How brand and relational marketing are impacted by design thinking

: a case study at Trema Project

Abstract

This research aims to understand the impact that design thinking methodology can have on brand and relational marketing.Branding helps the cultivation of a relationship between the brand and its audience by developing a value proposition that includes functional, emotional, or self-expressive aspects. Being composed of different stakeholders that affect and are affected by the brands’ decisions and goals, it is key to successfully manage and elaborate on effective and satisfying symbiotic relationships with them. Relational marketing aims to develop mutually satisfying, long-term relationships between an organization and its stakeholders. It is considered the natural evolution of (product-based) transactional marketing. Being aholistic approach to relating companies and their stakeholders in a collaborative service strategy. Design thinking has been used as a moderator and as a way of driving innovation in a collective and multi-disciplinary way. Its contributions to management challenges include logistics, the effective sequencing and scheduling of objectives, instrumentalities, and the human factor in order to accomplish stated objectives.To study and comprehend this phenomenon, different research fields that have been found to complement each other and contribute to a better understanding of reality will be combined. Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism, Freeman (1984) Stakeholder Mapping, Sequeira and Warner’s (2007) construct for good stakeholder engagement, Grönroos (1996) three strategic and tactical issues of relational marketing and Gummesson’s (2002) Green and Alliance Relationships are the theoretical models on which this research was based.An interpretativist qualitative case study took place during a rebranding at Trema, a small accessories brand, in which design thinking tools were used. The goal was to investigate its impact on the brand’s identity and relationship marketing strategy, as well as its stakeholder engagement. Semi-structured interviews with experts in the researched fields and with Trema's internal and external stakeholders, as well as brand document analysis, were used to collect data. Qualitative content analysis through thematic and document analysis tookplace.The findings of this research have led to the conclusion that design thinking can positively impact brands by turning to a service based offering, giving voice to their stakeholders’ interests and concerns to create alliances based on mutually beneficial opportunities by systemizing and informedly planning out how the needed changes can be implemented.

Date of Award	15 Mar 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Filipa Oliveira (Supervisor)