What is Brand and what's the role of MC in brand building
... whether to continue or discontinue their relationship with the brand (and/or service) in the future. Thus, we can say a brand is a spokesperson for the quality of a product or service. It allows customers to save time which will otherwise be wasted comparing products/services while shopping. As time means money, saving time also helps consumers to save money as well. Positive experiences that emanate from the use of the product and/or service of a company will likely influence customers to repurchase/reuse a company's products and services the next time round. This helps to increase sales and revenue, hence an increase in brand value or brand equity. Since this makes a company more attractive and valuable under the eyes of investors, naturally management would like to create and build a successful brand. The question is how? How is brand created, maintained and developed? To create a successful brand, a company must first create a desired brand position, then developing the brand's identification and finally creating the brand image. For a company to successfully position a brand, it must first identify the core competencies of its products and services and use these set of attributes to differentiate the products/services against other competitors. There are four main strategies that can be used to position a brand. The first strategy is Category Positioning which is used when a brand defines, creates or owns a product or subproduct category. The second strategy is Image Positioning which allows a company to differentiate via created association. With created association, consumers visually link a unique image to the brand. The third strategy is Product Feature Positioning which uses the unique tangible and intangible features of a good or service to differentiate it against competitors. The final strategy is Benefit Positioning where its aim is to use the benefits and advantages of a product or service to satisfy customers' needs, wants or desires. Once brand position is established, it needs to be managed by determining how customers perceive a brand and its competitors. One of the techniques uses to achieve this is Perceptual Mapping. When the desired brand position has been chosen, it must be given an identification to support and reflect its position. This identification includes Brand Name and Brand Symbol. To be effective, brand name must satisfy the Benefits, Association, Distinctiveness and Simplicity characteristics. The Benefits feature of a brand name conveys the advantages that consumers will gain by using the brand. Association allows customers to associate the brand name to certain real life situation/condition. Distinctiveness prevents a brand name from being confused with others. Simplicity allows a brand name to be easily pronounced, memorable and translate-able (especially for global companies). In addition to brand name, brand identification is also supported by brand symbol which can be a graphical representation of a brand. As people say “a picture says a thousand words”, brand symbol helps to increase brand's recognition. Another element of a brand beside Brand Position and Identity is Brand Image. In order to be successful, a brand must also generate a certain image in customers' minds. Thus, brand Image is the consumers' opinions about, experience with, and attitude towards a company and its brand as compared with that of competitors. How to maintain and enhance brand value? Positioning a brand and giving it an identity and image, however, is not enough to generate and enhance brand value. As mentioned before, a successful brand must live in the heart and mind of consumers. For this to happen, there must be a trusted relationship between a brand and its customers. This relationship would likely help to improve customer retention and acquisition hence increase sales, profit and brand value. When consumers are mislead into buying a brand that does not live up to its promise and expectation, they will likely become dissatisfied and disappointed. Dissatisfaction causes customers to ring up and complain or to return the products. Further more, it will probably turn customers to become the one-off buyers of the brand. All of these lead to higher operating costs or a reduction in revenue, which lowers profit and causes a brand to decrease in value. A disappointed customer will likely become a negative ambassador for the brand. Since a successful brand depends largely on consumers’ repurchase behaviour or customers loyalty, a company must work on improving the loyalty level of a brand. To achieve this, it must communicate its brands in a consistent and effective manner. To be consistent, a brand needs to deliver the same message and prese...