Exploring Employee-Based Brand Equity in Company X
Sevon, Saara (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052413573
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052413573
Tiivistelmä
In recent years, the importance of branding has increased in the B2B environment. This thesis was conducted to create a mutual understanding internally about the commissioning company’s brand. There was a need to gain a better understanding of the brand to be able to communicate it externally more effectively.
The theoretical framework consists of literature and research on the brand, organizational culture, and internalizing the brand, as well as other literature related to these topics. The most significant theoretical sources were Kapferer’s brand identity prism (2008) and King & Grace’s Employee-based Brand Equity (2009). The interviews were conducted based on the learnings from various sources, such as semi-structured interview and brand literature.
This thesis is reported by using a zipper model that combines a theoretical framework with methodology. Also, the interview results are presented among them. A case study approach is used to give the framework for the study.
The study was conducted as interviews during the years 2020 and 2022. The first interview conducted in 2020 was with the CEO and a current state analysis was made based on it. Other interviews were with the company employees separately in 2022 and a content analysis was executed based on them.
The findings from the interviews are encouraging. Brand awareness is at a good level for the company in question. However, the employees required something tangible to rely on with the brand-related questions. The brand book answers this need. Also, brand management is now at a better level than in 2020. A lot of work has been done with the brand, but there are challenges related to internal branding. Employee education regarding the brand and aligning promises to the employees with the truth are critical to succeeding in internal branding.
The theoretical framework consists of literature and research on the brand, organizational culture, and internalizing the brand, as well as other literature related to these topics. The most significant theoretical sources were Kapferer’s brand identity prism (2008) and King & Grace’s Employee-based Brand Equity (2009). The interviews were conducted based on the learnings from various sources, such as semi-structured interview and brand literature.
This thesis is reported by using a zipper model that combines a theoretical framework with methodology. Also, the interview results are presented among them. A case study approach is used to give the framework for the study.
The study was conducted as interviews during the years 2020 and 2022. The first interview conducted in 2020 was with the CEO and a current state analysis was made based on it. Other interviews were with the company employees separately in 2022 and a content analysis was executed based on them.
The findings from the interviews are encouraging. Brand awareness is at a good level for the company in question. However, the employees required something tangible to rely on with the brand-related questions. The brand book answers this need. Also, brand management is now at a better level than in 2020. A lot of work has been done with the brand, but there are challenges related to internal branding. Employee education regarding the brand and aligning promises to the employees with the truth are critical to succeeding in internal branding.