Brand Spillovers

This Article considers the spillover effects of trademarks - in particular, brand spillovers, which occur when consumer interest in a trademark increases the profits of third parties who do not own the trademark. Using techniques such as loss leaders and shelf space adjacency, retailers routinely create brand spillovers for their profit, and trademark law generally has not restricted these activities. Online intermediaries, such as search engines, also create and profit from brand spillovers by selling manufacturers\u27 trademarks for advertising purposes (keyword triggering). However, in contrast to retailer practices, keyword triggering has sparked a heated and irresolute battle over its legitimacy under trademark law. By drawing lessons from retailers\u27 experiences with brand spillovers and through an analysis of the ways intermediaries can add value to consumers, this Article offers a new way to resolve the keyword triggering debate. The Article proposes that all intermediaries - including both retailers and online intermediaries - should be permitted to use brand spillovers as part of their effort to reduce consumer search costs, even if the intermediaries profit from the brand spillovers along the way

Co-Creating Strategy and Culture in New Technology Regimes on the Internet: How New Digital Entrepreneurs affect Mature Incumbents in the Fashion Industry

One of the least understood aspects of knowledge management in organizational research and the sociology of innovation is to explain how new technology paradigms facilitate the creation and adoption of new regimes and business practice of innovation by old firms. When innovation regimes are started up by cohesive communities of collaborators, born-online and born-global, the relationship is even less understood. My research explores how some of the largest fashion-technology start-ups on the Internet create and spread new technology and practice in digital marketing and e-commerce to vertically integrated, transnational fashion industry leaders. I bridge innovation and economic sociology with international business and strategic management to explain how Ron Burt's "good ideas" are actually generated and meaningfully reapplied by emerging new entrants in the organizational practice of established incumbent fashion firms from Europe and the US. The fashion industry is an extreme case-study offering an ideal context to investigate these emergent processes, revealing the dynamic relationship between innovation and change. The research posits that executives in established organizations in this context can manage the tension between challenge and opportunity of adopting disruptive practice by learning to manage collaboratively the parts of their value chains that are most affected by the entrepreneurial creativity of new peers

Travels with the Flying Dutchman: marketing managers, marketing planning and the metaphors of practice

A review of the literature on strategic marketing planning reveals that the manner in which it is carried out in practice does not appear to reflect the way in which it is written about in texts. It is also clear that the exploration of marketing processes in organisations is seriously neglected from a phenomenological perspective. In order to explore this area, and the lived reality of planning from marketing managers perspectives, a research methodology was adopted using the phenomenological interview. A key research question focused investigation on determining what successful marketing decision making expertise actually consists of, if it is not about the explicit skills and knowledge embedded in the rational technical model of planning. The subsequent phenomenological analysis of the interviews demonstrated that the complexity of marketing planning and individual action cannot be collapsed into a textual model. What managers drew on was a qualitative, locally constructed knowledge base. Marketing decision making and action was found to be based within a locally enacted hermeneutical circle of talk, relationships, tacit knowledge and emergent issues, where the plans they wrote acted as cues to action rather than as prescriptive guides. Based on these findings, a revised theoretical framework is proposed for understanding marketing planning. This framework draws on the socially constructed metaphors used by the marketing managers in this study to explain their practical activity. It is argued that this theoretical approach offers up ideas for action to other marketers, rather than prescriptions. It also indicates that much marketing activity is successful yet diverse, both in form and style

Transforming value perception in music information systems

Information systems are changing the way artists and consumers create, use and interact with music. Music experience has become richer and more sophisticated than simply buying and listening to music. New links between IS and music are forging unprecedented levels of creative e-collaboration, innovative music technology development, new music commerce and marketing methods, alongside with the emergence of e-music communities nurturing up-and-coming artists careers. Distinct from non-creative industries, the music industry is at the forefront of technological innovation where the ubiquitous adoption of music downloading, widespread use of personal music systems, and value chain disintermediation has shifted the focus of value delivery towards consumer control. This paper provides new insights into the effect of recent technological change on stakeholders within the music industry value chain, and of music information systems upon creative music products. The paper further explores the stakeholder perceptions of the value added or depleted from music by the technology, and examines the future expectations of information systems amidst the volatility and uncertainty of the music industry.<br /

Supply Chain Development of Photovoltaic Energy System: A Critical Analysis of the Consumer's Role - Case Study Ghana

The rising energy problems in Ghana and the need for solutions called for this research. The alternative solution to this problem is renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic systems. Although solar PV systems are in the country its adoption process is slower due to several reasons. This research contributes to a pool of solution by looking at the supply chain of PV systems through the eyes of the consumer, hence the topic; Supply chain development of photovoltaic energy systems: A critical analysis of the consumer’s role – Case study Ghana. The method used for this research was a case study. First a survey was conducted among some solar PV businesses in Ghana to identify the existing supply chain for PV systems and their challenges. Secondly, another survey was conducted among consumers to identify their preferences in solar PV supply chain development. The consumer questionnaires revolved around the four P’s of marketing and supply chain models. The results of the research revealed that the major challenges faced by solar PV business in Ghana were; government policies and finance. On the consumer side, the major challenges faced by them were; finance, education, information awareness and availability of PV’s. The positive side is that consumers want the supply chain to be designed in such a way that PV’s will be available in the nearest retail and distribution centres. Consumers also want PV maintenance specialist centres be established in their communities and education and information to be readily available. In conclusion solar PV businesses have good future prospects in Ghana, only that most consumers are not fully aware of the benefits and prospects of this technology. Secondly, this research recommends that government policies on PV’s be amended to facilitate business. Government and business in Renewable energy industry should co-operate to bring education and to promote consumer awareness. Finally, government should provide incentives on behalf of consumers and businesses for banks and financial institutions to grant soft loans for PV purchases to help solve the energy crisis.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Pay-per-click advertising: A literature review

Digital marketing is being widely employed to efficiently and effectively market products/services to achieve increased sales and generate higher revenues. It allows businesses to effectively communicate desired content to their consumers. Pay-per-click (PPC) is one such form of digital marketing. PPC is often acknowledged for the different advantages it offers, and at the same time, it is notably criticised for fraud and other issues associated with its use. The literature on this subject, although limited, has invested considerable efforts in unveiling the pros and cons of employing PPC as a marketing/advertising strategy. This paper reviews 50 publications on PPC advertising to synthesise their findings and arrive at a common ground for understanding the digital presence and impact of this form of marketing. Alongside discussing the findings, observed limitations and opportunities for future research have been identified and reported

Ice Hockey Coaching Device Design, Marketing and Feasibility Analysis

We concluded that a hockey couching tool could be designed for mass market use. A business selling this product would become profitable, but not at this time. The groups analysis of the market showed that coaches would adopt the product over current coaching tools. Our analysis of the feasibility, however, revealed that the necessary business infrastructure to support manufacturing and sale of this product does not exist at this time. We recommend the inventor patent the product then build a prototype. Later, through licensing with business partners that have adequate manufacturing facilities and distribution networks, our client could make money

The teenage market and the fashion industry in France and in theUnited States

This project dealt with the teenage market in France and in the United States. Its aim was to provide the readers with an overview of this market and outline distribution and communication strategies that manufacturers and retailers can use to attract this market to make their business grow. Until a few years ago, the fashion industry did not pursue this market. In stores, most brands were dividing their clothing range into three catagories, women, men, and children. As a growing market with over 23 million teens in the U.S. and over 5.4 million in France, teenagers have an incredible spending power with 100 billion dollars spent in 2000 in the United States and 2.54 billion dollars spent in France. Now marketers are recognizing the teenage market as a huge potential for the future of their brands

A case of mistaken identity: theory, practice and the marketing textbook

PURPOSE One field in business where there is a purported gap between theory and practice is in marketing. This paper examines one area of the debate, the degree of congruence between the established textbook theories of marketing and the practical activity of marketing managers. METHODOLOGY/ APPROACH Phenomenological interviews were carried out with senior marketing managers from a diverse range of organisations. The aim was to establish what types of factors inform manager’s approaches to practice. Meaningful comparisons were made possible, as a range of marketing texts were also examined. FINDINGS Textbook theories represent a flawed view of the practitioner’s world. Many texts are very similar, based on an implicitly systems based paradigm. Universal truths are seen as indispensable modes of representational language. In contrast, the interviews with managers show that marketing is a locally contingent activity, occupying a discursive space separate from textbook theory. RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS Scholars desire to reduce real world activity to over arching explanations has led to the simplification of theory. Textbooks should embrace an approach based on interpretative insights into the realities of marketing practice. Moves away from the `one size fits all’ theory need to occur, to a situation where marketing is recognised as being about a socially mediated, multifaceted approach to business activity. ORGINALITY Substantial attention has been paid to what many commentators regard as an academic practitioner divide in marketing. Most of this concerns the status of research into marketing. Considerable less attention is devoted to the position of the marketing textbook. This paper helps to remedy the situation. Ideas are offered up for the development of marketing knowledge and ways are suggested to help close the theory practice gap in the discipline, through the medium of the textbook