Brand differentiation development and successful crowdfunding Name Malcolm Healey Student number 911012314030 Marketing and Consumer Studies Major Consumer Specialization Management, Economic, and Consumer Studies Chair Group Marketing and Consumer Studies (MCB) Supervisors Andres Trujillo-Barrera, Frans Verhees University Wageningen University and Research Centre Course code MCB-80433 Submitted date 2015 Acknowledgements This research was supported by Wageningen University and Research Centre. I thank our colleagues from the Marketing and Consumer behaviour group who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research, although they may not agree with all of the interpretations/conclusions of this paper. I thank Andres Trujillo-Barrera for his supervision and feedback with regards to approaching, the topics discussed and in particular with regards to crowdfunding research, as well as improving the overall quality of the paper. I also thank Frans Verhees for comments that greatly improved the scope and direction of the paper, as well as his contributions on marketing theory. I would also like to show our gratitude to the following interviewees: Martijn Haasbeek, Thomas Vles, Monique Jonkman, Sam van Tol, Mark Kulsdom, Sivan Breemhaar, Jasper Gabrielse, Peter van Akkeren, Jasper Deelen and Alexis Ramel for sharing their pearls of wisdom with me during the course of this research. ii Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................ii Table of figures ........................................................................................................................................ iv Table of charts ......................................................................................................................................... iv Definition of key concepts ........................................................................................................................ v 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Branding ........................................................................................................................................ 3 2.2 Differentiation ............................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Crowdfunding ................................................................................................................................ 8 3. Conceptual model and research hypotheses ................................................................................ 10 3.1 Conceptual model ....................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Research Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 11 4. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Research purposes ...................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Research Strategies ..................................................................................................................... 12 4.2.1 Theoretical Base and Literature Background ........................................................................... 13 4.3 Selection of Data Sources ............................................................................................................ 13 4.4 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 14 4.5 Interview guide ............................................................................................................................ 15 4.6 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 18 Sampling ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Interview setting ............................................................................................................................ 18 Interview coding ............................................................................................................................ 18 5. Case analysis .................................................................................................................................. 20 Saint Basics .................................................................................................................................... 20 VOF Afriek ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Spiazzo ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Poopypets ...................................................................................................................................... 22 The Dutch Weedburger ................................................................................................................. 22 Seepje ............................................................................................................................................ 23 Correctbook ................................................................................................................................... 23 Haasbeek Herenhof ....................................................................................................................... 24 Mamamo ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Retro Lindo .................................................................................................................................... 24 6. Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 26 iii 6.1 Theory vs Reality ......................................................................................................................... 26 6.1.1 Branding ............................................................................................................................... 26 6.1.2 Differentiation ...................................................................................................................... 26 6.1.3 Crowdfunding ....................................................................................................................... 27 6.2 Research questions...................................................................................................................... 28 6.3 Comprehensive findings .............................................................................................................. 30 7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 32 7.1 Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 32 7.2 Research perspective .................................................................................................................. 33 7.3 Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 33 8. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 35 9. Annex ............................................................................................................................................. 41 Annex 1 Interview transcripts ........................................................................................................... 41 Saint Basics .................................................................................................................................... 41 Vof Afriek ....................................................................................................................................... 44 Spiazzo ........................................................................................................................................... 49 Poopypets ...................................................................................................................................... 55 Seepje ............................................................................................................................................ 61 The Dutch Weedburger ................................................................................................................. 67 Correctbook ................................................................................................................................... 71 Haasbeek ......................................................................................................................................