No description available.

No description available.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to add empirical findings of IMC strategies utilizing digital- and traditional marketing communication channels to build and maintain brand equity in the FMCG industry. More specifically awareness, associations/image and sales that are said to be critically affected by communication are the focus of the study. Research Question: Are digital marketing communication channels in an IMC strategy effective in creating awareness, associations and sales within the FMCG industry? Methodological approach: An exploratory case study was adopted utilizing a mix of data sources. An interview with the Nordic Marketing Manager at the focal firm combined with multiple-source secondary data was used to give the context of the IMC strategy. A survey was then conducted with 269 respondents, thus the study measures the outcome on an individual level. Findings: The findings show that the digital marketing communication channels have little or no direct effects on awareness, associations and sales. When looking at light – heavy category users it is found that the traditional marketing communication channels have a greater effect on the lightest users. Social media from others than the firm was found to have greater effects on awareness for heavier category users. Synergy effects were found for social media from the focal firm and others. Although the touchpoints that gained synergy effects were unexpected: Seen at work, tasted at work, sample from i.e. friends and family and seen on shelf. Further research is needed. Contribution: This study moves beyond the laboratory setting of most previous research, allowing study of the touchpoints in business practice/part of an IMC strategy. Some touchpoints studied seem to be part of a novel notion not studied in previous research i.e. in store activites. More touchpoints are studied than in most previous research found.

Titel ”Vi säljer upplevelser” - En studie om hur motorcykelbranschen kan stärka sitt erbjudande över hela året genom en omnikanalstrategi   Nyckelord    Omnikanalstrategi, säsongsförsäljning, upplevelseekonomi, motorcykelbransch, touchpoints, CEM, CRM   Forskningsfråga På vilka sätt kan motorcykelbranschen med säsongsbetonad försäljning använda sig av en omnikanalstrategi för att stärka sitt varumärke och skapa erbjudanden genom hela året?   Syfte Syftet med studien är att öka kunskapen om hur MC-branschen kan använda en omnikanalstrategi som hjälper motorcykelåterförsäljare att stärka sitt varumärke och öka försäljningen och sina erbjudanden under hela året oberoende av säsong.   Metod Studien har använt en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med ett abduktivt angreppssätt. Studien bygger på relevant teori som skapat frågor till sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter av ett kvoturval.   Slutsats För att motorcykel återförsäljare ska stärka sitt varumärke och skapa relevanta erbjudanden genom hela året bör en omnikanalstrategi implementeras. Inom denna strategi bör företaget prioritera kundbemötande och skapa upplevelser samt långsiktiga och lojala kundrelationer.  Synkronisera alla kanaler för en sömlös upplevelse, skapa en varrumärkesupplevelse och engagemang genom hela året med kreativa erbjudanden. Utforma servicelandskap både traditionellt och virtuellt som bidrar till varimärkesupplevelse, värdeskapande och gemenskap. / Abstract   Title “We sell experiences” - A study on how the motorcycle industry can strengthen its offering throughout the year through an omnichannel strategy   Keyword Omni-Channel Strategy, Seasonal Sales, Experience Economi, Motorcycle Industry, Touchpoints, CEM, CRM   Research Question In what ways can the motorcycle industry with seasonal sales use an omnichannel strategy to strengthen its brand and create offers throughout the year?   Purpose The purpose of the study is to increase knowledge of how the MC industry can use an omnichannel strategy that helps motorcycle dealers strengthen their brand and increase sales and offers throughout the year regardless of season.   Method The study has used a qualitative research strategy with an abductive approach. The study is based on relevant theory that created questions for seven semi-structured interviews with representatives of a quota selection.   Conclusion In order for motorcycle dealers to strengthen their brand and create relevant offers throughout the year, an omnichannel strategy should be implemented. In this strategy, the company should prioritize customer service and create experiences as well as long-term and loyal customer relationships. Synchronize all channels for a seamless experience, create a brand experience and commitment throughout the year with creative offerings. Design service landscapes both traditional and virtual that contribute to brand experience, value creation and community.

The digital world is constantly growing. This contributes to increasing expectations and demands in the technical aspect. Digitization is powerful, but it further contributes to a number of challenges, such as the coordination of physical and digital stores. During the corona pandemic, the digital transformation has accelerated for companies to adapt to customers. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to understand how swedish retailers can manage technological touchpoints in customer journeys in the furniture sector. Further the purpose is to investigate how retailers can use technological touchpoints to change the quality and customer engagement in the customer journey.  To be able to answer the empirical findings, six semi-structured interviews were obtained through a multiple case study. The theory from previous research and the empirical results were then discussed in the analysis. The conclusion of the thesis resulted in the management of digital touchpoints is different depending on whether it concerns companies using physical stores or e-commerce. This thesis has identified that retailers in the furniture sector manage technological touchpoints to create a seamless customer experience, increase customer satisfaction, more easily engage customers and to be able to integrate with customers in several ways. Digital touchpoints have made it easier for companies to measure results and to be able to improve the customer journey. One identification was that customer engagement has increased in relation to the increased digitalization, but also that the researched companies believe that digitization is vital for increasing customer engagement. Due to the technology, opportunities are created to be able to develop the quality of the customer journey. Further, by being able to measure the customer journey, the companies gain an insight into what should be constantly improved.

The travel distribution industry is growing. While traditional distribution channels such as online travel agencies and physical stores are decreasing in revenues, metasearch companies are receiving greater attention from consumers. However, metasearch companies face challenges even with an increasing market. Offering a proposition with a business model that revolves around pay per click and advertisements, you are in need of large amount of traffic. To understand the consumer behaviour has never been more critical. It is about increasing the ability to create a rich customer experience. In order to do so, companies are in need of understanding how to interact with consumers. The interaction is mainly occurring through touchpoints. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate how the current identified most relevant digital touchpoints are having impact on the consumers opinion of metasearch websites in the travel distribution industry. By doing so, we contribute to marketing theory, method and practices. The importance of certain touchpoints and to find out if they have the same relevance when the purchase itself is excluded. Focus is being towards factors that metasearch companies see as undiscovered. A quantitative study was conducted with a sample of 148 respondents. The result not only gave new insight in terms of touchpoints relevance in metasearch industries but also a theoretical ground for future research.

Abstract Purpose:The purpose of this study is to explore in-store touchpoints that help creating a positive customer experience in apparel stores. The aim of this thesis is to provide further insight that may be used for implementation of experiential marketing in stores.   Problem:As e-commerce channels are gaining more customers to the detriment of brick and mortar stores, the authors of this thesis believe it is relevant to study what apparel stores can do to enhance their customer experience. There is substantial research done on customer experience but not as much on the combination of touchpoints in-store and how that connects to customer experience. This literature gap forms the problem discussion and the research question the thesis strives to explore.   Method:An exploratory strategy with a combination of deductive and inductive research approach has been applied for the study. Through secondary data and literature search the authors explored the field of experience and in-store touchpoint elements contributing to customer experience and interaction. Further, a qualitative approach was used to form case studies on three companies; Firstly, Qmatic a global leader in helping companies seamlessly integrate online and offline touchpoints, through pioneering software and hardware systems. Secondly, the women’s fashion brand NA-KD, having sold clothes to more than 150 countries in less than two years. Thirdly, Partners, a traditional family-owned brick and mortar store selling apparel to gentlemen.   Findings and Conclusion:The analysed empirical findings present that apparel stores work differently with touchpoints depending on who their customer is. Based on the three case studies, the authors conclude that “employee and customer interaction” is the most prominent touchpoint connected with in-store environment. This element can be reinforced by other touchpoints customized for specific brands and stores, which also plays a big role for the customer experience and interaction.

The concept of customer experience has an increasing interest among organizations today since customers have become picky and demands for an experience are an existing fact. In the early 2000s, a paradigm shift was found, where focus from a goods-dominant logic was moved to a service-dominant logic which came to have a great impact on how to manage customer experiences today. Digitalization in society has increased which has created both opportunities and difficulties for organizations. A new norm has emerged where organizations implement an omnichannel strategy. In turn, omnichannel marketing can improve the customer experience. However, omnichannel marketing makes the customer journey highly individual and more complex to understand. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to explore how Swedish retailers on a strategic level manage the customer experience and if there are any differences in the strategies between price segments. The empirical findings were conducted using a qualitative multiple case study of five cases in the Swedish retail sector. The data was gathered from semi-structured interviews and was analyzed and compared to existing theory.  The conclusion of this thesis shows customer insights as a common theme that emerges frequently throughout the semi-structured interviews. Through customer insight, retail organizations have a chance to meet their customers’ demands and face the complexity that occurs with technology and new channels. In the conclusion, there are also found differences in how to manage customer experiences between price segments. A common factor among the cases within customer experience is quality. Although, quality has a different meaning depending on which price segment. Further, the quality can be staged into three levels connected to each price segment.

Sensory marketing is a broad concept that can be used as a marketing tool. The sensory marketing can be used in different ways and in different environments. The most common use for sensory marketing in a B2C environment where the customer can interact with their senses more.But how do B2B companies comprehend sensory marketing in a digital environment. The use of sensory marketing is a hard marketing tool to use when applying it to the digital environment. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis has been to examine how B2B companies can implicate sensory marketing in digital marketing and how it can affect their brand image.  The research questions were to be answered by using qualitative case study where eight different industries within the B2B companies participated in semi-structured interviews.  Using the qualitative method to get a more in-depth understanding of how different industries within the B2B companies use sensory marketing is the right choice for collecting correct data. Later in the thesis the collected data is going to be analyzed and discussed with the theory for the purpose to see similarities and differences.  The conclusion of this explains to those B2B companies that were interviewed for this thesis, that the use of sensory marketing is not a conscious decision. The companies use vision and hearing as a subconscious method of spreading awareness about the companies. Although the B2B companies feel it's hard to imply for the business the choice of using the other sense is not aucurrent for their business.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to get insights in how the digitalization of fitness services has affected the customer experience, this with a focus on fitness services such as dance classes and PT-sessions online.  Theoretical background The theory has its foundation in both the customer journey where different touchpoints are perceived and the factors affecting the customer experience. Many studies have been done in the subject of customer experience and five factors are categorized. First, the cognitive factors then the affective factors, sensory factors, social factors and last the conative factors.  Methodology The study employs a qualitative research type with a cross-sectional research design. Primary data are collected through semi-structured interviews with four customers and one gym. Empirical findings and analysis Multiple differences and similarities between the digital and physical experience are presented. For example, physical gyms have more equipment than all of the respondents have in their home. At the same time, it can be a disadvantage that the internet connection and digital tools are required at the digital classes. However, the flexibility is higher when the classes are online, both because of the accessibility and the higher ability to choose time and place for the workout.  Conclusion The digitalization of fitness services has affected the customer experience, both positive and negative. To what extent the change is positive or negative are based on personal preferences. For instance, some customers enjoy the lack of social interaction while some miss is, some may like the smell of the gym while some prefer the smell of their own home. Therefore, the ability to choose in the future is recommended and the gyms do need to work on the optimalization of the experience both for their digital and physical customers.