The purpose of this study is to examine how a new startup-company are using visual communication on the social media platform Instagram to build a brand identity. The study is based on a case study about the beverage company Swedish Tonic and how they use Instagram to brand themselves and demonstrate their identity. The research question from which the study is based on is: How do Swedish Tonic use Instagram as a tool for building their brand identity? To help answer this question three question formulations has been applied. The studies theoretical framework consists of three theories. The first one is Images and information in cultures of consumption by Martin Hand, the second one is The Rossiter and Percy grid by John. R Rossiter and Larry Percy and the third one is called The Aaker model by David Aaker. The study contains three methods which is a qualitative interview, a quantitative survey and a semiotic image analysis. The interview was performed with the CFO and founder of Swedish Tonic Viktor Eriksson and was the base for all the empirical data. The results of the study announce that Swedish Tonic use Instagram in purpose to brand and identify themselves through visual communication. The focus is mainly on the product as it appears in almost every image but in different environments and contexts that are trendy and modern. This show a new way of product focus where the product together vid the brand identity represents who Swedish Tonic is as an organisation. The result also clarify that consumers' perception of the company is well-matched with how Swedish tonic wants to be perceived.

The thesis is divided into nine chapters. The first three chapters deal with theoretical background, which forms the basis for the following six chapters of the practical part. The first chapter is devoted to definitions of basic concepts such as brand, product and brand relationship, it also describes the basic elements of the brand. The second chapter deals with two key concepts of strategic brand management - brand identity and value concept. The third chapter focuses on the process of strategic management and benefits of a strong brand for both businesses and consumers. Chapter ends with analysis of the components of the marketing mix and their impact on building brand equity. The fourth chapter focuses on the analysis of the Czech beer market within the global context. The fifth chapter focuses Plzeňský Prazdroj, a.s. and its owner SABMiller plc. The sixth chapter introduces Pilsner Urquell brand - its history, the specifics of the beer production and its export and licensing activities. At the end of the chapter international brand management is briefly mentioned. The seventh chapter is devoted to strategic management of Pilsner Urquell in the Czech market. The target audience and typical consumption opportunities for the brand are described, as well as positioning and marketing mix. The eighth chapter focuses on the analysis of opportunities for the Pilsner Urquell brand in relation to young men between 18 and 29 years. Results of the research are summarized in the SWOT analysis and conclusions for the design of communication strategy and drawn. The last chapter outlines proposals for possible communications strategy for the Pilsner Urquell brand in relation to the above-mentioned target group. Proposals are divided into five blocks, namely on-trade and off-trade activation, activation through new media, through the special events aimed at young people and product placement in computer games and films.

The aim of this thesis is to identify the key characters used in a marketing campaign of Staropramen and based on their impact on the selected members of target group of the company to determine what archetype this campaign use. Analyzed campaign is communication of the company implemented in 2014 to celebrate the 145th anniversary of the brewery in Smíchov. I analyze this campaign using qualitative marketing research, focus group method, based on associations. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of the archetype role as a powerful tool companies can use for brand building. Conclusion of this thesis is to determine the archetype that in this communication Staropramen uses. The archetype is representative of the group Nobody is lonely island called Everyman. This thesis is part of a complex semiotic research of Staropramen brand and its communication.

The target of this master's thesis is to follow the process of corporate brand building of the company Starkl zahradník, to analyse it and to suggest possible improvements. The thesis is divided into four main sections. The first section deals with the theoretical aspects of the corporate brand building. The second section observes the process of brand building of the brand Starkl zahradník. The third section deals with the survey that was carried out and analyse its results. This survey was performed by a questionnaire which was focused on the image and awareness of the corporate brand Starkl zahradník. Then the image was compared with the positioning of this brand. In the last section there are suggested recommendations for improvement of the corporate brand building of the brand Starkl zahradník.

This study explores how service firms incorporate CSR activities within the internal brand building process. It was found that CSR does influence and is implemented in every stage of our theoretical framework of the internal brand building process. The study was based on interviews conducted on managers and employees of service firms in the Netherlands and in Sweden.  CSR is an evolving concept, increasingly becoming important in affecting the consumption decisions of service firm’s customers. Service firms are now resorting to incorporating CSR in their internal brand building to appeal to consumers. Consumers who are trying to minimize the inherent risk in buying an intangible product typical of a service product are now shifting their focus from the firm’s product to the firm itself.  The purpose of this study was to explore if and how CSR influences the internal brand building processes of service firms. We did not seek to generalize the findings. We carried out eight interviews where the respondents were able to broadly shared their thoughts and opinions. The research questions we sought to answer were: In what way does CSR influence the internal brand building process in service firms? And, how do service firms implement CSR in their internal brand building process?  It was found that the service firms do define CSR as a responsibility for their Employees, Community, Environment, Clients/Customers as well as Ethical Responsibility. We also found out that CSR influences the internal brand building in service firms through their employees, brand audit, brand identity, brand positioning and brand communication, which we then included in our empirical developed model of the internal brand building processes in service firms. CSR is implemented in service firm’s employees’ management through employee education, training, recruitment and motivation. CSR is implemented in a service firm’s brand audit through a flat/hierarchical organizational structure, multicultural organization, ethics, sustainability, transparency and honesty. CSR is implemented in a service firm’s brand identity through quality assurance, creativity/innovation and compliance. CSR is implemented in a service firm’s brand positioning through partnership, accessibility, quality, trust. CSR is implemented in a service firm's brand communication through intranet, meetings, publications and teams.  Future researchers are recommended to study service firms that are equally divided based on their size, age and wealth to get a deeper understanding. More employees could also be studied since employees might have different viewpoints and since it is found that employees are the most important asset for service firms.

The aim of this master thesis is to is to present the company P&P Jewelry Ltd., it's activities and to describe the current way of building brand Lilien Czech Jewelry, as well as an analysis of key markets and on the basis of the results to draft a new strategy of brand building. The first theoretical chapter deals with the specifics of brand building in the offline and online environments. The next part contents presents the company P&P Jewelry Ltd., it's project Lilien Czech Jewelry and markets on which the jewelery is exported. The following chapter focuses on the analysis of the competitiveness of the brand on the most important markets for by using the PEST analysis and the Porter's five forces model. The fourth part analyzes contemporary brand building strategy of the brand Lilien Czech Jewelry. In conclusion of this thesis is analysis of research of customers perception of the brand.

Research report presented to SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / The subject on the role of branding in delivering financial growth has been a debate for most marketers and financial managers. This is because the marketing subject by its nature is intangible and therefore difficult to measure. This misunderstanding has resulted in many authors calling for marketing to be accountable and focus on marketing investments that will deliver long term value for the shareholders. This study explores the role of branding in the South African FMCG industry and three main areas are explored namely whether marketing strategies are focused on increasing sales or future business growth. The second area is whether the inclusion of brand equity measures as part of the financial company reports, will give them the focus that they deserve. Thirdly it explores whether there is a link between brand building initiatives and financial measures. A qualitative research method was used as it gave the researcher an in depth understanding of the role of brand management within the FMCG industry and its impact on financial measures. A total of fifteen employees were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that companies still focus on measures that drive short term gains instead of long term growth and that brand building activities are compromised by brand harming activities such as regular price cutting. Future research to evaluate the impact of marketing activities that drive short term sales on brand equity and subsequently shareholder value is recommended.

<p>Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to increase the understanding of two early internationalizing firms (Born Globals) brand building efforts. By performing case studies on these companies we wished to discover similarities and differences in their marketing efforts. The companies that we studied were CTEK Sweden AB, a battery charger manufacturer and POC Sweden AB, who designs advanced protective gear for the alpine ski market.</p><p>The theoretical framework was divided according to the four 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Place) as previous studies had shown all four factors were important in the efforts of building a strong brand. Classical marketing mix theories have been augmented with theories on brand-building as well as international marketing to give further depth to the theory section.</p><p>Interviews were conducted with key people in each company, who we believed would have good insight into the strategies that these had pursued. After analyzing our empirical data, we drew the conclusion that the companies had many similar traits when it came to their brand-building efforts. The foundation for rapid brand building was laid by having an innovative product. A standardized promotion strategy was used by both companies in all target markets. The ability to disregard lucrative short-term gains in order to secure long-term benefits for the brands was also a common trait in the building of their brands.</p><p>Keywords: Brand-building, Branding Strategies, Born Globals, 4Ps</p>

<p>Technology is becoming easy to imitate day by day thus the companies involved in technology need to invest on the soft points like branding. This will give a competitive advantage over the competitors which is not possible to imitate. Thus the overall purpose of this thesis is to investigate that how a company evolved b2b selling can establish corporate brand. So three research questions were addressed:</p><ol><li>What are the major components of corporate brand building process?</li><li>How to establish corporate brand image with the customer? </li><li>How effective corporate communication can enhance the corporate brand?</li></ol><p>To reach the solution, Norden machinery as a case company was also studied. A theoretical framework was synthesized, based upon the different models and theories regarding the corporate brand building. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process.</p><p>Our empirical findings shows a quest in Norden to develop a corporate brand and during the analysis we found that the  in some areas case company is following the components of brand building process that were described in the theoretical framework but there are some areas where the Norden has to improve as well.</p><p>Thus based upon the analysis it is concluded that a company can establish a corporate brand by following the brand building components vision, culture, brand objectives, brand personality, brand essence, creating brand image and corporate communication.</p>

The nature of high-street fashion brands amongst female adolescents is a combined set of fast fashion movements and early adopter demands within a compressed timeframe. This research has investigated the need for a communication plan to appropriately deliver the brand message for this sector. There are a number of information barriers for high-street fashion brands to build customer value and differentiate the core values of their brands from competitors because of 1) imbalanced strategic communication implementation particularly in the encoding process, 2) ambiguous interpretation of target audience behaviour as a key disseminator of brand messages and 3) a lack of an integrated communication approach to complement the brand building communication plan. Accordingly, there is a need for a brand building communication framework to formulate and direct the female adolescent perceived values within a limited time based on mutual understanding and shared requirements between a high-street fashion brand and its target audience. Moreover, a strategic plan using an integrated brand-building communication in the encoding process which optimises the contribution of the audience must be developed. This research has revealed that high-street fashion brands should concentrate on consumer self-construal, consumer-brand congruence and consumer-brand relationships of female adolescents in order to clearly construct brand messages which match audiences’ values and lifestyles. Due to the needs for informative cooperation amongst the target audiences, the brand-building communication strategy as a persuasive medium, which encourages audiences and prospects to initiate interactivity with the high-street fashion brand, was thoroughly examined in the empirical study. A conceptual model of a high-street fashion brand-building communication was developed and evaluated by means of design research methodology and soft systems methodology. The proposed model explains the platform of brand-building communication strategy in the encoding process for the high-street fashion market. A number of advantages are offered: Firstly, brand managers may use the model to overcome the barriers to integrate a fashion brand communication strategy. Secondly, it can enhance the recognition of fashion brand-building communication. Thirdly, the model offers an approach to leverage customer-brand relationships by means of the communication process. Fourthly, it allows the description of a holistic view of brand message construction in the encoding process. Finally, it offers a strategy to integrate online and off-line communications.