When discussing nation branding, there are three perspectives that correlate with each other: National Identity, Nation Brand Identity and Nation Brand Image. This thesis explores the nation branding of Sweden, and describe the three perspectives with a focus on Sweden. When comparing how the perspectives are comported with each other, there is the possibility of gaps existing when one perspective does not comport with another. We have compared our empirical material on the different perspectives and looked for possible gaps..

Companies spend huge amounts on communicating their brand through marketing. Many of these contact areas where the consumer comes in contact with the brand is con-trolled by the company. The brand image is also affected from outside the company. It can be from users, media, blogs etc.Burberry is an example of a company that got in trouble with their brand image after hooligans where associated with their products. If a company with a brand with a strong image is associated whith consumers that are not compatible with the target group the company wants, there is a risk of a negative affect on the brand image.Our purpose is to investigate and describe the phenomenom when a company brandimage is affected by being associated whith consumers not compatable whith, by the company, intended target group.We have chosen a qualitative research where we use a multiple case study.

Purpose/Aim: To describe likenesses and differences between the personal identity of the common Kalmar nation member and the collective identity of the organization Kalmar nation as described by said members.Material/Method: Collecting data through a quantitative survey, where the members answer questions about themselves and Kalmar nation, and subsequent analysis of said data by means of theories about personal, collective, and brand identity.Main results: After analyzing the data from the survey I conclude that there exists both likenesses and differences between the organization and its members. Some likenesses are more pronounced than others, and the same can be said for the differences. However, within the three areas of study (specific identity traits, politics and music) politics and music showed more similarity between the members and the nation than the specific identity traits did. The most interesting aspect of the analysis show that the members have quite a common view of the organization despite their own widely different descriptions of themselves..

Aim: Nation Branding has become an important phenomenon during the last couple of years. The concept talks about how to promote a product by using the features of a nation to gain profit. Among the years many countries has established a strong Nation Brand abroad. In the long run many companies have chosen to use these benefits in an efficient way by promoting their own country brand, especially in their internationalization process. The aim of this study is to see what factors that influence companies in the Swedish food industry while using the fact that they are Swedish when they enter foreign markets. Method: Data was collected through interviews with export managers and sales managers at 6 Swedish companies exporting products within the food industry.

Many? luxury? companies? within? the? fashion? industry? today? choose? to? extend? their? brands downwards? in? order? to? reach? new? customer? segments? and? hence? increase? their? profitability.? A? brand? extension? strategy? that? leverages? the? core? values? of? the? luxury? brand? is? a ?new ?possibility ?for ?luxury ?brands ?to ?position ?themselves ?towards ?a ?broader ?customer ?base.?? Meanwhile? there? is? a? risk? that? the? extension? dilutes? the? image? of? the? luxury? brand? and? has? a? negative? effect? on? the? company? in? the? long? term.? Thus? a? tradeoff? exists? between? becoming? more? accessible? and? maintaining? the? exclusivity? of? the? luxury? brand.? The? objective? of? this? thesis ?is ?to ?investigate ?how ?luxury ?brands ?that ?perform? downward ?brand ?extensions ?to? reach? new? markets? can? succeed? with? this? strategy? without? diluting? the? brand? image.? This? is? achieved? by? studying? the? perceptions? of? the? new? target? segment? towards? the? extension? of? luxury? brands.? The? results? of? the? study? show? that? the? risk? of? brand? dilution? is? minimized when? the? core? values? of? the? luxury? brand? are? transferred? to? the? brand? extension? while? the extension ?at ?the ?same ?time ?is ?successfully ?targeted ?towards ?the ?specific ?customer? segment..

The purpose of this study has been to examine how customers, by interacting with each other, can communicate and create the image of a brand. We find this topic to be relevant since there are no previous studies conducted concerning the customers influence on the brand image. Our ambition has been to describe in what ways and to what extent the customer can affect and influence the brand image by communicating with other customers. To fulfill our purposed we have targeted three important questions which are:? In which ways can the customer affect the communicated image of a brand?? To what extent can the customer influence the brand image and the perceived value?? Who has control over the brand, the customer or the company?For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eight personal interviews with brand consultants and the editor of the magazine Dagens Media which has given us the foundation for our analysis.

AbstractLevel:Bachelor thesis in Business Administration/Marketing Title:Care Of Haus, "Kan Reklam. Förstår Annat". Ett Varumärke, En uppfattning? Problem:When it comes to building a strong brand it is important that their brand identity, which means how they want to be perceived coincide with how their customers sees them (Melin 1999). Purpose:The purpose of this thesis has been to find out if and how these two aspects coincide with each other.

There are two main reasons for why companies engage in sponsoring and Event Marketing; affecting the brand awareness and/or the image of the brand. Historically the main focus within the research field has been on how sponsoring and Event Marketing can create and achieve high brand awareness. More research regarding the image transfer from event to brand has been requested and this study is to be considered as an attempt to begin filling this gap. Today we see more and more brands choosing to arrange their own events; hoping to attain a more direct connection between the event and the brand. This trend raises questions such as - Do brands arranging their own events receive more image transfer from event to brand compared to brands sponsoring the same kind of event? - Are there any differences between an established well-known brand and a new unknown brand? - Will an event fully owned by a brand attract more or less people than an event arranged by someone considered to be less biased? These are some of the questions asked and answered within this thesis.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of the discipline Design Thinking in a project that aims to strengthen Sweden as a brand. The study will generate knowledge about Design Thinking, with the purpose to increase the understanding of how the discipline can be used as a strategic tool in the processes of strengthening Nation Branding. The authors have used a descriptive and qualitative approach where the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 was examined. The theoretical framework contains previous research in the field, data has been analysed in relation to Lockwood's ten principles of how an organization can become more design-minded and Anholt?s hexagon, which features the parameters that creates a country's Nation Branding.

AbstractIn the heart of Paris, you will find Sweden?s only cultural center abroad. Since the early 70?s a wealth of cultural activities has been offered, and every year the center receives more than 100,000 visitors. The center is a branch of the Swedish Institute (Si), a public authority which promotes mutual relationships between Sweden and other countries through culture, education, science and business.

In these days of globalization, with a higher level of openness and interaction over geographical, cultural and economical borders, the importance of the company?s intangible asset, its brand, is gaining importance as a differentiating factor. Building a strong brand and the emphasis on strategic brand management is something that before was given less attention in firms but today we can see a general increase in awareness and relative emphasis in the strategic work of companies.Countries as brands: Is it possible to consider a nation or a country as a brand the same way you consider a product? Well, looking in to the subject it seems to be a rather complex matter and there are many questions to be asked and answer. Nations around the globe are indeed marketing and positioning themselves for several purposes.

AbstractBackground: Countries can be seen as brands (nation brands) with brand values that transmitto the country?s products. Country-of-origin (COO), the brands nationality, links the productto an associative network of cultural shared national stereotypes. Through associating thebrand with a country or a region, the credibility of the brand can increase and strengthen thebrand. Therefore COO is used in marketing to position a brand.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how luxury fashion brands communicatetheir national identity through analyzing their advertising.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how customers, by interacting with each other, can communicate and create the image of a brand. We find this topic to be relevant since there are no previous studies conducted concerning the customers influence on the brand image. Our ambition has been to describe in what ways and to what extent the customer can affect and influence the brand image by communicating with other customers. To fulfill our purposed we have targeted three important questions which are:? In which ways can the customer affect the communicated image of a brand?? To what extent can the customer influence the brand image and the perceived value?? Who has control over the brand, the customer or the company?For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eight personal interviews with brand consultants and the editor of the magazine Dagens Media which has given us the foundation for our analysis.

AbstractIn the heart of Paris, you will find Sweden?s only cultural center abroad. Since the early 70?s a wealth of cultural activities has been offered, and every year the center receives more than 100,000 visitors. The center is a branch of the Swedish Institute (Si), a public authority which promotes mutual relationships between Sweden and other countries through culture, education, science and business.

The purpose of this essay is to increase the understanding of how the management´s core values reflect the brand´s profile and image. To be able to fulfill that purpose, we used three problem statements that questioned how consumers, retailers and the employees of the company Kosta Boda perceived the brand. To accomplish this, we used a qualitative method. We started collecting theories about the topics: brand, image and profile that gave us a good foundation to build our qualitative interviews on and to increase the understanding for the topics. To collect imperical data, we interviewed consumers, retailers and employees at Kosta Boda both by email, phone and face-to-face interviews.