This study presents a design framework for helping Chinese companies and designers to create effective animated cartoon characters for promoting brands. Previous research has demonstrated that animated characters which companies use to promote their brands appear to have a good chance of gaining and holding consumers’ attention. However, most relevant research in this area was conducted decades ago and focused on TV advertisements. There is little relevant research into new media advertisements featuring animated characters in an international context even though online advertising is growing. Furthermore, several academic researchers in China have begun to explore this topic without the benefit of practical research. As a result, the Animated Cartoon Promotional Characters (ACPC) are rarely developed and used although the animation industry has boomed in the Chinese market. ACPC for client companies which are created by commercial designers or design studios are not always in accordance with the preferences of their target customers. A design framework is therefore needed to provide a detailed design procedure for potential customer involvement. In order to achieve this, the Sanyuan Foods Company has been involved as a case study in this research. A series of surveys and focus groups with potential customers and interviews with Sanyuan and professional animators have been employed to improve the design process, to explore and identify more effective design procedures and to develop a design framework for the production of ACPCs. Secondary research has also been conducted in order to trace the historical issues and growth of promotional characters which have been employed successfully by selected companies; to determine the design process and fundamental features, functions and narrative for these animated promotional characters; and to discuss the relationship between different age groups and promotional characters, customers' favour and loyalty. The final framework has been evaluated by the development and testing of a “family“ of 2D and 3D hybrid computer characters for Sanyuan Foods and a series of short promotional animations and web site. Results show positive agreement with theoretical predictions and significant improvement over previous efforts. The research presented here has significant implications for future studies on branding strategy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Kanan Martins de Moraes.pdf: 2158282 bytes, checksum: a4afa0c9f9571640a6f3f4918b13ec6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The higher education area in Brazil it s unquestionably in the rising, where in just 12 years, from 2000 to 2012 the number of private institutions more than doubled going from 1.004 units to 2.100, resulting in the increase of the demand, number of available courses, number of needed teachers resulting in more intense competition. Just as there the increase for the demand of higher education institutions, there also a considerable growth in the use of digital social media tools being the Facebook the most popular in the country in number of users and access time. This study objective is to look in how a higher education institution uses this tool in help to promote brand, and how is the analysis of used strategies and performance indicators. The chosen method for the study was the case study, followed by a well-defined protocol where a depth interview was chosen for information obtaining subsidized for observation techniques and secondary data obtained with the Quintly tool. The obtained result shows numbers that indicate a satisfactory growth in the follower s number and increasing the brand exposition directly by shares and indirectly by likes and comments, result of the strategy of rigid content selection that draws attention and attracts all public, including students, ex-students and the general community. Was possible observe, so, that the tool is powerful as a tool that helps the brand promotion and allows even the analysis of the satisfaction of these followers because not only increases the brand exposition power, but also shows a pride level showing themselves and public commenting their opinion about the institution. Ultimately the growth and the increase of the exposition obtained by the research enterprise seems satisfactory showing difficulties that, if repaired, will results in a better exposition, especially if some essential aspects were fixed like the monitoring and a higher exposition at weekends / A área de ensino superior no Brasil está em ascensão indiscutivelmente, onde em apenas 12 anos, de 2000 a 2012, o número de instituições privadas mais do que dobrou passando de 1.004 unidades para 2.100, resultando em um aumento da demanda, número de cursos disponíveis, número de professores necessários resultando em uma concorrência mais acirrada. Assim como houve um aumento pela demanda de instituições de ensino superior, houve, também, um crescimento considerável no uso de ferramentas de redes sociais digitais sendo o Facebook a ferramenta mais popular no país em número de usuários e em tempo de acesso. O objetivo deste estudo é observar como uma instituição de ensino superior faz uso dessa ferramenta no auxílio da exposição de sua marca, bem como a análise das estratégias utilizadas e indicadores de desempenho. O método escolhido para a realização do estudo foi o estudo de caso, seguindo um protocolo definido onde uma entrevista de profundidade foi selecionada para a obtenção de informações subsidiadas por técnicas de observação e obtenção de dados secundários com a ferramenta Quintly. O resultado obtido demonstrou números que indicam crescimento satisfatório no número de seguidores, ampliando a exposição da marca diretamente com compartilhamentos e indiretamente por curtidas e comentários, resultantes de uma estratégia de seleção rígida de conteúdo que chame a atenção e atraia todos os públicos, incluindo alunos, ex-alunos e a comunidade em geral. Foi possível observar, então, que a ferramenta possui um grande poder como ferramenta auxiliar na promoção da marca e permite até mesmo a análise da satisfação desses seguidores, pois não apenas amplia o poder de exposição da marca expondo-a mas, também, demonstra um nível de orgulho expondose comentando publicamente sua opinião a respeito da instituição. Por fim o crescimento e aumento da exposição da empresa pesquisada demonstrou-se satisfatório apresentando dificuldades que, se melhoradas, resultará em uma exposição superior, principalmente se corrigidos aspectos essenciais como monitoramento e uma exposição maior aos finais de semana

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Karlstad City Fiber Network visual elements in the form of a pair of speech bubbles fit into the organization's holistic external communication and branding. The study examines whether Karlstad City Fiber Network image of the organization and the speech bubbles match the stakeholders view and how the visual elements are perceived and recognized by stakeholders. The theory associated with the study is theories of corporate visual identity, image, identity and branding and visual communication. These three elements are important to be aware of when a generation of an effective external communications. Qualitative interviews with employees at Karlstad City Fiber Network and Karlstad municipality has undertaken to give an idea of ​​what the organization wants to achieve and what their opinions are. Karlstad City Fiber Network wants stakeholders to perceive the brand building marketing records as playful, with a twinkle in his eye and inviting to dialogue while the direct information shall be straight and free of jargon. The organization wishes that stakeholders see them as a safe choice as well as local and accessible for inhabitants of Karlstad. Karlstad City Fiber Network sees it as a great advantage to be taken of Karlstad Municipality, which also welcomes the urban network is municipal. Through focus group interviews with Karlstad City Fiber Network stakeholders, the inhabitants of Karlstad, it has emerged that the speech bubbles is not recognized, but it is only when the speech bubbles is put into a context, such as newspaper or newsletter that it can be linked to anything that advocates the municipality of Karlstad and dialogue. It is concluded that corporate visual identity is the link between the visual and the context of an organization's marketing. Stakeholders see Karlstad City Fiber Network as a credible organization that is simple yet eye-catching newsletters, but believe that their marketing is somewhat vague and confusing. / Studiens syfte är att undersöka huruvida Karlstads Stadsnäts visuella element i form av ett par pratbubblor passar in i organisationens helhetliga externa kommunikation och varumärke. Studien undersöker om Karlstads Stadsnäts bild av organisationen och pratbubblorna stämmer överens med intressenternas bild samt hur de visuella elementen upplevs och känns igen av intressenterna. Teorin som är kopplad till studien är teorier inom corporate visual identity, image, identitet och varumärke samt visuell kommunikation. Dessa tre delar är viktiga att vara medveten om vid ett framställande av en effektiv extern kommunikation. Kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer med medarbetare på Karlstads Stadsnät samt Karlstads kommun har genomförts för att ge en uppfattning om vad organisationerna vill uppnå och vilka deras åsikter är. Karlstads Stadsnät vill att intressenterna ska uppfatta den varumärkesbyggande marknadsföringen som skämtsam, med glimten i ögat och inbjudande till dialog samtidigt som den direkta informationen skall vara rak och utan facktermer. Organisationen önskar att intressenterna skall se dem som ett säkert val samt lokalt och lättillgängligt för Karlstadsborna. Karlstads Stadsnät ser det som en stor fördel att vara ägt av Karlstads kommun, vilka också ser positivt på att Stadsnätet är kommunalt. Genom fokusgruppintervjuer med Karlstads Stadsnäts intressenter, det vill säga Karlstadsbor, har det kommit fram att själva pratbubblan inte känns igen utan att det är först när pratbubblan sätts i en kontext, till exempel tidningsannons eller informationsbrev som den kan kopplas till något som förespråkar Karlstads kommun och dialog. Slutsatsen är att corporate visual identity är länken mellan det visuella och kontexten hos en organisations marknadsföring. Intressenterna ser Karlstads Stadsnät som en trovärdig organisation som har enkla men ändå iögonfallande informationsbrev, men anser att deras marknadsföring är något otydlig och förvirrande.

Изменение геополитической ситуации Крыма в марте 2014 года требует от органов власти формирования бренда указанной территории и правильное позиционирование бренда. Работа посвящена анализу проблем позиционирования бренда Крым в молодежной аудитории, как наиболее перспективной целевой аудитории, которая может составить основу человеческого капитала, необходимого для развития экономики Крыма в ближайшее время. В работе проведено исследование, направленное на определение актуального образа Крыма в сознании молодежи, проведен анализ текущего информационно-коммуникационного позиционирования бренда Крым органами власти и сравнительный анализ позиционирования бренда Крым органами власти и существующих представлений молодежи о Крыме. На основе полученных результатов разработана концепция позиционирования бренда Крым в молодежной аудитории, направленная на изменение отношения молодежи к Крыму, с учетом выявленных проблем позиционирования. / The change in the geopolitical situation of Crimea in March 2014 requires the authorities to form a brand of the specified territory and correctly position the brand. The work is devoted to the analysis of the problems of positioning the Crimea brand in a youth audience, as the most promising target audience, which can form the basis of human capital necessary for the development of the Crimean economy in the near future. The study conducted a study aimed at determining the current image of Crimea in the minds of young people, conducted an analysis of the current information and communication positioning of the Crimea brand by the authorities and a comparative analysis of the Crimea brand positioning by the authorities and existing youth perceptions of Crimea. Based on the results, a concept was developed for positioning the Crimea brand in a youth audience, aimed at changing the attitude of young people to Crimea, taking into account the identified positioning problems.

The thesis addresses the analysis of the marketing mix in the pharmaceutical industry with a detailed focus on the promotion and communication channels of the prescription drug. The aim is to help a company with a control and optimization of the communication strategy so that it is adapted to the new trends. The differences between the prescription drug and the over-the-counter drug in the aspects of communication, promotion and the role of branding is drawn. Several methods such as analysis, description and marketing research are used. The thesis is divided into five main chapters.