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This paper was written in response to an increasing number of requests by marketing people to provide an answer to the question “What is the essence of my brand?” Many of these queries come from companies who already have vast amounts of qualitative research, tracking information on advertising awareness and brand imagery, in addition to continuous data of various types. None of these seem to be able to provide a measurable understanding of the emotional values which shape the consumer‐brand relationship.

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This paper explores the question of representation within commercial qualitative research in the context of a broader “crisis of representation”. It will be argued that a comparison between academic and commercial qualitative research highlights very different contexts in which to raise and deal with questions of representation. Further, it is suggested that the comparison between commercial and academic qualitative research reveals a tension between virtualism and the iconography of authenticity. The paper ends by arguing that, within commercial qualitative research, virtualism is a key route towards bringing a more pragmatic and insightful approach to research.

This paper explores content and media evaluation applications for public relations research, and identifies the difference between advertising measures of value and public relations value. In discussing this concept, it also seeks to offer research which shows that press as well as the broader activities of public relations have a powerful ally in semiotics and reception analysis, one that can aid understanding of work in all aspects of PR practice. It argues that public relations is effective when it works in the cultural context and that measurement, research and evaluation have to feed from robust methodologies to be at their most effective.

Entrepreneurship; Social entrepreneurship.

Graduate level.

This paper, The Brownies & Downies case study, aims to examine a social enterprise that provides employment, training and job placements for people with intellectual disability within a trendy artisanal coffee shop in Cape Town, South Africa. The business is based on a similar establishment (same name) in The Netherlands and was brought to Cape Town by Wendy Vermeulen, a Dutch national who completed a social development internship in Cape Town. The case is located within the field of social enterprise with a particular focus on the tension between purpose and profit and the pressure and challenges of replication, growth and scale/expansion. The protagonist in the case is Wade Schultz, Wendy’s business partner, who is grappling with how to not only remain true to the social purpose of the business but also turn a profit in the pressured and competitive coffee industry. He is further challenged by deciding whether to expand the existing training business into other sectors or seek a replication model in other South African cities as a means of growing revenue and increasing the social impact.

The key learning from this case study are as follows: First, intellectual disability is a hidden form of disability, often misunderstood and subject to prejudice and discriminatory hiring practices. Intellectual disability exists on a scale – some individuals are able to work outside of pretexted or sheltered workspaces. Greater effort is required within open workplaces to sensitive staff to working with/alongside intellectually disabled people. This case illustrates a social enterprise model that seeks to bridge the gap between sheltered workspaces and open workspaces. Second, most social enterprises grapple with the tension between profit and purpose; this case presents a company that is living this dilemma. The importance of remaining true to purpose needs to be balanced carefully against becoming economically self-sufficient; however, the pursuit of profits should not happen at the cost of social mission. Alternate business models are a mechanism to building revenue to support the social objective.

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CSS: 3: Entrepreneurship.