In this current day and age, developing brands is increasingly important. Universities have started to realise the potential benefits that exists from having a strong brand and have therefore started to invest resources in branding. Even though research within this field is present, not much have been conducted on the Swedish market. Comparing to research that is out there, the Swedish Higher Education industry differs, as most Universities and Business Schools in Sweden are public authorities.   This research aims to contribute with additional insights for Swedish Business Schools by studying brand equity and understanding how the brand is perceived both from the perspective of the University and that of the students. In order to reach the purpose stated, we developed our own figure based on previous acknowledged theories. The components that we chose to include were brand awareness, brand image, points of parity (POP), points of difference (POD), reputation and self-image. We interviewed 12 students currently enrolled at Umeå School of Business and Economics as well as one representative of the Business School. After thoroughly analysing the results we could conclude that brand awareness currently creates less value to the brand, in comparison to brand image. Looking at the differences in the perception of the Business School brand some components differed more than others. The Business School and the students perceived the overall position of the Business School as well as the general reputation the same. The brand image, as well as POP and POD, was perceived differently between the two. This research also found some managerial implications. Since brand image currently creates more value than brand awareness, Business Schools have a possibility to differentiate by focusing more on brand awareness. We also found that benefits of the Business School, specifically experiential benefits should be marketed towards prospective students.

ABSTRACT Purpose-----The purpose of this paper is to discuss Danone how to extend its brand in Sweden. Brand extension as a branding strategy has been increasing the last decades, and Danone just proposes Yogurt in Gälve which is one of the cities in Sweden, so this paper is to analyze what should Danone do if it wants to extend its brand in Sweden. Design/ mythology/ approach----An empirical study uses questionnaire method, and the data was collected in Gävle. This questionnaire is designed with BAV method. Findings-----Results show that Danone has positive customer-based brand equity; this is a foundation for Danone to extend its brand. Then this paper also finds out the opportunities and challenges for Danone if it extends its brand in Sweden. Research limitations/ implications-----The study was only doing the questionnaires in Gävle, the data cannot represent the whole Sweden, so the data has deviation. Practical implications-----Results suggests that Danone should extend its brand in Sweden. This paper suggests that Danone can extend the brand by producing some biscuit with low calorie or fat-free, and Danone can produce biscuit with other flavor. Originality/ value-----This study gives three suggestions about how to do a successful brand extension.

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Problematization: Studies  indicate  that there  is  a  lack  of  strong  brands  among  the  Swedish mobile  network  operators.  Problems  of  retaining  customers  are  common  among  the  big operators. Few studies on brand equity for intangible products have been done.   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate which factors  influence  brand equity in the Swedish service sector of mobile network operators.   Theory: This  paper is  limited  to  one  aspect  of  brand  equity,  namely  customer  based  brand equity. Common  constructs of  customer  based  brand  equity are:  brand  awareness,  brand associations, brand loyalty, and perceived quality.    Methodology: The  data  was  collected  with  self-administered  delivery  and  collection questionnaires, which were distributed among university students.   Data: 400 questionnaires were handed out and 363 responses were valid.   Results  and  Conclusion: This  study  indicates  the  importance  of  brand  associations,  brand loyalty, and brand trust for establishing customer based brand equity among the Swedish mobile network operators.

The purpose of this study was to examine customer attitudes towards flagship stores and how they perceive them. To ascertain this, and obtain answers to the research questions covering the study's main issues, we decided to turn to the customers who recently visited a flagship store. Our background theory is based upon literature from previous research done on the subject in the form of scientific articles and books. We present the theoretical concept that explains how flagship stores are used as a marketing tool and what impact they have on the new market. These will be helpful in answering our questions when we evaluate our results.! A theoretical framework, consisting of three value dimensions, was used as a support throughout the implementation of the study. These three values; hedonic, practical and social, should give us a better idea of what customers experience and what they value when they visit the flagship stores.! The method used in our investigation is of quantitative form, so that it can be feasible on a large crowd to thus contribute to a quantitative result. A questionnaire consisting of closed questions with given answer options on a Likert-scale was distributed to a few selected stores, all located along Stockholm’s most fashionable shopping streets - Gant, H&M Man, Asics and J. Lindeberg. ! The result that we have reached is that customers both value and experience the practical value dimensions more than the hedonic and social ones and that flagship stores are a successful marketing concept. This since the majority of the customers have a positive opinion about them as well as feeling that the experience in the stores have provided them with a more positive view of the brand - which is a direct contributor to the increasing CBBE of the company. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen var att undersöka kunders attityder gentemot flaggskeppsbutiker och hur de upplevde dessa som koncept. För att ta reda på detta valde vi att vända oss till de kunder som besökt just sådana butiker för att få svar på de frågor som kan vara till hjälp för att bemöta studiens huvudsakliga frågeställningar.! Teorin bygger på litteratur av tidigare forskning som gjorts i ämnet i form av vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker. Vi presenterar de teoretiska koncept som förklarar hur flaggskeppsbutikerna använts och vilken betydelse de har på den nya markanden. Dessa kom att vara till hjälp vid besvarandet av våra frågeställningar då vi på så sätt utvärderar våra resultat och ser vad dem säger oss. ! Som stöd under vårt genomförande av denna undersökning förhöll vi oss till ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av de tre värdedimensionerna. Dessa tre värden, de hedoniska, praktiska och sociala, gav oss en bättre uppfattning och förtydligade vad kunderna upplevde och egentligen värdesätter när de besöker flaggskeppsbutiker.! Den metod vi använde oss av för att gå tillväga med vår undersökning var av kvantitativ form där vi lät respondenter svara på en enkät som vi själva distribuerade. Enkäten bestod av slutna frågor i form utav påståenden med svarsalternativ givna på en likertskala - detta för att kunna genomföra en effektiv undersökning på en stor skara och för att på så sätt få fram ett kvantitativt resultat. Följande butiker valdes ut särskilt till denna undersökning; Asics, Gant, H&M Man och J.Lindeberg, då samtliga är belägna längs Stockholms finare shoppingstråk. ! De resultat vi kommer fram till är att kunder både värderar och upplever de praktiska värdedimensionerna mer än de hedoniska och de sociala och att flaggskeppsbutiker är ett fungerande marknadsföringskoncept. Detta kan bekräftas då majoriteten av kunderna var positiva till dem och upplevde att de har en mer positiv syn på varumärket efter besöket - något som genererar ett högre CBBE till företaget.

Titel: Små lokala företag och sociala medier -En kvalitativ studie av små lokala företags användning av sociala medier för att gynna varumärkets brand equity Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Maja Helsing och Julia Strid Handledare: Peter Ek Datum: 2021 – juni  Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats var att utveckla kunskapen kring hur små lokala företag kan förbättra deras egen brand equity genom att använda sociala medier.  Metod: Vi har använt oss av ett deduktivt tillvägagångssätt. En kvalitativ forskningsmetod i form av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts i datainsamlingen, tillsammans med en netnografisk undersökning. Respondenterna utgjorde anställda på mindre lokala företag i en svensk medelstor stad, vars arbetsuppgift innefattar att ansvara för företagets sociala medier.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet visar på att det för små lokala företag är fördelaktigt att använda sig av sociala medier. Till följd av att det bidrar till högre varumärkeskännedom samt skapar bättre kundrelationer, vilket påverkar CBBE positivt.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Den här studien bidrar med ny kunskap kring de positiva effekterna av små lokala företags användning av sociala medier. Studien ökar den kunskap som finns gällande de fördelar som finns samt största svårigheterna företagen möter.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Denna studie har främst undersökt återförsäljare av produkter. Det vore därför intressant att genomföra en liknande studie på antingen försäljare av egen produkt eller tjänsteföretag.   Nyckelord: CBBE, Sociala medier marknadsföring, Små företag, Lokala företag, Kundrelation. / Title: Small local businesses and social media- A qualitative study of small local companies' use of social media to benefit the brand's brand equity Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Maja Helsing and Julia Strid Supervisor: Peter Ek Date: 2021 – June Aim: The aim of this study was to develop knowledge about how small local companies can improve their own brand equity by using social media.  Method: We have used a deductive approach. A qualitative research method in the form of ten semi-structured interviews was conducted in the data collection, together with a netnographic examination. The respondents were employees of small local companies in a Swedish medium-sized city, whose task includes being responsible for the company's social media. Result & conclusions: The result show that it is beneficial for small local businesses to use social media. As a result, it contributes to higher brand awareness and creates better customer relationships, which has a positive effect on CBBE. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes new knowledge about the positive effects of small local companies' use of social media. The study increases the existing knowledge regarding the benefits that exist and the greatest difficulties companies face. Suggestions for future research: This study has mainly examined retailers of products. It would therefore be interesting to carry out a similar study on either seller of their own product or service companies. Key words: CBBE, Social media marketing, SME, Local business, Customer relationship.

I denna uppsats undersökte vi fenomenet personligt varumärkesbyggande, vilket kan definieras som en persons namn och de värderingar som kopplas till det. Syftet med uppsatsen var att utifrån befintlig teori samt intervjuer med yrkesverksamma inom området, undersöka om det går att bygga personliga varumärken på samma sätt som traditionella varumärken för företag och produkter. Vi presenterade en översikt över litteraturen kring personligt varumärkesbyggande samt teori om Customer-based brand equity-modellen, vilken vi lät representerade den traditionella teorin. I uppsatsens analysavsnitt diskuterades och analyserades intervjudeltagarnas svar i förhållande till teorin och slutsatsen drogs att personligt varumärkesbyggande har fler likheter än skillnader med det traditionella varumärkesbyggandet. Dock ansåg vi att CBBE-modellen ej var lämplig för direkt applikation på människor, utan presenterade en reviderad modell för byggande av ett starkt personligt varumärke, där bland annat möjligheter med sociala medier inkluderades. Modellen utgår från beståndsdelarna identitet, betydelse och synlighet och kallas Personal-based brand equity (PBBE).

Background: The modern day era of the Internet gave birth to the growing phenomenon of Internet memes (IM), a type of online user generated content (UGC) (Gangadharbatla, 2008). Now marketers have begun researching the relationship between UGC and consumer based brand equity (CBBE) (Christodoulides et.al, 2012; Rachna and Khajuria, 2017). The problem discussion presents the issue of the diminishing control of brand equity due to the rise of UGC and lack of research on how to manage its influence (Morrison et al., 2013). Leading to the purpose of this thesis, which is to determine the impact Internet memes have on consumer based brand equity. Literature: The review presents two leading contributors to the field, Aaker’s (1991) framework on the different dimensions of CBBE and Keller’s (1993) definition of the concept. In addition recent studies on UGC and brand equity provided the basis for hypothesis development. Method: This thesis assumed a deductive research approach, developing the hypothesis from current literature in the field. A quantitative study, that utilized an explanatory research approach, because it best suited the experimental design. As for the data collection method, surveys were considered (Saunders et al., 2016), which the authors designed as a self-completion questionnaire and pre-tested (Bryman and Bell, 2015). Convenience sampling was chosen to select participants (Hernon, 2004). Construct and content validity was used along with homogeneity and stability to control reliability and measure the quality of research instruments (Bryman and Bell, 2015). SPSS version 25 was used to conduct all statistical analyses. Results: Four hypotheses were developed, to measure the effect of the independent variable IM on each of the four CBBE dimensions. To summarize, three of the hypothesis (H1, H3 and H4) were rejected as the difference in the means are not significant enough and can be explained by chance. The effect on brand association (H2) was however found to be significant therefore H2 was accepted.

In today’s competitive business environment, banks operate in a severe rivalry due to various factors, including globalisation, fast technological developments and homogeneous nature of banks services. For this reason, building valuable brands is crucial in differentiating banks and adding value to the banking services. The research problem that emerged was: investigating the major bank marketing communication tools to examine their impact on building bank brand equity. The researcher went about in achieving this purpose by: identifying the major marketing communication tools used by banks that help build bank brand equity via the customer-based brand equity (CBBE) dimensions from customers’ perspective; and testing and analysing the hypotheses in order to develop the final research model. In order for this purpose to be attained, two research questions were answered: what are the major bank marketing communication tools that help build bank brand equity? Which hypotheses regarding the impact of the major bank marketing communication tools on building bank brand equity via the CBBE dimensions are supported in this study? This research was carried out in the Egyptian banking sector from the customer perspective. Mixed-method research was used. The first phase was the qualitative research approach, which consists of conducting and analysing semi-structured interviews. These interviews were carried out with fifteen bank customers based on judgmental sampling technique. The purpose of these interviews were to identify the major bank marketing communication tools that help build bank brand equity via the CBBE dimensions; to help develop a proposed conceptual framework; to help develop the research hypotheses; and to help develop the intended questionnaire survey. According to the findings, advertising, personal selling and direct marketing were the most popular marketing communication tools in the Egyptian society for banks. Once the needed insights were emerged, the second phase, the quantitative phase, was conducted. The researcher distributed and collected large-scale questionnaire survey. These questionnaires were carried out with 465 bank customers based on a quota sampling technique. These questionnaires were then analysed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to test and analyse the research hypotheses; and to help develop the final research model. Findings showed that the major bank marketing communication tools consist of personal selling, direct marketing and advertising respectively according to their importance on building bank brand equity. Given the fact that all CBBE dimensions are interrelated, not all of them directly impact bank brand equity. Only brand loyalty and brand perceived quality were found to have a significant positive direct effect on bank brand equity. When conducting this study, the researcher faced several limitations. The data were collected only in Cairo and Alexandria; only the major controllable marketing communication tools were assessed, and non-probability sampling was used.

Research Questions: How do consulting companies work to strengthen the brand's structure?What impact does brand equity and its components have on consulting firms? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute with new knowledge as well as increase the understanding of brand equity and how its components contribute to strengthening the consultancy's brand. The study also aims to explore how companies create competitive advantages in a constantly evolving market.                                                                                                                              Method: Qualitative method with four semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: The result of this study show that the consulting companies are activelyworking with three aspects within the company in order to strengthen the brand and its structure. All aspects are about the company being innovative, working on and completing internal factors that develop the corporate culture and its values for them to be reflected externally as well as how the companies meet the customers’ needs in terms of results and performance. The result also show that the researched consulting companies work around strengthening the brand structure by taking into account of aspects that also are found in Keller’s Customer Based Brand Equity Model (CBBE Model). / Frågeställning: Hur arbetar konsultföretag med att stärka varumärkets uppbyggnad?Vilken inverkan har brand equity och dess komponenter på konsultföretag? Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning är att med ny kunskap bidra samt öka förståelsen om brand equity och hur dess komponenter bidrar till att stärka konsultföretagens varumärke. Studien ämnar även till att undersöka hur företagen kan skapa konkurrensfördelar i en ständigt utvecklande marknad. Metod: Studien är av kvalitativ metod där fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts i syfte att besvara forskningsfrågan, som vidare analyserades genom tematisk metod. Slutsats: Resultaten av denna studie visar att konsultföretagen aktivt arbetar kring tre aspekter i syfte till att stärka varumärket och dess uppbyggnad. Samtliga handlar om att företaget ska vara innovativt, att bearbeta och komplettera interna faktorer som utvecklar företagskulturen och dess värderingar för dessa att speglas externt och om hur företagen uppfyller kundernas behov i form av resultat och prestationer. Resultaten visar även på att de undersökta konsultföretagen arbetar kring att stärka varumärkesuppbyggnaden genom att de tar hänsyn till aspekter som också återfinns i Keller´s Customer Based Brand Equity Model.