<p> </p><p>Problematisering: Vikten av arbetsgivarvarumärket har växt i betydelse tack vare den brist på välutbildad arbetskraft som råder. För att företagen ska kunna locka till sig och attrahera anställda till företaget blir rekryteringsannonser och företagshemsidan viktiga medium. På hemsidan och i rekryteringsannonserna har nämligen företaget möjlighet att väcka nyfikenhet och visa upp företagets identitet och kultur. Det som kommuniceras i annonserna och på företagshemsidan anses även ha stor betydelse för hur företagets image uppfattas av de potentiellt anställda. Därför blir det viktigt att de svårgripbara delarna av ett arbetsgivarvarumärke ger både existerande och potentiellt anställda de rätta associationerna, samt att dessa associationer kan byggas upp genom samverkande aktiviteter mellan marknadsförings- och HR-avdelningen. Med denna bakgrund i minnet vill uppsatsens författare leda forskningen vidare och undersöka hur identitet och image kommuniceras ur ett arbetsgivarvarumärkesperspektiv.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda om det finns en röd tråd gällande den externa kommunikationen.</p><p>Metod: För att kunna besvara vårt syfte och problemfrågeställning har uppsatsens författare använt teorier från erkända forskare inom området. Uppsatsens författare har även genomfört en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med tio utvalda företag från Universums 100-lista över de mest attraktiva arbetsgivarna enligt ekonomistudenter 2010.</p><p>Slutsats: Studien har visat på att det inte finns en rödtråd gällande den externa kommunikationen rakt igenom för något företag i studien. Att det förhåller sig på detta vis kan bero på att marknadsförings- och HR-avdelningen för de utvalda företagen ännu inte utvecklat ett tillräckligt välfungerande samarbete. För vissa företag (främst de topplacerade företagen) i studien uppfattas den röda tråden som starkare än för andra företag. Universums 100-lista kan allstå sägas ge en förhållandevis rättvisande bild av styrkan i den röda tråd företagen förmedlar genom sin externa kommunikation. Identiteten kommuniceras generellt på lite olika sätt gällande de studerade kommunikationskanalerna. Imagen var svårt att studera genom en innehållsanalys och kräver antagligen andra undersökningsmetoder.</p><p> </p>

The aim of this dissertation is two-fold. First, the discussion seeks to understand the concepts of nationalism and patriotism and how they relate to one another. In respect to the more critical literature concerning nationalism, it asks whether these two concepts are as different as is sometimes assumed. Furthermore, by problematizing nation-branding as an “updated” form of nationalism, it seeks to understand whether we are facing the possible emergence of a new type of nationalism. Second, the study endeavors to discursively analyze the ”bottom-up” processes of national reproduction and re-definition in an online, post-socialist context through an empirical examination of the online debate and polemic about the new Polish patriotism. The dissertation argues that approaching nationalism as a broad phenomenon and ideology which operates discursively is helpful for understanding patriotism as an element of the nationalist rhetoric that can be employed to study national unity, sameness, and difference. Emphasizing patriotism within the Central European context as neither an alternative to nor as a type of nationalism may make it possible to explain the popularity and continuous endurance of nationalism and of practices of national identification in different and changing contexts. Instead of facing a new type of nationalism, we can then speak of new forms of engagement which take place in cyberspace that contribute to the process of reproduction of nationalism. The growing field of nation-branding, with both its practical and political implications, is presented as one of the ways in which nationalism is reproduced and maintained as a form of “soft” rather than “hard” power within the global context. The concept of nation re-branding is introduced in order to account for the role that citizens play in the process of nation branding, which has often been neglected in the literature. This concept is utilized to critically examine, understand, and explain the dynamics of nation brand construction and re-definition, with a particular focus on the discursive practices of citizens in cyberspace. It is argued that citizens in the post-socialist countries, including Poland, can engage in the process of nation re-branding online. It is also argued that this process of online nation re-branding may legitimately be regarded as a type of civic practice through which citizens connect with each other and reproduce a form of cultural national intimacy. The results of the analysis of the online empirical material illustrate that nation re-branding is a complex, dynamic, and ambivalent phenomenon. It involves a process of discursive negotiation of nation and of national identity, but also challenges, dismantles, and transforms the national image as it is communicated both internally and externally. This reveals nation re-branding as an element in the post-socialist transformation from a ”nation” to a ”Western,” ”modern,” and ”normal” country in which dealing with an ”old” nation brand is as equally important as the introduction of the new brand. Nationalism does not disappear in the digital age, but rather becomes part of the new way of doing politics online, whereby citizens are potentially granted a form of agency in the democratic process.

Bakgrund: Vikten av att attrahera rätt personal är stor då företag söker långsiktiga konkurrensfördelar och stora resurser läggs idag på arbetet med denna viktiga uppgift. För att attrahera potentiella arbetstagare använder sig företag idag framförallt av direkt och riktad information till de individer och formella grupper av individer som bedöms som intressanta. Denna typ av kommunikation kan ses utelämna stora delar av den omgivning som inom socialpsykologin anses ha stor påverkan på individens val och agerande. Syfte: Att söka förståelse för och vidareutveckla teorin kring hur talent attraction kan ske genom att tilltala individen emotionellt, via den sociala omgivningen och genom att se till individens identitetsskapande. Metod: Genom ett expert- och snöbollsurval har 8 experter inom det valda ämnesområdet identifierats och intervjuats. Formen för intervjuerna har varit av diskussionskaraktär. Resultat: Vi har i uppsatsen presenterat stöd för att omgivningen påverkar individens val av arbetsgivare, att val av arbetsgivare har en påverkan på individens identitet och att även emotionella faktorer har inverkan vid individens val av arbetsgivare. Dessa resultat menar vi innebär att potentiella arbetstagare bör ingå som en intressent till varumärket. Detta medför en förändrad syn på hur arbetsgivare kan arbeta med talent attraction då emotionella och symboliska faktorer utgör ett komplement till de rationella och kompensatoriska faktorer som vi sett dominera dagens teoribildning.

Problematisering: Vikten av arbetsgivarvarumärket har växt i betydelse tack vare den brist på välutbildad arbetskraft som råder. För att företagen ska kunna locka till sig och attrahera anställda till företaget blir rekryteringsannonser och företagshemsidan viktiga medium. På hemsidan och i rekryteringsannonserna har nämligen företaget möjlighet att väcka nyfikenhet och visa upp företagets identitet och kultur. Det som kommuniceras i annonserna och på företagshemsidan anses även ha stor betydelse för hur företagets image uppfattas av de potentiellt anställda. Därför blir det viktigt att de svårgripbara delarna av ett arbetsgivarvarumärke ger både existerande och potentiellt anställda de rätta associationerna, samt att dessa associationer kan byggas upp genom samverkande aktiviteter mellan marknadsförings- och HR-avdelningen. Med denna bakgrund i minnet vill uppsatsens författare leda forskningen vidare och undersöka hur identitet och image kommuniceras ur ett arbetsgivarvarumärkesperspektiv. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda om det finns en röd tråd gällande den externa kommunikationen. Metod: För att kunna besvara vårt syfte och problemfrågeställning har uppsatsens författare använt teorier från erkända forskare inom området. Uppsatsens författare har även genomfört en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med tio utvalda företag från Universums 100-lista över de mest attraktiva arbetsgivarna enligt ekonomistudenter 2010. Slutsats: Studien har visat på att det inte finns en rödtråd gällande den externa kommunikationen rakt igenom för något företag i studien. Att det förhåller sig på detta vis kan bero på att marknadsförings- och HR-avdelningen för de utvalda företagen ännu inte utvecklat ett tillräckligt välfungerande samarbete. För vissa företag (främst de topplacerade företagen) i studien uppfattas den röda tråden som starkare än för andra företag. Universums 100-lista kan allstå sägas ge en förhållandevis rättvisande bild av styrkan i den röda tråd företagen förmedlar genom sin externa kommunikation. Identiteten kommuniceras generellt på lite olika sätt gällande de studerade kommunikationskanalerna. Imagen var svårt att studera genom en innehållsanalys och kräver antagligen andra undersökningsmetoder.

This bachelor thesis in business administration investigates the employee branding process of Company X in order to gain an understanding of how the company works with and can utilize this as an efficient tool. Recent research shows that Swedish companies that focus on building their brands are more profitable than companies that do not. Furthermore, re- search show that relationship building is an increasingly important area of marketing, which means that employees have a key role in creating a brand through the relationships they build. As Company X to some extent relies on relationship building in a multi- stakeholder environment, where pharmaceutical companies traditionally have competed through innovation, employee branding could be used as a competitive advantage for Company X. The process of employee branding is used to align employee’s internal view of the com- pany brand with the desired brand image in order to make the employees project it consis- tently. According to the theories used, the key drivers to successful employee branding are, through consistent communication, (1) ascertaining employee knowledge of the desired brand image and (2) making sure employees want to project this image through an upheld psychological contract. This investigation therefore covers how Company X works with the process of employee branding, how employees perceive what the management wants to communicate and any potential discrepancies between management and employee views. From a qualitative and interpretative approach, four interviews have been conducted with the top management at Company X and a survey has then been distributed to employees with customer contact at the company. The findings show that Company X has successfully implemented its values in the minds of employees, but lacks a clear focus on building its brand. Therefore, while the psycho- logical contract in general is found to be upheld, to a high extent, the knowledge of the de- sired brand image does not seem to be at a satisfactory level.

In the present developing and modern day world, consumerism has dominated all the aspects of life. The life in the society follows the pattern of the capitalist culture where the human values have a different measure, ‘you are known by what you have not by what you are’. This naturally leads to the life in a society where everyone wants to have a unique place in the society, by possessing the things which sets them apart from the rest of people in the society. In present society and living way, the Brands not only represent the symbol of the company or product but to a larger extent define the general life of a person. What the person uses can reflect his taste of life, his status in the society, his economic background and many other things. This makes a deep connection between the company and its brand, with the consumer. In this two way relation both are dependent on each other for various different reasons. In today’s time customers are very deeply connected to the brands. When they purchase any product like a car, mobile, items of daily need, brand name influence the consumer’s choice. Some customers purchase the specific branded things just due to the brand name. Customers believe that brand name is a symbol of quality. I found this interesting and wanted to find out whether brand name influences the consumer choice when they go for purchasing any product. I chose to for the specific product because this is one of the products which got my attention because of many reasons. Initially the car production was dominated by few companies and one or two countries. With the time, the market started to grow and once considered to be luxurious commodity, cars became a need rather than a choice. This increased the demand and with that many more companies entered the arena to have their share of profit and exploit the growing market. This made the companies to put more efforts and money to creating brand awareness of their product. With the Huge sum of money and effort invested by the companies to create the awareness of their brand in the market, many questions arise; does this really affect the purchasing decision of the customer? Does the brand awareness somehow influence the sale of the product? Etc. On the basis of these questions, I formulated my problem as follows: The purpose of this thesis is to create deeper consideration of what influence a brand name can have, when people go for purchasing, choose the products between different brands in automobile industry. Further I want to identify, if there is a connection between brands and the consumer decision making process. I conducted this study based on theories and surveys. I analyzed the result of the survey in order to be able to draw conclusions and find answers to my problem. I came to the conclusion that when consumer purchases a car, brand names influence his choice. Customers choose the well known branded car among other brands which are new or not so known. The study shows that branded cars have a great place in consumer mind, when customers go for purchasing a car, they prefer to purchase a well known branded car. Customers do not want to try new or unknown branded cars because they have no much information about the lesser known brand. Usually, people purchase well known branded cars because they might have heard before about brands or they have some information about them from other sources. This makes customer feel more comfortable during the time of decision making as they are not so confident about the knowledge they have gathered about the other brands. The consumers are very conscious about branded and unbranded cars because they have the view that branded cars are more reliable than unbranded car. This study also explains that customers trust the branded cars’ quality. Before purchasing a car people do not consider the lesser known brand car, as people are very attached to some specific brands. Some people are loyal to specific brands, over time they want to purchase the same branded car because the specific brand has satisfied the customer’s needs and in turn has gained the trust in the brand name. I feel that the purpose of this study has been fulfilled to some extant. The theory describe that brand name has a power, which attracts the customers towards branded products. The reason is that customer gets special connection with specific brands product and become the loyal with brand.

The concept of emotional branding has not received much attention from the academic community. Emotional branding is a powerful and advantageous instrument. It links brand to the customers, makes customers identify themselves with the brand, adapts brand to customers’ way of life, and makes brand more reliable in customers´ eyes. Simply defined, emotional branding is about fulfilment of peoples’ needs. This dissertation explores and analyses factors, which explain the concept emotional branding. After having reviewed the literature in the area of branding and emotions, the authors of the dissertation create an explanatory model. This model consists of four factors: Trust, Personality, Lifestyle, and Relationship. Four propositions are formulated in order to test the model. The suggested theory was tested in a laboratory experiment with a Multi-method qualitative study. The conclusion of the research conducted is that emotional branding, indeed, can be explained by four factors; Trust, Lifestyle, Personality, and Relationship.

The Chinese outbound tourism is expected to boost within a near future. Recently the market has been very closed due to legislation but as China develops and people are getting richer the demand for travelling abroad increases and the government has to let go of the regulations. In order for the Swedish tourism industry to benefit from the growing market, Sweden has to increase the awareness of the nation as a destination among the Chinese. Through qualitative research we aim investigate how Sweden through nation branding and marketing can increase its share of the Chinese outbound tourism. Except for nation branding a variety of marketing and branding tools are available. Two significant concepts are tourism marketing and destination branding. By utilizing all these different tools or concepts Sweden can raise the awareness of the nation as a possible tourism destination for Chinese outbound tourism. In order to create a comprehensive picture of the market we have also researched the general background of China and the nature of Chinese tourism. VisitSweden and the Swedish Institute are two organizations already working with these concepts and other similar strategies and are herefore a natural part of this study. Scandinavian Perspectives and Miki Travel are two major travel agencies bringing Chinese tourists to Sweden and therefore possess great knowledge of the areas of interest. Therefore representatives from these organisations are involved in the empirical findings. In order to get the whole picture Chinese citizens and Chinese students are interviewed about their perception of Sweden and tourism preferences. The main conclusion of the thesis is that the different actors need to cooperate more and promote certain aspects of Sweden, for example Culture. Even a few obstacles that should be alleviated are identified.

Bakgrund och problem: Vikten av att marknadsföra varumärken har länge varit känd menpå senare år har företag även insett att de har att vinna på att marknadsföra sig somarbetsgivare. Det här sättet att marknadsföra sig på och skapa ett arbetsgivarvarumärkekallas i teorin på engelska för Employer Branding och består av tre delar; attrahera,rekrytera och behålla personal. På möten med personalchefen på fallföretaget har detframkommit att företaget upplever att de har svårare att behålla personal än tidigare.Ytterligare en fundering som har kommit fram i våra diskussioner med företaget är hurföretagets produktvarumärken påverkar företagets arbetsgivarvarumärke. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva och jämföra det internt och externt upplevdaarbetsgivarvarumärket hos fallföretaget Cloetta Fazer. Vi vill vidare analysera om något iCloetta Fazers arbetsgivarvarumärke skulle kunna vara anledningen till den upplevt högapersonalomsättningen. Avgränsning: Vi har avgränsat oss till ett av koncernens dotterbolag, Cloetta Fazer SverigeAB. Vi har även teoretiskt avgränsat oss till en del av arbetsgivarvarumärkesbyggande, nämligen att behålla personal. Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ fallstudie med ett holistiskt perspektiv och ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt. 36 intervjuer har genomförts med personer från fyragrupper; ledningsgruppen, nuvarande, före detta samt potentiella arbetstagare. Teori: Vi har använt olika teorier inom internt perspektiv och externt perspektiv på arbetsgivarvarumärket. Vidare har vi använt teorier för hur dessa två perspektiv sammanlänkas med varandra och ledningens perspektiv. Empiri: I empirikapitlet redovisas informationen från intervjuerna med de fyra grupperna. Resultat och slutsats: Studien har visat att det externa perspektivet på Cloetta Fazers.

Problem: Which of Thailand’s four main sectors that nation brands compete including tourism, FDI, export promotion, and talent attraction that should be develop a main focus in developing a stronger Nation Brand for the country comparing to other four countries in South East Asia including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines? Purpose: The purpose of this paper are 1) to study and analyze the current status of Thailand’s nation brand equity and 2) to examine the feasibility in each of Thailand’s four main sectors that nation brands compete including tourism, FDI, export promotion, and talent attraction by comparing to other four countries in ASEAN including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia in order to generate recommendations for the country in developing a stronger nation branding strategy in the future. Method: In order to achieve our purpose, firstly, we chose ‘Asset-based Nation brand equity’ model to collect the information and perform analysis on the contribution of both nation internal and external assets towards nation brand equity. Secondly, ‘Nation brand internal analysis’ model was chosen in order to be a guideline for gathering data and performing analysis on Thailand’s nation brand capability in each of the 4 main sectors comparing to the other four countries. In addition, due to our research topic and limited time frame, we would rely on secondary sources as our main source of information with some guidance from our primary source. After the analysis had been performed, we had reached the conclusion and generated recommendation for our target group Conclusion: For the analysis of Nation brand equity, Thailand has equipped relatively strong internal assets both innate and nurtured as the country is rich with beautiful landscape and fascinating culture together with a strong support for the art from both governmental and private sectors. However, as for external assets, both disseminated and vicarious assets of Thailand still weakly contribute to the strength of the nation equity. Due to these reasons, we have recommended Thai governmental units to set up the organizations to improve the quality of disseminated asset and also start cooperation with private sector in order to come up with external portrayal in popular culture that can effective represent and enhance the country’s image. As for the result of ‘Nation brand internal analysis’, Thailand has shown moderate to high capability in the Export Promotion sector which was the highest among the other 3 sectors. However, based on the data in the analysis part, there are still lots of things needed to be done both by Thai governmental units and private sector in order to boost the country’s nation brand capability to achieve competitive advantage in the international market in the long run. According to this point, we had listed some recommendations for the governmental units to use as a general guideline in obtaining a strong nation brand that could help the country become more competitive in the global market.