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This can be described, as what ‘Value” means to a typical loyal customer; and what, ultimately, is the essential nature and character Of the brand over time. BRAND EQUITY A brand is a name or a symbol that is used to identify the source of a product. When a business develops a new product, branding is an extremely important decision. The brand can add significant value when it is well recognized and has positive associations in the mind of the consumer. Consumer based equity focused on the consumer’s attitude strength toward the product associated with the brand.
A consumer’s awareness and associations lead to perceived quality, inferred attributes and eventually- the desired out come- brand loyalty. It is important to make the band easy to remember. The consumer should easily remember their positive evaluation of a brand. ” Brand power to influence buyers relies on representations and relationships. ” (Seafarer, 2004) Brand equity is the direct relationship between the customer and the brand. A representation is the mental association a brand has on a customer. A brand creates value and influences consumers buying habits.
To create brand equity the brand must focus on a pacific audience in order to directly connect the product to the consumer. DEFINING THE TARGET MARKET AUDIENCE Defining the market is a key strategic task. (Miller 2004) When creating a strong brand a company must specifically look to their target market. A market can be segmented by location, demographics, consumer behavior, or psychological and emotional characteristics. By using market segmentation, companies can focus on the direct needs and desires of their designated audience.
According to Robert Kaplan, Harvard Business school professor, the customer is now at the beginning of the value chain. Kaplan 2008) Companies are now focusing specifically on growing trends in the market, established by consumers. MARKET SHARE Gaining market share and holding on to it is the reason for branding. There is direct link between market share and profitability. (Miller, 2004) Market share is the most important metric that marketers can use in order to judge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
This includes branding initiatives, advertising campaigns and other revenue generation effort. However to define market share, a company must first define their market, as discussed before. A defined market enables a brand to distinctively target which market they wish to enter. Companies with the strongest brands tend to have the highest level of market share. Market share is imports NT because firstly, it gives you a clear picture of a businesses performance, illustrating the precise areas and time periods where a company has performed its best.
Using this type of information, a business can identify strengths and weaknesses, ultimately improving the balance of the business. Secondly, it can be used as a powerful sales tool. A strong brand is a company’s selling point. In 1 989 Intel was entering the home computer racket with a new type of product. At this time computers were viewed by consumers as all being similar, no one knew the difference in technology. Intel had to set itself apart from all other computer innovative companies. They then decided to clearly market directly to the consumer.
They created a campaign that stood out among its competitors, which clearly defined their brand from others. Brands that are more popular end up having higher market share simply because of the fact that they are popular. Consumers generally buy because others are buying it. Consumers need guidance when buying products. The product not only has to be innovative and different to stand out, but the brand itself needs to as well. BRAND IDENTITY Building brand identity helps consumers associate the brand with something that resonates with them. The name of a brand is almost always a constant element” according to Helen Avid, author of Branding (Avid, 2003) Brands may change their colors, fonts, or even logos, but one thing that is always held constant is the company’s name. A name creates an associate in the consumers mind. A consumer may hear company name and not relate to it where some consumers will hear the name and agree that it is extremely elated to them. A well-designed brand does this on purpose: by focusing on a set of customers they may desire to ignore or exclude others. The name must appeal to the market, be appropriate for the product and send a message.
The right type of name will define what the company is and what it does. Its providing a product or service that a distinct group of customers value and perceive as different from competitive offerings. A brand should strive to be inspiring and innovative. Names can be descriptive, inspirational, emotive or abstract. A descriptive name does exactly what it says; give a ascription of the product or company such as Timex, Delta Airlines or Newsweek. An inspirational name focuses on the possibilities of a product by encouraging consumers to visualize what the brand is hoping to achieve or evoke.
One example would be Leap Frog. An emotive name suggests the effect of the product; similar to the impact it has on people. This can be achieved through brand imagery, the name, or even slogan. Mastered is a good example with the phrase of priceless”. An abstract at first has no connection to the product whatsoever. The name could be made up or unrelated to the product. Examples include Gap- a clothing store or Kodak- a made up name. Creating logos or symbols are also extremely important to the definition of a brand.
Sometimes a brands logo can be so significant to the product that is being sold, that consumers will automatically associate that product with the brand. Logos are by far the most powerful and familiar visual expressions of a brand. BRAND POSITIONING Effective brand positioning helps guide the marketing strategy by clarifying the brands core, what goals it helps the customer achieve, and how it does this in a distinctive way. Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. Kettledrum) Brand positioning succinctly defines that category in which the brand competes, their differentiated benefits, and what that company must do to prove those benefits to the customer. According to Sears COM Richard Greeters, the new plan to revive the Sears brand will be to Make sure that the overall customer experience- merchandise, in-store, service, and marketing are the best they can be and working together to create a differentiated proposition that makes someone come to Sears versus going somewhere else. A well-honed brand positioning statement defends the brand against communication.
Their appeal is determined by the brands place in the market. There are five factors a company needs to look at in order to clearly position their brand. First is the brand attributes. The attributes are what the brand delivers through the features and benefits of their products. Second is defining the assumer customer expectations. A main factor is the examination of the competitors attributes and creating strategies to differentiate a brands image apart from the others. According to Phillip Kettle and Kevin Keller, authors of A F-remark for Marketing
Management, a company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors can’t or wont match, gives a brand the competitive advantage. (Kettle, 2009) To gain competitive advantage, companies need to focus on consumer advantages. A company must always view the customers’ needs and provide them with advantages so that they aren’t relying simply on the fact that they are different than the competitors. If a brand is really strong- strong enough to stand out for something in consumers’ head- then its harder for competitors to present a credible alternative. ” -Tony Wright of Googol & Matter.
Others factors are pricing and the consumer perceptions. STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT A clear design strategy helps influence people’s perception of a brand in such a way that they are persuaded to act in a certain fashion (Avid, 2003) The design elements of branding are: experimental, which is the feeling a consumer gets upon purchase of the product or service, functionality, which is the benefits associated with the brand; the emotional element covers the feelings a consumer has about owning this brand; the rational element begs the question of will our brand appeal to the logical side of our buyer? Cultural elements focus on the desired cultures we wish to attract while the visual element ties all of these elements together to create the overall look of the brand. Visual elements include color, typography, logo and packaging. BRAND PERSONALITY- WHAT THE BRAND SAYS ABOUT CUSTOMER The strength of a brand rests in its value acquired through tangible attributes like pertinence of a brand name and associated benefits thereof. Consumers perceive the brand on dimensions that typically capture a personality, and extend that to the domain of brands.
The dimensions of brand personality are defined by extending the dimensions of human resonantly to the domain Of brands. However, competitors attempt to put more premiums on personality issues to drive their brand competitively in the market. The creation of brand personality involves active corporate communication and needs to be adjusted to the brand life cycle irregularity. Brand personality is like human personality, both distinctive and enduring. The personality’s the weighted average of previous impressions.
These impressions merge to form an overall concept of what to expect from a brand. Marlboro cigarettes use personality to create a macho, masculine, adventurous person that suggests that their product is strong. Brand personality communicates the brand identity with richness and texture. COMMUNICATING VALUE If used correctly, brand imaging draws in attention, creates an interest and fulfills or creates a desire, which lead to the conviction Of a product and the action of the purchasing power in customers.
Communicating this value is can be done in a variety of ways, most important is through advertising. Advertising is a complex form of communication that operates with objectives and strategies leading to various types of consumer thoughts, linings, and action. It is a paid form of persuasive communication that uses mass and interactive media to reach broad audiences in order to connect an identified sponsor with buyer and provide information about products. ” (Morality). The many forms of advertising allows for many options of creative input.
Usage of imagery, text, and types of media allow an advertisers mind to explore new concepts and ideas. Attention effects like color, size, slogan and copy are all important to achieving an accurate consumer perception. The message displayed by the product must convey what need or want the many in question is trying to fulfill with their product or service. Influences in the mass market such as trends and new developments should be thought out upon creating a product or service to advertiser The major influence an ad should have on a consumer is persuasion.
Persuasion factors include, motivation, influence, involvement, conviction and brand loyalty. In order to establish persuasion an advertising plan must implemented. A typical cam paging outline consists of a situation analysis, decisions such as objectives, target audience, and brand positioning, Media strategy, an approach to supportive Marco tools, and management, which s the overall effectiveness of the campaign.
The outline used helps develop the necessary strategy decisions the guide the over all campaign, These strategies are; identifying key problems and opportunities, stating objectives, targeting the audience, creating or reinforcing a position, identifying the strategic approach that will deliver the objectives, and using management controls to determines efficiency in budgeting and effectiveness through evaluation. Once all of these have been determined, the company must now create a message that will accurately portray the product and be consistent tit the target audiences beliefs and attitudes.
A consumer needs to perceive that their wants and needs are being taken into consideration upon creating a message. Effective messaging should gain attention and provide information and entertainment. A message should incorporate all aspects of the Facets Model of Effects. This is the model that contains perception, emotion, persuasion, behavior, association and cognition. There are different ways of executing a creative message. Preemptive strategies uses a common attribute or benefit, it forces the competition into me-too” positions. Using a distinct difference in attributes creates a meaningful benefit with unique selling proposition.
Image branding uses a claim of superiority or distinctions based on the mindset differences in the minds of the consumers. Positioning allows consumers to specifically place a product in comparison with competitors. Using situations dealing with lifestyles and emotions target the audience personally with resonance. An affective/anomalous message uses an emotional, sometimes unclear message to break through an unconcerned audience. This form is used mainly when a company is trying to be informative. All of these strategies are factors in the decision of the specific types of media.
When writing for radio media, the content of a message should use resonance, affective messaging or preemptive messaging. Using their imagination uses these strategies to engage the consumer. Radio audiences are also highly segmented so that effectiveness of the advertisement is very clear. For example, to the audience that listens to rock music, the general association is punk fashion and skateboarding. Ad’s that would be effective on a rock radio station would be Skateboard shop advertising a new product line. The message might have a young man talking about the sweet” new skateboard he bought at the specific skate shop.
Then the call to action is given when telling where the shop is. When writing for print media an advertisement can come in the form of a review or feature story. The creative execution by using public relations can create stories based on your product or company. But for a direct ad they must create an image with proper text to establish recognition. In print media such as posters and billboards and broadcast medias such as television and Internet, brand image and message accuracy are key. This is where the creative execution of actual consumer perception fits in. Set management delivers that explicit value that exists in providing a consistent brand experience across communication mediums. BRAND MANAGEMENT A strong and innovative branding identity management strategy recognizes that every prospect and customer contact point has a unique brand experience when they use their products or services. The process of maintaining, improving, and upholding a brand so that the name is associated with positive results, is what brand management does. TO effectively manage our brand, keeping tabs on the business marketplace and finding out what your customers want and adapting to those needs is necessary.
Critical to any brand strategy is keen self-awareness. Branding is an ongoing process. If you’re any good, your competitors are watching you, and they are following you. So what makes a company different in 2005 can be the status quo of 2021. Consumer demands and expectations change too, so companies must look for indicators like product sales. Maybe you read what floggers are saying about your company. Companies can conduct focus groups or surveys and try to find out how customers perceive your brand. This is a regular, ongoing task. Brands should evolve.
But marketers must be careful to leverage brand equity and maintain a consistent message, too. Customers can’t follow if the brand keeps changing direction every few years. Consumers need time to think about and absorb the marketing message. Business practices must be consistent with the brand message. You can’t brand yourself as a cold-weather plant specialist and then recommend tropical’s; Taco Bell can’t start carrying burgers or buns. People would get confused. To create consistency, look at the full scope of your organization from the employees, to facility, to marketing collateral.
A consumer’s awareness and associations lead to perceived quality, inferred attributes and eventually- the desired out come- brand loyalty. It is important to make the band easy to remember. The consumer should easily remember their positive evaluation of a brand. ” Brand power to influence buyers relies on representations and relationships. ” (Seafarer, 2004) Brand equity is the direct relationship between the customer and the brand. A representation is the mental association a brand has on a customer. A brand creates value and influences consumers buying habits.
To create brand equity the brand must focus on a pacific audience in order to directly connect the product to the consumer. DEFINING THE TARGET MARKET AUDIENCE Defining the market is a key strategic task. (Miller 2004) When creating a strong brand a company must specifically look to their target market. A market can be segmented by location, demographics, consumer behavior, or psychological and emotional characteristics. By using market segmentation, companies can focus on the direct needs and desires of their designated audience.
According to Robert Kaplan, Harvard Business school professor, the customer is now at the beginning of the value chain. Kaplan 2008) Companies are now focusing specifically on growing trends in the market, established by consumers. MARKET SHARE Gaining market share and holding on to it is the reason for branding. There is direct link between market share and profitability. (Miller, 2004) Market share is the most important metric that marketers can use in order to judge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
This includes branding initiatives, advertising campaigns and other revenue generation effort. However to define market share, a company must first define their market, as discussed before. A defined market enables a brand to distinctively target which market they wish to enter. Companies with the strongest brands tend to have the highest level of market share. Market share is imports NT because firstly, it gives you a clear picture of a businesses performance, illustrating the precise areas and time periods where a company has performed its best.
Using this type of information, a business can identify strengths and weaknesses, ultimately improving the balance of the business. Secondly, it can be used as a powerful sales tool. A strong brand is a company’s selling point. In 1 989 Intel was entering the home computer racket with a new type of product. At this time computers were viewed by consumers as all being similar, no one knew the difference in technology. Intel had to set itself apart from all other computer innovative companies. They then decided to clearly market directly to the consumer.
They created a campaign that stood out among its competitors, which clearly defined their brand from others. Brands that are more popular end up having higher market share simply because of the fact that they are popular. Consumers generally buy because others are buying it. Consumers need guidance when buying products. The product not only has to be innovative and different to stand out, but the brand itself needs to as well. BRAND IDENTITY Building brand identity helps consumers associate the brand with something that resonates with them. The name of a brand is almost always a constant element” according to Helen Avid, author of Branding (Avid, 2003) Brands may change their colors, fonts, or even logos, but one thing that is always held constant is the company’s name. A name creates an associate in the consumers mind. A consumer may hear company name and not relate to it where some consumers will hear the name and agree that it is extremely elated to them. A well-designed brand does this on purpose: by focusing on a set of customers they may desire to ignore or exclude others. The name must appeal to the market, be appropriate for the product and send a message.
The right type of name will define what the company is and what it does. Its providing a product or service that a distinct group of customers value and perceive as different from competitive offerings. A brand should strive to be inspiring and innovative. Names can be descriptive, inspirational, emotive or abstract. A descriptive name does exactly what it says; give a ascription of the product or company such as Timex, Delta Airlines or Newsweek. An inspirational name focuses on the possibilities of a product by encouraging consumers to visualize what the brand is hoping to achieve or evoke.
One example would be Leap Frog. An emotive name suggests the effect of the product; similar to the impact it has on people. This can be achieved through brand imagery, the name, or even slogan. Mastered is a good example with the phrase of priceless”. An abstract at first has no connection to the product whatsoever. The name could be made up or unrelated to the product. Examples include Gap- a clothing store or Kodak- a made up name. Creating logos or symbols are also extremely important to the definition of a brand.
Sometimes a brands logo can be so significant to the product that is being sold, that consumers will automatically associate that product with the brand. Logos are by far the most powerful and familiar visual expressions of a brand. BRAND POSITIONING Effective brand positioning helps guide the marketing strategy by clarifying the brands core, what goals it helps the customer achieve, and how it does this in a distinctive way. Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. Kettledrum) Brand positioning succinctly defines that category in which the brand competes, their differentiated benefits, and what that company must do to prove those benefits to the customer. According to Sears COM Richard Greeters, the new plan to revive the Sears brand will be to Make sure that the overall customer experience- merchandise, in-store, service, and marketing are the best they can be and working together to create a differentiated proposition that makes someone come to Sears versus going somewhere else. A well-honed brand positioning statement defends the brand against communication.
Their appeal is determined by the brands place in the market. There are five factors a company needs to look at in order to clearly position their brand. First is the brand attributes. The attributes are what the brand delivers through the features and benefits of their products. Second is defining the assumer customer expectations. A main factor is the examination of the competitors attributes and creating strategies to differentiate a brands image apart from the others. According to Phillip Kettle and Kevin Keller, authors of A F-remark for Marketing
Management, a company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors can’t or wont match, gives a brand the competitive advantage. (Kettle, 2009) To gain competitive advantage, companies need to focus on consumer advantages. A company must always view the customers’ needs and provide them with advantages so that they aren’t relying simply on the fact that they are different than the competitors. If a brand is really strong- strong enough to stand out for something in consumers’ head- then its harder for competitors to present a credible alternative. ” -Tony Wright of Googol & Matter.
Others factors are pricing and the consumer perceptions. STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT A clear design strategy helps influence people’s perception of a brand in such a way that they are persuaded to act in a certain fashion (Avid, 2003) The design elements of branding are: experimental, which is the feeling a consumer gets upon purchase of the product or service, functionality, which is the benefits associated with the brand; the emotional element covers the feelings a consumer has about owning this brand; the rational element begs the question of will our brand appeal to the logical side of our buyer? Cultural elements focus on the desired cultures we wish to attract while the visual element ties all of these elements together to create the overall look of the brand. Visual elements include color, typography, logo and packaging. BRAND PERSONALITY- WHAT THE BRAND SAYS ABOUT CUSTOMER The strength of a brand rests in its value acquired through tangible attributes like pertinence of a brand name and associated benefits thereof. Consumers perceive the brand on dimensions that typically capture a personality, and extend that to the domain of brands.
The dimensions of brand personality are defined by extending the dimensions of human resonantly to the domain Of brands. However, competitors attempt to put more premiums on personality issues to drive their brand competitively in the market. The creation of brand personality involves active corporate communication and needs to be adjusted to the brand life cycle irregularity. Brand personality is like human personality, both distinctive and enduring. The personality’s the weighted average of previous impressions.
These impressions merge to form an overall concept of what to expect from a brand. Marlboro cigarettes use personality to create a macho, masculine, adventurous person that suggests that their product is strong. Brand personality communicates the brand identity with richness and texture. COMMUNICATING VALUE If used correctly, brand imaging draws in attention, creates an interest and fulfills or creates a desire, which lead to the conviction Of a product and the action of the purchasing power in customers.
Communicating this value is can be done in a variety of ways, most important is through advertising. Advertising is a complex form of communication that operates with objectives and strategies leading to various types of consumer thoughts, linings, and action. It is a paid form of persuasive communication that uses mass and interactive media to reach broad audiences in order to connect an identified sponsor with buyer and provide information about products. ” (Morality). The many forms of advertising allows for many options of creative input.
Usage of imagery, text, and types of media allow an advertisers mind to explore new concepts and ideas. Attention effects like color, size, slogan and copy are all important to achieving an accurate consumer perception. The message displayed by the product must convey what need or want the many in question is trying to fulfill with their product or service. Influences in the mass market such as trends and new developments should be thought out upon creating a product or service to advertiser The major influence an ad should have on a consumer is persuasion.
Persuasion factors include, motivation, influence, involvement, conviction and brand loyalty. In order to establish persuasion an advertising plan must implemented. A typical cam paging outline consists of a situation analysis, decisions such as objectives, target audience, and brand positioning, Media strategy, an approach to supportive Marco tools, and management, which s the overall effectiveness of the campaign.
The outline used helps develop the necessary strategy decisions the guide the over all campaign, These strategies are; identifying key problems and opportunities, stating objectives, targeting the audience, creating or reinforcing a position, identifying the strategic approach that will deliver the objectives, and using management controls to determines efficiency in budgeting and effectiveness through evaluation. Once all of these have been determined, the company must now create a message that will accurately portray the product and be consistent tit the target audiences beliefs and attitudes.
A consumer needs to perceive that their wants and needs are being taken into consideration upon creating a message. Effective messaging should gain attention and provide information and entertainment. A message should incorporate all aspects of the Facets Model of Effects. This is the model that contains perception, emotion, persuasion, behavior, association and cognition. There are different ways of executing a creative message. Preemptive strategies uses a common attribute or benefit, it forces the competition into me-too” positions. Using a distinct difference in attributes creates a meaningful benefit with unique selling proposition.
Image branding uses a claim of superiority or distinctions based on the mindset differences in the minds of the consumers. Positioning allows consumers to specifically place a product in comparison with competitors. Using situations dealing with lifestyles and emotions target the audience personally with resonance. An affective/anomalous message uses an emotional, sometimes unclear message to break through an unconcerned audience. This form is used mainly when a company is trying to be informative. All of these strategies are factors in the decision of the specific types of media.
When writing for radio media, the content of a message should use resonance, affective messaging or preemptive messaging. Using their imagination uses these strategies to engage the consumer. Radio audiences are also highly segmented so that effectiveness of the advertisement is very clear. For example, to the audience that listens to rock music, the general association is punk fashion and skateboarding. Ad’s that would be effective on a rock radio station would be Skateboard shop advertising a new product line. The message might have a young man talking about the sweet” new skateboard he bought at the specific skate shop.
Then the call to action is given when telling where the shop is. When writing for print media an advertisement can come in the form of a review or feature story. The creative execution by using public relations can create stories based on your product or company. But for a direct ad they must create an image with proper text to establish recognition. In print media such as posters and billboards and broadcast medias such as television and Internet, brand image and message accuracy are key. This is where the creative execution of actual consumer perception fits in. Set management delivers that explicit value that exists in providing a consistent brand experience across communication mediums. BRAND MANAGEMENT A strong and innovative branding identity management strategy recognizes that every prospect and customer contact point has a unique brand experience when they use their products or services. The process of maintaining, improving, and upholding a brand so that the name is associated with positive results, is what brand management does. TO effectively manage our brand, keeping tabs on the business marketplace and finding out what your customers want and adapting to those needs is necessary.
Critical to any brand strategy is keen self-awareness. Branding is an ongoing process. If you’re any good, your competitors are watching you, and they are following you. So what makes a company different in 2005 can be the status quo of 2021. Consumer demands and expectations change too, so companies must look for indicators like product sales. Maybe you read what floggers are saying about your company. Companies can conduct focus groups or surveys and try to find out how customers perceive your brand. This is a regular, ongoing task. Brands should evolve.
But marketers must be careful to leverage brand equity and maintain a consistent message, too. Customers can’t follow if the brand keeps changing direction every few years. Consumers need time to think about and absorb the marketing message. Business practices must be consistent with the brand message. You can’t brand yourself as a cold-weather plant specialist and then recommend tropical’s; Taco Bell can’t start carrying burgers or buns. People would get confused. To create consistency, look at the full scope of your organization from the employees, to facility, to marketing collateral.