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.

<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>

Iki šiol nėra vieningos nuomonės, kaip turėtų būti apjungta prekės kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo koncepcijų ir principų įvairovė. Todėl metodologiniais ir praktinės vadybos tikslais būtina vieninga prekės kilmės šalies efekto įvertinimo metodika, sudaranti sąlygas atsižvelgti į šio efekto įvairiapusiškumą ir įtaką vartotojų elgsenoje. Atsižvelgiant į problemos aktualumą, numatomas darbo tikslas yra dvejopas ir susijęs su nurodyta prekės kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo krypčių ir metodų įvairove: 1) išskirti vieningą metodiką prekės kilmės šalies efekto ir nacionalinio įvaizdžio vertinimui vartotojų elgsenos procesuose; 2) apibrėžti galimas pasiūlyto modelio pritaikymo kryptis verslo praktikoje. Siekiant nurodytų darbo tikslų ir sutelkiant dėmesį į vieningos kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo metodikos nustatymą, apibrėžiami šie darbo uždaviniai: a) atlikti teorinių šaltinių (literatūros) ir empirinių tyrimų, nagrinėjančių prekės kilmės šalies efektą ir šalies įvaizdžio įtaką vartotojų elgsenoje, analizę, b) išskirti pagrindinius prekės kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo elementus ir principus, remiantis pagrindinėmis šalies įvaizdžio koncepcijos nuostatomis, c) apibrėžti vieningą teorinį prekės kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo modelį, d) pateikti galimus siūlomo prekės kilmės šalies efekto vertinimo modelio pritaikymo sprendimus Lietuvos verslo aplinkai. Siekiant apibrėžtų uždavinių įvykdymo, šiame tiriamajame teoriniame-metodologiniame darbe atliekant literatūros šaltinių bei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This graduation paper researches the phenomenon of country-of-origin effect with the two-fold aim to define a unified model for the COO effect evaluation and identify model application opportunities in the business reality. This identification of the aim of the paper has led to the following objectives of the study: · to present an in-depth analysis of theoretical concepts and models related to the COO effect and identify main trends in the scientific COO research, · to identify essential principals of the COO effect evaluation in regard to consumer behaviour; · to integrate main theoretical and empirical aspects of the phenomenon in a unified hypothetical model; · to propose opportunities for model application in Lithuanian business. In order to achieve the stated aim and given objectives, the object of research was defined as COO effect and the following methodology was selected: (1) content analysis of empirical research to be carried out, (2) theoretical analysis of theories related to COO to be conveyed, (3) synthesis of empirical and theoretical dimensions in a unified COO model, (4) a pilot study to be carried out to define the existence of the COO effect in regard to Lithuanian consumers. Part 1 of the paper discloses major theoretical and empirical concepts related to the COO effect. Analytical approach is used in Part 2 to view theoretical and empirical approaches to the evaluation of COO effect in consumer behaviour. Part 3 of the paper covers pilot research as an... [to full text]

This study investigated the influence of brand incongruity on females’ perception of the properties of bi-national apparel products. A survey was conducted across Tshwane, a major urban area in South Africa, to provide empirical evidence of female consumers’ reliance on brands in the context of an emerging economy where global brands have become widely available and easily accessible in recent years. Data was collected by means of convenient sampling and through self completion of a structured questionnaire by 322 willing, working females. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, factor analysis, ANOVAs and post hoc tests. This study confirmed the significance of brand names as a cue of the functional performance related properties of female apparel and concluded that the relevance of brands for status related purposes is secondary to females’ use of brands to infer the functional and performance attributes or to deduce the eco friendliness of apparel. This was true for all the age, income, and education levels or population categories. Although extant research confirms the importance of brands to convey status and to boost consumers’ self image, i.e. serving as an extension of an individual’s self, this study revealed that females do not primarily use brands for status purposes. Brands are mostly trusted to provide good fit, durability, comfort and good quality. Consumers do not necessarily seem familiar with the majority of apparel brands that are widely advertised. However, the majority of consumers preferred the country of manufacture (COM) and the country of origin (COO) of brands to match. Overall, they preferred brands originating from Western countries as the COM, and were more approving of locally manufactured goods than apparel manufactured in Eastern countries. As a simplifying strategy, consumers’ ignorance about the COM of global brands is probably addressed by opting for brands associated with Western COM. Brand incongruence may therefore have noticeable consequences for brand equity in a highly competitive global market and this should be addressed through clever marketing initiatives to prevent dismay and brand switching. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted