Business Commons^™

The Founding And Process Behind Neutral Zone Reaction, Jules B. Bergman

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Let's Drink! A Comparative Analysis Of The Marketing And Branding Strategies Of Cutwater Spirits And Los Sundays, Emma Lauren Wells

Experience Industry Management

With spirit consumption on the rise, it has become increasingly important for alcohol companies to craft a unique brand and strategically market themselves towards their target consumers in order to stand out amongst their competitors and drive their product sales. The selected alcohol companies for this study, Cutwater Spirits and Los Sundays, are both relatively new, yet well-known, alcohol brands. The purpose of this study was to examine the marketing and branding strategies of Cutwater Spirits and Los Sundays. Through comparative analysis and an instrument developed by the researcher, data were collected on the companies’ branding strategies including packaging, logo, …

Coffee Cactus, Mackenzie Haneman

Graphic Communication

Coffee is one of the most well known and enjoyed drinks in the world. So many people go out to coffee shops to get work done, catch up with friends, or just to simply enjoy a local cup of coffee. Yet, many people find it difficult to bring that experience into the comfort of their own homes or have found tools that bring a personal and unique experience. Espresso machines, coffee tools, and unique terminology can be very intimidating for someone who is just starting to learn about coffee or wants to grow their own at home experience. The problem …

Marketing Synergy: Digital Product Development & Marketing Strategy, Laura M. Clague

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

An extension of Marketing Analytics class BMKT: 440, this research delves into marketing efforts employed to promote "Chubby’s Swatch Book," a plus-size fashion guide tailored for college girls and a college lifestyle. The guide was created by a college student to address the challenges faced by plus-size individuals in finding fashionable and fitting clothing. The study spans a four-week marketing campaign, focusing on branding, social media marketing, and content creation. This paper outlines the development of the "Chubby’s Swatch Book," it’s marketing strategies, and the effectiveness of said strategies through various metrics such as engagement rates, sales conversions, and follower …

Rebranding Lauren Hope Photography, Lauren H. Toomey

Graphic Communication

Lauren Toomey has been building her business, Lauren Hope Photography, for the past six years. During this time, she has developed a website as well as a social media presence, but has yet to establish a clear brand identity. This project served as motivation for Lauren to define her brand identity, which allowed her to create branding guidelines that could then be implemented across print and digital media.

Artist Branding Toolkit: Exploring The Creation Of Eras In Artist Marketing, Annabella Bird Cooley, Anastasia Petukhova

Honors Thesis

The purpose of this thesis is to act as a toolkit for artists early in their careers to reference when building their brand in the early stages. This toolkit is to be used by labels, artist management teams, and independent artists. In order to achieve this, I will go into an overview of personal branding. I will demonstrate how to apply these branding techniques to artists. I will then deepen my inquiry into an exploration of “eras,” showing how they are created and why they are important through a deep dive into three artists that have successfully created eras in …

The High Tide Inn Rebrand, Caroline Turnbull

Graphic Communication

For my Senior Project, I found a small Inn in Maine that was just purchased by a new owner. The previous owner of The High Tide Inn was very old and had owned the Inn for a long time, running on word of mouth and the quaint charm of the location. Their website was not a priority and had not been updated in decades. It was not mobile friendly, up to date, or easy to navigate. The logo reflects a charming sign on the property, but does not translate well digitally. In addition to this, there is no vector file …

Branding For Hope Services, Roberta Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hope Services is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization located in Seaside, California. Hope Services was in need of a new marketing and branding plan in order to reach more people throughout the various communities that are being served. The first contributing factor is limited outreach throughout the community, the consequence to that is low client rates which brings less staff. The second contributing factor is limited caseworkers, the consequence is low levels of applications being accepted or seen. The last contributing factor is limited access to technology, the consequence is low levels of knowledge of resources for possible clients. The capstone …

Visionaire Branding Company, Toni Joy Forsythe

Graphic Communication

It has been a goal of mine to one day launch my own branding and marketing agency, therefore this opportunity has allowed me to ideate what the agency would look like in terms of branding and business. I developed Visionaire Branding Company, a branding and marketing agency located in Central California. Creativity has always been at the forefront of my ambitions and Visionaire is a reflection of my passion for taking businesses to the next level and doing it with a vision.

Take Flight Music Festival Branding, Maxwell Bo Chen, Jake Oxenham

Graphic Communication

We created a branding and design campaign for the Take Flight music festival on campus. The project covered many aspects of event creation and marketing such as name, logo, content creation, social media, printed media, vendor outreach, and administration outreach. All these pieces had to work together to create a strong and cohesive brand image for this event which would help ensure a successful turnout and event overall.

How Do Virtual Social Media Influencers Affect Millennial And Gen Z Female Consumers’ Purchase Intention? A Comparison Of Fast Fashion Versus Luxury Fashion Brands, Lauren Bouvier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence and increasing prevalence of social media, the effectiveness of social media influencers (SMIs) is apparent in today’s fast-paced life. Virtual social media influencers (VSMIs), computer-generated influencers with a real human appearance, have gained popularity. The purpose of this study is to examine important VSMI’s characteristics that affect brand image and trust which lead to purchase intention (fast fashion vs. luxury fashion brand). Social exchange theory and source credibility model were adopted to develop a theoretical framework for the present study. Two Instagram ads were developed that included the post’s image and corresponding caption: VSMI endorsing H&M and …

Wingcups: Product Launch Digital Marketing Strategy, Sean M. Dolan

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Brand And Culture Fusion: How Marketing Directors Lead Brand And Culture Alignment At Private Non-Profit Higher Education Institutions, Erin Hales

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe, through the lens of activity theory (AT), the challenges and best practices of marketing directors at private, non-profit higher education institutions on how they lead brand and culture alignment.

Methodology: This phenomenological study collected, analyzed, and triangulated data through 15 semi-structured interviews and the collection of artifacts. Data was then coded into themes, frequencies were calculated, and data was organized into the four categories of AT: tools, rules, community, and division of labor.

Findings: Examination of the data found that marketing directors experienced six challenges representing all four …

Examining The Brand Image Of Paul College, Rebecca E. Milbury

Honors Theses and Capstones

The idea of a company’s brand image is a marketing subject that many companies need to consider. How consumers see or feel about a company is extremely important especially for higher education. Business schools are very competitive and in order to succeed, they need to understand how their students, alumni, faculty, and staff feel about their school. The results of the brand image survey are compared to those from a recent study completed in 2016. There are a few changes made to this survey, including adding alumni, faculty, and staff to the respondent pool. In doing so, this research will …

Artisan Tea Project Re-Brand, Alyssa J. Tong

Graphic Communication

Artisan Tea Project, a local cold brew tea pop-up in San Luis Obispo, aims to communicate the brand’s quality, simplicity, and creativity. The company is in need of design collateral that can best market the nuances of their product to target audiences, especially through digital means. The end result of the project is a fully re-branded company with a cohesive brand image that supports the company’s products, mission, and vision.

Willingness-To-Pay For Halal And Branded Poultry In Northern Mozambique, Alison Creasey

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

While price typically drives consumers’ food purchasing decisions in low-income countries, religious attributes associated with food production and corporate branding could influence buying patterns. In Mozambique more than 46% of people were living below the poverty line of ($0.31 USD) per day in 2018. That being said, in the Nampula Province (the location of this study), which is the second poorest province in the country, over 25% of the population is Muslim and may be willing-to-pay (WTP) a premium for Halal meat products to uphold Islamic beliefs. Like many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, poultry is the fastest growing source of …

Branding Small Businesses In Small Communities, Lacey Jenkins

Masters Theses

Branding has grown into a vital part of communicating a brand to its audience members. Unfortunately, large portions of branding tactics are geared towards large corporations in large communities. Small and mid-sized businesses require different tactics in order to create a brand that effectively communicates its purpose and values to its consumers. Because of this, this thesis is looking at the branding tactics of a small business in Charleston, Illinois. This business, Phoenix Elite, showed weaknesses in multiple areas of its branding package. Using a literature review, the goal is to create a better understanding of what branding is, as …

Corporate Brand Impact On Sales / Revenue Per Share, Brad A. Puckey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the linkage between the corporate brand and sales / revenue per share growth. Utilizing a unique database, the CoreBrand® Index, this study is a quantitative analysis of the interaction between the corporate brand and financial data. A relationship between corporate brand and financial data has been suspected by practitioners; however, it has never been proven. For the first time, quantitative analysis is conducted in this dissertation using this unique dataset.

This study is intended to help those responsible for managing corporate brands to better understand their impacts and benefits. The more that …

Content Marketing And The Creation Of A Brand With Voice, Cicero Henrique Alves Teago

Business ETD Collections

This article argues that the future of content marketing is strongly linked to the development of new technologies and how new technological devices influence the way companies engage with consumers. This paper aims to investigate how the development of personal voice assistants opens a new direction for companies to create substantial individualized, informational and engaging content. Content marketing is defined as the development of relevant and consistent brand content to create value among customers. Companies are being influenced by new technologies to conduct distinct formulas of content creation to develop a more engaging and aligned customer and brand relationship. The …

Branding On A Budget: Marketing In The Nonprofit Sector, Nicholas Biere

Honors Projects

“Branding on a Budget: Marketing in the Nonprofit Sector” This service learning project combines academic research with experiential service learning. The purpose of this project was to create a strong brand for BeInstrumental, a nonprofit music education organization from Toledo, Ohio through the creation of a graphic branding plan. Principles of visual communication technology, graphic design, marketing strategies, branding, and graphic design are all implemented in this project.

Stand For The Small: How To Effectively Brand And Market Your Small Business On Social Media, Erika Glover

Honors Projects

This document is a resource intended for female entrepreneurs who own or are looking to launch their own small business. The focus of this resource is to help business owners understand and apply strong social media marketing tactics to their small businesses. The document draws on passions, mission, and brand identity to help the user visualize the long term vision of their company's image. This is achieved by providing research and information on social media marketing in the following categories: target audience, gaining customers, brand goals, mission, visuals, voice, platforms, hashtags, analytics, and a pep talk.

The final element of …

Establishing & Applying Brand Guidelines For The Wood County Humane Society, Paige Isovitsch

Honors Projects

The purpose of this combined VCT Synthesis and Honors Project was to create consistent branding for the Wood County Humane Society (WCHS). The objectives were to create brand guidelines for the non-profit, and then implement the guidelines to create new marketing materials. This project is interdisciplinary in nature and includes visual design, marketing, and communications.

Many non-profits struggle with revolving staff, and some, such as WCHS, do not have a staff member with expertise in marketing and design. In the case of WCHS, this resulted in inconsistent branding that appeared unprofessional and confusing to the community. With this project, I …

A Brand New Narrative: Social Attitudes Toward Conflict Resolution And Inefficiency In Marketing And Branding, Emily Skinner

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to bring to light infield internal assumptions, expectations, and knowledge that may influence limitations on fostering an environment that can increase a social demand for conflict resolution services, knowledge, and practices. The research explored if the field’s marketing is influenced by the macro social norms, assumptions, and expectations of conflict and if they influence how the field communicates with its market. The study’s goal was to investigate if the marketing and the branding of conflict resolution are influenced by the social fact of conflict as negative. This study explored conscious and unconscious broad patterns of common-sense knowledge, …

College Football 150-Year Anniversary (Cfb150): Branding A Sesquicentennial Within Sport, Carlton F. Robie

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Psychographic Persona Development In The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Melody Day

Undergraduate Honors Theses

When interviewed about his Victorian Gothic masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde once observed that “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry is what the world thinks of me: Dorian is what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps” (Oscar Wilde). These three characters represent widely different types of people; in light of Wilde’s words, then, what does it truly mean to be Basil, Lord Henry, or Dorian Gray? In other words, what interests, opinions, and values held by these characters determine how each of them differ from one another? In my cross-discipline …

The Art Of The Rebrand: Utilizing Strategic Communications To Obtain Employee Buy-In During A Rebrand, Samantha Azizo

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify how organizations can effectively communicate with employees during a rebrand in order to obtain their acceptance of the changes, otherwise known as employee buy-in. Prior research has found that employee acceptance of a rebrand is a contributing factor towards a successful rebrand; however, prior research fails to determine how the rebrand can be best communicated to employees to obtain their buy-in. The research performed for the study took place in two parts. First, 142 online surveys probing employee and consumer perception about rebranding were performed. Secondly, three semi-structured interviews with professionals who …

Skyview Los Alamos Winemaker Pool Party Series 2019: Brand Reputation And Relationship Building Through Special Events, Jessica A. Mclin

Journalism

The following study was performed to determine the effect of planned special events on brand reputation and how they can be used as a tool for relationship building. There is a focus on outlining goals within an organization and identifying key publics that will assist in reaching said goals. The campaign’s focus was to create and publicize a Rosé Pool Party series, an opportunity for the newly reopened Skyview Hotel in Los Alamos, CA to work with and promote the surrounding business community. With scholarly research, the design of the campaign attempts to strategize event marketing to benefit the organization …

Brand Expansion Vs. Strong Consumer Relationships, Julia Da Motta, Mitchell Hamilton

Honors Thesis

Brand transgressions are defined as violations of the norms defined by the relationship between the brand and its consumers. In other words, it is when a brand takes an action that goes against what they promised their consumers, or what the consumers expected, based on the repeated interactions between the brand and the consumers. When brands are highly adopted by a very specific group of consumers, these controversial actions might give these consumers the idea that the brand is “cheating” on them, moving away from them and going against the image and personality that the brand has worked so hard …

Child Sport Fan Behavior: An Examination Of The Effects Of Socialization, Branding, And Alternatives On Children’S Psychological Connections To Sports Teams, Katherine Rose Nakamoto Reifurth

Theses and Dissertations

This three-study dissertation focuses on child fans of professional sport teams and the ways in which they become fans and attach themselves and connect to these sport brands. In Study 1, the researchers focused on the socialization into fandom of young children and the effects of communities and the game-day environment on this socialization utilizing qualitative observations and interviews with children ages 6 to 14 and resulted in an expanded understanding of the dame-day aspects that attract and excite children most. In Study 2, the researchers focused on the aspects of a new team’s brand that children ages 5 to …

The Use Of Secrets In Marketing And Value Creation, Ivan Fedorenko

2019

Keeping secrets is common to both corporations and public organizations. However, secrets have, until recently, received little attention in the marketing literature. The research on secrecy, to date, has been focused on the appropriating value from innovation. The purpose of my dissertation is to explore how secrecy can be used to create value for consumers. Paper one integrates the existent research on secrecy to develop an overarching framework and categorize four common types of secrets: reputational secrets, trade secrets, managerial secrets, and marketing secrets. The drivers and consequences of secrecy are identified across all three levels of analysis: individual, organizational …