Thesis (D.B.A.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Thesis (M. F. A.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-165). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This thesis deals with brand perception by children, specifically in children's food segment. The aim is to analyse this brand perception by children and confirm or disprove the hypothesis regarding this issue. This thesis is divided into two parts, the first of which deals with the theory and the second verifies this knowledge in practice. The first chapter of the theoretical part is devoted to brand and its role in marketing, the second one deals with strategic brand management and types of particular strategies. In the third chapter marketing segmentation is discussed and the fourth one describes children as a specific market segment, also in relation to brands. The last chapter deals with brand research and its techniques. The practical part includes the research, of which results provide the qualitative knowledge about brand perception by children in this specific category.

In today's highly competitive environment, the success of a company is often determined by the right brand management and by efforts to continuously improve the brand value. It is therefore an essential task of marketing. But determining the value of the brand is a very difficult task and it is of interest to both theoretical research and marketing practice. Submitted thesis provides an overview of the current state of knowledge about this very important issue both in terms of leading authors from the scientific and academic communities and in terms of marketing practice in the form of models of specialized agencies. Thus formed synthesis can then be used by academics in the orientation of their future research and also by marketing managers to evaluate the effectiveness of approaches currently being used. For this purpose, marketing managers can also use case studies in each chapter, which show the issue on the specific example of successful companies. Qualitative expert research among managers of successful international companies can serve the same goal. Managers of small and medium-sized enterprises can apply a formalized model of the growth of a brand, which is very intuitive and does not require deeper knowledge of mathematics. The last chapter presents the results of primary quantitative research, which focused on the issue of the relationship between social networks and branding in the Czech Republic.

The Master's Thesis is dedicated to a topic of project management which is explored through the fashion brand Bazar Bar. The theoretical part is focused on definition necessary terms for the whole Thesis and it is occupied with connected fields of study: project management and brand marketing. In the practical part are the theoretical knowledge presented on the real brand called Bazar Bar. The Master's Thesis has set a target to analyse the real fashion brand operating on the Czech Market from two points of view: project management and brand marketing.

Internet and Social Networking Services have made accessing information as easy as lifting a finger and consumer can easily ‘Google’ the cheapest airlines, find reviews and opinions online or look up the restaurant whose name was on the tip of their tongue (Sparrow et al., 2011). Organisations must focus on developing methods of reaching and servicing customers that appeal to a new generation and utilise the advantages of new media (Moutinho et al., 2011). Social networking services, (mobile) websites, location-based services, and group bargaining are among the most recent forms of brand building and reputation management used by organisations to appeal to their stakeholders. Considering reputation management as a strategic necessity of building and sustaining competitive advantage, this thesis applies the discourse of the postmodern branding, Integrated Marketing Communications and Brand Tribalism within the context of online tourism and hospitality. No previous study has covered and combined the fractured knowledge of reputation management, brand tribes and integrated marketing communications within the hospitality industry, and therefore this work is an original and systematic study of the possibilities and pitfalls of the research area. Combining non-participant netnographic method and semi-structured management interviews, 164 hotels and 43 restaurants from seven countries were studied with the aim to find evidence on four different problem settings; (a) the general challenges found in the hospitality SNS presence and activities; (b) the formation of an online tribe within the hospitality context; (c) the effect of peer reviews, tribal activism, and entertainment provision in SNS, and (d) the means and effects of managing SNS’s interactions and implementation of IMC into the reputation management process. The findings of this study suggest that the management of the hospitality reputation is continual, and requires resources and well-articulated integration to overall strategy and vision of managing strategic relationships. The study concludes that by adapting the recommended Ambient Reputation Management framework it is possible to expand the exposure, and enhance the general feelings towards the company and its products and services. Furthermore, the study postulates that providing entertainment and non-factual conversation topics, besides responding to customer needs, are the most effective stimuli in the brand-related engagement enhancement process. These findings enable management to define the service brand’s promise in terms of how the practical and emotional tenets should be blended to grow brand personality in the minds of potential stakeholders. Finally this study accentuates the generation of brand awareness through the growing rapport between the brand and the consumers towards the formation of a brand tribe, and materialisation of an active tribal loop; and that taking advantage of the web analytics from the actions to measure the resultant brand awareness is a key element of Ambient Reputation Management.

Title: Marketing management of sports brand Nike in the Czech Republic Objectives: The aim of thesis is to describe and evaluate the current marketing management of sports brand Nike in the Czech Republic based on made qualitative analysis. The next point is to detect strengths and weaknesses. Then in the consequence of obtainable knowledge suggest new procedures and implements in marketing which can be used to improve marketing management of the brand. Methods: In this theses there was used a qualitative analysis (descriptive case study), witch was based on document analysis and interview with an employee of marketing department of company. Results: The results showed that marketing management of sports brand Nike in the Czech Republic is on a high level. This fact is mainly a consequence of its global and stable position on a worldwide market. For the reason, that its daughter company Nike CZECH, s. r. o. has been presented on Czech market since 2011, there are many possibilities to improve its marketing management with respect to local specifics. It contains mainly expansion of official shops in the Czech Republic, extensions of brand series, improvements of a communication strategy, sponsorship, changes in an organisation structure and reviews of a brand success. Keywords: brand, marketing,...

Brand strategy is one of the key factors influencing the companies' success on the domestic as well as international markets. Brand is a fenomenon, which all consumers, suppliers and companies encounter on daily basis and therefore this topic deserves a proper attention. The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to present a comprehensive overview of the brand strategy in international marketing. There is an intention to provide a definition of brand (trademark) and describe the importance of a brand and make a summary of theoretical and practical knowledge about brands and brand strategy in relation to international marketing and analyze various apects, which represent partial objectives if this thesis. The first part of the thesis provides the definition of a brand, both in the business and the legal sence, and describes the importance of a brand in marketing management; it is emphasized, that the importance goes beyond the 4 P's in the marketing tactics, but it is an integral part of the company's strategy and a centre of interest of the highest management, since the value of the brand often exceeds the value of company's tangible assets. The thesis also proves the increasing importance of a brand from the supply point of view during the single development phases of the marketing concepts. The second part is focused on the value of the brand and it's evaluation and brand equity. It is explained, that a single definition of brand equity doesn't exist and various approaches to this topic are provided. An absolute brand value also doesn't exist, because the value is based upon an estimation of future revenues and profits determined by many factors. The Winning brands methodology from AC Nielsen is introduced as a practical example of a brand equity study. The world's most valuable brands are presented according to Interbrands and MillwardBrown, and it is shown, that the Best Global Brands index (i.e. Top 100 brands according to Interbrands) consistently outperformed the average market's performance given by MSCI and S&P indices; the most successful brands become even more successful. The opinion on transitive economies and the Czech republic from the brands' development point of view is provided, including the available ranking. The third chapter concentrates on building and managing brands. The difference between a product and a brand is provided and put into the context of the product policy as a part of the marketing mix. The link with the brand equity is shown in the sence, that various components of the brand equity represent important areas, where it is necessary to put attention and resources behind in order to build a strong brand. The importance of functional attributes, emotional attributes and attribute of self-expression is highlighted as well as the relation between the brand and the price. Basic objectives when building a brand are reflected in the consumer funnel, which consists of brand awareness, image, trial and loyalty. On the other hand the brand funnel provides a ladder, based on which the level of communication strategy is identified (product attributes, benefits, values, brand essence). Further text concentrates on strategic brand management including various aspects of marketing budget for the brand, internal evaluation of brand achievements compared to pre-defined objectives and institutional aspects of the brand building; different approach of sales and marketing is described, and description of the brand management, marketing management, category management and sales management are provided in detail and key performance indicators are shown in detail from practical point of view. Substantial part is devoted to private labels, which is a segment showing fast growth. Confirmation of one of the hypotheses brings a clear answer, that private labels are not only a tool for price competition, but fulfill also other tasks, like the extension of the consumers' choice, building new categories, providing a promise to consumers supported by the reatiler's reputation etc. In the following part there were identified trends, which can be expected in relation to brand strategy: polarization of brands, further strengthening of strong manufacturers' brands and corporate brands, a trend towards imaginative and creative communication of brands, development towards global brands, rationalization of brands' portfolio, re-branding, growth of private labels, co-branding and prioritization in brand management. In the fifth chapter theoretical approach was applied on the exaples of selected brands, which I worked with in my previous career. Many aspects of the international brand strategy are demonstrated on three brands: Becherovka as a large domestic brand dstributed also on international markets; Red Bull as a relatively young brand, which managed to become a global brand, including the distribution on the Czech market, where I actively participated in the launch; and Seven Crown as one of the world's largest alcohol brands, but which appears rather as a regional brand and a successful adaptation to the local Czech market conditions is shown. I amconvinced, that the main objective of this doctoral thesis, i.e. to present a comprehensive overview of the brand strategy in international marketing, as well as the partial objectives and the pedagogical objective were fulfilled.

The commercial field of sustainability communications encompasses ground previously demarcated between the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility on the one hand, and marketing, advertising and public relations on the other. This thesis examines the formation and development of this novel field of cultural production and its significance for sustainable consumption and corporate sustainability. The research is orientated by practice theory and draws on participant observation within a sustainability communications agency, interviews and documentary analysis. The heuristic value of practice theory for the study of sustainable consumption is now well established in the context of end-use consumption but is unexplored in the context of commercial sustainability communications. Equally, sustainability communications has been neglected by the field of cultural economy. The key concern is with cultural intermediaries and their capacity or otherwise to instantiate their own mores, understandings and practices in the social world. I address this in terms of sustainability and draw on the idea of performativity to approach commercial sustainability communications as a performative complex of practices. Furthermore, the research aims to problematise the place of 'the consumer' in discourses of sustainable consumption. I produce a genealogy of sustainability communications and an account of the development and contemporary constitution of the associated agency market. I suggest that a defining role that the market plays is the management of the 'strategic ambiguity' of sustainability. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews I identify elements that integrate practices into the complex of sustainability communications and examine its normative orientations. Cultural intermediation is shown to take place through, firstly, the diffusion of practices and practice elements. Secondly, it occurs through attempts to instantiate 'the sustainable consumer'. Models of the consumer at work in sustainability communications are analysed and different modes of instantiation of 'the sustainable consumer' identified. Thirdly, it takes place through articulating sustainability with brands. I explore three arenas in which sustainability communications articulates brand and sustainability: what I identify as the discourse of corporate-sponsored sustainable consumption; the cultural politics of work; and lastly, the public sphere.