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.

Background:  Making customers loyal to the brand have become a key issue for marketers to achieve since it acts as a major contributor to competitive advantage. The brand image is argued to be the main source for brand loyalty and organizations continuously seeks for ways to achieve brand loyalty through enhancing their image. Employee branding makes it possible for organizations to consistently deliver a desired brand image to the customers, through its employees, and it could therefore be of importance to explore the relationship between employee branding and brand loyalty.  Research questions: RQ1: How does the organization’s management communicate its desired brand image to the employees? RQ2: How do the various sources of messages contribute to employees’ knowledge of the desired brand image? RQ3: How do the various sources of messages contribute to the upholding of the psychological contract between the employees and the organization? RQ4: How does the image projected by employees influence brand loyal customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between an organization’s employee branding and brand loyalty. Methodology: Conducted as a single embedded case study, semi-structured interviews Conclusion: The empirical investigation revealed that employee branding activities could strengthen customers’ loyalty towards the brand. Employee branding therefore influence customers’ satisfaction, commitment, trust, and identification to the brand.