Composition with Country and Corporate...
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Transcript of Composition with Country and Corporate...
Composition with
Country and Corporate Brands
Capitalising on the country brand values
Silviana Mihalache ~ Polona Vukman
Master Thesis in Business Administration � Strategy and Culture
Department of Management and Economics
Linköping University
January 2005
Department and Division
Department of Management and Economics
Defence date
19. 01. 2005
Publishing date
(electronic version)
Language Report categoryISBN:
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below)
Licentiate thesisDegree thesis ISRN: LIU-EKI/STR-D--05/005--SE
________________Thesis, C-level
X Thesis, D-levelTitle of series
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Series number/ISSN
URL, electronic version
Title
Composition with Country and Corporate Brands. Capitalising on the Country Brand Values
Author(s)
Silviana Mihalache, Polona Vukman
Abstract
Background: The concept of countries as brands has been increasingly accredited once the postmodern global world became an every day experience. A strong country brand can provide corporate brands with a unique set of values, which supports their positioning on the international market. Simultaneously, once corporate brands achieve worldwide success, they contribute actively to developing new features of the country brand.
Purpose: The aim of the paper is to design a model with regard to the value-transfer from country brands to corporate brands. The model is evaluated in accordance with the relationship between Sweden and Scania, respectively Oriflame, chosen as frames of research. The researchers assess whether the process occurrence is conscious or not, be it from inside (on the corporate level) or outside (from the audiences� perspective), as well as its consistency (the values involved in the transfer).
Results: According to the research results, Scania displays a spontaneous value-transfer with Sweden the brand, whereas Oriflame actively capitalises on the national set of common values. Either unconsciously present at the corporate level of Scania, or consciously exploited by Oriflame, these Swedish values repeat for both studied companies.
Keywords
country brand, corporate brand, value-transfer, associations, Scania, Oriflame.
Pentru to�i ai mei.
In kon�no je posijalo sonce.
Thank you to each other!
CONTENTSCHAPTER 1 THE �BRANDGROUND�.................................................... 1
1.1. Background ............................................................................................. 11.2. Problem discussion.................................................................................. 31.3. Purpose.................................................................................................... 51.4. Research questions .................................................................................. 61.5. Disposition .............................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2 BRAND WISDOM ................................................................ 9
2.1. Departure point: defining the brand ......................................................... 92.2. Overview of literature: research on country brands and their interdependence with corporate brands......................................................... 112.3. Brand essentials..................................................................................... 14
2.3.1. The corporate brand..................................................................... 142.3.1.1. The character and looks of a brand: brand identity, brand image ............................................................................................ 142.3.1.2. Brand equity ..................................................................... 152.3.1.3. Brand management and branding strategies...................... 16
2.3.2. And countries became brands as well�....................................... 192.3.2.1. Country brand and branding ............................................. 192.3.2.2. Dimensions of a country brand. Country equity................ 212.3.2.3. Country branding strategies .............................................. 25
2.3.3. Country and corporate brands compositioning ............................. 282.4. Our modelling ....................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 3 BRANDED ACTORS.......................................................... 37
3.1. Sweden the brand .................................................................................. 373.2. Scania.................................................................................................... 433.3. Oriflame ................................................................................................ 45
CHAPTER 4 OUR RESEARCH STRATEGY ........................................ 48
4.1. Research strategy................................................................................... 484.1.1. How schools of science influenced our research .......................... 484.1.2. Research purpose ......................................................................... 494.1.3. Research method.......................................................................... 504.1.4. Data-gathering techniques............................................................ 51
4.1.4.1. Secondary data ................................................................. 524.1.4.2. Interview procedure.......................................................... 534.1.4.3. Questionnaire procedure................................................... 56
4.2. Revision of data..................................................................................... 594.3. Criticism................................................................................................ 60
4.3.1. Research procedure...................................................................... 604.3.2. Validity, reliability, generalisation............................................... 61
CHAPTER 5 ACCOUNTS FROM THE BRANDS ................................. 64
5.1. First dimension of the Value-Transfer Window: Companies� awareness ..................................................................................................... 64
5.1.1. Scania .......................................................................................... 645.1.1.1. Vision, mission, core values ............................................. 645.1.1.2. Brand strategy .................................................................. 675.1.1.3. Communicating the brand................................................. 685.1.1.4. Brand identity................................................................... 715.1.1.5. The Swedish origins ......................................................... 73
5.1.2. Oriflame ...................................................................................... 775.1.2.1. Vision, mission, core values ............................................. 775.1.2.2. Brand strategy .................................................................. 795.1.2.3. Communicating the brand................................................. 805.1.2.4. Brand identity................................................................... 825.1.2.5. The Swedish origins ......................................................... 85
5.2. The second dimension of the Value-Transfer Window: Customers� associations .................................................................................................. 88
5.2.1. Transport companies.................................................................... 895.2.2. Oriflame�s targeted customers ..................................................... 91
CHAPTER 6 PERCEPTIONS OF THE BRANDS.................................. 96
6.1. Corporate awareness of the benefits that country brand values hold ...... 966.1.1. Scania in analysis......................................................................... 966.1.2. Oriflame in analysis ................................................................... 102
6.2. Audiences� perceptions ....................................................................... 1086.3. Opening the Value-Transfer Window.................................................. 1126.4. Research conclusions........................................................................... 117
CHAPTER 7 �BRAND EXTENSIONS� ................................................ 123
7.1. Final remarks: relevance and limitations ............................................. 1237.2. The reverse route of the value-transfer ................................................ 1267.3. Call for further research....................................................................... 126
APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW DRAFT .................................................... 129
APPENDIX 2: SCANIA QUESTIONNAIRE......................................... 131
APPENDIX 3: ORIFLAME QUESTIONNAIRE .................................. 132
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................... 133
LIST OF FIGURES
• Fig. 1: General research model. The value-transfer route between country brands and corporate brands and the way it is perceived by audiences, p. 5• Fig. 2: The six dimensions of a nation brand, p. 21• Fig. 3: The Value-Transfer Window. The relationship between country-brand values and corporate brand values, and its outcomes for targets, p. 32• Fig. 4: Obvious Value-transfer, p. 34• Fig. 5: Spontaneous Value-transfer, p. 35• Fig. 6: Un(der)developed Value-transfer, p.35• Fig. 7: Latent Value-transfer, p. 36• Fig. 8: The six dimensions of Sweden the brand, p. 38• Fig. 9: Research Strategy, p. 50• Fig. 10: Induction and deduction, p. 51• Fig. 11: Scania�s Logotype, p. 72• Fig. 12: Oriflame�s Master Logotype and Strapline, p. 82• Fig. 13: The Value-Transfer Window. Placement of Scania and Oriflame within the model, p. 113
LIST OF TABLES
• Table 1: Scania, Key figures, p. 44• Table 2: Oriflame, Key figures, p. 45• Table 3: Scania, Transferred values, p. 115• Table 4: Oriflame, Transferred values, p. 116
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Chapter 1
THE �BRANDGROUND�
1.1. Background
According to Wally Olins � a famous branding professional � country
branding is old news. Olins�s example of France�s five republics, two empires
and four kingdoms illustrate convincingly that every country which has had
its share of turmoil attempts to create new traditions from the old, along with
new ideals (Olins, 1999). And every country, which has not, attempts to make
a virtue out of this � we might add. Sweden, for instance, is labelled on its
official Internet gateway as a country that has lived in peace from the early
19th century on, and this fact is regarded as the most important prerequisite for
the build-up of the modern Swedish welfare state (www.sweden.se).
However, either old or new, the concept of countries as brands has been
increasingly accredited once the postmodern global world became an every
day experience.
Under these circumstances, states are compelled to participate in a �global
beauty contest� and employ � in a business-like manner � strategic marketing
instruments in order to develop themselves and their implicit national
identities into brands globally recognised (Strange in van der Westhuizen,
2003). Philip Cerny has described this process as a shift from states defending
the borders of their national spirit from the impediment iof a violent and ever-
changing global economy, to ones which are demanded by the increased
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globalisation euphoria to become businesses (Cerny in van der Westhuizen,
2003).
State branding is about using strategic marketing to promote different aspects
of a country�s identity and image. It implies that countries �behave, in many
ways, just like brands (�); they are perceived in certain ways by large groups
of people both at home and abroad; they are associated with certain qualities
and characteristics� (Anholt, 2003). Nation branding has become a central
tool of country competitiveness because having a bad reputation or none at all
seriously affects a country�s ability to compete at all levels (de Vicente,
2004). Thus, effective branding can endow a state with competitive advantage
in world �markets� � used here in a broader sense that encompasses
economic, political, social or cultural aspects � and opens many opportunities
for its development or further development.
Under these circumstances, countries and corporations are increasingly facing
similar challenges, and moreover, are extensively taking each other�s roles.
Firms nowadays are getting a grip on the traditional power of the state mainly
because of the demands placed on them to behave socially responsible:
corporate social responsibility programs, ethical investments and
sponsorships, shareholder involvement, and public-private partnerships with
the state are just a few examples as such (van der Westhuizen, 2003).
Similarly, countries have to position themselves as attractive markets for
investment, tourism, and reliable exports, during a time when drawing capital
depends on careful comparison and selection processes (van der Westhuizen,
2003).
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Globalisation and the product diversity it brought along are making it very
difficult for companies to accomplish their differentiation strategic plans. The
global economy implies homogeneity in terms of products, which means that
customers need more and more knowledge in order to spot the differentials
between them. A strong country brand can intervene and help position a
company and its products/services on the global market by adding its unique
national values (Pauli, 2002). It is already common sense that Ikea stands for
the Swedish simplicity and elegance in design, as BMWs and Mercedes-
Benzes drive with German efficiency and reliability. Simultaneously, once
corporate brands achieve worldwide success in their field, they contribute
actively to developing new features of the national brand. For example, in
many ways, Microsoft and Coca Cola are among the most visible U.S.
diplomats, just as Nokia is Finland�s accredited messenger to the world (van
Ham, 2001). Although a country brand has great significance for its
companies� domestic performances, our overall problem discussion will
approach only the international, global dimension.
1.2. Problem discussion
Both countries and corporations face nowadays a double challenge: they have
to perform both �with� and �in front� of nearly 200 states and an infinite
number of companies, and secondly, they have to build a favourable image
(van der Westhuizen, 2003). Companies are often regarded as stakeholders of
the state, which means that country brands and corporate ones mutually
promote each other in a �self-perpetuating cycle� (Frost, 2004). This is
mainly about transferring and capitalising on the values each of these brands
display. Therefore, it is our belief that countries and companies should form
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so-called �specialised brand-clusters� to mutually potent each other and
achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. National brands add soft values
to corporate brands (companies, products or services), while branded exports
� be them products, services, cultural events and a great many other
consumption items � form one of the most influential way of building and
sustaining national image.
Because of its complexity and its multiple dimensions, we argue that the
country brand serves as an umbrella (Frost, 2004). Nicolas Papadopoulos
believes that �once an umbrella brand concept that is unitary and clear is
established, individual constituents can go their merry separate ways within it,
without the risk of inconsistent messaging� (Papadopoulos in Frost, 2004).
Implicitly, the national brand has to develop a wide range of values and
symbols so that it would support a multitude of subordinate brands. It is only
natural to claim that brands create countries� reputations and that countries
create brands� reputations, be it on a planned conscious level or an emergent
natural one; values drive value!
The general research model (Fig. 1) extracts our focus from the broader
context of the problem discussion presented above. Thus, we will follow the
bolded lines in the drawing below, in the attempt to discover the ongoing
relation between a strong country brand and one type of such subordinate
brands, namely the corporate ones. More explicitly, our problem is to depict
how Scania and Oriflame � two renowned Swedish companies � take
influences from Sweden the brand, and value them for the benefit of increased
external recognition (Fig. 1). The dashed lines in the figure express the
authors� belief that the growth is mutual; yet, the reverse value-transfer route
� Sweden capitalising on the above-mentioned corporate brands as well �
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remains to be (dis)covered in future dissertations. The same goes for the way
national audiences perceive this mutual relationship.
This general design constituted the map that guided us towards the more
specific research model we needed for achieving the purpose of our thesis and
answering the research questions.
1.3. Purpose
Our purpose is to depict the value-transfer from the country brand to
corporate brands in this case, that is to depict its form and consistency.
Choosing the relationship between Sweden and Scania, respectively Oriflame,
as frames of research, we will assess whether the process occurrence is
CorporateBrands(Scania,
Oriflame)
Domestic
Audiences
Fig. 1: General research model. The value-transfer route between country brands and corporate brands and the way it is perceived by audiences
Source: own design
StrongCountry
Brand(Sweden)
International audiences
(target groups)
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conscious or not, be it from inside (on the corporate level) or outside (from
the audiences� perspective). In doing so, we will also spot those values that
are being transferred.
The relevance of this paper resides in increasing awareness about the positive
economic outcomes generated by the relationship between strong country
brands and their corporate ones. It gives in-sights on how to consolidate
corporate brands in the eyes of international target-publics, and enrich the
country image along this process.
1.4. Research questions
From the problem discussion, we have identified the following questions that
will guide us throughout the course of action and help to meet the purpose:
• What form takes the value-transfer process from Sweden the brand to
Scania/Oriflame brands?
As mentioned previously, the purpose of this thesis is to see whether the
value-transfer process is conscious or not. For this reason, we will build a
model with respect to the way companies engage (or not) unique values from
the country�s value thesaurus. In the end, we will evaluate the model and
apply it to our case: Sweden-Scania/Oriflame.
• Which Swedish values are transferred to Scania/Oriflame and
acknowledged by the audiences?
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We will analyse on which Swedish values Scania and Oriflame capitalise
internationally, consciously or not. More importantly, we will see what
associations the audiences perform, independently of companies� efforts.
1.5. Disposition
Our research initiative has started with analysing the concepts of country
brand and branding. This may be regarded as a pretext to get deeper into the
actual research: the value transfer between Sweden the brand and Scania,
respectively Oriflame.
In order to provide all readers with an understanding of what is to come, we
hereby introduce the disposition of our thesis by shortly describing the
content of each chapter.
Chapter 1: The �Brandground� provides the reader with a glimpse of the
subject and purpose of this thesis.
Chapter 2: Brand Wisdom accounts for the description of the scientific
outlooks that influenced us in our discourse. We define the concept of brand
and branding, followed by discussions on how they apply to both corporate
and national context, separately and combined. A short overview of literature
based on the inter-relation between the two types of brands is also provided.
The final part is dedicated to our own modelling of the researched topic.
Chapter 3: Branded Actors is a symbiotic chapter, meant to establish a
relation between the theoretical part and the methodological one. It introduces
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the entities to star in this performance. We present both Sweden as a country
brand and the companies employed in our research, as well as the reasons
which prompted us to choose them.
Chapter 4: Our Research Strategy explains in practical terms the path we
followed when conducting the study. We discuss the methods we used for
analysis and also the concepts of validity, reliability and generalisation with
regard to our thesis.
Chapter 5: Accounts from the Brands provides the presentation of the
empirical data collected along the research. We offer descriptions of the
interviews completed within both companies, of the questionnaires performed
on target-groups abroad, and also of the secondary data we have gathered.
Chapter 6: Perceptions of the Brands explains and settles everything by
presenting the end result of our situation. We analyse the empirical findings
by following the structure of our model presented in the 2nd chapter, so that
we can identify the responses of our research inquiry. The �research
conclusions� is a self-explanatory name for a section that resumes our entire
work progress and presents some research remarks. We also list advantages
that companies can grip from capitalising on Sweden as a powerful country
brand.
Chapter 7: �Brand Extensions� puts forth our final remarks concerning the
general research arena, which is represented by the compositioning of country
and corporate brands. Finally, we call for future research in this area since the
phenomenon can display other dimensions as well.
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Chapter 2
BRAND WISDOM
2.1. Departure point: defining the brand
As often happens with postmodern concepts, a great many definitions have
appeared with respect to brands as part and parcel of postmodern economy.
Marketing professionals themselves seem to be in trouble when asked to find
consensus and settle on one definition only. In order to provide our audience
with a better understanding of the topic, we have consulted several resources
to find some of the best explanations with respect to the research topic. This is
our departure point for further discussions concerning country and corporate
brands.
To start with, we will stress that the brand is not a simple equivalent of a
certain product; it encompasses all visual, verbal or conceptual elements that
form the identity of product. For this reason, the definition provided by the
Oxford Dictionary (www.oup.com) � �a brand is a type of product made by a
particular company� � is rather restrictive and inappropriate for our purpose.
In his work Marketing Management, Philip Kotler defines the brand as name,
sign, symbol, drawing or a combination of all these, whose main purpose is to
identify the products or services of one companies, and to differentiate from
those of the competitors (Kotler, 1997). Although far more complete, this
definition does not emphasise enough the abstract dimensions of the brand.
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Walter Landor addresses this issue and says: �Simply put, a brand is a
promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a
pledge of satisfaction and quality� (Landor in Building Brands, 2004).
David Aaker compares the brand with a �mental box� and gives a definition
of brand equity as: �a set of assets (or liabilities) linked to a brand�s name and
symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a product or
service�� (Aaker in Building Brands, 2004). This definition connects the
more visible aspects of a brand such as name, logo, or identifying visual
marks, with the abstract ones such as embodied values.
Yet, for the purpose of this thesis, we will regard brands mainly from an
abstract perspective, defining them as collections of perceptions in the mind
of the consumer. This definition makes it absolutely clear that a brand is
differentiated from the simple idea of a product through a set of values that go
beyond mere functional performance (Ind, 1997). A brand takes the form of a
symbolic construct; it is intangible and exists in the mind of the consumer.
Furthermore, a brand�s success results from being able to sustain these added
values in the face of competition (de Chernatony & McDonald, 1992).
It is only recently that marketers came to realise that the principal asset of a
company was in fact its brand equity (brand awareness, brand image), which
actually represents the added value in customers� minds (Kapferer, 2001).
Originally, branding was believed to be the producers� invention meant to
serve primarily their own interests. Today, it is more accurately to assert that
buyers demand branding in most of the cases, because it is an important
information source and creates a number of buyer benefits (Kotler, 1997).
Combining both parties, producers and customers, branding generally brings
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advantages to both. Whichever standpoint we take, customers are always a
fundamental entity in branding decisions (Kapferer, 2001), either in the
starting point, or as final arbitrators.
However, we should not neglect the third recipient of branding advantages �
the society as a whole or parts of it. Such a discussion goes beyond the
boundaries of this thesis; be that as it may, whenever we use the term
�audiences� throughout our discourse, we will refer to all groups that may
benefit from branding: employees, stockholders, customers, activists,
suppliers, strategic partners, competitors, media representatives, etc.
2.2. Overview of literature: research on country brands
and their interdependence with corporate brands
Previously dominated by a strong emphasis upon stand-alone products,
brands are focusing today on more intangible factors as described by several
authors (Kapferer, 1992; Aaker, 1992; Aaker and Joachimstahler, 2000). It is
not simply a reference (unique functional benefits) or a personality
(incorporated emotional values), but also an icon: it can be used to stand for
something beyond itself (de Chernatony & McEnnaly, 1999). In our opinion,
this evolution made it possible for countries to use new tools in promoting
themselves: logos, branding techniques, advertising campaigns, speeches or
trade fairs, to mention just a few.
Following increased globalisation, numerous studies have been carried out on
the so-called �country-of-origin effect�: the consequences that the national
image of the producing country has upon the buyer�s quality perceptions of
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the product. Yet, the country-of-origin concept has smoothly shifted
nowadays towards the country-of-brand concept (Hulland, 1998). Due to the
more and more frequent outsourcing initiatives, when components are
produced and assembled all over the world in countries with cheap labour
force, the brand is eventually the only one that carries on the national origins
of the product (Goodchild & Callow, 2001; Jaffe & Nebenzahl, 2001).
Preceded by the country-of-origin and country-of-brand concepts, the
occurrence of a term such as �country brand� was quite natural. Its inception
has been to some extent announced ever since the 90s, when Philip Kotler
approached the topic of place branding and marketing in his book titled The
Marketing of Nations (1997). This book is an attempt to show the pathway
leading to increased tourism, increased investments or increased exports for
cities, regions or countries.
In 2002, Simon Anholt � guest editor at The Journal of Brand Management �
put together a special issue dedicated to the topic of nation branding. He was
supported in his efforts by leading experts in the field, such as Kotler,
Papadoupulos or Olins. All contributors wanted first and foremost to increase
awareness with respect to the way such megabrands should be created and
managed, as well as to their significance in the current world. This initiative
remains unique in the area of state branding.
Simon Anholt has been previously conversant with the topic of country
branding, since he participated in the collective work Destination Branding,
first published in 2001. More recently, he has published the book Brand New
Justice, which can be regarded as an enlightening manual for developing
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countries that strive for increasing their national wealth by means of effective
branding (de Vicente, 2004).
In this context, one should not forget the work of Wally Olins (1999), whose
book Trading Identities: Why countries and companies are taking on each
other�s roles establishes a linkage between state branding and companies
going global. His hypothesis is that countries should act like companies,
whereas global companies, companies that function in foreign markets,
represent a �state within state� entity, so they have to take on different state
responsibilities.
Yet, the relation that country brands and corporate brands have beyond the
well known country-of-origin or country-of-brand effect needs further debate
and analysis.
A significant writing, which provides a glimpse over this subject, is National
Image and Competitive Advantage by Eugene D. Jaffe and Israel D.
Nebenzahl. The book was published in 2001, and it offers deep in-sights
about how a country image can contribute to the customers� perceptions of
brands originated from there, how this image can be used by companies, or
how national image campaigns can be managed. The variety of examples on
display makes the book an interesting and captivating lecture.
Thomas Friedman opened the path in the researched field while dramatising
the conflict of The Lexus and the Olive Tree � the tension between the
globalisation system and ancient forms of culture, geography, tradition and
community (Friedman, 2000). In his book, he argues that in today�s global
world, powerful global companies and powerful countries need to have strong
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brands that seduce and take hold of consumers and investors. The unique
bond they can develop becomes of crucial importance in the author�s opinion.
Our paper is an attempt to address the lack of research in this specific area,
and to make the issues related to it more visible in the eyes of professionals,
be they academics or practitioners.
2.3. Brand essentials
2.3.1. The corporate brand
When it comes to a highly competitive business environment, brands
represent the primary capital of many companies. There are a number of
definitions of brands that try to explain the invisible, intangible and unwritten
of the business, and we discussed them in more detail within the first section
of this chapter. As follows, we will focus on some other concepts in branding
such as: brand equity, brand identity, brand image, or branding strategies and
brand management.
2.3.1.1. The character and looks of a brand: brand identity, brand image
As David Arnold (1992) suggests, �branding has to do with the way
customers perceive and buy things.� In this sense, marketers typically
distinguish three levels in a brand: essence, benefits and attributes. The
essence of the brand is a single simple value, easily understood and valued by
customers. It is the personality of the brand, and the element that is distinctive
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in the market. The benefits delivered by the brand (emotional, status, image)
match the needs and wants of the consumer. Finally, one has the attributes,
directly noticeable and tangible characters (colours, shapes, functions, and
graphics).
Brand identity is the total proposition that a company makes to consumers -
the promise it makes. It may consist of features and attributes, benefits,
performance, quality, service support, and the values that the brand possesses.
Brand identity is everything the company wants the brand to be seen as
(Temporal, 2002).
Brand image, on the other hand, is the totality of consumer perceptions about
the brand, or how they see it, which may not coincide with the brand identity.
More specifically, it is defined as �that cluster of attributes and associations
that consumers connect to the brand name� (Biel in Thackor & Kohli, 1996).
Companies have to work hard on the consumer experience to make sure that
what customers see and think is what they want them to.
2.3.1.2. Brand equity
Brand equity is �the value of a brand based on the extent to which it has high
brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality, strong brand associations,
and other assets such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationships�
(Kotler & Armstrong, 2001). Thus, brand equity can be defined as the value
built-up in a brand, which can be calculated by comparing the expected future
revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an
equivalent non-branded product. This value can comprise both tangible,
functional attributes and intangible, emotional attributes. It can be positive or
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negative. Positive brand equity is created by a history of effective promotions
and consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations (Temporal,
2002).
Positive brand equity can grow into a significant barrier to entry for
prospective competitors. The greater a company�s brand equity, the greater
the probability that the company will use a family branding strategy rather
than an individual strategy. This is because family branding allows them to
leverage off the equity accumulated in the core brand (Temporal, 2002).
Strategic brand management incorporates decisions about operative
combinations of attributes that brands hold, and particularly about brand
portfolios. It seeks to increase the product�s perceived value to the customer
and thereby increase brand equity. Brand equity must be managed, nurtured
and controlled in a proper way, by integrating the tools of a consistent brand
management. Its central concept consists of perceptions of brand identity, and
brand image (Kapferer, 1994).
2.3.1.3. Brand management and branding strategies
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific
product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product�s perceived
value to the customer, and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity
(Kapferer, 1994).
A continuous strategic brand building contributes to create value, which lies
outside the business, in the minds of potential buyers (Kapferer, 1994), and
therefore, it is important for acting in the play of a competitive advantage.
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Branding is an activity whose strategic purpose is to create difference.
Companies seek to better fulfil the expectations of specific groups of
customers; they do so by consistently and repeatedly providing ideal
combinations of attributes � identity, principles, values, origin, specificity and
difference, systematically collected in a word or a sign � under conditions that
are economically feasible for the company (Kapferer, 1994).
In practice, brand management can be seen as a set of activities which
(Branding UK, 2003):
• Define a consistent product or service based on identified customer
needs;
• Associate appropriate values and imagery with the organisation,
product or service;
• Communicate consistently through naming, design, and advertising
promotions with the market place.
Current thinking about brand management emphasises the necessity of a
comprehensive approach in which continuous and extensive advertising,
promotion, packaging and design should be consistent with the various
components of a brand. Consistency must be achieved to build enduring
value. Whatever the brand is, whatever it may be doing, the customers should
perceive the brand as a set of clear and consistent values. Therefore, brand
management is all about coherent and carefully nurtured programmes for
identity implementation and maintenance of a brand. The key concepts and
the image of the brand must be carried by all pillars of all the marketing
activities. This means that the deployment of all marketing instruments as
product, price and distribution as well as communication must be uniform and
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homogenous. The employees must behave both vis-à-vis customers and
amongst each other in a way that is typical for the company and in tune with
the image of the brand (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2002).
The objective of business strategy is to achieve sustainable competitive
advantage, which may yield from any part of the organisation�s operations.
Brand strategy is the process whereby the offer is positioned in the
consumer�s mind to produce a perception of advantage (Arnold, 1992).
As part of a strategic or marketing plan of a company, a brand strategy is
comprehended as a sum of operational tactics for building a brand, with
clearly defined results in creating brand equity (Aaker & Joachimsthaler,
2002).
There are several practices, which a company may pursue while cultivating its
brand. The most common ways of effective handling of brands are the general
branding strategies � a single brand for all of the organisation�s products,
family branding, or the use of individual brand names for all products (Kotler,
1994). However the brand strategy is named, the focus is always on assuring a
healthy brand image, while building the essence of the brand and reaching the
target market. Formulation of the brand strategy begins with creating the
potent brand image. The brand should foremost establish an emotional
connection and express the benefits of the product/service to the target group.
Consequently, �the target group will respond in accordance with collective
representation, shaped over time by the accumulated experiences of close
relations� (Kapferer, 2001). The collective belief is triggered by the abstract
values that the brand represents and by the transmission of brand functions to
the customers� perceived added value. The role of brand strategies is to ensure
19
the shift of physical (external) functions towards the hidden values of the
product that are inaccessible to contact otherwise. From the perspective of this
deeper definition, a brand itself reveals its values and presents a vision
(Kapferer, 2001).
2.3.2. And countries became brands as well�
2.3.2.1. Country brand and branding
A country brand defines a symbolic construct, which emphasises the
positively memorable, attractive, unique, relevant and sustainable qualities of
a nation (Allan, 2004). A national brand is a national identity that has been
proactively distilled, interpreted, internalised and projected internationally in
order to gain international recognition and to construct a favourable national
image (Delorie, 2000).
By national identity, we mean the way a country voluntarily positions itself.
Accordingly, a national image is the set of beliefs, ideas and impressions that
a person holds regarding a specific country (Kotler, 1997). The country brand
� as any other brand � consists of both dimensions, identity and image, but we
will refer to a �strong country brand� as to one for which most of the values
that a country voluntarily promotes coincide with the values that audiences
perceive. Yet, perfect overlapping is impossible to achieve.
What is true for corporations, products, services or individuals, goes also for
countries. Every nation has a certain image, be it favourable or unfavourable,
positive or negative. These perceptions and/or preconceptions determine the
20
development of the country, most commonly with respect to tourism, exports
or foreign direct investments. Therefore, a nation�s brand is � as Jaffe and
Nebenzahl (2001) put it � �an outgrowth of its economic, political and
educational systems.�
Consequently, country branding is the practice of employing strategic
marketing to promote a state�s image (Anholt, 2002). Yet, there are a great
many differences between national branding and corporate one. In national
branding, there is not the same level of control over the brand as in a simple
business to consumer, or business-to-business situation. Magne Supphellen
explains: �In principle, [product] and place branding is the same. It�s all about
identifying, developing and communicating the parts of the identity that are
favourable to some specified target groups.� (Supphellen in Frost, 2004).
Because of the difficulty in getting the publics� perceptions, the
communication step within the extensive PR process demands more resources
and efforts (Supphellen in Frost, 2004).
Philip Kotler acknowledges in his turn the complexity by explaining that
countries may be more limited in altering their brands than corporations
usually are. Although it may be possible for a nation to attract more foreign
direct investment or shift its economic base, there will always be some
constraints over which it has little or no control (Kotler, Jatusripitak, &
Maesincee, 1997; Kotler in Frost, 2004).
David Gertner makes a point in emphasising the extended time frame when it
comes to branding a nation: �Products can be discontinued, modified,
withdrawn from the market, re-launched and re-positioned or replaced by
improved products. Places do not have most of these choices. Their image
21
problems may be founded in structural problems that take years to fix�
(Gertner in Frost, 2004).
2.3.2.2. Dimensions of a country brand. Country equity
It is a rather consented issue that most country brands display a hexagonal
dimension, as shown in the figure below.
Tourism � the world�s fourth largest export industry � is the most visible
aspect of a country brand, mainly because it receives large financial support
from governments and therefore, turns into the most competent marketing
force at the national level. It is a major economic driver through employment,
international visitor expenditures, investments, and regional development. As
announced by the World Tourism Organisation (www.world-tourism.org),
France firmly leads the ranking of the most visited countries and territories
with 77 million international tourist arrivals and a share of 11% of worldwide
arrivals in 2002. Spain consolidated the second position, conquered from the
United States in 2001, as tourist arrivals to the destination grew by more than
Country
Brand
Tourism Export brands
Foreign and
domestic policies
Investments
Culture and
heritage
People
Fig. 2: The six dimensions of a nation brandSource: Placebrands (modified), www.placebrands.com
22
3% while arrivals to the United States dropped for the second year in a row (-
7%). Italy follows in the ranking with arrival numbers reaching almost 40
million, whereas China, which occupies the fifth position, confirmed its
importance as a growing world tourism destination and achieved the fastest
growth among these top five countries in 2002 (+11%) (www.world-
tourism.org). Spain � as a relatively recently emerged country brand � has
capitalised a lot on tourism when positioning itself. Nurtured by Miro�s
symbolic sun and fortified by the reconstruction and embellishment of major
cities such as Valencia, Barcelona or Bilbao, tourism advertising on national,
regional and global level managed to position the country among the most
purchased holiday destinations (Olins, 2001).
Within the global market, the fight to gain superior export shares has
constantly increased. In order to achieve this purpose, the quality of exported
products or services has to be superior to that of competitors. Under these
circumstances, export brands represent an important mark for each and every
country (www.placebrands.com). Consider Finland, a country which was
outside the global arena ten years ago, and therefore, it raised few opinions.
Today, we label it as the country of high-tech mobile-phone technology, and
this is mainly due to Nokia�s performances. Moreover, we believe that
extended exports can raise the self-esteem of a country, which in turn triggers
increased self-confidence and success.
The rate of inward investments is also a topical issue in the global
contemporary economy because of the multitude of advantages they bring:
positive competition; increased quality standards; an enriched flow of skills,
knowledge and information between countries; increased employment;
technological advances and innovations and so on. All countries, be them
23
developing or developed, are now competing for gaining an investment-
friendly image. Country brand and everything that it stands for has a lot to say
when it comes to attracting foreign direct investments. For this reason, it is no
wonder that almost all foreign direct investments have been until recently
oriented to six countries: USA, Great Britain, Japan, The Netherlands, France,
and Canada (Kotler, Jatusripitak, & Maesincee, 1997). However, from 1990
on, the inflow of foreign direct investment into developing countries has
increased considerably, and what triggered our attention was that almost 60%
of them went to Asia precisely when the �Branding Asia� operation was
initiated and the Asian tigers showed their potential (Kotler, Jatusripitak, &
Maesincee, 1997).
Nations are also regarded in accordance with the foreign and domestic
policies that their leaders initiate. These activities, likewise all the others
mentioned here, need to be performed with sensitivity to the strategic
imperatives of the brand. Foreign and domestic policies must be coordinated
so that they would invigorate the national brand (Papadopoulos in Frost,
2004). Sweden is a brand that successfully achieved such coordination. The
country has been long praised for its ability to meet the residents� needs for
health, education, human rights, political participation, population growth,
equality of all types, cultural diversity and freedom from �social chaos�
(www.isa.se). The same attitude was adopted externally in 2001, when
Sweden took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union
with a great desire to inject a sense of cool and calm into the activities of the
15-member association (www.worldeyereports.com).
It is worth mentioning that the branding of a country must start from inside
because a country�s brand is most frequently promoted by its people. Just as
24
corporate branding campaigns can raise the employees� morale, team spirit,
and motivation, national branding campaigns must provide the people with a
common sense of purpose, of belonging and national pride. Yet, according to
Papadopoulos, most governments currently do not bother to consult their
citizens when putting together national branding campaigns. That may change
because �widespread buy-in by the population is a critical precondition of the
success of any branding program. (�) To deliver, everyone in the
«organisation» must believe in the brand� (Papadopoulos in Frost, 2004). It is
also important to identify internal and external perceptions/images and the
discrepancies between them, which eventually will have to be subject of
correction. Internal motivation remains a problem for developing countries,
for instance, because they still have to strive for ensuring their citizens with
an above-the-average living standard. Until this goal is achieved, such country
brands cannot evolve to the international dimension.
Last but not the least, one should not overlook the cultural dimension of a
country brand. Culture penetrates all areas of life, all scientific fields, having
been integrated in the study of many disciplines: economics, management,
politics and psychology � to mention just a few. For this reason, culture has
turned into the ultimate referential point, into a conventionally accepted
solution to all problematic questions. As Adam Kuper points out, the excess
lies in culture becoming the source of explanation per se, instead of
something to be described and explained (Kuper in Barinaga, 1999). Culture
has become the explanation. In this sense, it is worth mentioning a study
performed by Richard Franke, Geert Hofstede and Michael Bond (1991),
which revealed that cultural influences explain more than 50% of the
differences in the economic developments (growth rates) for the periods
1965- 80 and 1980-87. Therefore, national cultures or, better, the differences
25
they display trigger differences in economic performances. Consequently, not
only is culture the embodiment of the national psyche but is also the only,
enduring differentiation marker. As Simon Anholt put it, culture is �uniquely
linked to the country itself; it is reassuring because it links the country�s past
with its present; it is enriching because it deals with non-commercial
activities; and it is dignifying because it shows the spiritual and intellectual
qualities of a country�s people and institutions� (Anholt in van der
Westhuizen, 2003). Because of its unique and inimitable features, culture can
provide the country�s net asset value with the desired added value.
Tourism, export brands and foreign direct investments influence in a more
direct manner the value of the country equity. Based on the concept of brand
equity, the term country equity has been coined to mean �the emotional value
resulting from consumers� association of a brand with a country� (Kotler &
Gertner, 2002). The concept of country equity clearly points to export
promotion as the principal actionable dimension in state branding. However,
we should also consider tourism, investments, culture or people as elements
strengthening or weakening country equity: tourists always come into contact
with a country�s products, culture and people during their visits, whereas
investment decisions by companies rely a great deal not only on factors of
production, but also on national image and name awareness.
2.3.2.3. Country branding strategies
It is important for everybody to understand that branding a nation is not
anymore a function individually performed by governments, companies or
different associations, but an integrated and concerted effort on behalf of all
26
interested stakeholders. Therefore, it demands political, managerial and
technical competencies in equal shares (de Vicente, 2004).
According to Wally Olins, there are seven basic stages in building a state
brand (Olins, 1999):
• Forming a work group with representatives of government, industry,
the arts, education and media.
• Establishing how the nation is perceived both internally and externally
by means of qualitative and quantitative research tools.
• Establishing the strengths and weaknesses of the country, and compare
them with other similar research data, be they originated within the country or
outside.
• Creation of a central idea, powerful and simple, on which the strategy
is based on and which captures the unique qualities of the nation.
• Message coordination, especially with respect to tourism, inward
investments and exports.
• Formation of a liaison system within the working party to implement
the programme and encourage supportive actions from appropriate
organisations in commerce, industry, arts, media and so on.
Although somewhat different than commercial identity campaigns due to
increased complexity and need for coordination, a national branding plan
displays the same essentials: �clear, simple, differentiating propositions often
built around emotional qualities expressing some kind of superiority, which
can be readily symbolised both verbally and visually� (Olins, 1999).
27
Performing a SWOT analysis for nations is an idea that has been promoted by
many others. In his book The Marketing of Nations, Philip Kotler (1997)
confirmed the idea that each nation must assess its strengths, weaknesses,
threats and opportunities periodically in its five areas of capability:
• Government leadership;
• Factor endowments;
• Industrial organisation;
• Social cohesion;
• Culture, attitudes and values.
A nation�s capability portfolio gives the measure of a nation�s wealth. It is
driven forward in the right direction through both internal marketing (for
building more the internal teamwork) and external marketing (create wealth
on the global marketplace).
These are just a few models for building a national brand. Because each
country is unique, such branding plans have to be adapted to the
circumstances that each provides. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that some
nations develop a national brand in a kind of controlled or formalised way,
but with others it happens almost spontaneously. India, for instance, has
emerged in the last five years in terms of perceptions in a rather uncontrolled
way: from spirituality and poverty to software and highly educated people
(Olins in Frost, 2004).
There are several examples of country branding campaigns. Some have failed,
and among these the most important is Cool Britannia campaign initiated in
1997 by British industrialists, government agencies and advertising agencies
28
in order to provide the country with a hip and trendy image. Yet, the results
were not as expected mainly due to the fact that the �Cool� image had little
representation for manufacturing and technology. However, there are state
brands that have managed to market themselves as powerful brands, and
among these campaigns one can mention Scotland the Brand, Deutschland
Europe, or New Zealand Way (Jaffe & Nebenzahl, 2001).
Be that as it may, the branding strategy is desirable to focus on the realities
that a state experiences, nothing more and nothing less. Promoting false
values with respect to a certain country would eventually turn against the
brand and destroy it before it has even started to evolve (Olins, 1999).
2.3.3. Country and corporate brands compositioning
The general purpose of the present thesis is to depict whether and how
country and corporate brands capitalise on each other�s values in the most
profitable manner. It aims to increasing awareness about the competitive
advantage that a nation�s image can provide to its company/product/service
brands, and contrariwise as well.
The importance of national origin is not understood. A great many companies
today trumpet themselves as global, and they support this idea with the
number of markets they cover worldwide, or the plenitude of foreign locations
they own on the same planetary level. Yet, in contempt of their span of
operations being global, everyone is global from somewhere; �they may be
global, but their value set is almost always perceived to be dominated by a
single nation� (Goodchild, & Callow, 2001). Moreover, when discussing
29
global brands, one cannot disregard their place of birth as well. As Aaker
(1991) put it, �a global brand often provides a country association for a brand
which is very established in one country and for which the country association
is part of the essence of the brand. For example, Levi�s is US jeans, Dewar�s
is Scotch whisky.�
This is in complete accordance with the categorization theory, rooted in
Bruner, Goodnow and Austin�s work A study of thinking, and briefly
described by Jaffe and Nebenzahl (2001) in their book on national image and
competitive advantage. The categorization theory describes relevant learning
processes in the perception of products and services. Learning controls the
perception of information and the reaction that they yield, and it involves two
parallel mental processes:
• Abstraction: formation of categories and placement of objects in
categories;
• Generalisation: once an object is placed in a category, it is ascribed all
the properties of that category.
Categorisation is the joint phenomenon of abstraction and generalisation, and
may be performed in two ways, either by:
• Identity categorising: things that seem to be different in their details are
identified as belonging to the same entity;
• Equivalence categorising: things that are in reality different are
conceived as being similar by their nature, by their belonging to the same
class.
30
This categorisation process is significant in the way people perceive and
construct the image of either corporate brands in accordance with the country-
of-brand image, or country brands in accordance with their corporate brands
(Jaffe & Nebenzahl, 2001). Categorisation and the associations it drives are
fundamental in the value-transfer process.
When a country image category is formed in the consumers� mind, they will
transfer its attributes to the brands emerging in that specific territory.
Likewise, a single company can often dominate national perceptions: Japan is
Sony, Germany is Mercedes, Sweden is Ikea, Finland is Nokia, and so on. Of
course, this raises entry barriers for other industries. For example, Italy�s
passion, fashion and style capital made it extremely difficult for Olivetti, a
computer manufacturer, to create a successful export brand. The same goes
for Hugo Boss � the German fashion brand � in its attempt to overcome the
preconception that everything that is German is technical and cold (de
Vicente, 2004). However, companies that face such problems could turn
everything into their advantage by capitalising on such values in a proper and
innovative manner, or by trying to promote pro-actively other values of the
national brand that better suit their case. Again, it is important that the country
brand would develop a wide range of values in order to assist a wider range of
companies and industrial branches.
In conclusion, if a country�s image is negative, this will reflect as well in the
perception of the brands originated from there, irrespective of their value. In
contrast, when a brand is associated with a country that enjoys a positive
image, it will gain acceptance more easily (Jaffe & Nebenzahl, 2001).
31
2.4. Our modelling
Our modelling has originated from the general research model presented in
the first chapter, and therefore, it focuses on the value-transfer between
country and corporate brands, and on the way international target groups
perceive this transfer.
As mentioned in the beginning of the present chapter, audiences are important
for each branding initiative, be it on an initial stage (how the brand is built to
fit the audiences) or as final evaluators (how the audiences assess the brand).
Country and corporate brands compositioning in terms of values is better
noticeable when companies are present on the global market, and face
international audiences. Each country may benefit from certain favourable or
unfavourable associations with respect to its nature, culture, national identity
and so on. The form that these associations take in the minds of external
publics greatly influences the performance of the country in any given field.
We have stated that our focus is to acknowledge whether capitalising on a
country brand is considered in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage
on the global economic arena. Therefore, we will only consider the outcomes
that this brand connection has upon global audiences, and more precisely
upon customers and potential consuming target-groups.
Our model is built on two dimensions:
• The relationship between corporate brands and the country brand,
namely the corporate awareness of country brand values;
32
• The audiences� associations (see 2.3.3, discussion about categorisation
processes, p. 29) between the two types of brands.
The first dimension deals with the inner organisational perspective, that is
whether corporate leaders become aware of the benefits of the country brand
values. We claim that the value-transfer, be it recognised or not inside the
organisation, always exists. This value-transfer can be integrated in Edgar
Schein�s (1992) third level of organisational culture represented by basic
assumptions. Located at the core of the organisational culture, basic
assumptions are �the ultimate source� of underlying values, which cannot be
easily deciphered due to the people�s high level of unconsciousness. Country
brand values can be identified with some of the values that back up the
Corporate awareness of the benefits that the country brand values hold
AWARE UNAWARE
ASS
OC
IAT
ED 1.Obvious value-
transferCompanies actively
capitalise on or awarely benefit from country
brand values.
2. Spontaneous value-
transferCompanies passively benefit from country
brand values.
Aud
ienc
es�
perc
eptio
ns
NO
N-A
SSO
CIA
TE
D
3.Un(der)developed
value-transferCompanies invest in
associations, or ignore them.
4.Latent value-transferNo perception of the
value transfer.
Fig. 3: The Value-Transfer WindowThe relationship between country-brand values and corporate brand values, and its outcomes for targets
Source: own design
33
organisational entity, and consequently, the organisational brand values.
When acknowledged, these values can be integrated in the corporate branding
strategy, and go up one level in Schein�s representation to become �espoused
values�. From our model�s perspective, when these values or their benefits are
not acknowledged, companies are placed in the 2nd or 4th quadrant. When
acknowledged, these values may be considered in strategy formulation, and
therefore, companies are placed in the 1st or 3rd quadrant.
The second dimension shifts the focus on the outer perspective upon
corporate brands, namely on the audiences� perceptions of country and
corporate brands compositioning. As previously discussed, brand image is a
cluster of associations that customers develop in relation with corporate
brands. We claim that one of these associations is made with the country-
brand values, and we support this claim with previous research on the
importance of brand origin: �the concept of brand origin (�) has the potential
to contribute to our understanding of how consumers perceive brands�
(Thackor & Kohli, 1996). Obviously, customers can either perform or not
associations. These associations connect the country brand values to the
corporate ones; by �value� we mean a measure of what people think is worth,
a �culturally defined standard of desirability, goodness, and beauty�
(Macionis, 1999). In opposition, a stereotype is an unreliable generalisation,
an exaggerated oversimplified belief about an entire group of people. A
prejudice, in its turn, is a negative cultural attitude, directed against an
individual or a group of people, which is based on stereotypes
(www.encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com). Having this in mind, associations
that we refer to in our model cannot be negative. The values of a country
brand are different than other cultural labels, which can always be only
preconceptions or stereotypes. That is why we believe that negative
associations do not involve values, but subjective judgements of other
34
countries� images. Therefore, our model does not deal with degrees of
positive or negative, but rather with degrees of weak and strong, from
associated values to non-associated values.
Following data collection, we will have enough information to place the two
analysed companies according to the dimensions discussed above in one of
the following quadrants.
1st quadrant: Obvious value-transfer (Fig. 4)
In case corporations are aware of national values that can contribute to the
development of their own brands, and simultaneously audiences associate
these values with the corporate brands, then the value-transfer has an obvious,
explicit form. Companies may choose to invest in maintaining and
intensifying the associations by actively using
denotations regarding their home country. The
other alternative is for them not to invest, but
still benefit from the country brand-values;
without specific marketing impulses, audiences
still make connections that favour the corporate
brand. In our opinion, these alternatives differ
in terms of the financial outcomes they yield on
the long run: investments trigger the
development of the value association, whereas
marketing compliance most probably will lead
to a constant or vanishing perception.
Country brand values
Corporate
values
Perceived country brand values in corporate brand
Fig. 4: Obvious value-transferSource: own design
35
2nd
quadrant: Spontaneous value-transfer
(Fig. 5)
In case corporations are blind to the benefits
that country-brand values can bring, and yet,
audiences still make associations between
country and corporate brand values, the transfer
is spontaneous. It emerges as a result of
common knowledge about the corporate and
country brands. Companies do not invest in
marketing their brands in association with the
country brand, but such associations exist for
the benefit of the corporate brands.
3rd quadrant: Un(der)developed value-
transfer (Fig. 6)
In this case, companies either invest in
potenting their own brands with values from the
country brand or ignore such possibilities.
When investing, marketing efforts are
underdeveloped, in the sense that they do not
enjoy the expected results from the association
process. Companies fail to plan and
communicate successful branding strategies in
order to trigger profitable associations. On the
other hand, corporations may choose to ignore
the benefits of national values as a result of an
intentional act, which triggers an undeveloped
value-transfer. These facts turn the 3rd quadrant into the least desirable one.
Fig. 5: Spontaneous value-transfer
Source:own design
Corporate values
Perceived country brand values in corporate brand
Country brand values
Country brand values
Fig. 6: Un(der)developed value-transfer
Source: own design
Corporate
values
Country brand values
Country brand values
Corporate brandvalues
36
4th
quadrant: Latent value-transfer (Fig. 7)
In the 4th quadrant, neither corporations nor
audiences perceive the value-transfer, although
it still takes place on a hidden, latent level (see
2.4., discussion on basic assumptions, p. 32).
Fig. 7: Latent value-transferSource: own design
Country brand values
Country brand values
Corporate brandvalues
Country brand values
Corporate brand
values
37
Chapter 3
BRANDED ACTORS
Our research focuses on the relationship between two Swedish companies �
Scania and Oriflame, and Sweden as a strong country brand. In order to
provide our audiences with a clear image of all brands involved, we will
pursue in describing each of them from an objective standpoint, using part of
the secondary data we have gathered for our study purpose.
3.1. Sweden the brand
We have mentioned throughout the entire dissertation so far concepts such as
country brand and branding. It is time for us to apply these concepts to the
Swedish case. Although Sweden the brand is not our primary research topic,
we believe that briefly analysing it will provide us with some important
country brand values, which eventually have a saying in the value-transfer
analysis. From all information, we will draw a set of values that Sweden the
brand encompasses. This will be further used in correlation with the corporate
brand values.
Brand Sweden�s strapline is Space for minds (www.swetourism.se), which
combines the �complete� Swedish nature with mountains, expanded forests,
and waters, and the free thought, openness, lack of hierarchical levels,
equality, and the orientation towards innovation that its people display. For
foreigners, Sweden holds a lot of labels: model nation, world conscience, the
38
country that protects its citizens from the cradle to the grave (www.si.se). By
choosing Sweden to be our context, content and process, we intended to
inspire those countries that are now striving to gain worldwide recognition.
Sweden as a country brand is one of the most powerful in the world.
As follows, we will depict precisely Sweden�s brand power by making use of
the country brand hexagon (Fig. 8) as it was presented in the previous chapter.
All facts were provided by official sources � state authorities �, which ensures
their validity.
Tourism
When it comes to the tourist dimension, Sweden differentiates from other
place brands by emphasising the sacred feature of its nature, which offers
endless possibilities from extreme adventures to utter peaceful moments in
wilderness.
The Swedish Tourist and Travel Council is the one that handles the promotion
of Sweden as a tourist destination. Yearly, the council plans and carries out
Sweden the
brand:
Space for
Minds
Tourism: Sacred nature Export brands: Knowledge-based economy
Domestic and foreign policies: Internal
and external welfare
Investments: Internationally integrated economy as source of
future growth
Culture and
heritage
People: Lagom
Fig. 8: The six dimensions of Sweden the brandSource: Placebrands (modified), www.placebrands.com
39
marketing events such as: Swedish Workshops, Scandinavian Workshops,
Outdoor Academy of Sweden, Press Trips, and a great many other. As
mentioned in its statute, marketing is perceived as a way to �add value to
Swedish tourism products by being responsible for the development of the
brand name Sweden as a travel destination. Brand name development means
the way in which we decide to act both internally and externally, from
personal meetings to mass communication so as to ensure the brand is among
the first choices for travellers� (www.swetourism.se).
The body is equally commissioned to the Swedish government and the
Swedish tourist trade represented by companies and other support
organisations. The state is the one that covers base marketing operations as
well as the overall image marketing, and its contribution amounted to 87
million SEK in 2004 (www.swetourism.se).
Export brands
When promoting its export activities, Sweden underlines the shift it witnessed
from exporting raw materials to exporting knowledge (www.si.se). In this
sense, it is worth mentioning that OECD recently ranked Sweden �the world�s
most knowledge-based economy�, and placed it in the second position in
terms of international trade levels, exports and imports included
(www.oecdobserver.org).
The organism responsible for promoting Swedish exports is The Swedish
Trade Council, which represents both the Swedish government and the
Swedish business sectors. The main responsibilities that this council holds are
the following (www.swedishtrade.se):
40
• Export information: disseminating data about Swedish export and
international expansion, market information, identification and mediating of
business opportunities for companies;
• Export programmes: initiating programmes for those SMEs that strive
to expand internationally, cooperation-based activities for companies in
national sector-oriented Industry Sector Groups and Industry Sector
Programmes;
• Export consulting: counselling offered to individual companies that
wish to expand internationally.
In 2003, 44 % of the country�s GDP came from export and 60 % of all goods
produced were sold abroad (www.scb.se). According to the Swedish Central
Bureau of Statistics first released figures for June last year, the Swedish trade
surplus during the first 6 months of 2004 grew to SEK 95.8 billion in current
prices compared to 75.2 billion in 2003 (www.scb.se). Exports have grown
faster than imports, by 8 and 4 % respectively. This constant increase that
Swedish exports display nowadays is mainly generated by the larger amount
of knowledge that exported goods include (www.swedishtrade.se).
Investments
Attracting foreign direct investments in Sweden is operated by The Invest in
Sweden Agency (ISA) � a governmental agency, which guides and informs
foreign investors with respect to the investment opportunities that the country
provides. Emphasis is placed on the international integrated character of the
Swedish economy, based on extensive innovation and IT competencies.
Among the attributes that ISA promotes when marketing Sweden as a
successful destination for foreign direct investments, one can mention
(www.isa.se):
41
• The excellent economic performance that Sweden has on a global level
(home-base of a multitude of multinationals; best performing infrastructure;
efficient public sector);
• International competitiveness and cost advantages (efficient
management; skilled labour force; corporate-friendly tax legislation);
• Innovative business climate (close bond between the industrial sector
and academia; advanced IT environment);
• Access to strategic markets;
• International experience and expertise in a wide range of new and
traditional industries;
• Openness to venture capital (approximately 100 venture capital firms
managing funds of 9 billion EUR in the Swedish market).
Domestic and foreign policies
In the minds of most foreigners, Sweden is the epitome of the welfare system,
a state that takes care of its citizens from �cradle to grave� (www.si.se). These
social issues are handled by The National Social Insurance Office, and the
main value it promotes is �security for everyone� in terms of public health
care, equal rights for men and women, education programmes, housing
allowances, pension system, child allowances, and many others
(www.forsakringskassan.se). This social insurance system hinted to
establishing and maintaining a peaceful climate inside the Swedish borders.
Internationally, Sweden has always been regarded respectfully, precisely
because of the welfare its leaders managed to achieve for their fellow citizens.
For a long time, the country has promoted itself abroad as a neutral country.
Nowadays, neutrality has been replaced by �non-participation in alliances in
time of peace, aiming at neutrality in the event of war� (www.si.se), which
42
was confirmed by Sweden�s resistance to join NATO, for that matter. In her
first Foreign Policy Statement to the Riksdag in the beginning of 2004,
Minister Laila Freivalds spoke extensively about Swedish values related to
peace and security, global development, the environment and fighting
poverty, the ideas of democracy and the rule of law, human rights and
international law (Örn, 2004). Such deep national values have always been
considered when acting on the international level, and the results of Swedish
presidency of the EU Council of Ministers � the main European decision-
making body � support this argument.
People
Lagom: not too much and not too little� The �Golden Middle Road� is a
Swedish phrase that says something about a nation that has always cherished
the power of compromise, understanding, consensus, and the less bad of two
imperfect alternatives (www.sweden.se).
Although Hofstede describes Sweden as one of the most individualist
countries (Hofstede in Barinaga, 1999), other authors believe that this picture
depends on how individualism is defined (Holmberg & Åkerblom in
Barinaga, 1999). It is argued that Sweden�s society is characterised by its
�socially concerned individualism�. Because of the above-mentioned middle
way, �a subtle equilibrium pervades the Swedish character with respect to the
way of behaving, the view held on society and on one�s role in it� (Barinaga,
1999). There is a balance between individualism and social concern, and
according to some observers, Sweden has reconciled both (Hampden-Turner
& Trompenaars in Barinaga, 1999). This social awareness and involvement
might have been the result of the welfare that Swedish governments provided
to their fellow citizens over the time.
43
Culture
Culture is an integrator, an ever-present circumstance, where all the
dimensions mentioned before meet and leave their traces. Therefore, we can
depict the main attributes of the Swedish culture from the discourse above.
All sources mentioned before apply to the following list:
• Naturalness: environment, connection with the nature; simplicity,
ordinary; genuineness, honesty;
• Knowledge: innovation, effectiveness, entrepreneurship, open-
mindness, liberalism, trend-sensitivity;
• Equality: opportunities for everybody, individualism, respect, trust,
informality;
• Security: safety, responsibility, rationality, family;
• Lagom: the middle way, consensus, compromise, collaboration,
ordinary.
3.2. Scania
Scania is one of the world�s leading manufacturers of the heavy trucks and
buses. The history of Scania begins in the year 1891 when the company
started to manufacture railway carriages. Since then, Scania has developed
into a global corporation with operations in Europe, Latin America, Asia,
Africa and Australia (Scania Annual Report, 2003).
The expansion of the company significantly started in the late 1950s, when
the amount of export products rapidly grew. The first production plant outside
Sweden was established in Brazil, which had developed into an important
44
market and became the gateway for the internationalisation of operations.
During the 1970s, Scania evolved into a pan-European company, with large
market shares in nearly all-western European countries. As the 1990s began,
Scania was still dividing the market into Swedish and foreign production
sectors. However, Scania changed its market sectors in 1990 and split its
production companies outside Sweden and separated their technical and
commercial functions. This opened the way to creating of a global production
structure, with the same working methods everywhere. Today some 95% of
Scania�s vehicles are sold abroad, where the most important markets are in
Western Europe, accounting for 64% of total sales. The company owns 12
workshops in 8 countries, and more than 1.500 service points, which are
spread in some 100 countries. (Scania Annual Report, 2003).
Table 1: Scania, Key figuresKey Figures 2003
Sales (SEK million) 50.581Net profit (SEK million) 3.034Number of employees, 31 December 29.112
Source: Scania Annual Report, 2003
Vehicles for transportation (goods and people) are the corporation�s core
products, however the company also markets and sells a broad range of
service-related products and financing services. Scania�s trucks are running
the roads of numerous countries, and technologically advanced system has
made Scania the heavy vehicle industry leader in terms of profitability
(Scania Annual Report, 2003).
The attributes the company bets everything on and builds its strategy on are
the quality of the vehicles and the tight connection with the customers.
Quality has long been an area in which Scania sets the standard among heavy
vehicle manufacturers. The company tries to consider the customer in overall
45
activities by integrating a wide range of consumer-oriented and financing
services when commercialising the vehicles. Continuous access to service and
repairs throughout the vehicle life cycle establishes a long-term connection to
the industrial clients. Strong customer loyalty is the cornerstone of the
company�s profitability. Scania has always competed on the basis of technical
solutions, which origin on long experience, high quality and cost-
effectiveness � values summed up in the Scania brand name. (Scania Annual
Report, 2003).
In order to create value for its customers, employees, shareholders and other
stakeholders, Scania is additionally ethically concerned and sets high moral
standards for maintaining trust and respect, which are eventually embedded in
the brand. Scania takes an active part in clarifying ethical and social values
within the organisation, suppliers, environment, business ethics and social
aspects, which creates the connection between social commitment and Scania
(Scania Annual Report, 2003).
3.3. Oriflame
Oriflame is a Swedish cosmetics company, founded in 1967 by two brothers
Jonas and Robert af Jochnick. The business idea was a rather innovative one,
focusing on differentiating Oriflame from other companies of the kind; the
aim of the founders was to create a skincare product line based on natural
ingredients, and to distribute them through direct selling.
46
The business went international from the very first years, expanding in
Denmark, Norway and Finland. However, the internationalisation process
seems to have characterised the company�s entire existence until now:
• The 70s meant expansion in the Netherlands, UK, and Spain;
• In the 80s, operations extended in Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia,
Indonesia, and Chile, and the first external production line was established in
Dublin;
• The 1990s represented a time of complete expansion: Check Republic,
Poland, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Latvia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Greece,
Bulgaria, Lithuania, Peru, India, Romania, Macedonia, Ecuador, Croatia,
Estonia, Morocco, Egypt, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Columbia, Bosnia,
and Belarus; Poland is also selected to be the location of the second
manufacturing plant;
• In the 2000s, Oriflame makes its debut in Kazakhstan, Thailand,
Georgia, Serbia, Mongolia, Armenia, Moldavia, and Vietnam; the production
plant in Dublin is replaced by the Global Technical Centre; two new
production facilities are acquired in Sweden (Ekerö) and India (New Delhi),
and a new factory is currently being built outside Moscow.
Today, Oriflame is represented in 55 countries, and leads the cosmetics
market in 30 of them. According to the company�s last annual report (2003),
the greatest sales level by region was registered in CIS and the Baltics with
approximately 46%, followed by Central European and Mediterranean
countries with 28%. As stated in the same source, some of the company�s key
figures can be summarised as shown in table 2:
47
Table 2: Oriflame, Key figuresKey Figures 2003
Sales (million Euro) 652.1Operating profit (million Euro)
• incl. gain on disposal of subsidiary• excl. gain on disposal of subsidiary
130.3114.0
Net profit (million Euro) 88.8Average number of Sales Consultants 1.383.500Average number of employees 4.182
Source: Oriflame Cosmetics Annual Report, 2003
The company�s strategic goal is to build the business and augment
shareholder value by increasing sales and operating margins, which improved
by 5% from 1999 on. This objective is to be carried on by (Oriflame
Cosmetics Annual Report, 2003):
• Increasing penetration and sales in existing markets (new branding and
sales initiatives; continuous improvement of the product portfolio; refining
the company�s communication techniques in order to unify the brand across
products and countries);
• Continuing selective expansion in new markets (identification of
markets with significant low-term growth opportunities, where the company
can become leader by selling direct);
• Further improving operating efficiencies (capitalising on the positive
scale effects of increased volume production; modernisation of the supply
chain in order to increase flexibility; expansion of the Internet-based sales and
ordering capacity).
The company enumerates among its competitive strengths the efficient means
of distribution (direct selling), strong brand recognition due to the Swedish
origins, attractive product portfolio, and extensive international coverage.
48
Chapter 4
OUR RESEARCH STRATEGY
4.1. Research strategy
4.1.1. How schools of science influenced our research
When it comes to the schools of science, positivism and hermeneutics have
been traditionally seen as each ending one extremity of the philosophical
chain.
The founder of positivism was Auguste Comte. Positivism rejects the validity
of metaphysical speculation, the existence of final causes, and the human
ability to know the absolute, and confines itself to the study of experimental
facts and their relations. This is the main principle of the current, which has
experienced severe criticism over time mainly because it failed to demonstrate
that above particular facts and contingent relations, there are no abstract
notions, general laws, universal and necessary principles that we cannot
acknowledge. To summarise, the school of positivism believes that when
something can be scientifically proved, it is also true, since the scientific
procedure is universal and objective (Mårtensson & Nilstun, 1988).
�Hermeneutics�, on the other hand, is a term inspired by the name of the
Greek messenger god, Hermes. He had to be conversant with the language of
both gods and mortals to correctly interpret the meaning of gods� messages
49
and translate them for ordinary people (Butler, 1998). Therefore,
hermeneutics has been called the �art of interpretation� (Inwood, 1998), or the
�study of understanding� (Powell, 1999), making a point out of gradually
fusing the horizon of the interpreter with that of the phenomenon. As
Cornelius puts it, �differing viewpoints come to understand one other by
melting into each other through developing a common language� (Cornelius,
1996).
As the purpose of the present thesis is not to create a new rule, but to increase
understanding about a specific problem, we have adopted a more hermeneutic
view.
4.1.2. Research purpose
Generally speaking, any thesis bears three research purposes: exploratory,
descriptive, and explanatory (Wiedersheim & Eriksson, 1997).
Exploratory studies are aimed to achieving first-hand knowledge of a certain
field of interest, where the topic to analyse is difficult to acknowledge in
advance. The goal is to receive sufficient in-sight about the problem area, and
therefore, to be able to formulate more specific future research questions.
Descriptive writing presents the characteristics of the research objects and
their relevant connections. This approach can be used when the problem is
relatively clear and structured, and when the intention is not investigate casual
relations.
50
Lastly, explanatory research hints to analysing causes and relationships. It
involves explanations of a certain phenomenon, when one specific research
variable clearly affects another.
Considering all these, we argue that our thesis incorporates exploratory and
descriptive objectives. The first stage of the research was definitely an
exploratory one, and a better exposure to the researched topic or related ones,
determined the authors to add a descriptive dimension as well (Fig. 9).
4.1.3. Research method
As for the research method, we have taken a deductive approach. As shown in
the figure below, deduction uses theories for formulating hypotheses and
statements, which are to be tested through research tools. In turn, an inductive
work has its starting point in the real world or in empirical findings;
conclusions are drawn from general theories and models (Fig. 10). Yet, we
also use induction in the concluding part of our thesis in order to see whether
Research Purpose
Research Method
Research Techniques
Exploratory Descriptive Explanatory
Deduction Induction
Qualitative Quantitative
PrimarySecondary
Interviews QuestionnairesDocuments
Fig. 9: Research StrategySource: own design
51
the theoretical model we have created must be adjusted due to the real
circumstances we have witnessed along our research.
4.1.4. Data-gathering techniques
As for the data collection, it is usually more at hand to associate quantitative
data-gathering techniques with positivism and qualitative data-gathering
techniques with hermeneutics; yet, many of such techniques can be used by
both approaches (Hudson & Ozanne, 1988).
Because the subject of our research cannot be easily expressed in figures, in-
depth interviews as qualitative research instruments appeared to be the most
suitable. However, they have been complemented by questionnaires in order
to confirm the information resulted from interviews and secondary-data (as
representations of the corporate standpoint), and to get additional perspectives
on the researched topic. We analysed how the interviewees� statements
related with the results of questionnaires, what were the contradictions and the
THEORY (Model)
INDUCTION DEDUCTION
REALITY(Measures,
interpretation)
Hypotheses
Observations
Generalisations
Observations
Fig. 10: Induction and deductionSource: Ghauri et al., 1995
52
consistencies. In addition, we used secondary-data analysis in order to cover
potential aspects that have been unintentionally or intentionally omitted
during the interviews, and also to get better understanding of our problem.
4.1.4.1. Secondary data
Sources of information can be divided into primary and secondary. The
former refers to empirical material that has been collected by oneself, for the
specific purpose of the research paper, and the latter refers to information
already existing (Ghauri et. al, 1995).
This thesis is based on both primary and secondary data sources, where the
both have the same relevance. Secondary data consists of internal written
documentation (communication materials, magazines, newsletters, guidelines,
internal manuals, annual reports and catalogues) from Scania and Oriflame, as
well as information about the companies and their brands, as officially posted
on the Internet. They served as a basis for describing our focused companies,
and as a means for enriching our understanding of the companies� structure
and brands, in order to get more specific knowledge before the interviews and
for the purpose of the analysis.
For the purpose of the frame of reference we have read books, articles and
magazines, connected to branding issue, which were mainly used for
bolstering our own background understanding. We have chosen the books of
well-known branding writers such as: Jean-Noél Kapferer, David Aaker,
David Arnold, Wally Olins or Simon Anholt. Kotler�s marketing writings
have also guided in our research atempt. As for the journals, we have tried to
get access on specialized journals, among which we can mention: The Journal
53
of Brand Management, The Journal of Product and Brand Management, or
The Journal of International Consumer Marketing.
4.1.4.2. Interview procedure
One of the most important steps in planning an in-depth interview is writing a
guide as a memory jogger for the researcher during the interview (Carson et
al., 2001). By including both broad and specified questions, the interview
guide covers all areas of interest treated during the interview (Lekvall &
Wahlbin, 2001). We have devoted a lot of effort in creating well-structured
interview guides for both Scania and Oriflame. We strived for a logical order
of questions, although they all had a supporting character for us. Our
interview guides consisted almost exclusively from open-ended questions and
a number of follow-up questions if needed.
Interviews can be standardised or non-standardised, structured or non-
structured. High degree of standardisation implies a list of questions decided
before, from which the interviewer does not deviate, whereas non-
standardised interviews are more freewheeling, with questions adjusted in
accordance with the responses.
The degree of structure of an interview is mainly determined by the
respondents� freedom to answer the questions. Self-formulated and elaborated
answers indicate a low level of standardisation as opposed to predetermined
alternatives to choose from which stands for increased standardisation
(Lekvall & Wahlbin, 2001).
54
We used standardised and non-structured interviews (see Appendix 1, p. 129),
aiming to get into the interviewee�s head, into her/his perspective, to find out
interpretations that we did not have access otherwise (Carson et. al, 2001).
We have contacted by means of electronic mail and telephone a number of
fifteen Swedish international companies, and only two of them � Scania and
Oriflame � have responded our request and agreed to designate a person to
answer our questions. When choosing the companies to approach, we did not
have any industry preferences. However, we wanted two companies from
different industrial branches so that we would depict various patterns in the
value-transfer process, if any. Scania and Oriflame perfectly fulfilled the
desired prerequisite.
Practically speaking, we scheduled two hours for each interview, which
proved to be a precise time estimation. Both interviews were face-to-face, and
took place in the interviewees� offices: Scania headquarters in Södertälje,
respectively the office of Oriflame�s founders in Stockholm. In Scania�s case,
we interviewed Mr. Hans-Åke Danielsson, head of the PR office. His
experience within Scania was of fifteen years. As for Oriflame, we had the
opportunity to talk with the corporate brand manager, Mr. Mattias Borjesson,
who became involved with the company two years ago.
We started each interview by briefly introducing the purpose of the research
so that the respondent would realise the benefit she/he might have from it.
The respondents have already had access to an interview guideline, which
they both required in advance via electronic mail. Because informed consent
to be interviewed is an ethical request for research (Carson et. al, 2001), we
inquired about the interviewees� wish to keep the confidentiality of certain
55
data, and also specifically asked for an agreement to use the tape recorder.
Both of our respondents confirmed their desire to answer our questions, and
had nothing to object to being recorded. Yet, we have simultaneously taken
notes should any technical problems occur.
At the end of each interview, we asked the interviewees whether they had
additional comments in order to catch possible reflections not covered in our
interview guides. Moreover, we inquired for the permission of using direct
quotations and of contacting them again if needed, to which none of the
respondents objected. We decided to perform follow-up conversations with
the respondents so that we gain further clarification and understanding about
the topic, and also to cast away all the ambiguities given by the use of a
foreign language when both asking and answering questions.
We trained before the interviews so that we could detect the so-called
interview effect, where the researcher unconsciously alters the questions or
use a certain tone when posing them to get the desired answers. Therefore, we
tried not to interrupt answers, ask leading questions that imply what answer
was most acceptable for the purpose of our research, introduce our own ideas,
or evaluate an answer (Carson et. al, 2001). Moreover, all interviews have
been conducted by the same person to both achieve unity and use the
experience of the previous interview. In the light of these facts, we hope to
have eliminated such risks of qualitative interviews, develop credible
interview guides, and conduct credible interviews.
56
4.1.4.3. Questionnaire procedure
After being confirmed which companies we would investigate, we have
started to figure out potential target respondents for our questionnaires. From
all the audiences of both companies (see 2.1., discussion on audiences, p. 10),
we decided to address only customers, either already existing or potential
ones. We considered them to be easier to access, and moreover, we believe
that their perceptions mirror the best the value-transfer process from the
country brand to the corporate ones. For both Scania and Oriflame, we used
non-probability random samples, convenience or judgement samples. Given
the early stage within our research field, we consider that non-probability
samples may provide new insights and form the basis for new hypotheses
(Ghauri et al., 1995). Should our research continue, we would have to use
probability samples to be able to develop a valid final analysis.
In the case of Scania, we addressed the first questionnaire (see Appendix 2, p.
131) to actual/potential Scania customers, represented by European transport
companies, since Europe is Scania�s most significant market. We randomly
chose 100 transport companies from a list of companies, generated by the
search engine on the Internet, and mailed them the questionnaires.
The questionnaire was unstructured, and had four open-ended questions,
directly connected to the researched topic. We intentionally omitted to design
a �word list� from where respondents could have chosen attributes for
describing both the country brand and the corporate one. With this we desired
not to influence and induce any responses. Questions specifically focused on
the nationality of brand Scania, and on the various values that stand beyond
the brand. After preparing the first draft, we sent it to four transport
57
companies from Slovenia and Romania to get the first impression about the
questionnaire, and to determine whether all the questions were necessary in
terms of the research objectives. We were suggested some adjustments in
order to clarify the questions. An important change concerned the avoidance
of a specific marketing vocabulary, since the respondents would most
probably be from other departments.
We selected the electronic mail questionnaire as a method of administration,
because the area we wanted to cover was too vast. The potential outcome of
our research would have stood in no relation with the costs and the amount of
time involved for any other method. The questions did not need longer
consideration or guaranteed anonymity, since we wanted to obtain the
respondent�s perception of the issue, not his or her knowledge or
understanding. Anyway, due to the lack of time and resources, we decided to
send the questionnaires via the electronic mail, and hoped for 20% respond
rate, since the questionnaire was short and not complicated.
The same type of questionnaire was designed in the case of Oriflame, since
the objective of the survey was the same. Again, the purpose was to spot the
external perceptions that consumers hold with regard to Oriflame�s and
Swedish values. For this case, we decided to address the target group of
Oriflame, which has a mass-market orientation (women and men 15-64 years)
in each respective market. Due to the fact that Oriflame operates in 55
countries, we could not approach customers from all of them. Therefore, we
had a two-fold procedure: contacting international students within three
Swedish universities, and contacting four international women�s associations.
In the first case, we sent the questionnaire to all international students
enrolled at Linköping University, Lund University and Göteborg University,
58
using the international offices� mailing lists. Each time, we provided the
administrator of the list with enough details about our research topic, and also
with a text to accompany the attached questionnaires. They all approved our
request, and distributed the questionnaire to everybody listed in their
databases. The same approach was applied to the international women�s
associations. In both cases, we asked the administrators to provide us the
number of persons they sent the questionnaire to, in order to measure the
respond rate.
It is worth mentioning that for the Oriflame questionnaire, an additional
introductory question was added (see Appendix 3, p. 132), concerning
whether the respondent had or had not knowledge about this brand. A
negative answer would conclude the questionnaire. In our opinion, this
question was significant for the case of Oriflame as opposed to Scania, whose
brand recognition is higher due to the limited number of truck manufacturers
in Europe.
We wanted to achieve unity in the methods used for both companies, and
therefore, we chose the electronic mail as a communication channel for
Oriflame as well. We did not make differences whether the respondent was
only acquainted with the brand, its (loyal) customer or even a Sales
Consultant. We pre-tested the questionnaire on three international students,
who recognised Oriflame as a cosmetics brand. From the previous experience
we had with Scania, we knew we should not use the branding vocabulary
while addressing non-specialised persons, and that is why we kept the
questions general and simple.
59
4.2. Revision of data
When it comes to analysing data within the social sciences field, there are two
options: to classify and measure all data in accordance with the positivistic
orientation, or to consider individual cases as meaningful in their own rights
in accordance with the phenomenological attitude. It is more common for
qualitative data to follow the latter approach (Ghauri et al., 1995).
For the interviews, we have used a middle way: a content analysis of the
responses by establishing headline meanings to spot and scan. By �headline
meanings�, we understand discussion themes: mission, vision, core values,
brand history and origins, brand name and design, brand identity, brand
strategy, management style and corporate culture. These �headline meanings�
focus on our researched topic, rather than on general issues, both when being
presented and analysed.
As for the questionnaires, we evaluated each of them as a whole since they
were concise, and afterwards we grouped them into three categories: �obvious
association with the country-of-brand�, �confused association with the
country-of-brand�, �non association with the country-of-brand�.
Revision of data enlightened us with regard to the structure of the
interpretation framework. Hence, in accordance with both our purpose and the
frames of reference presented in the previous chapters, we have chosen to
begin with �what are the perspectives of the companies regarding the value-
transfer �, to continue with �what are the customers� perceptions regarding the
value-transfer�, and finally to conclude with �where can companies find
themselves in the Value-Transfer Window�. We have created this structure
60
for the analysis part because we wanted to discover in more detail the form of
the value-transfer between corporate brands and the country brand.
Both interviews were transcribed in order to gain flexibility and complete
comprehensiveness when processing the data (Carson et. al, 2001). Each
transcription was sent to the interviewee in question for approval and
additional comments. Questionnaires were numbered chronologically, printed
out and classified.
4.3. Criticism
4.3.1. Research procedure
The accuracy of studies concerning attitudes, opinions and beliefs is harder to
assess than the tangible phenomena.
In-depth interviews and questionnaires provide a clear and more accurate
picture of the respondents� positions or behaviours, which highly suits the
exploratory type of study that we have conducted. Yet, they also raise some
disadvantages.
In-depth interviews demand a high-skilled and cautious interviewer. Our
previous academic background endowed us with the opportunity of
conducting real research interviews before. Moreover, one of us has an
extensive experience in the journalistic field and has performed a great many
interviews on this occasion. The above-mentioned situations concurred in
61
eliminating possible interview errors, and we believe they managed to do this
to a great extent.
There is always a possibility that the respondents did not answer questions
completely truthfully. The responses to our interviews and questionnaires
might have been influenced by the desire to build a certain image, by transient
personal factors such as mood, or by other situational factors such as the use
of the tape-recorder, the occurrence of noises, or time pressures. Additionally,
mainly persons involved in one way or another with the company and/or
Sweden might have replied to Oriflame e-mail questionnaires. Therefore, the
results may have been jeopardised in terms of validity, reliability and
generalisation. However, given the positive response we received during our
research about the actuality of the subject, we believe that their open-
heartness provided us with good and honest answers.
4.3.2. Validity, reliability, generalisation
Validity is one of the central concepts in assessing the quality and rigour of a
research. According to Hammersley (1990), validity is �truth, interpreted as
the extent to which an account accurately represents the social phenomena to
which it refers.� It therefore addresses whether our research explains or
measures what we said we would be measuring or explaining in the first
place, and deals with the appropriateness of the method to the research
question as well as with the interpretation of data. Before we proceeded, we
considered different scientific approaches, and also examined the research
questions and the methods, which would best match them. This detailed
evaluation prompted us to using in-depth interviews, questionnaires and
secondary-data as main research methods, and helped us when constructing
62
the guides. Thus, we believe that the methodological tools we have chosen are
in complete accordance with our stated purpose, and endow the thesis with a
high degree of validity. As for the interpretation of data, we must stress that it
resulted from conscious analysis and not from a flash of inspiration.
Reliability assesses the quality and rigour of the research. According to
Hammersley (1992), it refers to �the degree of consistency with which
instances are assigned to the same category by different observers or by the
same observer on different occasions�. We tried to provide our thesis with a
high degree of reliability by making use of complementary research tools: in-
depth interviews and questionnaires. The more agreement of these two data
sources on the particular issue we submitted, the more reliable our
interpretation of data.
Using non-probability samples may have negatively influenced both validity
and reliability. They are easy to draw, but they may provide some misleading
results if they prove to poorly represent the targeted population. However, we
were aware of the low respond rate by using the electronic mail as
dissemination tool for questionnaires. Another drawback of this mean of
contact is the difficulty to clarify, supervise, and control the answering
process. In many cases, we could not know who was the person that answered
the e-mail.
Generalisation relates to the ability to generalise findings to wider groups and
circumstances (Blaxter, Hughes & Light, 1996). It is very important to
address the question of generability, since it is often seen as a clear quality
indicator of the research (from Maxwell by Golafshani, 2003). Our research
attempt is limited to only two corporations and one country brand, so the
63
question of generalisation is open to judgement. However, we believe that the
model we created is pertinent to depict the form of value-transfer between any
strong country brand and any of its corporate brands.
64
Chapter 5
ACCOUNTS FROM THE BRANDS
5.1. First dimension of the Value-Transfer Window:
Companies� awareness
As described in the second chapter of the present paper, our model � the
Value-Transfer Window � is two-dimensional. The first dimension deals with
the corporate perspective, namely the organisational awareness with respect to
the added value that country-brands can bring to corporate ones. We focus our
case on brand Sweden, and its influences on Scania and Oriflame brands. This
section is devoted to presenting the accounts that Scania and Oriflame
provided us with, both in the interviews we performed and the corporate
documentation we had access to. As described in the methodological chapter
(see 4.2. Revision of data, p. 59), all information was grouped in headline
meanings, which approach those organisational elements that have an explicit
influence on brands.
5.1.1. Scania
5.1.1.1. Vision, mission, core values
When it comes to the visionary aspects, Scania aims to be, not only become,
the leader in its field of expertise.
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�Scania shall be the leading company in its industry by creating lasting value for its
customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders.�
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
Statements with respect to the company�s vision hint to achieving long-term
leadership by meeting the most demanding customers� expectations. Scania
desires to provide its clients with competitive and optimal solutions for their
needs (How Scania is Managed, 2003). As stated both by our interviewee and
in corporate materials, this vision �puts qualitative demands on everybody
who communicates on behalf of Scania.� (Brand Communication Platform,
Scania, 2002)
Scania�s mission covers three aspects: high-quality vehicles and services,
development of industrial operations, and development of commercial
operations. Everything focuses on providing lasting and superior value:
�Scania�s mission is to supply its customers with high-quality vehicles and services related
to the transport of goods and passengers by road. By focusing on customer needs, high-
quality products and services, as well as respect for the individual, Scania shall create
value-added for the customer and grow with sustained profitability.�
Scania�s operations specialise in developing and manufacturing vehicles, which shall lead
the market in terms of performance and life-cycle cost, as well as quality and
environmental characteristics.
Scania�s sales and service organisation shall supply customers with vehicles and services
that provide maximum operating time at minimum cost over the service life of their
vehicles, while preserving their environmental characteristics. �
(Scania Annual Report, 2003)
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As for the corporate values, Scania distinguishes between brand values,
regarded as a way of looking at Scania from the outside in, and core values,
perceived as the company�s soul:
�Core values are the cause, brand values are the effect.�
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
The brand values signify what people should think and feel about Scania and
its products or services. Scania�s brand values are summed up in two words:
Pride and Trust.
�A customer should feel proud to own and drive a Scania, a professional tool that
strengthens the respect accorded him by colleagues, competitors and his own customers.
But he also feels trust, because he has made a sound investment. This trust is not only
about physical products, but also about being able to rely on all the collective knowledge
and experience of Scania�s global service network.�
(Scania Annual Report, 2003)
The brand values are built on Scania�s strong corporate culture, mirrored by
its core values: customer supremacy, respect for the individual, and quality.
These values are extensively recognised within the company, and apparently
they drive Scania�s business success.
�These are Scania�s core values. Everything Scania does is done for a customer. In
everything we do, we show respect for people. In everything we do, we strive for quality.�
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
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These values are put into practice through optimisation of the value chain,
R&D, customer research; grant of increased responsibilities to employees in
order to stimulate innovation and knowledge transfer; prompt correction of
potential deficiencies.
The company tries to preserve its culture, and precisely for this reason, it
rejects outsourcing initiatives:
�We do not outsource because this would influence our brand, and the company may lose
its culture. We work hard in keeping the culture, in maintaining it, and fine-tuning it.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
5.1.1.2. Brand strategy
Scania has a single brand strategy: although products within the product range
may have their own descriptive names, Scania always remains the chief-
brand, irrespective of geographical markets. The Scania name represents both
the company and its products, being the property of Scania CV AB (Brand
Communication Platform, Scania, 2002).
The brand strategy is focused on endowing products with good quality for the
benefit of the customer. The overall brand strategy is customer-oriented, and
has been quite constant over the years. New values concern environmental
and social responsibility for both employees and society as a whole.
�Scania is a business-to-business company. Our strategy is to provide products that
perform well, so that our customers can run their own businesses continuously and make
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money. It is about inspiring confidence (�) It is getting more and more important to be
seen as a good corporate citizen, caring for the environment and for the people, and
creating good work conditions.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
Scania�s brand strategy is regarded as a way to enhance the brand on the long
term, and also to stimulate the sales on the short term. Positive feeling about
Scania is achieved through surprise, promise, proof, and call to action (Brand
Communication Platform, Scania, 2002).
5.1.1.3. Communicating the brand
The company places great significance on its brand communication
procedures, trying to make them consistent and effective in order to ensure
the brand with a bright future. All Scania�s communications have one aim: to
reinforce the company�s brand values. There is an extensive awareness with
respect to the brand being communicated constantly by all entities involved
with Scania, and therefore consistency, integration, co-ordination and synergy
are key-goals:
�Everything Scania does communicates. Scania products communicate. Scania services
communicate. Scania advertising communicates. Scania investor relations communicate.
Each person working in Scania communicates.�
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
Scania has defined four main target-groups for its communication initiatives,
and these are as follows (Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002):
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• The commercial market: past, present and future customers, and also the
persons that may influence customers� opinions;
• The financial market: shareholders and capital markets;
• In-house audience: past, present and future employees;
• Society: all societies in which Scania functions.
All brand communication tasks are ultimately related to the Brand
Development Meeting at head office, during which people representing HR,
R&D, sales and services, and PR decide the principles, guidelines, and rules
governing the Scania brand. This strategic meeting takes place eight times
each year. Except for the Production Planning Meeting, which is scheduled
eleven times per year, the Brand Development Meeting is the most frequent
(How Scania is managed, 2003).
Communication regards both products and services, with a special attention
placed on services due to their intangibility and to their complete reliance on
communications:
�Our physical products perform regardless of what we say about them. (�) Services, on
the other hand, are promises that (�) cannot be tested until they are delivered.�
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
As for the communication principles, the main goal is to make the receivers
know, feel or do something, in Scania�s attempt of driving its consumers�
own competitiveness. The formula for effective communication combines
relevance with distinctiveness and resources.
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RELEVANT x DISTINCTIVE x RESOURCES = EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
(Brand Communication Platform, Scania, 2002)
Relevance concerns what is being said, whereas distinctiveness hints to the
form of the message conveyed to the public, and resources to all elements
needed to have the job done. Being based on multiplication, a null
achievement in any of the three areas will generate zero effectiveness.
The aim of more communication initiatives in Scania is to state the main
message in one simple sentence. Messages should meet the requirements of a
right tone of voice: honesty, sincerity, respect, confidence, exclusivity. They
must be focused on the universal issues that concern Scania, among which
one can mention: efficiency, flexibility, reliability, total cost, services, safety,
environmental concerns and ethical corporate behaviour. Whatever the
purpose might be, it must be clear in order to avoid the risks of
misinterpretation, and it is advisable to quantify it. Among the general
communication principles, the company stresses the importance of avoiding
false pretences as well as sexist, discriminating, prejudicial imagery (Brand
Communication Platform, Scania, 2002).
Communication channels are varied, and they mainly focus on building
relationships since Scania is a business-to-business company:
• Physical products: trucks, buses, engines, parts;
• Services: agreements and undertakings with customers and partners;
• Behaviour: the way Scania�s employees present themselves in public;
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• Public affairs: all dealings with government, politicians, public officials,
and other authorities;
• Media contacts: mass-media coverage;
• Investor contacts: inventors, analysts, and other representatives of the
financial community;
• Internal communication;
• Advertisements: all messages disseminated via paid media;
• Direct marketing: communication materials that are distributed to
individuals in order to generate a specific response;
• Brochures and other printed materials: instruments used in the later
stages of the sales process;
• Web sites;
• Events: international or national exhibitions, trade shows and other
opportunities to make contacts that lead to sales;
• Facilities: factories, offices, service sites, show rooms that must satisfy
legal, functional, ergonomic, environmental, aesthetic and financial
requirements;
• Promotional items: Scania-branded gifts.
5.1.1.4. Brand identity
The name of the brand is the first identification element. In this case, the
corporate name comes from the Swedish region Skåne, translated in Latin as
Scania. The corporate symbol is the hub with the crowned griffin. The red
crowned griffin head is also the symbol of the region up to this date.
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The visual identity of the brand is organised around three principles (Brand
Communication Platform, Scania, 2002):
• Quality: reflection of the company�s core values;
• Clarity: clear and purposeful visual signs;
• Simplicity: immediate precise impression.
Photographs and illustrations are required to be �clean, fresh and modern� to
reflect the product philosophy and the brand values (Graphical Guidelines,
2004). It is a matter of recognition, and for this reason, photographs and
illustrations should be presented in a similar style. Although Scania owns a
central image database, in many cases the products are represented in familiar
locations for the customers, going beyond the Swedish borders. The Scania
imagery communicates not so many technical details, but rather the
customers� benefits, in accordance with the customer-oriented philosophy of
the company; credibility is achieved in this way:
�In other words, what we should be communicating are customer benefits, and we should
preferably do this on the bases of the two user perspectives: the driver�s and the owner�s.�
(Graphical Guidelines, 2004)
As for the preferred colours, the company primarily uses the colours, which
appear in the logotype: blue, red, silver, and gold. Additionally, a discreet
Fig. 11: Scania�s logotypeSource: www.imagebank.scania.com
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colour palette is used so that the communication �gives the impression of
being homogeneous and sober.� (Graphical Guidelines, 2004)
Typography should appeal to the readers, and make the text easy to read and
easy to understand. The main function of the typography is to integrate the
text with other visual elements such photographs and illustrations (Graphical
Guidelines, 2004).
5.1.1.5. The Swedish origins
In all corporate materials we have received from Scania there is no mention to
Sweden as the country of Scania.
When asked about the Swedish origins, our respondent denied their
involvement in Scania�s brand strategy:
�We do not underline that we are Swedish. We focus on the product, on the organisation,
on providing services. (�) We do not use Swedish flags in our advertisements or on the
products themselves. We do not benefit from Sweden.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
Yet, he admitted that in the initial stages of entering new markets, Swedish
origins might have been beneficial because of the good reputation that the
country enjoys:
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�It is good when the company establishes new operations in a new country because
Sweden is seen as a quite successful country, with no corruption, hard-working people,
functional legislation and other things alike.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
Moreover, our interviewee perceives that the product attributes � reliability,
endurance and safety, to mention just a few � resulted from the challenges and
obstacles that the Swedish natural scenery raises: deficient road infrastructure
in the past, long distances, cold weather. However, the company strives
currently to convince its customers that there are no differences in quality
between a Scania truck produced in Brazil, for instance, and one produced in
Sweden. In order to achieve this, the company plays a low Swedish profile:
�We have been forced to put some efforts to show that the product has the same quality.
We work to tell our customers that it does not matter where it is produced, the quality is
the same. In this aspect, we are trying to reduce the image of Sweden.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
Additionally, the design of the vehicles is described as being in line with the
Swedish style, which stands for an increased �home� feeling for the driver,
environmental awareness, higher safety standards and a down-to-earth view
of individual control procedures (www.scandinaviandesign.com).
In what the corporate culture is concerned, the respondent sees no difference
between the Swedish culture and the Scania culture since they both deal with
equality, respect for individual, honesty, keeping promises and so on. Scania
managers all over the world are expected to behave in the same way and share
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the same values, for which reason a Swedish team is always present to guide
the first movements abroad. In addition, Swedish personnel � managing
directors, financial directors, and product managers � handle crucial functions
within Scania�s foreign plants. Yet, international exchanges are a common
practice within the company, since foreign employees are present at the
Swedish base as well. This is due to the fact that all operations are regulated
according to the standards established within the Swedish headquarters:
�We have a made in Sweden concept, and now we are trying to use it all over the world.
(�) It always starts with Swedes going abroad to teach, to make local employees familiar
with our working habits, our values, our routines. (�) On the other hand, we have
Brazilians and French coming here, so we have international people influencing us as
well. In the end, we share the same values.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
Asked whether the national state of things influence the reputation of the
brand Scania, our interviewee rejected such correlations. The only
acknowledged effect that Sweden has upon the company�s overall activities
concerns the development of a sound business environment:
�We are not dependent on how Sweden is seen, (�) and what is happening in Sweden is
not connected to Scania at the brand level. It is connected to taxes, for instance, which can
influence Scania�s performance. We are dependent on Sweden as it provides good
conditions for business.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
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From his position of handling the media relations, our respondent states that
Scania is presented as a Swedish company only in business publications. In
his opinion, such associations are seldom in the minds of their customers:
�We are referred to as a Swedish truck maker in business papers. Among the customers,
Scania stands more for the product values and what Scania provides them with. They do
not say «I drive a Swedish truck», but rather «I drive a Scania».�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
The company declares independency from the state and the government. Yet,
corporate representatives attend events where Sweden is presenting itself.
Moreover, Scania is used to exemplify the Swedish efficiency:
�We are rather independent from the state and government. Yet, we have cooperation with
national agencies and institutes when it comes to new markets.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
The respondent asserted no direct connections with Sweden in promoting the
corporate brand in the beginning of our interview. Yet, as the discussion
progressed, his opinion slightly shifted towards acknowledging Swedishness.
�We are made in Sweden, so the company is Swedish whether we like it or not. It might be
a benefit to promote ourselves as Swedish due to the Swedish good reputation, but we are
not doing it. At least, not on purpose. If we produced lousy products, Swedish origins
would not help.(�) We are probably not aware of it. We are just Swedes. Our behaviour is
implemented all over, and we behave in the Swedish way.�
(Hans-Åke Danielsson, PR Manager, Scania)
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5.1.2. Oriflame
5.1.2.1. Vision, mission, core values
Oriflame�s vision is straightforward and clear: to be the natural first choice
not only in terms of cosmetics, but also as a job or income provider. Upon
inception, the vision was to use natural Swedish ingredients and bottle the
natural Swedish beauty so that everybody would enjoy their benefits. It is an
allusion to the company�s aim of becoming unique and the best in every area:
�(�) we want Oriflame to be the first thing that comes to mind. Whenever people are
considering a skin cream, a blush, or a make-up accessory, they should think of one of
Oriflame�s products. (�) Whenever people search for a job, they should want to work for
us.�
(The Oriflame Way, 2004)
The mission of the company celebrates the right of everybody to enjoy the
same opportunities. As described in Oriflame official materials, it is focused
on the internal context since the company welcomes all people to become
involved with the company. The way that the company is structured and the
direct selling give all the employees the chance to successfully exhibit
themselves. In the same time, products must be accessible for everybody:
�Our mission is to offer opportunity for all. We are here to give everyone access to
cosmetics in a smart and simple way, and to improve people�s lives through a dynamic
business opportunity.�
(The Oriflame Way, 2004)
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Oriflame�s core values � togetherness, spirit and passion � are believed to
define the company and unite all those involved in it.
Togetherness is connected to the Swedish heritage of the company, mainly
emphasising the desire to share, care and trust the others. This concept is also
important for a company that is based on direct selling, and develops its
business through relationships:
�People who work together care for each other. They help each other along the way. They
know that doing it together is more meaningful than going it alone.�
(The Oriflame Way, 2004)
�For many, Oriflame is a social opportunity rather than a commercial one, therefore our
social role is very important.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
Spirit refers to confidence in Oriflame�s ability of doing things better than
anyone else. It is a reference to the Oriflame�s winning culture. It is a
motivational factor that drives the entrepreneurial initiatives, innovations, and
unconventional solutions to difficult problems:
�Spirited people are true entrepreneurs. They are the ones who never give up. They are
prepared to do whatever it takes in order to get things done.�
(The Oriflame Way, 2004)
Passion is regarded as the privilege of power. It hints to both employees� and
customers� identification with the company and everything related to it.
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Passion has been the rescuing tool in times of crisis, and it is perceived as a
driver of company�s future success:
�Passionate people have the power to change the world. They love what they do, they
believe in it. They know, deep down, that they can make a difference.�
(The Oriflame Way, 2004)
5.1.2.2. Brand strategy
The current brand strategy of Oriflame is focused on increasing awareness
about the corporate brand. Two years ago, the company has redefined itself,
shifting the focus from direct selling as a distribution method to the actual
products:
�We want to put more focus on our cosmetic business and our products. Whereas
previously we used to define ourselves as a direct sales company selling cosmetics, now we
are changing the definition into �a cosmetics company selling direct. �
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
A stronger positioning of the brand is required due to the fact that markets are
maturing, and simultaneously competition and consumer awareness are
increasing. The aim is to increase the perceived value of Oriflame brand, and
this is achieved through a new visual identity � to start with.
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5.1.2.3. Communicating the brand
Oriflame places a great importance on internal communication in order to
emphasise the organisational culture, and consequently to better motivate and
unite its Sales Consultants. For this reason, the company starts its
communication always from the inside, organising meetings, events,
seminars, conferences, training sessions and parties very frequently. The
Oriflame Newsletter is also regarded as an important communication tool
with Oriflame�s Sales Consultants, and it is required to portray �a modern,
fast-moving, self-confident cosmetics company, but with a serious business
aspect.� (Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004)
The primary target group for advertisements are not the internal publics, but
the external ones, so the strive for clarity and keeping the message to the
minimum are of extreme significance. However, the brand communication
procedures vary in terms of markets:
�We are a big media buyer in Russia, for instance, both in terms of printed advertisements
and TV commercials. In other countries, network marketing prevails. (�) Campaigns are
decided on each market separately, and not centrally.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
The Oriflame communication department is based in Brussels, and its main
responsibility is to co-ordinate regional and local market operations and to
administrate all operations related to the Oriflame brand image (Oriflame
Annual Report, 2003).
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The catalogues and the sales materials are the most important support for
Oriflame Sales Consultants and also the ones to which customers most
frequently have access. These printed materials are perceived as the only
physical objects � apart from products � that propel customers� impressions.
For this reason, they must convey the Oriflame essences in a highly
qualitative manner:
�The design must attract and stimulate readers by conveying energy and variation. (�)
Oriflame identity must come through strongly since this is an important factor in relation
to continuously strengthening our brand.�
(Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004)
Although the catalogue activities and online operations are centred in Malmö,
Sweden, there might be slight changes in the appearance of these materials,
according to the five geographical markets of the company. Within the same
region, the company uses the same catalogue.
Another communication channel consists of promotional materials, giveaways
and other gifts, used as stimulators of interest, recognition and positive
attitudes towards Oriflame. Moreover, the company performs endorsements
and sponsorships for the same reasons as above (Oriflame Corporate Identity
Manual, 2004).
The image of the Oriflame Service Centres as well as that of the Concept
Store in Stockholm have also a lot to say in terms of communication through
their interior and exterior appearances. They are key venues for the Sales
Consultants, enabling them to meet each other as well as the customers in
Oriflame branded world. Thus, the physical and emotional environment must
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communicate the brand values, product character and quality, sales
opportunity and sales activities, a feeling of familiarity and belonging
(Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004).
5.1.2.4. Brand identity
In order for the employees to convey in a proper manner the corporate
identity to the world, Oriflame has issued a Design Platform and an Identity
Programme.
Although Oriflame has specific names for its products, the company follows a
master brand strategy, emphasising more the corporate name (The Oriflame
Way, 2004).
The Design Platform results from the Swedish heritage of the company, in the
sense that designers are guided in their work by the country�s nature ideals, by
the people�s social conscience and belief in equality, by the simplicity and
elegance they display, by the utility and function they are always in search
for:
�Oriflame has its roots in Sweden, so the ideals, nature, social values and culture of this
Nordic country make upon heritage and our personality. (�) Swedish designers are
inspired and influenced by this.�
(Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004)
Accordingly, the Oriflame Identity Programme tries to convey to the world
what is unique about Oriflame: the Swedish origins on one hand, and the
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natural ingredients used in cosmetics production on the other. The company
tries to have an integrated and unitary manner in visually communicating
itself to the employees, to customers, or other publics. For this reason, the
Identity Programme is based on a unique logotype and graphic elements, as
well as carefully selected colours.
Oriflame is represented by the Oriflame Master Logotype, which has recently
undergone a process of modernisation to emphasise the dynamism of the
company, and to achieve higher levels of perception on behalf of the
customers.
�National Swedish cosmetics� is the corporate strategic strapline, whose most
important attribute is to connect back to the Swedish origins and also to refer
to the natural consistency of the products. It represents the Oriflame story, and
its inspiration sources: the uncomplicated beauty of the Swedish woman, the
ideals of effectiveness, safety and gentleness with respect to the products, the
environmental concern, the clean lines of the design.
Fig. 12: Oriflame Master Logotype and StraplineSource: www.oriflame.com/.../ gallery/corporate/logo.html
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�The purpose of the strapline is to explain and reinforce our brand offer and our
heritage.�
(Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004)
Photographs and illustrations are grouped in four categories (Oriflame
Corporate Identity Manual, 2004):
• People: black-and-white pictures with energetic people together, aiming
to endow the corporate core-values with visual representations;
• Models: illustrations of the Oriflame Woman concept and view on
beauty, emphasising the importance of self-confidence, seduction and positive
attitudes;
• Nature: reference to both the natural ingredients used in the production
process (close-up of plants) and the Swedish roots (typical Swedish
landscapes and sceneries);
• Products: focus on the contents of the product rather than their package.
Pictures and illustrations are regarded as mediators between the corporate
essential elements and the outside world, and therefore, in order to achieve a
complete image, photos from each category must be always combined.
Primary colours in representing the logo or the strategic strapline are white,
silver, grey with black as the secondary colour. This range enables a dynamic
visual appearance, and also ensures high levels of quality in reproduction.
Yet, green and blue are the primary identity colours, while white, silver, black
and grey are complementary colours. Green in combination with any other
identity colour is mainly targeted at customers in product communication,
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whereas blue in combination with any other identity colour is targeted at Sales
Consultants (Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004).
As for the typography, Oriflame chose �a simple and open, rounded
character� to make it �distinctive, graceful and highly readable�, and thus, to
enforce feelings of openness and modernity with respect to the corporate
identity (Oriflame Corporate Identity Manual, 2004).
5.1.2.5. The Swedish origins
The interview we have performed as well as all secondary data we have
consulted place a great emphasis on the Swedish origins of the Oriflame
brand. Everything started with the desire to transmit the natural Swedish
beauty to the world. Sweden has been a synonym for the natural ingredients
that transmit the idea of effective, safe and gentle to the world of cosmetics.
Both the natural materials that make the products as well as the natural,
uncomplicated Swedish beauty standards tell the story of �Oriflame � The
Natural Swedish cosmetics�.
The product is Swedish. Initially, the ingredients were taken from the
Swedish flora only � cloudberries and birch trees, for example � but the
company�s expansion both in terms of markets and products has led to the
usage of some other plants which cannot be found in Sweden. Still, what has
remained Swedish is the principle of �natural ingredients�.
Moreover, products are related to Swedish values, and in order to support this
statement, the company has recently launched a new fragrance �inspired by
royalty�. Solliden the Oriflame fragrance was inspired by Solliden the
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enchanting summer residence of the Swedish Royal Family. The scents were
developed to fit the Swedish Royal taste, and were approved by the Swedish
Royal Family. Moreover, the Solliden project is used for raising money for
the World Childhood Foundation founded by Queen Silvia in 1999 and co-
founded by Oriflame.
�We create a lot of stories that are based on our Swedishness. For instance, we launched a
fragrance just a month ago � Solliden, that is connected to the Royal Family.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
�These scents obviously deserve the very finest presentation (�). A classic design exuding
timeless elegance: the form is intricate but the execution is simple in the extreme. Swedish
style.�
(Together, Oriflame Cosmetics Magazine, 2004)
As stated in corporate materials, the brand communication is Swedish in
terms of package design, promotional materials, corporate identity elements
and so on. The key words for packaging design are clarity and simplicity
following the Scandinavian design school.
As for the management style and operating principles, our discussion partner
describes as non-hierarchical:
�We have a flat structure and we do not have fixed lines of promotion. We are non-
bureaucratic, we trust people to take their own decisions, so we definitely are an employer
brand as well.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
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The operating principles can be summed up in five main areas (The Oriflame
Way, 2004):
• Simplicity and cost efficiency: absence of the hierarchies,
decentralisation; simple cost-efficient solutions; responsibility and
accountability for all actions;
• Respect for environment: concern and respect for nature, usage nature as
an inspiration source; honest, ethical and transparent operations;
• Customer focus: maintaining customers� awareness about business and
treat them as friends; support for the Sales Consultants in their work;
• Concern for people: trust people to use their own judgements; encourage
teamwork and knowledge transfer; assist individual development at all levels;
• Sustainability: achieve leadership in as many markets as possible; seek a
healthy balance between sales and profitability.
�The company is Swedish, because the founders are Swedish and it is based on many
Swedish ideals. The operating principles reflect our attitude within our company: we are
honest, direct, simple, functional.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
Asked whether the Swedish origins influence the company�s profitability, our
interviewee placed a great relevance on them as a driving factor for Oriflame:
�Absolutely, I think that Swedish origins have an influence on our performance. When we
talk about Swedishness in our markets, perceptions do not vary very much. People refer to
Sweden as to: clean, scarcely populated, wild, Swedish beauty, entrepreneurship.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
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In what the cooperation with state entities is concerned, our respondent denied
any concrete association, yet he admitted that Oriflame may be given as a
successful business example originated from Sweden:
�I have seen posters made by the Export Council, featuring a lot of Swedish companies, we
included. We may be a part of that, but I do not think that they use Oriflame specifically.
Volvo and Ikea are far better known brands.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
Along the entire discussion, our interviewee stressed the importance of the
Swedish origins and everything related to it in the promotion of the Oriflame
corporate brand. He acknowledged the transfer of Swedish values to the
corporate ones in all major areas:
�The Swedish values � honesty, simplicity, consensus, straightforwardness, to mention just
a few � are being transferred to Oriflame. It is both conscious and unconscious. On one
hand, it is not something that we design: we are Swedish and this is the way we do
business. On the other hand, it is an intentional act: we capitalise on Sweden as a brand as
well.�
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame)
5.2. The second dimension of the Value-Transfer
Window: Customers� associations
The second dimension of the Value-Transfer Window deals with audiences�
perception of the connection of values between the country brand and the
corporate ones. This section is devoted to presenting the accounts that
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Scania�s and Oriflame�s targeted groups provided us with by means of
electronic questionnaires.
Questionnaires were intended from the very beginning as a means of checking
and confirming the corporate internal actions and/or initiatives when it comes
to capitalising on the country brand values. They were not endowed with a
significant research output, and by this we state their restrictive nature.
However, even though characterised by response limitations, we believe that
questionnaires are still relevant for the purpose of our thesis.
As mentioned in the research strategy section, we have grouped the answers
in three categories:
• Obvious association with the country -of-brand: responses to all questions
directly or implicitly hinted to Sweden the brand;
• Confused association with the country-of-brand: inconsistency, different
answers to the 2nd and the 4th questions in the case of Scania, respectively the
3rd and 5th questions in the case of Oriflame;
• Non-association with the country-of-brand: none of the answers hinted to
Sweden the brand whatsoever.
5.2.1. Transport companies
It has been previously mentioned in the presentation of data that we expected
a 20% respond rate for Scania�s current/potential customers. Yet, we achieved
only 13%: from 100 questionnaires, we received 13 back.
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All 13 respondents have acknowledged Sweden as the country of Scania
(Appendix 2, question 3 concerning the national origin of the brand), which
implies that all responses can be placed in the first two categories, either
�obvious� or �confused� associations.
We labelled 2 questionnaires as being confusing in terms of the respondents�
associations between Scania and Sweden. One of them denied his ability to
directly connect Scania with any country (Appendix 2, question 2), putting
forward the company�s global character. Yet, no reference to the brand
appeared in this answer, endowing researchers with the belief that the
respondent misinterpreted the question, or had little knowledge with respect
to brand matters. For this reason, we placed this questionnaire in the
�confused association� category:
�No country� It is not a Swedish company anymore, but a global one. Nevertheless, we
are happy to buy a Swedish product despite Scania is not probably using its Swedish origin
in its favour.�
(Respondent 3)
The other respondent, whose answers were judged as confused, was not able
to associate any characteristics of Sweden with the brand Scania (question 4).
However, all his previous answers hinted to Sweden.
The rest of 11 questionnaires signalled clear associations between Scania and
Sweden the brand. With the first question, for instance, we wanted to reveal
implicit connections of values. All respondents listed among the Scania brand
values some that are referred to as national values as well:
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Quality; Reliability, Safety standards, Trustworthy; (Technologically) advanced, Efficient,
Professional; Rational; Commitment, Continuity etc.
(Various respondents)
For the second question dealing with the connection between Scania and any
given country, all eleven remaining respondents stated Sweden as the only or
the first choice. However, in some cases, global operations were additionally
invoked.
As for the last question, the answers provided in the beginning partially or
entirely repeated; responses included attributes such as qualitative, reliable,
efficient, dutiful, respectful towards the individual and so on:
�I appreciate Scania to a certain degree for its Swedishness because I know some of the
common values in Sweden, and to a certain degree for the way it values me as its
customer.�
(Respondent 4)
5.2.2. Oriflame�s targeted customers
In this case, the respond rate was 6,08%: from approximately 1200 distributed
questionnaires, we have received 73 back. Out of this amount, 11
questionnaires were concluded after the first question since the respondents
denied any knowledge about Oriflame. Furthermore, 2 were excluded from
the investigated sample due to the fact they displayed an incomplete filling-in
procedure. The rest of 60 questionnaires proved to be valid for our research
initiative, and they formed the following taxonomy: 3 �non association�
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questionnaires, 9 �confused association� questionnaires, and 48 �obvious
association� questionnaires.
As in the case of Scania, the Oriflame �non association� questionnaires did
not relate to Sweden or Swedishness in any of the answers. The respondents
mistook the national origin of the brand, and their descriptive words did not
match the common Swedish values as described in the third chapter (see 3.1.
Sweden the brand, p. 37):
�I think it is a direct selling company� I think it is American.�
(Respondent 8)
�It [the brand] hints to luxury, to showing off, to a beauty elite.�
(Respondent 27)
We registered 9 �confused association� questionnaires mainly due to the
respondents� inability to answer questions 3 and/or 5. In some cases,
responses did not fit:
�The first time I heard about Oriflame was in Mongolia, so I connect this country with it.�
�The national origins should be Swedish if I consider their tagline: Natural Swedish
Cosmetics.�
(Respondent 14)
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�I connect Oriflame with Sweden, of course. Probably because it is a Swedish company.�
�I do not associate the product values with the Swedish ones, because I perceive Sweden
as a cold, distant, less friendly country.�
(Respondent 56)
�I connect Oriflame with Sweden because they introduce themselves like this: Natural
Swedish Cosmetics.�
�I think they are more American, for instance, because of the way they sell their
products.�
(Respondent 7)
Some respondents in this category showed a good knowledge of Oriflame, but
when it came to associating corporate brand values with the country-of-brand,
they stated their lack of knowledge with respect to Sweden and its national
values.
One interesting item of �confused association� was registered in the case of a
female respondent that asserted dissatisfaction with one of the Oriflame
products, but simultaneously she appreciated Sweden the brand for the values
it encompasses:
�No, I do not associate Oriflame with Sweden because of the bad experience I had with
their product. I believe Sweden is far better.�
(Respondent 33)
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Out of the total amount of respondents, 48 have clearly associated Oriflame
with the country-of-brand, by both acknowledging Oriflame�s national origins
and describing the country and corporate brands with the same words. In this
group, questions 3 and 5 displayed similar answers, which confirmed the
respondents� consistency. It is worth mentioning that we identified the same
word panoply since answers of different respondents overlapped in many
cases:
Natural, Closeness to nature, Environmentally friendly; Quality; Simplicity; Shy; Equality;
Concern for the other; Modern, Innovative; Swedish beauty; Pragmatism, Functional;
Cleanness; Direct, Honest etc.
(Various respondents)
However, adjectives not directly related to Sweden also occurred among the
�obvious association� group. In such cases, we evaluated the answers
according to the frequency of these less common adjectives within the same
questionnaire, as well as to their correlation with the rest of the questions.
This work procedure was considered throughout the entire data processing.
Irrespective of the respondents� acquaintance with the company�s global
presence, they first and foremost refer to it as a Swedish company/brand. The
reasons behind this attitude reside in the company�s strapline, the product
design, and the promoted values:
�Even though Oriflame is a company that exists in many countries, the
origins are very clear, and Sweden comes immediately in mind.�
(Respondent 41)
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�Their logo which states «Natural Swedish Cosmetics», the simplicity of the products�
design and even the values Oriflame stands for make me aware of them being Swedish.�
(Respondent 58)
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Chapter 6
PERCEPTIONS OF THE BRANDS
6.1. Corporate awareness of the benefits that country
brand values hold
In this section, we will revise all information concerning both Scania and
Oriflame that we have been exposed to during our research. The main goal is
to depict any detail, either explicit or hidden, that would connect the analysed
corporate brands with Sweden, and in the same time, would enlighten us with
respect to the value-transfer between the two brand types.
6.1.1. Scania in analysis
It is relevant to mention that the corporate PR representative was initially
unconscious of any influence that Sweden might have upon the company.
Yet, his awareness about the topic increased as we discussed further more. It
was his own conclusion that Swedishness is a permanent, nevertheless
unintentional state of being in Scania�s overall performance. Because of our
respondent�s somewhat contradictory positions with respect to Sweden the
brand and its correlation with the corporate one, we believe that the impacts
of the country brand values upon the corporation have hardly been considered
internally. Disclosure of all data has also provided us with the same opinion.
Scania does not employ its native country values or anything related to them
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as a planned and intentional means to promote its own brand. Whenever
something like this occurs, it is primarily a matter of innate or culturally
inherited elements.
While analysing Scania�s vision, mission and values, we have not perceived
any specific interrelation between them and the Swedish national values.
Attributes such as quality, consistency, efficiency or minimum costs are quite
frequent when it comes to official corporate statements. Yet, we believe that
any attempt to relate them with the Swedish common values (see 3.1. Sweden
the brand, p. 37) would be superficial and rather facile. These corporate goals
hold a universal significance within the business world, being stated across
industries or national borders. In our opinion, they are incorporated in the
debate concerning the social responsible role that corporations must play
nowadays.
However, among all these commonly spread values, the respect for individual
triggered more our attention as it displays a certain degree of uniqueness. This
uniqueness may reside in its connection with the Swedish background. As
stated in Scania�s core values, respect for individual has an inspirational
meaning; it hints to granting all stakeholders with increased credibility and
involvement in order to drive innovation and knowledge transfer. In its turn,
Sweden the brand strives for displaying the same values: equality and
knowledge, together with everything they encompass (see 3.1., Sweden the
brand, p. 37). Therefore, in this respect, Scania and Sweden have common
values.
In our opinion, Scania�s brand values � Trust and Pride � represent an
interesting mix of Swedishness and non-Swedishness. Trust directly connects
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to the Swedish propensity towards flat hierarchies, informality, opportunity
for everybody, equality and other as such. More precisely, trust is the
fundament of the previously mentioned values; it is both cause and effect. As
for the way the company describes Pride � superiority given by driving a
Scania truck � we perceive it as being opposed to the national orientation
towards an ordinary, non-exhibitive attitude. As described in the section
devoted to the dimensions of brand Sweden, the national tendency is to
eliminate social gaps by means of either private (personal interactions) or
public initiatives (state regulations). This induced a cult for non-
differentiation, meaning that people do not cross the collective frames of
common sense or acceptance when defining themselves as individuals:
�Everybody is different in a similar way� (Barinaga, 1999). Because of this
we perceive that Scania�s definition of Pride brings about a certain feeling of
arrogance, which contradicts the Swedish national character.
In what Scania�s brand strategy is concerned, we have comprehended it as
being consistent and unitary over time and across markets. Even though both
consistency and unity can be discussed from a national perspective, and
therefore, they may be reinforced by the Swedish mentality, we do not have
sufficient evidences to claim a relation as such. Thus, in what the overall
brand strategy is concerned, there is no element that would immediately
distinguish Scania from other companies because of its national values. Still,
strategy of any kind is the result of managerial activities within a corporation,
and for this reason, we find it important to discuss them in Scania�s context.
From this perspective, Scania�s management has been both perceived by the
researchers and presented by the corporate sources as being applied within an
integrated management system and centralised at the level of the Swedish
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headquarters in Södertälje. In our opinion, centralisation and standardisation
result from the company�s one line business production and a single brand
strategy. Main decisions regarding the company�s performances at the
corporate level are taken by a Swedish team, most probably brought up in the
Swedish management tradition, which therefore influences the way Scania�s
international companies are administrated. Influences are strengthening
during training periods since a Swedish team is based abroad to tutor the local
managers on the occasion of each new subsidiary opening. The inducement of
Swedish managerial characteristics within the corporate group may not be a
conscious act, but rather a consequence of the cultural circumstances in which
Scania evolved. The same fact sets the ground for Scania�s corporate culture,
perceived by our interviewee as identical with the Swedish one: the majority
of people are Swedish, they behave in a Swedish manner, and consequently
the corporate culture is Swedish. Due to standardised administrative methods
as well as to the permanent presence of Swedish personnel within
international units, the �Swedish Scania culture� is preserved in time and
space. The character of Scania�s leadership style and corporate culture may
induce to a certain extent the degree of �cleanness� that the brand displays in
all aspects: underlying values, visual compounds, communication materials,
etc.
Brand communication has not revealed any direct connection with the
Swedish origins either, following common patterns in terms of consistency,
integration, co-ordination, synergy, simplicity and clarity. This may be
triggered by the company�s affiliation to the business-to-business area, where
more practical features must be promoted due to the nature of the audiences:
limited number of target groups, professional customers, higher degree of
involvement in the buying process, more people involved in the buying
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process. Yet, Scania stresses the importance of an honest, sincere, respectful
and confident tone in the communication process. We associate this with a
virtually transparent behaviour on behalf of the company as a whole, and
consequently, with the natural Swedish way of being. Rejection of sexist,
discriminatory and prejudicial approaches is also included in the Swedish
social manifestation in terms of equality.
The corporation seems to place a great emphasis on the �humane� dimension
of the brand through its communication standards and stated values. We have
not envisaged the frequency of soft elements in the visible and implicit
communication of the brand, crediting more the importance of technical
information. However, this focus on the individual may be a result of the
Swedish society�s concern for the welfare of each of its members. This can
also explain the corporate expectancy for the state to provide a welfare
business environment at home, which is the only dependence on the state
entities that the company acknowledges and declares. Internationally, the
cooperation with the Swedish authorities (embassies, trade councils, etc.) is
more intense in the initial stages. This is a common practice when entering
new markets, therefore we cannot extract any explicit appeal to Sweden as a
country brand. However, the reputation the country has abroad may facilitate
awareness formation with respect to the corporate brand as well.
Scania�s brand identity displays elements of Swedishness, together with some
other more general and common components. One of the clear connections
that our interviewee makes between Scania and Sweden occurs in his
description of the brand name and logo: Scania is the Latin name for the
Swedish region of Skåne, whereas the crowned griffin is the symbol of this
county. Up to this date, the graphic display of the brand states the latter�s
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national origins. Yet, such connections with Sweden or Scandinavia are
entirely influenced by the receivers� general knowledge or by a pure
phonetically resemblance, since there is no corporate effort to emphasise such
an origin. The lack of such efforts is due to the company�s ignorance of the
Swedish background so that the customers would believe in the world of
Scania rather than the nationality of Scania; at the clients� level, no difference
should be made between a truck produced in Latin America and one produced
in Sweden itself.
Swedish natural conditions are responsible for the physical attributes of
Scania products, and thus, these are perceived as reliable and safe, meant to
overcome tough surroundings. Reliability and high safety standards are also
values of the country brand, and they are silently transferred to the corporate
one. Though not directly stated in the corporate materials, Scania�s products
are considered to be Swedish in terms of design as well. The same goes for
the communication graphical requirements, which put forward a fresh and
modern appearance. The national trend-sensitivity and openness to
innovations welcome such fresh and modern initiatives. Yet, photographs and
illustrations, for instance, are not dependent on the Swedish sceneries, but
rather adapted to local circumstances. This resonates with the company�s self-
perception as a global player within the industry, administrating a global
brand, and with its need to fit to the local set of reference and/or preference:
customers abroad might respond more easily to familiar environments and
tastes.
As one can depict from the above discourse, there are several factors, which
can connect the brand Scania to Sweden the brand. However, we have
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perceived most of them as reflections of the latter upon the first, about which
the company as a whole has little or no awareness.
A summarised list of the values Scania unawarely takes from Sweden the
brand, is provided as follows:
• Respect for individual;
• Trust;
• Swedish leadership;
• Honesty, respect, sincerity;
• Rejection of sexist, discriminatory and prejudicial approaches;
• Reliability;
• Safety standards;
• Freshness, modernity;
• Innovation, knowledge.
6.1.2. Oriflame in analysis
In this case, we could sense the presence of Sweden the brand at the level of
each methodological tool. Moreover, our interviewee � Oriflame�s brand
manager � admitted and stressed this presence in all corporate operations,
from both conscious and unconscious perspectives. His statements were
greatly supported by the printed organisational sources, in which references to
Sweden, Swedishness, and Swedes are extremely frequent despite the
company�s global performance. Allusions to the national heritage take the
form of fictitious stories derived from the Scandinavian/Swedish mythology,
or factual data about famous Swedes and the Swedish flora, to mention just a
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few. Solliden fragrance is probably the most significant example, alluding
directly to the Swedish values epitomised by the Royal Family. The
connection with the Royal Family is meant for the company to be perceived
even more as part and parcel of Swedishness. It is a matter of value, tradition
and fame transfer: from Swedish Royalties to Oriflame, and further on to final
customers. Therefore, everything connects in one way or another with the
Swedish common values, which prompted us to believe that the degree of
corporate awareness about the benefits these values bring is fairly high.
When referring to Oriflame�s business vision for the company to become the
natural first choice, everything seems to have started from a Swedish core
idea: natural. Natural ingredients, natural Swedish beauty and natural choices
in terms of cosmetics. The founders seem to have been aware of the
uniqueness of these resources, and started to capitalise on them from the very
beginning since they were perceived as a valid solution in achieving
sustainable competitive advantage. In the 60�s � the time of corporate
inception � the world witnessed extensive social movements meant to protect
the natural against all artificial manifestations. Through its vision, which
coincided with this chain of social reactions, it was easy for Oriflame to meet
the customers� needs at that time. Nowadays, Oriflame extensively employs
the country�s reputation in terms of nature and its preservation in order to
determine business leadership. At the level of corporate vision, Sweden is
involved in three aspects: closeness to nature, classical beauty, and genuine
attitudes.
The vision is carried on by the corporate mission, which refers to providing
all stakeholders with the same opportunities, and thus relates to the national
value of equality. The company perceives itself as a determinant of improved
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life conditions because of the products and job opportunities it offers. For this
reason, we believe that Oriflame is actively involved in the society, taking all
responsibilities it is exposed to as a corporate citizen. This natural interference
with the social level has occurred long before the concept of social
responsibility came into practice, which makes it more credible for the
company to act as such due to an innate belief. Of course, using direct selling
as the only distribution method triggers and facilitates this involvement; it
provides opportunities to those who previously faced professional
impediments due to education, sex or age particularities.
As in Scania�s case, Oriflame displays values, which, with one exception, fit
the national value heritage. Togetherness and spirit put forward the people�s
belief in mutual care and innovation, whereas passion is presented more as
ambition. For this reason, we believe that passion cannot be directly
integrated within the national set of common values stressed in the third
chapter. Ambition hints to the individual�s tendency for competing, which
clashes with the Swedish spirit of consensus, collaboration and coordination.
As can be depicted from the description of Sweden the brand, ambition turns
into a quality only when applied to teams, rather than to independent
individuals.
The brand strategy does not divulge specific Swedish attributes, following the
norms in the field and reacting to demands on the market.
The exclusive employment of Sales Consultants in direct selling makes the
corporate culture difficult to implement. For this reason, Oriflame appeals to
communication from inside out by organising different corporate meetings,
among which many have an informal character and can be resembled to
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unofficial parties. Although informality is contained in the Swedish value set,
this specific organisational ritual is not part of Swedishness, which draws a
clear line between public and private life, between work and interpersonal
relationships (Barinaga, 1999). Additionally, such feelings of familiarity and
belonging are revealed by the appearance of Oriflame�s interior and exterior
locations. Yet, our discussion partner stressed several times that Oriflame was
not a second family for its employees and Sales Consultants, which seems to
prove that the consciousness with respect to public vs. private is still there.
However, since Oriflame is a global company with employees and Sales
Consultants from many countries, this distinction fades away. The leadership
style is more prominently Swedish due to the trustful atmosphere it promotes,
as well as the lack of numerous power levels and of bureaucracy. Sales
Consultants are �managers� in their turn, being given the opportunity to take
their own decisions and to innovate. Yet, these managerial attributes are taken
to the extreme (particularly in the Sales Consultants� case) because of the
direct selling practice that the company employs.
Oriflame�s operating principles � respect for environment, customer focus,
care for people, sustainability � are similar to those in Scania irrespective of
the complete different business and industrial character of the two companies.
Again, the humane orientation is put forward, maybe more predictable in
Oriflame�s case than in Scania�s due to its product category. However, this
similarity across industries offers a glimpse over the general principles that
guide the Swedish way of doing business. Thus, in both cases, brands are
extremely humanised, which denotes the attention given to people in the
business process.
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As for the proper communication instruments, they are either standardised as
in the case of catalogues or differentiated according to the various
geographical markets as in the case of other advertisements. Similarly to
Scania, this partial localisation of communication is meant to provide a better
identification at the customer level.
Oriflame�s brand identity heritage is entirely pronounced as Swedish. This is
stated from the very beginning due to the corporate strapline: Natural Swedish
Cosmetics. This expression embodies the essence of Oriflame: its business
idea (natural in all aspects), its culture and mentality (Swedish in all aspects),
and its area of expertise (cosmetics). This association of terms provides the
company with the desired uniqueness. The corporate representatives have
taken a conscious decision when deciding to capitalise on Sweden the brand,
fact which is supported by the change occurred in straplines: from �More than
Beauty� (the original strapline) to �Natural Swedish Cosmetics�. The latter
represents a more than clear reference to the brand origins, and it provides no
chance for confusions. Moreover, the customers are guided in making the
right and most beneficial associations between the company and its native
country. This open explanation is a way of avoiding the formation of
stereotypes in customers� minds; it is a way of directing their thoughts
towards the well-established country brand values.
The corporate logo is simple and nevertheless modern, hinting to the
company�s dynamism. Moreover, it displays a certain degree of feminity, a
completely understandable detail considering the industry in which the
company functions. Simplicity can be explained as a result of the corporate
need to draw attention and make an impact on a customer who is exposed to
an ever-increasing number of promotional elements every day. Swedishness
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may have an insignificant importance in this case. In our opinion, it goes the
same for Oriflame�s dynamism, perceived as a requirement to survive on the
current business scene. However, the Swedish tendency to go ahead times
through the importance placed on innovation and research may positively
affect this dynamism and reinforce it to reach maximum levels.
As for photographs and illustrations, they are also stated to connect with the
Swedish ideals. If models can be adapted to fit the local physical appearance,
photographs of natural sceneries are always taken in an explicit Swedish
context: yellow fields and blue sky, red houses, birch trees, winter landscapes
and so on. Photographs from the four different categories � people, models,
nature, and products � are always combined � and therefore, at least one
reference to Sweden and its natural treasures is always present in the same
attempt to display to customers values of the country brand that are associated
later with the corporate brand.
Design of both products and communication materials is also an important
element that states the company�s Swedishness. Oriflame�s desire to convey
the qualities of Swedish design by combining functionality with simplicity,
elegance with informality, and the respect for materials with that for
resources, is extremely obvious. It is a matter of claiming the success of the
Swedish style in this respect, and also of placing the brand within this
tradition. All qualities mentioned previously are part of the national value set.
In conclusion, it has been explicitly stated by our Oriflame sources that
Sweden the brand represents an important driver of the company�s
profitability due to the competitive advantage it offers. Our perception and the
analysis of corporate data confirm this surmise. The influence of the country
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brand on the corporate one occurs in the presence of corporate awareness as
well as in a latent form. By acknowledging this, the corporate representatives
display a high degree of awareness concerning the value-transfer.
A summarized list of the values Oriflame takes from Sweden the brand, is
provided as follows:
• Nature;
• Classical beauty, elegance;
• Genuine attitudes;
• Opportunities for everybody;
• Social involvement;
• Mutual care;
• Innovation, dynamism;
• Swedish leadership, informality;
• Simplicity;
• Functionality.
6.2. Audiences� perceptions
As previously stated, the second dimension of The Value-Transfer Window is
concerned with the degrees of strength that the audiences� associations
display, more precisely with the extent the respondents associate the corporate
brands with Sweden the brand. In our model this can be translated in terms of
associations and non-associations. From the respondents� standpoint, we
consider that �confused associations� and �non-associations� form the latter
group. Again, the questionnaires were meant for us to be able to place the
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analysed companies within our model. Irrespective of the sample limitation,
they provide a clear glimpse of the audiences� perspectives on the value-
transfer.
In Scania�s case, 85% of the respondents � managers of transport companies �
performed a convinced association between the two brands. The high level of
the measured variable can be explained due to several factors:
• Business-to-business operations, which trigger the respondents� higher
level of professionalism and the requirement to both possess and administrate
important information in their activity;
• Due to its performances over time, Scania is a worldwide brand in the
field of heavy and public transport vehicles. Among the eight European heavy
vehicle manufacturers, Scania is on the 3rd position in terms of market share
(http://www.acea.be/ASB/ASBv1_1.nsf). The limited number of truck
producers increases Scania�s brand visibility as well;
• Scania�s products are regarded as industrial goods for investment
purposes and therefore, the buying process is different than that of consumer
goods; it implies higher involvement of both parties: producer/distributors and
clients, so the latter learn background details about the brand they acquire. For
this reason, features derived from the Swedish origins may play a major role
in vendor selection.
Considering all this, we conclude that Scania is associated with Sweden in the
customers� perception. We will provide as follows the summarised list of the
values that the respondents identified with both Scania and Sweden:
• Quality;
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• Reliability;
• Safety standards;
• Trustworthy;
• Technologically advanced;
• Efficient, Professional;
• Rational;
• Commitment;
• Continuity.
As for Oriflame, 80% of the respondents asserted their knowledge about the
corporation being Swedish and displaying Swedish values. In this case, we
believe that the high level of association is given by the company�s
continuous and unreserved efforts to relate to its Swedishness. For this reason,
it is inevitably that the target groups associate Oriflame with Sweden, and we
will provide hereby the summarised list of those Swedish values they
perceived in the corporate brand:
• Natural, Closeness to nature, Environmentally friendly;
• Quality;
• Simplicity, Shyness;
• Equality;
• Concern for the other;
• Modern, Innovative;
• Cleanness;
• Swedish beauty;
• Pragmatism, Functional;
• Direct, Honest.
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In Oriflame�s context, it is more important for us and for the readers to
understand why from the total of 60 questionnaires, 12 were either �non-� or
�confused associations�.
We believe that �non-association� questionnaires occurred due to reasons
such as:
• Preconceptions with respect to the practice of direct selling since one of
the respondents perceived it to be a traditional and common American
distribution channel;
• Confusion with other cosmetic companies that may employ the same
business practice;
• Low exposure and low interest in cosmetics because of personal
variables (age, gender, economic circumstances, life-style), as well as
psychological variables (motivation, perception, beliefs and attitudes).
Nine respondents were categorised in the group of �confused associations�,
which can be caused by:
• Label placed on direct selling as an American tradition;
• Lack of extensive knowledge about Sweden, due to which respondents
could not attach any attributes to this country, and therefore, could not
associate the two brands;
• Previous experiences (i.e. first exposure to the corporate brand) that
connect Oriflame with other locations (i.e. the native country);
• Bad experiences in terms of Oriflame products, which may not fit the
general positive image that the country has for a certain person, and therefore
she/he rejects any associations between the two brands;
112
• Stereotypes or preconceptions about Sweden and/or cosmetics
generally speaking, which lead to potentially negative associations between
the corporate brand and the country one (see 2.4. Our modelling, discussion
on the second dimension of the model, p. 31). For example, attributes as
�cold� and �unfriendly� with respect to Sweden are personal evaluations, not
in the least values included in the country brand. Precisely for this reason, we
labelled such personal judgements as being �confused�.
In conclusion, both companies were associated by our respondents with their
country of inception. Moreover, in many cases, those who answered our
questionnaires used the same words when defining Scania/Oriflame and
Sweden.
6.3. Opening the Value-Transfer Window
We have reached the point to integrate both dimensions discussed so far �
corporate awareness and audiences� perceptions about the value-transfer � in
our research model. By this, we will answer the research questions prompted
in the beginning of our thesis.
• What form takes the value-transfer process from Sweden the brand to
Scania/Oriflame brands?
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Scania: 2nd quadrant
Our research of the internal corporate dimension proves that Scania is
unaware of the benefits that the country brand values hold for its own brand.
In the same time, research on audiences� associations regarding the two types
of brands reveals that they perform such connections. Under these
circumstances, we place Scania in the 2nd quadrant: Spontaneous value-
transfer. In this case, the corporation does not invest in marketing its brand in
association with the country brand. Yet, audiences still perform such
associations due to the strong character of both brands, which in turn involves
a more extensive knowledge about them. Consequently, Scania�s brand
passively benefits from some values of the country brand.
Corporate awareness of the benefits that the country brand values hold
AWARE UNAWARE
ASS
OC
IAT
ED
1. Obvious value-
transfer
ORIFLAME
2. Spontaneous value-
transfer
SCANIA
Aud
ienc
es�
perc
eptio
ns
NO
N-A
SSO
CIA
TE
D
3.Un(der)developed
value-transfer4.Latent value-transfer
Fig. 13: The Value-Transfer WindowPlacement of Scania and Oriflame within the model
Source: own design
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Oriflame: 1st quadrant
As for Oriflame, the corporation is aware of the national values that can
contribute to the development of its own brand, and simultaneously audiences
associate some of these values with the corporate brand. Therefore, we place
Oriflame in the 1st quadrant: Obvious value-transfer. Oriflame invests
extensively in maintaining and intensifying the associations by actively using
denotations regarding its Swedishness.
• Which Swedish values are transferred to Scania/Oriflame and
acknowledged by the audiences?
For each company, we have presented in section 6.2. two separate lists of
values: the first consist of those national common values that companies in
our study incorporated in their brands in one way or another, whereas the
second contain the values that audiences associated with both the country
brand and its corporate subordinates. The two tables below (Table 3, Table 4)
integrate these two lists in each company�s case, and highlight the values that
correspond (bold fonts). For both research objects, we used the Swedish value
set (see 3.1. Sweden the brand, p. 37) as a reference for performing the
matching.
As shown in the first table (Table 3), the values that match outnumber those
that do not, which proves that the audiences not only associate Scania with
Sweden, but also perceive a consistent value transfer between them. Our
respondents used the bolded values placed in the audiences� column for both
Scania and Sweden. It is an interesting research result that the inner corporate
perspective (brand identity) is the same as the outer perspective (brand
image), since the analysis we performed on Scania�s brand revealed almost
115
the same set of values as respondents listed, and the two columns match. In
Scania�s case this result also attests the strength of Sweden the brand,
explicitly because Scania does not plan anything ahead in order to drive
audiences� associations.
Table 3: Scania, Transferred valuesCOUNTRY BRAND VALUES
TRANSFERRED TO THE CORPORATE BRAND
AUDIENCES� PERCEPTIONS OF TRANSFERRED VALUES
Respect for individual Commitment
Trust
Honesty, respect, sincerityTrustworthy
Safety Safety standards
Reliability Reliability
Innovation, knowledge
Freshness, modernityTechnological advancement
Cleanness derived from leadership Efficiency, Professionalism
Rejection of any discriminations Rationality
Quality
ContinuitySource: own design
There are some values derived from the country brand � cleanness inferred
from Swedish leadership and rejection of any discriminations � that Scania
seems to unconsciously incorporate in its own brand, and yet, the audiences
do not perceive. The reason for this to happen is that such values are hardly
accessible to external publics if surmised from management, or they are not
easily perceptible if lowly connected with the company itself. Other values
such as efficiency or quality are connected to Scania and Sweden, even
though they have a higher degree of generability and common sense and
would apply to other countries as well. In contrast, the values that are placed
in both columns hold a unique Swedish character, which hints again to the
efficiency of the country brand. Such reasoning applies to Oriflame as well.
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Oriflame is extensively associated with Sweden the brand. The two lists
integrated in Table 4 overlap almost completely. In this case, such
consistency was more predictable due to Oriflame�s clear reference to its
Swedishness and precise guidance to those Swedish values it employs.
Table 4: Oriflame, Transferred valuesCOUNTRY BRAND VALUES
TRANSFERRED TO THE CORPORATE BRAND
AUDIENCES� PERCEPTIONS OF TRANSFERRED VALUES
Nature Nature, Environment
Classical beauty, elegance Swedish beauty
Genuine attitudes Direct attitudes, Honesty
Opportunities for everybody Equality
Social involvement
Mutual careConcern for the other
Innovation, dynamism Modernity, Innovations
Functionality Pragmatism, Functionality
Simplicity Simplicity, Shyness
Informality derived from leadership Quality
CleannessSource: own design
The two tables are similar with respect to the values they consist, which
confirms Sweden as an umbrella brand for the corporate ones. Moreover, it
denotes that the country-brand is effectively promoted and enjoys a high
degree of acceptance, since the companies incorporate them either
consciously or unconsciously, and international audiences prove to have
knowledge of them. A few distinctions between listed values in both tables
appear due to the different industries the companies function in: safety
standards, reliability for Scania; significance of nature, beauty and elegance
for Oriflame. However, due to their frequent occurrence, we see the values
that repeat in both tables as being more unique for Sweden in comparison to
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other countries, and having a higher degree of prominence in comparison to
the other values from the Swedish value set used in our research.
6.4. Research conclusions
We have the concept of country brand as departure point in our research
journey. For this reason, the final research conclusions will evolve from the
same idea.
Scania and Oriflame function in totally different industries and businesses �
on one hand, heavy vehicles and B2B, and on the other, cosmetics and B2C �
which is deeply reflected on both corporate brands. Despite these
dissimilarities, Sweden the brand succeeds in covering and supporting both of
them. From this reason, we believe that this country is an umbrella brand with
an apparently complete set of values to serve the purposes of any
product/service brand. All values that Sweden the brand encompasses are
human-oriented, so once internalised by the companies, they may assist these
in facing the shift of nowadays economy from a pragmatic to an abstract,
more esthetical perspective. Due to its business characteristics, Scania could
capitalise on them more.
Scania already possesses the �brandground� to start increasing internal
awareness about the country brand values, since the audiences perform
associations between the two of them. Judging our interviewee�s reaction, we
believe that, once confronted with the issue, the corporate representatives will
admit the value-transfer. Further on, it is merely a matter of capitalising on
them. Currently, their Swedishness and everything it stands for are basic
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assumptions, which run their processes inside the organisation without being
thought of or acknowledged by the employees.
The company�s current problem regarding preconceptions about trucks
produced in other parts of the world in comparison with those produced in
Sweden, can be better managed by appealing to the country brand, instead of
reducing its visibility. Which the company is presently trying to do� Stigmas
with respect to Brazilian Scania trucks, for instance, will always be there
irrespective of erased Swedishness. Always, or at least until Brazil becomes a
strong country brand itself. However, up to that moment, Scania can reduce
the image of Brazil by arguing its Swedishness; doubts and confusions will be
eliminated in this way!
Under these circumstances, we believe that the country brand values may
support Scania in its globalisation efforts, rather than hinder such
international extensions. On the global arena, Swedishness can provide
differentiation in achieving sustained competitive advantage through its value,
rareness, low degree of imitation and substitution. Significant in this sense is
Oriflame�s case, for which the pronounced Swedish national values have
always been there to assist the company when entering new markets, and to
ensure high levels of market share. In Russia (respectively the countries
within the Commonwealth of Independent States) � Oriflame�s most
prominent market � the company bets on its origins and the values they imply
in order to be associated with the Swedish Western style.
In comparison with Scania, Oriflame might have enjoyed more favourable
external circumstances to acknowledge the country brand values. Among
these factors, one can mention:
119
• The fame that the classical Swedish beauty gained worldwide during
the 1960�s mainly because of the professional recognition of actresses such as
Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo;
• The need to counterbalance the �popular� belief that most cosmetics
have a �Made in France� or �Made in Italy� label. Because of this, Oriflame
needed an umbrella entity to support its own brand. Sweden seemed the most
appropriate one, especially when correlated with the concept of classical
beauty;
• Commercialising cosmetics primarily to a female target group
determined Oriflame to promote unique softer values, which would display
less superficiality. The company may have needed to reduce the common
preconception that cosmetics are only about appearance in order to survive on
the market. For this reason, its self-connection with Sweden might have been
regarded as one of the proper ways to handle this. Additionally, the business
is regarded as a short-term business, which demands correlation with
traditional values as stable points of reference;
• The cosmetics industry has always been populated with a lot of players,
so appealing to national values was a manner to lose the anonymity.
Moreover, not many cosmetics companies have originated in Sweden, where
traditionally such products were manufactured and sold in pharmacies
(Mattias Borjesson, Brand manager, Oriflame). As for the consumers, the
exposure to a great many products of this type requires an increased need for
background information.
Similar reasons can be applied to other companies in other industries as well,
so they might also consider capitalising on the country brand values to
increase recognition of their own brands.
120
We have focused until now only on the first dimension of the model and on
its degrees of awareness. In the following section, we will conclude the results
provided by the international respondents. As previously mentioned, the main
reason that generated associations in both cases, irrespective of the
companies� awareness, is the prominence of Sweden the brand. The country
brand is coherently articulated and promoted to external publics so that they
would become aware of its values. Externally, Sweden holds the attention and
provides an example to follow in terms of high life standards. Thus, its
reputation pierces through the corporations, leaves its traces there to finally
impact audiences with the same strength. Due to the in-depth analysis we
have performed on the first dimension of our model, the matter of companies�
awareness is hard to be questioned. However, if the respondents had not
performed associations in case of extended questionnaire procedure, then we
would have placed the corporations in the 3rd, respectively 4th quadrant.
Consequently, implications with respect to corporate marketing efforts and/or
to the prominence of the country brand would have altered.
In the final part of this section, we will focus on the implications of
�obvious�, respectively �spontaneous value-transfer� by formulating
recommendations for the analysed companies.
In Scania�s case, �spontaneous� hints to passive benefits, because the Swedish
common values are influencing the company apart from the latter�s
acknowledgement and involvement. Currently, the audiences seem to
associate the two brand entities and to perform value transfers. In case such
associations are not exploited and reinforced, their benefits may diminish in
time because they will become habitual. Moreover, an indifferent position
with respect to them would leave space to stereotype and preconception
121
creation, which can have negative effects for the corporate brand. Moving to
the 1st quadrant of the model before Volvo � its main competitor, also a
Swedish company � Scania could enjoy earlier the guarantees offered by the
�celebrity� Sweden. There would not be any other �Swedish truck
manufacturer� in the global heavy vehicle industry, which definitely
represents a source of competitive advantage. It will further consolidate
Scania�s brand and position it on even higher levels of recognition. This shift
towards an �obvious value transfer� does not imply extensive corporate
marketing investments. As proved by our research, Scania�s brand essentials
are already connected to Sweden, and thus, it is merely a matter of admitting
this connection and speaking it loud in corporate communication tools.
Oriflame�s stated financial benefits, resulted from the association with the
country brand, prove that its position in the model is justified. �Obvious�
hints in this case to the corporate brand�s permanent interdependence with its
Swedish heritage. Within the company, this interdependence displays its role
both on a deeper level in what brand essence is concerned, as well as in a
straight commercial manner. The company�s efforts in this sense are
competent since the audiences respond the way the company desires them to.
The only suggestion in this case is for Oriflame to search and experiment
connections with other values of the country brand also, so that new unique
elements can be added to the corporate brand.
Simultaneously with reinforcing its own brand, Oriflame contributes to
increasing awareness about the country brand worldwide. The reverse
advantages � from the corporate brand to the country brand � will be touched
upon in the final remarks of this paper.
122
The relevance of the Value-Transfer Window resides in providing managers
with a unique solution for better positioning and differentiating their corporate
brands. Why unique? Because country-brands differ completely or partially in
terms of the sets of values they hold, and therefore, they can be the source of
differentiation for companies with distinct ethnical backgrounds within the
same global competitive arena. It is first and foremost a matter of self-
reflexivity in the sense of understanding and discovering corporate brands in
relation with nationality in order to reveal what they are and what they can
become. Opening this Window implies opening the way to new marketing
opportunities.
Moreover, focusing on unspoken elements that are hidden by entrenched
ways of thinking such as the country brand values, can dispute the categories
into which people place the corporate brands by means of subjective
judgements, preconceived ideas or stereotypes. That is: by capitalising
appropriately on the national values, companies can counterbalance negative
associations that customers may develop irrespective of country-brand truths.
Understanding in which of the four quadrants are placed, companies become
also aware of the strategic steps they have to take in order to enjoy the
benefits of capitalising on the country-brand values. Doing so, companies
increase the country-brand�s power as well; the more companies are placed in
the first two quadrants, the stronger is the country-brand.
123
Chapter 7
�BRAND EXTENSIONS�
The final chapter of our thesis is devoted to potential �extensions� that our
topic may bring up. We will provide the readers with some final remarks to
support the relevance of the research. Moreover, we will briefly discuss the
reverse advantage of the value-transfer, namely the benefits Sweden has from
its brand subordinates. In connection with this final aspect, we will end our
dissertation with a call for further research.
7.1. Final remarks: relevance and limitations
As defined in the theoretical chapter, brand equity is the reflection of how
powerful and influential a certain brand is in the publics� eyes. It refers,
among others, to the associations that may occur between two brands, which
work to potent each other. Since the national background is part of the
essence of any corporate brand, we believe that brand equity increases when
associations with a strong country brand arise.
The Value-Transfer Window reveals the circumstances of the value-transfer
between a strong country brand and corporate brands: from a hidden relation
to an obvious one, going through underdeveloped and instinctive phases. The
model allows companies to discover the bond their corporate brands have
with the all-embracing country brand. It sets the ground to proceed in making
future strategic brand decisions, and by this, it opens new perspectives on how
124
to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The model is also a reflection
of how strong the country brand is, because the more companies are placed in
the 1st quadrant: Obvious value-transfer, the stronger the country brand. The
phenomenon is also reverse: the stronger the country brand, more companies
would like to be associated with it.
As for the limitations of the model, they result precisely from its dependence
on the consistency between the identity and the image of the country brand.
We have previously mentioned in our discourse that such consistency is the
attribute of strong country brands. A subsequent limitation is that we have
only considered values, and not other cultural labels generated through
subjective judgements. Yet, this can be explained by referring to the departure
point we chose: the strong country brand values, and the way audiences
perceive them in correlation with the corporate ones. The Swedish value list
we have exclusively referred to along our analysis might be considered as a
limitation.
The relevance of the paper resides in bringing forth the concept of country
brand. Within this broader context, it brings knowledge to both academics and
practitioners about the positive economic outcomes generated by the
relationship between strong country brands and their corporate ones. The
issue of country and corporate brands compositioning has hardly been
approached in specialised literature, and therefore, our work is a source of
inspiration for those managers who realise that they can consolidate corporate
brands by capitalising more on the brand national background.
Further effects of the paper include raising understanding with respect to
issues such as the following:
125
• The transition from the concept of �country-of-origin� to that of
�country-of-brand�. Many companies shift their production lines in other
countries, therefore the distinction between these two concepts is relevant
since the brand remains the only reference to the national origins;
• In case of strong country brands, national origins are not an impediment
for globalisation. On the contrary. In a world where products and companies
are more and more alike, and simultaneously, consumers� awareness and
involvement increase, brand origins may turn into one of the few attributes of
differentiation. Provided that the associated country brand enjoys favourable
public reactions, the corporate and brand globalisation will not be jeopardised
by marketed national origins;
• Irrespective of the global character of the companies, associations with
their national background in terms of either values or stereotypes are a fact
(Goodchild, & Callow, 2001). It is better to capitalise on values, than to leave
place for negative stereotypes and preconceived ideas;
• Within the postmodern economy, soft capital in terms of values is
necessary. Country brands can provide corporations with the needed resources
in this respect;
• Country and corporate brand compositioning is a matter of mutual
growth.
The limitations of the paper are methodology-related in terms of the tools
used to collect data (especially the sampling procedure) and of the potentially
biased interpretations (which cannot be completely omitted in hermeneutic
approaches).
126
7.2. The reverse route of the value-transfer
The same as corporations� capitalising on those national features that suit
their case, country brands may also undergo updating processes with respect
to their value set by adopting and/or adapting values embodied in commercial
brands. The route of the value-transfer was encompassed in our general
research model, but yet, not analysed in the present paper. We consider it as
having an increased significance because a country brand and its corporate
subordinates are consisted in a self-perpetuating and mutually-potenting
cycle.
As people are ambassadors of their native countries when travelling abroad,
companies and their commercial outputs have the same role within the
business international arena. It is primarily a matter of increased reputation.
Moreover, in certain cases, it has been proved that the corporate performances
lay the basis for initiating the necessary stream of thought to develop a
country brand. In this process, corporations can provide governments with the
marketing know-how to take the first and right steps in branding issues.
7.3. Call for further research
Considering the model and paper limitations we have previously mentioned,
further research would drive a complete view on this topic or related ones. In
order to test the findings statistically, the use of a more precise and extensive
sampling procedure would be welcomed, particularly by combining the
present research methodological approach with quantitative instruments.
127
As for the research essences, one significant issue is the different degrees of
public awareness that country and corporate brands display. How would they
affect each other? What would be the changes in the value-transfer form and
how would it evolve? Having in mind the Value-Transfer Window, we see
three possible situations besides the one already discussed in the present
thesis:
• Strong corporate brand � strong country brand: this combination is
described in the present research;
• Weak corporate brand � strong country brand: in this case, corporate
brands would benefit extensively by having the audiences associate with the
country brand. This can apply, for instance, to the brands of small and
medium enterprises going international, or to those strong corporate brands
that are temporarily undergoing a crisis;
• Strong corporate brand � weak country brand: in this case, corporations
do not have benefits on the short term by using the national origins as a
reference. However, companies would contribute to the development of the
country brand by capitalising on those national values that suit their profile. In
time, the strengthening of the country brand will pay back;
• Weak corporate brand � weak country brand: the building up of brand
awareness and identification goes simultaneously for corporations and their
native country. It is a matter of voluntary and motivated cooperation on a
national holistic level: governments, industries, and society.
Keeping in mind our general research model as well as the brief discussion
from section 7.2., we believe that further study can be performed with regard
to the reverse route of the value-transfer too (see 7.2. The reverse route of the
Value-transfer, p. 126).
128
The audiences� dimension may also form the subject of future research
efforts. Our paper focuses exclusively on international audiences. However, it
would be interesting to see the relation between the two types of brands in the
eyes of national consumers. In this case, the association between the national
values and the corporate ones may prove beneficial in competing
internationally at home, especially in countries where there is a tendency for
people to prefer national brands to any other.
Last but not the least, another issue to research consists of the extension of the
model so that it would include also the negative associations resulted from
stereotypes or preconceived ideas. From this point of view, a theoretical
model for balancing negative associations with the country-of-brand would be
beneficial for corporations.
We believe that the present thesis holds the competence to open new research
initiatives, and awaits for further contributions.
129
Appendix 1: Interview draft
Introduction• Please describe your position and the responsibilities you have within the company.• Please describe the brand management procedures (a special department, brand managers, external resources to promote the brand, etc.)• Can you define the management style that Scania/Oriflame displays both within the national borders and outside?• Can you provide us with data about net sales at the corporate level in what the automotive/cosmetics branch is concerned?
Scania/Oriflame brand• Please describe the brand (product/ corporate brand, brand name, features, logo, values, etc.)• Please define the target group(s) and the markets for the main products.• Please describe the brand equity (in comparison to the competitors).• What differentiate Scania/Oriflame from the competitors?• How does outsourcing affect the brand?• Can you please talk about Scania�s/Oriflame�s brand extensions?• In your opinion, could Scania/Oriflame be seen as an �employer brand�?• In your opinion, is Scania/Oriflame perceived as a Swedish brand (within Sweden and abroad)?• How has been the brand changed to meet customers� needs? Is Scania/Oriflame a unitary brand or adapted to each market?• Scania/Oriflame describes itself as a global company with a global brand. How does globalisation influence the brand?• As a Swede, can you please mention some of the most important national values? Do they connect them in any way with those you have been exposed to in Scania/Oriflame?• From your position, have you ever witnessed a value transfer between Sweden as a country brand and Scania/Oriflame as a corporate brand? Do you think this transfer is accidental or intentional?• Do you have any knowledge whether and how state authorities use Scania/Oriflame brand to promote the country image?
130
Brand management• Can you please define your brand strategy?• What do you choose to communicate to defined targets: abstract values and/or technical features?• Please describe the communication channels you use. • How often does Scania/Oriflame initiate a promotion campaign? For what purposes (positioning, re-positioning, maintaining awareness etc.)• Is the brand strategy standardised across countries? Is brand communication the same in all countries where Scania/Oriflame operates?• For the purpose of our thesis, we would greatly appreciate if you could provide us with as many �communication materials� as possible (media archives, printed advertisements, video presentations etc.)
We are grateful for your support and cooperation.
131
Appendix 2: Scania questionnaire
We are two international students studying a Master in Business Administration at Linköping University, Sweden. We are currently working on our Master Thesis, which deals with the issue of brand management. We have chosen Scania as a study case. It would be very valuable for us if you could take the time to answer the following questions.
1. Would you please write 3 words that best describe SCANIA, as youperceive it?
2. Which country can you connect SCANIA with? Explain your choice.
3. Do you know the national origin of SCANIA? Which is this?
4. Do you associate characteristics of the country of brand (that is the brand nationality) with the SCANIA brand? Which are these?
Thank you for your support!
132
Appendix 3: Oriflame questionnaire
We are two international students studying a Master in Business Administration at Linköping University. We are currently working on our Master Thesis, which deals with the issue of brand management. It would be very valuable for us if you could take the time to answer the following questions.
1. Do you have any knowledge about what Oriflame is? If yes, proceed with the following questions! If not, there is no need to go further on.
2. Would you please write 3 words that best describe ORIFLAME, as you perceive it?
3. Which country can you connect ORIFLAME with? Explain your choice.
4. Do you know the national origins of ORIFLAME? Which is this?
5. Do you associate characteristics of the country of origin with the ORIFLAME brand? Which are these?
Thank you for your support!
133
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WEB SITES
ORIFLAME, www.oriflame.comSCANIA, www.scania.com
Branding UK, 2003 http://www.uitp.com/mediaroom/janv_2003/Branding_UK.pdf
Building Brands, 2004http://www.buildingbrands.com
DNA Designhttp://www.allaboutbranding.com
European Automobile Manufacturers Associationhttp://www.acea.be
Free Encyclopediahttp://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
Interbrandhttp://www.interbrand.com
Invest in Sweden Agencyhttp://www.isa.se
Oecd Observerhttp://www.oecdobserver.org
Oxford Dictionary Onlinehttp://www.oup.com
Placebrands Ltd., 2003www.placebrands.com
Scandinavian design, 2004http://www.scandinaviandesign.com
Statistika Centralbyrånhttp://www.scb.se
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The Swedish National Social Insurance Officewww.forsakringskassan.se
The Swedish Trade Councilhttp://www.swedishtrade.se
The Swedish Tourist and Travel Councilhttp://www.swetourism.se/Engelska/Engindex.htmhttp://www.visit- sweden.com
World Tourism Barometer, World Tourism Organisationhttp://www.world-tourism.org
All Internet sources have been constantly accessed between October-December 2004.
