A Study into Developing Strategies for Internationally Competitive Irish-owned Consumer Brands

The objectives of this study centre on researching the complexities inherent within the development of Irish owned consumer brands. This is with particular emphasis on the international development of Irish brands and the ways by which International success can be realized. There has been a notable lack of Irish successes in International markets since that achieved by brands such as Guiness, Bailey’s, and Kerrygold. Through examinination of the literature on branding and contextualization of the study considering the Irish business environment, the research aims to explore ways in which indigenous Irish brands can grow and achieve international success. The first two chapters review the literature on branding. Chapter one looks at the literature concerning the concept of a brand. Furthermore, the chapter also discusses the strategic aspect of brand management. Chapter two looks at bran management in an international sense and the Global brand concept. The Literature review also proposes a more precise definition of the term ‘Global Brand’. The methodology employed adheres to the pragmatism paradigm, employing both quantitative and qualitative techniques thereby triangulating the research. The research is thus in two distinct phases. Firstly a survey on branding which highlights key issues regarding Irish owned consumer brands. Secondly a set of three interviews with managers of three Irish owned consumer brands at three different levels of international growth are conducted to explore key issues and the survey findings. The conclusions are centered on key themes which directly relate to the research objectives. The study then proposes several practical recommendations for the development of Irish consumer brands and indigenous Irish enterprise in general