Industriellt varumärkesarbete - fluga eller framtid?
- en fallstudie av fyra industriföretag
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate industrial branding, which as a relatively new concept, both for practioners as well as academia, comprises a less explored application of the brand concept. The theoretical background of the study consists of marketing theory concerning the brand concept, and theory concerning industrial marketing. The empirical foundation consists of case studies of four industrial companies, based on interviews with representatives from the companies. All four companies have engaged in activities which they themselves see as industrial branding. Initially, the study sets out to determine the occurence of industrial branding, according to this study?s definition, and continues to tentatively explore the implications of branding in an industrial context. The main conclusions are that industrial branding is taking place in the studied companies, and that this differs in degree and scope for each individual company. The study suggests a tentative model for the context of industrial branding, and this model also highlights the role of three themes which have been prominent in the empirical investigation. These themes are globalization, a changing communications environment, and internal branding. Their significance for the continuing development of industrial branding is also discussed.