Colloquia

Summary

This master thesis delves into the strategic rebranding and repositioning of two business-to-business brands, Masterpack Group and its subsidiary brand, Somsix. Both brands originated from the same family-owned holding company and currently have an overlapping product inventory, employee team, and target market. However, this brand interconnectedness is not addressed in their brand identity or brand and business strategy. This ‘hidden’ interplay between the brands has led to market confusion and operational challenges. Additionally, the current internal brand identities are not aligned with the externally marketed brand identities, which affects the positioning strength of the brands and the overall business success.

The primary objective of this rebranding and repositioning initiative is to create a cohesive brand identity (or multiple) that accurately reflects the interconnectedness of Masterpack and Somsix while strategically positioning the brands in their respective markets to create a strong brand equity that increases brand awareness (recognition and recall), creates a positive brand image (positive brand associations), and places the brand competitively in the market. This brand identity is developed based on a thorough analysis of the company (the organisation structure and its products and services), the customer and competitor market, and brand architecture (Aaker et al., 2000). The results are used to define brand and business strategies by applying multiple brand and business frameworks, such as Helms et al. SWOT Analysis (2010) and Osterwalder et al. Business Model Canvas (2015). These strategies are used as input for defining the new brand identities, which consist of a brand identity framework, describing the substance of the brand, and the visual brand identity, outlining the brand design guidelines. The development of this brand identity applies a combination of branding methodologies, such as Pearson’s Brand Personality Archetypes (1991) and Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism (2008). This newly developed brand identities are then applied to new website designs. This website design, the positioning strategy (summary of brand and business strategies), and a brand book (summary of brand identity and most important parts of the brand strategy) are the final deliverables of this thesis.