This study is based on the case of the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) since the organization has struggled with its recruitment and brand building. The purpose of the study is to approach the coherence between brand image and brand identity through an employer branding perspective. More specifically, it aims to explore how this interplay might influence the employer attractiveness of an organization. The research is based on a qualitative case study. Furthermore, previous research regarding brand identity, brand image and employer branding constitutes the basis of the developed conceptual model. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with current SAF employees and semi-structured focus groups with potential employees. Findings indicate the brand image did not cohere with the brand identity and that the potential employees had a more negative perception of the employer. However, the potential employees’ who had relatives who work for the SAF had a positive attitude towards the organization and perceived the workplace as more attractive. This study has contributed with an additional perspective on employer branding since there is little research within the field.

Background - What a company wants to communicate is today more correlated to their core values and within storytelling it is no exception. Storytelling is the art of using a story in focus in televised commercials and the products are used in the peripheral. Storytelling in televised commercials can create positive association and experience towards the brand and therefore increase the value. A pre-study was done to find suitable brands to continue the study with. The selected brands were Volvo Cars, IKEA and H&M since they were seen to be using storytelling and were high-valued brands in the Swedish product-oriented segment. Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to examine brand identity through storytelling. This is exemplified by Swedish product-oriented companies. More specific, to investigate the coherence with consumers’ brand image and existing gaps. The companies that will be covered in this study are Volvo Cars and IKEA, whereas H&M did not meet the requirements for further analysis in this thesis. Method - To conduct this study, a qualitative research method was adapted. The research was done with a philosophical mindset of interpretivism with an inductive research approach. The data for the empirical chapter was collected by a qualitative multi-method where the first set of primary data came from a content analysis of commercials. The second set of data came from semi-structured interviews. The sampled respondents were chosen to match the companies’ target segments. It was handled as a multiple case-study where each company was their own case. The data was later analyzed through the Brand Identity Prism and its six facets for both the companies’ brand identity and consumers brand image. Results and Conclusion - The results in this thesis showed that the brand identity of the analyzed companies using storytelling were overall coherent with the brand image consumers had of them. Some gaps occurred for the brands, however not within the same facets of the Brand Identity Prism. Due to this no general conclusion could be drawn specifically for Swedish product-oriented companies. Overall, the researchers concluded that the use of storytelling could both develop and reduce gaps, depending on how it is done. Developing storytelling based on a clear brand persona and the core values of the specific brand would help companies to reduce gaps. Practical Implications - This thesis is providing useful information to managers and business leaders by showing how they can compare and analyze the coherence of brand identity and brand image when using storytelling as a branding strategy. Furthermore, the researchers give insights for how to manage and reduce gaps between brand identity and brand image.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to critically examine the marketing strategy and marketing communication within a luxury fashion SME, the case of Mary Katrantzou. Methodology: This report has been conducted in a qualitative approach and six employees at the case study company have been interviewed. Three of the respondents are a part of the marketing department at the company, two are a part of the sales department and one member of the ecommerce team was interviewed. Moreover the interview approach was semi-structured interviews, and one on one interviews were conducted as well as written ones. Due to the access in the company the written interviews could be followed up by additional questions. Findings: Mary Katrantzou works with the appropriate traditional tools for luxury fashion brands, apart from advertisement, as well as working with the digital channels most suitable. Accordingly the theory a cohesive brand identity is vital when it comes to luxury fashion firms, and the findings in this area showed that the company does not have a coherent brand identity that permeates the whole organization. Instead the opinions of the six respondents differed. Moreover the empirical findings showed that collaborating with other companies could increase brand awareness. Conclusion: Mary Katrantzou’s marketing strategy is, accordingly the theory collected, in line with how luxury fashion brands should work with marketing. For the future however the company could invest in one more traditional tool in the form of advertisement. Figuring out the true brand identity of the company is also of importance. Moreover collaborations have according to this study the ability to increase brand awareness and should therefore be of interest to research further in the near future. Value/originality: The intimate access in the case study company in this report should be of high interest due to its rareness. From the inside examined fashion luxury brands are seldom researched, which adds value and originality to this study. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Competition is keen in the fashion industry of today. Homogenous products and prices aredriving competition and most firms are struggling hard to attract customers. Brands havebecome one of the most important assets for success and are often critical for the choices of theconsumers. A strong brand is often considered as a substantial value in the eyes of the consumerand gives the individual firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To build a strongbrand it takes that the brand identity not is in conflict with the brand image of a firm or a product.Sometimes one of these conflicts exit and sometimes the firms are not even aware of it.In this thesis we study how two firms, Lindex and Prada, perceive their own image and then wecompare how the images of the firms are perceived by the customers. We have also tried toexplain why such discrepancies take place.The thesis is based on secondary data such as articles and books about the subject and primarydata in the form of carried out interviews with people representing the fashion firms Prada andLindex. We also interviewed twelve women in the age of 25 to 35. Our choice of people tointerview was guided by our ambition to understand similarities, differences and problems inthe communication between the two firms and their customer.We have applied a hermenephtic research perspective which means that we as scientist arefairly free in our interpretations of the phenomenons that we study. This suited us well in ourambition to try to understand how firms work to make their perception of their own brand notdiffer from the perception of their own brand in the eyes of their customers.The thesis was based on a deductive research approach and existing theories in the field ofbrand identity and brand image. The theory frame of references being used is to some extentalso based on a model concerning expected and perceived quality both from a customer and asupplier perspective, developed by professor C. Grönroos. A model that we modified a little bitto make it fit the purpose of our study.The result of our study clearly indicate that brand identity and the brand image of Prada aremuch more homogeneous compared to the brand identity and the brand image of Lindex. Theresult is reflecting that Prada is much more successful and consequent in its marketcommunication. We also reached the conclusion that Lindex must be more realistic and specificin its market communication and not create customer expectations that it can not live up to withits current product portfolio. We think Lindex this way creates dissatisfied and non loyalcustomers. The situation for Lindex has been a little further complicated by the fact that thefirm is going through a reposition process by its new owner since a couple of years ago. / <p>Program: Textil produktutveckling med entreprenörs- och affärsinriktning</p><p>Uppsatsnivå: C</p>

Som en följd av globaliseringen, har antalet aktörer inom den textila sektorn ökat drastiskt. På så vis har konkurrensen mellan företag hårdnat och varumärket har utvecklats till ett viktigt konkurrensmedel. Nyetablerade företag har numera svårt att skapa en långvarig position på marknaden. Med detta som grund utvecklades uppsatsens syfte att studera hur nyetablerade företag arbetar för att bygga ett starkt varumärke och en varumärkesidentitet. Studien har utgått från en kvalitativ metod där två fallföretag studerats. För att utvinna relevant information har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts.I den teoretiska referensramen beskrivs varumärkesplattformen av Frans Melin samt David Aakers modell för varumärkesidentitetens byggstenar. Dessutom behandlas Aakers fyra uppställda identitetsfällor. Våra fallföretag, Sail Racing och Cheap Monday, är båda nyetablerade på marknaden, därav lämpar de sig bra för vår studie. Intervjuer med fallföretagen har sammanställts i det empiriska kapitlet, för att tillsammans med teorin ligga till grund för analysen.I analysen jämförs företagens arbetssätt med teorins lagar och samband utvinns, det visade sig att Sail Racing följer många av våra behandlade teorier till punkt och pricka. Cheap Monday, däremot, går emot teorierna och bygger sitt varumärke fritt från lagar. Avslutningsvis mynnar uppsatsen ut i ett antal slutsatser som grundats i uppsatta frågeställningar. Sammantaget skiljer sig företagens syn på varumärket åt, då Sail Racing arbetar aktivt med sin identitet medan Cheap Monday har en mindre fokuserad syn på sina marknadsaktiviteter. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Ett varumärke är en stor del av företagsstrategin för ett framgångsrikt företag och det är viktigt att skydda och bevara sitt varumärke. För att skapa och utveckla ett varumärke krävs en tydlig varumärkesstrategi, där den viktigaste delen är varumärkesidentiteten som är riktlinje för företagets arbete med varumärket. Varumärkets image syftar på hur konsumenter uppfattar ett varumärke genom dess produkter, service och kommunikation. Därför är det viktigt att företaget vet vad de vill förmedla till marknaden och hur de ska förmedla det. Då varumärken är precis som sin omgivning, under ständig förändring, behöver ett företag alltid vara förändringsbart för att kunna växa. En ompositionering av varumärkesprofilen kan innebära att varumärket förbättras och bli mer relevant gentemot konsumenternas perspektiv, men även det egna företagets och konkurrenternas perspektiv. Det är viktigt att ett varumärke upplevs som aktuellt, men en förändring av ett varumärke skapar inte bara möjligheter utan även risker. Vi har undersökt två textil- och modeföretag – Oscar Jacobson och Hemtex. Valet av företag grundade sig i att företagen nyligen har genomgått en ompositionering av varumärke, dock behöver processen inte vara avslutad, och att företagen var verksamma inom textil- och modebranschen. Undersökning är kvalitativ och baseras på intervjuer med en representant från varje företag. Vi fann att varumärkesidentiteten kan påverkas på många olika sätt genom olika värdebyggande aktiviteter i ompositioneringen av varumärkesprofilen och att varumärkesimagen följaktligen påverkas beroende på hur de här aktiviteterna utförs och vilken effekt de har. Varumärkesimagen påverkas således av resultatet av hur bra den önskade identiteten når fram till konsumenten.Vi fann vidare att riskerna med en ompositionering av varumärkesprofilen är befintliga och båda de undersökta företagen har uppenbara svårigheter att tacklas med redan från ompositioneringens början. De undersökta företagen arbetar på liknande sätt med ompositioneringen av varumärkesprofilen. Eftersom en ompositionering är en långsiktig process, är det svårt att se ett tydligt resultat av företagens respektive förändringar. Det som är viktigt för företagen är att de konsekvent arbetar för att nå de långsiktiga målen och att de inte försöker skapa en snabb lösning för en kortsiktig ökad lönsamhet.A brand is a large part of a successful company’s strategy, and it is vital to protect and maintain the value of the brand. To create and develop a brand, the company needs a coherent strategy for which the brand identity is the core representation of the brand. The brand image represents how the customer perceives the brand through its products, services and communication. It is therefore important for the company to have a clear picture of what they want to communicate on the market, and how they can accomplish that.A brand is like its surroundings, under constant change, and therefore a company always needs to be capable to adapt to be able to grow. The repositioning of a brand can result in an improved brand, which is more relevant both from the consumers’ point of view as from the own company’s and its competitors’ point of views. It is important that a brand is up to date. However, a repositioning of the brand can also come with risks.We have researched two companies in the fashion- and textile industry – Oscar Jacobson and Hemtex. We chose these companies on the basis that they recently repositioned their brands, even if the process is not yet finished, and that they practice in the fashion- and textile industry. Our study is qualitative and based on interviews with representatives from each company.We found that the brand identity can be affected by many activities building brand value, in the reposition process. Following, the brand image is affected by how well these activities are carried out and what outcome they have. The brand image is thus affected of how well and in what way, the consumer perceives the new brand identity.Moreover, we found that the risks with a repositioning of the brand are many and both the companies researched faced obvious difficulties already from the beginning of the repositioning. The researched companies have similar ways of working with the repositioning of the brand. However, it is difficult to see any clear results of the changes, since repositioning is a long-term process. What are important for the companies are to work consistently to reach the long-term goals, and that they are not looking for an easy solution for a short-term growth. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Brands have for a long time been used to identify and distinguish organizations, companies and products, it can be compared to as the soul of a company. A brand extension is a clear channel for product innovation, which can be a powerful tool to hold a competitive advantage. Product innovations can create differentiation; raise the brands characteristic-values, extend the area of use and block competitors.For 25 years, Panos Emporio has had a leading position in the swimwear industry and in spring of 2011 the company launched their first clothing collection for men and woman, and has recently launched an online store. The company is extending their brand and now that they have a new product category they are facing a challenge, which is underlying in our research question: How can Panos Emporio, a swimsuit brand, expand their brand image and identity to their new clothing line? The purpose of this report is to highlight important factors within brand extension that could be of value to Panos Emporio and other companies facing a brand extension.The report is a qualitative study using an abduction methodology where empirical findings have been studied parallel with the theories and vice versa. We have conducted interviews and observations, and have also collected quantitative data in form of a customer interview, to gain an understanding of the reality. We have chosen to examine and observe the brand Panos Emporio by asking questions regarding the company‟s organization, brand identity and image, as well as customer attitudes. The theoretical framework is underlying in our research study, with the initiation of portraying a brands meaning, importance and structure. Furthermore theories of brand extension with an emphasis on approach strategy and its advantages and disadvantages. The empirical chapter includes, information concerning the company´s brand, collections, costumer and retailers, as well as marketing strategies, which is a part of our data presentation.Out of our theoretical and empirical part we came to the conclusion that Panos Emporio should consider making the consumers more aware of the clothing collection before launching more products within a new product category, since the lack of awareness can throw a shadow over the main product and bring down the brand image which in terms affects the brand equity. Having good knowledge regarding the brands attribute, personality, purpose, identity and the relationship with consumers is more important than whether they should extend the brand or not. Companies need to focus on building their brand equity and image, towards the customers first. Authors believe that companies can take great advantages if a strong brand name and relationship is established at first. / Program: Master in Fashion Management with specialisation in Fashion Marketing and Retailing

Adopting an inside out perspective to city branding, this doctoral thesis examines the significance of residents and their relationship towards cities in terms of association, identity and ownership of the physical environment, in the context of city branding. This is important because the growing interest towards city branding not only challenged the traditional understanding of branding concepts but also forced academics and practitioners to seek ways to mould and shape existing concepts to the context of city branding. This qualitative study was undertaken within a constructivist grounded theory methodology and uses Leeds, UK and Istanbul, Turkey as deliberately contrasting case studies. In accordance with grounded theory, the literature was only used to inform rather than direct the research design. The sampling design involved initial and theoretical sampling and in total of 22 residents interviewed from both cities. The emergent place brand identity mosaic comprises of four main categories of social process (SP), place attachment (PA), sense of place (SoP) and built environment (BE), and the most significant feature of the place identity mosaic is that it is processual, dynamic, and time and context specific. In terms of contribution to knowledge, the present study bridges the gap in between the subject fields of branding (brand management) and urban studies by proposing an inside out approach to branding cities. The findings indicate that the place brand identity mosaic elements provide a platform to explain how residents make sense of where they live and to begin to understand the concept of the city brand identity. Moreover, in regards to practice, it brings a new perspective to the existing city managements by highlighting a focal point of “keeping the existing customers happy” through investigating and understanding the role and significance of residents, their attachment to where they live and how this insight can be cooperated into creating and developing a sustainable city brand.

Background: Companies nowadays cannot differentiate efficiently enough through their products, therefore require strong brand identities. Especially start-up companies without fully developed products rely on the brand identity to communicate efficiently with its potential customers. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the brand identity of a start-up by applying commonly used models of brand identity and to see the extent of applicability of these models in the case of a start-up. Design/Methodology/Approach: Qualitative research that includes semi-structured interviews with seven participants, where five interviewees work within the company and two interviewees who have a close working connection to it. Findings: The models used are to a small extent applicable in terms of brand personality and brand culture. A brand identity has been described from the same perspectives. Theoretical and Managerial Implication: Adjustment of existing models according to changes in business related settings is argued. Further establishment of the components of brand culture is recommended.

Background: It is important to have a coherent brand identity and brand image, as that facilitate the communication process for the brand. It specifically becomes an issue when consumers do not understand what the brand stands for.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to investigate to what extent the brand image of Fjällräven among Swedish consumers is coherent with its brand identity.Method: To fulfil the purpose of this study, the researcher applied a mixed method, indicating that both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The collection of qualitative data investigating brand identity was retrieved from an interview, along with complementary information from Fjällräven’s official brand book. The quantitative data investigating brand image, was retrieved from Swedish consumers that were aware of the brand. In order to investigate the concepts of brand identity and brand image, an abductive research approach was used, generating a broad overview of the topic. To justify an appropriate target population, a non-probability judgmental sampling technique was used.Conclusion: By combining the results from brand identity along with brand image, the researchers have found that the two concepts are coherent to a medium-strong level. This means that consumers and the company share the same thought about Fjällräven as a brand.