When managing a total quality programme every practitioner needs togenerate and maintain momentum and progress. When progress is suddenlyhalted, the true reasons why are not…
Abstract
When managing a total quality programme every practitioner needs to generate and maintain momentum and progress. When progress is suddenly halted, the true reasons why are not always immediately clear. Excuses can be too easily formulated and the wrong reasons identified for what may well be a fatal programme failure. Every situation has its own true root causes. Refers to an actual working situation and exposes and discusses the deep‐seated root causes.
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Kostadin Grozev and Nadia Boyadjiev
The theme of this conference is an appropriate place to speak about issues of methodology, research and teaching and thus to define and elaborate different approaches and…
Abstract
The theme of this conference is an appropriate place to speak about issues of methodology, research and teaching and thus to define and elaborate different approaches and viewpoints to social sciences. The academic discourse in the humanities af ter the end of the Cold War provokes efforts forinter disciplinary explanations of present‐day realities as well as transnational, cross‐cultural and transcontinental subject areas that should provide better academic co‐operation and widening of research perspectives.
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Investigates ‘end paper advertising’ (publishers inclusion in own publications of additional printed matter not connected with the primary text). Makes note of books and other…
Abstract
Investigates ‘end paper advertising’ (publishers inclusion in own publications of additional printed matter not connected with the primary text). Makes note of books and other publications from as far back as 1751 ‐ ‘The Gardeners Kalendar’ and goes on to give an in‐depth study of this area. Concludes that this study covers a heretofore‐uncovered area of interest.
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This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge the assumption that brands of everyday products have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years by conducting the first case study of the marketing practices of the Swedish toothpaste brand Stomatol (1910–1940). Through visual social semiotic analysis, it explores how the brand was a pioneer in lifestyle marketing, using discourses of modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” to sell its toothpaste.
Design/methodology/approach
Two hundred Stomatol advertisements were collected from the Swedish Historical Newspaper Archive and analysed using visual social semiotics. The analysis considers how the idea of a cultural Swedishness centred around modernity and beauty developed between 1910 and 1940, and how both linguistic and semiotic resources were used to make these claims seem credible.
Findings
At a time when its main adversaries were capitalising upon science in their advertisements to construct authority and credibility, Stomatol instead targeted lifestyle. Modernity, beauty and the Swedish “way of life” were central themes of their marketing campaigns, yet the way these themes were articulated varied between 1910 and 1940 in accordance with changing popular discourse. This made Stomatol more competitive than other toothpaste brands because it was able to sell an experience rather than a product, turning it into Sweden’s most popular toothpaste.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the importance of case studies to challenge the assumption that toothpaste brands have only used lifestyle marketing in the past 30 years (a claim based on Anglocentrism). It also showcases the need to further investigate non-Anglo countries when conducting research into lifestyle marketing to build a more nuanced perspective on its origins and the supposed novelty of (largely) US practices. Thus, Stomatol makes an important case for Sweden as a trailblazer in lifestyle marketing.