| dc.description.abstract | Brand personality and brand archetypes are thought to influence customers’ loyalty, feelings, perceptions, and attitudes, all of which aid in building and maintaining a strong relationship between brand and customer (Mark & Pearson, 2001:193; Müller, 2017:35-36). Identifying and implementing the right fit of archetype category for King Price Insurance, the brand personality has the potential to flourish to the point where customers can immediately identify with the brand. Not only will a strong archetype enhance brand personality, but also evoke a strong response from customers. To create a memorable brand in all facets of a company, the communication of a brand starts within a company (management & employees) and extends to the public which is generally known as the service marketing triangle. According to Zeithaml (2010:1), the service marketing triangle is the core of delivering quality service and to fill the gap between customer expectations prior to service delivery and perceptions during service delivery. The primary objective of this study is to determine the perceptions that selected stakeholders have of King Price Insurance’s brand personality and brand archetype. The study was a comparative single cross-sectional three-group study. For the employees and management, non-probability sampling was used by means of cluster sampling. A questionnaire specifically designed for King Price Insurance managers and employees was distributed amongst participants in the various departments. Furthermore, a non-probability, convenience sample was drawn of members from the general public. As for the general public, permission was obtained from various shopping centres and businesses across Gauteng to distribute the questionnaires. A total of 530 questionnaires were distributed for this study, of which 507 were completed. However, only 466 questionnaires were usable once the data had been cleaned, resulting in a response rate of 88 percent. There were a total of 171 respondents from King Price Insurance (35 managers and 136 employees) and 295 respondents from members of the general public. The collected data was analysed using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a descriptive statistical analysis, reliability analysis, a correlation analysis and an Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that even though the majority of the public participants were not clients of King Price Insurance, their brand awareness of King Price Insurance was relatively high. Furthermore, all three selected stakeholder groups agreed upon the most perceived brand personality dimension (Exciting) and brand archetype (The Creator) for King Price Insurance. The ANOVA revealed that there were no significant differences regarding the brand personality and brand archetype perceptions between employees and managers. However, there were several significant differences regarding the brand personality and brand archetype perceptions between the public and employees as well as the public and the managers. King Price Insurance can examine the results and findings of this study to compare it with their current marketing strategies to reflect on the marketing team’s efforts. Furthermore, King Price Insurance can channel their marketing efforts to build upon the current perceptions of their brand, or they can pivot their marketing strategies to evolve into another brand personality or archetype. The results, however, suggest that their marketing efforts are effective throughout the internal and external environments, and that all stakeholders have similar perceptions of the brand. The academic literature within this study and the findings suggest that branding is a vital component for the success of an organisation. It is also indicated that branding comprises multiple elements that can make a brand unique and powerful. Since the insurance industry is becoming more competitive as customers grow more intuitive, organisations should structure their marketing efforts as the service marketing triangle suggests: starting within the organisation (management & employees) and working its way out towards the public domain. Due to the existing corporate competition, organisations should focus their resources on creating brands that are memorable and relatable by using the concepts of brand personality and brand archetypes. In doing this, a brand can be portrayed successfully, as if it were a living person, and ensure that its true character is recognised by all. | en_US |
