This study intended to advance the understanding of brand and value co-creation in sport management. A single exploratory case study of the Ottawa REDBLACKS, the CFL expansion franchise launching in 2014, was conducted. The purpose of the research was to unveil the practices that could lead to brand and value co-creation in the relationships between the Ottawa REDBLACKS and their stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews were performed with 20 participants from the focal organization’s network of stakeholders. The sample was built through a purposeful and snowball sampling method that added to stakeholders identified from the literature. Archival data of media publications, organizational online content, and radio podcasts were also gathered in order to complement the data from the interviews. The deductive and inductive data analysis highlighted five main practices that could lead to brand or value co-creation in the stakeholder-firm relationship performance in a unique sport context: establishing relationships, supporting public relations, sharing resources, enhancing the experience, and driving brand image. The findings explained that joint actions between stakeholders and the REDBLACKS can lead to increases in brand equity and value creation. In the end, the study suggested that future research should investigate the threat of co-destruction.

The thesis "Perception of Chinese hi-tech brands in Europe" examines how Chinese origin affects the perception of hi-tech brands by European customers. The theoretical part deals with the concept of country of origin and its relationship to the concept of brand equity. The practical part is devoted to the research on the topic of perception of Chinese smartphones in Europe. The research results confirm both hypotheses: 1. Customers when choosing a smartphone brand are not affected by the country of origin. 2. European customers do not perceive Chinese hi-tech products as of low quality.

The purpose of the research is to explore what brand equity is, examine different approaches to brand evaluation and study the current situation on the high tech market. The subject of the research is the value of brand as measure of efficiency of company's performance.

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.

This study represents an analysis of theoretical frameworks around brand integration strategies after mergers and acquisitions. The theoretical part of the paper is dedicated to the importance of brand equity, motives and advantages of brand acqui-sition and defines possible frameworks for brand integration strategies. A case study has been conducted on the application of the possible brand integration strategies based on an in-depth interview and thorough analysis of the outcomes of a specific acquisition in the domestic appliances industry

The thesis discusses the process of sponsoring as a marketing instrument. It particularly focuses on sponsoring in fine and visual arts and examines how is this practice perceived by customers and what benefits does it bring to its company or brand. One key factor in said customer perception - sponsorship fit - is emphasized, which indicates the importance of a relationship between the sponsor and the sponsee. Main goal of this thesis is to explain its nature and discover, whether do representatives of Czech companies act on it or not. Theoretical part of the thesis lists relevant knowledge from current, mainly foreign literature, and the practical part employs existing consumer research and expert interviews. Together, the entire work aims to create a consistent and coherent whole, depicting the current theories and their utilization in reality. The thesis draws the conclusion that sponsorship fit in fine and visual arts does have its unique features, which need to be taken into account. Moreover, Czech companies can indicate these features adequatly and adjust their sponsoring activities accordingly.

The main focus of this diploma thesis is brand image and brand identity. The objective of the thesis is to compare how consumers perceive the brand (brand image) with how the brand wants to be perceived itself (brand identity). First part is focused on the process of building and managing strong brands, as well as defining brand image and brand identity theoretically. The practical part presents the brand on which the research was conducted, Proenzi brand, its history on the Czech market, competition and its identity. In the final chapter there are presented results of the research which was conducted among the consumers of Proenzi brand and the comparison of brand image and brand identity. To conclude, there are presented suggestions for improvement and recommendations for future research extensions.

With the rising power of Internet and especially social media which includes different communities, blogs, portals(1) , etc., nowadays brand value, - its creation and control, is not in the hands of the companies anymore, but is shifted to the consumers. One aim of this paper is to investigate and try to prove the existence of social media influence on brand value. Another goal is to introduce a different vision of brand value in connection with Internet and the rise of social media's influence on consumer's minds. For the purpose of this research the terms brand value and brand equity would bear equal meanings. My theory, which I would like to introduce, was borrowed from biology and physics, namely from I.P. Pavlov's studies and his conditioned reflex theory(2) and the physics part is based on the dispersion of light theory which was first introduced, as we know, by Isaak Newton(3). I dare to say, that nowadays creation of brand value in consumer minds works the same way. When someone, man or woman, hears a brand name, a picture and a feeling, either positive or negative is immediately formed in the person's mind from personal experience with this brand. If not, then the brand is an unfamiliar one, thus we have to rely on a provided opinion, which was previously usually conveyed to us by family, relatives and close friends while recently, also by our growing virtual community. At the beginning of the thesis, I will present the theoretical background and data on World Wide Web and social media, followed by a concise description of some of the existing brand equity models, afterwards introducing my own vision on significant brand value components, elaborating on this theory with the help of relevant case studies and researches. Brand equity has generally been defined as "a brand's power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time, which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against competing brands"(4). Further on in the second chapter I will bring together more definitions on brand equity/value to be able to propose a modified one, components of which will be discussed thoroughly in the same chapter. The main goal of my Master Thesis is to analyze the existence of a dependency between social media and brand value. A second goal is to assess whether the impact is a positive or a negative one or is a mixture of both.

Digitalization has forced retailers to reevaluate their business models and channel strategies. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are no longer the standard and most of today’s retailers offer customers multiple sales channels to purchase from. The present study focusses on the grocery retail industry, which is rapidly shifting towards a more online purchasing setting. There is a need for further research regarding customer experience and customer loyalty, in an online grocery setting, with the aim to identifyimportant online attributes. Previous studies on online grocery and purchasing behavior have neglected to consider customers’ shift from the physical to the online store. Therefore, this study contributes to explain how factors of Brand Equity, Online Customer Experience (OCE) and E-loyalty affect customers’ willingness to stay with same grocery retailer while moving from offline to online. The study used a quantitative research approach by distributing a questionnaire on social media, resulting in 128 useful responds. The result demonstrated a positive relationship between the three concepts and customers’ willingness to choose the same online grocery retailer as offline. Brand was a significant factor in both offline and online. An online grocery retailer’s Website, Products, Interaction and Convenience wereshown to be important online attributes. Feeling secure with providing personal information and using acredit card online, was important. Lastly, maintaining a relationship with their online grocery retailer andfeeling emotionally satisfied after their online purchase was essential. Future research couldcomplement with other concepts that further explain grocery customers’ shift from the physical store to online.

Consumers are nowadays presented with many choices regarding products and services. In addition, there is a wide array of brands that one is forced to choose from. In this study you will get to know the brands that Swedish consumers think of first when given a specific category, thus the brands that are Top-of-mind. The purpose of this study is to investigate possible opportunities for a new entrant to become Top-of-mind and whether the importance of being Top-of-mind differs. The study examines four product categories: Toothpaste, Soft drink, Insurance company and Sportscar. The study’s empirical data is based on a survey of 200 respondents. The results of the study show that there are greater opportunities for a new market entrant to become Top-of-mind within the product category Insurance company and Sportscar, at the same time as it indicates that the possibilities within Toothpaste and Soda are smaller. Furthermore, the study's results conclude that it is more important to be Top-of-mind in the product categories Toothpaste, Soft drink and Insurance company.