The outcomes of positive brand equity include: greater loyalty, larger margins and less vulnerability to competition. Anderson et al (2009) add that companies build brand equity for their market offerings through superior functionality and performance.
The major assets of brand equity elaborated by Aaker (1996) as brand name awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand associations are discussed in the following sections in detail.
- Brand Name Awareness and Brand Loyalty
Aaker (2009), Keller (2008) et al. define brand awareness as the strength of a brand’s presence in the consumer’s mind and ability to recall or recognise the brand under different conditions. Kurtz and Boone (2006), Aaker (2009) stress that familiarity and acceptance of brand by customers are critical to brand image. Armstrong and Kotler (2009) put accent on the importance of creating awareness, brand knowledge and building brand preference periodically. However, they (2009) note that brand name is not maintained through advertising, but by personal brand experience. According to Armstrong and Kotler (2009) the desirable qualities for a brand name include: (a) It should suggest something about the product’s benefits and qualities; (b) It should be easy to pronounce, recognise and remember; (c) It should be distinctive; (d) It should be extendable; (e) The name should translate easily into foreign languages; (f) It should be capable of registration and legal protection.
Bolashak may achieve brand recognition through a heavy advertising campaign in the UK press which targets new potential customers. However, the customers who have known the company in the past may also be considered as potential customers with past exposure. The study has demonstrated that the familiar brand will have an edge over the competition, when a brand choice is made between familiar or new brand. This can lead to brand preference, the second level of brand loyalty.
As Armstrong and Kotler (2009), Keller (2008) state that the fundamental asset underlying brand equity is – customer equity, the value of the customer relationships that the brand creates. Bolashak needs to think of itself as portfolios of customers and build customer equity using brand management as a marketing tool.
- Perceived Quality and Brand Associations
Armstrong and Kotler (2009) state that successful brands engage customers on a deep, emotional level rather than relying on tangible attributes’ of product and services. Aaker (2009) adds that perceived quality is linked to brand association overall. Perceived quality is the major part of branding strategy and has been shown to drive the financial performance of the company. To achieve the perceived quality Bolashak needs to understand what quality means to its customers, as well as a quality control process to enable the company to deliver quality services. Aaker (2009) emphasises that along with quality, it is important to create perceptions, as perceived quality may differ from actual quality.
Branding Strategies
In today’s global business environment brand builders face challenges on more strategic levels than ever. The importance of brand is better understood, and the implications are tightly linked to the bottom line with a meaningful future level of sales and profits (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2000; Davis and Dunn, 2002). The studies undertaken by marketing companies show that 96 per cent of senior executives rated the importance of brand building as the vital part of a company’s future success (Davis and Dunn, 2002). In addition, another study undertaken by Prophet Marketing Group (2009) shows that branding takes the strategic root placing emphases on differentiation, customer loyalty and establishing market leadership.
According to the literature review the proposed models of branding strategies are mostly biased towards product branding. Armstrong and Kotler (2009) propose that companies can introduce four types of strategies in order to develop their brands (see Figure 2.1). Line extension as a low-cost, low-risk way of introducing with existing brand name, occurs when a company extends its product category. It is mostly peculiar to product category rather than services. The disadvantage of the line extension is that overextended brand name can cause consumer confusion and lose its specific meaning.
The subject matter of the research is how Bolashak is intending to use its branding strategy when entering a foreign market. In accord with the proposed branding strategies by Armstrong and Kotler (2009), Bolashak is likely to enter the UK market, by implementing brand extension strategy using an existing brand name to cater for new market needs. Geographical brand extension strategy is a demanding task and needs to be undertaken with due care (Gelder, 2005).
Gelder (2005) states that even strong brands may face limits to their expansion in the markets where they operate. Inevitably, it is important to consider these barriers and the pressures companies may face when they build brands in strategic terms. These are discussed in section 2.6.4, after having considered the theory on brand extension strategy to enter a foreign market.
Figure 2.1 Brand development strategies
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Armstrong and Kotler (2009)
- Brand Extension Strategy
Brand as a valuable asset that an organisation possesses, is the face of a business strategy. It requires considerable effort to build a brand and companies are required to take strategic decisions to enter a new market. Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000) suggest that brand extensions help fulfil two objectives: leveraging brand assets, and creating synergy by generating brand exposures. They (2000) emphasise that the brand should only travel where it can add value, and where the new association enhances its equity.
To summarise, branding is one of the important individual product decisions organisation takes which includes building and managing a brand throughout the product life. Thus, upon the development of a brand extension strategy into a foreign market Bolashak needs to manage branding strategies throughout the product life. The literature review on building and managing brand is provided in section 2.6.3.
- How Brand Extension Can Be Used To Enter a Foreign Market
Although the home market is safer to operate, it does not provide as rich opportunities as the international market. Foreign firms are expanding aggressively into international markets intensifying the competition (Kotler et al, 2008). Hollis (2008) describes global brand as “the brand that has transcended its cultural origins to develop strong relationships with consumers across different countries and cultures”. Kotler et al (2008) describe that global branding results in greater brand power and reduced costs from economies of scale. Due to the intensity and an international coverage of the industry, the recruitment industry is particularly at risk from foreign competition.
Deciding Which Markets to Enter
According to Hollensen (2007) global marketing is “finding and satisfying global customer needs better than the competition”. He (2007) further notes that the degree of preparedness depends on the company’s ability “to carry out strategies in the international marketplace”. Hollensen (2007) suggests that the well-prepared company (mature) has a good basis for dominating the international markets and will consequently gain higher market share. However, Solberg (1997) argues that with a weak position in the home market there is little reason for a company to engage in international markets (see Hollensen, 2007). He suggests that the company instead needs to improve its performance in the home market. Nine strategic options available for a company to make a decision of preparedness for internationalisation are illustrated in Figure 2.2 based on Hollensen (2007).
The study undertaken by De Mooji (2003) states that several aspects of branding vary by culture. A survey questioned people from 18 different countries in Europe which brands they trust most in 18 different categories. The questionnaire included the questions related to probability of buying unknown brands. The study found that in individualist cultures (Western phenomena) people are more likely to buy unknown brands than in collectivist cultures (Asian phenomena).
Bolashak operates in adolescent recruitment market in the home country which can be considered for about 10-15 years of development; however the oil and gas recruitment industry is at a potentially global stage. The main headquarters of client companies and main customers are situated in the UK as well as the offices of major competitors. Due to the above mentioned reasons the categorisation of the UK as a primary opportunity market to enter can lead to a company establishing a permanent presence.
Figure 2.2 Nine strategic options available for a company on preparedness for internationalisation
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Hollensen (2007)
- Deciding How To Enter the Target Market
Once the firm has identified the target market, the question arises about how to choose the best way to enter the market. Kotler at al (2008) identifies three ways of market entry modes as: exporting, joint venturing and direct investment. According to Hollensen (2007) there are internal and external factors that influence the choice of entry mode. The internal factors include: firm size, international experience and external factors include socio-cultural distance between home country and host country, Due to the peculiarity of the business, it can be identified that Bolashak has made a choice to enter the UK market using direct investment. However, Hollensen (2007) points out the disadvantages of this mode as high initial capital investment, high risk (market political, economic) and taxation problems.
- Building and Managing Brands to Sustain in the Market
Brand management is essential for success and profitability in the business process (Ellwood, 2000). According to Keller (2008) managing brand equity takes into account a broad, long term perspective of brand. It is especially important when a company sells in multiple markets. Elliot and Percy (2007) have created a model of how brand can be built in the mindspace of customers based on the research findings of Young and Rubicam Group and Millward Brown (see Elliot and Percy, 2007). The model is illustrated in the Figure 2.3. According to them (2007) the starting point of building a brand in a new market is creating awareness which reduces perceptions of purchase risk and to develop perceptions about the quality of the brand’s performance.
De Chernatony et al (2002) suggest that both internal and external approaches are essential to brand building. The customers’ involvement as an external party and employees’ involvement as an internal party are critical to brand building as the essence of the service is in the interaction between customers and employees. Therefore, it is suggested that reference to only one party is a poor guide for long-term strategy and the best performance are illustrated by companies which adopted the combination of both internal and external approaches (De Chernatony et al, 2002).
Finally, Keller (2008) states that companies need to manage brand effectively over geographic boundaries by creating positive brand image in each market in which the brand is sold as rapid changes in the marketing environment can affect customer’s brand knowledge and their response to future marketing activities.
According to the above, it may be concluded that, the main aim of managing brand effectively can be achieved through reinforcing the brand meaning and adjusting and modifying the branding program as needed in every country where the company operates.
Figure 2.3 Building a brand in mindspace of customers
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Elliot and Percy (2007)
- External and Internal Barriers to Build a Brand
As Aaker (2009) points out it is not easy to build a brand in today’s environment. However, building the corporate brand is of vital importance for Bolashak, as it positions Bolashak as a corporate brand of the present as well as prospective clients and customers in the new UK market. Bolashak may face internal and external pressures and barriers to build its brand. Aaker (2009) suggests that companies need to understand these barriers in order to develop successful brand strategies. It can probably be considered, that the below pressures according to Aaker (2009) are the most applicable to the recruitment industry: (1) Proliferation of competitors; (2) Organisational bias against innovation; (3) Pressure to invest elsewhere; (4) Pressures for short-term results. Table 2.2. identifies the major characteristics applicable to each barrier for developing a successful brand strategy.
Table 2.2 Major characteristics of brand development barriers and pressures
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Aaker (2009)
- Brand Strength Measurement
Armstrong and Kotler (2009) clarify that the measurement of brand strength can be achieved through four consumer perception dimensions: differentiation (what makes the brand stand out), relevance (how consumers feel it meets their needs), knowledge (how much consumers know about the brand) and esteem (how highly consumers regard and respect the brand).
Chapter Summary
Chapter two proposes that there is no clear outline of the dimensions of the branding strategies of recruitment companies in the generic branding literature; however issues as branding in the services industry, quality and, brand image are apparent in the literature which can be effectively applied to the chosen sector.
This chapter provided various definitions of branding evolving the theories of earlier academic literature and summarising the definitions of the most recent academic and business writers. The chapter revealed that there is no common definition of branding in the generic literature; however the recent definitions reveal that branding can be a deciding factor when customer makes a choice (Aaker, 2009), and it is a sum of all associations that customers have with a certain product or service (Fisher-Buttinger and Vallaster, 2008).
This chapter proceeded to consider the literature relating to the market entry modes that can be obtained by Bolashak to enter the UK recruitment market. The literature review suggests that the best mode to obtain to enter the mature foreign market for Bolashak is the direct investment which provides full control over the investment and serves its long-term international objectives (Kotler et al, 2008).
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
- Introduction
This chapter covers a proposed research design and methodology to undertake current research. The aim of the research is to analyse branding and market entry strategies that can be successfully obtained by an international company to enter the UK recruitment market. The current paper provides the background to goals and objectives of the research in connection with relevant literature review and the methodology to conduct the research.
The chapter starts by giving background research on branding and market entry strategies followed by an overview of the UK recruitment industry. Thereupon an overview of Bolashak LLP is given followed by the justification for study.
Research methodology will detail how the researcher intends to achieve research objectives. In literature, researchers emphasise that data collection techniques and analysis procedures are central to the research methodology; however Saunders et al (2009) argue that there are important philosophies and approaches to be understood before studying techniques and procedures.
- Research Philosophy
Research philosophy relates to the “development of knowledge and the nature of that knowledge” (Saunders et al, 2009). It precisely how the researcher will develop knowledge in a chosen field. The work of Johnson and Clark, 2006 (see Saunders et al, 2009) states that it is not important that the research should be philosophically informed , but it is how well the researcher will be able to defend the philosophical choice in relation to the alternatives that would have been adopted. There are four main philosophical approaches that can be adopted to undertake the research according to the research methodology literature. These are Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism and Pragmatism. The comparison of the above stated philosophies in research are given in the following Table 3.1.
Table 3.1. Comparison of four research philosophies
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Saunders et al (2009)
According to Saunders et al (2009) business and management research is often a mixture between positivism and interpretivism.
The work of Remenyi states that “positivism approach will lead to working with an observable social reality and that the end product of such research can be law like generalisations” (see Saunders et al, 2009). Whereas, Interpretivism “advocates that it is necessary for the researcher to understand differences between humans as social actors, emphasising the difference between conducting research among people rather than objects” (Saunders et al, 2009). It mainly focuses upon the details of situation, a reality being behind these details.
- Research Approach
The work of Jankowicz (2005) emphasises that positivist research assumes that the best way of arriving at the truth is by using scientific methods, which is known as a deductive approach.
Hence there are two theories that underpin the research approach: the deductive and the inductive. The work of Saunders et al (2009) defines the deductive approach as “developing a theory and hypotheses and designing the research strategy to test the hypotheses”. The process of deduction is illustrated in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1. The process of deduction
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Research Methods Course Handout (2009)
The inductive approach is “collecting a data and developing a theory as a result of data analysis (Saunders et al, 2009). The major differences between these two approaches are illustrated in Table 3.2.
The theory chosen for the study will be based on the deductive approach. The advantage of using deductive approach is also related to the time frame, as it can be quicker to complete (Saunders at al, 2009). Furthermore, the deductive approach is considered to be a lower-risk strategy, although there are risks at some stages due to the delay in return of questionnaires or non compliance with the time schedule.
Table 3.2 Major differences between deductive and inductive approaches to research
Source: Compiled by the Author (2009) based on Saunders et al, 2009
- Research Design
The research design can be developed further after the research philosophy and aproach have been identified. According to Creswell (2009) “research designs are plans and the procedures for research that span the decisions from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection and analysis”. From this definition the researcher faces a dilemma to make a choice between which research design to adhere to. There are three types of research design that can be identified: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Design.
- Qualitative Research Design
According to the work of Saunders et al (2009) qualitative design is used for any data collection technique (such as an interview) that generates non-numerical data. Creswell (2009) adds that qualitative research design mainly relies on text and image data. As Creswell (2009) emphasises, there are certain characteristics of the qualitative research such as natural setting, researcher as key instrument, multiple sources of data, inductive data analysis and emergent design. After detailed review of the above qualitative research design characteristics’ the researcher advocates the multiple sources of data as the most appropriate. The researcher intends to gather multiple forms of data, such as interviews, observations, and documents, rather than replying on a single data source.
- Quantitative Research Design
Quantitative research design is predominantly used for any data collection technique (such as a questionnaire) or data analysis procedure (such as graphs or statistics) that generates numerical data (Saunders et al, 2009). According to Creswell (2009), quantitative design methods basically focus on survey and experimental designs. Subsequently, a survey design provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population (Creswell, 2009). As a result, the researcher will review the sample results and make claims about the population.
- Mixed Research Design
In literature mixed research design is defined as “when both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures are used in a research design” (Saunders et al, 2009). Because it is a relatively new design as a distinct research approach, Creswell (2009) acknowledges the work of Tashakkori and Teddlie in 1998 who provided the first comprehensive overview of this strategy of inquiry. Saunders et al (2009) broadens the theory by providing the two subdivisions to the design: mixed method research and mixed-model research.
Mixed method research uses quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures either at the same time or one after the other but does not combine them, which leads to quantitative data being analysed quantitatively, and qualitative data being analysed qualitatively. However it can be summarised, as Jankowicz (2005) stated, the research design method choice is not the numbers versus meanings, but basic assumptions of the research are important on which the research methods will be based.
- Data Collection Methods
A research method is a technique for collecting data involving a specific instrument (Bryman and Bell, 2007). The data collection technique is an important tool for researchers and a useful aid in the process of research. The researcher identifies the following ways in which secondary and primary data can be utilised to answer research questions.
- Primary Data
The primary data is the data collected by the researcher (Jankowicz, 2005), specifically to address the research problem (Davis, 2000). Primary data comes from the original sources of information and can be collected through observation, semi-structured, in-depth, group interviews, and questionnaires. Brief descriptions of these sources are given before the appropriate methods will be chosen and justified for further use in the research.
Observation involves recording, description, analysis and interpretation of people’s behaviour. It can be successfully used to supplement the other methods of research. Participant observation can be used to explain “what is going on” in particular social situations and it is particularly useful for researchers working within their own organisations. (Saunders et al, 2009).
- Semi-structured, in-depth and group interviews
The work of Kahn and Cannell, 1957, defines the interview as “purposeful discussion between two or more people” (see Saunders et al, 2009). The use of interviews will help the researcher to gather reliable data relevant to research questions. Semi-structured and in depth interviews which are also considered as qualitative research interviews, include the list of questions to be covered which can be revised during the interview process given a specific organisational context. Participants are principally chosen with a specific purpose in mind, because the researcher can learn a great deal from these individuals.
Questionnaires include data collection techniques in which each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions in a predetermined order (de Vaus, 2002). Questionnaires must meet the internal and content validity and be reliable in order to provide the researcher with measurable information. It is one of the widely used data collection techniques and a valid questionnaire will enable accurate data to be collected (Saunders et al, 2009). Closed-end questions are those for which the interviewer reads the question and the response options are predetermined (Kaden, 2008).
- Secondary Data
According to the definition given by Saunders et al (2009), the secondary data is “the data that have been already collected for some other purpose which may include both raw data and published summaries”. It provides a useful source to answer the research question. According to Davis (2000) secondary data can also be classified into two categories:
- Internal data is the data available within the organisation for whom the research is being conducted.
- External data is the data generated by sources outside the organisation.
Saunders et al (2009) has built three main subgroups based on studies of different researchers (e.g. Bryman, 1989; Hakim et al, 1982; Robson, 2002).
Survey Design
This stud will use regression analysis to interpret and analysis of the research findings. Regression analysis determines the factors that are important in causing action (Kaden, 2008).
It helps to explain the actions to be taken to achieve the customer behaviour. A structured questionnaire will be applied in the survey with multi choice answers in the sections one and two and section three consists of five point Likert scale of response ranged from “Strongly Agree = 1” to “Strongly Disagree = 5”.
- Research Ethics
Reseach ethics relates to questions on how the researcher accesses, collects, processes and stores the data as well as how the researcher writes up the research findings in a moral and responsible way (Saunders et al, 2009). Data Protection Act 1998 (Stationary Office 1998) outlines the principles within which the researcher processing the personal data must comply.
In addition, as Jankowicz (2005) emphasises, confidentiality has a peculiar importance throughout the research regardless of the chosen approach. Hence the researcher understands about the confidentiality of information received from the respondents and other involved participants. Jankowicz (2005) also gives a definition of the principle of informed consent as “means that collaborators need to know that they are involved and to what extent they are involved”. Therefore the researcher aims to clarify ethical intentions and to inform the participating parties in advance regarding the project, emphasizing the right to withdraw at any time.
- Chapter Summary
It can be concluded that this particular research adopted the positivism and interpretivism philosophies. The research will also adopt pragmatism approach in relation to data collection techniques, as the researcher aims to use a mixed design method integrating both qualitative and quantitative designs. The deductive approach is chosen as a theory for current research as it is a low risk strategy and the study and hypotheses will be based on the theoretical foundation due to the nature of the research.
The researcher intends to use questionnaire accompanied by a covering letter and research consent form which explains the purpose of the survey and the rights of the respondents. Due to the time constraints the researcher aims to administer questionnaire using electronic mail. It is considered as the most economical and fast way to collect data. As such, it is particularly efficient for collecting data among large samples of people (Kaden, 2008).
Multiple source secondary data will be gathered using various sources from online and journal articles. Furthermore, the theoretical information will be evaluated from academic books in order to introduce theories of branding and market entry strategies. Thereupon the data will be recorded and analysed using bar charts and other available analytical tools.
Chapter 4
Research Findings
- Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss the findings of this research. The purpose of this study, as discussed in chapter one, is to analyse the role of branding strategy for a service company to successfully enter the UK recruitment market.
As discussed in the Research Methodology chapter, the use of a questionnaire was chosen as the primary method to conduct the research. Interviews were also conducted with the managers of Bolashak in order to collect primary data. The interviews record is presented in appendix 6 accordingly.
This chapter starts by providing data collection and sample characteristics and moves to the findings and analysis of each of the 14 questions asked in the questionnaire (see Appendix 5). This chapter concludes with the summary of key findings.
- Data Collection and Sample Characteristics
As discussed in the Research Methodology chapter the researcher has used a mixed design method integrating both qualitative and quantitative design methods. The population of quantitative research includes registered applicants of the Company. A cover letter and the research consent form was accompanied with each questionnaire explaining to the sample population about their rights according to Saunders et al (2009). The questionnaire consists of 3 parts containing 14 questions in total.
52 fully completed questionnaires were used to analyse the results of the current research. To reiterate, the method used to analyse the data is regression analysis. Regression analysis has been chosen to analyse data in this study as it helps to explain the actions to achieve the customer behaviour and to point out the key area to focus (Kaden, 2008).
- Research Findings and Data Analysis
This dissertation thus far indicated in depth the literature review and methodology to be used in the research. Moving further, this section provides the results of research findings and data analysis. The structure of the findings and analysis was classified under the various headings. To reiterate the aim of this dissertation was to analyse the role of branding strategy for a service company to successfully enter the UK recruitment market.
- Analysis of Brand Awareness and Brand Association
Section one of the questionnaire deals with brand awareness within the oil and gas recruitment industry and in particular the customers awareness about Bolashak. As an introduction the questionnaire included questions (1.1 and 1.2) to investigate how many recruitment agencies the applicants are registered with and if these agencies are based in the UK or overseas.
The findings indicated that only 8 % of candidates were registered with one recruitment agency, 12% of candidates were registered with two, 19% of candidates with three and 61 % of candidates were registered with more than three agencies.
Table 4.1 Agency registration frequency
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
Table 4.2 presents percentage and frequency of agencies that candidates are registered with by geographic locations. It must be noted that participants were allowed to select more than one answer in question 1.2. The results showed that candidates were registered with the UK based agencies which represented - 37 %, with Europe - 19%, with Middle East and Africa - 16%, with Asia - 15% and with the USA agencies - 13% subsequently(see Figure 4.1).
The results also indicated that only 15% of candidates are registered with the agencies from Asia. Bolashak originally being from Central Asia, had the chance of increasing the number of interested candidates to register with the Asian agencies.
The opening of an office in the UK will lead to direct access and attract professionals from the UK. This must be of particular importance for Bolashak to attract professional candidates from the UK in order to provide services to its Clients and meet their workforce demands.
Table 4.2 Geographic locations of agencies customers are registered with
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
Figure 4.1 Locations and number of agencies customers are registered with
Source: Google (2009)
Note: Respondents were allowed to select more than one answer in this question
Question 1.3 investigated the extent to which the applicants make choice when choosing the agency to register with in terms of familiar brand name versus an unknown agency from another country (Table 4.3).
Table 4.3 Familiar brand name preference
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
The results showed that 56% of respondents make their preference towards the company with the familiar brand name whereas 44% of respondents can choose to register with companies without a familiar brand name. It stresses the importance of building and managing the Bolashak brand awareness in the UK as the majority of applicants prefer the brand with a familiar name. Bolashak may need to market itself as the UK agency in the country.
Questions 1.4 and 1.5 were directly linked to brand awareness of Bolashak. In particular, question 1.4 investigated how applicants became familiar with the brand name Bolashak (see Chart 4.1). The results indicated that 40% of applicants became familiar with the brand through recommendation of a friend/colleague. 23% of the UK respondents had past experience with the Bolashak brand, and 15 % of respondents became familiar with Bolashak via media advertising. Additionally, 10% of respondents have indicated they came to know Bolashak through its web site and the remaining 12% of respondents clarified they were introduced to Bolashak by its partner companies or by the client companies when they were given the chance to choose the agency to be employed by.
As Aaker adds (2009), recognition as first stage of loyalty reflects the familiarity gained from the past experience.
Chart 4.1 Bolashak brand awareness
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
Question 1.5 investigated the most important factors applicants take into account when considering Bolashak as a potential service provider in the UK (see Chart 4.2). The findings indicated that 35% of applicants take into account the level of services they received in the past from Bolashak. Surprisingly, 42% of respondents will consider Bolashak due to its country of operation and origin. Having mainly operated in Kazakhstan, Bolashak will likely be still associated with its origin country which indicates an advantage to keep attracting applicants who will be interested in job market of Kazakhstan. 17% of respondents associate Bolashak in the UK with its brand name.
Chart 4.2 Important factors when considering Bolashak as potential service provider in the UK
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
Question 1.6 was set up to measure the brand association the customers will have with the Bolashak brand in the UK (see Chart 4.3). The overall findings indicate 23% of respondents will likely associate Bolashak with the service attributes in the UK, 42% with the familiar logo/symbol, and 35% with quality. Surprisingly, the majority of respondents (42%) from the UK are already familiar with Bolashak’s logo/symbol. It is probably the right time to extend Bolashak into the market as a reputable, large company when manpower is of importance to the recovery and future growth of the UK economy. A study undertaken by REC (2009) suggests that candidates have shown a preference for large, well established and stable employers during an economic downturn as candidates have become less flexible as anxiety drives them to be more cautious and risk adverse.
The following section investigates the role of employees and customers in building a brand in a foreign country.
Chart 4.3 Customers association with brand Bolashak in the UK
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
- Analysis of the Role of Customers and Employees in Building a Brand in a Foreign Country
Questions 2.1 and 2.2 in section two of the questionnaire investigated the significance of the role of customers and employees in building a brand in a foreign country. The reason these questions have been included in the questionnaire is that these factors are considered to be of vital relevance for service companies. It is of utmost importance for a company building a brand in a foreign country. Customers and employees are considered to be as brand ambassadors who communicate brand promise (De Chernatony et al, 2002; Ind, 2007; Kitchen, 2008). The findings are illustrated in charts 4.4. and 4.5 respectively.
The Role of Customers: the findings indicated that 3% of respondents strongly disagreed with the importance of the role of customers in building a brand in a foreign country, 8% disagreed, 8% did not disagree nor agree, 21% somewhat agreed, and 60% strongly agreed. Bolashak Manager has totally agreed with the majority of the questionnaire respondents in relation to the significant role customers play in branding. He indicated that:
“Customers role is very important for Bolashak to build a strong and transparent relationship that may result in building our brand in the UK. Our customers are the living publicity for our agency. With a good selection they do recommend colleagues, friends or more generally – people they know, for one job or another. The quality and repeat business of both applicants and clients is significant in building Bolashak’s brand. However, customers should not replace the brand’s own sense of quality and behaviour”.
The Role of Employees: the findings indicated that 1% of applicants strongly disagreed with the importance of the role of employees in building a brand in a foreign country, 4% disagreed, 12% did not disagree or agree, 25% somewhat agreed, and 58% strongly agreed.
“The role of employees carries the reputation of Bolashak. A well defined role of the employees of Bolashak entails effective job performance which will consequently deliver good services to our clients and customers. Due to the nature of the overseas work, our people need to offer an elaborate support to our customers at all times. Their role helps shape up the credibility of Bolashak thereby very significant in building our brand. Also, because Bolashak employees are familiar with the requirements for working in Kazakhstan, our employees will be in a position to provide better service than most other agencies. The clients reflect the name of the agency (brand) – ultimately if the agency simply fills the vacancies with poor applicants that cannot perform the services to the required standard then this reflects upon the agency and Agency may subsequently not be awarded any further work. Therefore, quality of services naturally is directly dependent upon how Bolashak employees conduct company business in serving both the clients and the candidates”.
As Till and Heckler (2008) state, the experience with the brand is directly tied to interactions with one or two people who represent the brand and deliver the brand’s promised value. Many other marketing writers have also agreed employees play a crucial role in delivering the brand promise particularly in the service driven industry (De Chernatony, 2002; Elwood, 2002; Armstrong and Kotler, 2009).
Chart 4.4 Level of importance of customers’ role in building a brand in a foreign country
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
Chart 4.5 Level of importance of employees’ role in building a brand in a foreign country
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
- Analysis of Brand Perception and Loyalty
Section three of the questionnaire deals with the customers’ perceptions of quality and their expectations from Bolashak to provide the same level of services in the UK as its’ in-country competitors.
Questions 3.1 - 3.6 investigated the customer’s choice in respect of the brand name, general expectations from service providers in terms of perceived and actual quality and the level of loyalty.
Question 3.2 investigated if the applicants consider offers from the agencies operating other than in the UK. The findings showed that 4% of respondents strongly disagreed, 8% somewhat disagreed, 17% neither agree nor disagreed, 34% somewhat agreed, and 37% strongly agreed.
Question 3.3 investigated if the applicants think that brand image is an important factor when making a choice between brands. 2% of respondents who partook in this survey strongly disagreed and the same amount of respondents 2% - somewhat disagreed, 26% neither agreed nor disagreed, 40% somewhat agreed and 30% strongly agreed with the statement. In accordance with the survey results (question 3.4), 4% of applicants strongly disagreed with the statement that they can switch to a competitor in case there is a problem with their agency, 6% somewhat disagreed, 19% neither agreed nor disagreed, 42% somewhat agreed and 29% strongly agreed.
Question 3.5 investigated if perceived quality is normally the same as actual quality received from an agency, to which 10% of applicants strongly disagreed, 21% somewhat disagreed, 17% neither disagreed nor agreed. The overall findings on agreement with the statement showed that 38% of respondents were somewhat in agreement, and subsequently 14% were in strong agreement.
Finally, when applicants were asked (question 3.6) if they expect that Bolashak will provide the same level of services in the UK as the local agencies, 5% somewhat disagreed, 10% neither agreed nor disagreed, 27% agreed, and a large amount of respondents which consists of 58% strongly agreed. However there are great opportunities for the company entering from a developing country to build and manage its brand in the UK and enhance its brand competitiveness.
Chart 4.6 Foreign brand perception
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher (2009)
- Chapter Summary
The aim of chapter four was to present the findings of quantitative and qualitative research and find the correlation between the actual business situation and academic literature review. The data was collected and analysed using regression analysis. The chapter started by looking at sample characteristics and moved to investigation of brand awareness and brand association by Bolashak’s customers. The findings also demonstrated that 40% of respondents became familiar with Bolashak through recommendation of a friend/colleague which illustrates the importance of the role of customers in positively recommending the agency to their friends. Additionally 56% of respondents clarified that they choose a familiar brand name versus 44% of respondents clarifying that they can apply to agencies without a familiar brand name. Although there is no significant difference between, it still demonstrates the importance of building an image of a familiar brand in the mind space of customers.
The final section looked at the perception of brand image in a foreign country and if customers expect Bolashak to provide the same level of services as its in-country competitors. The findings illustrated there was a contradiction between the findings of questions 3.1 and 3.3. The survey found that 66% of respondents in total strongly agreed and somewhat agreed that they choose a well known brand as their agent for employment, 70% of respondents in total strongly agreed and somewhat agreed to the statement that brand image is an important factor when they make a choice between the agencies.
The next chapter aims to conclude with the summary of key findings of current research. Recommendations are also provided along with the limitations of the study.
Chapter 5
Conclusions and Recommendations
- Summary of the Research
The aim of this dissertation was to analyse the role of branding strategy for a service company in order to successfully enter the UK market.
The aim of this chapter is to conclude the findings of the research by summarising the findings of each chapter. The following section will be introduced with a definition of branding before moving to the importance of customers and employees in building a brand in a foreign country. The first part will therefore be a summary of academic and business literature review, followed by a brief description of the methodology.
To summarise, this particular research adopted the positivism and interpretivism philosophies. The design of the research is descriptive due to the nature of the research; however it may also take some characteristics of the explanatory type of research. It should be noted that the study used only quantitative methods of data analysis. Regression analysis is used to analyse the data collected. The next section will present the results obtained with this methodology.
- Summary of the Key Findings and Recommendations
To reiterate branding is one of the important individual product decisions organisations take which includes building and managing a brand throughout the product life. Chapter two provided various definitions of branding including the definitions given at early stages of development of branding relating branding to “a name, term, sign or symbol that identifies the products or services of group of sellers” (Armstrong and Kotler, American Marketing Association). However the most recent definitions of branding refer to branding as “company’s main assets, creating a certain amount of awareness, reputation and promise” (Ind, 2007; Keller, 2008; Aaker, 2009, Kotler et al, 2008).
Key findings have confirmed that the main components of branding as brand name awareness and brand association are of utmost importance when building a brand in a foreign country.
As a result satisfied and loyal customers will refer other customers resulting in repeat businesses, which subsequently lead to superior service profits and growth (Armstrong and Kotler, 2009).
Key findings on customers’ perception in a foreign country indicated that they choose a well known brand name as a potential employer. However, there was a contradictory difference between customers’ perceptions of a well known brand/brand image and intentions to choose a well known company as their potential employer. It indicates that Bolashak’s branding strategy needs to be positioned as a reputable and well known employer in the mindspace of potential customers. Bolashak is likely to position itself on strong beliefs and values in order to be a successful brand.
The final section looked at customers’ expectation if Bolashak will provide the same level of services as its in-country competitors. A large amount of participants (85%) strongly agreed and somewhat agreed with the given statement to investigate this matter. In order to exceed their expectations, Bolashak will probably need to build and develop confidence and trust in the brand with a long term view. However, as Elliot and Percy (2007) suggest customers need repeated experiences with the brand to build beliefs. Therefore consistency is an important element to consider when building a brand in a foreign country. It can be achieved through continuous planning and reviewing of services schedule.
Although the UK recruitment market is considered to be “red ocean” where industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known (Kim and Mauborgne, 2005), there are opportunities for Bolashak to create and deliver its brand promise in a highly competitive but perspective environment through expanding its business to the UK.
Finally, as Keller (2008) states, companies need to manage brand effectively over geographic boundaries by creating positive brand image in each market in which the brand operates. Therefore, it is recommended that Bolashak manage its brand through creating emotional bond with its UK customers (Elliott and Percy, 2007) and modifying the brand program as needed to meet expectations of foreign customers which will eventually lead to creating trust between them.
- Limitations of the Research
The biggest constraints in this dissertation were considered to be the time and the limited word count. To overcome the time constraints the researcher has worked in compliance with initially proposed timetable. Other limitation could also be described as the lack of a representative sample. The sample which contained 52 respondents was large enough for analysis purposes. However, as accurate total figures were not available for all 65 members of the sample population, it is not known how representative the sample is. Another reason is due to the time constraints this research concentrated on the registered applicants of the company only. Therefore, more research should be done on the subject area to make concrete and generalised conclusions.
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Section 1: Brand Awareness. Please tick [x] or [√] as appropriate.
- How many recruitment agencies are you registered with?
[ ] One
[ ] Two
[ ] Three
[ ] More
- Where does this (these) Agency (ies) located?
(Note: You may select more than one choice in this questions)
[ ] UK
[ ] Europe
[ ] Asia
[ ] USA
[ ] Middle East & Africa
- Did you ever make choice to another brand name as the brand name of another agency was not familiar or was from another country?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
- How did you become familiar with the Bolashak brand?
[ ] Familiar brand name from past experience
[ ] Media Advertising
[ ] Recommendation of a friend/colleague
[ ] Web site
[ ] Other (please clarify) ___________________
- What can make you decide to put brand Bolashak into your final consideration set in the UK?
[ ] The same level of services provided in the past
[ ] Differentiation from competitors
[ ] Country of operation/origin of the Agency
[ ] Familiar brand name
(Continue to next page)
- What will be your association with the brand name of Bolashak in the UK?
[ ] Quality
[ ] Familiar Symbol/Logo
[ ] Service attributes
Section 2: The Role of Customers and Employees in delivering services in a
Foreign Country.
Section 3: Foreign Brand Perception and Customers’ Attitude
