Brand Associations of Minor Hockey Tournaments: Understanding the Rep Hockey Parents' Perspective

Tournaments and other hockey-related activities have been calculated to be a significant driver of tourist dollars for many regions across Canada. The competition to attract teams to participate in tournaments, which benefit the tournament organizers and the communities in which they reside, is significant. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to assess the brand associations that representative (rep) minor hockey parents from Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe Region perceive as relevant when considering ideal tournaments for their child to participate in. Brand associations have been classified as the attributes, benefits, or attitudes one uses to develop a perception of a product or service. To investigate the current study, 30 interviews were conducted using a laddering interview technique. Findings indicate that there are seven attributes and nine benefits that impact a tournament’s brand association including: competition, tournament operations, accommodations, bonding, fun, parity, and time management. The interrelationship between the identified attributes and benefits is discussed while recommendations and directions for future research are presented.

The dynamics of brand equity, co-branding and sponsorship in professional sports

Globalisation has been one of the most significant determinants of growth in the sports industry worldwide, especially with the increasing importance of brand creation, brand awareness, brand image, brand identity and brand equity. Professional sports teams have become top sports brands through leverage with major company sponsors. Sports marketers have had to become much more entrepreneurial to create competitive advantage for sports organisations and deliver relationship value to consumers. Company sponsorships are prominent drivers of brand strategy around the world. They help create an extended consumer experience and are becoming a strategic vehicle for creating co-branding partnerships between sports organisations and multinational companies. This study reports data from a survey of the top marketing and communications executives in sports and company organisations in New Zealand and as well as a qualitative content analysis of core documents and websites. The study provides insights for sports marketers seeking to: use sponsorship as a prominent driver of brand strategy; employ co-branding as a strategy to create an extended consumer experience; build strong brands through efficient co-branding articulation strategies. The study also provides recommendations for sports organisations and companies to formulate their marketing communications and brand strategies from the perspective of a co-branding relationship.

Co-branding strategies for luxury fashion brands : Missoni for Target

Missoni is a luxury Italian knitwear brand that partnered with Target in September 2011 releasing a large, one off, mass-market collection that ranged from apparel to home wares. The collaboration received extensive media coverage and was consequently extremely sought after. The online sales site crashed within hours of opening while shelves were cleared in stores minutes after trading began. Within hours more than 40000 items from the collection were posted for sale online at greatly inflated prices. Evaluation of the case study revealed that sales of the Missoni collection increased following the collaboration and the value of the publicity generated at estimated US$100 million. The lack of available stock, despite the enormous hype created, reinforced Missoni’s luxury image. Missoni was able to gain massive awareness of the brand despite not employing any of its own communication channels in the promotion of the collaboration. However the co-branded collaboration was distinctively Missoni, potentially inciting comparison and confusion with the signature line. Nevertheless, this study shows that co-branding strategies can offer a viable opportunity for luxury brands to increase their market share, while they maintain their market position.

Co-branding:the stat of the art

The use of co-branded products as a form of brand management has gained increasing attention from managers and scientists, as evidenced by the practitioner-oriented articles and empirical studies published since the mid-1990s. However, there is no description that contrasts co-branding with other branding strategies, nor is there a structured overview of the main findings of co-branding studies. We classify different branding strategies, discuss branding literature, and develop a theoretical model for co-branding based on research findings. In addition to managerial implications, we provide a critical assessment of research, identify research questions, and offer a research agenda for cobranding.

The National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft: An Examination of the Impact of Brand Associations Attached to the Russian Hockey Players

This research was conducted to investigate whether negative brand associations attached to Russian hockey players impact their draft rankings during the National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. A quantitative analysis based on various regression model specifications was used to test whether Russian players were drafted relatively equally to their counterparts in the NHL Entry Draft. The data consisted of the NHL draft picks between 1993 and 2013 and their performance statistics and physical characteristics. The results suggested that Russian players were drafted relatively equal to their counterparts from other countries. Meanwhile, Russian players who played in the CHL before the draft are actually drafted better than Canadians who played in the same league. Hence, the negative brand associations attached to Russians were unlikely to impact their draft rankings. This study redefined the so-called “Russian Factor” from a notion that allegedly damages Russian players’ rankings to one that enhances their rankings.

Brand image co-creation and individual identity extension in online environments: a Facebook investigation

In this thesis I investigate the extent to which companies can build a more communal environment out of their fan pages while also evaluating the corresponding brand value that may come from having such a communal environment. My research is comprised in three articles: in the first article, I describe how the brand image is created or augmented in the fan page environment, therefore providing demonstrable evidence of value creation. In the second article, I describe how individuals use fan page semiotic elements to communicate their identities. Finally, in the third article, I describe the possible communal characteristics of a fan page and the conditions that enable it to evolve to the virtual brand community concept. As a result, I will contribute to the marketing literature on the use of Facebook for communicating brand identity, on the co-creation of the brand image in social media context, and on the conceptual definition of fan pages as a communal environment.

Co-branding på sociala medier : En studie av hur betydelser skapas och förstärks i ett svenskt modevarumärkes visuella marknadsföring

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur företag använder co-branding och sociala medier för att skapa betydelse för sitt varumärke. Detta kommer jag att undersöka utifrån följande huvudfrågeställning:  Vilka betydelser skapas, alternativt förstärks, genom StyleIn AB’s co-brandingsamarbeten på sociala medier? För att göra det tydligare har jag även två mindre frågeställningar att utgå ifrån:  Hur använder StyleIn AB sociala medier som främsta forum för co-branding samarbeten?  Hur skapas och förstärks betydelse i StyleIns inlägg på sociala medier genom cobranding? Den pågående expansionen av sociala medier och den visuella kulturens framväxt är grunden till varför jag valt att skriva denna uppsats. Betydelser, budskap och värderingar kommer till uttryck i visuellt material och sprids enkelt och snabbt via olika sociala medier. Då kanalerna är billiga att använda sig utav är det vanligt för företag att bedriva sin marknadsföring i dessa forum. I denna uppsats har jag valt att titta närmare på hur ett företag använder sociala medier för att sprida både sitt eget och andra varumärkens budskap genom vad man kallar för “co-branding” i sociala medier. Min studie är avgränsad till det svenska modeföretaget StyleIn AB’s sociala kanaler där de ihop med andra företag exponeras i visuella former. Anledningen till att jag valde företaget StyleIn har att göra med att co-branding är en stor och återkommande del av deras marknadsföring på sociala medier. Med anledning till forumet för denna marknadsföring kommer mitt bakgrundskapitel beröra just sociala medier. Eftersom co-branding är en varumärkesbyggande process kommer mitt teoretiska ramverk, inklusive mitt kapitel om tidigare forskning, att beröra olika teorier kring varumärken samt forskning i fenomenet co-branding. Teorier kring sociala mediers nytta för varumärken kommer också presenteras för att kunna besvara hela min frågeställning. Vidare använder jag mig av semiotisk analys som metod för att jag så djupt som möjligt skall kunna förklara de olika betydelserna i de tre inlägg jag använder mig utav. I mitt resultat kommer jag fram till att StyleIn’s co-branding samarbeten på sociala medier är en värdeskapande process som bygger upp StyleIn som varumärke genom att använda sig av betydelser lånade av andra varumärken. Jag kommer fram till att det handlar om värderingar som rör en viss typ av livsstil och utifrån dessa kan man urskilja betydelser och meningar uppkomna ur användandet av andra varumärken ihop med sitt eget på sociala medier.

City branding:can goods and services branding models be used to brand cities?

A city's branding is investigated using generic product and services branding models. Two generic branding models and tourism segmentation models guide an investigation into city branding 'as it should be' and 'as it is' using Birmingham, England as a case study. The unique characteristics of city brands are identified and Keller's Brand Report Card provides a theoretical framework for building a picture of the brand-building activity taking place in the city. Four themes emerge and are discussed: 1) the impact of a network on brand models developed for organisations; 2) segmentation of brand elements; 3) corporate branding; and 4) the political dimension. A conclusion is that city branding would be more effective if the systems and structures of generic branding models were adopted.

Branding Hotels

[Excerpt] The hotel business has become a business of brands. Price Waterhouse Coopers estimates that there are over 300 hotel brands today with no one brand dominating the market. Every major brand management issue (brand extensions, global brand expansion, re-branding, un-branding, co-branding, brand portfolio development, brand acquisitions, new brand development, etc.) is being explored. An understanding of the competitive context and intra-and inter-brand dynamics will help owners, operators, asset managers, suppliers and litigators, as well as new entrants into the business make better and more informed brand management decisions.

Attitudes towards American brands and brand America

A study of 556 students at colleges and universities in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore explored the relationship between attitude towards the United States and brand attitudes and preferences. Singaporean student attitudes towards both the US Government and US people were higher than were those of the Australian and Hong Kong students. Coke, Nike and McDonald's were among both the most-liked and disliked US brands among the international students, a finding suggesting that brands may possess both a 'lovemark' status, as described in the literature, and its opposite — 'loathemark' status — within the same demographic group. US brand preference scores did not offer support for the belief that international consumers 'vote with their pocketbooks' by refusing to purchase US brands if they have a negative attitude towards the United States. Among Hong Kong and Singaporean students, favourable attitudes towards the purchase of US brands was found to be positively related to favourability towards the US Government.

Mobilizing the brand experience: The adoption and use of mobile media in building consumer relationships in China

This research examines why and how brand owners in China adopt and use mobile media in marketing campaigns to deliver co-creation brand experiences and build consumer relationships. China represents an interesting case to study as it has leapfrogged into the age of consumer society and mobile media adoption. As the largest mobile market globally, it has experienced the intensity of mobile technology diffusion; and with it the rise of mobile consumer culture and participatory culture. Further, the rising individualism and the socio-cultural heritage in collectivism serve as a structuring tension in how mobile media is leveraged in marketing to cater to consumers' desires for individuality and social interaction. First, through expert interviews guided by the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework (Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990) as well as integrating innovation diffusion theory (E. Rogers, 2003), this research attempts to fill the gap of theoretical application in mobile marketing adoption at the firm level in China, and unravel the adoption factors of mobile marketing by brand owners in China. In total, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key industry informants from mobile agencies, traditional agencies, venture capital firms, mobile content and service providers, mobile portals, and marketing management at brand owners. Second, based on case studies in China, this research investigates the use of mobile marketing to facilitate innovative co-creation of brand experience to cater to both individualistic as well as collective tendencies and desires amongst Chinese consumers. Through multiple case studies of the campaigns conducted by Nokia, Clean & Clear, and The North Face, and informed by in-depth interviews and document analysis, this research analyses the role of mobile media in marketing campaigns along three dimensions: the role of mobile media in content generation and consumption, the centrality of mobile media as text, tools or platforms; and the interactive environment. Specifically, the cases are organized along the spectrum from user-generated content to corporate-generated content, mobile media's role from being supplementary to it being central, and from a virtual environment to a hybrid environment. Overall, these cases demonstrate how brand owners adapt mobile media as text, tools, platforms, and environments to deliver co-creation brand experiences exploiting both individualistic as well as collective tendencies and desires amongst Chinese consumers. This research contributes to the literature on firm adoption of mobile marketing, and the role of the mobile media in facilitating co-creation experiences for Chinese consumers. It develops a model of the technological, organizational and environmental factors influencing mobile marketing adoption by firms, and provides a model explaining the role of mobile media in facilitating brand experience co-creation. The findings also demonstrate that mobile media can be leveraged to facilitate co-creation brand experience to generate added value; and meanwhile cater to both the rising individualism and the deep-seated collectivism of Chinese consumers. Empirically, it assists industry practitioners in understanding the adoption of mobile marketing in China, especially those on the supply side in order to improve their offerings and propositions. It also assists brand owners and agencies in designing their mobile marketing strategies to build consumer relationships in China.