The effect of advertising efforts on sales is of significant interest for global brands. Recent developments in emerging markets such as South Africa have brought the concept of consumer purchase behaviour in generating sales, under review. New media schedules are required to transition emerging market consumers to purchase products/services through effective marketing media platforms and through consumer brand equity whilst including price sensitivities into the media-mix. This study adds to the current literature by investigating which variables have the most significant influence in promoting and generating sales in emerging markets through the use of various advertising efforts. The primary focus was to establish an optimal marketing media schedule from which advertisers are able to choose a particular marketing media schedule to maximise their respective firms’ sales. This study investigated marketing media platforms, brand perceptions and price sensitivities. These included the influence of internet, television, radio, press and outdoor media platforms, price sensitivities and consumer brand equity in promoting sales within emerging markets. Data to support the relevant influences was gathered through secondary data from Nielsen Holdings N.V. (an American global information and measurement company) and the South African Research Audience Foundation (SAARF). Six washing detergent brands were selected for the study, where a complete data set could be sourced. The most influential variables in determining sales generation was consumer brand equity followed by price sensitivity. This allowed the derivation of a model extension from models identified in previous literature with the derived model including such influential variables by which brands could determine the most favourable marketing mix schedule and thereby allocate budgetary resources where necessary. / Dissertation (MBA) -- University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Design e Expressão Gráfica, Florianópolis, 2016 / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-20T04:17:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 339950.pdf: 10016970 bytes, checksum: 255397e64aa929a403db5d4f5c1ddff8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / As marcas cumprem, hoje, um importante papel no cotidiano de consumo das pessoas. Além dos aspectos gráficos, elas carregam consigo uma série de significados simbólicos, que impactam sensorialmente o usuário-consumidor. Ele, sendo parte dessa sociedade contemporânea, encontra nas marcas uma forma de escapismo de sua rotina, uma vez que elas proporcionam momentos únicos e memoráveis. Isso é tarefa do branding, responsável por gerir as marcas e que surgiu para atender essas novas expectativas do consumidor cujo comportamento está em constante mudança. Ultimamente, esse comportamento vem demonstrando uma exigência por novas experiências, sendo que apenas os aspectos formais, cromáticos e publicitários já não bastam para cativar o indivíduo. Em paralelo, as marcas também vem reconhecendo a relevância de se manifestar em algum ponto físico, um ambiente de vendas, no intuito de oferecer essas experiências de uma maneira mais completa e envolvente. Esse espaço deve expressar o DNA da marca em sua totalidade, desde a decoração e organização do espaço, até as experiências que ocasionam as sensações lembradas. Para isso existe o visual merchandising, responsável por traduzir a marca para o ambiente de vendas, através da organização das mercadorias, de estratégias e, também, gestão desse espaço. Na perspectiva do presente estudo, o branding é indicado como o mentor do DNA da marca, pois sua ligação com o design permite que as estratégias planejadas estejam de acordo com todas as esferas empresariais, transmitindo uma mensagem verdadeira em todos os pontos de contato com seus consumidores. Assim, para desenvolver experiências marcantes enquanto o visual merchandising é construído em um ambiente de vendas, busca-se traçar recomendações que guiem o trabalho. Como a área de visual merchandising ainda é considerada recente, mais reduzida ainda é a investigação da sua relação com o design e com as marcas, por isso a importância de se apresentar um relato científico focado na tríade branding, visual merchandising e experiência. Além disso, é de conhecimento que existem diversas maneiras de proporcionar experiências aos usuários, porém faz parte dessa investigação indicar a importância das marcas possuírem seu DNA muito claro e que esse possa se encontrar com o visual merchandising no ambiente de vendas. Para isso se realizou levantamento bibliográfico sobre estes assuntos, considerando os autores relevantes para a área, somado à investigação de trabalhos mais atuais, haja vista a abordagem contemporânea do assunto. Excetua-se para essa pesquisa ter um estudo de caso, abrindo lacuna para aplicações posteriores das recomendações geradas. Portanto, não se espera ocasionar esgotamento de investigação, e sim, ser mais um canal de questionamentos futuros que mantenham o cerne da pesquisa no design. Como resultado principal, traz-se a elaboração de um quadro onde estão elencadas as recomendações objetivo principal desse trabalho. Sua ordem e estrutura visa auxiliar em processos de design onde o DNA de marca seja utilizado para a construção do visual merchandising embasado nas experiências proporcionadas aos seus usuários-consumidores. Assim como a abordagem dos temas, o quadro não se posiciona como resultado definitivo e absoluto, oferecendo margem para sua ampliação ou redução de acordo com a marca ou projeto onde for aplicado. <br> / Abstract : Brands meet today an important role in the consumption of daily life. In addition to the graphical aspects, they carry with them a series of symbolic meanings, impacting the senses of the user-consumer. He, being part of this contemporary society, finds in brands a form of escapism from their routine, as they provide unique and memorable moments. This is a task for branding, responsible for managing the brands and that appeared to meet these new consumer expectations whose behavior is constantly changing. Lately, this behavior has demonstrated a requirement for new experiences, where only the formal, chromatic and advertising aspects are not enough to captivate the individual. In parallel, brands are recognizing also the importance of manifesting in some physical point, a sales environment, in order to offer these experiences to a more complete and engaging way. This space should express the DNA of the brand in its entirety, from the decor and organization of space, to the experiences that cause the remembered sensations. For this there is the visual merchandising, responsible for translating the brand to the sales environment, through the organization of goods, strategies and also managing this space. From the perspective of this study, branding is indicated as DNA mentor of the brand, because its connection with design allows the planned strategies are in line with all business spheres, conveying a true message to all contact points with their consumers. Thus, to develop remarkable experiences while the visual merchandising is built in a sales environment, it is sought to set guidelines that guide the work. As the area of visual merchandising is still considered new, smaller is the investigation about your relation with design and brands, so the importance of presenting a scientific report focused on branding triad branding, visual merchandising and experience. Moreover, it is known that there are several ways to provide user experiences, but it is part of this research indicates the importance of brands having your brand DNA very clear and that it can meet the visual merchandising in the point of sale. For this, was held a bibliographic survey on these subjects, considering the relevant authors to the area, plus the latest research work, given the contemporary approach to the subject. It is not part of this research having a case study, opening a gap for subsequent applications of the generated guidelines. So, it is not expected cause exhaustion of research, but rather, be an extra channel of futures inquiries that keep the core in the design. As a main result, it is brought the development of a framework on which are listed the recommendations - the main objective of this research. Its order and structure aims to assist the design processes where the brand DNA will be used for the construction of the visual merchandising grounded in the experiences offered to their users-consumers. As well as the addressing of the subjects, the framework is not positioned as a definitive and absolute result, offering scope for its expansion or reduction according to the brand or project where applied.

The purpose of this research was to explore if there is a role that consumer brands play in shaping the attractiveness of an employer brand. This qualitative study was conducted using the exploratory approach, because the prior insights of the proposed relationship were modest and inconclusive. The population constituted of all registered Masters of Business Administration students at the Gordon Institute of Business Science. The sampling frame constituted second year (2013/14) and full time (2014/15) students. The reason for this choice was that these individuals are knowledgeable on brand concepts, are mostly likely thinking about employment prospects, and have had the opportunity to evaluate employer attractiveness. A sample size of 15 was drawn; this number was chosen based on the likelihood that data saturation would be reached at that point because of the homogeneous nature of the population. The outcome of this study revealed that consumer brands play a role in shaping employer brand attractiveness, with the main role being that consumer brands project employer brands. Potential employers utilise brands’ dimensions such as quality, innovativeness, longevity and public perception, amongst others, as an indication of employer brand attractiveness. Also uncovered by the study was that the extent of consumer brand influence on an employer brand varies with profession, industry and maturity. Moreover, consumers play a role in attracting potential employees towards investigating employment prospects in a certain organisation, but contribute very little to retaining employees if employment expectations are not met. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016 / Many organisations consider their brands strategic assets and want to manage them accordingly. The adoption of a corporate brand strategy is one way in which organisations show their commitment to being a brand-focused business. Organisations do however often find it difficult to translate the theory on corporate branding into practice. There are a number of reasons for this; in essence, brands are not always created equally due to the fact that organisations often inherit brands through mergers and acquisitions, each bringing with them a different degree of equity and strength to the brand portfolio. Aligning and strategically managing the brands in the portfolio is the end goal, but before that can happen, a good understanding of what each brand contributes to the brand portfolio and how best each brand can be leveraged to ultimately support the growth of the corporate brand is required. This is followed by identifying who is responsible for managing the changes in the portfolio and communicating them to the stakeholders. The research explored the above process and entailed conducting a literature review on the evaluation and analysis of corporate branding and corporate brand management and the basis on which brand decisions are made and the scope of their influence. This was followed up by in-depth interviews with ten purposefully selected, information-rich participants within Tsogo Sun, a pre-selected organisation that comprises a multi-brand portfolio, with the aim of gaining information on their understanding of corporate branding and corporate brand management in practice. iii Following the interrogation of the data, it was confirmed that corporate branding in practice cannot always follow the strict approaches proposed by the theory, resulting in a gap between the literature and the practical solution required in order to be suitable for organisational implementation. The result of the research proposes a framework that aims to address this gap with the intent that the application thereof would make decision-making pertaining to branding easier and keep branding on a strategic level within an organisation. / DM2016

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

ABSTRACT “Almost all places are in trouble, but some are in more trouble than others" Kotler, Haider & Rein (1993) Kotler, Haider & Rein (1993) contend that all places are in trouble now, or will be in the near future. The onset of globalisation of the world's economy, country political dynamics and the accelerating pace of technological changes are some of the forces that require all places to learn how to compete on the world arena. Porter (1990) states that the framework for understanding a company’s sources of competitive advantage can be extended to the level of nations. It is basically concerned with the question as to why some nations succeed in global competition when others fail. Nations must learn how to think more like businesses if they are to survive and should begin by identifying their competitive advantages and building on them. As countries compete for inward investment, tourism and export of goods and services- success or failure can accurately be chartered, and questions of reputation, image, identity and hence marketing and branding become central to the competitive edge (Olins, 1999). Faced with the challenge of a negative image, a country must adopt a proactive stance to correct this image. This is where the question of country branding comes in. Branding a country for many is misconstrued and interpreted to simply mean designing a new logo for their country and possibly a slogan to go underneath it. However country-banding proponents highlight that there is a difference between nation branding and tourism promotion. It helps even less that there are so many communications agencies that perhaps frustrated by lack of pure strategy capacity to sell to governments, have fallen into the habit of i Sibonokuhle GUMPO - 34462481 pandering to this misconception and simply selling logos and slogans to any government prepared to buy them (Anholt, 2003). However faced with the urgent need to address the crippling impact of a negative image, countries like Zimbabwe cannot simply wait and expect things to turn out for the better. Kotler et al (1993) stress that places are not able to respond to negative images concerning their nations as quickly as negative perceptions are built, be it through media, word of mouth or other channels. As a result the importance of a pro-active response cannot be overemphasized. This study explores the current negative image of Zimbabwe and tries to define the root or source of this negative image. Having defined or spelt out what is thought to be the problem, the researcher than explores possible ways of how the stakeholders of Zimbabwe can rebrand their country reflecting on known success stories. Kotler et al (1993) contend that the central tenet of marketing places is that in spite of the powerful internal and external forces that buffet them, places have within their collective resources and people the capacity to improve their relative competitive positions. Zimbabweans in general believe that their situation has been sensationalised by the media and is not a reflection of what is on the ground. By adopting a proactive stance in rebranding their country, Zimbabweans will perhaps finally realise that when it comes to image, “being in possession of the truth is not enough, the truth has to be sold” (Anholt,all places are in trouble now, or will be in the near future. The onset of globalisation of the world's economy, country political dynamics and the accelerating pace of technological changes are some of the forces that require all places to learn how to compete on the world arena. Porter (1990) states that the framework for understanding a company’s sources of competitive advantage can be extended to the level of nations. It is basically concerned with the question as to why some nations succeed in global competition when others fail. Nations must learn how to think more like businesses if they are to survive and should begin by identifying their competitive advantages and building on them. As countries compete for inward investment, tourism and export of goods and services- success or failure can accurately be chartered, and questions of reputation, image, identity and hence marketing and branding become central to the competitive edge (Olins, 1999). Faced with the challenge of a negative image, a country must adopt a proactive stance to correct this image. This is where the question of country branding comes in. Branding a country for many is misconstrued and interpreted to simply mean designing a new logo for their country and possibly a slogan to go underneath it. However country-banding proponents highlight that there is a difference between nation branding and tourism promotion. It helps even less that there are so many communications agencies ABSTRACT “Almost all places are in trouble, but some are in more trouble than others" Kotler, Haider & Rein (1993) Kotler, Haider & Rein (1993) contend that all places are in trouble now, or will be in the near future. The onset of globalisation of the world's economy, country political dynamics and the accelerating pace of technological changes are some of the forces that require all places to learn how to compete on the world arena. Porter (1990) states that the framework for understanding a company’s sources of competitive advantage can be extended to the level of nations. It is basically concerned with the question as to why some nations succeed in global competition when others fail. Nations must learn how to think more like businesses if they are to survive and should begin by identifying their competitive advantages and building on them. As countries compete for inward investment, tourism and export of goods and services- success or failure can accurately be chartered, and questions of reputation, image, identity and hence marketing and branding become central to the competitive edge (Olins, 1999). Faced with the challenge of a negative image, a country must adopt a proactive stance to correct this image. This is where the question of country branding comes in. Branding a country for many is misconstrued and interpreted to simply mean designing a new logo for their country and possibly a slogan to go underneath it. However country-banding proponents highlight that there is a difference between nation branding and tourism promotion. It helps even less that there are so many communications agencies that perhaps frustrated by lack of pure strategy capacity to sell to governments, have fallen into the habit of i Sibonokuhle GUMPO - 34462481 pandering to this misconception and simply selling logos and slogans to any government prepared to buy them (Anholt, 2003). However faced with the urgent need to address the crippling impact of a negative image, countries like Zimbabwe cannot simply wait and expect things to turn out for the better. Kotler et al (1993) stress that places are not able to respond to negative images concerning their nations as quickly as negative perceptions are built, be it through media, word of mouth or other channels. As a result the importance of a pro-active response cannot be overemphasized. This study explores the current negative image of Zimbabwe and tries to define the root or source of this negative image. Having defined or spelt out what is thought to be the problem, the researcher than explores possible ways of how the stakeholders of Zimbabwe can rebrand their country reflecting on known success stories. Kotler et al (1993) contend that the central tenet of marketing places is that in spite of the powerful internal and external forces that buffet them, places have within their collective resources and people the capacity to improve their relative competitive positions. Zimbabweans in general believe that their situation has been sensationalised by the media and is not a reflection of what is on the ground. By adopting a proactive stance in rebranding their country, Zimbabweans will perhaps finally realise that when it comes to image, “being in possession of the truth is not enough, the truth has to be sold” (Anholt, / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This thesis aims to assess what perceptions a sample population of Dutch students in Amsterdam have of South Africa from a broad range of social, political and cultural indicators. Until now, research into the existent perceptions regarding South Africa in the international community has been limited, which has implications for the formulation of its branding strategies and the possibility of their successful implementation at a crucial stage in the development of the country’s international reputation. Based on a theoretical framework which assumes the potential of nation branding for developing states, this thesis aims to provide an assessment of several historical and contemporary challenges faced by Brand South Africa, the most salient of which are linked to the fundamental need for consistency in the promotion of the nation’s identity. This analysis introduces the empirical research upon which the study is based and thereby explains the ambiguous nature of South Africa’s post-Apartheid brand identity.

Thesis (MComm (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marketing literature has revealed that sponsorship is a key marketing communication tool used to break through promotional clutter. Sponsorship is a means by which marketing managers are able to transfer knowledge about organisational offerings to consumers and communicate how organisations are able to satisfy consumers‟ needs. Satisfying consumers‟ needs is a key philosophy of marketing, thus, it is an important objective for marketing managers to transfer knowledge to consumers about their need-satisfying capabilities. Research has shown that knowledge is transferred to consumers by first creating awareness of brands, then building consumers‟ knowledge of brands, and finally establishing and enhancing consumers‟ perceptions of brand image. According to marketing literature, the process of building brand awareness, brand knowledge and brand image ultimately contributes toward the enhancement of brand equity. Previous research has shown that establishing brand awareness is an initial and crucial objective of sponsorship endeavours. Little research, however, has been done on the importance of brand image objectives and strategies in sponsorship. Researchers agree that brand image can be transferred between a sponsor brand and sponsored event, thereby enhancing the brand image of the respective parties. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess brand image transfer in sponsorship. The research problem considered the question whether the brand image of sponsor brands is transferred to the brand image of sponsored events, and whether the brand image of sponsored events is transferred to the brand image of sponsor brands. Fictitious brands were designed to assess the transfer of brand image, namely FruityBliss (sponsor brand) and the ProFriz Frisbee Challenge (sponsored event). Four brand image attributes were selected to assess the brand image of the sponsor brand and the brand image of the sponsored event. These included physical product and price (sponsor brand) and status and size (sponsored event). The four brand image attributes were manipulated in sixteen experiments and the brand image scores of the sponsor brand and sponsored event were subsequently measured. Results of the study showed that brand image scores of the sponsor brand were significantly higher than the brand image scores of the sponsored event. It was therefore concluded that brand image transfer does occur from a sponsor brand to a sponsored event and vice versa. Furthermore, product and price appeared to have a greater influence on the brand image scores of the sponsor brand and the sponsored event, than did status and size of the sponsored event. It was thus concluded that although brand image transfer does occur from a sponsor brand to a sponsored event and vice versa, the sponsor brand is influenced more by the sponsorship than the sponsored event. In other words, a stronger brand image transfer takes place from a sponsored event to a sponsor brand than from a sponsor brand to a sponsored event. From the research results, a number of recommendations were made. It was emphasised that organisations should make use of sponsorship as a means to break through promotional clutter. Sponsorship is an effective technique in enhancing brand images, and ultimately enhancing the brand equity of organisations. Organisations should therefore take careful consideration in developing sponsorship strategies; sponsor products should be affiliated with sponsored events and vice versa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Bemarkingsliteratuur toon dat borgskap ‟n belangrike bemarkingskommunikasie-instrument is om te midde van ‟n warboel produkreklame ‟n impak te hê op die uitbou van handelsmerkbeeld. Borgskap is ‟n kommunikasiemetode waardeur bemarkingsbestuurders inligting oor bemarkingsaanbiedinge aan verbruikers oordra, oftewel aan verbruikers verduidelik hoe organisasies in hul behoeftes kan voorsien. Bevrediging van verbruikers se behoeftes is 'n belangrike filosofie van bemarking, dus, is dit 'n belangrike doelstelling vir bemarkingsbestuurders om kennis oor te dra aan verbruikers oor hulle behoefte-bevredigende vermoëns. Navorsing toon dat inligting eerstens aan verbruikers oorgedra word deur hulle bewus te maak van ‟n handelsmerk; daarná hul kennis van die handelsmerk op te bou, en uiteindelik hul opvattings van die beeld van daardie handelsmerk vas te lê en te verbeter. Volgens bemarkingsliteratuur dra die opbouproses van handelsmerkbewustheid, handelsmerkkennis en ‟n handelsmerkbeeld uiteindelik by tot die versterking van merkekwiteit. Vorige navorsing dui aan dat die vestiging van handelsmerkbewustheid ‟n aanvanklike en noodsaaklike doelwit van borgskap is. Tog is daar nog weinig navorsing gedoen oor die belang van handelsmerkbeelddoelwitte en –strategieë in borgskap. Navorsers is in eenstemming dat handelsmerkbeeld tussen ‟n borg en ‟n geleentheid oorgedra kan word, om só die handelsmerkbeeld van die onderskeie partye te versterk. Hierdie studie het ten doel gehad om sodanige handelsmerkbeeld-oordrag gedurende borgskap te beoordeel. Die navorsingsprobleem het besin oor die vraag of die handelsmerkbeeld van borghandelsmerke na die handelsmerkbeeld van geborgde geleenthede oorgedra word, asook of die handelsmerkbeeld van geborgde geleenthede na die handelsmerkbeeld van die borghandelsmerke oorgedra word. Fiktiewe handelsmerke, naamlik Fruitybliss (die borghandelsmerk) en die ProFriz Frisbee Challenge (die geborgde geleentheid), is ontwerp om handelsmerkbeeld-oordrag te bestudeer. Vier handelsmerkbeeld-eienskappe, naamlik fisiese produk en prys (borghandelsmerk) en status en grootte (geborgde geleentheid), is gekies om die handelsmerkbeeld van die borg en dié van die geleentheid te beoordeel. Die vier eienskappe is in sestien eksperimente gemanipuleer, waarna die handelsmerkbeeldtellings van die borghandelsmerk sowel as die geborgde geleentheid gemeet is. Die studieresultate toon dat die borghandelsmerk beduidend hoër handelsmerkbeeldtellings as die geborgde geleentheid behaal het. Daar was afgelei dat handelsmerkbeeld wél van ‟n borghandelsmerk na ‟n geborgde geleentheid oorgedra word, én omgekeerd. Voorts het produk en prys van die borghandelsmerk oënskynlik ‟n groter invloed op die handelsmerkbeeldtellings van die borghandelsmerk en die geborgde geleentheid gehad as die status en grootte van die geborgde geleentheid. Daaruit word afgelei dat, hoewel borgskap ‟n tweerigting-oordrag tussen borghandelsmerk en geborgde geleentheid impliseer, die borgskap tog ‟n groter invloed op die borghandelsmerk het as op die geborgde geleentheid. Handelsmerkbeeld-oordrag blyk dus om sterker te wees vanaf ‟n geborgde geleentheid na ‟n borghandelsmerk, as van ‟n borghandelsmerk na ‟n geborgde geleentheid. ‟n Aantal aanbevelings kan op grond van die studie gedoen word. Onder meer word beklemtoon dat organisasies borgskap moet aanwend om te midde van ‟n warboel produkreklame ‟n impak te hê op die uitbou van handelsmerkbeeld, om sodoende uiteindelik merkekwiteit te verbeter. Daarbenewens word voorgestel dat borgskap gebruik word om die handelsmerkbeeld van organisasies te bou en te versterk. Organisasies moet dus noukeurig oorweeg tydens die ontwikkeling van borgskap strategieë; borg produkte moet geaffilieer word met geborgde geleenthede én omgekeerd.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In service industries, the people are the brand and the brand is the people (Taylor, 2003:136). People are one of the dimensions that differentiate a brand (the others are product, price, place, promotion, process, physical evidence). The realisation of the brand promise depends on how the staff will live the brand in their daily activities. If staff treats customers badly, the effect on the image of the company is negative and the brand promise made to customers is not fulfilled. There are unfortunately many misguided companies that expect that a new name, fancy logo and flashy advertising campaign by themselves are enough to attract customers (Taylor, 2003:3). Culture: Several studies (De Geus, 1997; Fitz-Enz in Barret, 1998) examined the key factors contributing to corporate longevity and identified six characteristics of long-lasting, successful companies. These companies focus on more than just financial results and the identified characteristics show a strong focus on building a positive organisational culture. There are many models of organisational culture. Santam used the model developed by Richard Barret (1998), which links human needs and personal motivations with human consciousness. He consequently identified seven levels of organisational consciousness based on the view that organisations grow and develop in the same way that individuals do, according to seven well-defined developmental stages. Organisations that learn how to master all seven needs operate from a full spectrum consciousness (Barret, 2006:26). Barret (2006:26), showed that these are the most resilient and profitable corporations because they have the ability to respond appropriately to all business needs. Culture is the DNA of the company and can be seen as the driving force for all actions, decisions and belief systems of the organisation, whether at a conscious or unconscious level. Moser (2003:11) notes that, before a company can project a unique, external brand, you must first understand the company’s internal character. This internal identity, defined by values that the company considers integral to its existence, is the source from which all other aspects of the brand will, ideally, flow. Brand: According to Roberts (2005:27), on an average day, a person can expect to have been in touch with around 1 500 trademarked products. In some supermarkets there are up to 35 000 trademarked products. Because the consumer is bombarded by so many products and services, all the marketing and advertising strategies in the world mean nothing unless the consumer defines the product as a brand. Moser (2003:2) distinguishes between the internal and external parts of the organisation. The internal part of the company has to do with the company itself: how well it knows itself, what its values are, how consistently it acts in accordance with its values and what it really believes about the quality of its products and services. The external part of a company’s identity is how well it connects and relates to others. The better it knows itself and what it stands for, the better it connects with everyone who comes in contact with the brand – investors, suppliers, employees, prospects and even competitors. According to Campbell (2003:34), brand positioning is the key to success. Understanding the brand’s “positioning” statement (the blueprint of what it is, what it represents and where it is going) helps designers to interpret the brand’s personality. Positioning helps a company to define who and what it is and what it does. It explains where a company fits into the marketplace, what it has to offer that is unique and why people should care. Santam: In 2005, Santam developed its current strategy, also called the 2010 strategy. The mission and vision were condensed into a purpose statement: To be the best in everything we choose to do. The purpose statement is supported by six strategic thrusts. As part of the 2010 strategy, Santam has gone through a process of repositioning the Santam brand to become a leadership brand. Santam will remain a monolithic brand, with all aspects of the business branded “Santam”. The market in Santam can be divided into personal insurance and commercial insurance. The personal insurance market is segmented, using income and life stage as criteria. This segment can be divided into two sub-segments:  Clients who are active in the insurance market; and  Clients who are entering the insurance market. The commercial insurance market is segmented according to the size of the business (based on the number of employees) and the life stage of the business. To become a leading brand, Santam has to offer something customers want and which competitors do not offer – a unique product in the insurance market. Santam wants to challenge the industry by offering value, providing reassurance and making it easy for customers to do business with them. However, they do not want to lose direct customers (customers not dealing with a broker) and weaken their relationship with brokers Santam’s brand promise includes a proactive approach per segment. The benefit it promises to the client is that Santam will make life safer (risk management), resulting in life being nicer (rewards and other benefits through partnering with stakeholders in the value chain). Santam made use of an extensive process to identify and develop values that will support the brand positioning. Several workshops were held around the company, involving as many employees as possible. The outcome of the workshops and the new brand positioning was announced at a company-wide event, to which all Santam employees were flown from all over South Africa. The values were populated against three philosophies and were communicated at the event. The three philosophies and seven values communicated were the following:  Inspire: Passion and committed  Embrace: Care, integrity and diversity  Think Big: Inventive and excellence. The purpose of the event was to make a bold statement through showing employees that Santam cares and simultaneously communicating the new Santam brand positioning to them. After the event, the culture was measured by populating the values into Barret’s (1998:67) cultural model. The objective of the culture measurement was twofold:  To determine the gap between the current culture and the future culture that will enable the company to achieve the strategy; and  To determine how entrenched the values that were identified are. The culture survey showed the gap between what staff value personally, the current culture and the desired future values. After the measurement, the survey results were work-shopped with all business units to validate the results and to determine when to start, stop and continue actions. All these actions resulted in a values and behaviour framework (appendix 1) that can be used in a culture-transformation framework. The purpose of the framework is to develop the culture that supports the brand.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Competition in food retailing has become a noticeable cosmopolitan phenomenon. Competitiveness filters down from retailers and their private-label brands to the suppliers and their manufacturer brands. Furthermore, the proliferation of food retailing has evolved into a double-edged sword for suppliers and manufacturers of both private-label and manufacturer/supplier-branded goods. Therefore, these suppliers, in comparison to those that solely manufacture national-brand goods, has to continuously maintain a favourable status quo on shelf with regard to brand performance, product quality and price of both retailer and supplier brands. Moreover, in store and on shelf, consumers of these brands are overloaded with choices between different packaging, prices and product statements. All relevant and eye catching, but do the supplier brands get the worst of the bargain? The objective of this study was to perform a qualitatively analysis on the supplier value of being a supplier of both privatelabel and manufacturer brands to the food-retail industry. The empirical study encompassed one-an-one and electronic interviews with key participants from specific food retailers to obtain answers validly, objectively and economically. The researcher employed a qualitative research approach together with a non-probability sampling strategy to explore the retail environment and interview participants. The three retailers that participated in the qualitative study were SPAR and Shoprite from South Africa and Morrisons from the United Kingdom. Interviews were scheduled with each participant that was available to participate and actively contribute to the outcome of this study. Interviews were conducted with a pre-set list of open-ended questions that was prepared in a discussion guide. Content analysis was then done on the interview feedback and this was used to formulate major findings and provide justification for the research objectives and propositions of this study. From the major findings in this study five themes were identified: growth, challenges, competitive environment, brand differentiation and supplier-retailer relationship. Findings indicated that retailers - regardless of their global location, consumer base and competitive environment - were mostly focused on growing their company and their respective private-label brand. Depending on the volatility of the supplier-retailer relationship, this growth focus could even come at the expense of a manufacturer's brand. The study also revealed that retailers are faced with a number of different challenges, which include deciding whether a product is fit to be sold under their private-label brand and if a supplier's strategy supports their own company strategy. The challenges encompass dependability of supply, quality of product and delivery reliability. Additionally, prime area for retailing is becoming more condensed in South Africa and as a result competition between the four major South African retailers is more vibrant. The study has noted that major retailers are also seeking expansion into emerging markets outside the metropolitan areas in South Africa, which will increase demand and create new customer expectations. Competitiveness and a point of difference would then be underpinned by innovation , creating a favourable shopping experience and service delivery, but with no compromise on quality and price. When considering brand differentiation, the study revealed that retailers were using this differentiation to increase private-label market share among the national brands whereas suppliers use it to create aspirational brands that attract and sustain consumer loyalty. It was concluded from this study that the growing availability and presence of private-label products in all categories on retailer shelves will become a serious threat for growing national brands that have not yet established themselves as market leaders. This threat will be further enhanced by the fact that retailers are using real estate and shelf space as leverage to negotiate. Regarding supplier-retailer relationship, this study showed that a retailer's focus will always be biased with the balance of power tilting in favour of the retailer, speCifically where a supplier is considered to be a supplier of both private-label and manufacturer brands. Although the latter is an industry norm, the power balance is complicated by the fact that no contract exists between supplier and retailer. As a result, a show of goodwill and a hand shake will seldom have the one-sided situation swing in favour of a supplier. Nonetheless, retailers' feedback indicated that they would rather develop relationships with suppliers that either have brands with smaller market share or only manufacture private-label products. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mededinging in die voedselkleinhandel het 'n merkbare kosmopolitaanse verskynsel geword. Mededingendheid syfer van kleinhandelaars en hul private handelsmerke na verskaffers en hul vervaardigershandelsmerke deur. Voorts het uitbreiding in die voedselkleinhandel in 'n tweesnydende swaard vir verskaffers en vervaardigers van goedere vir sowel private as vervaardigersIverskaffershandelsmerke ontwikkel. Daarom moet hierdie verskaffers, vergeleke met diegene wat slegs goedere vir nasionale handelsmerke vervaardig, voortdurend 'n gunstige status quo op die rak handhaaf ten opsigte van die handelsmerkprestasie, produkgehalte en prys van sowel private as verskaffershandelsmerke. Origens word verbruikers van hierdie handelsmerke, in die winkel en op die rak, oorlaai met keuses tussen verskillende verpakking, pryse en produkverklarings. Dit is alles tersaaklik en treffend, maar trek die verskaffershandelsmerke aan die kortste end? Die oogmerk van hierdie studie was om 'n kwalitatiewe ontleding te doen van die waarde vir die verskaffer om 'n verskaffer van sowel private as vervaardigershandelsmerke vir die voedselkleinhandel te wees. Die empiriese studie het persoonlike en elektroniese onderhoude met sleuteldeelnemers van spesifieke voedselkleinhandelaars behels om op geldige, objektiewe en ekonomiese wyse antwoorde te bekom. Die navorser het 'n kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering gevolg tesame met 'n niewaarskynlikheidsteekproefnemingstrategie om die kleinhandelomgewing te verken en onderhoude met deelnemers te voer. Die drie kleinhandelaars wat aan die kwalitatiewe studie deelgeneem het, was SPAR en Shoprite van Suid-Afrika en Morrisons van die Verenigde Koninkryk. Onderhoude is geskeduleer met elke deelnemer wat vir deelname beskikbaar was en aktief tot die uitkoms van die studie wou bydra. Onderhoude is gevoer met 'n voorafbepaalde lys oop vrae wat in 'n besprekingsgids saamgevat is. Inhoudsontleding is daarna gedoen ten opsigte van die terugvoering wat tydens die onderhoude ontvang is. Dit is gebruik om hoofbevindinge te formuleer en motivering vir die navorsingsoogmerke en stellings van die studie te bied. Op grond van die hoofbevindinge van die studie is vyf temas geïdentifiseer: groei, uitdagings, mededingende omgewing, handelsmerkdifferensiasie en verhouding tussen verskaffer en kleinhandelaar. Die bevindinge het getoon dat kleinhandelaars - ongeag waar hulle hul in die wêreld bevind, hul verbruikersbasis en mededingende omgewing - meestal op hul maatskappy en hul private handelsmerk se groei toegespits is. Na gelang van die wisselvalligheid van die verhouding tussen verskaffer en kleinhandelaar kan hierdie fokus op groei selfs ten koste van 'n vervaardigershandelsmerk plaasvind. Die studie het ook getoon dat kleinhandelaars voor verskeie uitdagings te staan kom, waaronder die besluit of 'n produk geskik is om onder hul private handelsmerk verkoop te word en of 'n verskaffer se strategie hul eie maatskappystrategie ondersteun. Die uitdagings sluit ook betroubaarheid ten opsigte van voorraad, produkgehalte en lewering in. Daarby word die eersteklasgebied vir klein handel in Suid-Afrika toenemend digter en as gevolg daarvan is mededinging tussen die vier vernaamste Suid-Afrikaanse kleinhandelaars lewendiger. Die studie het bevind dat vername kleinhandelaars ook na ontluikende markte buite die metropolitaanse gebiede in Suid-Afrika wil uitbrei, wat die vraag sal vergroot en nuwe verbruikersverwagtinge sal skep. Mededingendheid en 'n verskilpunt sal dan deur innovering, die skepping van 'n aangename inkopie-ervaring en dienslewering - sonder benadeling van gehalte en prys - ondersteun word. Ten opsigte van handelsmerkdifferensiasie het die studie getoon dat kleinhandelaars hierdie differensiasie gebruik om die markaandeel van private handelsmerke onder nasionale handelsmerke te verhoog, terwyl verskaffers dit gebruik om aspirasie-handelsmerke te skep wat verbruikerslojaliteit lok en behou. Daar is van die studie afgelei dat die toenemende beskikbaarheid en teenwoordigheid van produkte onder private handelsmerke in alle kategorieë op kleinhandelaars se rakke 'n ernstige bedreiging sal word vir groeiende nasionale handelsmerke wat hulle nog nie as markleiers gevestig het nie. Hierdie bedreiging sal versterk word deur die feit dat kleinhandelaars eiendom en rakruimte vir mag in onderhandeling sal gebruik. Ten opsigte van die verhouding tussen verskaffer en kleinhandelaar het hierdie studie getoon dat 'n kleinhandelaar se fokus altyd partydig sal wees, met die magsbalans ten gunste van die kleinhandelaar, veral indien 'n verskaffer as verskaffer van sowel private as vervaardigershandelsmerke beskou word. Alhoewel laasgenoemde 'n bedryfsnorm is, word die magsbalans bemoeilik deur die feit dat daar geen kontrak tussen die verskaffer en die kleinhandelaar bestaan nie. As gevolg daarvan sal 'n welwillendheidsgebaar en 'n handdruk selde daartoe lei dat die eensydige situasie ten gunste van die verskaffer sal draai. Kleinhandelaars se terugvoering het nietemin aangedui dat hulle eerder verhoudings met verskaffers sal ontwikkel wat of handelsmerke met 'n kleiner markaandeel het of produkte vir private handelsmerke vervaardig .