Search results

Extant research on comparative advertising has focused only on “market leader” comparisons (a brand targeting the market leader), whereas in the marketplace, “multi-brand” comparisons are more prevalent (Kalro et al., 2010). Moreover, most research focuses on direct comparisons only. Hence, this research aims to investigate the interplay between comparison ad strategy (“market leader”/“multi-brand” comparisons) and comparison ad format (direct/indirect comparisons) on the effectiveness of comparative advertising.

This paper uses four 2 × 2 fully crossed factorial designs (comparison ad format: direct vs indirect and comparison ad strategy: market leader vs multi brand) with established and new brands in two categories: powdered detergents and smart phones. All studies were conducted in metropolitan cities of India.

By and large, the experiments indicated that direct (indirect) comparisons lowered (heightened) perceived manipulative intent and enhanced (reduced) attitude-toward-the-ad for multi-brand (market leader) comparisons.

Findings suggest that when advertisers use comparative advertising, they may use direct ads when using multi-brand comparisons and use indirect ones when using market leader comparisons. It could also be argued that when advertisers use multi-brand comparisons because of fragmentation in the marketplace, they may directly compare against these multiple brands. When advertisers need to compare against a market leader, they may do so indirectly.

This research is among the first to investigate multi-brand comparisons that are widely used in the industry and that too in the context of both direct and indirect comparison formats.

In the mid-1990s, market demands for around-the-clock (24/7) banking and financial transacting began to converge with advances in internet-based technologies. This confluence of forces gave rise to the birth of internet banking. Building upon the relevant literature, this paper aims to develop a set of propositions to address the following questions: what brand strategy or strategies were used at the birth of internet banking roughly 25 years ago? In the years since then, have merger and acquisition transactions involving internet or “direct” banking businesses only come to fruition where the direct bank was previously under a specific brand strategy? And finally, where there have been changes in internet banking brand strategy, have these invariably been in the ultimate direction of one particular brand strategy?

Because of the exploratory nature of the research question, this paper uses a case study examination as the research approach. In addition to gaining deeper insight into issues involving internet bank branding as these actually existed, this paper aims to propose preliminary and tentative conclusions that can later be tested empirically with larger sample size. The case studies specifically examine German commercial banks with direct bank businesses.

In the examination of the German commercial banks, this paper finds that their internet banking activities some 25 years ago were, in fact, never launched using an umbrella brand strategy but rather with a combined brand strategy or multi-brand strategy. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions involving internet-based direct banks were only consummated where the direct bank had previously been operated by the parent bank using a multi-brand strategy. Where the brand strategies of internet-based direct banks have been changed by their parent banks, this has invariably been in the direction of an umbrella brand strategy.

Within the marketing and banking literature, there are no in-depth examinations of internet banking brand strategies to be found. This paper, in addressing this research topic, marks the first full survey of German commercial banks with internet-based direct banking businesses. This survey, moreover, examines branding not only at the time that internet-based direct banks were first established starting in 1994 but also the subsequent development of internet banking brand strategies to the present day.

The present study aims to explore the efforts of a core action sports company (Board Sports Company (BSC)) to employ a multi‐brand strategy and to focus on the identity and reach of the seven distinct brands operated under the parent company. The study seeks to identify benefits and limitations of the multi‐brand strategy, as seen by company employees.

In a single‐case design study approach, a global, private action sports company, recognized as a leader in authentic action sports footwear and apparel, was selected for study. Data were collected via in‐depth interviews with key company employees and an extensive review of secondary sources.

The adoption of a multi‐brand strategy with the operation of seven distinct brands has allowed BSC to expand to mainstream audiences, while strengthening its core target markets. Through aggressive consumer segmentation practices and the strategic utilization of a variety of distribution outlets, BSC remains competitive in a highly antagonistic business environment.

Possibly the greatest benefit of a multi‐brand strategy is a company's ability to diversify, while minimizing the risk of transferring potentially harmful associations among its brands. Thus, BSC has expanded its reach into the mainstream through new sports, product lines, distribution channels, and target audiences. Simultaneously, the organization has guarded the perception of authenticity of its core brands.

The study extends the understanding of the management of sport brands by moving beyond collegiate and professional sport organizations to focus on an athletic wear and equipment brand. It also offers insight to sport organizations that might consider expansion via the adoption of a multi‐brand strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to reconfigure a new component of dynamic capabilities across firms, and to summarize propositions and to construct a conceptual framework of the dynamic capabilities in fashion apparel industry.

The author used the interviews with the industry experts and trade association executives to develop an understanding of the strategic and technological issues facing the industry and to gain a historical perspective on the evolution of the industry.

This study explored the establishment of dynamic capability and market competitiveness in the fashion apparel industry from the perspectives of dynamic capability and resources embedment, and brought out the insight that commonalities/component has been overlooked. The “conceptual framework of dynamic capabilities in fashion apparel industry” developed by this study, which consists of the major key factors for the maintenance of fast fashion apparel industry in market competitive advantage.

Although the five top fashion apparel groups interviewed in this study are representative, there are limits in classification of other brands, which is one of the limitations in this study. Second, although qualitative research can achieve understanding of the utmost layer of situations, its greatest limitation is that it cannot investigate massive amount of interviewees, which is a second limitation in this study.

The theoretical contribution of the study is to construct a conceptual framework of dynamic capabilities in the fashion apparel industry using eight theoretical propositions. Such conceptual framework will become a basic knowledge system for firms in the fashion apparel industry to develop strategic directions, as well as an important knowledge reference to other firms when choosing what to establish as their core competences.

This case highlights repositioning strategies that change a product’s position in the minds of the consumer in response to changes in market conditions. These changes should be balanced with a certain amount of brand authenticity and continuity. Brand identity is the vision, core values and key beliefs of the brand. There are four main branding strategies as follows: house of brands, endorsed brands, sub-brands and branded house. These options can be placed in a continuum and the position on the branding relationship spectrum reflects the degree to which brands are separated in strategy execution and in the customer’s minds.

This case is based on secondary data, mainly from interviews of industry leaders in business journals, newspapers, research articles and industry reports, including from international organizations.

The case examines the frequent revisions in branding strategies by India’s second largest group of hotels – Indian Hotels Company Limited. Repositioning involves changing the market’s perceptions of an offering to compete more effectively in its target segments. However, a certain amount of continuity is also essential to the brand’s development over time. The case helps students to view the brand from two angles as follows: the angle of brand identity and the disruptive angle of new developments. They will examine the rationale for the frequent repositioning strategies using the brand relationship spectrum and whether these will affect the brand identity of the iconic brand Taj.

This case has been effectively used with MBA Marketing students in Product and Brand Management and Services Marketing classes to demonstrate how companies use repositioning strategies as a considered response to the market conditions. As competitive conditions and consumers evolve, changes in branding strategy will be necessitated. The students are expected to have basic knowledge of brand architecture and brand strategies. The case can be used to illustrate the brand relationship spectrum and the differences among branding strategies in brand architecture.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The purpose of this study is to understand how a large service organisation with a brand portfolio manages its corporate brand relative to its portfolio of product brands.

The authors use an interpretivist research paradigm to investigate four research questions concerning the relative roles of corporate and product brands, the role of the CEO, the structures and capabilities that support the development of brand equity (including the role of the marketing function) and the role of employees in building corporate brand equity. A case study design was used, and the Tsogo Sun, one of the largest hotel and casino organisations in Africa, was the focus of the investigation.

The findings highlight the important role of both the CEO and the marketing department in optimising brand equity and managing across corporate and product brands. Employees were found to play a critical role and the need to clarify their relative roles as both recipients and expressors of brand identity across corporate and product brands emerged as an important theme.

Although the corporate brand has received much attention in recent years, much of literature remains conceptual. In addition to responding to calls for empirical research, the paper also contributes to deepening understanding about how to manage a corporate brand alongside a number of product brands.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the growing trend of the use of private labeling as a competitive strategy among fashion retailers. Specifically, how retailers differentiate and create niche markets within their own private label merchandise is examined. The study focuses on how retailers develop and expand their private label portfolios, while minimizing the risk of cannibalization.

The research methodology is an in‐depth case study design that is used to gather information from a selected sample of those retailers that participate in apparel private label product development.

Results indicate a strong use of a niche marketing strategy by retailers in the development and implementation phase of private labels. The strategy resulted in increased profits and market share.

The study is significant because it provides a framework for a globally competitive strategy that retailers can utilize in order to develop specialized, niche markets within their private label merchandise, while minimizing the risk of cannibalization.

There is a void in the current research literature relative to the use of a niche market strategy as a competitive strategy by the fashion retail industry, particularly when related to the development and marketing of private label merchandise.

The paper aims to analyze and compare the branding strategies used in the three sectors namely FMCG, services and durables.

Based on the literature review, a more comprehensive list of branding strategies is proposed. A content analysis of 600 randomly selected brands, 200 from each sector, is performed. The branding strategies used in the three sectors are explained and MANOVA is conducted to test the hypotheses about differences in the branding strategies across the three sectors.

The results reveal that the branding strategies vary across the three sectors. Single corporate brand strategy is predominantly used for durables and credence services. On the other hand, in case of FMCG and experience services, individual brand type endorsed by the corporate brand type is the most frequently used branding strategy. Thus, there is a trend towards corporate branding as corporate brand type is popular in all the sectors. Also, other than the single corporate brand strategy, as in case of durables and credence services, single brand type strategy is rarely used. For FMCG brands and experience services brands, companies are trying to leverage brand equity of two or more brand types.

The paper offers insights for designing branding strategies when branding a product/service. Brand managers may rely on corporate brand type when risk associated with a purchase is high, as in case of durables and credence services. However, when the risk associated is low, as in case of FMCG and experience services, individual brand type may be preferred, but at the same time, it should be endorsed by corporate brand type.

This study adds value to the growing body of literature on branding strategies by identifying a more comprehensive and simplistic list of branding strategies which is a major contribution of the paper. Further, this is one of a very few empirical studies on branding strategies and is a pioneering attempt to evaluate the branding strategies in the FMCG vis‐à‐vis services vis‐à‐vis durables sectors. It empirically substantiates that the three sectors are heterogeneous among themselves and homogeneous within themselves with respect to their branding strategies.

Explores the main issues within hotel chain branding, focusing particularly on the problems of branding heterogeneous hotel portfolios. Relates the theory of branding to hotel chains, and outlines the difficulties of bringing consistency to hotel brands. Reviews the development of branding within the US and UK and identifies some of the features associated with hard and soft brands. Examines Forte Hotels′ 1991 rebranding exercise, the implications of which are considered in a wider context.

This research aims to clarify the nature of the links between brand architecture and brands portfolio. Although these two themes have been the focus of significant research, the question of a link between the two concepts has not truly been asked; and yet the major role of brands raises the question of brand optimisation and balance at the core of an individual company.

After having clarified the two concepts by way of synthesising various works, the paper examines the similarities, differences, complementarities and oppositions between these two methods of organising and utilising brands.

This work shows that brand architecture corresponds, in its essence, to a hierarchical relationship approach between brands; whereas the brands portfolio concept corresponds to a non‐hierarchical method of organising the brands within themselves. The combination of these two approaches allows going beyond the idea of competition at the individual brand level and rather to replace that with a metadimension better suited to reconcile the needs expressed by consumers with organisational logistics and company profitability.

The research may assist managers in better understanding and controlling brand regrouping because the research illustrates some benefits for a company that executes well‐coordinated multi‐brand management.

The discussion distinguishes clearly the concept of brand architecture from the one of brand portfolio and shows their contribution to a stronger link between marketing and strategy.