From Cost Spender to Value Provider - Using Data to Build and Sustain Brands

Abstract: Introduction: Data has revolutionized how business is conducted and presents several possibilities for companies to capitalize on, namely data-driven decision-making, Business Intelligence, and marketing. However, how it pertains to brand management has not been covered. Moreover, a recurring tension between short-term sales revenue and long-term brand-building objectives is said to be heightened by data analytics. Data can, on the one hand, improve productivity and objectivity in decision-making, but on the other hand, make the case against investments in brand management due to the short-sighted focus on sales. Aim: Aims to provide insights into the use of data and analytics for brand decisions. Methodology: A qualitative, embedded, single case study of the multi-brand company Essity and two of its global brands Tork and TENA was done, following an abductive and interpretivistic approach. Data collection: The data was collected from semi-structured interviews with nine participants of managerial positions at different levels at Essity, Tork, and TENA, deemed to provide relevant insights into the subject and study. Conclusion: Findings show various ways in which data and analytics are used in decision-making to build and sustain the brands at a multi-brand company. These were illustrated according to the three identified themes: Understanding the Customer, Visualizing and Tracking the Performance, and Convincing the Stakeholders, demonstrating efforts that ultimately provide the basis for decision-making to build and sustain brands. Originality: Provides a new context for data, analytics, and decision-making, that of brand management, and a new area of decisions based on data, those of brand decisions.