Creating and managing of business strategies to enhance brand awareness for SMEs, particularly for the handicrafts sector in Laos

Abstract

In today’s competitive business environment, possessing a strong brand and reputation all become fundamental aspects in all industries and come with the best guarantee of a long-term success. Besides, brand management is as a means to building a strong brand and enhancing business performance of organisations. Yet, effective brand management entails a great effort and long-term process associated with consistency and continuous communication. It requires a considerable amount of resources to implement. This is a significantly challenging issue encountered by many companies particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as it is more difficult for them to cover relevant resources for creating and managing a brand. This research project is aimed to investigate how brand management is exercised in SMEs in Laos especially in the handicrafts sector and to identify obstacles in building a successful brand for the SMEs. In addition, this research aims to find out what the potential brand strategy is that should be applied by the Lao SMEs in practices. In order to accomplish the purpose and objectives of the research, this study employed a semi-structured interview as a data collection method for a qualitative research approach. A total of 10 participants (the owners or managers of the SMEs) were interviewed in Laos. Based on the empirical findings, the study has found that commonly SMEs in Laos create their brand identity through the visions and values of business owners. Also, unique and quality of the products and the country of origin are as the key aspects for building and developing brand identity. A majority of the SME entrepreneurs do not have a particular knowledge relating to branding and brand management. The SMEs still face a number of difficulties when creating, developing and managing their brands due to a scarcity of budget and a lack of human resources. Importantly, this research study tested branding practices for the SMEs. As a result, six branding guidelines including a new guideline found by this study are confirmed. These guidelines have the potential to be employed by the Lao SMEs in practice. Finally, this study has answered all the research questions and achieved the research objectives along with demonstrating the managerial implications, and provides recommendations for SME entrepreneurs and directions for future research. In today’s competitive business environment, possessing a strong brand and reputation all become fundamental aspects in all industries and come with the best guarantee of a long-term success. Besides, brand management is as a means to building a strong brand and enhancing business performance of organisations. Yet, effective brand management entails a great effort and long-term process associated with consistency and continuous communication. It requires a considerable amount of resources to implement. This is a significantly challenging issue encountered by many companies particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as it is more difficult for them to cover relevant resources for creating and managing a brand. This research project is aimed to investigate how brand management is exercised in SMEs in Laos especially in the handicrafts sector and to identify obstacles in building a successful brand for the SMEs. In addition, this research aims to find out what the potential brand strategy is that should be applied by the Lao SMEs in practices. In order to accomplish the purpose and objectives of the research, this study employed a semi-structured interview as a data collection method for a qualitative research approach. A total of 10 participants (the owners or managers of the SMEs) were interviewed in Laos. Based on the empirical findings, the study has found that commonly SMEs in Laos create their brand identity through the visions and values of business owners. Also, unique and quality of the products and the country of origin are as the key aspects for building and developing brand identity. A majority of the SME entrepreneurs do not have a particular knowledge relating to branding and brand management. The SMEs still face a number of difficulties when creating, developing and managing their brands due to a scarcity of budget and a lack of human resources. Importantly, this research study tested branding practices for the SMEs. As a result, six branding guidelines including a new guideline found by this study are confirmed. These guidelines have the potential to be employed by the Lao SMEs in practice. Finally, this study has answered all the research questions and achieved the research objectives along with demonstrating the managerial implications, and provides recommendations for SME entrepreneurs and directions for future research.