Omnichannel Shopping Experiences for Fast Fashion and Luxury Brands

This chapter explores how luxury and fast fashion brands have been affected by omnichannel strategies, which refer to the opportunity to integrate online and offline channels to create a seamless shopping experience aimed at engaging customers. Through a quali-quantitative research approach, the study examines the potential effects of the implementation of omnichannel activities on the perception of luxury and fast fashion brands. Interestingly, consumers perceive omnichannel strategies as something projected for luxury brands, thus as a way for them to improve the luxury shopping experience. Consequently, when applied to fast fashion brands, omnichannel strategies may lead consumers to perceive such brand as more prestigious, activating a sort of “luxurization.” For a luxury company, omnichannel strategies may represent an opportunity because they can increase the perceived luxuriousness of the brand, but also a threat because they may help fast fashion brands to be perceived as luxurious, thus “imitating” luxury companies

The role of soft budgets and regulations in the performance of English Premier League Football Clubs 2004 to 2015

Since the English Premier League (EPL) commenced in 1992 top flight clubs have seen rapid and sustained growth in revenue driven primarily by broadcasting contracts negotiated collectively by the EPL. The most successful clubs also saw a rise in commercial revenue and generated additional income from regular participation in European club competitions.Growth in revenue and the global audience for EPL matches attracted foreign investors and by 2015, 55% of clubs were under foreign ownership. Analysis showed that several foreign owners focused on sporting success and provided their clubs with a soft budget constraint that allowed significant expenditure on players’ costs. This meant where expenditure exceeded revenue owners made available additional funds to cover deficits. Despite growth in revenue, excessive spending meant in aggregate terms the EPL reported losses in every year from 2004-13, and several clubs became reliant on additional funds provided by owners and related parties. A similar situation was evident in football leagues across Europe and led to stricter financial regulation by UEFA and the EPL. This study makes use of mixed-methods research to examine how the provision of a soft budget constraint impacted on the performance of clubs in the EPL, and whether this supported the introduction of stronger financial regulation. Initial quantitative research examined published financial statements for every club that played in the EPL during the 2003/4-2014/15 seasons, and enabled analysis of financial performance before and following increased regulation. Qualitative research in the form of structured interviews with nine elite informants provided valuable information about attitudes to both poor financial performance and increased regulation. Difficulty accessing elite informants has limited the use of structured interviews in research into the football sector. This thesis finds that during the period under review, the poor financial performance of clubs in the EPL was driven by wealthy owners who provided their clubs with a soft budget constraint to assist attainment of playing success. The threat of relegation forced other clubs to spend greater amounts just to remain competitive and meant growth in revenue was usually accompanied by a corresponding rise in players’ wages. It was only following significant growth in broadcasting revenue accompanied by stricter regulation after 2013 that financial performance improved

Innovation practices as a path to business growth performance : a study of small and medium sized firms in the emerging UAE market

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to innovation and economic growth, yet most of the research into innovation management has focused on developed markets and economies and large enterprises. This study identifies factors which enable SMEs to engage in innovation practices and examines their impact on business growth performance in the emerging United Arab Emirates market, namely Dubai. This study gathered survey data from a sample of 600 SMEs and analysed it using the Partial Least Squares technique. It found that SMEs’ internally driven determinants enable them to drive innovation practices and innovation practices impact on their business growth performance, but SMEs do not appear to utilise their externally driven determinants. The contribution of the study centres on the new understanding it provides of the way SME innovation practices can be promoted in an emerging market

Going Global: Representation and Sense-Making in the British International Branch Campuses of the United Arab Emirates

‘Going global’ is a prominent phrase used to describe transnational developments in British higher education, premised on the internationalization and export of UK universities. This dissertation interrogates one influential component of that agenda, the international branch campus (IBC), asking how British higher education is translocated and reimagined in the commercial education market of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As a departure from existing research on IBCs, it examines the phenomenon vertically, tracing the globalizing logics of contemporary exportation to their sites of consumption, and transversally, situating global demand for UK higher education within logics informed by Britain’s imperial past. Applying Appadurai’s (1986, 1996) concepts of the social imagination and regimes of value to transnational higher education, this study analyzes two interrelated processes: firstly, how universities represent themselves and the UK higher education brand through their offshore marketing practices, and secondly, how students and staff make sense of their IBC and imagine its role in fulfilling particular educational needs and desires. It applies an ensemble of interpretive techniques to the marketing images and texts of three large IBCs in the UAE to understand how particular qualities are signified and textured through a lens of Britishness. It then analyzes interviews with 52 undergraduates attending these IBCs, examining how expatriate and international students articulate value within the constrained parameters of ‘choice’ to maximize their future employment and mobility opportunities through an affordable, internationally valuable form of degree capital. The study finds that students’ IBC choices and the sense made of them are layered between proximal, practical calculations and deeply held desires to embody the qualities reflected in the British higher education brand, among them global recognition and belongingness. It also finds alignment between participants’ enunciations of ‘Britain’ and the ways in which IBC marketing selectively mobilizes symbols and discourses to frame their relationship to the national higher education brand, making them knowable and valuable to audiences without making explicit how abstract qualities are translocated to educational experiences in the UAE. These findings affirm the powerful role of the social imagination in shaping higher education choices and meaning-making in transnational contexts

The role of cross-cultural B2B relationship marketing: an investigation of Saudi Telecom Company (STC)

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyWith the increasing expansion of companies into the global markets, Relationship Marketing (RM) has become more significant than ever, drawing to it the interest of scholars and the attention of practitioners. One aspect of the subject, which this research addresses, is the need to understand the nature and importance of relationships across cultures, since such understanding is critical to organizational expansion. The focus of this research is B2B relationship marketing, with cross-cultural marketing as a major component of analysis. Building on and extending relevant cross-cultural theories, this research investigates B2B relationship marketing in a Middle-Eastern telecom company, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), a company that is well placed for providing fertile illustrations of the mechanism of B2B relationship marketing. It is, furthermore, a key company in Saudi Arabia with hundreds of partners worldwide, and its economic importance to the country is second only to SABIC, the state-owned national oil company. Adopting a case study research strategy, the research explores how a growing organization absorbs cultural awareness into its B2B relationships. Data are garnered by interviewing 35 STC managers, 29 STC Small Medium Enterprise SME business partners, and three of STC’s Major Enterprise partners, as well as accessing and analysing secondary data from the company. The findings to date suggest that as the company grows it needs to develop B2B cross-cultural awareness at local and global level. This research extends cross-cultural models which have been developed in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context such as cross-cultural marketing theories proposed by Hall and Hofstede to understand cross-cultural theory in a B2B context. By exploring the role of culture in B2B relationships in the telecom industry in the Middle East in general and Saudi Arabia in particular, in light of a case study conducted on a specific and major company, STC and its global partners, and by investigating and assessing how it conducts its B2B relationships, this research aspires to extend the understanding of cultural awareness in B2B relationship and thereby to make a useful contribution to scholarship

Sports Franchises as Catalysts for Tourism in an Urban Setting

This research investigates the leverage of sports franchises by destination marketing organisations for their tourism potential. It adds to the literature in covering a hitherto under scrutinised field of tourism enquiry focusing on the role of globally renowned professional football teams as agents of tourism in the cities that host them. In doing so the study links theory to practice and provides policy makers with options for implementing initiatives in collaboration with sports franchises, resulting in benefits across the wider stakeholder environment. Underpinned by a pragmatic philosophy, the research employs a mixed methods approach within a multiple case study design that provides a comprehensive understanding of the way sports franchises and destination marketing organisations interact in the tourism space. Drawing on a diversity of subject matter from existing literature, the transdisciplinary nature of the thesis is complemented by the case studies conducted in Amsterdam and Manchester that incorporate both qualitative and quantitative data. The destination marketing organisations of the cities featured (in Amsterdam and Manchester) prove adept practitioners in the area of tourism leverage, but their efforts in co-opting the hugely popular football clubs in either city as objects of tourism leverage fail to fully grasp the tourism potential that these organisations represent. The research identifies elements of best practice and crucially the factors that hinder optimal leverage strategies when it comes to the use of major commercially oriented sports franchises. A compelling case is made for the leverage of these entities in locations where the circumstances permit, with the research proposing a way forward under the guise of the framework for sports franchises leverage. The framework adds to the literature on tourism leverage and has significant implications for DMOs in providing a practical template characterised by its flexibility and applicability in wider settings. The research is a first of its kind linking professional sports franchises to leverage and destination marketing. It enhances the literature in providing insights into how stakeholder theory, destination marketing, and cooperative marketing enjoy an almost symbiotic relationship in the tourism sphere. In focusing on the leverage of renowned football clubs it has implications for policy makers, sports franchises and researchers

ISRAEL\u27S USE OF SPORTS FOR NATION BRANDING AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Since 1967, Israel’s image has been dramatically deteriorating, partly because of not having clear strategies regarding soft power and public diplomacy (Gilboa, 2006). The purpose of this study is to analyze how Israeli sports organizations have used sports for nation branding and public diplomacy. The research question was: How do Israeli sports organizations use sports for nation branding and public diplomacy? For the conceptual framework I drew mostly from theories in place branding research, public diplomacy, sports diplomacy, and soft power. Coming from a constructivist ontology and epistemology, I used qualitative methodology. During December 2017, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 members from Israeli sports organizations and three members of Israeli governmental agencies. After analyzing the results, five themes emerged from the data: (a) The Conflict, (b) Hosting Sports Events, (c) Representation, (d) Relations with the State, and (e) Challenges and Opportunities. This study is significant and contributes to existing knowledge on two main levels: (a) the specific case of Israel and (b) theories and conceptual frameworks on public diplomacy, nation branding, and related fields. Based on the findings of this study, I came up with 12 practical recommendations to practitioners in Israel, that some of them can apply to other countries that face similar situations. The recommendations : (a) Develop a sports diplomacy strategy, (b) Brand Israel as a “SportTech” Nation, (c) Acknowledge the conflict and prepare for escalation, (d) Improve inclusion and emphasize diversity, (e) Use athletes and organizations for public diplomacy, not advocacy, (f) Focus more on participation-sports tourism, (g) Aim beyond commemoration, (h) Develop the Maccabiah Games further, (i) Encourage representation in international federations, (j) Emphasize ethical policies, (k) Improve and expand collaborations with foreign countries, and (l) Consider the themes found in this study. This study also shows that even in a country that is going through one of the most complicated prolonged conflicts in the world, whenever there is formal collaboration between the state and sports organizations, sports can still be useful tool for soft power purposes

Crescent marketing, Muslim geographies and brand Islam: reflections from the JIMA Senior Advisory Board

Purpose – To bring together the thoughts and opinions of key members of the Journal of Islamic Marketing’s (JIMA) Editorial Team, regarding the recently branded phenomenon of Islamic marketing - in the interests of stimulating further erudition. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted an ‘eagle eye’ method to investigate this phenomenon: Where attempts were made to frame general principles and observations; alongside a swooping view of key anecdotal observations - in order to ground and enrich the study. We participated in an iterative process when analysing longitudinal and contemporary phenomenological data, in order to arrive at a consensus. This was grounded in: Triangulating individual and collective researcher findings; critiquing relevant published material; and reflecting upon known reviewed manuscripts submitted to marketing publications – both successful and unsuccessful. Findings – We assert that a key milestone in the study and practice of marketing, branding, consumer behaviour and consumption in connection with Islam and Muslims is the emergence of research wherein the terms “Islamic marketing” and “Islamic branding” have evolved – of which JIMA is also a by-product. Some have construed Islam marketing/branding as merely a niche area. Given the size of Muslim populations globally and the critical importance of understanding Islam in the context of business and practices with local, regional and international ramifications, scholarship on Islamic marketing has become essential. Western commerce and scholarship has been conducted to a limited extent, and some evidence exists that research is occurring globally. We believe it is vital for “Islamic marketing” scholarship to move beyond simply raising the flag of ‘Brand Islam’ and the consideration of Muslim geographies to a point where Islam – as a way of life, a system of beliefs and practices, and religious and social imperatives – is amply explored. Research limitations/implications – An ‘eagle eye’ view has been taken, which balances big picture and grassroots conceptual findings. The topic is complex – and so while diverse expert opinions are cited, coverage of many issues is necessarily brief, due to space constraints. Practical implications – Scholars and practitioners alike should find the thoughts contained in the paper of significant interest. Ultimately, scholarship of Islam’s influences on marketing theory and practice should lead to results which have pragmatic implications, just as research on Islamic banking and finance has. Originality/value – The paper appears to be the first to bring together such a diverse set of expert opinions within one body of work, and one that provides a forum for experts to reflect and comment on peers’ views, through iteration. Also the term Crescent marketing is introduced to highlight how critical cultural factors are, which shape perceptions and Islamic practises