På grund av att dagens samhälle kantas av ett informationsöverflöd måste organisationer hitta andra vägar för att träffa rätt med sin kommunikation. Tidigare kommunicerades varumärkens budskap ut via traditionella medier men nya trender har medfört nya kommunikationsmetoder som sponsring via idrottsarenor med olika kommunikativa målsättningar. Då mycket av den tidigare forskningen på kommunikation via idrottsarenor har ett internationellt perspektiv med kommersiella aktörer tar denna studie istället avstamp i Sverige med hopp om att bidra med ett nytt perspektiv. Syftet med studien är att skapa ökad förståelse för kommersiella, kommunala och ideella aktörers kommunikativa arbete med arenasponsring. För att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar har en kvalitativ metod använts i form av samtalsintervjuer. Samtalsintervjuerna har genomförts med sju strategiskt utvalda respondenter som verkar inom kommersiella, kommunala och ideella organisationer och som fick avge sin syn på fenomenet arenasponsring. Resultatet visar att organisationernas arbete med att kommunicera via en idrottsarena handlar dels om att namnsätta en arena, dels att kommunicera på plats i arenan eller i egna kanaler samt genom att ha egna relationsskapande aktiviteter i anknytning till arenan. Genom arenasponsringen så kan de skapa kännedom om sitt varumärke, öka försäljningen och skapa relationer med sina intressenter. Trots att arbetet med kommunikationen via arenasponsringen är likvärdig för den övervägande delen av respondenterna skiljer sig dock deras incitament åt. Gemensamt för den övervägande delen av respondenterna är att de belyser det faktum att genom arenasponsringen så gagnar de stor publicitet i media.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: Cheap Monday – A qualitative study of the consumers’ opinions of the brand (Cheap Monday – En kvalitativ studie av konsumenternas åsikter om märket)</p><p>Number of pages: 38 (40 including enclosures)</p><p>Author: Oskar Norlander</p><p>Tutor: Göran Svensson</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Autumn 2007</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this essay is to examine from the customers’ perspective how the Swedish jeans-brand Cheap Monday in just three years time could become such a prominent brand on the Swedish market. An additional purpose is to examine whether there is some kind of brand community connected to the brand or not.</p><p>Material/Method: The main method used in this essay has been qualitative interviews with ten consumers of the brand. The answers from these interviews has then been analysed using two different theories, Keller’s Customer Based Brand Equity and Muniz and O’Guinnn’s Brand Community.</p><p>Main results: The main results of this essay is that Cheap Monday is a brand that has become successful due to people’s perception of who the users of the brand are. The consumers has already from the start gotten a good impression of the brand, since they’ve seen people who they liked, and people who they thought were cool and well dressed wearing Cheap Monday clothing. This is linked to the fact that Cheap Monday costs so much less than their competitors, since the “cool people” that use Cheap Monday clothing makes the low price acceptable and a good thing from the customers perspective, instead of it being a indicator that the brand is unfashionable and no good. It has also been proved that there is somewhat of a brand community connected to the brand, even though the respondents in this essay did not feel connected to this community. On the other hand, almost all of the respondents did think that other people who wear Cheap Monday in some way felt some kind of connection to each other, and most of them a reed on that the brand on its own more or less has originated a new style.</p><p>Keywords: Cheap Monday, CM, Brand Equity, Brand Community, consumer, associations, Keller, Muniz, O’Guinn</p>

<p>Authors: Alexander Falck, 86-05-24, Economic program</p><p>Rasmus Bergqvist, 84-11-08, Marketing program</p><p>Course: International Marketing Strategy, 4FE02E (AF) and 4FE00E (RB)</p><p>Tutor: Anders PehrssonExaminer: Anders PehrssonTitle: Is There More to Merchandise Than Making Money? A comparative study of Scandinavian football clubs describing how they build Brand Equity through merchandise.</p><p>Background and problem discussion: Merchandise is one part of the product that a football club offers. Kapferer‟s (2008) Brand Identity Prism should be useful to map the relationship between product and Brand Equity. Merchandise attractiveness can affect consumers‟ perception regarding the product quality of the whole club. As little have been written regarding how Scandinavian football clubs use their products to build their Brand Equity we saw a relevance of further searching in to this subject.</p><p>Research question: How do Scandinavian football clubs use merchandise to build the club Brand Equity?</p><p>Purpose: The purpose is to identify what differences and similarities Scandinavian football clubs have in their development of fan merchandise and presenting successful methods to build Brand Equity, in terms of the percental contribution to the club‟s total turnover and the merchandise turnover contribution from each attending supporter.</p><p>Methodology: To study the subject thoroughly the study used in this thesis is qualitative. We have chosen to conduct a multiple case study with semi-structured interviews and content analysis of the physical artefacts, merchandise. Five Scandinavian football clubs took part in this research.</p><p>Findings: The Brand Equity component that the clubs are trying to affect the most through merchandise is brand association. Perceived quality and brand awareness are secondary focuses for the clubs to affect while brand loyalty couldn‟t be seen in this thesis.</p><p>Keywords: Brand, Brand Association, Brand Awareness, Brand Equity, Brand Identity Prism, Culture, Merchandise, Perceived Quality, Personality, Physique, Relationship</p>

<p><strong>Purpose</strong></p><p>The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the current challenges facedby Husqvarna Motorcycles in their brand building process, and todescribe ways in which applying the brand equity principles will enablean increase of the value of their brand.</p><p><strong>Background</strong></p><p>In the complex world of organizations and companies where thecompetitive position plays an important role in successful achievementsof the company, managers seek after building a sustainablecompetitive advantage. Building brand equity is an important focusfor a large company' improvement, since it raises interest of existingand new customers. The process of building brand equity takestime but through this process a company will have a stronger marketposition which creates brand value.</p><p><strong>Method</strong></p><p>In order to answer the purpose, the qualitative method with implementation of semi-structured interviews for collecting data wasused. The data was interpreted and then structured and analyzedusing theoretical framework.</p><p><strong>Conclusions</strong></p><p>During the research performed it was found out that the managersare facing several challenges in respect to building brand equity.Therefore, five components of building brand equity were implementedto draw the conclusions of how the managers could strengthentheir brand.</p>

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the status of brand loyalty to art festivals with reference to Klein Karoo national Arts Festival (KKNK). This was achieved by firstly analysing and discussing the role of branding in tourism marketing. Secondly, a literature study was conducted to analyse the concept brand loyalty. Thirdly, the results of the empirical research were discussed and finally the conclusions were drawn from the research and recommendations were made with regard to visitors’ loyalty to the KKNK. Literature indicated that when marketing a tourism product or service it involves a complex bundle of value, which is intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable. Therefore the tourist’s experience with the product is important to keep in mind. Every tourist counts in the tourism industry therefore knowledge related to the needs and wants of the tourists. This can be determined by market research that is designed to collect, analyse, interpret and report information. The marketer can use this information to create a marketing mix, however, in the tourism and hospitality industry the four P’s (price, promotion, product, place) are extended with more P’s, namely people, physical environment, processes, packaging, participation, productservice mix, presentation mix and communication mix. The tourism product or festival should be positioned in the minds of the tourists and this cannot be achieved without branding the product. The brand name is used to identify and differentiate the product from its competitors. It also creates meaning for the tourist and establishes a competitive position in the minds of the tourist. Brand loyalty should be an important marketing goal of the tourism product because it reduces a brand’s vulnerability to competitors’ action and create a committed relationship with the tourists that insure lifelong visiting behaviour among tourists or positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Brand loyalty is build on six levels which can also be utilised to determine the visitors loyalty towards the brand and to assist the marketer on focussing on areas which should be improved to achieve a higher level of loyalty. The aim of the marketer should be to achieve the highest level of brand loyalty namely Resonance. For the purpose of this study the visitors’ profile and the current status of brand loyalty, were measured by means of a questionnaire and the objective of the questionnaire was to determine how loyal the visitors were to the KKNK. The questionnaires were distributed among the visitors at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn, in April 2009. Availability sampling was used to collect the data based on the fact that the respondents were conveniently available on the festival grounds and at show venues and willing to complete the questionnaires. A total of 422 questionnaires were completed during the festival. The factor analysis determined that Brand Feelings were the loyalty level that was rated the highest by the respondents to the KKNK. Therefore it was determined that the visitors’ loyalty to KKNK is currently at the fifth loyalty level and will have the most influence on the visitors when deciding to visit or recommend the KKNK. This is expected for a festival that is 15 years old however, the organisers of the KKNK can continue to improve the visitors loyalty until they reach the sixth and highest, loyalty level. This study contributes to the limited available literature on brand loyalty to arts festivals. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Background: The importance of brand communities is increasing as managers have understood the benefits such communities which can create competitive advantage. Companies are trying to differentiate from the competitors and customer-based brand equity has been acknowledged as a successful marketing tool. Moreover, the development of social media allowed people from different cultures to come together, interact and share experiences in regards of their favorite brand. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the effect of relationships on social media based brand communities on customer-based brand equity in the service industry. Methodology: The research proposes a sequential explanatory design which consists of a mixed approach by collecting and analyzing the quantitative data first, followed by the collection and analysis of the qualitative data in the form of interviews based on the quantitative results. Data has been collected from Facebook Groups and Facebook Fan Pages in regards of an airline. Findings: Relationship that customers form with the brand, other customers and the service on social media based brand equity have a positive effect on customer-based brand equity. Furthermore, perceived brand trust represents a significant moderator in this relationship. Additionally, results show that there are differences between different cultures in enhancing brand equity. Keywords: Social Media, Brand Communities, Customer-Based Brand Equity, Service Industry, Perceived Brand Trust, Culture

I det moderna samhället är arbetet inte längre enbart en inkomstkälla utan ett verktyg för självförverkligande. Ur de anställdas perspektiv är företagens attraktivitet, sociala värden, ekonomiska fördelar och utvecklingsmöjligheter viktiga aspekter som tas i beaktning när man söker sig till ett företag och därför betydelsefulla för företagen att efterleva. Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram sätter därför arbetsgivarlöftet och vikten av att det följs i centrum. Vi har funnit ett flertal forskningsstudier relaterade till arbetsgivarlöften, som genomförts inom olika branscher, men saknar undersökningar i textilbranschen där vi ser flera anledningar till varför det skulle vara aktuellt. Studiens syfte är därför att undersöka preferenser bland anställda inom funktionerna inköp och design på företag inom textilbranschen och se hur väl dessa uppnås för att kunna dra slutsatser om förbättringsområden. Samtidigt vill vi se hur stor inverkan den geografiska platsen har och hur benägna de anställda är att yttra sig om arbetsplatsrelaterad information på sociala medier. Studien har genomförts med en kvantitativ ansats, där datainsamling skett genom webbenkäter via bekvämlighet- och snöbollsurval för att nå ut till relevanta personer. Enkäten samlade in åsikter från drygt 23 % av urvalsramen. Av dessa hade nästan 84 % en eftergymnasial utbildning och 30 % hade varit anställda i över 5 år, vilket bekräftar att deltagarna besitter erfarenhet och kompetens som är värdefull för arbetsgivarna. Sociala värden var absolut viktigast för respondenterna i vår undersökning och att ha en god relation till kollegor och chefer toppade listan. En härlig och kul stämning på arbetsplatsen kom inte långt därefter. Lyckligtvis är det också en känsla av tillhörighet som arbetsgivarna lyckas uppfylla bäst. 65 % anger betyget 7 eller högre på hur nöjda de är med sin arbetssituation. Det finns dock utrymme för förbättring, speciellt när det kommer till faktorer som lön, förmåner och självbildskongruens. Resultatet visade att arbetsorten i sig inte var anmärkningsvärt viktig och så länge arbetet är meriterande behöver inte arbetsplatsen ligga i en storstad. Studiens deltagare anger att de är aktiva på sociala medier, men få av dem uttrycker sig positivt eller negativt om sin arbetsgivare via dessa plattformar i dagsläget. Här ser vi ett potentiellt förbättringsområde när det kommer till att få de anställda att bli varumärkesambassadörer för företagets employer brand. / In modern society, our work is no longer just a source of income but a tool for self-realization. From the employees' perspective corporate attractiveness, social values, economic benefits and development opportunities are important aspects taken into consideration when applying for a job and therefore important for companies to acknowledge. The theoretical framework therefore puts the employer brand promise and the importance of its compliance in focus. The study aims to investigate preferences among employees in the purchasing and design functions in the textile industry, and see how well they are achieved to draw conclusions about areas for improvement. At the same time, we want to see how much influence the geographical location has and how likely the employees are to share workplace-related information on social media. The study was conducted with a quantitative approach, where data was collected through web surveys with a convenience and snowball sampling method to reach out to relevant people. The survey gathered opinions from more than 23% of the sample field. Of these, almost 84% had post-secondary education and 30% had been employed for over 5 years, which confirms that the participants possesses experience and expertise that is valuable to their employers. Social values were regarded most important and to have a good relationship with colleagues and managers was ranked as the number one preference. A fun atmosphere scored second place. Fortunately, it is also a sense of belonging that employers seem to meet the best. 65% of the respondents graded 7 or higher on job satisfaction on a scale of 1-10. However, there is room for improvement, especially when it comes to factors such as salary, benefits and self-image congruency. The result shows that the workplace location in itself was not remarkably important and as long as the job is meritorious it does not need to be situated in a big city. The study participants indicate that they are active on social media, but few of them express any positive or negative aspects about their employers on these platforms. Here we see a potential area for improvement when it comes to turning the employees into brand ambassadors for the company's employer brand. This research paper is written in Swedish.

Ce travail doctoral introduit le nouveau concept de capital mode appliqué aux marques de luxe. Défini comme la valeur ajoutée de la mode aux marques, ce nouvel outil a été fondé sur quatre études empiriques, deux qualitatives et deux quantitatives. Les résultats ont permis de (1) définir le concept en sept dimensions, (2) d’identifier le rôle du besoin de conformité, de différenciation des consommateurs, et l’implication dans les vêtements comme étant des antécédents du capital mode, (3) de mettre en avant les variables modératrices du modèle que sont les besoins des conformité et de différenciation du consommateur, ainsi que le capital marque, et enfin (4) d’exprimer ses conséquences relationnelles et comportementales au travers de l’engagement, du bouche-à-oreille, de la volonté de payer un prix premium et de l’intention de ré-achat / This doctoral work introduces the new concept of fashion equity applied to luxury brands. Defined as the added value of fashion to brands, this new tool was developed based on four empirical studies, two qualitative and two quantitative. The results allowed to (1) define the concept along with seven dimensions, (2) identify as antecedents, consumers conformity and differentiation needs, as well as clothing involvement (3) highlight the moderating variables of the model as consumer conformity, differentiation needs and brand equity, and finally (4) express the relational and behavioral consequences of the concept through commitment, word of mouth, willingness to pay a premium price and intention to re-purchase

Introduire la marque, dans le cadre des relations de la franchise peut se révéler efficace si les pratiques du franchiseur pour influencer les décisions des franchisés se révèlent inefficaces. Cette recherche explore et examine la qualité de la relation franchisé-marque comme un médiateur de la relation entre les bénéfices de la marque perçus par le franchisé et leurs comportements de citoyenneté de marque. Une phase qualitative a été conduite, suivie par une analyse quantitative où un modèle conceptuel a été testé par des équations structurelles (PLS-SEM). L’enquête par questionnaire a été réalisée en France et en Indonésie. L’analyse montre que les bénéfices de la marque influencent significativement la qualité de relation franchisé-marque. La qualité de la relation franchise-marque est ainsi le principal mécanisme de médiation dans la relation entre les bénéfices de la marque et les comportements de citoyenneté de marque des franchisés. Cette recherche étend le paradigme de la relation de franchise en associant le rôle du franchisé et de la marque dans le cadre relationnel au-delà de la dyade traditionnelle franchisés/franchiseur. Les résultats montrent que les franchisés deviennent des supporteurs actifs de la marque au travers des actions franchiseur/franchisés lorsqu'ils sont liés de manière émotionnelle aux marques. Nous sommes conscients que la petite taille de notre échantillon est insuffisante pour tester notre modèle conceptuel complexe. Les recherches futures peuvent bénéficier en examinant le rôle de la relation franchisé-marque comme atténuateur des transgressions de la marque du franchiseur sur les intentions de renouveler le contrat de franchisé. / Introducing the brand in the context of franchise relationships prove effective since franchisor's practices to influence the decisions of franchisees are no longer as effective. This research aims to explore and examine the quality of franchisee-brand relationship as a mediator of the relationship between franchisee-perceived brand benefits and franchisee brand citizenship behaviours. A qualitative phase was conducted, followed by a quantitative analysis where a conceptual model was tested by structural equations (PLS-SEM). The survey was carried out in France and in Indonesia. The analysis shows that franchisee-perceived brand benefits significantly influence the quality of franchisee-brand relationships. The latter also acts as the key mediating mechanism in the relationship between franchisee-perceived brand benefits and franchisee brand citizenship behaviours. This research extends the franchise relationship paradigm by combining the role of the franchisee and the brand within the relational framework beyond the traditional franchisee-franchisor dyad. The results suggest that franchisees become active supporters of the brand through franchisor-franchisee actions when they are emotionally bonded with the brands. We are aware of the sample size relative insufficiency to fit our complex conceptual model with the data. Future research can benefit by examining the role of franchisee-brand relationship in altering the effect of franchisor brand transgressions on franchisee stay intention.

The concept of Green Brand Equity is based on the assumption that customers will be more favorable towards a firm's brand when the firm provides products and services that satisfy the customers' environmental needs. While environmental and brand management have been researched thoroughly in business-to-consumer (B2C) markets, similar research inbusiness-to-business (B2B) contexts is still scarce. This study aims to contribute to environmental management and B2B brand research through an empirical study of customers' perceptions of Green Brand Equity in industrial B2B markets. A qualitative study was conducted analyzing customers who purchase products from a brand of a Swedish high-tech and global industrial engineering company. The findings suggest that although traditional aspects like price, quality and delivery performance are of high importance, customers in B2B markets also take environmental impact into consideration in their purchase decisions. The customers' consideration of environmental impact mainly stemmed from the customer firms' Green Policies, as well as the individual buyer's Green Concerns. The findings further showed that supplier firms can strengthen Green Brand Equity through sustainability initiatives. By supporting the applicability of Green Brand Equity in a B2B context, this study contributes to the theoretical discussion as well as to practitioners in the field.