera innehåll från. Vidare drogs slutsatsen att eWOM i likhet med WOM var ett effektivt verktyg för att bygga varumärkeskapital. Det var också en gemensam syn bland respondenterna att konsumtion av ett lyxigt varumärke inte skulle vara lika åtråvärt om varumärket inte var allmänt erkänt av andra. Men detta bör inte kompenseras med en bredare tillgänglighet av lyxvarumärkes fysiska produkter. Därför dras slutsatsen att lyxmärken bör ägna närmare uppmärksamhet åt de fysiska och digitala aspekterna av varumärket samt dess tillgänglighet när de använder sociala medier för marknadsföringsändamål, om de vill behålla eller förstärka deras varumärkeskapital. / Social medias, which is a part of Web 2.0, is today widely used by companies and organisations to expose their brands and nurture or create relationships with both existing- and potential consumers. The step to social media has not always been so certain, especially for luxury brands, which some researchers suggested would potentially damage their brand equity and distinctive associations which legitimise their position, and status as luxury. Today it is clear that a convincing majority of luxury brands have adopted social media and implemented marketing strategies for it. As the discussion, a few years ago were centred around if luxury brands should have social media presence, the more relevant question today is rather how luxury brands should use social media while still maintaining their brand. The purpose of this study is to examine how the brand equity of a luxury brand is affected by social media through the consumer’s perspective to give an answer how luxury brands should relate to social media. The study is limited to consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) and will not regard the financially aspect of brand equity. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews with potential consumers and a qualitative approach have been deployed by the researchers. This study finds that a restrained approach from luxury brands should be implemented with a clear connection to their legacy if they wish to maintain their status as luxury. Channels which were not controlled by the brand was considered more appealing to follow and consume content from. Furthermore, was it concluded that eWOM in parable with WOM was an effective tool for building brand equity. It was also a common agreement that a consumption of a luxury brand would not be as covet if the brand was not widely recognised by others. But shouldn’t be compensated with a broader availability of the luxury brands products. Therefore, it is concluded that luxury brands should pay closer attention to the physical - and digital aspects of the brand and its availability when using social media for marketing purposes if they wish to maintain or reinforce their brand equity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aldair Almeida Fonseca.pdf: 3183130 bytes, checksum: aa08ff6e8f0e5605239a78579f27a8c6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In regards to the importance of branding and the value of management to contemporary organizations and the relevance of the Internet on the world stage, this study aims to understand how the Internet can be used as a mean to generate value to the brand in addition to understanding how Social Media (social networking, virtual communities, blogs and forums), sites other than Google Adwords, Adsense and Analytics can be useful in creating value for brands and how these features can influence the perception of value by consumers. This study was developed through qualitative research. The bibliographic review on the brand value was based on the concepts of Aaker (1998, 2007) and Keller (2006), as these authors support the line taken in this project that the brand value lies in its positioning in the minds of consumers , as is, the quota that the brand occupies in the consumers' mind , on the issue Internet, we used bibliographic concepts present in Castells (1999, 2001) as well as articles and specialized sites that deal with the issue. The field research was developed through case study, and to ensure the reliability of the survey, we used the case study protocol based on the model proposed by Yin (2001). To answer questions presented a research was made on a study of a single case in a company specializing in the development and improvement of online marketing, where a survey was conducted through exploratory approach of open questions in order to investigate how this company through the means of Internet adds value to your brand, and thus present results that demonstrate the relevance of the Internet as a creator of value. The main conclusions of this study indicate that the Internet and its resources are a key resource for the generation of value for contemporary companies in the current scenario, the increased importance of the Internet shows that companies need to understand and leverage the resources available on it to obtain consistent results and perennials / Em função da importância das marcas e do gerenciamento do seu valor para as organizações contemporâneas e da relevância da Internet no cenário mundial, esse estudo tem por objetivo entender como a Internet pode ser usada como meio para gerar valor à marca além de compreender como as mídias sociais (rede sociais, comunidades virtuais, blogs e fóruns), sites além do Google Adwords, Adsense e Analytics podem ser úteis na criação de valor para as marcas e como esses recursos podem influenciar na percepção de valor por parte dos consumidores. O estudo foi desenvolvido por meio de pesquisa qualitativa. A revisão da literatura sobre o valor da marca foi pautada nos conceitos de Aaker (1998, 2007) e Keller (2006), pois esses autores defendem a linha seguida nesse projeto de que o valor da marca reside no seu posicionamento na mente dos consumidores, ou seja, na cota que a marca ocupa na mente do consumidor . Com relação ao tema Internet e mídias sociais, utilizou-se como base bibliográfica os conceitos presente em Castells (1999, 2001) e Cardoso (1998) além de artigos e sites especializados que tratam do tema. A pesquisa de campo foi desenvolvida por meio de estudo de caso, e para garantir a confiabilidade da pesquisa, utilizou-se o protocolo de estudo de casos baseado no modelo proposto por Yin (2001). Para dar respostas às indagações apresentadas foi realizado um estudo de caso único em uma empresa especializada no desenvolvimento e aprimoramento de marketing online, onde foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória por meio da abordagem de questões abertas com o objetivo de investigar como essa empresa através dos meios da Internet gera valor para sua marca, e dessa forma, apresentar resultados que demonstrem a relevância da Internet como geradora de valor. As principais conclusões desse estudo apontam que a Internet e seus meios são um recurso fundamental para a geração de valor para as empresas contemporâneas no cenário atual. O aumento da relevância da Internet demonstra que as empresas necessitam entender e potencializar os recursos disponíveis nessa mídia para obtenção de resultados consistentes e perenes

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:45:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata Borovina Josko.pdf: 1320408 bytes, checksum: b7a008a9ef45034bcd6a440a089906ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-04 / About fifteen years ago, a phenomenon of retail concentration, an important and already consolidated movement in some European countries, started to occur in the Brazilian market. As a consequence, manufacturer s structures and relationships with retailers suffered great alterations. In relation to structure, there has been an increasing number of Trade Marketing departments in the companies and, investment in point of sale actions is growing steadily and has a significantly larger share in the total amount of brands investments. The manufacturer-retail relationship has become a zone of greater conflict and there has been a shift of power from the hands of manufacturers to those of retailers. Every year the market absorbs more and more brands and their extensions. The consumer is impacted by several product messages sent by expensive media, transforming brand equity maintenance or building into a constant challenge for the manufacturers. In addition to this situation there is a growing pressure for short term results, at precisely the moment in which investment in brand building, usually related to Advertising, is migrating to point of sale activities or is related to Trade Marketing. The main objective of the research is to acquire knowledge on the impact of Trade Marketing actions on Brand Equity. In order to achieve this objective, the case study methodology was used for an important external sanitary napkin brand in the Brazilian market. As a result, it was verified that the increasing amounts invested in Trade Marketing actions as opposed to amounts invested in advertising, have not helped maintenance and differentiate brand awareness and its associations in two different periods of the study / Há cerca de quinze anos teve início no mercado brasileiro o fenômeno de concentração do varejo, movimento expressivo e consolidado em alguns países da Europa. Como decorrência, a estrutura dos fabricantes e o relacionamento com os varejistas sofreram grandes alterações. No que se refere à estrutura, o número de empresas com departamentos de Trade Marketing é cada vez maior e, o investimento voltado para ações no ponto de venda cresce e representa cada vez mais no valor de investimento das marcas. A relação varejo - fabricante tornou-se mais conflituosa e o poder inverteu-se para das mãos dos fabricantes para a do varejista. O mercado absorve a cada ano cada vez mais marcas e extensões das mesmas. O consumidor é impactado por inúmeras mensagens de produtos através das dispendiosas mídias existentes, tornando a manutenção ou construção do patrimônio de marca um desafio constante para os fabricantes. Soma-se a situação da pressão por resultados no curto prazo, momento em que muitas vezes os valores de investimentos na construção de marcas, geralmente relacionados à Propaganda, migram para atividades no ponto de venda ou relacionadas ao Trade Marketing. O objetivo central da pesquisa é conhecer o impacto das ações de Trade Marketing sobre o patrimômio ou Brand Equity das marcas. Para alcançar este objetivo, foi utilizada a metodologia de estudo de caso com uma marca de absorventes externos atuante no mercado brasileiro. Como resultado verificou-se que o incremento das ações de Trade Marketing em detrimento à propaganda, não auxiliou na manutenção e diferenciação das associações da marca entre dois períodos distintos

Les marques représentent aujourd'hui incontestablement un élément important de la société de consommation. Le nombre de marques ne cesse d'augmenter, créant ainsi une confusion dans l'esprit des consommateurs, et représentant autant de difficultés et de défis pour les entreprises. Chaque année, les entreprises consacrent des sommes importantes à la gestion de leur marque afin quelle soit connue et présente dans l'esprit des consommateurs. Ceci nous a conduits à s'intéresser aux problématiques liées à la construction et à la conservation d'un fort capital-marque pour une firme. Le capital-marque est fortement influencé par des bénéfices symboliques ou intangibles. La marque n'est plus un objet. Les activités de marketing confèrent à la marque une personnalité, une âme. Grâce à cela, la marque devient un partenaire dans la relation avec les consommateurs. Cette thèse se focalise sur la recherche de l'effet de la personnalité de la marque et de la congruence de la personnalité marque-consommateur sur le capital-marque. Elle étudie les valeurs qu'un fort capital-marque peut apporter à la firme par la construction et le maintien d'une bonne relation avec les consommateurs. Toutes nos études expérimentales ont été mises en œuvre au Vietnam. Les résultats obtenus proposent des contributions théoriques afin de mieux comprendre la nature de la relation mutuelle entre le capital-marque et la relation interpersonnelle marque-consommateur. Ils apportent des contributions méthodologiques, relative à la création d'une échelle de mesure de la personnalité de la marque et d'une échelle de mesure du capital-marque dans le contexte vietnamien. Ils fournissent des apports managériaux importants aux entreprises qui veulent commercialiser leurs produits sur le marché vietnamien. / Nowadays, the brands undoubtly represent an important element of the consumer society. The number of brands does not stop increasing, thus creating a confusion in the spirit of the consumers, and resulting in many difficulties and challenges for the businesses. Each year, companies spend a large amount of money on managing their brand so that their brand are known and present in the spirit of the consumers. This drives us to be very concerned by the problems linked to the construction and to the conservation of a strong brand equity for a firm. The brand equity is strongly influenced by symbolic or intangible benefits. The brand is no longer an inanimate object. The marketing activities confer to the brand a personality, a soul. Thanks to that, the brand becomes a partner in its relation with the consumers. This thesis focuses on studying the effect of the brand personality and the congruence on the personality between brand and consumer on the brand equity. It studies the values concerning the construction and the maintenance of a good relation with the consumers that a strong brand equity can bring to the firm. All of experimental studies were implemented in Vietnam. The results bring theoretical contributions for a better understanding of the nature of the mutual relation between the brand equity and the interpersonal relationship between brand and consumer. They furnish methodological contributions by creating a measurement scale both for brand personality and brand equity in the Vietnamese context. They also provide important managerial implications for the companies that want to market their products on the Vietnamese market.

Fenomenet “influencer” har den senaste tiden på grund av den stora spridningen av sociala mediervärlden över blivit ett allt mer vardaglig uttryck inom marknadsföring. Namnet influencer kommer från engelskans influence. Vidare betyder det att man influerar någon, då bland annat till olika köp och livsstilsbeslut. Vilket har gjort influencers till en potentiell reklampelare. Detta då influencerns följare vill leva som influencer och därför vill köpa det den köper. Syftet med vår studie är att studera hur företag genom användning av influencers kan stärka sinavarumärken. Vidare studerar vi hur man som företag utför processen att välja en influencer med mål om att skapa störst möjlighet till stärkandet av varumärket. För att besvara frågeställningen valde vi att göra en kvalitativ studie med fem företag; Abacus Sportswear, Style by Mouche, Plodder PR och kommunikation, en PR och kommunikationsbyrå med fokus på mode/lifestyle och en PR och kommunikationsbyrå med fokus på skönhet. Vi valde att utföra semistrukturerade intervjuer medföretagen för att skapa en intervju med utrymme för följdfrågor och diskussion. Studien har visat att företag framförallt marknadsför sig genom influencers för att sprida varumärkeskännedom och på så vis även stärka sitt varumärke. Det är viktigt för företagen att influencern står för liknande värderingar, kan förmedla ett trovärdigt budskap och att de kan starta en spridning av word of mouth i en positiv riktning. Dock visar vår studie att dagens processer för att välja influencers till varumärken inte fokuserar tillräckligt på varumärkesstärkande utan främst på statistik. Vi har genom att koppla ihop teori och empiri kommit fram till att för att ett samarbete med influencers ska ha goda förutsättningar till att kunna stärka varumärket behöver företag förutom att studera statistik även studera influencerns förtroende, personlig intimitet och ifall influencern går i linje med varumärket. Detta beskrivs i form av en modell på sju steg. / The phenomenon of "influencer" has recently become an increasingly used expression in marketing because of the wide spread of social media across the globe. The name influencer comes from English influence. Furthermore, it means that you influence someone, for example, for different purchases and lifestyle decisions. Which has made influencers a potential advertisers. This is when the influencer's followers want to live as influences and therefore want to buy what they buy. The purpose of our study is to study how companies through the use of influencers can strengthen their brands. Furthermore, we study how, as a company, they perform the process of selecting an influencer with the goal of creating the greatest opportunity for strengthening the brand. In order to answer the question, we chose to do a qualitative study with five companies; Abacus Sportswear, Style by Mouche, Plodder PR and Communication, one PR and communications firm that specializes in clothing and finally a PR and communications firm that specializes in beauty. We chose to conduct semi-structured interviews with companies to create an interview with space for follow-up questions and discussion. The study has shown that companies primarily market through influencers to spread brand awareness and to strengthen their brand. It is important for companies that influencers accounts for similar values, so that they can convey a credible message and that they can start spreading word of mouth in a positive direction. However, our study shows that today's processes for choosing influencers for brands do not focus enough on brand strengths, but primarily on statistics. By linking theory and empirical evidence, we have found that, in order for cooperation with influencers to have good conditions for strengthening the brand, companies need to study the confidence of the influences, personal intimacy and the influencer goes in line with the brand, in addition to studying statistics. This is described in the form of a seven-step model. Our study will be written in Swedish.

The purpose of this study is to map out and analyse the competitiveness of the clothing-manufacturing sector in Rwanda on a local, regional and international level. The research was carried out as a case study of the Rwandan clothing-manufacturing sector through a two-months field study in Rwanda. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with local fashion designers, clothing manufacturers and ministry representatives. Observations in manufacturing plants, local markets and tailoring studios were also carried out. The findings were analyzed through an analysis model based on Porter’s diamond model, enhanced with the notions of country of origin effect (COO), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer-based brand equity (CBBE). The findings show a sector that is struggling with its competitiveness on a local, regional and international level. Lack of relevant factor conditions such as cheap labour and energy as well as low local demand indicates that the country is not suitable for mass-production of clothes. The emerging fashion scene shows abundance in creativity and entrepreneurship, but there is a need for more developed tailoring skills, product quality level and knowledge in management and marketing. Rwanda is not competitive for mass-production of clothing, but the sector could profile itself on high-end fashion and products with craftsmanship qualities. Allocating resources to education and investments in supporting industries could help the Rwandan clothing-manufacturing sector to profile itself on a regional and international market. No studies on the Rwandan clothing-manufacturing sector and its competitiveness have been done since 1989. Due to the shifting focus towards East-Africa as a textile and clothing-manufacturing hub, an update of the situation in Rwanda was found relevant. The study contributes to the existing literature on competitiveness in the textile industry and forms a relevant stepping-stone for further research. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen