Private Entrepreneur Personal Branding : Brand Creation and Customer Brand Engagement

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate how self-employed entrepreneurs create and manage their brands and how the entrepreneurs engage customers to their brands in online and offline contexts. Furthermore, the viewpoints of entrepreneurs towards branding will be explored To answer the research question, a qualitative, multiple case study was conducted. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews and the secondary data was obtained by studying the entrepreneur´s social media behaviour. This study found that entrepreneurs build their brands by utilizing their own personalities and characteristics. The brands created have loyal following and the customers are positively engaged. The engagement process itself is due to the relationships built between the company and the customers. Even if the brands are effective, there is not much strategic elements to them but are rather very organic.