Improving Branding Efforts Among Startups by Understanding Brand Identity and Brand Image : A Multi-Case Study on Startups

Sammanfattning: Two different subjects that have been well researched over the last couple of decades are branding and startups. The intersection of these two subjects has however not been covered nearly as much. Some researchers go as far as claiming it to be an oxymoron. Built on this has this thesis been conducted in order to narrow this gap in research and shed light on the importance of branding efforts among startups. The objective of this study has been: To provide a deeper understanding of brand identity and brand image among startups  To fulfill this objective, two sub-objectives were established: To examine if there exists a gap between brand identity and brand image among startups To identify which key factors that influence brand identity and brand image among startups The study has been of an explorative and descriptive character with a deductive approach. For research strategy was embedded multi-cases chosen. Data collection has been collected by conducting semi-structured, qualitative interviews. This data has later been analyzed with the analyzation methods within-analysis and cross-case analysis. The finding of the study is that there exists a mismatch between the view of the management and the view of the customers. It can therefore be concluded that there is a gap between the brand identity and the brand image among the three startups investigated in this study. Communication and relationship have furthermore been found to be key aspects that affect the magnitude of the gap.  The practical implication to be taken from this study is the importance of branding in the early stages of a company. It can furthermore be important for practitioners, mainly managements of startups to be aware of the key aspects communication and relationship, and to work with branding even in the early years of a company. The theoretical contribution has been to investigate in an area where limited research has been made but more is needed. The need of research for entrepreneurs to rely on are desired.