Name: Madelyn Morales

Period: 3

Source List

Date In-Text Citation (APA/MLA) Key Term/Idea Type of Source

10/19/20 (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016) Inbound Marketing Scholarly Journal

10/19/20 (Neti, 2011) Social Media Marketing Scholarly Journal

10/19/20 (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2015) Content Marketing Scholarly Journal

10/26/20 (Slater, 2001) Reinforcing Brand Loyalty Scholarly Journal

10/26/20 (Hu & Chung, 2009) Manufacturer vs. Private Brands Scholarly Journal

10/26/20 (O'Neill et al., 2006) Hotel Branding Scholarly Journal

11/02/20 (CNBC, 2019, c) Abercrombie & Fitch Brand YouTube Video

11/02/20 (Abimbola, 2010) Significance of Branding Scholarly Journal

11/09/20 (Rodgers et al., 2019) Aerie Real Campaign Scholarly Journal

11/09/20 (cosmoteq, 2016) Steve Jobs Speech Youtube Video

11/16/20 (CNBC, 2019, a) Starbucks Growth YouTube Video

11/16/20 (CNBC, 2019, b) Nike YouTube Video

 Madelyn Morales

Academic Year: 2020

Annotated Source List

Abimbola, T. (2010). Brand strategy as a paradigm for marketing competitiveness. Journal of Brand

Management, 18(3), 177-179. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2010.48

Temi Abimbola reviews the importance of brands in this journal article and ultimately concludes

that perceptual sophistication within a brand is a successful marketing strategy that will allow a brand to

remain competitive in their market for a long period of time. The importance of brands is being

understood through newfound reconsideration, literature review, and “measures of ideas” and “new

concepts.” Because of this new information on branding that has been acknowledged, marketers and

brand managers are able to understand the development, nurture, evaluation, and maintenance of brands

that allows companies to be continuously successful, along with its assets, reputation and organisation

identity. With identity, the author claims that stakeholders of companies establish perceptions and

perspectives regarding organisation identity. To support this claim, Abimbola uses Apple as an example.

Apple allows a variety of third-party application developers to sell their products in their app store. This

strategy developed a new business model in terms of the organisation identity. Through the iSeries

product lines, in which the products are high in quality and customers have been continuously loyal to

Apple and the iSeries, Apple has been able to strengthen their brand’s reputation. The author also claims

Steve Jobs’ leadership position with the company has led to a strengthened perception of the brand’s

identity and reputation. Abimbola mentions Apple’s competitors, Nokia and Motorola, and explains how

these two companies have not been good competition for Apple as they have not been as smart or

strategic as Apple has in terms of their product innovation and marketing strategies/business models.

Abimbola supports this idea by comparing Nokia to iPhone and Blackberry, in which even though Nokia

may have “functional sophistication” through their products, they lack a “perceptual sophisticated” brand
which has weakened their ability to truly compete with iPhone and Blackberry. Nokia has a reputation for

delivering products that are reliable and highly functional. Apple is known for delivering products that

may crash more often or even come into contact with more bugs and errors. However, Apple is able to

lead the competition due to their quickly innovated smartphone line and sophisticated brand perception.

These examples allow the author to conclude that perceptual sophistication will allow a company’s brand

to remain highly competitive and to succeed in the long run over functional sophistication because

perceptual sophistication is unique to the brand while functional sophistication can be applied to any

brand. More importantly, perceptual sophistication can establish brand loyalty because it can develop a

relationship between the brand and its consumers. However, the author makes it clear that these two

strategies are not in competition with each other and that brands can use both strategies together to

maximize their success.

The author of this journal article, Temi Abimbola, is affiliated with the Warwick Business School

at the University of Warwick. This affiliation established credibility in Abimbola’s knowledge regarding

business and brand management. This journal article identifies the value of branding and highlights the

use of brand perception by companies as a marketing strategy to sustain their competitive advantage

against other companies in the same market. It offers important perspective on the importance of

perceptual sophistication as well as how it compares to functional sophistication within a brand.

CNBC. (2019, January 10). How Starbucks became an $80B business [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUBeH7VQaFY

This CNBC video is a report discussing the sales and business growth of Starbucks based on the

expansion of their stores and shift in business and marketing strategies, more specifically their focus on

customer experience. When Howard Schultz became the Director of Marketing at Starbucks in 1982, the

company only sold coffee beans and provided grinding services and did not serve beverages. In 1983,
Schultz decided that the company should start serving coffees and served the company’s first latte the

following year. He bought the company for $3.8 million in 1987, and his business growth strategy

included aggressive expansion. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of Starbucks locations increased

from 3,501 stores to 15,011 stores, which increased sales from $2 billion to $9.4 billion. While this

expansion strategy seemed to work, its success came to a halt in 2007 during the economic recession as

customers did not want to spend money on expensive beverages. This led to Schultz re-shifting their

business and marketing strategies to focus less on creating new stores and more on the quality of their

existing stores. Schultz sought out to create an enjoyable and unique customer experience at all Starbucks

locations by closing some of their stores, removing automatic espresso machines and reviving in-house

coffee grinding, and re-training the Starbucks baristas on how to properly make their signature espresso.

This caused their stock to increase 143%, and sales rebounded to positive percentages. The narrator of

the video notes that due to their aggressive expansion in the past and continuation of location expansion,

certain regions, particularly urban areas, will be oversaturated with Starbucks locations. This

oversaturation may be good for overall Starbucks sales but will not allow the growth of individual

same-store sales. The narrator also noted that consumers today are less likely to purchase drinks with high

sugar content. Starbucks’ Frappuccino is one of their most popular drinks, but their average cup contains

57 grams of sugar on average. With the consideration of such factors that could hinder the success and

overall growth of Starbucks, they have continued to re-shift their focus onto customer desires and

focusing on retaining their engagement. They have done so by closing 150 stores in 2019 alone, as well as

opening a new line of stores called Starbucks Reserve Roastery. These are upscale locations that are much

larger than a typical Starbucks cafe, in which they are designed to give customers a tourist experience

where baristas experiment with different beverages. These stores see an average of $64,000 in sales per

day, which is double the amount of a regular cafe. Starbucks has also pushed the promotion of less sugary

drinks, including their cold brew and refreshers.

 This video was created by a team at CNBC and reported on their YouTube channel. The video

itself includes interviews with business experts and Starbucks personnel, as well as sources for where they

obtained their data and other information. This source takes a look at how Starbucks has grown as a

business over the last 30 years, but more importantly how they were able to maintain sales and customer

loyalty by re-shifting their business strategies to nurture customer desires. For example, Howard Schultz

decided to focus on customer experience within the stores after the sales decrease. This brought back

customers after the economic recession and sales bounced back. This proves that when the customers are

cared for and when companies re-strategize their marketing techniques to fulfill customer desires and to

stand out against other competitors, sales will increase and the company will see more success. This

report will be useful in the branding research topic, in which customers are key to the success of a

company as well as the maintenance of a good and unique brand image and reputation.

CNBC. (2019, June 20). How Nike became the most powerful brand in sports [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbnGIh1aad0

This CNBC video explores the way that Nike rose to the top of the sportswear industry and how

they have been valued at $130 million value, as of June 2019, due to their controversial advertising, Air

Jordans, and exclusive contracts. In 1971, the company adopted their logo, the Swoosh, and renamed

themselves “Nike” after they had established themselves as Blue Ribbon Sports. Nike saw an increase in

brand awareness, merchandising, sales, and overall success after they went public in 1980. After

establishing a unique brand identity, they capitalized on their image by endorsing famous athletes. More

specifically, Nike entered the basketball shoe market in 1985 by launching a shoe line with Michael

Jordan at the beginning of his career. This created the Air Jordan franchise, in which $70 million worth of

the original Air Jordans were sold by May 1985, nearly three months after its release. This new product

line not only allowed Nike to enter the basketball market, but the line appealed to rappers as well who
would also wear their merchandise. The Air Jordan line also sparked a “sneakerhead” culture, in which

the exclusive drops of their shoes and limited stock of them saw a rise in popularity among consumers

who wanted to be a part of that exclusivity. By the end of 2018, Air Jordan made up 9.5% of Nike’s total

sales, although it should be noted that this was an 8% decrease in Air Jordan’s individual sales from the

year prior. While Nike had launched such an exclusive and distinctive product line that reinforced the

quality of their brand image, Nike also faced controversies through their endorsements that actually

worked out in their favor. For example, in 1993 Nike launched the “I am not a role model” ad campaign

that endorsed Charles Barkley. This message did not read well among consumers but did generate a

15.4% increase in revenue at the end of the 1993 fiscal year. In 1996, Nike endorsed Ric Munoz, an

openly-gay HIV-positive man, which helped them to achieve a 36% increase in revenue during the 1996

fiscal year. A more famous and more recent controversial endorsement was their campaign with Colin

Kaepernick in 2018. Kaepernick faced his own controversy after his protest against racial injustice at a

pre-season football game in 2016 in which he did not stand for the national anthem. Nike released an ad

with his face, reading the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

According to a headline by CNBC, this ad generated $165 million in buzz, especially through social

media. This advertisement was remarkable for Nike as the controversy allowed them to advertise for free

and increased brand awareness without them having to invest in a carefully planned marketing strategy.

Aside from bold product lines and advertisements, Nike has sought out to increase their sales and remain

a leading brand in sportswear by producing athleisure wear, specifically designed for women, as well as

being a uniform supplier to major sports leagues. They have sold leggings, shorts, sports bras, shirts,

hoodies, and shoes in a variety of sizes for all women to wear. Nike also supplies uniforms for the MLB,

NBA, and NFL for baseball, basketball, and football, respectively. The narrator of the video notes that

Nike has needed to adapt to certain circumstances in recent years. For example, as sports retailers in the

U.S. have gone bankrupt, Nike has been pushed to directly sell their merchandise to their customers in
their own stores, where the brand has needed to focus on creating a unique and sleek in-person and digital

shopping experience. This direct approach has shown a 2.8% increase in brand sales from 2017 to 2018.

Nike has also focused on women’s apparel and endorsed female athletes like Serena Williams to not only

increase brand awareness and sales but to also encourage girls to play sports. In conclusion, the narrator

believes that if Nike continues to sell more merchandise, especially to women, and expand their stores in

the U.S., Nike will remain at the top of the sportswear industry and continue to increase their revenue.

This video was created by a team at CNBC and includes the sources of their data and information

in the video. This video explores the success of marketing campaigns that have strengthened Nike’s brand

image and reputation and ultimately increased their revenue. This exploration will help to prove the

importance of maintaining brand image, reputation, and awareness for the research topic.

CNBC. (2019, October 15). Can Abercrombie and Fitch make a comeback? [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-EMD0C8hYQ

In this video, the narrator identifies the rise and fall of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand, and how

the company is attempting to make a comeback today by rebranding their company in a way that responds

to customer desires. In the beginning of the history of Abercrombie & Fitch, the narrator explains that the

company was once an outdoor specialty goods store. This changed after the brand was purchased by The

Limited in 1988, at which point they focused on creating fashionable apparel instead of sporting goods.

This brand further transformed after Mike Jeffries assumed the position of CEO in 1992 as he envisioned

a trendier apparel line by identifying a target audience of high school and college-aged kids who “wanted

to be cool.” This re-focused brand strategy worked for Abercrombie & Fitch, as the revenue increased

from $166 million in 1994 to $335 million in 1996. Abercrombie & Fitch was titled the top clothing brand

choice in an upper-income teen survey in fall of 2001. However, because this brand identity was so

exclusive and due to apparel and CEO controversy, the reputation of the brand collapsed. In 2002, the
store released offensive and controversial apparel, specifically releasing a shirt that said “Two Wongs Can

Make it White” and thongs in children’s sizes, respectively. The brand faced racial discrimination lawsuits

in 2003 when Black, Asian, and Latino people claimed that they were not hired or made to work so they

could not be seen by customers. The hardest hitting controversy occurred when comments made by the

CEO resurfaced in 2013, in which he stated “...we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive

all-American kid.” Abercrombie & Fitch same-store sales decreased at least 10% and continued to

decrease until Q3 of 2017, with the exemption of a 1% increase in Q4 of 2015. After a while, the sexual

advertising marketed towards cool teenagers that once made the brand so popular and so unique did not

translate well into a newer generation of teenage consumers. After Mike Jeffries was asked to step down

from his role as CEO in 2014, Fran Horowitz assumed the role of CEO in 2017 and re-designed the brand

identity. Horowitz chose to concentrate on optimizing the store network and market spending, enhancing

digital commerce, and streamlining customer processes. Another teen brand, American Eagle, launched

Aerie, an intimate apparel brand, in 2014 with a campaign including unretouched photos of diverse

models. This campaign established brand loyalty by creating respect and care for all types of consumers.

Abercrombie & Fitch followed a similar strategy in reconstructing their apparel. The company removed

sexual advertisements, oversized and flashy logos from apparel, and re-targeted their audience by

allowing their sister brand, Hollister, to focus on Generation Z (young teens) and Abercrombie & Fitch to

focus on young millenials (those in their early-mid 20s). This brand too, began to design trendy apparel

that is inclusive to all consumers, including their “Curve Love” denim jean line. They also created their

own intimate apparel line, Gilly Hicks. Aside from redesigning their apparel and campaigns, Abercrombie

& Fitch reconstructed their website to be seamless, and included the option of in-store pickup. This

reconstruction created $1 billion in digital sales, which account for 30% of their total sales, as well as

prompting 1.5 million in-store visits from digital purchases. The brand also enforced a rewards program

with loyalty members, in which there were 30 million members in September 2019. With Horowitz
redesigning the brand’s identity and reconstructing the stores online and off, the company achieved

positive net sales percentages in Q3 of 2017 and significantly in Q4 of 2017 after years of negative

percentages since Q4 of 2012.

This video was created by employees at CNBC, a business channel of NBC. They include

interviews with experts and, most importantly, the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz. They

compiled data to prove the rise and fall of these brands as well as articles surrounding their controversies.

This video in particular highlights the necessity for a brand to reconstruct themselves after failure. In this

case, Abercrombie & Fitch once had a strong brand identity that attracted cool teenage kids through

sexualized advertisements. However, after much controversy and the entering of a new, diverse, and

inclusive generation of teenagers, this exclusive brand did not match customer desires. The rise and fall of

Abercrombie & Fitch is important to proving how significant understanding and serving to current

consumer needs is vital to the success of a brand.

cosmoteq. (2016, November 28). Steve Jobs introduces "Think Different" 09/23/1997 [Speech video].

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDD5G2_6hdA

In this YouTube video, Steve Jobs gives a speech about Apple’s newest advertising campaign that

was designed to reconstruct their brand using the promotion of their “core values.” During this time,

Steve Jobs was brought back to Apple because they were not doing well financially. To revive the

company’s success, Apple opted to focus on “great products, great marketing, and great distribution”. For

the products, Apple chose to narrow down their product line to make it simpler and so that the products

would have more attention so that they could be improved. In terms of distribution, Apple decided they

would manage their inventory based on consumer desires and feedback. But in terms of their marketing

strategy, Jobs notes that “marketing is about values”. As stated by Jobs, Apple needs to be clear on what

they want the customers to know about them (3:37). The objective of Apple’s marketing strategy is to
focus on the brand perception that the consumers will see. In this case, Jobs explains that this brand

perception will be based on their “core values”. Jobs explains that reviving the brand cannot come from

persuading the consumer that they are better than their competitors or by promoting the technical

specifications of their products. To support this idea, Jobs talks about Nike and how they do not advertise

the specifications of their products but rather by honoring great athletes and great athletics (5:17). This

ultimately is them honoring their consumer base and tailoring to their desires. When Apple was

developing their newest campaign, the team at Apple and the advertising agency asked themselves “Who

is Apple?” and “What does Apple stand for?”. The answer to these questions is that Apple believes that

“people with passion can change the world” (6:44). With this belief in mind, Apple designed the “Think

Different” campaign to honor people who have changed the world. Apple created television ads,

newspaper and magazine prints, billboards, and murals of people who have changed the world, including

Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, Mahatma Gandhi, and many other noble people.

This video is a recording of the speech by Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple who was heavily

involved in product development and creative direction of their marketing campaigns. In this speech, Jobs

discussed very specifically what their newest ad campaign was going to be about and what it aimed to

achieve. The strategy as described by Jobs will be useful in understanding why utilizing branding as a

marketing strategy is a great way for companies to attract consumers and sustain their revenue. The

information in this video not only highlights the importance of branding, but it also highlights the role of

the consumer and how a company should target their consumer base through this brand strategy.
Hu, F. L., & Chung, C. C. (2009). How can different brand strategies lead to retailers' success'?

Comparing manufacturers brand for Coca-Cola and private brand for Costco. Journal of Global

Business Issues, 3(1), 129-135. http://directory.umm.ac.id/sistem-pakar/out.pdf

Manufacturer and private brands were analyzed and compared in this journal article, in which the

authors found that different marketing strategies should be utilized per brand in order for both

manufacturer and private brands to successfully sell their products. In general, brands create recognition

for their companies and trust in product quality by establishing brand loyalty and brand awareness. The

authors first identify what manufacturer and private brands are and how they differ from each other.

Manufacturer brands are produced and marketed by a merchant. Merchants are responsible for creating

the brand’s image, allowing loyal consumers to feel comfortable and to set expectations for their products.

Manufacturer brands focus the majority of their marketing efforts on advertising, which establishes

consumer loyalty and, in turn, attracts new customers and increases retailer reputation. Private brands are

founded by retailers who sell their own exclusive product lines. Retailers are then responsible for creating

the brand, specifically what the author states as “unique identities” (Hu & Chung 2009). Next, the authors

identify the competition between the two brands. Private brands can reduce their prices, which enables

them to increase their market shares while also taking some of those shares from manufacturer brands.

Since retailers are in control of shelf spaces in their stores, they are able to predominantly display their

products during sales and promotions. However, manufacturer brands are able to compete with private

brands in terms of their product quality and innovation because they have more money. The authors

analyze Coca-Cola, a well-established manufacturer brand, and their marketing strategies. Coca-Cola has

brand equity, the “value of company and brand names” (Hu & Chung 2009), which can create brand

awareness and loyalty as well as perceived quality. Coca-Cola also integrates their communication

channels, consisting of mass media advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and

direct marketing, which creates communication consistency and greater sales impact (Hu & Chung 2009).
They also utilize global communication to reinforce their strong and renowned brand name globally,

while also being able to tailor their products to geographical desires. For example, Coca-Cola sweetened

their beverages in the Middle East because their consumer base prefers sweeter drinks. The authors then

analyze Costco, a wholesale retailer that has their own private brand, Kirkland Signature. Retailers, like

Costco, initiate their own private brands to increase store brand awareness and to reinforce their store

image. Costco utilizes direct mail marketing, in which their marketing personnel can connect with

businesses with potential customers wholesale members. Costco is a chain of wholesale clubs in which

only members can purchase their products. An existing membership base within these clubs can attract

new members through word-of-mouth marketing. More importantly, Costco offers rewards and exclusive

perks to entice new customers, therefore, increasing purchase frequency and revenue, and more

importantly, reinforcing consumer loyalty. The low prices and wider variety offered by private brands,

like Kirkland Signature, enable high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover, which yields higher

gross margins. The authors note that private retailer brands do not need to advertise. This lessens the

marketing cost and enables higher profits. It also prevents competition from arising with manufacturer

brands, which could make them reluctant to distribute their products with that retailer since they would

ultimately lose business and sales. The authors conclude that in order for retailers to determine the best

branding strategy that can yield the most significant effect on retailer profits, further research would be

required to calculate a good ratio of private brand merchandise to manufacturer brand merchandise in

their retail stores.

This peer-reviewed journal article was written by Fu-Ling Hu and Chao Chao Chung, who are

affiliated with the Hsing Wu College in Taiwan. This article also includes a list of references to support

their findings and claims. The information provided in this article helps to differentiate the appropriate

marketing strategies that bring success to smaller companies and well-established corporations. It also
identifies the importance of private brand marketing strategies that allow their merchandise to coexist

with manufacturer brand merchandise in retail stores.

Neti, S. (2011). Social media and its role in marketing. International Journal of Enterprise Computing

and Business Systems, 1(2), 1-16. https://www.ijecbs.com/July2011/13.pdf

Social media is described in this journal article as being an essential platform businesses can use

to advertise their products or services. Popular social media networks, including Facebook, Youtube, and

Twitter, allow people to share content and communicate with each other by informing each other or

sharing opinions. According to the author, social media is beneficial to a business because it costs less

than traditional marketing tools and increases the likelihood of consumers to purchase their products.

Social media also encourages engagement from business to customers and customers to other customers,

in which the company’s brand is established and consumers can manage the brand’s reputation. According

to the study, “The State of Small Business Report,” 24% of small business owners use social media as a

marketing strategy, which has increased 12% in the past year.“The CMO Survey” concluded that

marketing budgets of companies are expected to increase 10% after 2011 and 18% five years after 2011.

Many companies have joined social media, including Dunkin Donuts who microblog on Twitter, and

many will continue to join in the future. Social media marketing is essential because it has a large

consumer base, transparency between the company and consumer is encouraged, and companies can

develop a reputable brand online that increase sales and allow new consumer relationships and business

partnerships to emerge.

This journal article was written in 2011 by an assistant professor at the Department of Business

Management at Lal Bahadur College. The information provided in this article defines the importance of

social media to businesses and how it can increase sales and revenue.
O'Neill, J. W., Mattila, A. S., & Xiao, Q. (2006). Hotel guest satisfaction and brand performance: The

effect of franchising strategy. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 7(3), 25-39.

https://doi.org/10.1300/ J162v07n03_02

This journal article discusses a study conducted by the authors that examines the relationship

between guest satisfaction and average daily sales rates in which they found a correlation between those

two variables, as well as noted the influence of franchise percentage over brand occupancy and guest

satisfaction. Hypotheses 1 and 2 proposed that a higher guest satisfaction rate would cause a higher

average daily sales and occupancy rate, respectively. Hypothesis 3 proposed bigger increases in room

inventory. Hypotheses 4 and 5 proposed that franchised property percentage would negatively impact the

effect of guest satisfaction between 2000 and 2003 in terms of average daily rate and occupancy rate,

respectively. Finally, Hypotheses 6 proposed an increased franchise percentage would inflict a lower

average daily rate between 2000 and 2003. To test these hypotheses, the authors reviewed 26 U.S. hotel

brands representing a variety of markets, including luxury, upscale, moderate, and budget hotels. They

compiled data from the 2001 and 2004 surveys conducted by Consumer Reports, in which participants

stated their overall satisfaction with their hotel stay, which was later scored on a scale of 100. They also

reviewed annual reports and surveys from Lodging Hospitality, Hotel Business, and Hotel & Motel

Management, as well as interviews with hotel company representatives. Hypotheses 1-3 were tested using

a series of linear regression analyses, in which the authors found that guest satisfaction correlates with

average daily sales rate and “positively associates” with occupancy rate between 2000 and 2003. For

example, this statement is supported by data from Best Western, in which the guest satisfaction rate

increased 1.4% between 2000 and 2003, and average daily sales rates increased 10.3% from $71.61 in

2000 and $79 in 2003. The authors also found that higher guest satisfaction can increase in hotel size

quicker than brands with lower guest satisfaction (O'Neill et al., 2006, p. 30); therefore, brand growth can

occur if a brand offers services that adequately or excellingly satisfy guest expectations. For Hypotheses
4-6, the authors used hierarchical regression analyses to identify the brand average daily sales rate and

occupancy rate affected by guest satisfaction and franchising percentage together. The authors found that

brands with increased franchising experienced a lower average daily rate in 2003 as compared to 2000.

Therefore, franchise percentage is an independent variable that can hinder the performance of a high guest

satisfaction rate but possibly positively affect higher average daily rate. The authors note that economic

conditions, limited diversity within participants, property level performance, and brand size are limitation

variables to this study. In conclusion, guest satisfaction is a significant contributor to hotel brand growth

and can have a more “complex” effect on average daily sales rate and occupancy rate, but could

negatively be affected by the percentage of franchised properties within the brand (O'Neill et al., 2006, p.

37).

This journal article was written by two professors at the School of Hospitality Management at

Pennsylvania State University, and one professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The

Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The journal article includes references to their data sources and

definitions. This study highlights a unique brand type, which is hotel brands. The study offers explains

that guest satisfaction is important for a brand to grow. With this information, hotel brands can determine

the best branding/marketing strategies that will lead to increased revenue.

Patrutiu-Baltes, L. (2015). Content marketing - the fundamental tool of digital marketing. Bulletin of the

Transilvania University of Braşov. Series V: Economic Sciences, 8(57), 111-118.

http://webbut.unitbv.ro/bu2015/series%20v/BILETIN%20I/15_Patrutiu.pdf

This journal article identifies the increasing popularity of digital marketing and explains how

because of this, many companies will be inclined to increase their use of content marketing strategies.

Patrutiu-Baltes cites a few definitions of what content marketing is, in which several of the resources she

references conclude that content marketing involves the distribution of informative and entertaining
content to engage a target audience and develop a loyal relationship with them. As the author notes, the

goal of content marketing is to raise brand awareness and is a different concept from copywriting or

product advertising. Even though digital marketing strategies are new, content marketing has been

prevalent in traditional marketing. For example in 1904, door-to-door Jell-O salesman promoted their

products by giving out free cookbooks with recipes incorporating their product, leading their sales to

reach more than $1 million, as explained by William Keyser in his 2013 novel. Content marketing leads to

sales’ increase because businesses create a large, loyal customer base by solving problems related to them

and creating a need for their product. In this case, it is essential that businesses analyze their consumers

and identify their wants and needs in order to tailor their marketing to them and can do so by analyzing

metrics, including page views and visits, subscriber count, and sharing count. As digital marketing

expands, content marketing will increase in order to increase sales and develop brand loyalty for a

business.

This 2015 journal article includes many scholarly references that corroborate on what content

marketing is and how it is an important marketing strategy for businesses. It explains how this strategy is

being used in the digital world and emphasizes the importance of brand loyalty and high quality content

creation in order to increase sales and the target audience/consumer base.

Patrutiu-Baltes, L. (2016). Inbound marketing - the most important digital marketing strategy. Bulletin of

the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series V: Economic Sciences, 9(58), 61-68.

http://webbut.unitbv.ro/Bulletin/Series%20V/BULETIN%20I/07_Patrutiu_Baltes.pdf

In this journal article, Patutiu-Baltes identifies one of the keys to success in marketing as being the

relationship between a business or company and their target audience. This means that marketing

strategies involve businesses analyzing who their target audience is and learning from their wants, needs,

and behaviors in order to market towards them specifically and develop a loyal relationship. In today’s
digital world, the author argues that inbound marketing, in which high quality content is promoted to a

researched target audience, is a great marketing strategy that a business can use. This is because

businesses can use social media to increase their outreach and attract new customers and maintain a

trusting relationship with current customers. Content on social media is informative, personalized, and

available on multiple platforms in order to reach consumers whenever and wherever. Custom emails, blog

posts, and social media campaigns are forms of inbound marketing that require personalized and high

quality content to be promoted toward a consumer. With search engine optimization (SEO) and display

advertising, businesses analyze frequent search terms and consumer location and online behaviors,

respectively, to tailor the content they advertise. Inbound marketing is successful because people

voluntarily identify themselves as being a target audience, and businesses can adjust to their needs

through analytics, unlike outbound or traditional marketing where the business simply promotes

generalized content to anyone.

The author of this journal article, Loredan Patrutiu-Baltes, holds a bachelor’s degree and several

masters and PhD degrees involving international economics and world history. Her insight and hypothesis

concerning marketing strategies is supported by her knowledge in economics and education. This journal

article will be useful in determining the best marketing strategy that will lead to the most success of a

product or service that a business or company promotes. This journal article provides specific inbound

marketing strategies that businesses can use digitally and gives an explanation as to why each of these

individual strategies is successful, especially as compared to traditional marketing.

Rodgers, R. F., Kruger, L., Lowy, A. S., Long, S., & Richard, C. (2019). Getting Real about body image:

A qualitative investigation of the usefulness of the Aerie Real campaign. Body Image, 30,

127-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.06.002

In this journal article researchers conducted a qualitative study examining the Aerie Real

campaign and found that the women who reviewed these advertisements felt that they successfully

promoted diversity and positive body image, which prompted their support for the brand and intentions to

purchase more from them. Aerie Real is a campaign from the brand Aerie designed to promote unedited

photos of women of all races/ethnicities and shapes/sizes. This study reviews how this campaign is

perceived by their target audience, all kinds of women, in a qualitative manner. The 35 women who

participated in this study were female undergraduates ranging from 18-23 years old. 57.6% of the women

were Caucasian/White, 27.3% were Asian, 3.0% were African American/Black, and 12.1% identified

themselves as more than one ethnicity. The body masses of the women ranged from 15.45 to 32.61. After

giving consent, the women were shown six Aerie Real advertisements of women in their underwear. Five

of those ads framed the faces of the women to below their hips, where the models had smiles and were

sitting down. The other ad showed only the midsection of a woman with stretch marks. The women in the

study were asked to judge the diversity of the models in terms of their race/ethnicity and their body

shape/size. They also reviewed the familiarity and reactions to these untouched photos and how they

compared to other ads. Additionally, they provided their opinion on the brand and whether or not they

would purchase from them, as well as if other companies should follow suit in this initiative. These

interviews were transcribed by research team members unbeknown to the purpose of the study. They

proposed themes and sub-themes from the questions and responses. These themes include the comparison

of Aerie Real to other advertisements, personal reactions, reactions regarding body image, “mechanisms

of impact of body image” with how they compare themselves to models, opinions on the campaign,

whether or not they would purchase from Aerie, “perceived social impact”, and usefulness of the initiative
limiting digital airbrushing. Percent agreement between each code per theme ranged from 79% to 99%.

After the images were analyzed, the participants identified a similar perception between themselves and

the models in that the campaign photos created a positive effect on body image, which ultimately led to an

acceptance of their own bodies. The way that the models were okay with being captured in unedited

photographs in their underwear influenced the participants to be comfortable with their own appearance.

Overall, the participants identified a perception of “equal attractiveness” between themselves and the

models. The researchers saw that most of the participants stated they were more likely to purchase from

Aerie due to their perception of the brand. This is because many of those participants perceived Aerie to

be a “safe and supportive” environment to shop at. The participants also expressed trust in Aerie’s

products because of the Aerie Real campaign images, in that they used models with similar body types to

theirs which indicated to the participants they would be able to fit in their clothes. However, some

participants acknowledged a bit of distrust in the brand since they felt this campaign would only be

temporary and solely a marketing strategy instead of genuine values that the company holds. In terms of

social impact created by the campaign, participants felt that limited retouching could help change

appearance ideals in the media and within society. They also felt that limited retouching could help to

limit negative body image perceptions, the emergence of eating disorders, and a decline in mental health

of viewers of clothing advertisements. The participants distinguished younger individuals as being most

susceptible to such influence and impact.

This journal article was written by those at the department of Applied Psychology at Northeastern

University. The article includes primary research with data collected from interviews with women who

are a part of the target audience of Aerie. The data collected and analyzed in this article suggests that

when the values behind a brand align with the target audience of that brand/company, consumers will be

more likely to purchase from them and be loyal to the brand, which would ultimately sustain the

company’s revenue.
Slater, J. S. (2001). Collecting brand loyalty: A comparative analysis of how Coca-Cola and Hallmark use

collecting behavior to enhance brand loyalty. Advances in Consumer Research, 28, 362-369.

https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8513/volumes/v28/NA-28

This journal article examines two successful corporations, Coca-Cola and Hallmark, in a case

study conducted by the author in which she found that these well-established brands maintain consumer

loyalty by creating collectible product lines. Collecting is passionately gathering and creating a set of

ordinary items, such as stamps or Christmas ornaments, that contain the brand’s identity. They argue that

well-established corporations need to reinforce brand loyalty in order to continually increase their revenue

because their consumers have already been purchasing their products for years. Corporations can do so by

creating collectible product lines to increase purchase frequency with existing loyal consumers as well as

attract new collectors. For the case study, the author conducted interviews with consumers and employees

involved in collectible lines, analyzed company press releases and advertisements, and gathered

information from authors and collectible experts. The first corporation that the author analyzed is

Coca-Cola, which had existed for 110 years as of the publication of this article. The author notes that the

company created their brand by “appealing emotionally” to consumers. However, the loyal consumers of

Coca-Cola have maximized brand loyalty and increased purchase frequency and revenue by paving the

way for current Coca-Cola collectible lines. Collectors in the past have gathered traditional

advertisements, such as a print ad or calendar, and established their value by considering them antiques.

For example, a 1903 metal Coca-Cola sign was purchased for $12,000 at an auction. Current Coca-Cola

collectibles have been created, such as polar bear ornaments and kitchenware, to appeal to collectors and

other loyal consumers. This collectible strategy has not only increased the value of Coca-Cola

trademarked items and increased company income, but more importantly has reinforced brand loyalty.

This strategy was also utilized by Hallmark’s corporation. Hallmark’s original product line was their
greeting cards and other personal stationery. Hallmark then expanded their product line into a collectible

Christmas ornament line. With these new collectible product lines, loyal consumers of these brands have

also joined collector’s clubs of these corporations. In 1987, Hallmark founded the Hallmark Keepsake

Ornament Collector’s Club. This club is fully managed by Hallmark, which is different from The

Coca-Cola Collectors Club, a volunteer organization managed by the collectors themselves. Through

collector’s clubs, purchase frequency is increased, therefore enhancing brand loyalty, because collectors

volunteer themselves to be on the lookout for new collectibles and to purchase them. This devotion is

driven by an emotional need for collectors to replenish their stocks. It is important for a company to tailor

their product lines to these loyal consumers because collectors and other loyal consumers are the voice of

these corporations. According to the author, they protect the brand by marketing, advertising, and

investing in these brands through the collector’s clubs. In conclusion, an important marketing strategy for

well-established corporations is to create collectible product lines that attract new and existing collectors

and consumers. This strategy increases purchase frequency, which not only increases the company’s

revenue, but it also develops a trusting and intimate relationship between the corporation and their

consumers, transforming their mentality from simply purchasing a product to becoming emotionally

attached and devoted to their brand.

This journal article was written by Jan S. Slater, a professor who has worked at a number of

universities and has authored many books and journal articles regarding marketing and advertising. This

journal article also includes a list of references used to support the claims of her case study. The case

study identifies a successful marketing strategy. Slater analyzes two well-established corporations that

have been around for decades in her case study. Her analysis and conclusions from the case study identify

the development of collectible product lines as a successful marketing strategy that can maintain and

increase the brand loyalty and revenue of a company, respectively. This is crucial in understanding how an
older company can maintain their relationship with their consumers as well as their brand in order to

continually increase their income and remain successful.