Creating a brand identity for a new mattress brand Case: Napsie by Studio Moderna Svetlana Lazareva Bachelor’s Thesis November 2016 School of Business Degree Programme in International Business 1 Description Author(s) Type of publication Date Svetlana Lazareva Bachelor’s thesis November 2016 Number of pages Language of publication: 89 English Permission for web publication: x Title of publication Creating a brand identity for a new mattress brand Case: Napsie by Studio Moderna Degree programme Degree Programme in International Business Supervisor(s) Kujala, Irene Assigned by Studio Moderna Description The aim of this thesis was to study the concept of brand identity and its elements in order to outline a basic brand identity for the case brand. The study was conducted for the case company Studio Moderna and the case brand Napsie. The aim of the research was to study the concepts of brand, branding and brand identity. Furthermore, the research aimed at examining managerial tools and techniques that are used in brand identity creation process. Another aim of the research was to discover how a strong brand identity can contribute to brand awareness and success of the brand. The research questions were the following: What is brand identity and what are its main elements? Which tools and techniques can be used to create brand identity? How brand identity can help to increase brand awareness? What is a basic brand identity of a Napsie brand? The literature review consists of theory on concepts of brand, brand identity, brand personality. The research was qualitative with action research as a primary data collection method and interviews as source of primary data. Secondary data was collected through benchmarking. Miles and Huberman’s three steps flow model was used to analyse the data. The results of the research provide an outline for basic brand identity of the case brand. The basic brand identity was presented with Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism model. Brand personality was outlined with Aaker’s Brand Personality Scale Model and Mark & Pearson’s Brand Archetypes System. Brand verbal identity was established and presented as a guideline for brand tone of voice and brand vocabulary. Based on the results and research findings, recommendations for future research on brand image have been made. Keywords (subjects) brand, branding, brand identity, brand personality, mattress brand, qualitative research, action research, benchmarking, brand-building Miscellanous 2 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Introduction to the case company and case brand ......................................... 5 1.2 Definition of the management decision problem for the company ............... 6 1.3 Research problem ............................................................................................ 7 1.4 Research questions .......................................................................................... 8 2 Literature review ............................................................................................. 9 2.1 History of branding .......................................................................................... 9 2.2 The concept of brand .................................................................................... 16 2.3 Role of brands ................................................................................................ 18 2.3.1 Role of brands for consumers ................................................................ 18 2.3.2 Role of brands for companies ................................................................ 19 2.4 Brand identity ................................................................................................ 20 2.4.1 Insight into Brand Identity ..................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Creation of unique brand identity .......................................................... 22 2.5 Brand Personality .......................................................................................... 24 2.5.1 Dimesnions of brand personality ........................................................... 25 2.5.2 Brand personality drivers ....................................................................... 26 2.5.3 Brand archetypes ................................................................................... 27 2.6 Kapferer’s brand identity prism..................................................................... 28 3 Research Methodology .................................................................................. 32 3.1 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 34 3.2 Ethical issues .................................................................................................. 38 3.3 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 39 3.4 Validity and reliability .................................................................................... 40 4 Competitors of the case brand ....................................................................... 43 4.1 Overview of the competiton ......................................................................... 43 4.2 Tuft and Needle ............................................................................................. 45 4.3 Casper ............................................................................................................ 53 3 4.4 Eve ................................................................................................................. 60 5 Results .......................................................................................................... 65 5.1 Napsie Brand Identity Prism .......................................................................... 66 5.2 Napsie brand personality............................................................................... 70 5.3 Napsie Brand Archetype ................................................................................ 73 5.4 Napsie verbal identity .................................................................................... 74 6 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 78 7 Suggestions for future research ..................................................................... 79 References ........................................................................................................... 81 Figures Figure 1. Volkswagen “Think Small” campaign ............................................................ 14 Figure 2. Evian’s Baby&Me campaign .......................................................................... 16 Figure 3. Difference between brand identity and brand image .................................. 23 Figure 4. Brand Personality Scale ................................................................................. 26 Figure 5. Brand Personality Drivers .............................................................................. 27 Figure 6. The Brand Archetypes ................................................................................... 29 Figure 7. Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism Model ......................................................... 30 Figure 8. The cost of average mattress ........................................................................ 48 Figure 9. T&N Billboard ................................................................................................ 51 Figure 10. Casper Brand items ..................................................................................... 55 Figure 11. Casper Brand items ..................................................................................... 56 Figure 12. Casper Imagery ............................................................................................ 57 Figure 13. Casper subway ad ........................................................................................ 58 Figure 14. Top Reasons for Abandonment During Online Purchase ........................... 60 Figure 15. The Eve mattress ......................................................................................... 62 Figure 16. Eve Sleep Facebook post ............................................................................. 65 Figure 17. Eve Sleep Facebook post ............................................................................. 66 Figure 18. Napsie Brand Identity Prism ........................................................................ 71 Figure 19. Napsie brand imagery ................................................................................. 73 Figure 20. Napsie brand illustration ............................................................................. 74 4 1 Introduction The world of marketing is changing dynamically, creating challenges for managing brands in new, transforming conditions. ”Branding has become a top priority for companies due to the realization that brands are one of the most valuable intangible assets a company can have” (Keller & Lehmann 2006, 2). According to the definition, brand is ”a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition” (Keller 2003, 3). A brand is a marketer’s promise to deliver a consistent set of