The main aim of thesis is to design a viable branding strategy for a company. The theoretical part consists of interpretation of branding and strategic brand management. The analytical part examines brand building strategy and position of the company in the market as well as its competitors and potential clients. Based on analysis, a branding strategy proposal is suggested in order to create a competitive and successful brand of the company.

This thesis studies how NATO has changed the way it brands itself to Russia, from a cooperative and humanitarian stance in 2002 toward a critical and confrontational posture between 2006 and 2008. The study is based on a discourse analysis of NATO’s publications. In the political climate following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO’s NRC established a cooperative relationship with the new Russian Federation, which included offers of humanitarian aid in food and medical care. This study shows that under the NRC, from 2002 to 2006, NATO’s image toward Russia continued to be one of “Strategic Partner.” Between 2006 and 2008, the image NATO portrayed toward Russia reverted to confrontational. The analysis of NATO’s change can be understood by considering the definition of brand image: a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all information and expectations associated with a product or service.

The purpose of this study is to gain an insight into Chinese brands and branding strategies, with a particular focus on the manufacturing sector. This study will explore the value of existing brand management theory as related to Chinese brand building. In order to gain answers to the research questions, analyses of the secondary data and in-depth interviews with top Chinese banding consultants are conducted. The data is then analyzed using constant comparative and coding methods. This study comprehensively analyzes all the possible factors which directly or indirectly influence Chinese brand building. The research findings show that Chinese companeis, especially manufacturing companies, lack a clear brandoriented culture and sustainable investment in branding. Chinese companies’ brand builing lacks a systematic theoretical system, as well as lack professional brand knowledge, experience and skills-set. Moreover, external factors in terms of industry structure, government policy/regulations, and the market environement also have further specific impacts on Chinese companies’ brand building. This research highlights that currently the most important aims for Chinese companies are to remove their production-orientated mind-set, and to change the poor image of ‘Made in China’ in terms of poor quality, weak R&D and a poor level of marketing skills. In addition to such self-discipline, the government should strengthen relevant legislation in order to promote a better brand-building environment and to encourage independent innovation. Furthermore, this research suggests that Chinese companies should not be too hasty to enter foreign markets unless they are fully prepared. The domestic market provides a good opportunity for Chinese companies to learn to grow gradually by developing their ability to build brands. This study generates a better understanding of the current situation of Chinese brands and branding, which could result in positive improvements for those Chinese companies and policy makers, in that they will be able to undertake more effective action and employ greater sophistication in future brand creation. The research findings have also complemented the previous literature, and lay the foundation for future research focusing on Chinese band building. Meanwhile, the research findings support existing theories of brand management. This study addresses the importance of the application of brand management theory in Chinese branding practices. The existing brand management theories provide a comprehensive systematic guideline for Chinese companies, and they are fundamental to Chinese companies’ brand building.

There are a lot of different business strategies for any company. However, in the fashion industry, the best way to become successful is to develop the brand using special branding strategies. Hence, a brand is the main weapon for fashion companies, which helps to launch international market and to create loyal customers around the world. Nowadays, due to the difficult current political situations and the collapse of oil and the dollar a lot of companies in different industries have to change their business strategies. It is especially true for fashion companies, because they depend on consumers ' income and their purchasing power. In the case of the fashion industry, branding strategy development can be more effective, than just business strategy. Hence, this thesis discusses the following problem: What branding strategy should Russian and Swedish fashion companies choose in order to build a strong brand and enter the international market.  The purpose of this thesis is to analyze various branding strategies of Russian and Swedish fashion companies during the process of entering foreign markets. At the end of this thesis, practical contribution in their process of international branding strategy creation will be discussed. In order to answer research questions more broadly and accurately, the mixed research method, using quantitive and qualitative study through interviews and survey was chosen. Semi-structured interviews were made with the CEO and brand managers of Russian and Swedish fashion companies. Moreover, the survey was made with two different questionnaires: for Russian and for Swedish customers. In the case of qualitative research, the author found that fashion companies from Russia and Sweden have got not just some features and differences, but also common aspects. The primary data from interviews allowed the author to understand the specifics of brand management in the fashion industry. It was found, that there are some useful aspects in Swedish strategies, which can be used by Russian companies to develop their brands on the international market. In the case of quantitative research, preferences of consumers from Russia and Sweden were analyzed and also some features were identified. Survey results provided the author with a common understanding about purchase habits, attitudes and perceptions to fashion brands. According to these, some hypothesizes, which are formulated in the first part of the thesis, have been proven or disproven. It was found, that preferences of Russian and Swedish people are pretty the same, however Russian customers do not like to risk with new brands and prefer well-known and trusted brands while Swedish customers are open for any brand, which can satisfy their tastes.

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

Background - What a company wants to communicate is today more correlated to their core values and within storytelling it is no exception. Storytelling is the art of using a story in focus in televised commercials and the products are used in the peripheral. Storytelling in televised commercials can create positive association and experience towards the brand and therefore increase the value. A pre-study was done to find suitable brands to continue the study with. The selected brands were Volvo Cars, IKEA and H&M since they were seen to be using storytelling and were high-valued brands in the Swedish product-oriented segment. Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to examine brand identity through storytelling. This is exemplified by Swedish product-oriented companies. More specific, to investigate the coherence with consumers’ brand image and existing gaps. The companies that will be covered in this study are Volvo Cars and IKEA, whereas H&M did not meet the requirements for further analysis in this thesis. Method - To conduct this study, a qualitative research method was adapted. The research was done with a philosophical mindset of interpretivism with an inductive research approach. The data for the empirical chapter was collected by a qualitative multi-method where the first set of primary data came from a content analysis of commercials. The second set of data came from semi-structured interviews. The sampled respondents were chosen to match the companies’ target segments. It was handled as a multiple case-study where each company was their own case. The data was later analyzed through the Brand Identity Prism and its six facets for both the companies’ brand identity and consumers brand image. Results and Conclusion - The results in this thesis showed that the brand identity of the analyzed companies using storytelling were overall coherent with the brand image consumers had of them. Some gaps occurred for the brands, however not within the same facets of the Brand Identity Prism. Due to this no general conclusion could be drawn specifically for Swedish product-oriented companies. Overall, the researchers concluded that the use of storytelling could both develop and reduce gaps, depending on how it is done. Developing storytelling based on a clear brand persona and the core values of the specific brand would help companies to reduce gaps. Practical Implications - This thesis is providing useful information to managers and business leaders by showing how they can compare and analyze the coherence of brand identity and brand image when using storytelling as a branding strategy. Furthermore, the researchers give insights for how to manage and reduce gaps between brand identity and brand image.

Syfte Syftet med detta arbete är att beskriva och analysera hur Company TEN bygger och kommunicerar sitt varumärke och hur de uppfattas av andra företag. Avsikten är att även beskriva och analysera hur företagets nätverksrelationer används och bidrar till varumärkesmarknadsföringen. Med detta syfte utvecklades även två forskningsfrågor: Hur kan ett litet bolag bygga upp ett starkt varumärke och image i musikbranschen? Hur sköter och nyttjar ett litet bolag nätverksrelationer gentemot andra företag för att bygga upp ett starkt varumärke i musikbranschen?   Metod Denna uppsats är av en kvalitativ fallstudieundersökning med något av en abduktiv karaktär. Fallstudieföretaget jag valt är Company TEN, ett mindre musikbolag som arbetar med 360-avtal. Jag har genomfört sex intervjuer, varav tre är med anställda inom företaget och tre är med intressenter till företaget. Fem av dessa genomfördes face-to-face och en via Skype.   Slutsatser Genom den empiriska analysen samt i slutdiskussionen framkommer vad som är vitalt för att skapa ett starkt varumärke – varumärkesidentitet och positionering. Company TEN har haft en klar vision sedan start, men vad som kunnat identifieras är att företaget inte nyttjat profilen de skapat, det nätverk som finns samt utvecklingen av den virtuella världen, tillräckligt väl för att tillåta det egna varumärket växa. Företaget kan, efter tio år, påverka hur pass väl deras varumärke kommuniceras på marknaden, både via en varumärkesstrategi, nätverket som skapats samt i den virtuella världen.   Nyckelord: Varumärke, identitet, positionering, nätverk, virtuella världen, kommunikation, varumärkesstrategi. / The purpose of this work is to describe and analyze how Company TEN built and communicate their brand and how they are perceived by other companies. And the intention is to describe and analyze how corporate network relationships are used and contributes to their brand marketing. With this aim I’ve developed two research questions: • How can a small company build a strong brand and image in the music industry? • How can a small company manage and use their network relationships with other companies to build a strong brand in the music industry? This paper is a qualitative case study investigation with somewhat of an abductive nature. The company I have chosen to study is Company TEN, a small music company that works with 360 contracts. I have conducted six interviews, three of the employees within the company and three's with stakeholders of the company. Five of these were conducted face-to-face and one via Skype. Through the empirical analysis, and in the final debate it’s revealed what is vital to create a strong brand - brand identity and positioning. Company TEN has had a clear vision from the start, but what has been identified is that they have not been able to use the profile they have created, the network's and the development of the virtual world, well enough to allow the own brand to grow. The company can, after ten years, affect how well their brand is communicated in the market, both through a brand strategy, through the network created and in the virtual world with all its possibilites.

Nowadays enterprises use brand strategy to enhance product¡¦s depth and width, raising the customers¡¦ evaluation on brand. To lower the cost of launching a new product, enterprise usually uses line extension to launch a new product. Most researches about the effect of product line extension on consumer evaluation all focus on physical product. Research focuses on service product is rare. This study focuses on service product, and wants to know the application of vertical extension strategy in service industry. Although extension direction is main strategy when doing product line extension in practical use, extension direction is considered as moderating variable to others, not main issue in previous academic studies. Thus this study treats extension direction as main body of the research, and discusses the changes of consumers¡¦ attitudes towards parent brand and extension brand in different situation. This study chooses two hotels, The LALU and CHINATRUST Hotel which are real and have different brand concepts, as the design scenario, using experiment design to understand consumers¡¦ evaluations at extension service and parent brand when facing different directions of product line extension. Besides, this study uses service continuity to replace ownership effect, and chooses extension direction as main effect, observing the interaction between extension direction and brand concepts, service continuity and branding strategy, trying to understand the factors influencing consumers¡¦ evaluation in product line extension. This study finds consumers¡¦ evaluation of upward extension is significantly higher than downward extension during product line extension. However, no matter upward or downward, consumers¡¦ evaluation on parent brand become lower. The prestige-oriented brand concept enhances this negative effect, but branding strategy of subbrand can ease this effect.

Darbo objektas - Lietuvos krepšinio federacijos ženklodaros strategijos formavimas. Probleminis klausimas: kiek ženklodaros strategijos formavimo aspektai įtakoja organizacijos tikslus. Probleminio klausimo formulavimas leido iškelti hipotezę: H1: Lietuvos krepšinio federacijos ženklodaros strategija yra būtina siekiant didinti krepšinio federacijos žinomumą. H2: Eurobasket 2011 komunikavimo strategija įtakojo LKF ženklo žinomumą. Tyrimo tikslas: įvertinti Lietuvos krepšinio federacijos ženklodaros strategijos formavimo aspektus. Tyrimo metodai: 1. Mokslinės literatūros analizė. 2. Anketinė apklausa. 3. Aprašamoji analizė. Su šio magistrinio darbo problematika ir esminėmis dedamosiomis susipažinę Lietuvos krepšinio federacijos vadovai, patvirtino darbo temos naujumą ir aktualumą. Rašant magistrinį darbą buvo tampriai bendradarbiauta su federacijos atstovais, kurie darbo rašymo procese suteikė visokeriopą pagalbą. Išnagrinėję darbo struktūrą ir taikymo galimybes, LKF vadovai pripažino, jog egzistuoja galimybė gautas darbo išvadas integruoti į organizacijos rinkodaros strateginį planą. Šiuo magistriniu darbu yra siekiama nustatyti pagrindinius ženklodaros strategijos proceso ir turinio formavimo elementus ir įvertinti jų įtaką Lietuvos krepšinio federacijos rinkodaros strategijoje. Magistrinis darbas gali būti naudingas dirbančiam tiek valstybiniame, tiek privačiame sporto sektoriuje, o taip pat rinkodaros, informacijos ir komunikacijos bei ryšių su visuomene specialistams... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of investigation – based on theoretical aspects of formulation branding strategy, to prepare the LKF guidelines of branding strategy. The aim - the Lithuanian Basketball Federation branding strategy formation. This master work is to identify the key of branding process and elements and assess their impact to marketing strategy of Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The Master thesis can be useful for employment in both public and private sector sports, as well as marketing, information and communication and public relations professionals. Conclusions In the second study concluded that the active promotion of Eurobasket 2011 brand communication in the event Eurobasket 2011 championship attracted the greatest interest in the context of the last four years, and the popularity of the event browser Google has grown to three months before the tournament begins. This suggests that the branding strategy integrated with an organization's marketing strategy to achieve optimal results. Uniform and specific definition of the concept of characterizing the brand does not exist. Many researchers treat the brand as a marker, a combination of words and symbols that distinguishes one organization from its competitors. The most widely described and analyzed the components of brand structure and function.

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