THE ROLE OF TARGET GROUPS IN FEEDBACK EFFECTSBrand extension is one of the most commonly used brand strategies since it reduces some of the risks involved in introducing a completely new brand. There are, however, several challenges associated with brand extensions. One of these challenges is the impact of a new brand extension on the parent brand image, which is known as feedback effect. Feedback effects are the changes in parent brand associations that are caused by a new brand extension, these effects can be both negative and positive. Several previous studies have investigated feedback effects and the antecedents of these effects.

Brands are the instruments corporates use to create and communicate brands reputation. Within the different industries for consumer products intangible assets such as brands are known to have great importance for corporate prosperities. When consumers experiences a specific brand symbolizes best possible value for money, the corporate behind it has managed to create a unique competitive advantage that should be to its full potential. Strong brands can pose the difference between winning or loosing on the market. Due to this brands should be considered as cost-effective instruments since they help create financial advantages such as consumer loyalty.

The thesis strives to answer the question whether there are any differences between how young customers, in comparison with older, are affected by brands when buying different products. The purpose is to get a clearer idea about the brands' importance in the future and in that way also to give guidance to companies about how to best market themselves and there products.To answer the question, an experiment was conducted with 480 respondents taking a survey where they had to rate a product after reading a short text about it. Some of the texts stated that a specific brand was behind the product while some said the product was produced by an unknown brand.The result of the study was that young people showed a greater propensity of rating products with a brand higher than products without brands, in comparison with the older respondents. This gives reason to believe that brands progressively will become an even more important tool for marketers and an unmatched asset for companies in the future..

The purpose of this essay is to analyze and understand how people in different ways can take on the role as carriers of brands and understand what part they play in today?s society. Brands are everywhere today and the competitions are becoming harder and harder for the customers? attention and consumption, which is why I am curious of how an individual in a company?s frontline or a celebrity can help the success of a brand. The essay is based on a qualitative method where six interviews have been performed.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how four companies in Värmland, Sweden, are working strategically with their brands. This is a qualitative method in which we have used a combination of interviews and literature review in order to investigate the link between brands and the Karlstad region.Even though there is a huge interest in brands, there are only a few companies who can describe clearly what their own brand represents. This probably due to the fact that the brand is still regarded as a tactical tool, rather than as a strategic one. Because of this we find it very interesting to investigate how organizations in Värmland think about this issue. Are brands regarded as a strategic resource, and how strong is the link between their brands and the region?The result indicate that organizations are working strategically with their brands, but they can still get better.

ABSTRACTTitle: Teenagers and their perception of fashion brands (Ungdomar och deras uppfattningar om modevarumärken)Number of pages: 42Author: Louise KindblomTutor: Göran SvenssonCourse: Media and communication studies CPeriod: Autumn term 2007University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala universityPurpose/Aim: To achieve a deeper level of knowledge and a better understanding of high school teenager`s perception of the three fashion brands Gucci. H&M and Canada Goose and too distinguish potential gender related differences in their perceptions.Material/Method: A questionnaire about fashion brands delivered to three schools in the Stockholm area.Main results: Teenagers perceptions of the three fashion brands Gucci, H&M and Canada Goose are more different than similar. This differences in teenagers perceptions are discernible in a comparison between the most usual and unusual associations that are related to each of the brands. Gucci is associated with success, wealth, excitement and uniqueness. H&M is for example seen as earth-bound and has in a comparison with the other brands reached the highest level of positive associations.

Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

The upper secondary school 2011 (Gy 2011) was a reform which created large changes in the Swedish educational system. One of the major changes was the requirement of certification for sport schools. Schools in Sweden have historically used sports in their marketing, this opportunity was impaired by the reform. This thesis aims to investigate how brands are applied on webpages of sport schools that are certified in football and/or cross-country skiing. Content analysis was used as method of data collection.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how an individual's identity is constructed and reinforced through clothing brands. This we intend to achieve by studying and analyzing the significance of clothing brands on consumers. In close proximity to this purpose, we have chosen to work with three research questions:? How do consumers see clothing as a means to express themselves? ? What perception does consumers have on clothing brands as identity creators? ? How do consumers value wearing clothes from a particular clothing brand?.

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 thesis is to examine how social procurement can be a further development of public-private partnership. This is done with interviews and a case study of the social procurement Mitt Gröna Kvarter and its labor effort Boendebyggarna. The theoretical framework used in the thesis consists of public-private partnership and corporate social responsibility. It tries to answer the following questions:What does this social procurement mean by the concept of public-private partnership?What does this social procurement mean for the participants involved?How can social procurement be seen as a further development of public-private partnership?The thesis uses the theory development around the concepts of public-private partnership and corporate social responsibility and shows that social procurement does indeed have similarities to public-private partnership and could very well be a further development of it..

Uppsatsen behandlar de investeringskriterier och värderingsmetoder som svenska Private Equity-företag använder inför företagsförvärv. Vi har gjort en kvalitativ analys av fem svenska Private Equity-aktörer. Våra slutsater är att de Private Equity-bolag vi studerat har ett fåtal övergripande investeringskriterier men att de är relativt flexibla gällande resterande. Företagen använder sig främst av multipelvärdering i värderingsprocessen. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att Private Equity-företagen fokuserar mindre på vad företaget är värt och lägger allt fokus på hur mycket företaget kan avyttras för..

Advertisers of today are facing a great challenge in a landscape where it becomes even more difficult to break through the clutter and convince consumers to buy their products. In order to succeed, they need to come up with new ways of communicating with their customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if micro-blogging could be considered an effective media choice in order to enhance the perception of brand associations and traditional communication effects. The subject is of interest as brands are putting increasingly more resources into this communication channel. However, at the current date the marketing effects of micro-blogging is unexplored in academic research.

It is a common view that companies should focus on building brands to increase profitability and stabilize cash flows. However, building and keeping brands alive is costly. Many firms spend large sums on branding only because they are supposed to, without knowing if they will actually gain from it. Up to date, there is limited convincing evidence that branding actually contributes to shareholder value creation. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between brand strength and profitability and shareholder value.

The implementation of this research increases the awareness of the value for luxury fashion brands in utilizing social media as a communication channel to reach young consumers globally. It provides a general understanding of young consumers? perception of luxury fashion brands on social media in regards to geographic cultural background, attitude towards new luxury, and preferred way of contacts..