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Companies spend millions on training their sales representatives. Thousands of textbooks have been published; thousands of training videos have been recorded. Hundreds of good pieces of advice and tips for sales representatives have been presented along with hundreds of sales methods and techniques. Probably the largest number of indicators and measures are applied in sales and distribution. On the one hand, this is a result of the fact that sales provide revenue and profit to a company; on the other hand, the concept of management by objectives turns out to be most effective in regional sales teams with reference to sales representatives and methods of performance evaluation. As a result, a whole array of indices has been created which enable the evaluation of sales representatives’ work and make it possible to manage goods distribution in a better way.

The indices presented in this chapter are rooted in the consumer market and are applied most often to this type of market (particularly in relation to fast-moving consumer goods at the level of retail trade). Nevertheless, many of them can be used on other markets (services, means of production) and at other trade levels (wholesale).

Although the values of many indices presented herein are usually calculated by market research agencies and delivered to companies in the form of synthetic results, we have placed the emphasis on the ability to determine them independently, both in descriptive and exemplifying terms. We consider it important to understand the genesis of indices and build the ability to interpret them on that basis. What is significant is that the indices can be interpreted differently; the same index may provide a different assessment of a product’s, brand or company’s position in the market depending on the parameters taken into account. Therefore, we strive to show a certain way of thinking rather than give ready-made recipes and cite ‘proven’ principles. Sales and distribution are dynamic phenomena, and limiting them within the framework of ‘one proper’ interpretation would be an intellectual abuse.

The author explores the variety of ways in which sports brands have risen to prominence and how the development of particular activities and relationships, with athletes, fans, media and regulators, are designed to present them as authentic. This status is crucial given the cultural and emotional significance of sport alongside its ability to underpin forms of collective belonging. A range of examples, including Red Bull, Nike, Patagonia, Olympic skateboarding and Manchester United Football Club, are used to highlight these processes as well as the complexity of the contemporary social, cultural and political landscapes that such brands now operate in.

This study explores the relationship between brand image and brand equity in the context of sports sponsorship. Keller's (1993, 2003) customer-based brand equity models are the conceptual inspiration for the research, with Faircloth, Capella, and Alford's (2001) conceptual model – adapted from the work of Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) – the primary conceptual model. The study focuses on the sponsorship relationship between the New Zealand All Blacks and their major sponsor and co-branding partner, adidas. The sporting context for the study was the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia. Data were collected from two independent samples of 200 respondents, utilizing simple random sampling procedures. A bivariate correlation analysis was undertaken to test whether there was any correlation between changes in adidas' brand image and adidas' brand equity as a result of the All Blacks' performance in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Results support the view that Keller (1993, 2003) proposes that brand image is antecedent to the brand equity construct. Results are also consistent with the findings of Faircloth et al. (2001) that brand image directly impacts brand equity.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to gain insight into fans' perceptions, attitudes and behavioural responses toward their favourite college football team in the context of a new beer sponsorship agreement. Specifically, the chapter examines differences in fans' attitudes and behaviours based on their gender, team identification and drinking habits.

Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed. The sample was comprised of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers who self-identified as college football fans. A hypothetical scenario was used as a manipulation, whereby participants were asked to imagine their favourite college football team had entered into a new alcohol sponsorship agreement while completing a questionnaire.

Findings: Highly identified fans exhibited more positive attitudes and behaviours after being presented with the hypothetical scenario than less identified fans. In terms of gender, female fans had increased attitudes toward sponsorship compared to males, and highly identified females had the most positive attitudes and behavioural intentions toward their favourite teams of any of the four subgroups in the study.

Research limitations/implications: The small sample sizes of some fan subgroups affected statistical power, which may have led to falsely insignificant findings. The range of favourite teams among the participants (50 universities) meant there was likely a high degree of variation between fans' previous experiences with beer/alcohol at college sport venues.

Originality/value: The study offers valuable insight into the intersection of sport fandom and gender in the context of alcohol sponsorship in US college sport, and is also among the first investigations of the effects of team identification on perceptions toward alcohol sponsorship.

The role of supply chain members is often relegated to an ancillary role in brand building. Do distributors serve only as a conduit for movement of products confined to the business-to-business (B2B) market or do they possess the capability to transcend boundaries and help build the brand of the products that they distribute? Using a case study methodology, an exploration has been carried out on the success journey of Al Seer Group, one of the biggest and oldest Fast Moving Consumer Goods distributors in the United Arab Emirates, driven by the vision to be a brand-building partner. The organization is propelled by a robust people strategy, a process-based operational framework, a data-driven culture and a strategic reorientation that helped them to introduce the brand-building perspective to their stakeholders. This study encourages further research interest on employee retention strategies focused on the Millennial and Gen Z workforce, challenges of data-driven organizations in implementation of emerging technologies, the role of C-suite executives in organizational strategic orientation, and the brand-building perspective of B2B distributors.

The pace at which an organization is able to respond to changes that occur both within and external to the organization has always been a key driver for the success of the organization. In today’s ever-changing environment and volatile economy, it is crucial for organizations to be flexible and agile in order to survive and succeed. This case study traces the journey of Stanley Black & Decker, a global tools, storage, and appliances organization, on its success journey in the Middle East region. This organization has been able to enjoy continuous financial success and win a series of accolades over the years due to the following major strategic drivers: change management, agility, effective channel management, strong customer engagement, brand leveraging, and innovation as a corporate culture. An analysis of existing research indicates a good alignment with change management, agility, brand leveraging, and innovation while a slight deviation is noted in effective channel management and customer engagement.

This chapter offers insights on how knowledge management (KM) tools and initiatives contribute to successful internal branding. Knowledge management has gained considerable recognition from both business practitioners and academics. However, understanding and implementation of KM practices in relation to internal branding is still a largely unexplored field. The authors, thus, present several models of knowledge sharing and outline their applicability to the field of internal branding. Through a case study of a Finnish multinational company Teleste, this chapter shows the applicability of the presented theories for brand knowledge sharing. The practical case looks at how knowledge sharing helped Teleste in the process of rebranding, particularly when promoting its new brand image within the organization.

The chapter introduces a model of destination branding and reports a project that applied the model to examine the current image of Greece. The project was undertaken on behalf of the Greek national tourism organization by a binational consortium. Through conducting primary and secondary research on the public perception and self-portrayal of Greece, the project team found the current brand image and identity not to be in accordance with the country's reality. Indeed, although the brand image elements currently expressed are relevant, they represent only a small portion of a much larger existing offering. To that end, the team proposed new branding strategies based on the model, offering a series of recommendations on how to implement the strategies.