A study of entrepreneurial brand building in the manufacturing sector in the UK

Abstract

Entrepreneurial brand building is an area of study in its infancy. The nature of entrepreneurship which typically implies serious limitations on the availability of resources suggests that entrepreneurs need to take an unconventional approach to brand building. This article provides an analysis of how one entrepreneurial manufacturing concern in the UK, Dyson Appliances, successfully built a strong brand of vacuum cleaners during the 1990s. In particular it considers the importance of brand image and the role of product attributes and the development of the brand’s personality in creating this. It argues that a key aspect of a brand’s personality is its values and therefore one of the tasks of brand builders is to find a way of imbuing the brand with these values. One of the richest sources of society’s values is mythology, which emphasizes especially the values of its heroes. A brand can be imbued with these values through association with mythology. This was the approach adopted by Dyson Appliances as it built its vacuum cleaners into a leading national brand.