Celebrity endorsement has received academic attention since the 1970s and it has widely been used by companies in their marcom (marketing communications) activities as an effective strategic tool to promote their brands, companies, products and services. Instead of only being appointed as endorsers, this new phenomenon sees how celebrities have changed their roles as human brands and are now better known as celebrity brands. Celebrities, as they are known today, are progressively becoming brands in their own right (i.e. celebrity brand), have their own value, owning their own products and/or services and businesses/companies (i.e. corporate brand), and endorsing other corporate brands too. Companies use celebrity endorsements to position and communicate their individual/product brand image to consumers at large. However, due to the changing marketing environment (from traditional to digital marketing), companies are finding that their communication through celebrity endorsements have become costly and less efficient when trying to project a coherent corporate image and reputation across various audiences. Rather, the new trending phenomenon of celebrity chefs may achieve the desired effect. Unlike other human brands such as CEOs, athletes or artists, which roles limit to either personal or corporate roles, celebrity chefs are unique as they encompass both. Furthermore, they also endorse other brands and corporate brands simultaneously, enabling them to project their own personal and corporate brand as well as the brand they are endorsing. Hence, this study's novelty lies in the exploration and development of the celebrity chef concept at both the product and corporate brand level of their 'own' and 'endorsed' activities (termed as celebrity corporate brand or CCB in this study); and operationalises the CCB concept. The study aims to investigate whether a change in the celebrity brand roles by addressing both traits (human personality) and states (brand personality) and by associating it at the corporate brand level, given the best contextual setting, is one of the possible ways to strategically use celebrity brand beyond endorsement in marcom activities. The study has three objectives, which are: 1) to explore the concept of celebrity brand at a corporate brand level, known as Celebrity Corporate Brand - CCB; 2) to investigate the impact of CCB on attitudinal (identification, image and reputation) and behavioural (loyalty) outcomes (termed as corporate brand enhancement); and 3) to develop a holistic conceptual model to understand the consumers attitudinal and behavioural response and association impact of celebrity brand at corporate brand level named as Celebrity Corporate Brand Association Impact on Corporate Brand Enhancement Model. A mixed method approach was employed by using qualitative data (netnography - Study1; and in depths interviews - Study 2) as well as quantitative data (population-based survey experiments - Study 3). A qualitative approach is used to explore the concept and dimensions of CCB, which is later used to assist the items and measure development for Study 3. Data collection was done covering samples selection from the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Random sampling is used to select respondents that fulfilled the criteria required for the study. The study finds that CCB represents and carries his Personal Brand, Product/Service Brand and Corporate Brand. CCB Product Brand refers to the celebrity chefs own developed products and services which are their foods, cookbooks, kitchen utensils. CCB Corporate Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' businesses, corporations and companies such as their restaurants, colleges and programs. CCB is further conceptualised through the CCB's Authentic and Functional Quality, CCB's Cognition and CCB's Personal Quality. The CCB's Philosophy also projects the celebrity's own corporate brand and endorsed activities. CCB Personal Brand refers to the celebrity chefs' traits such as their interpersonal skills and quality, symbolic value and authenticity; and their and their personality states such as enterprising and technical quality. Theoretically, the research is novel in four different ways: 1) it offers a fresh insight to scholars and practitioners in celebrity endorsement, human or celebrity brand, into how to address the new phenomena of changing consumer and celebrity roles by going beyond the celebrity endorsement concept (i.e. via CCB); 2) it explores, develops, defines and provides measures for the newly developed CCB concept; and 3) it extends the nascent literature on celebrity brand, which explores mainly at product brand level, to corporate brand level (celebrity with personal brand also owning corporate brand), and 4) it test CCB empirically and further investigates its relationship in terms of both attitudinal and behavioural outcomes in an effort to enhance corporate brand (corporate brand enhancement process). Previously, studies on celebrity endorsement only look at the use of celebrity as an endorser and discussion in this area is made based on the Source Model which only discusses the personality traits of the celebrities. In addressing the changing roles of celebrities (having personal brands, product brands and corporate brands), this study defines CCB by including both the celebrity brand personality traits and states and researching its impact on corporate brand enhancement. Furthermore, this study looks at both the attitudinal and behavioural outcome of the CCB on multiple stakeholders (celebrities, consumers and endorsed corporate brands). Methodologically, the study contributes in three ways: (1) a new context (celebrity chefs) is chosen to add new insights to celebrity branding literature; (2) approaching the research with three different studies, namely Study 1- netnography; Study 2 - in depths interviews; and Study 3 - population-based survey experiments; and (3) the inclusion of multiple stakeholders as the samples. Practically, the study proposes marketers to select a new type of celebrity: one that has a personal brand of their own, own product and/or corporate brand to increase the promotional marketing campaign success. Thus, both parties need to work together to build upon their brand strategy to ensure that the consumer identifies closely with them, thereby enhancing their image and reputation and subsequently increasing brand loyalty to the advantage of both parties. Interestingly, once CCB has built upon reputation, this guides the business and marketers to carefully select them in the hope of enhancing its corporate brand. The study's findings also demonstrate that it is essential to address various audiences in this new era by designing an appropriate positioning and communication strategy. The results will assist businesses and organisations in the context of defining and developing strategy alongside celebrity chefs (as the CCB) with their businesses and the endorsed corporate brands.

Title                                 Shape me up! – A study of how leaders in the Swedish financial sector can use their personal brand to shape the corporate brand Course                             Master Thesis (60 credits) in Business Administration; Strategic Management and Leadership, International Marketing Authors                           Amanda Elg and My Engdahl Supervisors                      Maya Hoveskog and Ingemar Wictor Keywords                        Leadership, personal brand, corporate brand Problem formulation       ”How can a leader in the Swedish financial sector use the personal brand to shape the corporate brand?” Purpose                            The aim of this study is to describe the importance of the leader’s personal brand within the Swedish financial sector. Further, this study aims to explore how the personal brand of a leader can contribute to shape the corporate brand from an internal perspective, in aspects such as organisational culture and visions. This study focuses mainly on the positive aspects of the personal brand since we are more interested to see the positive outcomes of personal branding than the negative ones.  Target Group                   Our study is directed towards a target audience of Swedish leaders and other interested parties that want to increase the understanding for personal and corporate branding, and to increase the understanding of how leaders can use the personal brand to shape the corporate brand. Theoretical framework    We have mainly focused on two different theories; one for personal branding and one for corporate branding. Methodology                   This study is based on a qualitative, deductive approach, with a case strategy. The empirical data is collected through personal interviews. Result                              We have come to the conclusion that the most important thing to be able to shape the corporate brand is to align your vision and values with the vision of the company. To be able to use your personal brand, you need to know who you are and what you hold to be true. We have also come to the conclusion that in what extent the leader can use the personal brand to shape the corporate brand will be dependent of different positions and different companies. However, we believe that leaders within every sector have more or less ability to use their personal brand to shape the corporate brand.

In the past, beauty industry is classified as traditional industry but it nowadays emphasizes on professional medical cosmetic. Celebrity is the key for the success of medical cosmetic beauty industry because they can drive the output value of enterprises and access to consumer acceptance. This is the critical factor of profit in beauty industry. The Brand Identity Implementation System (Aaker, 1996) is the framework to study the development process of the personal brand. Though documentation analysis and case study, the study inducted the process and mode of successful personal brand, discussed the importance of personal brand to the beauty industry and studied how to successfully build personal brand. The study used multiple sources to collect and analyze data to study the chosen case during its life cycle. The study results that the founders¡¦ background of personal brand would be the variance to establish consumer trust, develop brand identity and declare brand value. Second, the good use of media or advertisement will be the good linkage of founder¡¦s specialty or intention and product effectiveness. In addition, personal brand should be aware of the amount of disposable income and the change of consumption pattern to develop various marketing strategies.

This study deals with branding at an individual level and aims to explore what a personal brand means, what benefits that’s obtained by actively working with a personal brand, as well as the strategies and methods used in the development of it. It has also meant a restriction in choice of interviewees made to informants who are familiar with and active in the personal branding process in their daily life. The essay is based on a qualitative research approach; six people working in various occupations were interviewed by a desire to generate information from different perspectives. The result shows that a personal brand is all about credibility, authenticity, and the image you present to others. The study shows that the personal brand can be a competitive advantage to other job seekers.

I denna uppsats har vi undersökt ämnet personal branding. Inom personal branding har vi studerat hur rekryteringsföretaget ser på detta område men även vilka faktorer de tycker är viktiga för att skapa ett personal brand, samt om det är möjligt i en arbetsrelaterad situation att dra nytta av sitt personal brand och på så sätt skapa fördelar gentemot sina konkurrenter. Vi tycker detta område är viktigt att studera därför att det är ett relativt nytt ämne/ begrepp. Då vi lever i ett mer individualistiskt samhälle och konjunkturen skiftar samt att konkurrensen hårdnar på arbetsmarknaden tycker vi det är viktigt att undersöka olika alternativa medel som kan vara till hjälp i sökandet på det nya jobbet. Vi valde därför att studera Priens (1992) modell över anställningsförloppet för att få en bättre förståelse för rekryteringens olika delmoment men även för att kunna identifiera i vilka arbetsprocesser man kan förmedla sitt personal brand. Vi har även valt att titta på två modeller som är utvecklade av Gad och Rosencreutz (2002) för att se vilka moment som ingår i personal branding och urskilja de viktigaste momenten som kan bidra till att man blir attraktiv på arbetsmarknaden. Det som har framkommit i vår undersökning är att med hjälp av Gad och Rosencreutz (2002) modell ”Brand me mind space” kan man framhålla ett personal brand i olika rekryteringsprocesser, som till exempel i urvalsprocesserna strukturerad och ostrukturerad intervju där det är möjligt att använda den sociala dimensionen för att framhålla sin sociala kompetens och att göra sig attraktiv i arbetsgivarens ögon. I vår undersökning har det framgått att rekryteringsföretag använder sig utav sökning på Internet av aktuella jobbkandidater via t.ex. Google, Facebook men när man arbetar med studentrekrytering har man oftast begränsade resurser och ingen tid till detta. Talar man dock om rekrytering på en högre nivå så finns antagligen mer resurser och utrymme för att göra detta. Med Internet är det till viss del möjligt att välja vilken information man lämnar efter sig och på så sätt jobba med sitt personal brand och göra sig synlig för potentiella företag som man vill arbeta för. Det har även framkommit i undersökningen att vissa rekryteringsföretag ser personal branding som en direkt följd av det3individualistiska samhället och att det kommer öka i takt med mindre jobb men att viljan att framhäva sig själv alltid har funnits. De anser även att man ska framhäva sina kompetenser och vara tydlig med vad man tycker utan att göra det på någon annans bekostnad / In this essay we have examined the subject personal branding. Within personal branding, we have studied how recruitment agencies look at this subject and what factors they think are important to create a personal brand. We have also studied if it is possible in a work-related situation to benefit from a personal brand, and thereby creating an advantage over the competitors. We think this area is important to study because it is a relatively new topic. Since we live in a more individualistic society where the business cycle changes which increases the competition in the labour market, we feel it is important to explore various alternative means that may help in the search for a new job.We chose to study Prien’s (1992) model of the employment process to get a better understanding of its various parts and to identify in which processes you can communicate your personal brand. We have also chosen to look at two models that are developed by Gad and Rosencreutz (2002) to see which elements are included. in personal branding and identify the key elements that can help you to become attractive on the labour market. In our study we have found that with the help of theGad and Rosencreutz (2002) model, “Brand me mind space", it’s possible to call attention to the personal brand in the recruitment processes such as the selection process structured and unstructured interview. It’s possible to use the social dimension in order to emphasize the social skills and be attractive in the employer's eyes.In our study we have also shown that recruitment agencies use the internet to search for relevant information about employment candidates, for example through Google or Facebook. However when working with student recruitment there are often limited resources and no time for it. However, with recruitment of a higher level position there are probably more resources and time to do this. With the Internet it’s possible to choose which information you leave5behind to a certain extent. You can work with your personal brand through the Internet and make yourself visible to potential companies that you want to work for.In the survey it has shown that some recruitment agencies think that personal branding is a direct consequence of the individualistic society and that it will increase with fewer jobs, but that the desire to differ from others has always existed. They also believe that you should highlight your skills and be clear about what you think but not do it on someone else's expense.

The purpose of this thesis was to identify what effects shared field of play, being part of a team and being part of an organization has on building brand equity for athletes in team sports. Even though personal branding of athletes has received academic coverage over the past years, the role of the shared field of play, being part of a team and being part of an organization have been overlooked. This research gap was addressed through four in-depth semi-structured interviews with professional soccer players from Sweden and Switzerland. Those interviews were analyzed using a theoretical framework which consists of the additional characteristics of team sports and its effect on personal branding. Findings of this thesis show that athletes lose their ‘uniqueness’ when they share the field with otherathletes as they are also wearing the same uniform, this leaves only a few opportunities to differentiate themselves from teammates by using product related and non-product related attributes. That the athletes with playing positions that can make a decisive difference on the outcome of the game receive extra attention. That to cooperate and exhibit a strong relationship between athletes towards the audience gives favorable brand associations and an increased following, thusstrengthening one’s brand equity. That athletes should try to benefit from the popularity of another athlete’s personal brand as long it is there, but that one muststay authentic in the process. That being employed and getting a stable and continuous salary gives athletes comfort and a feeling of safety which might have a negative effect on their ambition of building their personal brand. And lastly, to usethe club’s brand to build one’s own personal brand by paying homage to the club by engaging with supporters through gestures when celebrating victories and individual achievements.

Sammanfattning: Magisteruppsats i ledarskap och hållbar utveckling, Mälardalens Högskola i Eskilstuna. Datum: 2014-06-11 Författare: Natalie Sepúlveda Moradinassab Handledare: Lennart Bogg Titel: Vad ledare anser om personligt varumärke Problemformulering: Sedan decennier tillbaka har begreppet varumärke varit attraktivt och uppmärksammat. Under den senaste tiden har observationer av det personliga varumärket som individer har blivit mer intressant, eftersom det har visat sig leda till positiva effekter för ett ledarskap och en organisation. Däremot finns det forskning som visat att personliga varumärken hos ledare även kan resultera till kostsamma effekter för en organisation. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur utvalda ledare ser på begreppet personligt varumärke och ifall de anser att det har en betydelse för deras ledarskap. Metod: Information har i första hand hämtats från vetenskaplig litteratur och artiklar. Fåtal Internetsidor har dessutom använts för att få fram aktuell statistik och defintioner av studiens nyckelord. Undersökningen består av sju intervjuer med sju olika ledare från olika organisationer lokaliserade i Stockholms region. Alla intervjuer följer den kvalitativa metoden, med en semi-strukturerad intervjuguide som genomfördes i företagens lokaler hos respondenterna. Slutsats: Studien bekräftar betydelsen av ett personligt varumärke i ett ledarskap, där även risker presenteras. Förutom detta visar studien, utifrån respondenternas upplevelser, att personligt varumärke i ett ledarskap inte används som en medveten strategi. Respondenternas personliga varumärken har analyserats utifrån en teoretisk modell, där flera brister framkommer. Detta överensstämmer med tidigare forskning som visat att det krävs mer vetenskapligt arbete innan ledare kan eller bör använda sig av personligt varumärke i sin position. Nyckelord: Ledarskap, organisation, personligt varumärke, påverkan och kommunikation. / Abstract: Master´s essay in management and sustainable development. Mälardalens Högskola, Eskilstuna. Date: 2014-06-11 Author: Natalie Sepúlveda Moradinassab Tutor: Lennart Bogg Title: What leaders think of personal branding Problem formulation: Since decades, the concept of brand has been attractive and observed. In the recent past, has observations of the personal brand that individuals carry becomed more interesting. Because it has been shown to result in positive effects for the leadership and the organization. However, there are research's showing that personal brands of leaders can also lead to costly consequences for an organization. Purpose: The study's purpose to examine how different leaders look at the concept of personal brand and if they believe it has a bearing on their leadership. Method: Information has mainly been gathered from literatures and scientific articles. Some statistics and definitions of keywords are taken from a few websites. The survey consists of seven interviews with seven different leaders from different organizations located in the Stockholm region. All interviews follow the qualitative approach, using a semi-structured interview guide which was conducted in the respondents' offices. Conclusion: The study explains the importance of a personal brand in a leadership, where the associated risks with it will also be presented. Besides this, the study, based on the respondents experiences, shows that personal brand is not used in leadership as a deliberate strategy. The respondents personal brands have been analyzed from a theoretical model, in which several flaws emerge. This is consistent with previous research that has shown the needs for more scientific work before leaders can or should make use of personal brand in their position. Keywords: Impact and communications, leadership, organizations, personal brand.

Sammanfattning Detta är en fallstudie över en Sveriges mest välkända och framgångsrika bloggar – www.kenzas.se, driven av Kenza Zouiten. Syftet med studien var att ta reda på hur man via självpresentation genom en blogg kan bygga upp och skapa sig ett starkt personligt varumärke. De frågeställningar studien utgick ifrån var hur Kenza Zouiten väljer att framställa sig själv som person i skriven text och i bilder, samt huruvida det finns några skillnader i hur hon väljer att framställa sig själv i bloggen idag jämfört med i bloggens början. Metoden som tillämpades var en kvalitativ innehållsanalys bestående av en retorisk textanalys och en semiotisk bildanalys – med ett övergripande hermeneutiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visade att Kenza ända från början har haft en väldigt ödmjuk och vänlig ton i bloggen. Hon framställs i skriven text som ärlig, ödmjuk, trovärdig och passionerad, och framstår som en ganska ”vanlig” och normal tjej med ett liv som vem som helst. Hon har aldrig använt sig av bloggen för att provocera eller bråka, utan skriver snarare väldigt ”snälla” inlägg och tackar ofta sina bloggläsare för sin framgång. Hon framstår som väldigt transparent, autentisk och trovärdig i sin kommunikation, man får ett förtroende för henne som bloggare och litar på det hon skriver. I bilder, däremot, får man en lite annorlunda känsla jämfört med när man läser den skrivna texten. Bilderna hon publicerar framstår ofta som exklusiva och professionella, och vittnar om ett ”drömliv” fyllt av vackra och dyra klädesplagg, exotiska resmål och prestigefyllda modellfotograferingar. Det framkom alltså att det finns en motsättning i hur Kenza framställer sig via skriven text och via bilder. Detta kan vara en av de saker som fascinerar läsarna; att någon som verkar leva ett så lyxigt ”drömliv” ändå kan verka så ”vanlig” och oförändrad. Studien visade också på en utveckling i hur Kenza valt att framställa sig själv över tid. I början av bloggandet framstod hon som en vanlig tonåring som bloggade för att det var roligt att skriva dagbok, medan hon nuförtiden sköter bloggen mer som en marknadsföringskanal för sitt personliga varumärke. Hon visar inte upp lika mycket av sin privata sida varken i text eller bilder längre; hon framstår fortfarande som personlig, men inte lika privat. Numera framstår hon snarare som väldigt professionell i sitt bloggande. Slutsatsen är att man genom att utstråla en konsekvent trovärdighet, en autenticitet, passion och ödmjukhet kan bygga upp ett starkt personligt varumärke via en blogg. Detta tillsammans med ett utbud av vackra bilder som speglar en eftersträvansvärd livsstil verkar vara ett vinnande koncept. Även motsättningar mellan skriven text och bilder kan vara en bidragande faktor till hur man framgångsrikt skapar ett personligt varumärke genom att blogga. / Abstract This is a case study of one of Sweden's most well known and successful bloggers Kenza Zouiten. The purpose of the study was to find out whether you through self presentation via a blog can create and build up a strong personal brand. The research questions the study proceeded from were: How does Kenza Zouiten choose to present herself as a person in written text and in pictures? Are there any differences in how she chooses to present herself in her blog today, compared to when she first started blogging? If so: what are they? The method used was a qualitative content analysis consisting of a rhetorical textual analysis and a semiotic picture analysis – with an overriding hermneutic perspective. The results showed that Kenza, from the beginning, has had a very humble and friendly tone in the blog. In written text she is portayed as honest, humble, trusthworthy and passionate, and comes across as a pretty ”normal” girl with a normal life. She has never used the blog to provoke or pick fights, instead she writes very kind-hearted posts and often thanks her blog readers for her success. She appears to be very transparent, autentic och believeable through the way she communicates through her blog. When it comes to how she presents herself in pictures, however, you get a different feeling than from reading the written text. The pictures she publishes often appear as very exclusive and professional. They testify to some sort of ”dream life” filled with beautiful and expensive clothes, exotic trips and vacations and prestigeous fashion shoots. Thus, a divergence between how Kenza portrays herself through written text and how she portrays herself in pictures emerged. This might be one of the things that fascinate the readers; that someone who appears, or seems, to be living such a luxurious ”dream life” can appear so ”normal” at the same time. The study also showed a change in how Kenza has chosen to portray herself through time. When she first started blogging she seemed like a regular teenage girl who liked using the blog as a journal, nowadays she runs the blog more like a marketing tool for self promotion of her personal brand. She does not show as much of her private side, neither through written text or pictures, anymore. She does still come across as personal, but not as private as she once did. Nowadays she appears much more as a professional blogger. The conclusion is that by showing a consistent trustworthyness, autenticity, passion and humbleness, you can build up a strong personal brand via a blog. This, together with a range of beautiful pictures that reflect a desired lifestyle appears to be a winning concept. Divergencies between written text and pictures might also be a contributory factor when it comes to succesfully building a personal brand via blogging.

Several studies have been made on the crisis communication efforts made by politicians and athletes following a personal crisis, but few focus on the efforts made by other people of influence whose image and personal brand get hurt during a crisis. The aim of this study is to examine nine of Swedish journalist Fredrik Virtanen’s statements after he was accused of rape and sexual assault by several women during #metoo. The theoretical framework is based on Goffman’s theories on impression management and Benoit’s image repair theory. The chosen method for this study is a combined qualitative text analysis and critical rhetorical analysis. The results show that a variety of image repair strategies are visible in Virtanen's communication and that the most frequently used strategies aresimple denial, differentiation, attack accuser and minimization. The results support earlier studies on image repair that claim that the cultural and societal as well as the circumstantial context is an important aspect in the success or failure of an image repair effort. The results also imply that without support from people or organisations that have previously been affiliated with the accused, who can assist in the communication efforts, the accused will have a harder time repairing their image.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur anställda inom organisationer uppfattar ledaren, desspersonliga varumärke i relation till organisationens varumärke och om medarbetarna uppleveratt dessa parametrar resulterar i en ökad arbetsvilja. För att undersöka syftet användesfrågeställningarna: Hur uppfattas ledaren och ledarens personliga varumärke av de anställdainom en organisation? Hur uppfattas ledarens personliga varumärke i relation tillorganisationens? Upplevs dessa parametrar vara viktiga incitament till en ökad arbetsvilja?Totalt deltog tolv medarbetare från östra, södra och sydvästra Sverige, medelåldern var 30 åroch deltagarna hade i snitt arbetat på sina respektive arbetsplatser i 6,5 år. En semistruktureradintervjuguide med fyra fastställda teman (ledarskap, personligt varumärke,organisationens varumärke och arbetsvilja) användes. Resultatet visade att åtta av studiensdeltagares ledare applicerar en mer human och positiv ledarskapsstil (exempelvisdemokratiskt och tranformellt ledarskap). Fler än hälften uppfattade sina ledares personligavarumärken som varma och kompetenta. Nio av studiens deltagare uppfattade organisationensvarumärke som kapabla och välmenande och åtta deltagare upplever att ledarens ochorganisationens varumärke överensstämmer med varandra. Generellt inspirerar ledarnastudiens deltagare. Resultatet tolkades utifrån två teoretiska ramverk (Stereotype ContentModel och Brands As Intentional Agents Framework) samt tidigare forskning. Studienshuvudsakliga fynd indikerade att medarbetarna upplever studiens olika parametrar somviktiga incitament till en ökad arbetsvilja. Men att ledarens personliga varumärke är detviktigaste. / The purpose of the study was to investigate how employees within organizations perceive theleader, the leader's personal brand in relation to the organization's brand and whetheremployees feel that these parameters result in increased work willingness. To investigate thepurpose, the following research questions were used: How are the leader and the leader'spersonal brand perceived by the employees of an organization? How is the leader's personalbrand perceived in relation to the organization? Are these parameters considered to beimportant reasons for an increased willingness to work? A total of twelve employees fromEastern, Southern and Southwestern Sweden participated, the average age was 30 years andthe participants had on average worked at their respective workplaces for 6.5 years. A semistructuredinterview guide with four pre-identified themes (leadership, personal brand,organization brand and work willingness) were used. The result showed that eight of theparticipants leaders applied a more humane and positive leadership style (for example,democratic and trans-formal leadership). More than half perceived their leaders' personalbrands as warm and competent. Nine of the study participants perceived the organization'sbrand as capable and well-meaning, and eight participants felt that the leader and theorganization's brand were related. In general, were the study participants inspired by theirleaders. The result was interpreted using two theoretical frameworks (Stereotype ContentModel and Brands As Intentional Agents Framework) and previous research. The conclusionfrom the study indicates that employees perceive the study's various parameters as importantreasons for an increased willingness to work. But the leader's personal brand is the mostimportant reason.