This is a bachelor thesis within marketing that aims at finding how branding strategies is affected by the market it operates and how it influences the possibilities to create a global brand. This will be carried out by looking at branding strategies, global branding and branding on the emerging markets with comparison to mature markets. The authors will do this by conducting a case study where two companies will be studied, one from an emerging market and one from a mature market. The development of a case study came from the explanatory nature of the purpose and the decision was made to look into the lingerie industry since this is a market that is easily segmented and that uses branding. The authors used one company on each market that were in the lingerie industry and the companies that came to be investigated were Beijing Aimer Co Ltd. and Miss Mary of Sweden AB. The authors used theories of branding, empirical material from interviews as well as secondary information about the markets in order to conduct the study. The authors concluded that there are a number of different strategies a company has to consider for their brand: What market(s) to cover, pricing strategies, name strategies and extension strategies. All are combined and need to fit each other to have a good branding strategy. Then there are different conditions for companies on mature and emerging markets. In the emerging markets, branding is a relatively new concept and differentiation with the help of branding has been missing. A mature market, on the other hand, is often saturated of brands which make it hard for companies to stand out in the clutter. This can make it easier for a company to target a niche in the market. When globalising the brand, the companies also need to take other things into consideration. It is important to know the market the company wishes to reach and there can be images that stick from the country of origin of the brand, which also influences the globalisation of the brand and is different for mature and emerging markets. What the authors found from the empirical findings was that the companies are not as the theories would suggest and the Chinese company seems to be very aware of their brands. What the authors also found that both the companies were failing in their branding strate-gies, but in very different ways. Aimer, who desperately wants to create an international brand, is failing due to country of origin effects, while Miss Mary is failing in their segmentations strategy which makes them less resident to competitors in a mature and cluttered marketplace.

Branding is essential for a business success although it may be difficult to decide what branding strategy to use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of branding, and more explicitly the strategies of umbrella branding and brand extensions and how it relates to value, in practice. A case study of an ice cream company, SIA Glass, was conducted to answer the research question of how SIA Glass’ branding strategy affect its’ brands. The method used was based on a deductive approach with semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that SIA Glass’ decision to offer a more diverse brand portfolio created problems in its’ internal communication and the focus was lost on brands less prioritized. Instead of focusing on the SIA Glass brand, the company wanted to connect SIA Glass to its’ corporate heritage and the Bertegruppen group, and offer products in new segments with less connection to the SIA Glass brand. Conclusions from the study imply that it is difficult for a company with limited resources to have an extended brand portfolio. In addition, as brand value is co-created with consumers and customers it demand more emphasis in practice, as well as in branding research.

<p>This is a bachelor thesis within marketing that aims at finding how branding strategies is affected by the market it operates and how it influences the possibilities to create a global brand. This will be carried out by looking at branding strategies, global branding and branding on the emerging markets with comparison to mature markets. The authors will do this by conducting a case study where two companies will be studied, one from an emerging market and one from a mature market.</p><p>The development of a case study came from the explanatory nature of the purpose and the decision was made to look into the lingerie industry since this is a market that is easily segmented and that uses branding. The authors used one company on each market that were in the lingerie industry and the companies that came to be investigated were Beijing Aimer Co Ltd. and Miss Mary of Sweden AB. The authors used theories of branding, empirical material from interviews as well as secondary information about the markets in order to conduct the study.</p><p>The authors concluded that there are a number of different strategies a company has to consider for their brand: What market(s) to cover, pricing strategies, name strategies and extension strategies. All are combined and need to fit each other to have a good branding strategy. Then there are different conditions for companies on mature and emerging markets. In the emerging markets, branding is a relatively new concept and differentiation with the help of branding has been missing. A mature market, on the other hand, is often saturated of brands which make it hard for companies to stand out in the clutter. This can make it easier for a company to target a niche in the market.</p><p>When globalising the brand, the companies also need to take other things into consideration. It is important to know the market the company wishes to reach and there can be images that stick from the country of origin of the brand, which also influences the globalisation of the brand and is different for mature and emerging markets.</p><p>What the authors found from the empirical findings was that the companies are not as the theories would suggest and the Chinese company seems to be very aware of their brands. What the authors also found that both the companies were failing in their branding strate-gies, but in very different ways. Aimer, who desperately wants to create an international brand, is failing due to country of origin effects, while Miss Mary is failing in their segmentations strategy which makes them less resident to competitors in a mature and cluttered marketplace.</p>

<p>Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of two early internationalizing firms (Born Globals) brand building efforts. By performing case studies on these companies we wished to discover similarities and differences in their marketing efforts. The companies that we studied were CTEK Sweden AB, a battery charger manufacturer and POC Sweden AB, who designs advanced protective gear for the alpine ski market.</p><p>The theoretical framework was divided according to the four 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) as previous studies had shown all four factors were important in the efforts of building a strong brand. Classical marketing mix theories have been augmented with theories on brand-building as well as international marketing to give further depth to the theory section.</p><p>Interviews were conducted with key people in each company, who we believed would have good insight into the strategies that these had pursued. After analyzing our empirical data, we drew the conclusion that the companies had many similar traits when it came to their brand-building efforts. The foundation for rapid brand building was laid by having an innovative product. A standardized promotion strategy was used by both companies in all target markets. The ability to disregard lucrative short-term gains in order to secure long-term benefits for the brands was also a common trait in the building of their brands.</p><p>Keywords: Brand-building, Branding Strategies, Born Globals, 4Ps</p>

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study investigates how the three selected Western Cape Province (WCP) institutions of higher education position their brand imageries and awareness in a localised global way. It explores the branding discourses and strategies used by three WCP universities namely: University of the Western Cape (UWC), University of Cape Town (UCT), and Stellenbosch University (SU). The study applies the qualitative-interpretative approach with multiple methods such as interviews, observation, and document analysis to collect the data. Using the framework of Critical multisemiotic discourse analysis (CMDA), which combines CDA, and multimodality, the researcher analyses how the universities construct and position unique brands to the world and how the students as stakeholders consume these brands. The study also explores how the universities deploy, manipulate, and circulate linguistic, visual and extra-visual semiosis across multiple modalities to create attractive brand imageries. The CMDA framework illuminates the ways in which language and other semiotics are used to construct social reality and ideologies, and negotiate meanings in the universities’ branding practices. The study findings show that the universities are using different types of modalities to relay their institutional brand promotional messages to reach their target audience. These modalities include print media, word of mouth testimonials, alumni, social chatrooms such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and semiotic landscape to mention a few. Open days and orientation days are also used to showcase the brands and these events are resemiotised in different media and even posted on the universities websites so as to reach a wide audience from all over the world. In this case, the study demonstrates how the universities are able to promote their brands to their South African communities within their physical vicinity and reach the regional and international community online. This includes showing how some of the modes such as selected architecture and scenery, mission statements, branded goods, logos, historical artefacts together with particular semiotic materials and discourses are recirculated by means of being deterritorialised from the different contexts and reterritorialised into the universityscapes, to accentuate and sell the brands and create attractive brandscapes. Moreover, the study particularly demonstrates that the demise of apartheid and segregated universities in South Africa has prompted the universities to redefine, rebrand and realign themselves to the local, regional and international communities. This has necessitated new repositioning strategies in the post-apartheid South African universities under study. The universities have appropriated materialities of globalisation, commodified heritage and aesthetics of both their academic and social life as branding materials. The universities have adopted the social transformation agenda that tries to eliminate segregation in higher education institution. They all champion inclusive higher education that promotes internationalisation through quality education. Given their historical background, the seemingly effective drive towards transformation through redressing and internationalisation processes still mirrors apartheid inequalities among the HBUs and HWUs. These processes filter into these academic contexts differently. The relentless drive to commercialisation in the market economy from an unequal footing, places the HBUs in a weaker position, where they are always trying to catch up. In addition, the study demonstrates that the universities have adopted the culture of consumerism and the market economy that perpetuates an excessively materialistic and exploitative view of living. The traditional identities of universities, as sites of higher education, have been replaced by corporate-like brand identities, which ensure that they are well known for what they have, they do and lastly what they are. The ideological shift in brand identity is displayed in the imagery of the mission statements, logos, branded goods, buildings, historical artefacts, students, sports and academic resources, all of which are remediated in documentaries, social media, YouTube, television advertisements and other media. This ideological shift and a focus on brand identities, as icons of consumption, have resulted in practices that create unequal subject positions among the universities both at a local and international level, as it widens the competition gap between the HBUs and the HWUs. Through evaluating the students’ brand perceptions and analysis of the brand materials, the study further highlights the undeniable problems in these universities’ branding processes, such as the discrepancy of effective branding trajectories that adequately support the historically disadvantaged institutions to be on the same competitive ground with the historically white universities. The forces of globalisation, technologisation and commodification do not make it easier either as these inherited inequalities on development, cause massive differences in wealth among the universities and citizens accessing resources in these universities. The analysis in this study clearly demonstrates how the universities are able to appropriate multiple semiosis and discourses between the reproduction of the racial social order through subtle traces of resistance or through trying to hold on to the past and branding themselves as inclusive university brands both at a national and a global level. This study brings to the fore that institutional branding is not simply a matter of explicit lexical self-description and attribution, but also pertains to an organisation’s use of semiotic features and patterns, such as particular metaphors or types of modalities. The study therefore contributes to the debates on post-apartheid socio-economic transformation in South African universities, and hints that pretending that the inherited inequality in these universities will correct itself, is futile as it is evident that cultural dialogue and communication based on equity, are necessary in order to avoid widening the gap between the contexts of higher learning in South Africa. Even in light of the latest 'Rhodes Must Fall' and 'Fees Must Fall' campaigns, this study provides information that can positively influence perspectives on access to higher education in South Africa. Against the backdrop of globalisation and internationalisation on these universities, the study recommends that the universities and stakeholders work and rethink new ways of university branding and collaboration that facilitate positive growth. The study thus undoubtedly contributes to the field of language and communication particularly in understanding the concepts of institutional brand identity and consumption as practices, which can be actively changed and negotiated for authentic transformation that is beneficial to both the institution and its stakeholders. This implies that institutional brand identity should not only put emphasis on the business world but on the social world as well how people interpret meanings in their lives. Ultimately, the study calls for an understanding and incorporation of the relatively new concepts of institutional branding and brand identity consumption in modernity practices where communication is characterised by many meaning-making semiotics other than the verbal aspects of human interaction.

Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of two early internationalizing firms (Born Globals) brand building efforts. By performing case studies on these companies we wished to discover similarities and differences in their marketing efforts. The companies that we studied were CTEK Sweden AB, a battery charger manufacturer and POC Sweden AB, who designs advanced protective gear for the alpine ski market. The theoretical framework was divided according to the four 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) as previous studies had shown all four factors were important in the efforts of building a strong brand. Classical marketing mix theories have been augmented with theories on brand-building as well as international marketing to give further depth to the theory section. Interviews were conducted with key people in each company, who we believed would have good insight into the strategies that these had pursued. After analyzing our empirical data, we drew the conclusion that the companies had many similar traits when it came to their brand-building efforts. The foundation for rapid brand building was laid by having an innovative product. A standardized promotion strategy was used by both companies in all target markets. The ability to disregard lucrative short-term gains in order to secure long-term benefits for the brands was also a common trait in the building of their brands. Keywords: Brand-building, Branding Strategies, Born Globals, 4Ps

Syftet med denna uppsats är att kartlägga användningen av Country of Origin och dess relevans på den globala marknaden genom att undersöka om en landsimage kan relateras till varumärke istället för produkt. Uppsatsen har en deduktiv ansats då den grundar sig på tidigare teori inom området Country of Origin, positionering samt varumärkesstrategier. En kvalitativ undersökning i form av djupintervjuer med valda företag genomfördes för att kunna besvara uppsatsen syfte. Slutsatserna till uppsatsen är att Country of Origin inte längre är en relevant strategi eftersom varumärkets landsimage är mer relevant än produktens härkomst. För att bättre passa dagens marknadsförutsättningar behöver COO därför modifieras och ge företag konkreta riktlinjer vid användningen av marknadsstrategin eftersom landsimage fortfarande anses vara relevant, men då i relation till varumärket.

Branding strategies in the context of startup companies has been vaguely investigated. This is surprising since companies in the early startup phase recognize a need to quickly create brand equity in order to differentiate themselves from competitors to rise above the clutter in the market space. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate what branding strategies Swedish technology startup companies employ to create brand equity. Founders of four Swedish startup companies within the technology industry has been interviewed in order to gain insight in the context of startup companies and what branding strategies they employ. The authors present some common denominators between the branding strategies that are used. It is concluded that it is crucial for startups to create brand awareness. It is also recognized that startups rarely communicate company values. Instead, functional benefits and product characteristics are often communicated. Lastly, it appears that the overarching branding strategy of the studied startup companies is their emphasis on the importance of being perceived as different compared to competitors.

<p>Background: Companies establishing a new brand on the Swedish market have to face competition from already established brands. This makes it interesting to investigate which branding strategies companies use in order to establish a new successful brand. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to investigate which branding strategies companies should use in order to establish a new successful brand on a competitive Swedish market. </p><p>Research method: The study was realized with the help of five qualitative interviews. These interviews were conducted at five diverse companies possessing recently established brands on a competitive Swedish market. </p><p>Results: Our investigation has lead to the formation of a model, which depicts the most important factors for the strategies that companies should use in order to establish a new successful brand on a competitive Swedish market. We have found that the starting point for these strategies should be the brand motto for product brands and the business concept for corporate brands, from which the core values and the positioning strategies should be derived. In order to communicate the brand to the market, the brand name is an important factor which should preferably be unique. The distribution is also an important factor for this communication, since the distributor is the ambassador who mediates the brand to the customer. The market communication in turn should in the first place consist of unconventional channels such as editorial text when possible. For companies possessing a large marketing budget, brand building commercial, for instance TV-commercial should also be invested in. The marketing communication serves as a means to gain good customer relationships. Finally, it is important to have a consistent branding strategy as well as an internal loyalty toward the brand.</p>

Background: Companies establishing a new brand on the Swedish market have to face competition from already established brands. This makes it interesting to investigate which branding strategies companies use in order to establish a new successful brand. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to investigate which branding strategies companies should use in order to establish a new successful brand on a competitive Swedish market. Research method: The study was realized with the help of five qualitative interviews. These interviews were conducted at five diverse companies possessing recently established brands on a competitive Swedish market. Results: Our investigation has lead to the formation of a model, which depicts the most important factors for the strategies that companies should use in order to establish a new successful brand on a competitive Swedish market. We have found that the starting point for these strategies should be the brand motto for product brands and the business concept for corporate brands, from which the core values and the positioning strategies should be derived. In order to communicate the brand to the market, the brand name is an important factor which should preferably be unique. The distribution is also an important factor for this communication, since the distributor is the ambassador who mediates the brand to the customer. The market communication in turn should in the first place consist of unconventional channels such as editorial text when possible. For companies possessing a large marketing budget, brand building commercial, for instance TV-commercial should also be invested in. The marketing communication serves as a means to gain good customer relationships. Finally, it is important to have a consistent branding strategy as well as an internal loyalty toward the brand.