This bachelor thesis is conducted as a Minor Field Study (MFS) in Sri Lanka, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The tourism industry have become a key factor for economic growth in several developing countries. A section of branding which refers to branding of a whole country is place branding. Place branding is seen as a complex process which involves multiple parts of the country. In order to ease for brand managers and to develop the theory of place branding, Hanna and Rowley (2011) have developed a new model of place branding. The model is named the Strategic place brand management model (SPBM- model) and consists of components which are argued to be essential parts in the process of branding a place. Developing countries have a need for place branding practices in order to create economic growth. The SPBM-model could therefore be a useful contribution to the research field of place branding in developing countries. The research questions of this research was therefore firstly to see how Sri Lanka work with the components in the SPBM-model, and second to find out which components in the SPBM-model that can be seen as important based on Sri Lankan conditions. This to answer the purpose of this thesis: explore how the SPBM-model can be applied on the process of branding Sri Lanka. The study was made through a case study of the developing country of Sri Lanka. In order to gain data, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with officials working with branding Sri Lanka as a tourism destination. By putting the SPBM-model on the Sri Lankan place branding process it can be interpreted that all components are tightly connected to each other, and some parts seems to be more important for Sri Lanka then others. If Sri Lanka put more time and effort in the three components of infrastructure, stakeholders and evaluation, also the other six components of the SPBM-model (identity, brand experience, WOM, architecture, communication andarticulation) indirect will be affected in a positive way.

Abstrakt Syfte:Studiens syfte är att beskriva hur ett mätinstrument för att mätakonsumentbaserad brand equity ska utformas. Forskningsfråga:Vilka mätpunkter ska inkluderas vid mätning av konsumentbaserad brand equity? Metod:Då studien ämnar testa mätinstrumentet som skapats ur den befintliga litteraturen föllvalet på att genomföra en kvantitativ undersökning eftersom författarna avsågundersöka hur en stor mängd konsumenter uppfattar varumärken. För att samla in databad författarna 130 stycken respondenter delta i en enkätunderökning. Datananalyserades sedan i en faktoranalys. Slutsats:Efter genomförd faktoranalys kunde författarna behålla 9 stycken mätpunkter från detursprungliga 16 stycken mätpunkter. Utefter de nya mätpunkterna utformades ett nyttmätinstrument. Aakers fyra dimensioner var fortfarande utgångspunkt därmätpunkterna placerades in

The study was conducted to measure brand loyalty of customers in a business-to-business environment, in this case the South African paint manufacturing industry. A brand loyalty conceptual framework developed for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry by Moolla (2010) was used to test if it also applies in a business-to-business setting. The framework was adapted to suit the above industry and used to measure brand loyalty levels of South African paint manufacturers. From the results it can be concluded that the model can be applied with some adaptations. Factor analysis was utilised to validate the influences. Factor analysis results were viewed with caution as sample adequacy was found to be marginal in some cases, possibly due to a small data set. Although two of the influences could not be validated, they were still found to be important. All the influences are found to be reliable as evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The measured brand loyalty values show that customers in the South African paint industry are quite loyal, with some influences scoring very high. Culture in particular was found to be not very important. This is likely due to the fact that individual culture instead of company culture was measured. More work is required to adapt the questionnaire to measure company culture when assessing brand loyalty in a business-to business setting. Clear brand loyalty differences were identified along with age, company size and the position the respondent holds with the company. Owners/directors, procurement personnel, technical personnel and general managers view different brand loyalty influences as important. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Re-branding is an opportunity for marketers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) to reposition the brand and differentiate it from competitor‘s products. However, in spite of the significant opportunities and benefits that re-branding presents if carried out correctly, some marketers simply fail to successfully deliver ‗new‘ brand images to customers, and others are faced with a ‗back-lash‘ from consumers and are forced to revert to the original branding. Since there is a dearth of knowledge on the practical efforts of re-branding FMCGs by the world‘s largest companies, an exploratory study using a mixed methods approach was conducted to understand re-branding at one of the world‘s largest FMCGs companies, namely Nestle SA. More specifically, an investigating was conducted to understand the process Nestlé followed in re-branding its coffee and other beverage brands from 2010 to 2012; the type of re-branding strategy that was used to position and reposition its beverage brands; the importance of retaining a corporate brand name, logo and image when rebranding; and the turnover pattern during the years when re-branding was undertaken. The Nestle managers‘ perceptions on the cost versus the benefits of re-branding were also ascertained. Six managers who represented the marketing, packaging and customer service divisions of Nestle‘s (Escourt) coffee and beverage brands formed the convenience sample of this study. The concurrent mixed methods approach which consisted of two phases was used. A structured questionnaire using opened and closed ended questions were used to conduct interviews with the sample. In addition internal official documentation related to re-branding, namely, policies and turnover reports were reviewed and analysed. It became evident that Nestlé‘s key reason for re-branding is innovation of the coffee and beverage brands. It was also ascertained that Nestlé has a customized re-branding strategy for each product and, the Nestle logo proved to be the most important identifier of the company and is therefore always retained during re-branding. It was also apparent that respondents viewed the benefits of re-branding as outweighing the costs. Furthermore, since the sales fluctuated post re-branding, it was concluded that with respect to the products concerned at Nestle, that there is no direct relationship between re-branding and sales. The implications of the findings for marketers of FMCGs are that they need to be cognizant of the need to change the ‗look and feel‖ of brands over time to keep them relevant and compete effectively. Furthermore, they need to ensure that the changes are gradual, acceptable and relevant, and that all the costs of re-branding are taken into consideration so that an informed decision to re-brand is made. Furthermore, marketers should be aware that re-branding which is not properly carried out can be damaging to the brand, and the importance of social media as a tool to communicate with consumers prior, during and post re-branding should not be underplayed. As with all research studies, this study had certain limitations which restricts the ability to generalize the findings to all FMCGs companies. This was more of a ‗case‘ study, although it involved an international FMCG company. Perhaps a comparative study of re-branding coffee and beverage brands at Nestlé‘s factories in other countries may serve to compare and strengthen the findings. It could also shed light on Nestlé‘s‘ international re-branding strategies, which findings could then be more relevant for generalization. A further limitation of this study is that although internal documents were provided, limitations were placed in terms of the information that could be divulged in this study. This resulted in sales units being estimated from documentation and therefore accurate figures could not be disclosed. Future studies should be anonymously conducted so that more informed recommendations could be made with respect to turnover and expenditure on re-branding. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Over the last three decades, within the context of globalisation and intensified inter-urban competition, we have observed the growing use of market-centred strategy such as ‘marketing or branding places’. Despite the worsening of the economic situation since the 2008 global financial crisis, the overall trend of expansion of place marketing based on marketing science keeps going further in many cities in South Korea. Why does this phenomenon happen? How can we interpret it at this time? What does this mean for the cities and their residents? In order to answer these questions, this thesis attempts to understand the process of place marketing projects, and analyse how they were politically formed and what their actual effects were for residents. In addition, it develops a critical understanding of the evolution of urban place marketing projects from the political perspective in Gwangju, South Korea: the Gwangju Biennale, the Asian Culture Complex, the Dome Baseball Stadium, the Urban Folly, and the Gwangju Universiade 2015. Through a nation-wide Korean expert survey and a case study of Gwangju, this research shows that Korean place marketing shares common trends with Western cities as well as having some specifically Korean characteristics. In particular, it tries to reveal the evolving nature of Korean place marketing by employing a combination of multi-scalar and cultural politics approaches. The thesis concludes that some Korean cities such as Gwangju have moved toward neo-liberalisation by employing entrepreneurial strategies of place marketing.

The thesis offers a revised institutional history of US cable network Home Box Office that expands on its under-examined identity as a monthly subscriber service from 1972 to 1994. This is used to better explain extensive discussions of HBO’s rebranding from 1995 to 2007 around high-quality original content and experimentation with new media platforms. The first half of the thesis particularly expands on HBO’s origins and early identity as part of publisher Time Inc. from 1972 to 1988, before examining how this affected the network’s programming strategies as part of global conglomerate Time Warner from 1989 to 1994. Within this, evidence of ongoing processes for aggregating subscribers, or packaging multiple entertainment attractions around stable production cycles, are identified as defining HBO’s promotion of general monthly value over rivals. Arguing that these specific exhibition and production strategies are glossed over in existing HBO scholarship as a result of an over-valuing of post-1995 examples of ‘quality’ television, their ongoing importance to the network’s contemporary management of its brand across media platforms is mapped over distinctions from rivals to 2007. Suggesting much longer institutional continuities and influences for understanding HBO’s success, the thesis outlines the development and influence of these strategies through a critical chronology of the network’s history. In doing so, the thesis aligns with trends for rigorous media histories that consider the origins, long-term precedent and cyclical institutional strategies that govern contemporary industry practices.

No description available.

Seminario para optar al título de Ingeniero Comercial, Mención Administración de Empresas / Las marcas propias han tomado protagonismo en Chile en los principales retailers, por lo que se invierten muchos recursos en el desarrollo de las mismas. Esto lleva a preguntarse hasta qué punto es importante la prominencia de marca en las marcas propias para los clientes, para conocer cuál es el alcance que puede tener una marca en su nivel de prominencia en los productos, y cuáles son las preferencias de foreign branding para estas marcas, para poder desarrollarlas en el idioma más apropiado. Para ello, se estudió el comportamiento en la preferencia de prominencia de marca y foreign branding de las marcas propias para dos grupos, que fueron derivados del estudio realizado por Han, Nunes & Drèze (2010): Patricios y No Patricios. El grupo de los Patricios son clientes que no consideran que las marcas les entreguen estatus, por lo que para marcas de lujo prefieren una prominencia de marca baja. El grupo de los No Patricios son clientes que consideran que las marcas les entregan estatus, por lo que para marcas de lujo prefieren una prominencia de marca alta. Además, de acuerdo al estudio de Olavarrieta, Manzur y Friedmann (2009), el uso de marcas de idioma extranjero es relevante y genera diferencias en cómo evalúan los consumidores las marcas, siendo el inglés un idioma preferido tanto para productos utilitarios y hedónicos, y el francés un mejor idioma para crear una marca de productos hedónicos, por lo que se realizó un estudio para saber si estos comportamientos se repetirían para marcas propias en Chile. Se concluyó que no existe evidencia significativa para determinar una correlación entre el grupo (Patricio – No Patricio) y la preferencia de prominencia de marca para marcas propias, sin embargo se puede ver que en general existe una preferencia por baja prominencia de marca en marcas propias, dado que éstas, al no ser de lujo o reconocidas, no entregan estatus, por lo que los clientes prefieren que no se den a conocer. Existe también, en orden de mayor a menor preferencia, una predilección por marcas propias en idioma inglés, luego en español y finalmente en francés. Esto permite comprender dónde invertir los recursos para potenciar las marcas propias.

Social media – over the last decade with the development of technology, this new worldwide phenomenon occurred on the horizon and changed the traditional marketing ways forever. Many companies therefore seek these new platforms in order to come closer to potential customers. One of the most important social media platforms for this is Instagram, where companies can approach their target groups by visual storytelling. Start-up companies have often limited marketing budgets, which makes Instagram a perfect marketing channel because it is cost effective. This thesis is a case study of how pictures on Instagram can be used to spread the brand and how different activities affect traffic to the website/webshop. This case study is based on a marketing model that has been created and tested on an interior company’s, Tegelbruketdesign, Instagram account. The marketing model is analysed and compared to collected data from semi-structured interviews with two popular private Instagram accounts and a semi-structured interview with a Digital PR & Social Media strategist. The findings suggest that some picture types and styles are better then others regarding the spreading of the brand. The findings also suggest that Instagram activities have a positive affect on the traffic to the company’s website/webshop.

Den ökade konkurrensen om specialiserad kompetens är idag påtaglig för många arbetsgivare. Svensk industri är en av de branscher som berörs av detta och då framför allt på grund av en ökad brist på ingenjörer. Organisationen AB är en av aktörerna där denna utveckling är aktuell och kompetensbristen gör att organisationen behöver en effektiv strategi för att säkerställa en stabil kompetensförsörjning. Ett led i utformandet av en strategi innebär att undersöka vilka värden och villkor potentiella arbetstagare prioriterar vid val av arbetsgivare. Denna studie ämnade därför att undersöka ifall organisationens kommunicerade värden och villkor överensstämmer med vad ingenjörer inom generation Y önskar hos sin arbetsgivare. För att operationalisera syfte och frågeställningar användes både en kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod, och studien genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med HR- och marknadsansvariga på organisationen samt via en enkät som delades ut till 52 ingenjörsstudenter vid Umeå universitet. Resultatet visar att organisationen främst vill attrahera ingenjörer med sina värdeord men lägger också vikt vid karriärmöjligheter och personlig utveckling samt ett gott arbetsklimat. Resultatet från enkäten belyser att trevliga arbetskamrater, gott ledarskap samt att ha ett intressant och meningsfullt arbete är det som ingenjörerna lockas mest av.