Meaningful Brand Research Articles

The role of mascots in branding and consumer engagement: Insights from Indian advertising

This crucial role of mascots contributes not only to the successful capture of audience attention but also to an enduring development of brand awareness that prevails over time. With deep exploration, this study takes heed of the great influence on the connectivity between the brand and audience and the cultivation of a meaningful brand recognition among its consumers. A qualitative study was conducted in order to effectively demonstrate the ability that mascots possess to signify meaning in a clear-cut and impactful manner, particularly regarding the simplicity of their designing elements. This study makes a deep dive into the influential and significant role of mascots in shaping brand image as well as consumer behavior through a thorough and comprehensive review of the literature. It emphasizes their remarkable efficacy specifically in low-involvement product categories, and also emphasizes their ability to effectively foster brand affinity, especially among children who are often particularly receptive to these characters. The literature strongly underlines the vital importance of mascots in the process of humanizing brands, which helps to forge intimate and personal connections with consumers, as well as facilitating essential brand differentiation in a competitive market. It, drawing upon case studies like Amul Girl-the iconically well-known one as well as the endearing Vodafone pug and Nirma girl, aptly conveys how strategically and deliberately these mascots are applied for the purposes of communication about a brand and significantly towards an audience's participation with that brand. Conclusively, the study makes proposals toward innovative and innovative approaches toward marketing but importantly accords high priority on integrating those mascots in such wholesome, complete, and complete strategies towards a brand that has, in its aim to further and promote the establishment of more significant brand equity while securing enduring brand loyalty through customers.

Brand purpose: a literature review and BEING implementation framework

PurposeWhile brand purpose has gained traction in academia and industry, it overlaps with other socially-oriented branding concepts, generating confusion and criticism around what brand purpose is and how it should be implemented. This study aims to clarify conceptualisations of brand purpose and related concepts, developing a managerial framework for effective implementation and contributing a future research agenda for scholars.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents the results of a systematic literature review on brand purpose, exploring the current knowledge. A total of 202 studies from 75 journals were drawn from a wide range of databases and met the identified criteria relevant to brand purpose, published up to and including 2023. Full papers were empirically analysed using qualitative iterative thematic analysis to identify common and emerging themes and synthesise this into a framework.FindingsBeyond identifying the diverse applications of brand purpose, the BEING framework is proposed. This acronym captures five principles of brand purpose: beyond profit, enduring commitment, integrated values, nurturing stakeholders and genuine action.Practical implicationsThe BEING framework provides clear managerial guidance for implementing brand purpose, urging brand leaders to enact meaningful brand purpose and champion purpose within organisations.Social implicationsAs more brands pursue a higher purpose, this research elucidates the meaning of brand purpose and offers an actionable framework for brands to contribute to a better world.Originality/valueThis work examines the related branding concepts, clarifying the brand purpose concept and offering the BEING framework to articulate essential components of effective brand purpose.

Computational Advertising for Meaningful Brands, the Public Purpose, and a Sustainable Ecology: A Call for Research into a Systems Approach and Modeling Applications of LLMs in Marketing and Advertising

Technology and computation in 2024 are dominated by applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs). The domains of marketing and advertising have already been transformed over the past 30 years by the internet, data, and digital technologies. Practitioners and scholars are focused on AI and LLMs as the drivers of the next paradigm shift in communication and advertising. Both constituencies are aligned on the primary goal of advertising to create economic growth by building brands with differentiation and meaning that contribute to corporate financial valuations. This paper notes the failure of digital advertising to build brands over the past three decades, while economic value in markets has been usurped by digital platforms. Further, scholars question the wider impact of digital advertising on society and the environment. This paper presents a positive vision for marketing and advertising enabled by LLMs. It envisions advertising’s goals redefined for a “triple bottom line” of profit, people, and planet. It proposes a systems dynamics framework to model how advertising can contribute to business innovation and profit within an equitable society and sustainable economy. Finally, the paper calls for research to investigate this positive future.

Mid-Video Promotion Practices among Skin Care Businesses: Optimizing Brand Recall

As consumers navigate through an extensive amount of online content, skin care brands and services must not only attract their attention but also leave a lasting impression that converts into meaningful brand recall. Descriptive quantitative method was used through survey questionnaires distributed to skin care businesses in Las Pinas City. The primary goal across the mid-video promotions is to ensure that these promotions seamlessly integrate into the viewing experience without disrupting it excessively while communicating relevant brand information. Implementing mechanisms for collecting insights from viewers can help brands understand what resonates and what does not. The importance of analyzing mid-video promotions results can identify best practices and emerging trends. Keeping abreast of strategies that can inform more effective promotional tactics. Practices related to mid-video promotions, such as viewer involvement, social setting, brand familiarity, and ad exposure can strategically create and enhance brand recall.

The future of marketing: How cultural understanding contributes to the success of brand positioning and campaigns

The digital revolution has reshaped marketing, requiring brands to embed themselves in the cultural fabric to build trust and loyalty. This paper equips readers with actionable knowledge and skills to excel in this paradigm shift. The paper explores how cultural understanding can drive the success of brand positioning and campaigns in an ever-changing world. This exploration uncovers the convergence of innovation, creativity and data in crafting a new era of marketing where imagination knows no bounds. Key takeaways include: (1) Understanding cultural relevance: Culture is a driving force influencing consumer behaviour and perceptions. Brands must grasp cultural nuances to connect with diverse audiences authentically. This involves adapting products, messaging and values to resonate with specific cultural contexts. (2) Harnessing Big Data: Employing advanced analytics tools and techniques allows marketers to target effectively, create data-driven strategies, and gain insights into consumer behaviour. The combination of surveys, social media listening and data mining reveals valuable patterns and trends. (3) Omni-channel journeys: To remain relevant, brands must deliver a seamless customer experience across various channels — online and offline. Omni-channel marketing ensures consistent messaging and personalised interactions, enhancing customer engagement and loyalty. (4) The impact of influencer marketing: The rise of influencers has democratised influence, reshaping how brands connect with consumers. Leveraging influencer partnerships and user-generated content helps build cultural relevance and authenticity, resonating with consumers. (5) Redefining partnerships: Collaborations with like-minded partners across sports, music, influencers, and more, amplify brand relevance. Partnerships should align with brand values, resonate with consumers, and deliver against business objectives. The paper underscores the need for culture-centric approaches, emphasising genuine connections, active participation and meaningful brand purpose. By embracing cultural understanding, harnessing data-driven strategies, adopting omni-channel tactics, leveraging influencers and redefining partnerships, marketers can navigate the evolving landscape and thrive in the future of marketing.

There’s a time and place: Navigating omni-temporality in the place branding process

This paper investigates how multiple stakeholders understand and navigate the interrelationship between past, present and future time-frames through what is termed omni-temporality. Despite an interest in the phenomenon within the corporate brand heritage literature, a limited understanding persists concerning how omni-temporality shapes stakeholders’ interactions with brands and with each other. These omissions are particularly pertinent in place branding where stakeholders are well-recognised as integral to the branding process. Through case studies of two city brands, our findings reveal tensions that arise when brand stakeholders prioritise the past or strive for a more contemporaneous and future-orientated framing. We identify the ways brand stakeholders navigate these tensions by utilising six (re)framing strategies that range from the reconciliatory to the destabilising. We show how facilitating stakeholders’ expressions of diversity and dissent can produce meaningful brand exchanges, ease the challenges associated with balancing continuity alongside change, and support an iterative form of temporal agency.

Industrial BRAND-personality formation in a B2B stakeholder network: A service-dominant logic approach

Business-to-business (B2B) companies have strategically developed industrial brand personalities. Nevertheless, research on industrial brand personality remains limited and the seller-centric standpoint dominates, which makes it difficult to isolate the meaning of an industrial brand personality and how one is formed. This research is guided by service-dominant logic and explores the formation of meaningful brand personality associations in a stakeholder network. We employ a longitudinal case study to investigate brand personality from a multiple-stakeholder standpoint in the context of an industrial firm's six-year-long transformation toward adopting service-dominant logic in its marketing. We present a conceptual model showing the formation of industrial brand personality through its engagement with stakeholder interactions and a network's social processes. Our findings extend current knowledge on service-dominant logic and branding by demonstrating that industrial brand personality becomes meaningful when embedded in the network's institutional context and reflecting the operant resources of stakeholder co-creation.

Building meaningful brands through disseminating artificial intelligence-related content. An essay about cancer hospitals

Artificial intelligence (AI) allows cancer hospitals to accelerate their digital transformation and promote their brand. This essay aims to answer the following research question: which communication principles should cancer hospitals respect when they report about their artificial intelligence initiatives for branding purposes? We analyzed these hospitals’ corporate communication and branding strategies, as well as their initiatives on artificial intelligence. We resorted to three databases, four keywords and three inclusion criteria to find papers published about this area these last ten years (2013-2022). Based on this literature review, we proposed ten communication principles to help cancer hospitals integrate artificial intelligence, corporate communication, and branding. We concluded this essay by stating that cancer hospitals’ corporate communication department need to employ experts in artificial intelligence, explain to employees the positive impact of AI in the hospital’s processes, and implement a communication approach focused on satisfying stakeholders’ information needs rather than promoting medical treatments.

Nip allergies in the Bub: a qualitative study for a public health approach to infant feeding for allergy prevention

Objective:To identify a brand, key messages and resources to underpin a public health approach to food allergy prevention. Methods:A focus group design was used to explore perceptions and opinions of potential brands, infant feeding messages and resources for providing standardised food allergy prevention information. Focus groups were conducted in February 2018 using interview guides and were transcribed verbatim. A content analysis of the transcripts was undertaken using thematic analysis software. The University of Western Australia provided ethics approval: RA/4/20/4280. Results:Seven focus groups with 39 participants were conducted. Four slogans and styles of imagery were considered. ‘Nip Allergies in the Bub’ was the most favoured slogan and images of babies with food were most favoured. Participant feedback was sought regarding messages and supporting messages were considered important. Participants were consulted about useful resources and a website was identified. Conclusions:Conducting focus groups assisted the selection of a brand, messages and resources to underpin a public health approach to implementing allergy prevention guidelines. Implications for public health:This is the first focus group research undertaken for food allergy prevention. Identification of a meaningful brand, key messages and resources will support a public health approach to implementing allergy prevention guidelines.

Experiential marketing strategies used by luxury cosmetics companies

The evolving needs of the consumers in the luxury cosmetic segment require the firms to pique consumer interest. This forces the firms to keep their focus on providing superior quality products and, at the same time, creating a memorable experience. The study is undertaken to provide a better understanding of experience through emotions. This study aims to investigate the strategies of experiential marketing used by luxury cosmetics companies for influencing consumer perception. Thus, the current study examines empirical studies selected using PRISMA guidelines to formulate a critical review of prevailing literature to arrive at the findings of the study. The results show that strategies such as free samples and exclusive distribution influence the probability of usage of products and cater to consumer expectations of exclusive approaches. In addition, the strategies of the online community, gift promotion, flagship stores, service from experts, and showbiz marketing can be used to create a meaningful brand experience. The brand image creation, stories associated with design, innovativeness, and product exclusivity enable the impactful contribution of experiential marketing. Thus, companies using immersive experience through technology should implement strategies like virtual shopping or event marketing for targeting consumers. In conclusion, the strategy of e-word of mouth using various social media platforms, event marketing, and storytelling have been identified to shape the feeling and experience of a consumer to influence attitude towards online shopping and maintain their engagement after a purchase.

What drives consumers to customize products? The mediating role of brand experience

Brands are increasingly seeking ways to engage consumers in deep and meaningful brand experiences. As technological advances have developed, brands have an increasing arsenal to draw on in creating brand experience. One increasingly common tactic is product customization, whereby consumers are provided the ability to create their own products from a set of options. With this study, we seek to understand the mediating role of brand experience in consumer decisions to customize products. Specifically, we investigate the interplay of non-brand drivers (those intrinsic to the consumer) and brand drivers (those extrinsic to the consumer) in the context of customization. In doing so, we develop an understanding of consumers' intention to use a customization toolkit and their subsequent intention to purchase customized products. We find brand experience drives intention to use a customization toolkit, mediating the relationship between individual factors and usage intentions. A customer's prior experience and their intention to use a customization toolkit are also direct drivers of customized product purchase intention.

Building meaningful brands through social media

Implementing an efficient corporate communication strategy has become a priority for all hospitals interested in building a meaningful brand. To do that, most of these organizations resort to social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. Thanks to these platforms, hospitals improve and dynamise their relationships with stakeholders, especially patients, employees and media companies. This literature review paper aims to better understand how hospitals should manage these platforms in order to build a meaningful brand based on human values. To do that, we conducted a literature review about different concepts such as corporate communication, brand, social media, and reputation; and, based on this research, we proposed an online communication model aiming to help hospitals build meaningful brands (Medpac Reputation Model). We concluded that hospital organizations should implement professional protocols to analyze the information gathered from social media, prioritize a public relations approach and ban all marketing-related initiatives, and, finally, conduct constantly different research initiatives about the health market.

Other proprietary brand assets and competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale District, South Western Uganda

Background In the current business environment, firms are required to be more competitive and hostile. Other proprietary brand asset is used by business organizations to gain competitive advantage. This study adopted the resource-based business model that provides a framework for identifying a unique set of resources and shifts the approach of assessing competitive advantage from the external to the internal environment that is the resource power. Objectives This study, therefore, set out to determine the effect of Other Proprietary Brand Assets on competitive advantage in beer products in the Kabale District. Materials and Methods This is a descriptive questionnaires-based survey of 1,783 wholesalers, retailers, customers, brand and marketing managers of Nile Special Lager, Eagle Lager, Senator Extra Lager, Club, and Bell beer products sold in Kabale District of Uganda. Simple random sampling was used to select alcoholic beverages products and producers while purposive sampling was adopted to select shopping centers where consumer information was collected after pilot marketing investigation. Primary data were used and collected using questionnaires. Data generated were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and the t-statistic with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0. Results The findings show that there was no significant effect of Other Proprietary Brand Assets on competitive advantage in beer products in Kabale District of Uganda Conclusion and Recommendations Other proprietary brand assets, therefore, had no significant effect on competitive advantage in beer products marketed in Kabale District of Uganda. Construction of meaningful brand names, colors, and logos is recommended. Keywords Proprietary Brand Assets, Competitive Advantage, Beer, Kabale, Uganda

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUILDING HOSPITAL BRANDS BASED ON HUMAN VALUES: A PROPOSAL MODEL

The professional management of social media as a corporate communication tool has become a priority for hospitals interested in building a reputed brand. These platforms let hospitals to dynamise their relationships with internal and external stakeholders. This paper aims to understand how to use these platforms for developing a hospital brand based on human values allowing the company to become a meaningful brand to its stakeholders. To do that, we carried out a research about corporate communication, branding and social media, and we proposed an online communication model focused on building reputed hospital brands based on a human approach (Human Branding Model for Hospital). We concluded that hospitals should implement a knowledge management system to analyse all information gathered from social media, use these social platforms only for public relations and public health initiatives, and increase their investments in research about stakeholders needs and expectations.

Smart destination brands: semiotic analysis of visual and verbal signs

PurposeSmart tourism is a destination management approach that requires the buy-in of a myriad of stakeholders. Its many audiences and complexity demand the creation of meaningful brands to effectively position and communicate smart tourism initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to explore how smart tourism branding strategies have been implemented to communicate relevant values, benefits and attributes to industry stakeholders through institutional websites.Design/methodology/approachBased on a semiotic analysis of two smart tourism-related sites (destinosinteligentes.es and smarttourismcapital.eu), the research interprets the brand-related visual and verbal signs.FindingsThe findings highlight how brand elements embedded in websites communicate a brand identity and facilitate particular interpretations of smart tourism. Both brands use similar signs to promote a techtopian vision of smart destinations but employ different strategies to motivate stakeholder buy-in.Research limitations/implicationsSmart tourism is currently largely embedded in overall smart city initiatives and finding tourism-specific examples online is difficult. However, the two selected websites reflect the brands of multiple destinations and permit a detailed analysis of meaning making. Future research can focus on how brand-related signs are perceived by different stakeholders.Practical implicationsIdentifying the strategies and shortcomings of current smart tourism brands informs future smart tourism branding efforts and effective communication with smart tourism stakeholders.Originality/valueSemiotics is a relevant but underutilized method to understand how smart tourism initiatives conceptualize “smartness.”

Section 5.d Introduction

The classic brand design literature presents and illustrates best practices in developing the physical, graphical and semiotic aspects of a brand. However, both practitioners and academics outline that brand design is only the starting point of the brand strategy, which has to be completed and complemented by designing and effectively managing meaningful brand experiences. The success of the brand depends on a value co-creation process in which the intentions and offerings of producers and vendors encounter, and interact with, the customer experiences of the brand and of the associated product. A brand experience designed for the customer can therefore be multi-dimensional and not just product led.

Negative brand meaning co‐creation in social media brand communities: A laddering approach using NVivo

AbstractSocial media brand communities (SMBCs) have been heralded for their co‐creative, participatory potential whereby consumers actively contribute to the proliferation of meaningful brand avenues in a virtuously circular relationship with brands. Elevated loyalty and enhanced brand equity have been posited repeatedly as likely outcomes of a positively engaged community of brand aficionados. However, evidence to the contrary as negative brand co‐creation or brand co‐destruction has been progressively piling up in the extant literature. This paper contributes to the meaning co‐creation in SMBCs literature primarily on two grounds: first, by offering a methodological framework for adapting the laddering research technique in a mixed methods vein to SMBCs data in a thread‐specific context, by leveraging the analytical capabilities of NVivo CAQDAS software; second, by addressing bottlenecks in the applicability of the proposed methodology in light of negative brand co‐creation.

Hospitality branding in emerging economies: an Indian perspective

Purpose Travel and tourism is an imperative economic activity in most countries around the world. The industry has momentous indirect and induced impacts apart from its direct economic impact. The purpose of this paper is to test the applicability of brand interaction and perceived quality theory in the formation of brand trust, and the impact of affective commitment and brand trust toward advocacy intentions in the context of the Indian hospitality industry. This study also examines how emotional, and experiential hospitality brand relationship with the consumers can be developed in the emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach A total of 430 respondents participated in the study. Empirical evidence from depth interviews and data were garnered into a conceptual model. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings The findings reveal that perceived quality and brand interaction forms brand trust and trust is the key factor in establishing emotional (affective) commitment between the customer and the hospitality brand. The study also suggests that emotional commitment in customers help them in becoming brand advocates. The findings of the research will help hospitality brand strategists in developing successful branding strategies. Research limitations/implications This research examines the advantage of customers’ relationship and their meaningful brand connections in the hospitality context. The study establishes a relationship among antecedents of trust, trust and commitment which can lead toward brand advocacy. Originality/value The findings provide insight for hospitality brand managers in developing effective branding strategies for their organizations. This study inspects the advantages of cultivating meaningful brand connections and relationships with consumers in the Indian hospitality sector.

Branding in the Online Space: The Emerging Frontier of New-Age Marketing

Technology is proving to be both an enabler and a disabler as far as meaningful and effective brand experience is concerned. As humankind continues to march towards an elusive and illusive utopia of technological advancement, the personal touch of the brand experience is fast becoming a thing of the past. While it cannot be denied that the modern methods of marketing are leaving no stone unturned in ‘connecting’ with the customer, but, ironically enough, it is the ‘customer connect’ itself, which is getting lost in the process. Modern marketing, in general, and its digital avatar, in particular, are creating what can be called an ‘imaginary intimacy’ with the customer. The poor Alice-like customer is being led into a Wonderland of false promises. The clueless customer is being hoodwinked into believing that the gadget on his palm or his lap or his desk is the repository of remedies for all maladies. The biggest demerit of the digital revolution in marketing is that it has reduced consumer behaviour to a set of split-second reflex actions. The ‘thinking consumer’ is an endangered species now. This is a casualty of phenomenal proportions, which the marketer will realize to his detriment in the long run.

Outside the box: How Microsoft’s packaging design team is shaping a culture that delivers better consumer experiences

Design teams can be powerful catalysts for organisational change, ultimately paving the way for improved, more integrated consumer experiences and heightened brand value. Microsoft’s Packaging Design Team has been on a journey, reshaping its role and redefining their function’s culture of creativity as well as the broader culture around them. Change rarely happens by accident, however, and to forge successful and lasting change requires a strong vision and founding principles. In this paper, the author shares his team’s founding principles of action that they leverage to facilitate new thinking around packaging design, create deeper partnerships and open up pathways of discovery that deliver more premium and meaningful brand moments.