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To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

Sectoral brand management processes have presented planning, development and implementation challenges. With the aim of reducing these managerial problems, the purpose of this paper is to revise the structure and the processes of the sectoral brands management.

This is a qualitative exploratory study, with its unit of analysis being the process of managing the brand of the Brazilian fashion sector. Primary data collection was obtained through in-depth interviews with the seven industry associations and with the company responsible for the brand consulting. The secondary data used were reports about the branding process of the brand provided by respondents. Data analysis was provided by using the VSM to modeling sector structure and BPMN to processes modeling.

The results present a new sectoral brand structure and process to reduce existing barriers. Three sections were carried out: analysis and modeling of the current structure and processes of sectoral brand management; presentation of the current structure and processes problems; analysis and modeling of future structure and processes of sectoral brand management.

A theoretical contribution is provided in the literature of systems, processes and sectoral brands, since there are no previous studies that elaborated a system structure and process for sectoral brands. In addition, other theoretical contribution is the presentation of a future process model that relates brand management process with its system structure, that is, it relates BPM analysis with VSM.

It is also possible to indicate that VSM and BPM can contribute to the management of sectoral brands, through the structural and process problems identification and also by making possible to suggest future management improvements to reduce the barriers that were identified.

The present study originality is the approach of the first analysis of sector brand management with emphasis on its structure and processes that were experienced by the Brazilian fashion sector.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the relevance of conducting brand management research in a family firm context and to identify future research directions by reviewing and structuring the existing literature.

The potential consequences of being a family firm on internal organizational processes and stakeholders’ external perception are depicted. Afterwards the literature considering brand management research in family firms is reviewed systematically (n=41) and structured by applying the Organizational Viewpoint Framework. Relevant research questions are derived based on the findings and their practical relevance is tested.

The contributions are threefold. First, depicting the effects of being a family firm on the organization and its stakeholders highlights the relevance of conducting brand management research in family firms. Second, structuring the literature regarding the effects of being a family firm on organizational identity, intended brand image, construed brand image, and reputation helps derive research questions of theoretical and practical relevance that will serve the field as a guide for future research directions. Third, by extending the Organizational Viewpoint Framework originating from brand management research with the element of being a family firm, a further attempt at bridging both research fields is undertaken.

This paper represents an important next step in the development of this research field by highlighting the importance of conducting brand management research in a family firm context and by structuring existent research to depict future research opportunities with theoretical and practical relevance.

Asserts that the traditional approach to brand management is changing and there has been a quiet shift towards a new structural paradigm in the marketing organization. This change represents a move away from a system that focuses on the individual brand manager, who is responsible for all the business activities that relate to ensuring the success of a specific brand. Investigates the ways that these new marketing organizational structures will affect competitive advantage. Outlines a proposed holistic systems framework.

Brand management systems (BMSs) are of prime importance for brands to monitor effective brand management and enhance firms' performance. The existing scales take various conceptual bases and sometimes eliminate some dimensions, depending on the sector of activity. Based on praxis and a variety of sectors, the purpose of this paper is to identify stable dimensions of BMSs and make configurational patterns emerge according to firms' and sector's characteristics.

A total of 15 in-depth interviews (with a semi-structured questionnaire) were conducted with marketing and communication directors in five sectors of activity (cosmetics, convenience goods, industry, bank/insurance, media). Content analysis was used to examine the configurational patterns that emerged, following a strategy-as-practice approach.

A general BMS pattern emerged from the content analysis with three dimensions: brand identity and values-based, hierarchically based, and implementation based. Interestingly, typical configurations were identified on each dimension and distinct configurational patterns for five sectors.

Additional research on other sectors is suggested to further validate the findings as well as building a scale on the basis of the general pattern to analyze the effect of BMS on performance.

Configurational patterns represent a flexible, adaptive, and easy-to-apply way to approach and monitor BMS for researchers and managers.

This cross-sector research delineates innovative and integrated BMS dimensions and subdimensions emerging from practice and examines their universality. The key subdimension(s) for each dimension is (are) identified and related to recent research on BMS.

This paper aims to analyze the impact of brand management system (BMS) practices on subjective and objective performance in both service- and product-oriented sectors.

Based on a “grounded-in-practice” approach to BMS, a comprehensive formative BMS scale is developed and its validity is assessed. The impact of BMS on subjective brand performance (i.e. predictive validity) and on objective financial performance is assessed. Data are collected from a sample of 298 brand managers and marketing directors in five business sectors (cosmetics, convenience goods, industry, bank/insurance and media) and from a financial database. Path analysis and multigroup analysis are performed to test mediating and moderating effects.

The results reveal that subjective brand performance (perceived brand performance) mediates the relationship between the BMS and objective financial performance of the firm and on each of the three BMS dimensions; and product-oriented (vs service-oriented) sector positively moderates the relationship between the BMS and subjective brand performance.

The paper offers insights into adapting brand management practices along all BMS dimensions to achieve better business performance and improve objective financial performance in product-oriented activities. It highlights the role of brand management implementation, as well as the role of brand management in hierarchical relationships, in improving performance in service activities.

The formative BMS scale offers a tool which can be used to improve strategic decisions and give practical guidance on product vs service sector specificities. The indirect impact of a BMS on financial objective performance reinforces the legitimacy of brand managers and marketing managers.

This paper shows the impact of the BMS on objective financial performance by using a “grounded-in-practice” BMS scale. It also affords explanation on sectoral effects of brand management practices and their consequences on subjective and objective performance.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management/Sundry; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution.

The purpose of this study is to perform a historical analysis of the brand management system (BMS) to understand why and how, over the past century, the BMS has become the dominant marketing organizational model across Western countries and sectors and what the lessons can be learned from history to enlighten its current changes in today’s digitized environment.

Building on Low and Fullerton’s work (1994), the paper traces the evolution of the BMS from its creation in the 1930s to the recent digital era. Data from various sources – research papers, historical business books, case studies, newspaper articles and internal documents – are analyzed to inform an intellectual historical analysis of the BMS’s development.

The paper uses the prism of institutional isomorphism to highlight four distinct periods that show that the BMS has gradually imposed itself on the Western world and managed to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Moreover, it shows that in the current digital age, the BMS is now torn between two opposing directions: the brand manager should act as both absolute expert and galvanic facilitator and the BMS needs to reinvent itself once again.

This paper provides a broad perspective on the BMS function to help marketing scholars, historians and practitioners gain a better understanding of the issues currently facing the BMS and its relevance in the digital age.

The study explores structural devices designed to enhance collaboration between sales and marketing groups. The paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of how such integrative devices link to higher levels of sales‐marketing collaboration and also to higher levels of business performance.

A total of 20 in‐depth interviews and a review of the literature are used to examine the nature and effects of sales‐marketing integrative devices in UK consumer packaged goods firms.

The study identifies two main types of integrative device in operation: trade marketing and category management. The exploratory interviews highlight how these two types of integrative device operate, respectively, at operational and strategic levels. All of the organisations were found to operate some kind of integrative device. However, the organisations studied manifest different levels of collaboration between sales and marketing groups. The conclusion drawn from this and subsequently included in the conceptual framework is that it is the effectiveness of integrative devices, rather than their mere existence, that differentiates between higher and lower levels of sales‐marketing collaboration.

The effectiveness of sales‐marketing integrative devices appears to have positive effects for collaborative sales‐marketing intergroup relations. The results therefore support the development and effective use of such devices to enhance collaborative relations between sales and marketing.

This study reveals the importance and dimensions of effective sales‐marketing integrative devices and uses in‐depth interviews to support the development of a conceptual framework for future empirical testing. Specific hypotheses to test are developed, together with suggestions regarding the measurement of constructs.

The purpose of this paper is to serve as an introduction to the usefulness of means‐end chain (MEC) theory and analysis for branding in health tourism.

An online survey was conducted within the transnational EU‐project Alpshealthcomp and with two of the largest public health insurances in Germany. Research design is based on hard laddering according to Walker and Olson. MEC items were derived from Rokeach and from Hiesel and from results of a consumer survey (n=1.607) for Alpine health and wellness tourism.

Several research questions are proposed regarding consumer association structures for health tourism using principal component analysis, cluster analysis and t‐test contrast of hypothesis. Personal values have proven to be most valuable for establishing brand associations. Here an identifiable and describable common structure exists for Alpine health tourism. With increasing product experience, consumers concentrate on viewer values closely linked to their personality. If product experience is low, consumers depend on a multitude of values.

The proportion of female participants in the sample is very high. A more balanced sample and analysis for gender differences could be valuable. Also it should be tried to replicate findings for other types of intangible services.

The identified value structure can be addressed in brand communication and could complement the concept of brand personality. When shifting emphasis in staging and communicating values according to product experience, tourism managers can establish a stable and strong brand. Behavioral branding can be a useful tool in this context.

Branding started to expand into the tourism industry only recently. Specific research work on branding in health tourism is scarce. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there exists no article in which MEC analysis was applied in order to analyze possible carrier of brand associations in health tourism. This work aims to bridge the gap.