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1 – 10 of over 47000Jukka Ojasalo, Satu Nätti and Rami Olkkonen
The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical method used is a multi‐case study. Data were collected from 20 companies in the software industry through in‐depth interviews. The data were analyzed using systematic coding and categorization of qualitative evidence.
Findings
The study identified five special characteristics of brand building in software SMEs, relating to goals and perceived benefits of brand building; resources in brand building; external and internal cooperation in brand building; means and communication in brand building; and the process of product brand building and its connection to software product development.
Research limitations/implications
The scientific contribution of this empirical study relates to two aspects of brand management: branding in software business and branding in SMEs. A vast amount of literature exists on “brands”, “software business” and “SMEs”, but there is very little on “branding in software business” or “branding in SMEs”. Unarguably, there are two significant knowledge gaps in the literature, and they relate to branding in software and SME industries. Both theoretical and managerial knowledge is needed. This study corresponds to this need by increasing the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs with an empirical study. The present study is characterized by the general limitations of a case study. The results lack statistical reliability, they apply primarily in the case companies examined, and no direct generalizations should be made without further quantitative study.
Practical implications
Directors of SMEs often think that branding is just for big companies, but small companies with limited resources can brand their products and services as well. However, the means of branding are often different. The present study encourages SMEs to systematically think of the potential advantages of branding for their business, and develop creative, targeted, and affordable approaches for brand building.
Originality/value
The present empirical study makes an original contribution to the literature by increasing the knowledge of branding in the context of both SMEs and software business.
Details
Keywords
New product development and introduction, Marketing.
Abstract
Subject area
New product development and introduction, Marketing.
Study level/applicability
The case is suitable for post-graduate students in management, or in their final year. The case is intended for those business school students who are familiar with the basics of marketing management and are going through a course on new product development. The level of difficulty for post-graduate management students as far as this case is concerned is medium to high. The case can be a part of the following courses in marketing; new product marketing; technology marketing; brand management (how to build a technology brand).
Case overview
The case concerns a computing technology company – Novatium Solutions – that has developed a new product, an affordable computing system, and is looking at ways of marketing it. The product offering in the initial stages is just hardware with limited local processing abilities that needs to be connected through a wire to a telecom broadband player to provide the internet browsing facility. As the case progresses, the product evolves into upgraded and newer formats. The theme of the case is intended to be new product marketing in a technology sector.
Expected learning outcomes
The following will be the learning outcomes for this case; new product process and marketing in a technology company (compared to non technology consumer product company); bringing customer orientation to a product technology company; the role of a marketing head in a new product company; and building a retail brand for an affordable technology product.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available; please consult your Librarian for access. The teaching notes provide adequate questions and answers (four assignment questions and three class discussion questions) so that faculty members need not look beyond these to give student projects or assignments.
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Denise D. Schoenbachler, Geoffrey L. Gordon and Timothy W. Aurand
Building brand loyalty has become more important, yet more difficult to achieve in today's marketplace. This research investigates a possible avenue for building brand loyalty…
Abstract
Building brand loyalty has become more important, yet more difficult to achieve in today's marketplace. This research investigates a possible avenue for building brand loyalty that is not directly related to the marketing of the product – attracting individual investors in the brand's corporate parent. A survey of over 500 individual investors revealed that individual investors do tend to buy brands from companies in which they hold stock, and investors may buy stock in a company because they have experience with the brand. In contrast with brand loyalty, where consumers will not buy competitive offerings, individual investors indicated they would buy competitive offerings, suggesting that stock ownership is more likely to lead to repeat purchase behavior, but not brand loyalty.
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This study examines the relationship between brand digitalization and brand market performance, mediated by brand competence and brand warmth and moderated by brand familiarity…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relationship between brand digitalization and brand market performance, mediated by brand competence and brand warmth and moderated by brand familiarity, from a consumer perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted a 2 (brand digitalization: yes vs no) × 2 (brand familiarity: high vs low) between-subject experiment and administered a survey with 693 valid responses. Two-way analysis of variance, Hayes' PROCESS macro and a linear regression model were used to analyze the data.
Findings
Brand digitalization positively affects brand market performance, which is mediated by brand competence and brand warmth. In addition, brand familiarity has a moderating effect on the relationship between brand digitalization and brand market performance, as well as on the mediating effect of brand competence and brand warmth.
Practical implications
Brand managers should enhance the integration of digital technologies into brand building and management and develop brand communication strategies that emphasize brand digitalization based on consumers' brand familiarity.
Originality/value
This study advances current knowledge of the drivers of brand performance by constructing the concept of brand digitalization and examining its role in improving brand market performance. Additionally, this study deepens our understanding of the relationship between digital technology usage and consumer brand response by examining the mediating effect of brand competence and brand warmth and the moderating effect of brand familiarity.
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Keywords
Stephanie Hui-Wen Chuah, Philipp A. Rauschnabel, Ming-Lang Tseng and T. Ramayah
The purpose of this paper is to propose a dedication-constraint-temptation (DCT) model to study the factors influencing customers’ loyalty to mobile data service (MDS) providers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a dedication-constraint-temptation (DCT) model to study the factors influencing customers’ loyalty to mobile data service (MDS) providers. The DCT model explicitly explores the important yet overlooked role of alternative attractiveness (the temptation-based mechanism) as a mediator and the boundary condition of their interrelationships (e.g. relationship length). The model also integrates new and established antecedents of customer-based brand equity (C-BBE) (the dedication-based mechanism) and switching barriers (the constraint-based mechanism).
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model is tested using partial least squares–structural equation modeling with a sample of 331 MDS users.
Findings
The results indicate that C-BBE has an indirect effect on customer loyalty (via alternative attractiveness) in both relationship groups (shorter- vs longer-term). However, the indirect effect of switching barriers on customer loyalty only exists in longer established relationships. The results from multi-group analysis reveal that the effect of switching barriers on alternative attractiveness significantly differs across groups. In addition, customer value anticipation and procedural switching costs appear to be the most salient antecedents of C-BBE and switching barriers for both groups.
Originality/value
This study makes an incremental contribution by incorporating the temptation-based mechanism as a mediator and relationship length as a moderator into the dedication-constraint model. This study also extends the information systems and brand management literatures by demonstrating the strategic importance of customer value anticipation in the information and communication technology brand equity-building.
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Stephen Hardy, Brian Norman and Sarah Sceery
The purpose of this paper is to review and explore topics that might constitute a history of branding in sport and might also contribute to understanding today's sport branding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review and explore topics that might constitute a history of branding in sport and might also contribute to understanding today's sport branding practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs both secondary and primary sources on a range of sports across centuries of time and space. The paper also employs Mayer's principles of multi‐media learning.
Findings
The paper finds that sport brands have a long history driven by entrepreneurs and organizations through rule‐making, equipment, distinct names, and employment of new technologies.
Originality/value
The paper identifies a series of topics that merit closer scrutiny by historians whose research might inform contemporary scholars and practitioners of sport marketing.
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Fathima Z. Saleem and Matthew A. Hawkins
Situated between the literature on internal branding and user-generated content, this study aims to demonstrate the effect of employee-generated content (EGC) on consumers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Situated between the literature on internal branding and user-generated content, this study aims to demonstrate the effect of employee-generated content (EGC) on consumers’ purchase intentions and positive word of mouth (WOM).
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model was empirically tested using structural equation modeling based on a sample of 442 participants.
Findings
The findings support a sequential mediation model in which employee-created social media content impacts perceptions of brand citizenship behavior (BCB) and perceptions of expertise, which in turn increases purchase intention and WOM.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, this research suggests that employee ambassador programs can work to attract employees with an interest in brand-related social media content creation. Facilitating EGC through support, empowerment and reinforcement rather than traditional control mechanisms is recommended.
Originality/value
This research introduces the concept of EGC and employee content creators while extending the literature on perceived BCB by empirically demonstrating its relationship with perceived expertise and positive consumer behavior outcomes.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how the current trends in B2B loyalty, technology and analytics can aid marketers in creating profitable relationships with small business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the current trends in B2B loyalty, technology and analytics can aid marketers in creating profitable relationships with small business owners by exploring their consumer mind.
Design/methodology/approach
This approach takes the form of a discussion, with practical examples and commentary from leaders in the marketing industry, of the top tips and trends for marketers to establish a consumer‐minded B2B relationship with small‐business clients.
Findings
Loyalty‐marketing efforts that focus solely on the hard‐benefit tactics still dominate, but companies are beginning to realize that small businesses, estimated at 16.7 million firms in the USA alone, come with individual needs and are not only business‐minded but consumer‐minded as well.
Practical implications
B2B marketers have the tools to delve deeper into their relationships with small‐business clients by examining them as they would consumers – by building a loyalty platform on a foundation of customer data.
Originality/value
The paper employs exclusive interviews with representatives from some of the largest marketing firms in the industry today and reports expert analysis and breakdown on loyalty marketing strategies.
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Keywords
By studying marketing strategies of the global Weider Nutrition International Group, this study aims to analyse how the industry surrounding fitness equipment and dietary…
Abstract
Purpose
By studying marketing strategies of the global Weider Nutrition International Group, this study aims to analyse how the industry surrounding fitness equipment and dietary supplements interacted with fitness culture through marketing, advertising and consumption in 1950s Scandinavia. The emphasis is on how the Weider Group established their position as a world leader in sports nutrition through mail order partnerships and advertising using bodies and body ideals in their campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach
The Weider Group’s marketing campaigns are studied through close reading of text and images in Scandinavian weightlifting and bodybuilding magazines in the 1950s, guided by a theoretical understanding of the body as a constant and ongoing project.
Findings
This study deepens the historical knowledge of market-driven aspects of sport and exercise. The market for nutrition and fitness products was internationalised in the 1950s. The study shows that cooperation between commercial and civic organisations played a major role in the enterprise of selling fitness and nutrition products.
Originality/value
This paper shows that in marketing the products, the advertisements – which appealed to both men and women – not only struck a tone of intimacy and desire but also cultivated a sense of insecurity and inadequacy, as well as individuals’ responsibility for maintaining their own bodies. The latter was reflected in young men’s letters to magazines in which Weider’s products and training programmes were praised. For women, this opened up a previously male-dominated gym environment.
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Tanya Bondarouk, Eline Marsman and Marc Rekers
The goal of this chapter is to explore the requirements modern companies expect of HR professionals’ competences.
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this chapter is to explore the requirements modern companies expect of HR professionals’ competences.
Design/Methodology/Approach
Departing from the widely acknowledged HR competence studies of Ulrich and associates, we extended them with the continuous learning competence profile and HR professionals’ individual job performance. The empirical study is built on open interviews with HR leaders of ten large Dutch companies.
Findings
The study offers a new set of HRM competences. This set includes six HRM profiles: Business Focus, Learning Focus, Strategic Focus, HR Technology, HR Delivery, and Personal Credibility. Several contingency factors are thought to play a role in supporting these HRM competences: company culture, strategy, size, sector, scope, and position of HR professionals.
Practical Implications
Based on these contributions, we recommended conducting a quantitative study to gain understanding of the relevance of the individual HRM job performance and to find associations between the HRM competences and the individual HRM job performance.
Originality/Value
The focus of this chapter is a combination of HRM competences and the individual job performance of HR professionals.
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