Building the Brightrock Brand through Change

Subject area This case allows students to engage with classical marketing tenets of branding, media and communications decisions and content marketing within a management framework. Study level/applicability This case is appropriate for an undergraduate or graduate-level programme in marketing management. Case overview Suzanne Stevens was part of a group of four former senior employees of a large life insurance firm that decided to establish a new and innovative South African insurance company, BrightRock. They identified a gap in a large and highly competitive (albeit generic and opaque) insurance market and developed a distinctive positioning within the market. There was low consumer understanding of the technical aspects of life insurance products, and no existing life insurance product provided an individualized offering. Stevens developed the company’s brand and marketing strategy by drawing on reputation drivers, traditional advertising and a content marketing approach. BrightRock focused on change moments in consumers’ lives, including getting married, having children or getting a new job, and changed the standard insurance product model by launching an individualized flexible product that could adapt with the consumer through their various life stages. The case study documents the first three years of BrightRock’s operations, with a strong focus on brand and product development, distribution and communication. The case dilemma involves choices Stevens faced at the beginning of 2015 about marketing investments across paid, earned and owned media. Expected learning outcomes This study enables to critique the development of a services brand; integrate paid, owned and earned media to increase communication effectiveness and efficiency; and critique a content marketing strategy. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing. </jats:sec

Luxury as the opposite of vulgarity : a trio of perspectives on luxury brands

This thesis, entitled “Luxury as the opposite of vulgarity: A trio of perspectives on luxury brands” considers luxury brands in a trio of contemporary contexts. Despite the academic research surrounding luxury brands being limited, the existent research most often studies luxury brands in a traditional retail context. That is, luxury is viewed from a perspective where the products are sold in luxury retail stores. However, the landscape that these brands function within has changed significantly in the last decade as a result of the rise in Internet usage, the ever increasing effect of social media on consumer behaviour, and the influence of the recent global recession. This study considers how consumers behave and how luxury brand managers act in a trio of contemporary contexts regarding luxury brands; namely gift giving, economic downturns and social media. Through this thesis, the researcher considers the behaviour of luxury consumers in these three contexts, and suggests ways for the managers of these luxury brands to successfully adjust to the changing environment in which these brands function.Godkänd; 2011; 20110330 (migrey); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Industriell marknadsföring Opponent: Associate Professor Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, Griffith University, Australia Ordförande: Universitetslektor Anne Engström, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Tisdag den 7 juni 2011, kl. 15.30 Plats: A10

Luxury as the opposite of vulgarity : a trio of perspectives on luxury brands

This thesis, entitled “Luxury as the opposite of vulgarity: A trio of perspectives on luxury brands” considers luxury brands in a trio of contemporary contexts. Despite the academic research surrounding luxury brands being limited, the existent research most often studies luxury brands in a traditional retail context. That is, luxury is viewed from a perspective where the products are sold in luxury retail stores. However, the landscape that these brands function within has changed significantly in the last decade as a result of the rise in Internet usage, the ever increasing effect of social media on consumer behaviour, and the influence of the recent global recession. This study considers how consumers behave and how luxury brand managers act in a trio of contemporary contexts regarding luxury brands; namely gift giving, economic downturns and social media. Through this thesis, the researcher considers the behaviour of luxury consumers in these three contexts, and suggests ways for the managers of these luxury brands to successfully adjust to the changing environment in which these brands function.Godkänd; 2011; 20110330 (migrey); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Industriell marknadsföring Opponent: Associate Professor Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, Griffith University, Australia Ordförande: Universitetslektor Anne Engström, Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Tisdag den 7 juni 2011, kl. 15.30 Plats: A10

How Many Likes Are Good Enough? An Evaluation of Social Media Performance

This paper considers the evaluation of social media performance from a user’s perspective using the expectation confirmation theory as the theoretical framework. The interplay between initial expectations and subsequent evaluations of social media performance, in particular, forms the basis of the evaluation. The research focuses on the influence that the performance of brand-related user-generated content is able to exert on a user’s brand attitude, self-image, and the development of their personal brand. This conceptual paper develops three propositions suggesting that the social media performance of brand-related user-generated content is able to influence one’s brand attitude, self-image, and personal brand respectively. A typology of four different social media user types is developed through an evaluation of the disconfirmation experienced as a result of the interplay between initial expectations and the actual evaluation of the performance of brand-related, user-generated content. The concept of social media performance is proposed, which considers the subjective evaluation of the performance of a brand-related post shared on social media platforms. In addition, the research expands the expectation confirmation theory to a new context in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of an existing yet under researched phenomenon.

Luxury wine brands visibility in social media : an exploratory study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the visibility of luxury wine brands, in particular the Bordeaux first growth brands in social media. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses data from howsociable.com to portray similar luxury wine brands in multi-dimensional space. To identify the associations between the brands and the social media visibility indicators, the paper uses correspondence analysis. Findings – The findings of the paper show that some of the brands considered did not, at the time the data were gathered, have a clearly defined social media strategy. Practical implications – The indication is that there are opportunities for luxury wine brand managers to use social media as a tool in their marketing strategies; also some threats may exist to these brands should they take a laissez faire approach to social media, particularly when social media are becoming as influential, if not more so than conventional media. Originality/value – Brands can take directions in social media today that would have been unlikely if not impossible five years ago. While brand managers may not fully be able to control the destinies of these brands, this paper suggests that the approaches followed in this particular research will present brand managers with a tool that will assist them in directing conversations that occur around their brands.Validerad; 2011; 20110329 (migrey