Athlete-Centric Employer Branding During Rival Leagues’ Market Entry

New sports leagues use employer branding to promote themselves as distinctive and desirable employers so they can attract talented athletes. A multiple case analysis was used to examine the employer branding strategies of four leagues that entered markets with incumbents: the National Women’s Hockey League, BIG3, Alliance of American Football, and Premier Lacrosse League. All four leagues used athlete-centric employer branding, which uses symbolic and instrumental employment information to signal commitment and involvement to athletes. Leagues also directed their employer branding to consumers. The findings suggest adding an employment dimension to theories of league brand architecture as well as reconsidering the audience for employer branding. Athlete-centric employer branding is a strategy for entering markets from a rival position and is likely to become more popular as public pressure on leagues increases.

Mermaids and Corporate Branding: Histories, meanings and impacts

Companies invest considerable resources into establishing meaningful and impactful brand identities, through which they build essential relationships with consumers. Several well-known consumer brands use mermaids as part of their brand identity. Perhaps no use of mermaids in branding is more ubiquitous than siren emblazoned on every Starbucks coffee cup. But Starbucks is not alone; other consumer brands, such as Chicken of the Sea, Virgin Voyages Cruise Line, and BonV!v Spiked Seltzer, incorporate mermaids as part of their brand architecture. Using the case method, this study will examine, brand by brand, the history, meaning, and impact of mermaids on particular brand identities and, thus, on the consumer relationships. This study considers the brand strategies of using mermaids and reflects on if and why these strategies have worked for the brands included in this study.

Growth through repositioning – the case of IHCL

Theoretical basis This case highlights repositioning strategies that change a product’s position in the minds of the consumer in response to changes in market conditions. These changes should be balanced with a certain amount of brand authenticity and continuity. Brand identity is the vision, core values and key beliefs of the brand. There are four main branding strategies as follows: house of brands, endorsed brands, sub-brands and branded house. These options can be placed in a continuum and the position on the branding relationship spectrum reflects the degree to which brands are separated in strategy execution and in the customer’s minds. Research methodology This case is based on secondary data, mainly from interviews of industry leaders in business journals, newspapers, research articles and industry reports, including from international organizations. Case overview/synopsis The case examines the frequent revisions in branding strategies by India’s second largest group of hotels – Indian Hotels Company Limited. Repositioning involves changing the market’s perceptions of an offering to compete more effectively in its target segments. However, a certain amount of continuity is also essential to the brand’s development over time. The case helps students to view the brand from two angles as follows: the angle of brand identity and the disruptive angle of new developments. They will examine the rationale for the frequent repositioning strategies using the brand relationship spectrum and whether these will affect the brand identity of the iconic brand Taj. Complexity academic level This case has been effectively used with MBA Marketing students in Product and Brand Management and Services Marketing classes to demonstrate how companies use repositioning strategies as a considered response to the market conditions. As competitive conditions and consumers evolve, changes in branding strategy will be necessitated. The students are expected to have basic knowledge of brand architecture and brand strategies. The case can be used to illustrate the brand relationship spectrum and the differences among branding strategies in brand architecture. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

A Model of Brand Architecture Choice: A House of Brands vs. A Branded House

This research investigates a multiproduct firm’s decision of whether to use the same brand or different brands in different product markets, and in particular how this decision depends on the relatedness between the product markets.