Identifying and Prioritizing Strategies for Reviving Legacy Iranian Brands Using the Fuzzy Delphi and TOPSIS Approaches
Keywords:
Brand Revival, Legacy Brands, Fuzzy Delphi, TOPSIS, Revival StrategyAbstract
In today’s competitive market landscape, brands are considered vital business assets. However, similar to living organisms, they follow a life cycle and are susceptible to decline. Legacy brands, particularly in evolving markets, face the challenge of maintaining their appeal and competitive edge. Reviving these brands constitutes a strategic necessity for survival and growth. Nevertheless, identifying and prioritizing effective revival strategies—especially within the cultural and economic context of Iran—requires meticulous research. The primary objective of this applied study is to identify and prioritize key strategies for reviving legacy Iranian brands by drawing on the knowledge and experience of branding and marketing experts. The research was conducted in two descriptive-survey stages. Initially, through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts, a preliminary list of primary and secondary revival strategies was extracted. This list was then refined and finalized using the Fuzzy Delphi method, involving 15 selected experts (through purposive judgmental sampling based on the criterion of theoretical saturation). In the second stage, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a multi-criteria decision-making technique, was applied to prioritize the finalized strategies—comprising 7 primary and 39 secondary strategies—based on the opinions of the same 15 experts. The validity of the instrument (questionnaire) was confirmed through content validity, and its reliability was verified with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.88. The results of the TOPSIS analysis indicated that the primary strategy of Integrated Marketing had the highest priority (CL = 0.6462), followed by Product Renewal and Development (CL = 0.5856) and Brand Identity and Image Management (CL = 0.5399). Among the secondary strategies, Improving Product Quality (CL = 0.7500) ranked highest by a considerable margin, followed by Utilizing Digital Marketing (CL = 0.7294) and Enhancing Brand Image (CL = 0.7038). These findings provide a clear practical guide for managers to allocate resources and focus on more effective actions in the revival process of legacy Iranian brands, highlighting the critical importance of product quality, integrated (especially digital) marketing communications, and proactive brand image management.
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