Online Brand Repositioning : A case study of Halens

Sammanfattning: This thesis was carried out during Spring semester 2012 at Södertörn University in collaboration with the Swedish distance selling company Halens. Halens is one of Sweden’s leading e-commerce companies with a significant history in distance selling. The company started as a mail-order company but their current and future goals are directed towards full e-commercialization. Halens has expanded to several international markets and their assortment consists mainly of women’s apparel, but also includes men’s wear, children’s wear and electronics. The purpose of this thesis is to find ways to improve the image of traditional mail-order companies that are going through a transition towards e-commerce. It has a specific look on branding and brand repositioning and the aim is to give suggestions on how to improve the image and attracting new customers while maintaining the loyal customer base that companies have gained. This includes identifying the pros and cons of the companies’ current position as well as viewing the modern possibilities that e-commercialization brings. Four interviews were conducted in order to obtain up-to-date information. Two of the people who were interviewed are employees at Halens whose work is closely related to the subject of this thesis. The data that was obtained from them deals with the company’s current activities and goals in terms of repositioning their brand. Another viewpoint is met with two consumer interviews, where information is received from different attitudes towards Halens. One of the interviewed is a long-time Halens customer, while the second one has never purchased from Halens. In addition, our own observations have been conducted for deeper analysis of the study. As one of us is a Halens employee it has given us direct access to collect data about the company image and compare our perceptions with one another. A clear view of the brand repositioning requirements that have appeared with the transition towards e-commerce has been established during this essay. Results have shown an apparent need for modernizing and investing in renewal of brand image as a mail-order company moving in to online marketing.