Branding Through Online Social Networks

The hurdles to entering a foreign market have been dismantled by greater internet connectivity. As a result, there is virtually endless potential to expand a company abroad. In growing abroad, it's crucial to keep the brand at the forefront of the approach. When enterprises enter foreign markets, they confront several problems such as a lack of market intelligence, buyer expectations, severe rivalry from global brands, and a lack of trending awareness. Most exporters focus on the short product-focused and sales-driven methods, such as producing that which is simple to create, finding a contract, fulfilling the request, and closing sales. This method just forces an exporter into a pricing competition in a globalized world, leaving the limited possibility to continuous production, product innovation, and credibility. Every company that wishes to export should aim towards market-driven, long-term, and sustainable exporting.

Global vs local: analysis of the consumer-brand relationships in India

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze two global brands (i.e. Benetton and Tommy Hilfiger) and one Indian brand (i.e. Wills Lifestyle) in terms of general brand impression, brand specific associations and brand commitment. In addition, the study investigates how the regional differences in India and Indian consumers' affinity towards global brands influence the consumer-brand relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe research framework has been developed based on consumer-brand relationship theory. The consumer–brand relationship is an important indicator of the success of brands, especially when brands attempt to expand to other markets (Roper and Parker, 2006; Bastos and Levy, 2012). Three brand types were chosen for this study. The choice of the US global brand is Tommy Hilfiger, the European global brand is United Colors of Benetton, and the Indian domestic brand is Wills Lifestyle. The study utilized a repeated measure (split-plot) design involving more than two independent groups. A split-plot analysis of variance analyses a design in which a repeated measure (i.e. within subjects) factor is crossed with a between-subjects (i.e. treatment variable) factor.FindingsThe results confirm the importance of global brands over local brands in the Indian apparel consumer market. This study also examined how Indian consumers' affinity for global brands influences their evaluation of the global brands and the local Indian brands.Originality/valueThe study expands the literature on Indian consumer brand preferences through the investigation of three brands. The theoretical background of the study is the consumer-brand relationship theory that explains the importance of consumer–brand relationship when brands attempt to expand to other markets.

EXPRESS: How to Go Glocal: Omni-Brand Orientation Framework

The authors develop an omni-brand orientation framework: a bi-dimensional conceptualization that allows global (local) brand elements to coexist alongside local (global) elements in creating a gloCal brand. Based on an interpretive analysis of interviews with 50 top executives, the authors offer new insights into building and succeeding as a gloCal brand. The study finds global brands trying to become gloCal by building and nurturing local authenticity. The building blocks of local authenticity are brand image local connection, local iconness, local insights, and originality. Local brands, in turn, try to become gloCal by achieving global acceptance, a perception identified closely with global brands. The building blocks of global acceptance are perceived brand globalness, innovation, product performance quality, and global brand power. Based on follow-up interviews with nineteen executives, the study dives deeper into the drivers of success and conceptualizes a GloCal Success Cycle, which identifies components and strategies that enable brands to win both globally and locally.

Applying social identity theory to the social media content strategy of a global brand: The role of brand- and user-generated content in global social identification

<p>The global marketplace is centred around products and brands that reflect certain identities. Social media can act as vehicles of meaning transfer for social identification between brands and social media users with a global social identity. Recognizing the importance of the psychological and sociological needs that draw social media users to build relationships with global brands, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the relevance of the global social identification process to global social media branding strategy. More specifically, this research considers the role and influence of social group membership dynamics to explore how brand-generated and user-generated content are part of the global social identification process. In that, this research aims to fill the gap where social identity theory has not been applied as a lens through which to understand and evaluate the social media content strategy of a global brand. This gap is important to fill due to the global social media arena’s social-centric nature and transparency in displaying social group memberships. An interpretive paradigm was used for this research, with a qualitative case study approach that consisted of interviews with global social media users/global brand representatives and a content analysis of the focal brands social media pages. The study found that the global social identification process on social media consists of two stages, global identity priming and global identity expression. Global identity priming occurs when the psychological and sociological function of global brands is transferred to brand-generated content through a semiotic meaning transfer process. Global identity expression can occur after, as a result of global identity priming, social media users with a global identity categorize the global brand into their in-group. Once in-group categorization takes place, creation and/or sharing of user-generated content with the global brand can be considered an act of identity expression and validation by those with a global identity. This has implications for a global brand’s social media content strategy, as the findings revealed that brand-generated content featuring certain symbolic global values facilitates the global social identification process on social media. Moreover, the findings revealed that user-generated content created by social media users for global identity expression purposes is of considerable value to global brands. Understanding how the global social identification process transpires on social media can guide global brands to consider how their content strategy can prime global social identification and meet the identity expression needs of those with a global identity. This has implications for content strategy design, social media interactions and ongoing global brand-user relationships.</p>

Applying social identity theory to the social media content strategy of a global brand: The role of brand- and user-generated content in global social identification

<p>The global marketplace is centred around products and brands that reflect certain identities. Social media can act as vehicles of meaning transfer for social identification between brands and social media users with a global social identity. Recognizing the importance of the psychological and sociological needs that draw social media users to build relationships with global brands, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the relevance of the global social identification process to global social media branding strategy. More specifically, this research considers the role and influence of social group membership dynamics to explore how brand-generated and user-generated content are part of the global social identification process. In that, this research aims to fill the gap where social identity theory has not been applied as a lens through which to understand and evaluate the social media content strategy of a global brand. This gap is important to fill due to the global social media arena’s social-centric nature and transparency in displaying social group memberships. An interpretive paradigm was used for this research, with a qualitative case study approach that consisted of interviews with global social media users/global brand representatives and a content analysis of the focal brands social media pages. The study found that the global social identification process on social media consists of two stages, global identity priming and global identity expression. Global identity priming occurs when the psychological and sociological function of global brands is transferred to brand-generated content through a semiotic meaning transfer process. Global identity expression can occur after, as a result of global identity priming, social media users with a global identity categorize the global brand into their in-group. Once in-group categorization takes place, creation and/or sharing of user-generated content with the global brand can be considered an act of identity expression and validation by those with a global identity. This has implications for a global brand’s social media content strategy, as the findings revealed that brand-generated content featuring certain symbolic global values facilitates the global social identification process on social media. Moreover, the findings revealed that user-generated content created by social media users for global identity expression purposes is of considerable value to global brands. Understanding how the global social identification process transpires on social media can guide global brands to consider how their content strategy can prime global social identification and meet the identity expression needs of those with a global identity. This has implications for content strategy design, social media interactions and ongoing global brand-user relationships.</p>

Backfires on firms' intangible assets of the casino industry in Macau and Las Vegas: investigating advertising expenditure

PurposeThis study quantifies the casino-industry-specific intangible assets and brand equity models from a different perspective (relative to Interbrand approach, or EquiTrend approach) to investigate the relationship between advertising expenditure and firms' intangible assets in the casino industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected the casino's data from the financial reports during the period of 2007–2018. The proposed model incorporates a brand structure moderator, and the peculiar characteristics (e.g. ΔS, HHI) of the casino industry based on previous research. We constructed three models for dependent variables using Tobin's Q−1. Model (1, 2, 3) as the primary regressions to firms' intangible assets (and thus serving as tests of hypotheses), as depicted in the diagrams of the firm's brand equity in different scenarios.FindingsThe results suggest that: (1) advertising expenditure has an adverse effect on firms' intangible assets; (2) the coefficients associated with brand structure dummy variables are both positive and significant; and the adverse effect is stronger for firms with house-of-brand's (HOB) and brand of house (BH) structure than for those with mixed branding structure (BH-HOB hybrid); (3) global brands have higher brand equity than local brands, with higher variance over time.Originality/valueThis study gives new evidence of the negative effect of advertising on the casino industry, which primarily reports the adverse effect of advertising in a sinful industry. Meanwhile, the proposed FBBE models can be an efficient tool to monitor a firm's annual brand equity performance with respect to their major competitors in the market.

The Strategic Planning and Branding Tactics of Meituan

Meituan, an Internet company that focuses on businesses such as food delivery and hotel-ordering, was first launched in 2009. Within a decade, Meituan has evolved into a shopping platform that Chinese rely on, due to Meituan’s smart strategic planning, marketing positioning, high working efficiency, and its variety of business branches. Meituan has emerged as one of the Top 20 Risers global brands and ranked 54th among the Top 100 brands in 2020. As a service company that occupies the biggest portion of food delivery within the Chinese market, it’s of significance to explore what factors make Meituan the most successful and popular platform that changes people’s way of living. By investigating on Meituan’s financial reports, industry analysis, case studies and peer brand comparison, this paper will analyze Meituan’s strategic planning and development of its business and its linkage with consumer psychology, examine the factors that contribute to Meituan’s success, and provide inspiration of the brand’s future development.

Peran kepercayaan merek sebagai variabel mediasi pada hubungan kepribadian merek halal dan loyalitas merek

Customer loyalty is currently becoming one of the crucial things for the company to survive in competitive markets. Globalization causes imported cosmetic products from global brands can enter other countries’ markets easily. Nowadays imported cosmetic brands from other countries such as USA, South Korea, and Japan come and take a huge of Indonesia’s skincare market share. This change becomes threat for local cosmetics brands in Indonesia such as Wardah. This study was conducted to analyzes whether halal brand personality affects brand loyalty. This study also analyzes whether brand trust can mediate the relationship between halal brand personality and brand loyalty. The sampling method used in the study is non-probability sampling with snowball technique. The data in this research were obtained by distributing an online questionnaire to 111 respondents who were Wardah’s face skincare consumers and had shopped at least twice in the last 1 year (January 2020-July 2021). The data of this study were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling method with SmartPlS 3 software. The results of this study indicate that halal brand personality has positive and significant effect on brand loyalty, brand trust has positive and significant effect on brand loyalty, and brand trust successfully mediates the relationship between halal brand personality and brand loyalty. This study provides new insight which suggests marketers develop branding strategies in order to strengthen brand trust which leads to maintaining customer loyalty.

Branding Kidfluencers: Regulating Content and Advertising on YouTube

This paper analyzes emerging shifts in YouTube, advertising, and children’s digital media industries through a case study of Pocket Watch, a digital-first production and distribution studio built exclusively for YouTube child stars. Our analysis reveals the company’s strategic use of legacy media industry power, networks, and expertise to transform YouTube stars into global brands through the creation of toy, clothing, and lifestyle product lines across several industries. We further argue that Pocket Watch’s newly formed advertising division, Clock Work, exploits its child partners through problematic native advertising and host selling practices. The strategies implemented by Pocket Watch and other similar emerging companies may therefore act as a litmus test for how governmental regulation and platform policy changes will impact the evolving landscape of children’s digital media as commercial forces increasingly groom a growing number of young children to shift from YouTube stars to global brands.

Development of a National Rating System to Evaluate the Brand Attraction of Sewing and Knitting Enterprises

The article proposes a mechanism for creating a national rating system aimed at including local brands in the international ranking of global brands in order to assess the brand attractiveness of sewing and knitting companies operating in Uzbekistan. It recommends the methodology of rating of national and global brands, the main segments of the analysis of national brands, the direction of development of the rating system, the rating criteria for the evaluation of local brands and the sources of their identification. The development of a national rating system for brand evaluation will lead to the formation of a healthy competitive environment for local brands, protection of consumers from substandard products, the creation of an integrated system between enterprises and consumers.