| dc.description.abstract | Brand portfolios of established Norwegian breweries have become increasingly paramount
for firms to manage successfully. Due to an extensive history of consolidations and acquisitions, a large amount of brands are currently present under firms corporate umbrellas, fighting each other for resources and market share. The study of this thesis is twofold and contributes to the salient topic of brand portfolio management in breweries. Firstly, we set out to elaborate on the factors affecting firms brand portfolio management and how brands in turn should be assessed to enhance firm performance and achieve a strong
competitive position in the marketplace. Secondly, due to legal restrictions in the Norwegian
brewing industry, firms are not able to achieve market growth and increased financial
performance through advertising. Breweries are therefore dependent on strong positioning
in the market to reach out to the customer base. The second feature of investigation
is therefore how established firms within the Norwegian brewing industry should utilize
consumer data to identify buying patterns and consumer demand in order to successfully
manage their brand portfolios.
Quantitative and deductive research methods were applied to address the second research
question of this study. We developed and administered a survey resulting in a data sample
of 674 responses. The thesis attempts to empirically identify the consumer behavior and
demand of Norwegian beer consumers through analyses utilizing descriptive statistics,
correlation and non-parametric methods. The findings were further applied to aid the
brand portfolio strategy of firms.
The study finds four factors which should be evaluated when assessing the brand portfolio
strategy of breweries in the attempt to increase financial performance and growth; the
brands, market conditions, business objectives and consumer demand. These factors lay
the foundation for a brand restructuring process where brands are deleted, retained,
expanded or created depending on explicit criteria presented in the thesis. The results
of the empirical analyses of Norwegian beer consumers also reveal multiple measures for
brand portfolio management in terms of geographical presence, product differentiation
and product positioning in distribution channels.
The study provides significant implications at the firm level for managers of Norwegian
breweries and contributes to a greater knowledge of internal and external factors affecting
the performance of brand portfolios in a highly regulated industry. Finally, the
research illuminates the significance of firm-specific data to successfully adapt the framework presented in this thesis to the respective breweries in the industry and suggests
directions for future research of brand portfolio management in the Norwegian brewing
industry | |
