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- All Subjects: Branding
- All Subjects: Fashion
- Creators: Department of Marketing
- Status: Published
Description
I Am Not A Millennial is an honors thesis project that combines research with a creative application to determine the best practices for companies and advertising agencies. The thesis consists of three main sections: an overview of what a millennial is, bursting the millennial hype bubble, and discussion of whether new targeting techniques, new ideas for content, or new ways of advertising are necessary to engage the Millennial consumer. The thesis will first look at the Millennial Generation to answer the question of "Who are they?" with the emphasis on removing the negative stereotypes from the Millennial generation. This section will be supported by the following section which will discuss the lack of statistical information that truly separates the Millennial generation from its predecessors. Finally, by presenting information on my experiences leading a student-run advertising non profit, case studies, and working within an account management department of an advertising agency, this thesis will present conclusions that advertising agencies and businesses need to develop targeting and content practices that focus in on consumers' interests and tell the story of "why" in order to connect with Millennials.
ContributorsCondo, Ashley Roelle (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In competitive Taekwondo, Electronic Body Protectors (EBPs) are used to register hits made by players during sparring. EBPs are comprised of three main components: chest guard, foot sock, and headgear. This equipment interacts with each other through the use of magnets, electric sensors, transmitters, and a receiver. The receiver is connected to a computer programmed with software to process signals from the transmitter and determine whether or not a competitor scored a point. The current design of EBPs, however, have numerous shortcomings, including sensing false positives, failing to register hits, costing too much, and relying on human judgment. This thesis will thoroughly delineate the operation of the current EBPs used and discuss research performed in order to eliminate these weaknesses.
ContributorsSpell, Valerie Anne (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Kitchen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Innovation Space is a course designed to challenge senior students to collaborate on an interdisciplinary basis while completing a thought-provoking project. Each project is designed to allow students to address real-world issues. My team, Leverage, has created a product suite for power wheelchair users. Our product suite equips a wheelchair with a backup camera, an expanding lap desk, and a headrest with integrated Bluetooth speakers and microphone. These products are designed to increase the productive potential of the disabled, particularly quadriplegics injured around the C4 vertebra level. During the course of the program, my team will create physical prototypes of our product and I will create a full business plan. The individual written portion of my thesis will consist of discussion of a branding framework developed by creative director Patrick Hanlon. In addition, I will suggest methodology for effectively branding our company.
ContributorsGaynor, Max Daniel (Author) / Peck, Sidnee (Thesis director) / Desch, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This report was commissioned to provide an analysis and evaluation of consumer perceptions and branding as it relates to the political and social climate in America. To be able to do this, the paper analyzes shifts in the external environment as well as researching case studies and online consumer perception surveys. Overall, this paper aims to examine the distributed survey and attempt to correlate and identify how branding, consumer perceptions, and social and political issues all can work and affect one another. Through the administration of this survey, we were able to formulate a conclusion that points towards the importance of brands actively adhering to changing consumer preferences, ideals, and expectations. The research draws attention to the fact that brands are now living in polarized times, in which there can be numerous risks and opportunities for taking a particular stance socially or politically (Kleinberg, 2017). Thoroughly understanding and measuring brand customer perception in regards social and political stance can be vital to the future success or demise of a brand. To further understand consumer perceptions, it is imperative to analyze the opinions and information of the demographics in which brands appeal to. They can have differing opinions on the subject matter, therefore brands must be sensitive to these differences, and make changes accordingly. Moreover, analyzing current advertising campaigns are essential in gauging the overall expectation that consumers have for their brands in relation to current political and social climates. In essence, these questions and studies led us to formulate our final recommendations pertaining to this subject. Therefore, it is recommended: Brands should consider the political ideology in which the majority of their consumer base identifies with in order to leverage consumer purchasing power Brands should institute protocols before officially releasing proactive or reactive ad campaigns, such as brand advisory committees, competent spokesmen, issue based ads By utilizing this information, it allows brands to be proactive and refocus their objectives in order to accommodate varying consumer perceptions.
ContributorsClark, Sydney Chantal (Co-author) / Loera, Carolina (Co-author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of digital on the fashion industry. In order to accomplish this, we must first examine the fashion industry, as well as the emerging digital space, and how these two industries are rapidly colliding. Fashion, an industry that has been around since the early 1800s in the United States (Fashion History: The American System for Fashion, 2009), is being forced to pivot, and change its traditional practices, in order to remain relevant in a world heavily influenced by the Internet and consumer preferences. The largest changes taking place within fashion include the power of various industry influencers, including designers, magazines, retailers and lifestyle bloggers, and the rise of blogging as a fashion news source. Although designers, magazines and retailers still have significant clout within the industry, bloggers are becoming a force to be reckoned with, adding a new variable to the industry.
Meanwhile, digital is still being defined, as countless people work to determine best practices and reconcile the unending amount of information available into something that can be used. Trends in digital include the concept of new media, blogging, social media and new channels of media. Overall, we are seeing a shift to user-‐ generated content, available all the time, and a proliferation of content being created and published on the Web.
Some of the ways these two industries are colliding include the rise of lifestyle bloggers, developments and usage of technology, an abundance of new e-‐commerce models, and finally, a shift in the ways consumers curate and discover products online.
Predictions for the future include a more streamlined and user-‐friendly process for search and product discovery online, increase in social commerce and personalization of products, and finally, a return to brick and mortar shopping, but with an improved, experiential model. These trends will affect industry stakeholders dramatically, and so necessary actions for these stakeholders are also discussed, such as allocating more resources to content generation and e-‐commerce, giving consumers the ability to personalize, and improving their physical shopping experiences to provide something valuable and entertaining.
Meanwhile, digital is still being defined, as countless people work to determine best practices and reconcile the unending amount of information available into something that can be used. Trends in digital include the concept of new media, blogging, social media and new channels of media. Overall, we are seeing a shift to user-‐ generated content, available all the time, and a proliferation of content being created and published on the Web.
Some of the ways these two industries are colliding include the rise of lifestyle bloggers, developments and usage of technology, an abundance of new e-‐commerce models, and finally, a shift in the ways consumers curate and discover products online.
Predictions for the future include a more streamlined and user-‐friendly process for search and product discovery online, increase in social commerce and personalization of products, and finally, a return to brick and mortar shopping, but with an improved, experiential model. These trends will affect industry stakeholders dramatically, and so necessary actions for these stakeholders are also discussed, such as allocating more resources to content generation and e-‐commerce, giving consumers the ability to personalize, and improving their physical shopping experiences to provide something valuable and entertaining.
ContributorsLose', Jenna Elizabeth (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Boonlorn, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
As firms increase the number of channels that they operate and distribute their products and services on, they run into new challenges with branding. One sub-industry where many firms have used multi-channel branding is the specialty apparel segment of retail. Many firms of this kind are using a four-channel approach with physical stores, brand websites, social media pages, and direct mail catalogs to market their products. Yet, there are few specialty apparel retailers that do this well across all four channels. A particular technique used to market products in this way is visual merchandising. Visual merchandising for apparel products pieces together full outfits with multiple clothing items and shows them, in some way, being worn. Beyond just marketing products, however, visual merchandising can provide firms with benefits of branding such as brand expertise, positive consumer attitudes, and increased consumer purchase intent. To do this, firms must develop quality brands using traditional branding practices. To use as guides, J. Crew and Anthropologie's branding and visual merchandising practices were analyzed in case studies. Testing consumer perceptions of these brands and their success, primary research about consumers' behavior relative to specialty apparel retail brands and their visual merchandising displays was an outcome. From this research, it was found that consumers best respond to in-store visual merchandising displays. In showing products, a variety product combination strategy is preferred as it enhances the value consumers perceive in brands and builds brand character. Consumers also feel that visual merchandising impacts their knowledge of the brand and its products as well as personal styling. If brands successfully use visual merchandising to brand themselves, brand consistency, brand expertise, and positive consumer attitudes are an outcome. Recommendations for specialty apparel retail brands have been developed using these findings, and the potential such firms are able to realize in using these will greatly benefit them.
ContributorsTaylor, Allyson Nicole (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Gray, Nancy (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This paper is rooted in the field of business, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. The questions we tried to answer were the following: What are factors of success for current fashion brands? What is important to our target market when shopping? How can we deliver these attributes to our target market? How can we use our findings to create a fashion brand? First, we conducted in-depth external analysis about existing retailers including, Forever 21, Zara and Brandy Melville. After doing so, we created brand molecules and learned about other people's perceptions in relation to these existing brands. Next, using our own qualitative and quantitative research, we sought to understand the many gaps in the overall shopping experience for college students and young working professionals. Our research revealed many common themes and trends that we will integrate into our proposed business plan in efforts to fill the gaps. Through our data analysis, common trends included how our demographic learns about new fashion trends, statement pieces versus mix-and-match basics, online shopping versus in-store shopping, price sensitivity of our target market, and lastly, the quality of customer service and the store's return policy. After our extensive research and data analysis, we began to construct our brand. We propose a new business model that targets our fashion-forward consumer with a memorable shopping experience that delivers high-quality and trendiness to their wardrobe. Using the elements and trends we identified, combined with our own vision, we combined them into one brand, The Capsule Collection. ur brand will feature high-quality, reasonably priced basics ranging from everyday casual to business casual. We will have store locations in cities where there are many young working professionals, and target them through social media advertising. Our store will feature an open layout with clean and minimalistic displays, keeping everything in neutral tones and accented with plants. The goal of The Capsule Collection is to make shopping as easy and exciting as possible, and focus entirely on the customer's experience.
ContributorsMeyyappan, Rathna (Co-author) / Aggarwal, Payal (Co-author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
There are over 4,000 higher education institutions in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. With a variety of options at an applicant’s disposal, the competition for institutions to attract their desired student body can be fierce. Some factors many consider when searching for the perfect college are its reputation and brand. Increasingly, universities have chosen to engage in marketing and branding techniques once reserved for corporations. According to a report by the Santa Clara Consulting Group, “a university is no longer just an institution of higher learning but also a business.” In coordination with this growing trend, institutions have been propelled to undergo some extent of a transformation to achieve their goals. This paper examines three institutions representing different higher education categories that have undergone or are currently undergoing some extent of a reputational shift. Looking at a large public university, an Ivy League institution and a liberal arts college, the research explores the various communications efforts made by each institution and how they compare. In some cases, the communications department is an integral component of the shift, while sometimes it provides mostly auxiliary support. Ultimately, this research hopes to provide insight into the following questions: what actions can an institution’s communications department take to help strengthen its reputation and grow its brand; and how do these strategies compare among various types of institutions?
ContributorsWolfe, Alexandra C (Author) / Hass, Mark (Thesis director) / Smiley, Andrea (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Advertising has been a part of the marketing landscape for decades, evolving over time. Among the many tactics of advertising is the use of spokespeople, or brand personalities, that represent a brand and its offerings. Spokespeople have been around as early as the 1950s, with brands hiring well-known actors and actresses to represent everyday products. Since then, they have evolved to be more than just a brand representative. Fast forward to the 21st century, spokespeople have developed symbiotic relationships with brands, helping them create authentic connections with its consumers.
There are many successful cases of spokespeople enhancing a brand’s popularity and growing their sales, but what would happen to the brand if their spokesperson engaged in controversial behavior? The basis of this thesis, and my research, revolves around this research objective: to better understand if, and how, spokespeople affect a brand and its consumers. I conducted primary research in the form of a survey to test consumer’s attitudes and behaviors towards brands and spokespeople; additionally, I conducted secondary research to understand how spokespeople can impact a brand’s stock and sales performance. I expect spokespeople with high levels of association with the brands they represent to have a strong affect on a brand’s performance and perception.
The results of my research defy my expectations. Spokespeople that have a weaker association level with their brands had a strong affect on a brand and its consumers, and vice-versa with strong association levels. In the primary research, spokespeople with weak association levels with Nike and Papa John’s had a significant impact on how participants viewed and engaged with the brands. In addition, secondary research indicates there are significant affects on a brand’s performance as a result of the spokespeople, despite the weak association levels.
After conducting research, I concluded that to have effective spokespeople that can positively impact a brand and its consumers, they must possess two characteristics: trustworthiness and authenticity. The successful cases of spokespeople from my primary and secondary research possessed these characteristics. Consumers need to be able to trust the messages that come from spokespeople, and they need to be able to understand that the relationship between the them and the brand is authentic and makes sense. Therefore, if the spokespeople brands hire are trustworthy and authentic to the brand, then they will positively impact the performance and perception of the brand.
There are many successful cases of spokespeople enhancing a brand’s popularity and growing their sales, but what would happen to the brand if their spokesperson engaged in controversial behavior? The basis of this thesis, and my research, revolves around this research objective: to better understand if, and how, spokespeople affect a brand and its consumers. I conducted primary research in the form of a survey to test consumer’s attitudes and behaviors towards brands and spokespeople; additionally, I conducted secondary research to understand how spokespeople can impact a brand’s stock and sales performance. I expect spokespeople with high levels of association with the brands they represent to have a strong affect on a brand’s performance and perception.
The results of my research defy my expectations. Spokespeople that have a weaker association level with their brands had a strong affect on a brand and its consumers, and vice-versa with strong association levels. In the primary research, spokespeople with weak association levels with Nike and Papa John’s had a significant impact on how participants viewed and engaged with the brands. In addition, secondary research indicates there are significant affects on a brand’s performance as a result of the spokespeople, despite the weak association levels.
After conducting research, I concluded that to have effective spokespeople that can positively impact a brand and its consumers, they must possess two characteristics: trustworthiness and authenticity. The successful cases of spokespeople from my primary and secondary research possessed these characteristics. Consumers need to be able to trust the messages that come from spokespeople, and they need to be able to understand that the relationship between the them and the brand is authentic and makes sense. Therefore, if the spokespeople brands hire are trustworthy and authentic to the brand, then they will positively impact the performance and perception of the brand.
ContributorsHo, Yi-Chun (Author) / Giles, Charles (Thesis director) / Montoya, Detra (Committee member) / Dean, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Streetwear is a category of fashion that has evolved from being a niche style of dress influenced by American counter cultures, into a formidable industry. Over time, Streetwear has become a culture in itself whose members are critical of inauthentic brands and commercialization. Streetwear brands have the need to be perceived as authentic, exclusive, and being connected to celebrity to survive in the industry long-term. Additionally, as the industry grows larger, the marketplace has become increasingly saturated. This can be attributed to how easy it is to create a fledgling streetwear brand due to advances in garment production technology and streetwear's roots in low-cost clothing. Streetwear brands need to differentiate themselves in an effective manner to stand out to consumers in the saturated streetwear market. Primary research conducted via a survey administered to streetwear consumers was done to learn more about the effectiveness of popular tactics and marketplace events streetwear brands use to differentiate themselves. Secondary research was done in literature on the topics of creativity and energized differentiation. Research by Gerzema and Lebar presented in their book The Brand Bubble on the topic of energized differentiation is reviewed and applied to streetwear brands. This thesis will discuss the key elements brands need to have to be successful in the streetwear industry. Along with this, it will also look at the effectiveness of specific tactics bands can execute to effectively differentiate themselves in the saturated industry and the important role creativity plays in their success.
ContributorsGriblin, Austin W. (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05