From flea market to fashion powerhouse:

-A case study on Myrornas brand transformation

Thesis number: 2020.5.04

Thesis for Two year Master, 30 ECTS

Textile Management

Katrín Ása Heimisdóttir Madelene Sundlin

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Title: From flea market to fashion powerhouse: A case study on Myrornas brand transformation Publication year: 2020 Authors: Katrín Ása Heimisdóttir & Madelene Sundlin Supervisor: Hanna Wittrock Abstract This study provides information on the transformation from flea market to fashion retail business that the second hand business Myrorna has undergone. The scope of this study has been rebranding, marketing and communication as well as two trends: sustainability and second hand. Previous literature has pointed towards rebranding being an expensive process, whereas Myrorna being a nonprofit business that gives all their excess profit to charity has a non-existing or a tight budget for business aspects. The intriguing question of how Myrorna could go through such an immense transformation with that business structure was a point of departure for this research. The aim for this study was to look into the Swedish second hand business Myronas non-conventional leap from flea market to fashion powerhouse. The research explored this from an internal viewpoint, hence participants that have worked for or at Myrorna during the time when the transformation took place were chosen in order to see if and how: rebranding, marketing and communication and the trends correlated with their change. In order for this study to look into the second hand business Myrornas transformation, this study has conducted a single case study with a basis on conducting semi structured interviews with participants related to the case company and the phenomenon of the brand transformation. This research has taken on a qualitative research approach in order to get a deeper perspective of the underlying factors that have been part of transforming Myrorna. Additionally, in order to get the full perspective of this process a visual analysis on Myrornas campaigns during the transformation in the years 1998-2008 have been conducted to strengthen and show differences in regard to the empirical data. The results showed how both the rebranding process and a change in Myrornas marketing and communication strategy were the factors that transformed Myrorna into a fashion powerhouse. Furthermore, Myrornas brand awareness was enhanced through sustainability and second hand trends as they created an upswing in regard to popularity. The visual campaigns conducted by Myrorna from 1998 to 2008, clearly shows their transformation in steps; from initially communicating unique and personal clothing, to moving forward to portraying the high fashion clothes that can be found in their stores. Whereas they lastly focused on communicating one of their core values: sustainability. Keywords: Re-branding, secondhand, communications, marketing, trends

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Acknowledgments

The journey of this thesis has been an interesting process that has carried with it insightful and intriguing information. Although this thesis would not have been possible to conduct

without the help, support and feedback from a number of people.

We would like to take the time to express our deepest appreciation to the interview participants that have been contributing to imperative empirical data. Without them taking

time to help us this thesis would not have come to exist.

Furthermore, we would also like to give thanks to our supervisor Hanna Wittrock for all the guidance and feedback she has given to us throughout the whole study, without her we would

not have been able to construct a thorough thesis. Additionally, we would like to thank our seminar group that has been part of the whole research process by giving us constructive

feedback and providing us with additional ideas on how to better our study.

Lastly, we are also very grateful for our friends, family members and our cheerleader Morris that have stood by us and motivated us through the tougher times. They have also provided us

with great help of proofreading the finished thesis.

Sincerely, Katrín Ása Heimisdóttir & Madelene Sundlin

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Table of contents 1.0 Introduction 7

1.1 Background 7

1.2 Problem discussion 8

1.3 Research aim 10

1.3.1 Purpose 10

1.3.2 Research questions 10

1.4 Delimitations 10

2.0 Methodology 12

2.1 Research method 12

2.2 Research design 12

2.3 Empirical data collection 13

2.3.1 Primary sources 13

2.3.2 Secondary sources 15

2.4 Sample selection 15

2.4.1 Introduction of participants 16

2.5 Data analysis 18

2.5.1 Thematic analysis 18

2.5.2 Content analysis 18

2.6 Quality criteria 19

2.6.1 Validity and reliability 19

2.6.2 Ethical consideration 19

2.6.3 Credibility 20

2.6.4 Transferability 20

2.6.5 Dependability 21

2.7 Limitations of methodology 21

3.0 Literature review 23

3.1 Marketing and communications 23

3.1.2 Marketing within nonprofit organizations 24

3.2 Rebranding 25

3.2.1 Corporate rebranding within nonprofit organizations 27

3.3 Trends 28

3.3.1 Sustainability 28

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3.3.2. Second hand 29

3.4 Second hand 31

3.5 Research on Myrorna 32

3.6 Research gap 34

4.0 Theoretical framework 36

4.1 Resource based theory 36

5.0 Results 38

5.1 Rebranding 38

5.1.1 Triggers for rebranding 38

5.1.2 The process of rebranding 39

5.1.3 Myrornas old brand image 39

5.1.4 Myrornas transformed brand image 41

5.2 Marketing and communications 43

5.2.1 Marketing and communicating on a limited budget 43

5.2.2 Second hand marketing and communications 44

5.2.3 Myrornas old marketing and communications strategies 45

5.2.4 Myrornas transformed marketing and communications strategies 46

5.3 Trends 48

5.3.1 The sustainability trend 49

5.3.2 The second hand trend 50

5.4 Visual content analysis 50

6.0 Discussion 54

6.1 Concluding discussion 54

6.2 Implications 55

6.2.1 Theoretical implications 55

6.2.2 Managerial implications 56

6.3 Limitations 56

6.4 Further studies 57

7.0 References 59

8.0 Appendix 67

8.1 Interview guide 67

8.1.1 General questions 67

8.1.2 Personal questions 67

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8.1.3 Company Questions 67

8.1.4 Rebranding questions 67

8.1.5 Trend related questions 68

8.1.6 Marketing and communication questions 68

8.1.7 Questions related to Myrorna 68

8.2 Coding procedure for marketing and communication scope 68

8.3 Coding procedure for the rebranding scope 72

8.4 Coding procedure for the trend scope 75

8.5 Coding framework for content analysis 77

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1.0 Introduction In this initial chapter, the basis for the whole research is presented, the first sections will describe the background and the problem. Thereafter, the purpose and the research questions are stated, and the last sections of this chapter entails the delimitations.

1.1 Background Ssshhh, listen…if you are really quiet you can hear the clicking of the black leather shoes walking down the cobblestone in the Swedish capital, the faint sound of a skirt gently touching the ground. The year is 1896, the morning dew on the purple lupines reflects the sun in a way that makes it look like tiny diamonds, the so familiar sound of seagulls screaming in the background paints the picture of a summer morning in Stockholm. This is the scenery of when a group of ladies gathered in Östermalm to fulfill their idea of helping the most vulnerable people in society. Through donations and gifts, they were able to start a business that is today known as Myrorna. Ssshhh, listen…if you are really quiet you can hear it, the very distinct sound of wooden clogs hitting the cobblestone, the light sound of a pair of blue bell bottom jeans being scraped against the ground. Finally, though Amanda when she saw Myrornas sign and a line of people going into the store. The year was 1970 and after a couple of tough years for the second hand market of being stigmatized and seen as a flea market the trend was starting to turn around. The shift happened due to younger people wanting to dress in highly personalized clothing as well as the eco-conscious products were gaining momentum. Ssshhh, listen…if you are really quiet you can hear it, the vague squeaking noise of a new pair of sneakers walking across the cobblestone in the old town of Stockholm, the distinct sound of a pair of leather pants rubbing against each other. The year is 2020 and Emma is on her way towards Myrornas store on Götgatan to look for a similar blazer that she has seen in Vogue1. 124 years have passed and Myrorna is still providing second hand products to society, even if aspects have changed within the organisation the core values of helping people in need and the sustainable aspect of shopping there is still viable. The original idea for this study was to explore the rebranding process of MQ into MarQet, as this premium brand decided to change their retail stores into concept stores (MQ 2019). The stores would instead focus on selling products that were aimed for everyday working life as well as another focal point for the new concept was sustainability (MQ 2019). Therefore, they

1 The section above takes on the academic tool of a fictocritical writing outlook, whereas facts are coherently mixed with fiction in order to engage the reader in a compelling storytelling scenario (Rhodes 2015). The facts within the text are based on Myrorna history (Myrorna 1 n.d). For this case, this writing technique was conducted to give glimpses of Myrornas journey from when they started until the current year. Furthermore, the text probes on a part of time when Myrorna was being perceived as a stigmatized business continuing their journey to becoming a cool fashion retail business.

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decided to co-brand with Myrorna in order to take advantage of Myrornas sustainable brand image (MQ 2019). This caused an interest from the researcher’s side to find out if there were more underlying factors to why a premium brand like MQ would want to collaborate with a second hand business like Myrorna. After some time of investigating MQ and Myrorna the researchers found information about the journey that Myrorna had undertaken to erase the image of being perceived as a flea market. As Myrorna were previously perceived as having shabby clothes for poor people into transforming themselves into a cool and trendy retail business that other brands and companies want to be associated with. However, information on how Myrorna went about this transformation could not be found anywhere, this sparked an interest in changing the focus of this study into exploring the main reason to how this prestige shift took place, hence how Myrorna were able to go from being on the outs to entering into fashions parlor. Was it due to the increase in attention of the environment that made people open their eyes to Myrorna which generated into them becoming a popular business? Or maybe because of some marketing strategy that Myrorna has been pursuing over the years in order to attract consumers? This study undertakes an insider perspective of Myrorna by interviewing actors that have played an active part of transforming Myrorna into the fashion retail business they have become today, these participants reflect an insider perspective as they either worked at Myrorna during the time the transformation took place, or worked for Myrorna during this time. This thesis gives the unique perspective of traveling in time. At least in the sense of seeing how Myrorna at that time were able to erase their flea market stamp.

1.2 Problem discussion The Swedish second hand business, Myrorna, have been a part of the retail market for roughly 124 years and many aspects of the business still stands today, hence their original core values of being a nonprofit driven business that gives all of the profit excess to families in need (Myrorna 1, n.d.). As well as their focus on offering a sustainable way of consuming is a viable aspect of their daily operations. In addition to that, Myrornas entire assortment is solely dependent on donations and gifts. On the contrary, some aspects of their business have transformed with the decades, hence their brand image. Whereas Myrorna transformed from flea market into becoming a retail fashion business (Ibid) that reflects coolness, forefront thinking and power to drive and impact changes, with that said they transformed into a Fashion Powerhouse. Although, their rebranding journey can be looked at as a complex process, due to their business structure being a nonprofit. Rebranding ventures have grown immensely over the years as it is an internal strategy made by businesses to stay relevant and keep supplying their products to the market (Zhao, Calantone & Voorhees 2018). Due to the ever-changing internal and external environment that businesses are facing a transformation of the position, product range, name or other aspects of the business can be considered to be changed in order to reach a more favorable position in the consumer’s minds (Zhao, Calantone & Voorhees, 2018 & Muzellec and

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Lambkin 2006). Although the process of rebranding entails a high risk as well as it requires an extensive amount of investments in regards to time and money (Miller et al. 2014). An aspect of rebranding is marketing and communications which is an imperative tool for businesses to be able to reach individuals and to stay in the top of the consumer minds when they are considering buying a product (Kotler & Armstrong 2017). Furthermore, marketing campaigns are strategic as they are meant to portray the company's brand image and values in a way that makes the consumer connect with the brand (Ibid). Even if the marketing campaign is expressed through a discreet ad on social media, a big billboard on a shop window or a 3-minute-long TV commercial they have an imperative impact on consumers purchasing behavior (Story 2007; Kapferer 2008). Marketing and communication strategies have had to be agile and stay up to date with the society around it, as external aspects will have an impact on the consumers which in the end is the main target for a marketing campaign (Shaw 2012). Utilizing the right marketing strategy can be imperative for a business's success, although choosing the appropriate strategy is dependent on both external as well as internal factors (Merrilees & Miller 2008; Shaw 2012). However, marketing strategies are not the only way to attract consumers to a business, another factor that can create an equal amount of traction is trends (Shaw 2012; Singh 2012). If the trend is favorable for the business then they can exploit it in order to get an upswing in attention and an increase in revenue (Kim, Fiore & Kim 2011). Trends can depend on many external factors such as politics, influencers or due to environmental issues (Kim, Fiore & Kim 2011). The last-mentioned factor has risen to the top of consumer’s minds and has developed into the sustainability mega trend (Singh 2012; Bertram & Chi 2018). As millennials and generation Z are the main bearers of the sustainability message in the form of consuming ethical and environmental friendly products, fashion companies targeting these generations have had to rethink their operations (Sustainability trends 2020). As the fashion industry is one of the top industries that impacts the environment in a negative way, steps towards decreasing the environmental footprint of this sector has been done (Fletcher & Grose 2012; Ro 2020). Some businesses and organizations are responding to the consumer demand by supplying the market with more sustainable products (Sustainability trends 2020). While others are using renewable fibers, trying to minimize waste or using other finishing processes that do not use the same amount of water in order to become more sustainable (Fletcher & Grose 2012, p. 14). However, some fashion companies and brands have always been promoting a sustainable way of shopping, these are the second hand businesses/brands (Cassidy & Bennet 2012). The garments sold in the secondhand store are not as dependent on specific trends that simply pass by from day to day, although these companies have had an upswing during the last decade when the trend of sustainability has been on the agenda (Gam & Banning 2011; Cassidy & Bennet 2012). As Myrorna is a nonprofit business, all of their excess income goes directly to families in need, which leaves a limited amount of room to other aspects of the business (Myrorna 2 n.d). With that said and going back to the opening statement that regarded Myrornas identity

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change, Myrorna has successfully gone from being perceived as a flea market to becoming a fashion retail business that has been on the market for around 124 years (Myrorna 1 n.d). Although Myrorna transformation is highly complex, as being a nonprofit business that has a non-existing or at least a very tight budget for other business aspects they have been able to erase their flea market stamp and transform to a fashion powerhouse.

1.3 Research aim

1.3.1 Purpose The aim for this study is to look into the Swedish second hand business Myronas non-conventional leap from flea market to fashion powerhouse. The research will investigate this transformation from an insider's viewpoint in order to see if and how marketing and communication and the sustainability trend correlated with their change.

1.3.2 Research questions 1. How can Myrornas brand transformation be understood from an insider’s perspective? 2. How did marketing and communication and the sustainability trend correlate with

their transformation seen from an insider's viewpoint?

1.4 Delimitations This study takes on a single case study approach as the research limits itself to only conduct research within a single company and a single phenomenon, which in this case have been the second hand business Myrorna and their brand transformation. As previously stated in section 1.1 Background the initial thought was to explore the rebranding of MarQet but after some time of investigating them and their collaboration with Myrorna. The prominent factor of a nonprofit business being able to transform itself from flea market to retail store became an intriguing aspect that the researchers wanted to explore further. Based on this, a single case study on Myrorna was seen as the only suitable way of gaining insight into their mysterious transformation. Furthermore, as the study takes on the perspective of exploring Myronas transformation from flea market to retail fashion business the years that have been investigated have been delimited from 1998-2008 as this has been the years where a significant transformation can be disclosed. In this study participants that have an extended amount of knowledge about Myrorna, rebranding, marketing and communication and trends have been interviewed. The three later concepts have been formulated as the scope of this research as prior research has pointed towards rebranding being the process of transforming a business as well as marketing and communication being an imperative step within the rebranding process. The external factor: trends were added into the scope of the research as trends have also been proven to impact a business in various ways. Therefore, literature presented and examined in this study is also delimited to only explore the main scope of this study. This is done in order to be as specific

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as possible as well as to be able to provide relevant information that will give insight into the research question. Based on the prior paragraph the outlook of consumers' view on Myrornas transformation will not be investigated, the study will only focus on learning the attitudes, thoughts and statements of several insiders of the transformation. As Myrorna is the main case company explored in this study, and Sweden being the second hand business only market the geographical area for this study is limited to Sweden. Additionally, this research does not delimit itself to only explore a certain gender or age group as this has no relation to the aim or research question. The relevance has been put on providing the study with an adequate amount of relevant data that relates to the case company Myrorna.

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2.0 Methodology In this chapter, the study will motivate the chosen methodology procedures that have been undertaken.

2.1 Research method This study will use a qualitative research method, as with this kind of method the focal point is on people's views, ideas and thoughts from an insider's perspective (Gephart & Rynes 2004). This is later written down into a text format which is the empirical basis for the research (Ibid). This study found it suitable to use this research method as the aim of the study is to go deeper into four areas; a brand, rebranding, trends and marketing/communication strategies, in order to find the answer to how the studied business went through an immense transformation. Therefore, this study will investigate a broader spectrum that can only be reached by finding the insiders' views and thoughts on the studied phenomenon and case company. Qualitative research can take many shapes and forms as the issues researched in this kind of method investigates the feelings and meanings by words or meetings. Therefore, qualitative research is not limited to using interviews as a data collection method, observation is also a valid way to collect data (Gephart & Rynes 2004). For this study, the main empirical data will be collected through interviews as this research needs specific participants to answer questions related to the topics, therefore observations would not be able to give the researcher insight into the studied phenomena and case company.

The research that a qualitative method provides is highly useful for management scholars as this research takes time to gain access to and reveals detailed and deep ideas, descriptions and thoughts which cannot be gained by using a more time efficient quantitative research method (Gephart & Rynes 2004). More, the aim of this study is to be able to provide literature and managers an insight into if there is a correlation between the four studied perspectives; a brand, rebranding, trends and marketing and communication strategies.

2.2 Research design A case study is designed to look into one special company, person or one phenomenon, taking a deep dive into that special context (Ebneyamini & Sadeghi Moghadam 2018). By using a case study the researchers are investigating what is special about the studied case, therefore a careful examination of the background and the historical perspective of the case is crucial in order to get rich data (Ibid). When selecting a case to study the basis should be on the phenomena that the researcher wants to investigate and thereafter find a suitable case that relates to the scope of the phenomena (Ibid). According to Ebneyamini & Sadeghi Moghadam (2018) a case should never be chosen at random, the selection of the case should be done carefully.

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For this research, a single case study was seen to be most suitable due to the researchers interest in the case company Myrorna and the phenomena of their brand transformation. This company has been around for decades and therefore can give the study insight in a prolonged historical context.

2.3 Empirical data collection Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic the interviews were conducted through phone or through Skype. This is unfortunate as face to face interviews are seen as more reliable due to the interviewer being able to see the interviewees body language and facial expression (Cassell, Cunliffe & Grandy 2018).

2.3.1 Primary sources In qualitative research interviews are one of the most suitable ways to collect data, as this type of data collection contributes with a wide spectrum of the phenomena (Barrett & Twycross 2018). Interviews can be conducted in different ways, it all depends on the researcher's aim and questions, if the research aims at answering one single question the researcher can choose to use an unstructured interview whereas no script is used. Another approach is to use semi-structured interviews whereas the researchers are using a script but are not limited to only follow that. The script of a semi-structured interview consists of questions related to different perspectives on the studied topic, furthermore, the researcher is free to ask follow-up questions and explore the answers of the participants in a deeper perspective. This type of interview creates a more controlled environment then unstructured interviews do in order for the research to pinpoint the studied topic in different perspectives (Ibid). Therefore, this study undertook a semi-structured interview approach as the researchers wanted to have some security of having a script in order to ensure that different angles of the topic were covered. In addition, the researchers wanted to be free to ask follow-up questions to a participant’s answer. As discussed by Rabionet (2011), it is imperative for a researcher to introduce him/herself to the participant and to establish rapport in order for the participant to feel safe to share stories and thoughts with the researcher. Furthermore, the introduction should also convey a section where the researcher goes through the participant’s ethical right such as being anonymous (Rabionet 2011). In this study, the opening statements of the semi-structured interview concluded the researchers introducing themselves, their background and the study. Thereafter, the researcher resumed the interview, the script was divided into seven sections, whereas these sections conveyed: general, personal and company related questions, as well as questions related to the scope: rebranding, trends and marketing/communications. Additionally, questions related to the studied case company were also asked to the participants. The stated questions can be found in appendix 9.1 Interview guide. The general questions conveyed the researcher asking the participant if the interview could be recorded and if the participant wanted to be anonymous. The next section, personal questions related to the participant’s current job title, previous work experience and why they ended up

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working at their current job. These questions were meant to make the participant feel at ease and to start off slow. Continuing, the next section of the script was formulated in order to get to know the company that the participant worked for in a deeper way, general open questions such as: can you tell me a bit about the company were posed to the participant. Additionally, more specific questions about the company were also asked such as: can you tell me about your target customer, company values and what kind of marketing strategies do you use. The last three sections of the script related to the scope of this research, thereafter general or more specific questions about rebranding, trends and marketing and communications were asked, depending on the case. Questions that were asked amongst others were: “Do you think that the sustainability trend has benefited second hand companies?” And; “Have your company become popular because of your own marketing and communication efforts or has it to do with trends?”. In order to select relevant questions that can help the researcher in their quest of answering their aim it is crucial for the researchers to explore previous research within the studied field (Rabionet 2011). As this can give ideas to the research about questions as well as it can give insight into what questions not to ask. Cross checking the questions with an external auditor or doing a pilot study can also benefit the study in many ways, as an auditor can give feedback and guidance on the subject. Furthermore, a pilot study can give insight in to what questions that will provide relevant data for the research. When conducting the interview, it is imperative to either take notes or record the interview, the later being the preferred choice as then every part of information is caught (Ibid). For this study, the process of formulating the interview script was a mix of processing prior literature within the same context as well as formulating questions that connect to the research questions and aim, this was done in order to explore the research question and aim in different perspectives. Furthermore, before conducting the interviews the script was sent to an external auditor that has working experience within marketing and communications. When conducting the interviews the researchers recorded the interviews with their phones which provided a clear sound. Following the recording of the interview the researchers transcribed the interviews in a de-naturalism way, which means that the researchers did not transcribe every stutter and pauses (Oliver, Serovich & Mason 2005). However, everything else said and talked about in the interview was transcribed. Although some interviews were conducted in the native language of the participant, Swedish, one of the researchers also has Swedish as their native language. Consequently, after the transcription of the Swedish interviews the researcher had to translate the interview as this study is written in English. The researcher translating these interviews have studied in English and only enrolled in English speaking classes for 5 years which probes the researcher adequate knowledge within the English language. However, some statements made by the participants in Swedish cannot be directly translated into English without losing context, however the researcher took part of the interview and has therefore understood the context of the participants answer and has translated the text accordingly. When conducting translations in a study Sutrisno, Nguyen & Tangen (2014), states that the translators needs to be bilingual and that the translator needs to show his/her proficiency in both languages in order for the translation to be viewed as trustworthy and qualified.

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2.3.2 Secondary sources The secondary source of data was conducted in the sense of Myrornas visual marketing campaigns to complement the primary data. Therefore, a visual analysis will also be undertaken for this study as the case is covering an extended period and analysing the development of the brand during that period. Visual research can explore pictures, videos, fonts, models and many more visual interpretations that are related to a business (Davison, Mclean & Warren 2015). Furthermore, visuals can have a colossal power over attitudes and emotions, which in some cases corresponds to consumer behavior. Additionally, visuals are a big part of a business marketing and communication strategies (Ibid). Based on the previous statement, the authors found it imperative for this study to investigate the studied company’s visual campaigns during the years of the transformation as they are a direct link to their marketing and communications. The visual campaigns that were selected for this study are pictures of previous Myrorna’s campaigns in the years of 1998 to 2008 when the brand transformation occurred. The pictures were received from one of the participants that had worked on the mentioned campaigns during the time 1998 to 2008. Five pictures from the years 1998 to 2008 were selected as the study’s data for the visual analysis but there is approximately 1 to 4 years between every campaign. The selection of the pictures was chosen to explore the transformation of Myrorna from flea market to fashion retail store in that 10-year span.

2.4 Sample selection The amount of participants in a study is relevant since too few participants can cause the research to lose depth and not gain a broad enough perspective to generate relevant data (Cleary, Horsfall & Hayter 2014; Sandelowski 1995). Additionally, if the study uses too many participants the gathered data can become shallow or it can become too much for the research to be able to deal with in an adequate way (Ibid). According to Sandelowski (1995), the right sampling size for a study is not a set amount, the researchers need to analyze the purpose of the study to find out the right sample size. As studies differ in various contexts such as research aim and studied sector, the right amount of participants in that specific study can only be judged by the researcher. Saturation is the concept of having collected all the data that can be gathered from a participant, this is usually seen when no new insights are generated from the participants. If saturation is reached when interviewing participants then the researcher can be sure that this is the point to stop collecting more data. Additionally, a qualitative research general aims to understand a case, not to understand variables which is the case for quantitative research. Therefore, another way of seeing if the sample selection is the right amount is to see if the data collected still have the main focal point of looking into a case (Ibid). The sample size of a qualitative research can both be referred to the individuals being interviewed or the amount of interviews that have been conducted (Ibid). In this case, the sample size will refer back to the interviews being conducted as each individual interview, even though conducted on the same person, is of importance. The amount of interviews that

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has taken place in this research is seven, this amount was found to be suitable as this study takes on a single case study perspective and therefore the interviews conducted were specific to that case study company. The participants interviewed are either a part of the case study company or experts within the field of marketing or communication. A distinct pattern and themes could be detected from all the transcribed interviews and therefore the research amount was thought to be suitable as saturation had occurred. As described briefly above, the participants interviewed were carefully selected as they were highly probable to give specific and relevant insights into the studied topic as well as to portray a deep and broad discussion within the scope of research. This sampling technique is referred to as; purposive sampling (Cassell, Cunliffe & Grandy 2018). Although one participant for this study has been based on a snowball sampling technique, this individual was seen to be suitable to conduct an interview as he/she had been part of the studied case company as well as that he/she has prior work experience within marketing and communications. The snowball sampling technique refers to one participant suggesting another person of relevance to the researchers (Cassell, Cunliffe & Grandy 2018).

Name Profession Amount of interviews

Duration of interview (minutes)

Date the interview took place

Markus Branding strategist

2 1st: 59 2nd: 61

2020-02-26 2020-04-01

Lina Business development project manager

1 30 2020-02-24

Lucas Marketing manager

1 54 2020-04-07

Katarina Branding project manager

1 32 2020-04-01

Mathilda Copywriter 1 40 2020-02-18

Charlotte Creative director

1 66 2020-03-02

Table 1.0: Interviewed participants

2.4.1 Introduction of participants The names of the participants were not of relevance in study and have therefore been changed into other names as part of ethical consideration. The factor that has been of value for this study is the profession of the participants as they relate to their expertise within the field that this research aims at studying. Furthermore, some participants have direct connections with

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the case company as they used to or are working there. In order to account for the relevance of these participants, an introduction of all of the participants will follow. Markus Markus is working at a communication agency as a branding strategist, he has previous work experience from graphic design, advertisements and PR. Markus is a relevant participant for this study as he worked for Myrorna for 12 years, he was part of making Myrornas advertising campaigns from 1998 until 2011. One aspect of Markus that made him a good participant is that he was part of rebranding Myrorna into the company that they have become today. Lina Lina is working as a project manager at Myrorna, she deals with everything from business development, collaborations and the launch of the new web-shop. She has worked for Myrorna for 3 years, Lina was chosen as a participant as she has real time knowledge and information about the studied case company. Lucas Lucas retired one year ago, but Lucas previously worked as an advertising manager, project manager, marketing manager and as an information manager. Lucas has a lot of experience within the fields that this research is studying, but the most prominent aspect that made Lucas a good participant for this study is that he was a marketing manager for Myrorna. Lucas worked at Myrorna for approximately 10 years, he started working there in 1998. Katarina Katarina is working as a project manager at a branding agency, her daily tasks include everything from managing larger projects to taking care of the communication for the branding campaigns and sometimes the visuals for the campaigns. Katarina has great knowledge within the sphere of branding and communications as well as previously working for Myrorna, conducting a marketing campaign. Mathilda Mathilda is working as a copywriter for a large Swedish retail company, her main tasks includes writing the texts for the brand as well as writing newsletters for the brand. The imperative part of being a copywriter is to be able to direct the message to the target audience. Mathilda is a relevant participant for this study as she is working within the field of communication as well as being a part of a collaboration between this retailer and Myrorna. Charlotte Charlotte is a creative director that has previously worked within advertisement but as of today her daily tasks includes communication strategies, visual campaigns as well as brand development. Charlotte has not worked with Myrorna in the past, although she was seen to be

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a suitable participant for this study as she has knowledge and information about branding and communications which is the scope for this research.

2.5 Data analysis

2.5.1 Thematic analysis This study will analyze the empirical data collected in accordance to a thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a widely used approach in qualitative research, it is an organized approach where trends, differences and similarities amongst the participants are distinct (Nowell et al. 2017). A thematic analysis starts off with the researcher carefully reading the transcripts that have been made from the interviews, then proceeds with identifying statements, concepts or specific words that are relevant to the study (Clarke & Braun 2017). After this the researcher categorizes the identified words and groups them together in order to make it easier to find patterns and themes to analyze. Predefined codes set up by the researchers that are in line with the research scope can be a helping hand in the initial process of coding (Ibid). Although it is imperative that the predefined codes are limited in order to not be biased when interpreting concepts, words and statements (Nowell et al. 2017). This study has used three predefined codes: rebranding, marketing/communication and trends, these codes were chosen as it is a direct link to the scope of the research. Therefore, these codes cannot be perceived as biased as it is the basis for this whole study.

2.5.2 Content analysis After conducting the interviews, the researchers decided that the study needed more perspective on the transformation of Myrorna from the year 1998 to 2008. Therefore, to supplement the number of interviews conducted for the study a visual content analysis of Myrornas campaigns in the 10-year span was conducted. The aim with conducting visual content analysis for the study was to explore further the transformation of Myrorna in those 10 years and to increase the validation of the study. With this analysis, the researchers believed that it would provide more insight and support the findings of the interviews. A content analysis is a method of data collecting that describes the material and ascribes meaning to it with the help of coding frame (Schreier 2012). Researchers specify the coding frame and regulate it to the nature of the research question (ibid). The coding frame was developed after revising the interviews and literature review to highlight every aspect in relevance to the study. The analysis is in the form of image analysis and image-caption analysis. The analysis has been simplified and modified for this study in order to align with the key aspects from the study. The photos were analyzed by first viewing each photo individually by acknowledging the visual content and categorizing what could be observed in relation to the analysis coding frame. In further connection to its caption, each photo was analyzed as well as all 5 photos were analyzed as an overall transformation of the company. By analyzing the overall transformation, the researchers could detect a general view of the change and not make conclusions solely based on each photo.

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The coding framework (in Appendix 9.5) is structured with 2 categories, 4 subcategories and 5 sub-subcategories. The main categories are photoshoot style and trends but photoshoot style displays if the photos are non-professional and more personal in style or professional and editorial. With the trends, it shows sustainability where environmental awareness is focused, and second hand that divides into personal style and uniqueness. Personal style defines if in the photo a personal style with second hand clothes are showcased, and uniqueness is defined if uniqueness is communicated with second hand clothes in the photo.

2.6 Quality criteria The quality of a research is judged in all parts of the study, the research questions, the data collection, the analysis of the data and many more aspects (Ali & Yusof 2011). Validity, reliability and ethical considerations are the main aspects that are under a magnifying glass when investigating the quality criteria for a research (Ibid). Therefore, this research has been cross checked with these main criteria in order to deliver a professional research that can be trusted.

2.6.1 Validity and reliability Two questions within the sector of qualitative research pose as the main questions to ask in order to see if the study is valid and reliable (Ebneyamini & Sadeghi Moghadam 2018). These are: could other researchers carry out the same study and get the same results, and could the same researcher be able to repeat the exact same study with the same participants and even then, be able to convey the same results (Ibid). In order to create validity in case study research it is suggested by Moisander & Valtone (2006) to use an additional method or data collection approach such as; observations or a content analysis. This in order to see and cross check the two approaches together and if the findings and conclusions are similar and correspond to each other than the research is seen as valid (Moisander & Valtone, (2006). For this study to be as validated as possible, the primary source of data is collected from interviews and the secondary data collection approach is a visual content analysis. This was done in direct correlation to the statement made prior by Moisander and Valtone (2006) that relates to using an additional data collection to triangulate the study.

2.6.2 Ethical consideration In research in general that utilizes participation from other individuals, certain ethical aspects need to be considered in order to provide safety to the participant (Connelly 2014). In the beginning stage of a research that includes participants the researchers need to find people that can be part of the study. Phone calls, emails or surveys can be ways to find a sample. Although it is imperative to incorporate a part in the initial stage where the researchers explain that the participation is free to choose to participate in the research (Ibid). In this study, the main way to reach participants was to email them, describe the aim of the

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study, ask if they had time and would like to participate in the study. In this way, the researchers asked for consent from the participants to be a part of the research. Furthermore, another ethical issue that needs to be considered when conducting research is to be inclusive of all subgroups, genders and ethnicity in society (Connelly 2014). For this research, the main focus when choosing participants were put on the case and on work experience within marketing and communications and rebranding. Within these factors participants were chosen, therefore all genders, ethnicity and subcultures that had knowledge within this field and case where included. It is crucial that the participation within a study does not cause any additional stress and negative effects to the individuals that are participating (Connelly 2014). Therefore, the researchers need to make sure that the data is confidential. If they do not clearly state that it is imperative for the research to use the individual's name, work position or subculture (Ibid). Anonymity was promised to the participants within this study, as the imperative factor for this research was the participants work title and previous work experience. This in order to provide the study with reliability as the participants chosen in this study either are experts within the field of rebranding, marketing and communications or are working for the case company.

2.6.3 Credibility Credibility in a research context conveys if the study is trustworthy, unbiased and draws conclusions from the collected data (Nowell et al. 2017). Credibility can be reached in various ways, using different ways of collecting data and also by having peers checking the research process (Ibid). In this study, the data collection consists of two separate entrances: Interviews with specialists within the studied scope or individuals that have a vast amount of information about the studied company. Furthermore, the secondary data collection method is a visual content analysis of the studied companies marketing and communication campaigns. Additionally, as this research is conducted in accordance to a master’s degree the researchers have had help in the context of feedback and comments from colleagues and supervisors. The peer and supervisor checks and feedbacks have given this study an unbiased objective to the material and data presented throughout the whole research.

2.6.4 Transferability Transferability in regard to qualitative research imposes that the current research results need to be descriptive and rich in order for other studies to be able to transfer aspects of the study onto other studies (Guba 1981). Therefore, the research needs to provide the reader with plenty of information about the participants and the processes that the research is going through (Ibid). This research has focused on being as specific as possible without crossing the border of ethical considerations regarding names and the confidentiality aspect. Although the crucial parts of this study have not been put on names and other disclosed aspects that the participants might obtain, the imperative parts for this research has been openly revealed.

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2.6.5 Dependability Another aspect of quality criteria in qualitative research is dependability, it provides a study with consistency and trustworthiness (Guba 1981). For a study to reach dependability, the researchers need to be consistent and in line with their chosen methodology at all times in the study. Carefully describing why, a certain sample was chosen to participate in the study and so forth. Audit trail is a strategy to establish dependability in study, this strategy refers to having an external auditor checking the process of the research (Ibid). For this specific study, the researchers have provided the study with rich details about every aspect of the study, openly showing the ways of sampling, collecting data and the process of analyzing the results.

2.7 Limitations of methodology In this section, the researchers have chosen to acknowledge and be open with the limitations that are correlating with the methodological chapter. Although the researchers of this study have briefly discussed the main methodological limitations in every section where limitations have been found. However, in this section these limitations will be discussed even further as well as some new aspects of limitations will be investigated. Data collection, this part of the study was derived from seven semi structured interviews, due to the real time Covid-19 pandemic this study had to adapt to collecting the empirical data through phone or skype. The aim for the data collection was initially to be able to do face to face interviews with every participant. This would have been feasible as all of them live in Sweden and in a close range from the researchers. However, as this was not possible in due time, phone and skype interviews were seen to be the next best option. Through the phone/skype interviews the researchers were able to collect a large amount of rich data. In accordance with the data collection, the translation of the interviews can be seen as a limitation and are therefore presented here, whereas a majority of the interviews were conducted in Swedish and this study is conducted in English. The researcher that has translated the Swedish interviews into English has Swedish as a native language and has lived in Sweden for the most part of her life. However, this research has a majority of her relatives in North America as well as this researcher has mainly been speaking the English language for the last 5 years. With the prior section the researchers for this study want to clarify the profound level of both Swedish and English that the researcher that has translated the interviews possess. Therefore, the translations of the interviews have been as direct as possible in connection to what the participants have said. However, some words and concepts can not be directly translated to English, when issues like that presented itself for the researcher then the context of what the participant had stated was of importance in order for the researcher to be able to translate in accordance to that. Sample selection, as stated prior, the empirical data was collected from seven interviews, the study undertook originally to interview ten individuals in order to get a wide perspective from a broad range of participants that have knowledge within the research scope. The researchers

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emailed a wide amount of individuals that had this knowledge but only six people answered that they could take part of the study. In the initial process of this study the researchers saw this as an immense problem but as discussed in chapter 2.4 sample selection Sandelowski (1995), argues that if saturation is reached in a study then the researchers can be sure of having the right amount of participants and the right amount of collected data. This was something that this study found to be true as when all the interviews had been transcribed similar patterns and themes became clear. As well as that the researchers saw glimpses of data that could provide an answer to the posed research question and aim.

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3.0 Literature review This section of the thesis will present previous literature within the scope of marketing and communications, rebranding, trends and on Myrorna. The research gap is also defined in this chapter.

3.1 Marketing and communications 3.1.1 The evolution of marketing communication Marketing has evolved over the years as new information and technology has come into the marketplace as businesses have needed to adapt (Brunswick 2014). Shimp (1993) explains that marketing is a set of activities between brands and customers in the attempt to create value. It involves exchange of information between brands and customers that discovers the customers needs (Pearson 1996). Lee (2013) describes that marketing can be understood as a communication channel that links service or product to the targeted customers. She explains the process is not just to sell a product or service but rather to focus on identifying the needs of customers and matching the product and service to those needs (Lee 2013). Communication is a way to share and marketing communication is a way for marketers to share their message to targeted customers (Kotler & Keller 2009). Marketing communication is the attempt of the brand in a direct or indirect way to inform and remind their targeted customers about the brand (ibid). It has an important role in the attempt of building a good relationship between the brand and the customer (Dawar 2004). Marketing communications plays a significant role in today’s marketing world but since 1950 it has been a vital part of businesses and organisations (Kitchen 1999). Marketing communication is defined by Quwersloot & Duncan (2008, p. 8) as: “A collective term for all the various types of planned messages used to build a brand-advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, packaging, events and sponsorship, customer service and product placement “(Ouwersloot & Duncan 2008). Elements of publicity and interactive marketing can be added to this definition (Belch & Belch 2007). The purpose of marketing communication is to help build a brand by connecting brands with their targeted customers and influence the information message to customers (Blythe 2006; Ouwersloot & Duncan 2008). The important role marketing communication has today is recognised internationally as the most efficient way to communicate for brands to customers (Keller 2001). Keller (2001) states that marketing communication is the voice of a brand and brands can establish a communication with customers concerning their product or service. This means that marketing communication helps brands communicate with their customers and establish a brand image in the mind of their customers (ibid). The benefits of marketing communication are many and vary depending on the brands industry. Keller (2009) mentions some benefits such as larger margins, brand extension opportunities, customer loyalty and less vulnerability

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to competition. With marketing communication as a marketing tool, customers can be told how to feel and perceive a certain brand as well as told what it stands for and what it associates with (ibid). If this marketing tool is used correctly it can increase customer loyalty and profits (ibid).

3.1.2 Marketing within nonprofit organizations In 2007 AMA revised their original definition of marketing to recognize the nonprofit sector in the use of marketing (Ahmed 2012). The new and revised definition (Ahmed 2012, p. 218) was as followed: ”Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large” (Ahmed 2012). With this revised marketing conceptualization, it showed the relevance to the nonprofit organization sector and shows the marketing tactic for the nonprofit organization sector is to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization (Wymer et al. 2006). Bush (1992) raised a concern regarding the traditional way of marketing a business as not being suitable for a nonprofit organization, as it might go against the characteristics of the nonprofit organization. With the new conceptualized marketing, it offers the nonprofit organizations a broader perspective and offers them opportunities to promote their goals and missions (ibid). Ahmed (1992) stated that marketing for profit driven organizations can mean developing new products, creating effective channels, and understanding the customers needs in the attempt to increase the profit margin. This marketing can serve the same purpose for nonprofit organizations although with different ultimate goals (ibid). Marketing gives the nonprofit organizations an opportunity to share their stories and mission with different stakeholders (ibid). Ahmed (2012) explained that marketing does not only mean selling a product for profit rather it includes all the activity of the organization to promote their values and mission. The argument is always there as marketing was developed in the private sector and seen as not compatible for the nonprofit organization sector (ibid). This is also brought up by Kotler whereas he states that marketing was one of the lowest business aspects to implement and utilize within a nonprofit organization (Kotler, 1979). But gradually through the years, nonprofit organizations have started to use marketing as an essential tool and marketing strategies in order to achieve their goals (Ahmed 2012). Kotler & Levy (1969) were first to research the relevance of marketing concepts for the nonprofit sector but they considered marketing to be about servicing and satisfying customers needs. This was supported by Armstrong et al (2012) that defined marketing concept as a philosophy that to get to the organizational goals it depends on knowing the needs and wants of the customer target market and satisfying them better than competitors. To achieve organizational goals and fulfil their mission as well as grow and develop in the market, nonprofit organizations need resources but these resources are financial and human resources (Andreasen & Kotler 2008). In addition, nonprofit organizations need to recognize the need

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to develop the identity that will provide the positive image of the organization at the same time as differentiate itself from others (Venable et al 2005). Andreasen & Kotler (2008) explained that marketing is a tool to achieve the goals of the organization and help them to do what it wants. Nonprofit organizations need to decide what communication strategies they want to promote, their service, product or organization (Ahmed 2012). As Johnson & Venkatesan (2001) explain that communicating promotion involves informing and reminding people about their mission, organization, product or service. This can also grow customer base, increase visibility, efficiency and more awareness of the organization to the society (Warwick 1999). Kotler (1979) explained that marketing within a nonprofit organization to be quite extensive and difficult for first time implementers it can therefore be beneficial to hire a marketing or communication specialist who will take care of the initial steps. Nonprofit organizations can also use the marketing mix to differentiate themselves from others, position themselves as a unique market niche and gain competitive advantage (Worth 2009). The classic marketing mix includes product, place, promotion and price but as Worth (2009) explained a nonprofit organization can change the marketing mix according to their customers' needs and wants while keeping the core purpose.

3.2 Rebranding

In order to appropriately define the term rebranding the concept of branding needs to be stated first as rebranding can not happen without a brand existing in the first place (Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin 2003). The American marketing association defines a brand as: “a name, term, symbol, design or a combination of them intended to identify goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”. Correspondingly, Muzellec and Lambkin (2006) defines the concept of rebranding as, the creation of symbols, names, organizational structure, design or all of them in order to construct a new brand that will position itself in a new location in the consumers, competitors and stakeholder’s minds. Frequent reports in the business press is about brands adopting new brand names but this phenomenon of rebranding has received little academic attention (Delattre 2002; Merrilees & Miller 2013). Delattre (2002) stated that there has been no in-depth analysis of the subject rebranding despite growing numbers of brands rebranding and name changes in recent years. Muzellec, Doogan, Lambkin (2003) also mentioned that there has been an increase in the number of high-profile brands rebranding in the past few years and Kettle (2002) referred to it as “rebranding mania” The academic literature on corporate rebranding are lacking if compared to corporate branding where the literature is quite extensive (Merrilees & Miller 2008; Chad 2015), as argued by the same authors in a later research conducted in 2013 this might be due to corporate rebranding originating as an extension of branding (Merrilees & Miller 2013). The literature on corporate branding conveys classics from 1978 and various perspectives of corporate branding has been explored in detail (Ibid).

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In 2000, Hankinson undertook an exploratory study where she examined different charity organizations and reviewed how important branding was for them (Hankinson 2000). Even if this study is related to branding, data and conclusions in regard to rebranding emerged (ibid). One intriguing piece of information presented by Hankinson (2000) was that the task of going from a charity organization into becoming a charity brand was imposed on the new marketing or communication manager, as in many of the cases the managers that had undertaken a rebranding were new to their job but had extensive experience from working with branding in a commercial sector. Stuart & Muzellec (2004) also presents evidence that a new manager can be the trigger for a business to rebrand, the reason for this is due to the manager wanting to make his/her mark on the business. Another reason why a company might undergo a rebranding venture can be for the business to erase or distance itself from past issues, brand images and statements (ibid). More recent academic research within corporate rebranding was conducted by Muzellec et al (2003) and Muzellec and Lambkin (2006) where the study highlights that acquisitions and mergers are the main drivers for rebranding. While Stuart and Muzellec (2004) argued that the solution might not always be rebranding. They suggested that an assessment was needed when considering rebranding that includes knowing what is signaled, potential benefits and be sure that stakeholders understand and support the rebranding (ibid). According to Merrilees and Miller (2008), corporate rebranding is a change between a formulated corporate brand and a new formulation of that brand. The designations can range from minor changes to major radical changes and the triggers of rebranding may be either internal or external (Muzellec & Lambkin 2006). Moreover, the corporate rebranding process includes multiple stakeholders such as the customers, investors, employees, partners and suppliers (Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2007). The internal stakeholders within the business carry with them an imperative task when a business decides to rebrand, as they will be the face out to the public they need to convey the same message as the new brand stands for (Hankinson 2000; Merrilees & Miller 2008). Therefore Hankinson, (2000), Merrilees & Miller, (2008) and Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin, (2003) declared that extensive training, manuals and seminars should be provided by the business to their internal stakeholder. As expressed by the participants in Hankinson's study (2000) communication is an imperative aspect when rebranding as it is a great way to reach a wider audience. However, Hankinson (2000) continues discussing that the communication of a rebranding needs to be adjusted for the stakeholder that the communication is addressing. This statement is also addressed by Gotsi & Andriopoulos, (2007), where they indicate that the communication behind a rebranding venture can not solely rely on marketing communications, other efforts and steps need to be taken in order to get all stakeholders to understand the new brand. Merrilees and Miller (2008) argue that the marketing and communication strategy employed by the business depends on the budget, whereas they state that PR is a great choice for smaller businesses with a limited budget. Furthermore, PR is also a valid choice if the aim is to change attitudes of the consumers (Merrilees & Miller 2008). Hankison (2000) expresses a similar view on

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PR, whereas she continues stating that PR is a great way to reach a vast amount of consumers. The process of rebranding can be risky and often require considerable investment with no knowledge of achieving the outcomes that are wanted and expected (Miller et al. 2014). The way brands carry out their rebranding can influence the consumer’s perception of the new brand image (Aaker 1997). The process of rebranding takes time, effort and money therefore the business that are considering rebranding needs to carefully do their research about the perceived risks (Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin 2003). Gotsi and Andriopoulos (2007) did a research where they interviewed executives that had been in-charge of a corporate rebranding, and they found four main barriers for corporate rebranding. When rebranding, companies might forget to look at the business's own heritage and identity and change everything in the company. Thus, making it a brand new company that stakeholders won’t stand by or connect with. With stakeholder myopia, the authors mean that the managers have been more concerned with finding shareholders and caring about the financial aspects instead of their staff and customers. Thirdly, with a focus on the labels and not the meaning behind the words the staff won’t know what has changed in the company and therefore won’t be able to change their behavior to align with the new values that company has set up. Therefore, it is imperative to engage the staff in the new concepts and standpoints that the new company is going to stand for in order for the staff to portray that. Furthermore, the fourth pitfall relates to the previous one, as the stakeholders might find it challenging to go from behaving in one way to behaving in another. As the original company might have been around for years and the staff have grown accustomed to a certain identity (Ibid).

3.2.1 Corporate rebranding within nonprofit organizations Charity organizations were gaining the interest of researchers during the 1990s and the conclusion drawn from these studies were that charity organizations were not making use of their brand (Hankinson 2000). In addition, there was a need to go further with the branding in order to develop it into a stronger and clearer aspect of a charity organization (ibid). The sphere of branding within charity organizations has received limited amounts of academic attention (Merrilees & Miller 2013). This sector is complex and differs from other businesses and brands that are not reliant on donations and gifts, as the competition within charity organizations are increasing as well as further issues within this sector relates to positioning and marketing problems. However, these problems are not discussed in depth in the organization as the more pressing issues relate to social goals that the charity organization may have. Merrilees and Miller (2013) continues discussing that an extension within this sector that has received even less academic attention is rebranding within the field of charity organizations, the few academic literary articles conducted in regards to this has been general and has not concentrated on specifics (Ibid). Even though Hankinson (2000) clearly stated that every sector within charity organizations would benefit from putting more effort in their

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branding in order to develop a stronger brand image as well as be able to distinguish themselves from competition which is needed in order to get donations. A study made by Chad (2015) takes its basis from Merrilees and Miller (2013) call for more research within rebranding for charity organizations. Chad (2015) conducted a single case study on an Australian nonprofit health insurance company. He based his research on a corporate rebranding strategy made by Merrilees and Miller in 2008 and tried this strategy on a nonprofit organization (ibid). The conclusion was that the corporate rebranding strategy provided by Merrilees and Miller (2008) can be used for a nonprofit organization with some minor changes to it. Although, Chad (2015) explicitly states that further research within rebranding in nonprofit organizations is needed, researching different sectors, countries and perspectives are of use in order to give insight into unexplored areas.

3.3 Trends

3.3.1 Sustainability

In the 1960’s, critical views of the industrialized society resulted in concerns about consumption and led to eco-movements (Strähle & Muller 2017). Following was the 1970’s and 1980’s where a new movement came to life where new eco attitudes came around and people wanted to wear eco-friendly fashion (ibid). This development influenced the attitude of today’s society. The European Commission (Europäische Kommission 2009) said that retailers are focusing more on the opportunity of sustainability for their business to grow, innovate and compete. Sustainability has become a good competitive advantage to brands and not only a way for them to contribute to the social and environmental issue (Yang et al 2010).

The awareness and discussion about sustainability have increased over the last decades and the word appears everywhere. Strähle & Muller (2017) mention that in recent years sustainability has become an omnipresent word but there are many terms of what identifies a sustainable product or process. In most of the cases, people associate sustainability with the environmental effect but there are also economic and social effects (ibid). The most famous definition on sustainability is from the Brundtland report in 1985 where it is stated as “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland 1985).

Wiersum (1995) explained that while sustainability in practice has been around for about 200 years, it has only recently become generally recognized. In addition, the concept ‘sustainable fashion’ is relatively new but in the early 90’s, designers and brands started to explore the possibility of more sustainable clothing production and consumption (Ozdamar Ertekin & Atik 2015). The idea of clothes being made in a way that would maintain social, ecological and cultural diversity by departing away from the phenomenon of ‘fast fashion’ and unsustainable fashion (ibid).

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In 1992 at Rio Earth Summit, the term ‘sustainable consumption’ was first used in the action plan of sustainable development, Agenda 21 (Seyfang 2011). The core of this term was the notions of more efficiently produced goods with ‘green’ and ‘ethical’ consumers making decisions with the driving force to transform the market that incorporates both environmental and social concern (ibid). Later, this basic framework was expanded to include consistency (McDonough & Braungart 2002), the production of goods that can be fully recycled, composted or reused, and sufficiency, ‘living better with less’ (Princen 2005).

Research from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (2017) showed that in spite the attempt of sustainable strategies of fashion companies today, clothes and textile waste increased about 2 tons in 4 years in the UK. In Sweden 2002, the first strategy for national sustainable development was adopted by the Swedish government and the same year an arrangement to the Swedish constitution in order to achieve a good environment for present and future generations was needed to be communicated by the Swedish state (Sustainable development 2017). Chan & Wong (2012) describe the development of sustainability as a way to help brands provide products that can be recycled or reused and therefore assist consumers to a better sustainable behavior. However, sustainability can also mean increasing sustainable working and production processes for the brand (ibid).

Golicic & Smith (2013) explained the importance of sustainability for business and their supply chains, as consumers have become more concerned about the natural environment, society and economy. Consumers try to extend their clothing durability by repairing or re-fashioning in the name of sustainability (Connell 2011). Disposal of clothing is divided into four behaviors that can be donating the clothes to charity, throwing the item away, giving to another person or second hand shop, or lending it to another person (Ha-Brookshire & Hodges 2009).

The fashion industry has the capacity to create new trends and execute processes of production which causes high usage of chemicals, land and water (De Brito et al 2008). The impacts that the fashion industry has on the environment leads to the industry needing to find more sustainable methods in their production and work (Chan & Wong 2012). Yan et al (2012) considered that brands should communicate more reliable messages to consumers when it comes to sustainable products to ensure that consumers have a better understanding. As stated by Strähle & Muller (2017), the trend of sustainability in the fashion industry has been driven by the increased level of consumer’s awareness and concerns about the environmental and social effect in production and consumption of clothes. Those sustainable consumers that have the knowledge about the sustainable issues in the world focus on the sustainable attributes of the product and production processes (Moon et al. 2014). According to Cervellon & Wernerfelt (2012), that is what sustainable behavior is all about.

3.3.2. Second hand In recent years, concern about the environment has increased and resulted in an increase of buying second hand products (Rucker et al. 1995; Beard 2008). With this increase and interest of consumers in environmentally friendly fashion, there has been growth in second

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hand stores and especially more attention of the second hand clothing market (Beard 2008). The concept of second hand has been a growing trend in the clothing industry with increase of second hand shops and developments of new form of second hand retail (Strähle & Klatt 2017). Consumers have changed their way of thinking about their consumption behavior in recent years where consumers are aware of their responsibility and the overconsumption (Strähle & Klatt 2017). The increasing importance of sustainability and the aversion against overconsumption and fast fashion has turned to the interest of second hand to increase (ibid). In previous research related to the growth of the second hand market two prominent factors emerge. As Williams and Paddock (2003) mention, since the 1980s there has been decreased purchasing power in the middle class which has been a motive to buy more second hand products. This is supported with a mention of the recession as a factor in the change of consumption patterns and therefore popularity grew of second hand products (Guiot & Roux 2010). The second reason is the emotional aspect of this, that changed the consumer pattern of consumption where consumers have the pleasure of making a find or discover second hand products (ibid). With this change in consumer consumption on second hand products it is important to understand the motivation of second hand consumption. Williams and Paddock (2003) showed that consumers with financial constraints shopped in the traditional second hand stores such as flea markets and thrift stores. Although, Guiot & Roux (2010) showed that in recent years, consumers are choosing to shop in second hand stores by choice rather than out of financial constraints. Guiot & Roux (2010) explain the three main motivation aspects of buying second hand products: hedonic and recreational, economical and critical motivations. All these motivations refer to the characteristics of second hand products and to the channels that sell them (ibid). First motivation is the hedonic and recreational motivation that indulges in the nostalgic pleasure of purchasing second hand products and the need of the consumer for uniqueness (Strähle & Klatt 2017). The economical motivation is the expectation of the consumer of fair price for a second hand product and the third motivation is the critical aspect which is the response of throwing away culture (ibid). The second hand clothing market has formed a niche market with young adult consumers in the Western world and research shows that there are various reasons why these consumers shop at second hand stores and are seen as the markets major target (Hansen 2004). These young adult consumers, usually college students, shop at second hand stores with expectations of finding unique products with fair prices that they will not get at a traditional retail channel (Jenß 2004). Yan et al (2015) studied the shopping behavior of college students in second hand stores and it showed that the students that shopped at second hand stores were more price sensitive and environmentally conscious than the students that did not shop at second hand stores. Additionally, their reasons were not all economical but also to express their own style and be green (ibid). Hiller Connell (2011) mentioned that research has suggested that all age consumers may purchase second hand products due to the environmental motivation or simply the desire to attempt to achieve their identity and uniqueness (Parsons 2000).

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Hansen (1999) and Besnier (2004) mention that level of modernization or Westernization is responsible for the trend of second hand consumption. Modern consumers are more mindful of the environment and critical of what they buy and consume, therefore they feel as if they are saving the world by purchasing second hand products (Grasso et al. 2000). Purchasing second hand products for these consumers gives them dual benefits, economic and environmental (ibid). Grasso et al (2000) explain that these consumers are “saving the world” by purchasing second hand products to reduce waste and eliminate the waste of resources and harmful substances in production of new clothes. They state, therefore, that modern consumers tend to buy second hand products to experience these benefits (ibid). Sellers are also responsible for the increase of second hand product consumption. McColl et al (2013) found when researching second hand product retail that with recent re-imaging of second hand stores has improved the image of these stores and increased turnover and profitability. They reasoned that with new positioning, sellers of second hand stores are required to share knowledge of second hand products and provide a higher level of customer service with good marketing (ibid). According to Herjanto et al (2016), second hand clothes were no longer low level of fashion but global fashion trend where different socio-culture backgrounds (Hansen 2000) and classes (Milgram 2012) purchase and wear second hand clothes. With this trend, it suggests that second hand clothes offer something of value to everyone purchasing it and wearing it which results in an increase of second hand retailers (Ward 2011).

3.4 Second hand As stated by Ferraro, Sands and Brace-Govan (2016), second hand organizations have gone through a transformation over the last decades, going from the initial period where the second hand concept was emerging and growing to being a stigmatized organization where consumers did not want to be associated with. And in the beginning of the century shift the second hand organization also had a shift into becoming popular again (ibid). Ferraro, Sands and Brace-Govan (2016) argues that there is limited research that focuses on the aspect of second hand fashionability, with this the authors point to the scant research that has investigated if a motivation behind purchasing second hand goods can be because of the garments being highly fashionable. Furthermore, previous research of second hand clothing has mainly focused on what affects consumers’ willingness to purchase second hand and choice criteria of the consumer. Winakor and Martin (1963) explained that clothes that are saleable relates to how worn they were. According to O’Reilly et al (1984), low prices alone on clothes was not sufficient to rapid purchase but available sizes, the condition and quality of the item affected the resale. Researchers have pursued to understand why and how consumer’s decision making is on purchasing second hand items (Guiot & Roux 2010). Guiot & Roux (2010) stated that the decisions of the consumers about second hand items can be best explained by motivations. In

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Guiot & Roux (2010) study they refer to these motivations as the consumers psychological and material motives guiding the consumers shopping behavior. They were among the first researchers to propose that second hand shopping motivations consist of critical, economic, and hedonic/recreational motivations (ibid). Consumers may purchase second hand items because of their critical motivations that include ethical concerns about consumption and use of natural resources (ibid). There is also the economic (fair price of second hand items) and hedonic/recreational (the social contact, nostalgic pleasure and uniqueness) reasons (ibid). Williams and Windebank (2002) suggested that consumers consume second hand because they are unable to afford new products in their research but they call those consumers as ‘excluded consumers’. They examined the formal and non-formal second hand markets where anyone can purchase second hand products. Williams (2003) conducted interviews with consumers where he pointed out the financial but also the rational explanations for participating in informal second hand channels (friends and family) and the formal second hand channel (second hand shops or market stalls). He showed that the financial and rational reasons co-existed where people want to get a fair price and a bargain with also browsing around and finding something unique (ibid). This motivational co-existence was supported with further research. Gregson and Crewe (1997) showed that beside the financial motivations there was a hedonic explanation where consumers enjoy searching and engaging. They added that motivation for consumers to buy second hand products is the fighting against overconsumption with addition to income and identity (ibid). Guiot & Roux (2010) investigated the motivations of second hand consumers where all the motivations refer to the characteristics of second hand products and to the channels that sell them. The motivations are for example where consumers have ethical and ecological factors where they try to avoid overconsumption, exploring new environments and getting social contact while bargain hunting, getting fair price on product and the desire to express themselves with uniqueness and nostalgic pleasure (ibid). In contrast to Guiot & Roux (2010), Waight (2013) reviewed the literature and developed a simpler categorization where she divided consumers into two groups. The two groups where the consumers that enjoy the process or simply want things and consumers that are forced to use this alternative consumption channel due to financial problems (ibid). She took interviews in her research that showed that the consumers primarily purchase because of financial reasons but also ethical ones (ibid).

3.5 Research on Myrorna As the academic research about Myrorna is very limited, this section has used articles that were conducted for a bachelor thesis purpose, the authors chose to present these articles here in order to show the different perspectives that have been undertaken when investigating Myrorna. Consumers are taking ethical steps in order to become more sustainable, the “craft consumer” has emerged as this person likes to remake clothing out of old fabrics, as well as to shop

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second hand products (Fredriksson 2016). Although, an important aspect of consumption that still remains, is the aspect of being able to creatively and personally express oneself through fashion (Ibid). In the article “Fashion thinking practices: on crafting confessions and the creative consumer”, written in 2016 by the author Cecilia Fredriksson. She brings up Myrorna as being one of the ethical brands that stands for an alternative fashion consumption that provides consumers with fashionable and sustainable products (Ibid). As Myrorna has chosen to brand themselves as a sustainable second hand company that offers fashionable clothing for people that want to express their unique and personal style they have differentiated themselves from other second hand brands (Fuentes 2015). Fuentes (2015) explores the way Myrorna and two other Swedish retailers are using their marketing to convey the message of sustainability to their customers. The research that Fuentes (2015) undertakes is an ethnographic study with Myrorna, Boomerang and Åhlens where he observes the stores in regards to their looks, the text and pictures presented in the stores as well as he conducts interviews with managers of the companies. The article concludes with the author stating that there is no specific map for all companies to follow if they want to conduct sustainable marketing, it all depends on the company's goals and specifically on the company’s customer base (ibid). Fuentes (2015) continues with putting the results into the context of the three researched companies, the companies are all using different ways of portraying sustainability in their marketing companies. The customer base and their lifestyle is the focal point as Fuentes (2015) argues that these two aspects are the most important aspects that have influenced the company's sustainable marketing approaches. Academic researches on Myrorna are very limited with the possible reason being that as Myrorna is a Swedish second hand chain that only operates within the Swedish borders and has therefore not drawn the interest of academics. However, various bachelor studies conducting research on Myrorna exist where the main focus of these studies have been comparative research based on Myrorna and Beyond Retro. Both organizations provide consumers with second hand products while Myrorna being a nonprofit organization and Beyond Retro being a profit driven organization. One of these studies has been more general with comparing the main differences between these two organizations. While the other study has taken the consumer perspective and investigated why consumers make a second hand purchase at Myrorna comparably at Beyond Retro. Furthermore, another comparable study on Myrorna and Beyond Retro has focused on if second hand customers are less prone to purchase newly produced garments. These studies have taken either a qualitative or a mixed method approach in order to gain empirical data. As argued by Ahlström & Simonsson (2011) and Fues & Norberg (2011), one of the main differences between Myrorna and Beyond Retro is the different ways they conduct their marketing and communications. The way both organizations have chosen to market themselves depends on their customer base as well as their business structure (Ahlström & Simonsson 2011). Myrornas marketing consist of a traditional approach, billboards and ads in magazines as argued by Ahlström & Simonsson (2011) and Fues & Norberg (2011) this is

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due to Myrorna wanting to reach all age groups and as much people as possible because they are dependent on gifts and donations. While Beyond Retros marketing consists of social media, word of mouth as well as PR efforts such as their distinct yellow shopping bags (Ahlström & Simonsson 2011; Fues & Norberg 2011). As Beyond Retros brand image is cool and trendy their marketing also needs to portray that and catch that group of customers (ibid). However, Johansson & Olsson (2015) argues that Instagram can be highly beneficial for Myrorna to use in order to create conversation and attention to the brand. Their study was based on the authors taking control of Myrornas Instagram account in one of their stores and creating content that made their follower base to increase as well as the followers started to engage more with Myrorna on Instagram (ibid). The authors also expressed the difficulties for a second hand chain to go into the e-commerce sector due to every garment being unique therefore the process of taking a photo of every garment would take time (Ibid).

3.6 Research gap

The academic literature with the individual fields of second hand, rebranding and marketing and communication convey different perspectives on the given topic, whereas the main academic research within second hand is about the main motivation to why consumers purchase second hand products (Williams & Windebank 2002; Guiot & Roux 2010; Waight 2013). Furthermore, the literature on rebranding primarily and almost non-exclusively discusses the drivers of rebranding, the risks perceived with re-branding or corporate rebranding (Muzellec et al. 2003; Muzellec & Lambkin 2006; Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2007). The last mentioned being corporate rebranding in sectors that do not comprehend the fashion industry except for one study conducted by Hankinson (2000) where one charity organization that has clothing in their assortment is brought up. However, in that study this company is grouped together with 15 other charity organizations and does therefore not discuss this organization in depth (ibid). Additionally, searching in the database google scholar or primo for peer reviewed articles related to fashion rebranding, the results presents research on fashion branding. Furthermore, the literature on marketing and communications come bearing a plethora of literary information in various aspects, the literature conveys the message of the importance of using marketing as a tool to reach consumers (Kotler & Armstrong 2017). Moreover, as the main aspect of this research is aimed at the case company, namely the second hand chain Myrorna, the research conducted from this organization is mainly dissertations that are comparing Myrorna with Beyond Retro (Ahlström & Simonsson 2011; Fues & Norberg 2011). If all of these three aspects are combined into one research area, that is, the rebranding process of a nonprofit driven second hand company, the literature is non-existing. However, when conducting a generic Google search about fashion rebranding the search field is not scarce with hits: this year’s fashion rebrands or the best and worst fashion rebrands are results that are portrayed on the screen. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that this is a social debate that is given an increased attention by popular culture but has not been on the

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specter of interest for academics. As clearly stated by Merrilees & Miller (2013), the literature on branding within charity organizations is scarce and the articles that have been written within this subject are general and do not discuss specific aspects. Correspondingly, Chad (2015) also explicitly stated that more literature within certain sectors, countries or perspectives of nonprofit rebranding would provide additional insights into an unexplored research area. Therefore, this research undertakes to provide more research within the specter of rebranding of a Swedish nonprofit brand within the retail sector.

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4.0 Theoretical framework This section of the study presents a theoretical model that will be used for analyzing the empirical findings.

4.1 Resource based theory The resource based theory investigates the correlation between a business performance with the resources that the business has in order to explore specific aspects of the business that needs to be altered in order to reach a sustained competitive advantage (Knott 2015). The concept: resources refers to all aspects of a business, whether it is processes, strategies, knowledge, assets or information. As argued by Barney (1991) resources can be divided into three subcategories: organization, human and physical. Organizational resources include the structure of the business, planning, processes and relationships with external parties. Human resources include training, judgments, relationships and knowledge of the internal stakeholders. Lastly physical resources include, the raw material, location, equipment and the building they are operating in (Ibid). Emerging out of resource based theory is the VRIO technique, whereas business resources are cross checked on how: valuable, rare, inimitable and organized they are at delivering a sustained competitive advantage (Knott 2015). The strategy for the VRIO framework is to go through each of the previously stated concepts and ask questions related to that in order to see how much of a sustained competitive advantage the business has (Das 2016). The V in the VRIO model stands for value and a business can explore if their resources are valuable by seeing if that resource brings with it opportunities or if the resource adds value to the stakeholders (Barney 1991; Knott 2015). The question the business should use to determine this is according to Das (2016), “Does it provide competitive advantage?”. R-rare, if the investigated resource is unique and only used by a few or no other business then it can be seen as a rare resource (Barney 1991; Knott, 2015). The question to ask in this step is: does other businesses have the same resources or do they have the availability to acquire it? (Das 2016). Moreover, I in the VRIO model stands for inimitable which relates to a business resource being hard and expensive to mimic or copy by other businesses, if the resource is hard to copy then the business can see a great competitive advantage (Barney 1991; Knott 2015). Das (2016) declares that the question businesses should look into: is the resource difficult or costly to copy or imitate? Lately O, stand for organized and it relates to all of the three previous concepts as this factor implies that all aspects of the business needs to be organized in order to convey a resource that adds value, is rare and is hard to imitate (Barney 1991; Knott 2015), “Is the firm organized appropriately to exploit the resources?” this is the question stated by Das (2016) that should be investigated when a business is looking into how organized the resource is. If all the questions are answered with a yes then a sustained competitive advantage is reached (Das 2016). However, if all of the questions are answered with a no then the resource lacks

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potential to be a prosperous aspect of the business (Sheehan 2006). Therefore, if all steps are answered with a yes except for one then the business is at risk losing to a new entrant or by existing competitors (Ibid). The VRIO technique was found to be a suitable theoretical model for this study to follow in order to analyze Myrornas old and new brand image and marketing and communication strategies in order to determine what impact their new image and strategy had in regards to a competitive advantage. Furthermore, whereas a competitive advantage could be seen from their transformed resources this could point the study towards drawing a conclusion of their transformed brand image and marketing and communication strategies to be the main factor of Myrornas non-conventional transformation into a fashion powerhouse. Whilst the same goes if the analyzes of the old verses the new resources do not reach a competitive advantage, thus the study can draw the conclusion of these resources not being part of their transformation.

Image 1: VRIO model (Business-to-you 2016)

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5.0 Results In this chapter, the empirical data will be analyzed in accordance with the theoretical framework and compared with previous research conducted within the scope of the study.

5.1 Rebranding

5.1.1 Triggers for rebranding Previous research has pointed towards mergers and acquisitions as the main triggers for a corporate rebranding (Muzellec et al. 2003; Muzellec & Lambkin 2006). Two of the participants in this study: Markus and Mathilda spoke about their thoughts on why a business may conduct a rebranding “Rebranding is the process of making a company relevant again” (Markus). Markus continues discussing the main reasons for a rebranding which can also be because of “the company themselves wanting a change or based on external factors that pushes the business to rebrand in order to stay relevant” (Markus). Mathilda adds onto this note, stating that her company went through a rebranding based on external factors in order to stay relevant. “The world is changing and then we also have to follow that and adapt in order to stay relevant and be able to offer customers the products that they want and need” (Mathilda). With external factors, Mathilda points to the fashion industry needing to take proactive actions to become more sustainable. Zhao, Calantone & Voorhees (2018) and Gotsi & Andriopoulos (2007) argued for rebranding being an activity for a business to undertake in order to stay relevant, which is directly in line with the statements made by the participants. Another perspective that can be a trigger for rebranding is the entrance of a new manager, as stated by Mathilda “we got a new marketing manager and he did an analysis of what needed to change and then he connected our company to a branding agency that stepped in and came up with the rebranding process” (Mathilda). Markus also points to internal change being a factor to why a business might consider rebranding. “It might be due to a technological change or because the company has a new CEO or CMO” (Markus). This is a phenomenon that has been pointed out by prior research, whereas when a new manager joins the business he/she might impose a strategic change or direction for the company (Hankinson 2000; Stuart & Muzellec 2004). As in the case of Myrorna, when Lucas stepped in as the new marketing manager in 1998 he saw the potential that Myrorna had and therefore, set up a goal to take Myrorna from flea market to fashion retail business. “I created a goal for Myrorna as I was also part of the management team. We were three people in the management group at that time and we all saw the potential that the second hand market had so we set the goal of having our products displayed in fashion magazines” (Lucas). For Myrorna, a rebranding effort was an important step to take in order to become an accepted fashion business: “It was important for us to be accepted by the fashion community” (Lucas) this was one of the more crucial factors for Lucas when he started working on his goal to transform Myrorna. “We started discussing how we would transfer Myrorna from a flea market into an accepted store where you could go to shop for clothes, furniture and other stuff, we wanted people to come to Myrorna instead of going to IKEA or H&M” (Lucas).

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5.1.2 The process of rebranding The process of a corporate rebranding requires an extensive amount of money and time (Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin 2003). Therefore, the suggestions made by prior research on how a business should go about when conducting a rebranding includes: an extensive amount of research in order for the business to know its own heritage and thus not lose their core values in the process of rebranding (Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2007). This correlates to what Mathilda and Marcus said about the importance of keeping the brands DNA. Mathilda spoke about the rebranding that her company went through and stated that it was imperative for them to keep their DNA. “It was clear from the start that we wanted to keep company X DNA and that is of course carefully selected ladies and gentleman’s fashion” (Mathilda). “This was due to company X wanting to keep their existing customer base but with the rebranding they also wanted to attract new customers” (Mathilda). Markus also expressed the importance of keeping the brand DNA when rebranding: “If you change a company too much you face the risk of not being recognized anymore, and that can be a problem” (Markus). “With Myrorna we could do whatever we wanted as long as we had the brand DNA” (Markus), thus Markus points towards the crucial factor of retaining Myrornas DNA throughout their transformation. Turning inwards and directing resources towards the internal stakeholders and the business structure conveys a key step for a structured rebranding, hence training employees to portray the transformed brand image as well as creating manuals to get all internal stakeholders in alignment (Hankinson 2000; Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin 2003: Merrilees & Miller, 2008). A similar discussion was conducted by Lucas whereas he comments on the process of transforming Myrorna, which included getting the stores in order and training the staff to be in line with the new values and brand image (Lucas). In order to achieve this “we developed manuals on how to design the stores and how we should work to be in line with the messages we wanted to send out which was; to have high quality products where you could find your personal style for a good price” (Lucas). In addition to that Hankinson (2000), Gotsi & Andriopoulos (2007) and Merrilees & Miller (2008) suggest that the launch of the rebranded business should utilize different strategies in order to catch the attention of all stakeholders. Lina and Lucas also speak on the aspect of utilizing different marketing and communication strategies to gain attention, “ ...you can have exhibitions or lectures, you don’t have to be limited to social media” (Lina). Lucas continues the same note by saying: “You don't have to use normal bought advertisements you can also use PR initiatives, lobbying or write articles” (Lucas).

5.1.3 Myrornas old brand image “When I started working at Myrorna, the whole second hand sector was some kind of flea market. Clothes could be stuffed into baskets and different clothing categories could hang wherever in the store. It was hard to find products, and the quality of the products were not that great, it was very unstructured” (Lucas) this is the explanation that Lucas gives when asked to describe what kind of business Myrorna was in 1998 when he started working there.

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Therefore, Lucas who had previous work experience within marketing and communication decided to bring in an advertising agency that he had worked with before to help change Myrornas brand image (Lucas). Markus who at the time was working for the advertising agency that Lucas hired describes Myrornas as the following:” It was sort of not cool whatsoever. It was more of a place where people with low income went to buy second hand clothing” Markus. Furthermore, Markus also indicates that it was kind of embarrassing to go shopping at Myrorna: “you wouldn’t say to anyone that you went to Myrorna” (Markus). The old perception of Myrorna relates to the discussions made by Ferraro, Sands and Brace-Govan (2016), whereas they declare that the second hand market was highly stigmatized during the 90’s. Due to the stigma, people did not want to go into the stores as they did not want to be associated with it (ibid). Moreover, as stated by Lucas, when he started working at Myrorna in 1998 “people had very distinct prejudice against second hand stores, that the clothes smelled bad and that they were old” (Lucas). Lina’s statement about prejudice against second hand directly correlates with Lucas as she states these as the main prejudices: “second hand smells bad or that it is just old and shabby clothes in the stores (Lina)”. The VRIO model discussed in 4.1 Theoretical framework will be utilized in order to determine if Myrornas old brand image can be seen to hold a sustained competitive advantage.

Figure 1: VRIO model on Myrornas old brand image

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Based on the analysis of Myrornas old brand image through the VRIO model, their old brand image did not add value nor was it rare, it could neither be seen as inimitable or organized. The old perceptions related to Myrornas brand image did not generate new opportunities for them as the image was perceived as “shabby” and uncool. Myrorna was not doing anything rare as Lucas mentioned that the whole second hand market had the similar image. Therefore, any other business could acquire the same image as Myrorna as well as imitate them. In addition to that the empirical data in regards to the prejudice and the description made by Lucas on how the store were structured points towards Myrorna being an unorganized business. Based on prior statements, the conclusion that can be drawn in regards to Myronas old brand image is that it does not correlate to a sustained competitive advantage.

5.1.4 Myrornas transformed brand image Myrornas old brand image did not have the acceptance stamp from the fashion industry that Lucas was pushing for. However, with the help of the advertising agency’s efforts and strategies they were able to gain the acceptance stamp from the fashion industry. As expressed by Lucas “The advertisement agency that we hired were very good at getting that message out as well as they were good at reaching the fashion sector. They came up with the idea to do fashion shows and that was sensational” (Lucas). This was highly controversial and unique as people thought that Myrorna, a second hand business was not part of the fashion industry. “How could Myrorna that was seen as a flea market have a fashion show, they have nothing to do with fashion right?!” (Lucas). However, as expressed by Markus, that was the main purpose of the fashion show as with this technique Myrorna could penetrate the fashion industry. “Our main crowd that we wanted to get to was the elite and the fashion industry.” (Markus). The help of a marketing and communication specialist is one factor that is brought up by Kotler (1979), whereas he states that using an individual with great knowledge will benefit the business and make the implementation of a marketing strategy easier. As other businesses within similar sectors could see the positive response that Myrorna got from the fashion shows some tried to copy their strategies. Hence Markus stated “We had a lot of them copying us” (Markus).However Lucas declared that no other business were equally successful from using the same strategies and stated that “I believe that if you are smart enough in you marketing if a company tries to copy you they won’t be as successful as the original concepts” (Lucas). Myrornas brand image went through different stages and changed throughout the years in order to reflect back on their core values, trends and societal changes. As expressed by Markus on their constant transformation, “We were on a journey because we rebranded Myrorna for every campaign” (Markus). The initial transformed brand image conveyed the meaning of finding your own personal style at Myrorna, “If you would like to have your own personal style you should come to Myrorna” (Lucas). This relates to what Parsons (2000) & Jenß (2004) underlined as one of the main drivers for purchasing second hand products; the

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unique assortment. Moreover, Myrorna also focused a lot of attention on presenting themselves as a fashion powerhouse and in the later years they took on communicating one of their core values: sustainability. Whereas, Markus expressed the following “ … back in 2007 we went into the sustainability issues but that was the first time and that was after about 9 years of not mentioning it in the campaigns. Because that wasn’t the issue from 1999 to 2007 nobody talked about sustainability and it wasn’t a big thing so we only talked about the hype and fashion and do your thing and be yourself” (Markus). Lucas strengthened this statement made by Markus as he expressed that “sustainability became more and more important, but at first the most important aspect was to create an acceptance for second hand and to get more people to become interested in second hand fashion” (Lucas). Lina, Charlotte and Markus are all in agreement that Myrornas brand image has changed over the years.“ They have grown immensely and now they have a brand awareness so people know them” (Markus). Markus continues expressing the way he helped with transforming Myrornas brand image: “We took Myrorna from super untrendy to super trendy. From the store that you didn’t want to go in, to the store that was kind of cool” (Markus). Furthermore, they all express that with Myrornas new brand image they have become a part of the fashion sector. “They have become more mainstream, like a normal retail store” (Lina). “Myrorna have become mainstream and cool” (Markus). Additionally, Charlotte declared “It’s kind of fashion to work with Myrorna” (Charlotte). The VRIO model discussed by Knott (2015), Barney (1991) and Das (2016) will be utilized in order to determine if Myrornas transformed brand image can be seen to hold a sustained competitive advantage.

Figure 2: VRIO model on Myrornas transformed brand image

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As the transformed image conveyed value for stakeholder, it was rare and inimitable as well as that the business was organized. The strong brand image that Myrorna has created strengthens their own core values by working with sustainability, creating value with stakeholders and centered around being a nonprofit driven business that gives back. Myrornas brand image today is more mainstream which doesn’t convey rare. However, Myrorna was rare when their transformation took place as other second hand stores at the time were at a standstill. Other businesses would be able to mimic Myrorna but as mentioned in the analysis it would take time as Myrorna has aspects that not many other businesses have. Additionally, the statement made by Lucas clearly indicates that other businesses within the same sector tried to copy them but they were not as successful. The transformation from the old brand image has become more organized and structured with their manuals for internal stakeholders and strategies. As this study has chosen to delimit itself to only investigate Myrornas transformation from flea market to retail business that took place between the years of 1998-2008, the relevance of opinions related to Myrorna today are not pertinent. Therefore, the conclusion that can be drawn from the VRIO analysis on Myrornas transformed brand image, is that they were able to create a sustained competitive advantage.

5.2 Marketing and communications

5.2.1 Marketing and communicating on a limited budget Shaw (2012) and Merrilees & Miller (2008) discloses the importance of weighing different marketing strategies against each other as some strategies are more suitable than others. Although the process of choosing the strategy is highly related to internal and external aspects (Shaw, 2012; Merrilees, Miller, 2008). When it came down to Myrornas process of choosing an appropriate marketing and communication strategy the organizational factors had a colossal role. As Myrorna is a nonprofit business, they cannot spend any money in vain as the excess goes to charity, this is a crucial aspect and a core value for Myrorna which Lina gives insight into with stating, “we have a strict budget that we always need to follow so we are very restrained in the way we spend money, we cannot spend in vain” (Lina). When reviewing previous literature made by Hankinson (2000); Muzellec, Doogan & Lambkin (2003); Miller et al. (2014) and using their results as a lens for how Myrorna could go about their marketing and communication with a non-existing budget the word “complex” would probably have emerged. As these scholars have pointed towards heavy investments as a crucial aspect of rebranding which marketing and communication is a part of. However, Lucas declared the way that Myrorna had to go about their marketing and communication transformation, “To be able to gain that acceptance stamp from the fashion industry as well as gain consumers attention the advertising agency had to be creative as the marketing budget for Myrorna was nonexistent” (Lucas).

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PR was chosen as the appropriate marketing and communications strategy for Myrorna, as this strategy is cheap and it can generate great attention, “The thing that differs the most with Myrorna is that we did not have a budget for marketing. The advertisement agency worked basically for free, the stylists and the photographers also worked for free” (Lucas). Marcus, also commented on the limited budget whereas he said “it was really little money so we needed to be really creative. And that is also why we choose PR as our way to gain success and awareness because we couldn’t pay for the media so we had to get people to write about it” (Markus). Markus continues to comment on the limited budget as well how they went about to put together a fashion show with a non-existing budget. “So, we basically got everyone to work for free. As TV also came we got the national coverage and this is back in the day when everyone watched the news. Then of course we also did ads in fashion magazines and we got it for free because they liked our ads'' (Markus). “We could also be part of other magazines like Aftonbladet and DN, as well as after the fashion show fashion experts were talking about us on TV and said that we were a big part of the fashion community and that we were the fashion house of the year” (Lucas). Merrilees & Miller (2008) also argues for PR to be a suitable marketing strategy for a business with a limited budget that wants to change stakeholder’s attitudes towards the business. Furthermore, Charlotte that has vast experience of working within advertising campaigns and has worked with a couple of brands that have a tight budget also declares that PR is a good alternative to utilize when trying to keep costs at a minimum whilst still attracting a vast amount of attention. “So, we had to do something really smart to make the budget go much bigger. We used the press as a compliment to the media because they didn’t have enough money to put into bought media” (Charlotte). She continues explaining that she did controversial PR campaigns in order to gain attention and stay within the limited budget. “So, we did PR campaigns with the press as well so I had to always think about how to put together two famous people and make them kiss each other in the tele commercial to get the headlines on the front page of the evening papers etc. to create a buzz” (Charlotte).

5.2.2 Second hand marketing and communications The concept of “top of mind” is brought up by Lucas as he discusses the importance of marketing a second hand business. “You are impacted by impulses that you get all the time, top of mind. So, if you don’t do any advertisements or communications you don’t really exist. I think it is very important that you stay top of mind of consumers” (Lucas). Kotler & Armstrong (2017) also presses on the importance of staying in the top of the consumer's mind in order to subconsciously be able to impact the consumers purchasing choice. Katarina continues on this note “I would say that it is a good thing to market a second hand store” (Katarina). Although, she continues discussing certain aspects that can impact a second hand business to use marketing. “It all depends on where you are operating, and how dependent you are on customers. As is the case with Myrorna, they are a part of the salvation army so that might be a reason why they need to market themselves but also that they need

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the financial aspect so they need to gain attention. Other second hand stores that are run by the government might not be as dependent on marketing themselves” (Katarina). Both Katarina and Lucas comment on a major risk of overusing sustainability when marketing, whereas Lucas states that it is imperative to market a second hand business and all the good they do. However, one should remember to not overuse the concept of sustainability in every campaign. “Second hand should not just become a product of the sustainability movement. There is a risk of this if we just keep pushing the sustainability aspect of second hand and that second hand businesses are only there as they are good for the environment. You should shop second hand as we have good products, it is as every retail business, there needs to be a consumer demand for products so that the assortment is adapted to the demand. This is crucial!” (Lucas). Katarina follows the same point made by Lucas as she states, “One thing that we have to think about is to not just use the word sustainability just to have it in the campaign. That could turn out to be catastrophically” (Katarina). Furthermore, Markus gave insight to brands such as H&M that are overusing sustainability in their campaigns. “I think that the problem with some brands like H&M is that they talk a lot about sustainability but everyone knows it’s not authentic because it’s only a little percentage of their collection that is sustainable” (Markus).

5.2.3 Myrornas old marketing and communications strategies When Lucas entered the role as the new marketing manager of Myrorna he said this about their existing marketing and communication techniques:” I saw that Myrornas marketing and communications were lacking. As their ads were done by an art teacher that was drawing the ads by hand or had taken the pictures him/herself” (Lucas). “Their old ways of marketing looked very bad and it had no quality therefore, we decided to hire an advertising agency” (Lucas). Myrornas old marketing and communication strategies correlates to previous research made by Kotler (1979) and Hankinson (2000) where they pinpointed the lagging efforts nonprofit organizations have undertaken when it came to marketing and using a brand image to strengthen and differentiate the business. Venable et al (2005) also highlights the need for nonprofit business to take charge of their identity in order to use it as an effective tool. As discussed by Blythe (2006), Ahmed (2012) & Ouwersloot & Duncan (2008) the purpose of using marketing and communication is to establish a strong brand image that will attract consumers and get the message out about their mission. Through Myrornas old marketing and communication strategies, they were not able to attract consumers nor gain an entrance into the fashion community, as they had no contacts and were not perceived as a business that carried a cool assortment. Lucas stated that”. In the initial state it was very important for us to have contacts within the fashion sector. Word would spread and we would also get attention from that”. As UFF was the leading second hand brand at the time and they were included into the fashion society as their products could be seen in fashion magazines. Lucas wanted the same for Myrorna although Lucas disclosed that “at that time we did not have the same

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acceptance and was not perceived as cool, because we did not have the right connections and we were not as well structured as UFF” (Lucas). Following, Myrornas old marketing and communication strategy will be analyzed through the VRIO model in order to determine if their old strategy conveyed a sustained competitive advantage.

Figure 3: VRIO model on Myrornas old marketing and communications strategies

Myrornas old marketing and communication was lacking quality and created no value or opportunities for them. In addition to that, their old marketing and communication was not seen as rare. As previously stated, Myrornas old strategy was easy to mimic and copy for other businesses. The empirical data showed nothing about the structure of Myrornas old marketing and communication strategy and therefore, an adequate conclusion could not be drawn. However, as it wasn’t mentioned by the participants one can argue that there were none. Based on the VRIO technique of Myrornas old marketing and communication strategy the conclusion emerging from the VRIO model is that no competitive advantage can be seen. Whereas, this points to a poor correlation between performance in the market place and the resource of marketing and communication.

5.2.4 Myrornas transformed marketing and communications strategies The ultimate goal of a strong marketing and communication strategy conveys a tool for the business to be able to reach its goal, whereas the goal can be larger margin, increased visibility or awareness, grow the customer base or the whole business (Warwick 1999;

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Andreasen & Kotler 2008; Keller 2009). The ultimate goal for Myrorna was to gain the acceptance stamp from the fashion industry as well as to expand their customer base. Whereas, they utilized a variety of different marketing and communication techniques to be able to transform themselves. Fashion shows, ads, PR and being part of fashion magazines are amongst their marketing and communication strategies. This follows the argument presented by Hankinson's (2000) and Gotsi & Andriopoulos (2007), as they argued for different communication approaches in order to reach every stakeholder. The fashion shows were utilized as a marketing strategy to be able to draw attention to Myrorna as a retail brand and with that to erase the flea market stamp. “The advertisement agency had great contacts with event agencies so they told them to invite stylists, the press, designers and photographers” (Lucas). “ When it was time for the fashion show everyone was there to watch it, media, press, designers, stylists and photographers” (Lucas). Through the fashion shows Myrorna was able to penetrate the fashion community and be able to cross Lucas' goal of becoming an accepted retail business. In order to gain the attention of the public Myrorna took to a different strategy then other retail business were using, Markus comments on this as following: “back in the days, just when the Swedish fashion wonders started, you had companies like Acne starting out and Whyred, J. Lindeberg, Filippa K and all these brands. So, everything was really minimalistic, everybody was wearing black and nobody was really expressive so what we did was basically saying be more personal. So, we showed people that we were really expressive and we went totally the opposite direction so everything was a lot of colors and different quirky people so we went against the fashion industry, the strict modernism fashion industry and just went really out there” (Markus). The VRIO model will be utilized in order to determine if Myrornas transformed marketing and communication strategies can be seen to hold a sustained competitive advantage.

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Figure 4: VRIO model on Myrornas transformed marketing and communication strategies

The transformed marketing and communication strategy for Myrorna added value and gave them opportunities as Myrorna had an upswing and the acceptance from the fashion industry. The way Myrorna used fashion shows and PR to market themselves gave them a unique and rare standpoint. This was new for nonprofit business but it could be inimitable by competitors. When Lucas came to Myrorna, he transformed the structure of Myrornas marketing and communication strategy as he had previous working experience and they hired an advertising agency that are experts in this area. The conclusion that can be drawn from the VRIO model on Myrornas transformed marketing and communication strategies is that the correlation between the resources and the performances can be seen as having a temporary competitive advantage. As Myrornas resources can be inimitable by other businesses, it cannot reach the last stage of having a sustained competitive advantage. However, their transformed strategy was both valuable, gave opportunities and was very unique and rare, furthermore, the transformed resource was also more organized.

5.3 Trends Trends cannot be seen as a business resource and therefore, this section will not use the VRIO technique to analyze the impact that trends have had on Myrorna. Although, in this section previous literature and empirical data will be used to show contrast and similarities which will end up in a thorough and detailed analysis on how trends have impacted Myrorna.

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5.3.1 The sustainability trend Singh (2012), Sustainability trends (2020) and Bertram & Chi (2018) argue for sustainability to have reached a mega trend status, whereas industries and businesses have had to rethink their daily operations in order to be able to keep supplying their products to consumers. This is in line with what all of the participants in this study probed on. Mathilda expressed that their rebranding venture was highly dependent on becoming more sustainable in order to supply customer demands. “The fashion industry, no the whole world needs to take more proactive actions about becoming more sustainable” (Mathilda). Furthermore, Markus also comments on the sustainability trend: “It is a global trend and society has shifted their view of consumption so things are changing in our society” (Markus). Charlotte also stated that “all fashion retailers are working with different ways of becoming more sustainable” (Charlotte). When reviewing history, Strähle & Muller (2017) discussed the eco-movement and the favorable attitudes towards eco-friendly fashion that happened in 1970-1980. The year of 1970 correlates with the year that Myrorna started to see an upswing in their sales. As stated in 1.1 background that are written from a fictocritical perspective, Myrornas stigmatized reputation transformed into a brand where individuals would go to find these eco-friendly products that were trending. The trend of eco-friendly and sustainable fashion has increased in recent years (Europäische Kommission 2009) which has benefitted Myrorna with transforming from being seen as a flea market to fashion retail brand. As argued by Shaw (2012), Singh (2012) & Kim, Fiore & Kim (2011), if a trend is favorable for the business then it can help with attracting external stakeholders which generates an upswing in attention and in sales. This has been the case for Myrorna when it comes to both sustainability and the second hand trend. Lucas expressed that “this trend (the sustainability trend) has benefited Myrorna as people are thinking two times before buying things and that it is much better to buy second hand then new products” (Lucas). “It feels good to buy products at Myrorna, you are doing the environment a good favor, it is much better than going to buy something new. You won’t do anything good for the environment if you buy products that will increase production” (Lucas). Moreover, Lucas states that he thinks Myrorna has played a small part of the sustainability trend, “I think that as Myrorna has created an acceptance of second hand and that we have so many good products that it has generated to contribute in some way to the sustainability trend” (Lucas). Correspondingly, as sustainability was one of Myrornas core values it was in their brand DNA therefore, it was a natural process of starting to talk about sustainability in their campaigns. “We had it in our DNA so it was quite logical to do it for Myrorna. We were one of the front runners of the beginning of this trend” (Markus). Katarina also commented on the impact that the sustainability trend has had on Myrorna whereas she stated that “Myrorna has probably benefited from this trend as they could push their brand even further to the public” (Katarina). However, Katarina continues discussing the

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campaign they did for Myrorna, “Myrorna actually didn’t want to be that specific about the sustainability aspect in their campaign” (Katarina). Her conclusion regarding why they did not want to focus on this aspect was due to the oversaturated market of sustainability campaigns. “They had been working so much with that in the past. As so many other companies were talking about sustainability I think it was a way for Myrorna to pop out of the crowd” (Katarina).

5.3.2 The second hand trend Rucker et al. (1995) and Beard (2008) argue for consumers' concerns about the environment and the sustainability trend being the main factor for the emergence of the second hand trend. While Lucas argues for Myrornas fashion shows being the main driver for this trends upswing in Sweden, “the fashion shows really gave an upswing for Myrorna and for the second hand industry as a whole. And this was the starting point for second hand to become acceptable and a place where you could go if you wanted good stuff and if you wanted personal stuff” (Lucas). He continues on this note with arguing that “many people have said this too, that Myrornas efforts during 1990-2000 was part of creating the second hand trend, because we made it acceptable to shop second hand so we were part of giving the second hand market an upswing, of course there was a trend of shopping second hand but we enhanced it by going from flea market to fashion house. After this, many second hand stores opened so we were part of this trend. So, we gave second hand an upswing” (Lucas). Katarina continues discussing the impact of the second hand trend and its relation to Myrorna, “Everything is pointing towards second hand and recycling so they are just right in time. So, it is not weird that second hand fashion is so popular if we look at how important the environment has become. It is more natural right now as well to buy second hand then just throwing away clothes” (Katarina). Markus states that when he started working for Myrorna “second hand clothes were only purchased by a small niche group while as of now everybody is buying second hand products especially the younger generations” (Markus). Lina continues this note by stating that Myrorna does not have a specific target customer, “Everyone is welcome to come and shop second hand clothes” (Lina). Connell (2011) argues for the non-defined target customer to be due to all age groups wanting to become more sustainable in their consumption.

5.4 Visual content analysis The analysis focused on selected advertisements through the years of Myrornas transformation, specifically from the year 1998 to 2008. The specific advertisements were received from one of the participants as he/she took part in transforming Myrorna through 1998-2008. The analysis was in the form of image analysis as well as image-caption analysis. The images were analyzed by first viewing them individually and categorized according to the coding frame (see Appendix 8.5). Further, every image was analyzed as well in connection to the caption. In addition, all images were analyzed together to detect the general view of the change and not making conclusions based solely on each image.

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The analysis for image 2 shows a couple with a unique style but the image gives the impression of second hand clothes where people can be unique and create their own personal style. This is shown with a non-professional photoshoot that indicates the photo to be more personal. The caption of the campaign was Personligare which means in English More personal which supports the impression of the style of the photoshoot as well as the clothes. With the image 2, Myrorna communicates with the impression that with their second hand clothes people can create their own personal style and be unique from others.

This continues to image 3 where it displays personal style of the second hand clothes and exhibits the image as a more personal photo. In the analysis for image 3, the coding of non-professional photoshoot was perceived as indicating a more personal photo of the two men. Additionally, the two men are wearing suits and colorful sunglasses which shows the viewer more fun and personal style. Moreover, the caption is Eyewear so the attention goes to the colorful sunglasses that the men are wearing in the image.

Image 2: Myrorna Personligare 1998 (Myrorna 1998)

Image 3: Myrorna Eyewear 2000 (Myrorna 2000)

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As the analysis proceeds to image 4, the researchers see a change in the photoshoot but now it indicates a more professional photoshoot which could be editorial or for any other retail brand. The personal style of the clothes is still present however uniqueness comes back as the caption of the campaign says One of a kind but also showcases twins that are perceived one of a kind. In this campaign, the one of a kind caption is also referred to the clothes as second hand clothes are often one of a kind and therefore gives the consumer the value of the clothes being unique.

Image 5 continues with the uniqueness as the clothes that the model wears is vintage which matches the caption that says Premium Vintage. The tone of this image is more fashion and therefore can be perceived as more editorial professional photoshoot. The lighting, the model and position of the model gives the impression of more premium fashion that could be advertised by any fashion brand in any fashion magazine.

Image 4: Myrorna One of a kind 2004 (Myrorna 2004)

Image 5: Myrorna Premium Vintage 2005 (Myrorna 2005)

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The last image (image 6) takes another route as the image and caption showcases the sustainability of second hand clothes as the campaign indicates a person that is aware of the environment. This relates to the caption of the campaign as it was Ecocentric but Myrorna had changed the word Egocentric which means a person that is self-focused and sees themselves as centre of all things. The caption Ecocentric emphasizes that with the campaign Myrorna communicates sustainability and that people can be aware and care of the environment by shopping at Myrorna. The image itself indicates a professional photoshoot and could be an editorial photoshoot for a magazine.

The emphasis in the beginning of this 10-year transformation for Myrorna, was to communicate the second hand attributes of personal style and uniqueness of the clothes. This was done by using a style of photoshoot that could be perceived as personal and in this analysis non-professional. Through the years, the focus was on the uniqueness of the clothes as there is only one item of every second hand garment that gives the consumer the potential of creating their own personal style. Myrorna gradually started using professional photoshoots for their campaigns as they moved closer to becoming more relevant in the fashion industry as the viewer can see in image 4, 5 and 6. When Myrorna advertised their Premium Vintage campaign it showcased that with second hand clothes they could illustrate uniqueness but also be premium fashion with their editorial photoshoots. In the end, Myrorna communicated the sustainability factor of second hand clothes as people can be environmentally conscious and aware but still purchase fashionable clothes that are second hand. In the 5 images, the viewer can see the transformation going from non-professional photoshoot illustrating the personal style to professional photoshoots and communicating the sustainability of second hand clothes.

Image 6: Myrorna Ecocentric 2008 (Myrorna 2008)

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6.0 Discussion In this final chapter, the concluding remarks on the stated research question will be presented, as well as theoretical and managerial implications is declared. Furthermore, the section concludes with the main limitations for this research as well as recommendations for further studies.

6.1 Concluding discussion Based on the previous chapter, where the scope of the research has been discussed in relation to previous literature, theories, empirical data and the visual analysis, this research has the basis to be able to give insight into the posed research questions:

1. How can Myrornas brand transformation be understood from an insider’s perspective?

2. How did marketing and communication and the sustainability trend correlate with their transformation seen from an insider's viewpoint?

One aspect that has been a continuous factor for Myrorna throughout the years is their limited budget, as all of their excess earnings goes directly to charity, therefore the budget for other business aspects are tight or non-existing. This was one of the complex aspects that was stated as the point of departure for this study. Myrorna have had to be creative in the way they have undergone such an immense transformation with a limited budget. Myrorna were able to transform their brand image through a purposeful rebranding with the help of marketing and communications. The two discussed trends cannot be seen as the main aspects that helped to transform Myrorna from flea market to retail fashion business. However, the trends helped to enhance Myrornas brand image which generated an upswing in regard to an increase in popularity. As emerged from the analysis, Myrornas old brand image was not a business aspect that helped them to gain opportunities nor did it add value to their stakeholders. The same can be said about Myrornas old marketing and communication strategies. As seen from the VRIO technique used on Myrornas transformed brand image they were able to gain a sustained competitive advantage from the change. They got an upswing in attention and gained an acceptance stamp from the fashion industry through their transformed brand image which can be linked to their strategy change in marketing and communications. As seen through the analysis that conveyed Myrornas visual campaigns as well as through the empirical data, Myrorna were able to transform the brand image from initially to distinguish themselves as a second hand store that offered unique clothing that was highly personal. Then transform themselves to focus more on the fashion aspect of their clothes and lastly move on to focus on one of Myrornas initial core values: the sustainability aspect that shopping at Myrorna entails. As sustainability has been one of Myrornas core values since the start, the

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sustainability trend cannot be disclosed as the main reason for Myrorna to transform into communicating their sustainable aspect. It was seen as a natural process to communicate that aspect, however the trend helped to raise awareness of Myrorna as a sustainable business. With this said, this concludes the research undertaken on how Myrorna became the fashion powerhouse that they are today. One day, this research might reopen and continue exploring Myronas brand image. Until next time, Ssshhh, listen… Can you hear it?

6.2 Implications The implications of this study have been divided into two fields of implications, theoretical implications and managerial implications. The implications form an understanding of what the authors have identified and what the study can contribute and implicate to these fields.

6.2.1 Theoretical implications This study came to life as the researchers found Myrornas transformation from flea market to accepted retail business to have been an interesting and intriguing process that raised questions on how they went about it. Additionally, as the authors started to read into previous literature within branding it became evident that the literature was quite extensive. Although when narrowing the scope down into focusing on branding within a charity organization more research was called upon. More specifically researchers such as Merrilees & Miller (2013) and Chad (2015) requested charity branding studies within a specific country and sector. Therefore, this research set out to contribute, strengthen and extend the knowledge in the field of branding within a charity sector, hence the study took upon the Swedish second hand business Myrorna. The results of this study have contributed with a detailed level of information from an insider’s perspective on how Myrorna went about their transformation, additionally this study also distinguishes itself from previous studies made about branding within charity organizations as this study focused on a Swedish charity organization. To the authors knowledge no previous study has been conducted on branding within a charity organization within Sweden. Furthermore, the results of this study pointed towards a purposeful rebranding as well as a changing in their marketing and communication strategy to be the driver for change. Moreover, the contribution made by Hankinson 2000; Stuart & Muzellec 2004 regarding the change a new manager can bring with him/her was both relevant and interesting for this study, as this study can validate their results. As in this study Lucas who came in as a new manager for Myrorna probed on a change in Myrornas business structure and in their marketing and communication strategies.

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The results from this study can work as a base for future research within branding for a charity organization whereas future research can build onto this study by adding layers on different perspectives of Myrornas branding seen from the media's perspective. More suggestions for further research within the studied topic is discussed in 6.4 further research.

6.2.2 Managerial implications This study can serve as a guiding example for charity organizations or businesses with a small budget that are looking for ways to gain attention or are looking for other marketing and communication strategies. As in this case Myrorna had to use a creative mindset in regards to their marketing and communication strategies as their budget was non existing. The most prominent strategy to use for a business with a small budget that arose from this study as well as from previous studies are PR ventures. Moreover, this study used the VRIO model to be able to determine if certain businesses' resources contributed with a sustained competitive advantage. From our analysis of Myrornas resources their old brand image and marketing and communication strategies could not have been seen as having a competitive advantage. This was also strengthened by the participants answers in regards to these business resources. While checking Myrornas new resources in regards to the VRIO model as well as cross checking the participants answers in regards to the transformed resources the analysis conveys improvements in regards to marketing and communication and in the case of their brand image a sustained competitive advantage was visible. The VRIO model is a clear tool to determine if business resources are working in favor of the business or if changes need to be made. Therefore, managers could take note and use the VRIO model in the same way as in this study for their own business resources.

6.3 Limitations In every study limitations emerge and in this section these research limitations are mentioned in regard to what issues that have occurred while conducting this study as well as what the results weren't able to provide. This section therefore will only focus on the limitation in regard to the results and the previous literature as the methodological limitations have already been stated in section 2.7 limitations of methodology. Although the sample size was brought up as a limitation in section 2.7 limitations of methodology it can also be seen as limitations in regards to the results of this study. The sample size has been a point of concern for the researchers, however this study reached the aim of answering the posed research question. Although the researchers of this study still look at the sample size as a limitation as more participants with knowledge of the case company could have benefited the study. As then these additional participants might have provided the study with an additional layer for the results or they might even have been able to show contrasting thoughts and statements. Additionally, throughout the findings and analysis Lucas comes across as being the most prominent participant as he is quoted in each

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section. However, as Lucas had a prominent role at Myrorna in regard to the context of this research he could provide light on aspects that no other participants or individuals could. Another limitation of this study can be biased participants, as many of the participants have been working at or for Myrorna during the time the transformation took place they might have wanted to embellish their impact on the studied company’s transformation. Another factor that can be seen as a limitation to this study that is related to the participants is if the interviewees rationalized their information, as the transformation started more than two decades ago. Moreover, another limitation concerning the results is the lack of advertisement campaigns that Myrorna had prior to 1998, as they were drawn by hand. The study would have benefitted from having these pictures as that could have probed more on their transformation in regard to their marketing and communications. Furthermore, another variable that has played a part of the limitations for this study has been time. As the initial idea for this study was to investigate another business and their rebranding process, the first two months of this research was mainly aimed at investigating this business. Therefore, when the research took a turn and changed perspective towards conducting a study on Myrorna, time that would have benefitted this study was lost.

6.4 Further studies This section makes suggestions for others that are interested in conducting further research within the studied field. As this study investigated the transformation of Myrorna from a perspective of only using participants that have vast amounts of knowledge within the scope of the research as well as using participants that have worked at or for Myrorna. A suggestion for further studies could be to look further into the consumer perspective and their attitude on Myrorna through the years. For example, to explore their view on Myrornas transformation as well as to see their current attitudes and perception of Myrorna as a brand. Following along this line another suggestion would be to analyze what traditional media such as newspapers and magazines wrote about Myrorna during the time when the transformation took place. This in order to cross check the perceptions and attitudes that the participants in this study discussed with what was said in the media. This point of departure of a study could provide an interesting take on the similarities and differences in regards to different perspectives of the transformation. Furthermore, as this study has only looked at the transformation Myrorna conducted through the years of 1998-2008 another suggestion for further studied could be to continue examining Myrorna through a continuous rebranding perspective and therefore continue investigating if they are still trying to change their brand image and what factors are impacting that.

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Additionally, as this study was limited to one brand, a suggestion for further studies is to investigate the rebranding of other second hand brands that happened at a similar timeframe as Myrornas transformation took place. Whereas then more information could be collected in order to see their main triggers for rebranding and if any contrasting perspectives emerge.

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8.0 Appendix In this section, the interview guide is presented as well as this section presents tables of derived themes from the thematic analysis.

8.1 Interview guide This interview guide was used as a basis for the semi structured interviews, as they were semi structured follow up questions and probing questions have been part of the interview but are not mentioned in the set guide. The guide follows a structure of: general, personal, company, rebranding, trend and marketing and communication questions. Additionally, the last section of the interview guide is specific questions in relation to the studied case company.

8.1.1 General questions -Can we use names or do you want to be anonymous? -Can we record the interview? -Do you have time to do a follow up interview in a couple of weeks, through phone or skype, if needed?

8.1.2 Personal questions - What is your occupation, normal work tasks and what is included in your work description? -How long have you worked here? -What is the best and worst thing about working there? -Previous work experience?

8.1.3 Company Questions -Can you tell me a little about the company you are working at or for? (Target customer, market, product range) -What kind of projects have you done before? -Have you ever worked at or collaborated with Myrorna? If so, please tell me a bit about that. (If the participants have worked at Myrorna or collaborated see 9.1.7)

8.1.4 Rebranding questions -Can explain what rebranding is? Can it be minor changes or major changes to the company? -Have you been part of a rebranding before? If so, why did your company decide to go through with it? -How do you communicate a rebranding? -What would you say is important when you are rebranding a brand? -Main triggers for a rebranding? -What are the usual risk and benefits of rebranding? -What media is important when relaunching a new brand?

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8.1.5 Trend related questions -Why do you think Second hand is so popular right now? -Why do you think suitability is so popular today? -Do you think that the sustainability trend has been a part of Myrornas success/increased popularity? -Do you think that the second hand trend has been a part of Myrornas success/increased popularity?

8.1.6 Marketing and communication questions -Does you company have any communication strategies? If so can you go through them with me? -Can you mention some reasons to why a marketing campaign can fail? -How do you portray sustainability in a marketing campaign? -How can you market sustainability? Is it something special you are trying to point at? -Is it always a necessity to market a second hand company? -What kind of communication/marketing techniques do you use when you are working with for en example a fashion company? -What communication/marketing techniques do you use when working with a second hand business? -What are the main differences between marketing a second hand company and a normal retailer?

8.1.7 Questions related to Myrorna -What is unique with Myrorna? -How do you view Myrorna from a communication perspective? -Do you think Myrornas brand image has changed over the years? -Do you think Myrorna has benefitted from the sustainability trend? -Do you think other companies want to collaborate with Myrorna in order to be perceived as sustainable? -Myrorna is doing the collaboration with MarQet, what do you think about that collaboration?

8.2 Coding procedure for marketing and communication scope

Main Themes Sub Themes Statements/ expressions

Marketing and communications

Marketing and communicating on a limited budget

“we have a strict budget that we always need to follow so we are very restrained in the way we spend money, we can not spend in vain” (Lina). “To be able to gain that acceptance stamp from the fashion industry as well as gain consumers attention the

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advertising agency had to be creative as the marketing budget for Myrorna was non existent” (Lucas). “The thing that differs the most with Myrorna is that we did not have a budget for marketing. The advertisement agency worked basically for free, the stylists and the photographers also worked for free” (Lucas). “it was really little money so we needed to be really creative. And that is also why we choose PR as our way to gain success and awareness because we couldn’t pay for the media so we had to get people to write about it” (Markus). “So, we basically got everyone to work for free. As TV also came we got the national coverage and this is back in the day when everyone watched the news. Then of course we also did ads in fashion magazines and we got it for free because they liked our ads” (Markus) “We could also be part of other magazines like Aftonbladet and DN, as well as after the fashion show fashion experts were talking about us on tv and said that we were a big part of the fashion community and that we were the fashion house of the year” (Lucas). “So, we had to do something really smart to make the budget go much bigger. We used the press as a compliment to the media because they didn’t have enough money to put into bought media” (Charlotte). “So, we did PR campaigns with press as well so I had to always think about how to put together two famous people and make them kiss each other in the tele commercial to get the headlines on the front page of the evening papers etc. to create a buzz” (Charlotte).

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Second hand marketing and communications

“You are impacted by impulses that you get all the time, top of mind. So, if you don’t do any advertisements or communications you don’t really exist. I think it is very important that you stay top of mind of consumers” (Lucas). “I would say that it is a good thing to market a second hand store” (Katarina). “It all depends on where you are operating, and how dependent you are on customers. As the case with Myrorna, they are a part of the salvation army so that might be a reason to why they need to market themselves but also that they need the financial aspect so they need to gain attention. Other second hand stores that is run by the government might not be as dependent on marketing themselves” (Katarina). “Second hand should not just become a product of the sustainability movement. There is a risk of this if we just keep pushing the sustainability aspect of second hand and that second hand businesses are only there as they are good for the environment. You should shop second hand as we have good products, it is as every retail business, there needs to be a consumer demand for products so that the assortment is adapted to the demand. This is crucial!” (Lucas). “One thing that we have to think about is to not just use the word sustainability just to have it in the campaign. That could turn out to be catastrophically” (Katarina). “I think that the problem with some brands like H&M are that they talk a lot about sustainability but everyone knows it’s not authentic because it’s only a little percentage of their collection that is sustainable” (Markus

Myrornas old marketing and communications strategies

” I saw that Myrornas marketing and communications were lacking. As their ads were done by an art teacher that were drawing the ads by hand or

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had taken the pictures him/herself” (Lucas). “Their old ways of marketing looked very bad and it had no quality therefore, we decided to hire a advertisement agency” (Lucas). “ In the initial state it was very important for us to have contacts within the fashion sector. Word would spread and we would also get attention from that”. As UFF was the leading second hand brand at the time and they were included into the fashion society as their products could be seen in fashion magazines. Lucas wanted the same for Myrorna although Lucas disclosed that “at that time we did not have the same acceptance and was not perceived as cool, because we did not have the right connections and we were not as well structured as UFF”

(Lucas).

Myrornas transformed marketing and communications strategies

“The advertisement agency had great contacts to event agencies so they told them to invite stylists, the press, designers and photographers” (Lucas). ”When it was time for the fashion show everyone was there to watch it, media, press, designers, stylists and photographers” (Lucas).

“back in the days, just when the Swedish fashion wonders started, you had companies like Acne starting out and Whyred, J. Lindeberg, Filippa K and all these brands. So, everything was really minimalistic, everybody was wearing black and nobody was really expressive so what we did was basically saying be more personal. So, we showed people that we were really expressive and we went totally the opposite direction so everything was a lot of colors and different quirky people so we went against the fashion industry, the strict modernism fashion industry and just went really out there” (Markus).

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8.3 Coding procedure for the rebranding scope Main theme Sub theme Statements/ expressions

Rebranding Triggers for rebranding “Rebranding is the process of making a company relevant again” (Markus) “the company themselves wanting a change or based on external factors that pushes the business to rebrand in order to stay relevant” (Markus) “The world is changing and then we also have to follow that and adapt in order to stay relevant and be able to offer customers the products that they want and need” (Mathilda). “ we got a new marketing manager and he did an analysis of what needed to change and then he connected our company to a branding agency that stepped in and came up with the rebranding process”(Mathilda). “It might be due to a technological change or because the company has a new CEO or CMO” (Markus). “I created a goal for Myrorna as I was also part of the management team. We were three people in the management group at that time and we all saw the potential that the second hand market had so we set the goal of having our products displayed in fashion magazines” (Lucas). “ It was important for us to be accepted by the fashion community” (Lucas) “We started discussing how we would transfer Myrorna from a flea market into an accepted store where you could go to shop clothes, furniture and other stuff, we wanted people to come to Myrorna instead of going to IKEA or H&M” (Lucas).

The Process of Rebranding “It was clear from the start that we wanted to keep company X DNA and

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that is of course carefully selected ladies and gentleman’s fashion” (Mathilda). “This was due to company X wanting to keep their existing customer base but with the rebranding they also wanted to attract new customers” (Mathilda). “If you change a company to much you face the risk of not being recognized anymore, and that can be a problem” (Markus). “With Myrorna we could do whatever we wanted as long as we had the brand DNA” (Markus) “we developed manuals on how to design the stores and how we should work to be able to be in line with the messages we wanted to send out which was; to have high quality products where you could find your personal style for a good price” (Lucas). “ ...you can have exhibitions or lectures, you don’t have to be limited to social media” (Lina). “You don't have to use normal bought advertisements you can also use PR initiatives, lobbying or write articles” (Lucas).

Myrornas old brand image “When I started working at Myrorna, the whole second hand sector was some kind of flea market. Clothes could be stuffed into baskets and different clothing categories could hang wherever in the store. It was hard to find products, and the quality of the products were not that great, it was very unstructured” (Lucas) “It was sort of not cool whatsoever. It was more of a place where people with low income went to buy second hand clothing” Markus. “you wouldn’t say to anyone that you went to Myrorna” (Markus) “people had very distinct prejudice against second hand stores, that the clothes smelled bad and that they were old” (Lucas)

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“second hand smells bad or that it is just old and shabby clothes in the stores (Lina)”.

Myrornas transformed brand image

“The advertisement agency that we hired were very good at getting that message out as well as they were good at reaching the fashion sector. They came up with the idea to do fashion shows and that was sensational” (Lucas). “How could Myrorna that was seen as a flea market have a fashion show, they have nothing to do with fashion right?!” (Lucas) “Our main crowd that we wanted to get to was the elite and the fashion industry.” (Markus) “ We had a lot of them copying us” (Markus) “I believe that if you are smart enough in you marketing if a company tries to copy you they won’t be as successful as the original concepts” (Lucas). “We were on a journey because we rebranded Myrorna for every campaign” (Markus). “If you would like to have your own personal style you should come to Myrorna” (Lucas)

“ … back in 2007 we went into the sustainability issues but that was the first time and that was after about 9 years of not mentioning it in the campaigns. Because that wasn’t the issue from 1999 to 2007 nobody talked about sustainability and it wasn’t a big thing so we only talked about the hype and fashion and do your thing and be yourself” (Markus). “sustainability become more and more important, but at first the most important aspect was to create an acceptance for second hand and to get more people to become interested in second hand fashion” (Lucas).

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“They have grown immensely and now they have a brand awareness so people know them” (Markus) “We took Myrorna from super untrendy to super trendy. From the store that you didn’t want to go in, to the store that was kind of cool” (Markus) “They have become more mainstream, like a normal retail store” (Lina). “Myrorna have become mainstream and cool” (Markus). “It’s kind of fashion to work with Myrorna” (Charlotte).

8.4 Coding procedure for the trend scope Main Theme Sub theme Statements/expressions

Trends Sustainability “The fashion industry, no the whole world needs to take more proactive actions about becoming more sustainable” (Mathilda) “It is a global trend and society has shifted their view of consumption so things are changing in our society” (Markus) “all fashion retailers are working with different ways of becoming more sustainable” (Charlotte). “this trend (the sustainability trend) has benefited Myrorna as people are thinking two times before buying things and that it is much better to buy second hand then new products” (Lucas). “ It feels good to buy products at Myrorna, you are doing the environment a good favor, it is much better than going buying something new. You won’t do anything good for the environment if you buy products that will increase production” (Lucas). “I think that as Myrorna has created an acceptance of second hand and that we

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have so many good products that it has generated to contributed in some way to the sustainability trend” (Lucas) “We had it in our DNA so it was quite logical to do it for Myrorna. We were one of the front runners of the beginning of this trend” (Markus). “Myrorna has probably benefited from this trend as they could push their brand even further to the public” (Katarina) “They had been working so much with that in the past. As so many other companies were talking about sustainability I think it was a way for Myrorna to pop out of the crowd” (Katarina).

Second hand “the fashion shows really gave an upswing for Myrorna and for the second hand industry as a whole. And this was the starting point for second hand to become acceptable and a place where you could go if you wanted good stuff and if you wanted personal stuff” (Lucas). “many people have said this too, that Myrornas efforts during 1990-2000 was part of creating the second hand trend, because we made it acceptable to shop second hand so we were part of giving the second hand market an upswing, of course there was a trend of shopping second hand but we enhanced it by going from flea market to fashion house. After this, many second hand stores opened so we were part of this trend. So, we gave second hand an upswing” (Lucas). “Everything is pointing towards second hand and recycling so they are just right in time. So, it is not weird that second hand fashion is so popular if we look at how important the environment has become. It is more natural right now as well to buy second hand then just throwing away clothes” (Katarina). “second hand clothes were only purchased by a small niche group

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while as of now everybody is buying second hand products especially the younger generations” (Markus) “Everyone is welcome to come and shop second hand clothes” (Lina)

8.5 Coding framework for content analysis

Trends Sustainability Environmental awareness

If the image or the model showcases environmental awareness or sustainability in their behavior or clothes

Second hand Personal style If the image and the model showcases personal style with their clothes

Uniqueness If the image or the model showcased uniqueness with their clothes

Photoshoot style Professional Editorial images If the image showcases more editorial style

Non-professional Personal images If the image showcases more personal feeling

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