Basics of Branding PDF

Basics of Branding “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” - Scott Cook When it comes to branding, we use to see it how the company perceives it. But nowadays, it’s the customers that dictate the brand. It’s...

Basics of Branding “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” - Scott Cook When it comes to branding, we use to see it how the company perceives it. But nowadays, it’s the customers that dictate the brand. It’s not just about how the brand generates sales and how customers want it badly, but it is all about how consumers would tell each other what it really is. It’s like how popular brands become known for something. When we talk about soda, we get the picture of a red can. When we talk about technology, we think of an apple logo. These are just some examples of what Scott Cook said, “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” Cook’s statement shows how valuable consumers’ opinion of a product or brand is. Nowadays, consumers have the power to make or break a product. And as entrepreneurs, we must listen to our consumers. We need to pay close attention to their needs and see what else we can offer them. Consumers don’t just buy the product; they also serve as your number one recommendation and advertisement. People trust other consumers’ opinion, especially if those other consumers are close to them. For them, another consumer’s recommendation is truthful and untainted. So, how can entrepreneurs present a brand? One way is by letting them experience it. For example, if we are selling solutions then offer them great solutions and let them experience what we can do by helping them. It’s the best way to influence them with our brand. We don’t have to go through numerous sales pitches. The voice of our consumers and followers are very important and we must always put them into consideration. In fact, they should be first on our list. They can help entrepreneurs and brand advocates on how else a product can be improved. So, when presenting a brand or product, don’t tell your consumers what it is. Instead, let them experience it. In a time before fences were used in ranching to keep one‘s cattle separate from other people‘s cattle, ranch owner‘s branded, or marked, their cattle so they could later identify their herd as their own. Craftsmen used their initials, a symbol, or another unique mark to identify their work and they usually put these marks in a low visibility place on the product. Today‘s modern concept of branding grew out of the consumer packaged goods industry and the process of branding has come to include much, much more than just creating a way to identify a product or company. So, we can say that branding today is used to create emotional attachment to products and companies. Branding efforts create a feeling of involvement, a sense of higher quality, and an aura of intangible qualities that surround the brand name, mark, or symbol. Branding has been around for centuries as a means to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.” Technically speaking, then, whenever a marketer creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand. Brands are a means of differentiating a company‘s products and services from those of its competitors. There is plenty of evidence to prove that customers will pay a substantial price premium for a good brand and remain loyal to that brand. It is important, therefore, to understand what brands are and why they are important. Businesses that invest in and sustain leading brands prosper whereas those that fail are left to fight for the lower profits available in commodity markets. Managing brands is a key part of the product strategy of any business, particularly those operating in highly competitive consumer markets. In its simplest form, a brand is nothing more and nothing less than the promises of value you or your product make. Why do Brands matter? Branding is the business process of managing your trademark portfolio so as to maximize the value of the experiences associated with it, to the benefit of your key stakeholders, especially current and prospective. Experts argue as to which stakeholders should be the main focus of the branding process, but this is probably the wrong question as their experiences are all interrelated: 1. Employees: The more your employees value your brands and understand what to do to build them, the more your customers, suppliers, local communities and opinion leaders will value them. The more attractive your brands are to potential employees, the more they are likely to want to work for you. 2. Customers: The more your customers value your brand, the more they will buy your products and services, and recommend them to other people. They will also pay a premium for them and make the lives of your employees easier. This, in turn, will enhance the value of your brands to prospective purchasers and licensees. Research has shown that strong brands are more resistant to crises of reputation. 3. Stock/share holders: Strong brands multiply the asset value of your company (90% of the asset value of some major corporations lies in their intellectual property), and assure them that your company has a profitable future. They also allow you to afford to give competitive dividends to your current stock/share holders. 4. Suppliers: Suppliers like to be associated with strong brands as this benefits their own reputation in the eyes of other current or potential customers. You are therefore likely to get better service at a lower total acquisition cost. 5. Intermediaries: Retailers, distributors and wholesalers value strong brands as they improve their own profit margins. They are likely to give you more “air time” and shelf space, thus enhancing further the value of your brands in the eyes of your current and prospective customers. 6. Opinion Leaders: The media, politicians and non-government organisations are more respectful of strong brands. 7. Local Communities: Supportive local authorities can make your life easier in many ways, and offer you better deals, if you have prestigious brands. Your local communities provide you with your work force and can be highly disruptive if they perceive you as damaging their environment. 8. Purchasers and Licensees: The question prospective purchasers and licensees ask is “how much more profit can I  The 3C’s of Branding All strong brands exhibit the 3 Cs of branding; Clarity, Consistency, and Constancy. Clarity Strong brands are clear about what they are and what they are not. They understand their unique promise of value. And this promise of value sets them apart from their competitors. It differentiates them and allows them to attract and build loyalty among a desirable set of consumers. o Volvo, for example, is clear about their commitment to safety and security. They are not about speedy sports cars, or about small economy cars, or about luxury cars. They build cars for families. Cars those are safe. And they clearly focus their communication activities on this differentiation. o Amazon is the go to e-commerce portal for buying a wide range of products. When the pandemic struck in 2020, companies realized that customers needed to be assured of the security of their health and transactions. So, companies had to be proactive and innovative to deliver excellent customer service. To make the buyer’s journey seamless, Amazon compiled a list of questions related to general shipping, delivery, refund, etc., that would help customers stay assured of their purchase in uncertain times. They created a separate FAQ page with all the information relevant to the COVID-19 crisis and how Amazon would function during the pandemic. Consistency In addition to being clear about who they are, strong brands are also consistent. They are always what they say they are. o For Volvo, they are always about safety. They don‘t change their focus from model to model. When new editions come out each year, they are safe too. And Volvo consistently communicates that. o Also, One of the things that Amazon did was to remove the need to consolidate orders. You could just choose that random thing that you needed straightaway, and it would turn up the next day Constancy in visibility. It is not enough to be clear and consistent if you are not always visible to your target audience. Strong brands are constant; they are always there for their customers and prospects. They don‘t go into hiding. o For Coke, the world is the target market. That is why you can‘t make it through a day without being exposed to their bright red color or familiar script logo. Vending machines, people carrying a coke as they walk down the street,  Example A brand is a name, symbol, design or a combination thereof. McDonald’s: is a name Golden Arches: is a symbol or sign which is trade marked (it is the exclusive property of McDonald Corporation) Combination: A unique art work that combine all elements of brand Any outlet that displays this sign achieves two objectives immediately in the prospects mind: 1. The prospect is easily able to identify that this outlet is McDonald Corporation. Hence he knows what to expect from this outlet. 2. The brand differentiates. The prospect upon seeing the above sign is able to differentiate this outlet from the others which also sell similar kind of products or services (it is not Wimpy’s).  Brand vs Product A product is anything we can offer to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Thus, a product may be a physical good or a service or even an idea. We can define five levels of meaning for a product: 1. The core benefit level is the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service. 2. The generic product level is a basic version of the product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for its functioning but with no distinguishing features. This is basically a stripped-down, no-frills version of the product that adequately performs the product function. This is the easiest aspect for competitors to copy and consequently successful brands have added values over and above this at the expected level. 3. The expected product level the commodity is value engineered to satisfy a specific target‘s minimum purchase conditions, such as functional capabilities, availability, pricing, etc. As more buyers enter the market and as repeat buying occurs, the brand would evolve through a better matching of resources to meet customers‘ needs (e.g; enhanced‘ customer service). 4. The augmented product level With increased experience, buyers and users become more sophisticated, so the brand would need to be augmented in more refined ways, with added values satisfying non-functional (e.g. emotional) as well as functional needs. For example, promotions might be directed to the user‘s peer group to reinforce his or her social standing through ownership of the brand. 5. The potential product level With even more experience of the brand, and therefore with a greater tendency to be more critical, it is only creativity that limits the extent to which the brand can mature to the potential level. Experienced consumers recognize that competing items are often similar in terms of product formulation and that brand owners are no longer focusing only on rational functional issues, but  Brand vs Product Hotel Example :- 1. Core Benefit level - the core benefit of a hotel is to provide somewhere to rest or sleep when away from home. 2. Generic product level - this could mean a bed, towels, a bathroom, a mirror, Hairdryer, kettle and a wardrobe. 3. Expected product level - this would include clean sheets, some clean towels, individual attention, Wi-fi, a clean bathroom. 4. Augmented product level – Guarantee of quality, additional benefits you get free 5. Potential product level - By continuing to augment its product in a way that delights and surprises the customer. Maybe placing the customers choice of fruits or flowers in the room. Scented candles of his choice. Brand vs Product In many markets most competition takes place at the product augmentation level, because most firms can successfully build satisfactory products at the expected product level. Harvard’s Ted Levitt argued that “the new competition is not between what companies produce in their factories but between what they add to their factory output in the form of packaging, services, advertising, customer advice, financing, delivery arrangements, warehousing, and other things that people value.” A brand is therefore more than a product, because it can have dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible -related to product performance of the brand - or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible - related to what the brand represents. Brand vs Product Brands need to provide customers with a consistent, compelling experience. Hence, brands can be defined according to the following dimensions:- 1. The Essence of the Brand How are you going to describe the essence of the brand to your colleagues and business partners in one short, memorable, and motivating sentence? What makes it special? This is the last and hardest stage of the brand definition process. Try to create images of what the brand does, and preferably link it to an eternal value such as friendship, status, belonging, realizing your true self. The central organizing thought is not the same as the slogan. The central organizing thought addresses a core customer value whose articulation may make customers uncomfortable or even resentful. The slogan refers to this core customer value but in terms the customer is happy to acknowledge and discuss. 2. Slogan How are you going to describe the essence of the brand to your customers in one short, memorable, and motivating sentence? This should hint at the central organizing thought, without necessarily stating it. As an example, the central organizing thought of the BMW brand is ―”competitive achievement”, but the slogan is – “the ultimate driving machine”. 3. The Personality of the Brand If the brand were indeed human, what sort of person would it is - jovial, serious, sporty, aristocratic, or cunning? (eg Lalitaji of Surf or the Liril Girl) 4. The Values of the Brand What does the brand stand for? What does it believe in? What would it make a stand on? 5. Tastes/Appearance What does the brand like? What does it look like? What does it wear? How does it speak? This will include the iconography of the brand - the icons, the symbols, the trade dress, the typeface, and the look and feel. 6. Heritage All great brands have stories about them. Some are favorable, some are less favorable, but all of them work to explain what the brand is all about. Telling stories about the brand is one of the strongest ways of communicating the essence of your brand. 7. Emotional Benefits What does the brand do for its customers? These can usually be classified into: * Avoids pain * Reduces pain * Gives pleasure 8. Hard Benefits What does the brand offer its customers in tangible, quantifiable terms? These are the benefits as in ―Features, Advantages and Benefits. Establishing a Brand Public relations are the way a strong brand is truly established and advertising is how the brand is maintained. If a brand is successful in making a connection with people and communicating its distinct advantage, people will want to tell others about it and word-of-mouth advertising will develop naturally not to mention writers in the press will want to write about the brand. Once that type of differentiation is established in the market‘s mind, advertising can help maintain and shape the brand. What you need to do in branding is to communicate what the brand distinctively stands for using as few words or images as possible. So, branding is all about creating singular distinction, strategic awareness, and differentiation in the mind of the target market-not just awareness. When you have been successful, you will start building equity for your brand. Establishing a Brand I. Building a brand II. Points of Parity III. Something More About Brands IV. Brand Management  Establishing a Brand I. Building a brand What factors are important in building brand value? Professor David Jobber identifies seven main factors in building successful brands, as illustrated in the diagram below: Establishing a Brand II. Points of Parity Points of parity are those associations that are often shared by competing brands. Consumers view these associations as being necessary to be considered a legitimate product offering within a given category. Points of parity are necessary for your brand but are not sufficient conditions for brand choice. For example, Maruti might produce a wonderful new automobile that uses advanced global positioning and sensor technologies that render a driver obsolete by automatically routing the car, adjusting speed for traffic conditions, recognizing and complying with all traffic laws, and delivering passengers and cargo to the proper destination without the need for operator intervention. They have invented the first car with functional autopilot. This is a strong position and unique selling proposition. However, unless they have fully considered their brand‘s points of parity with other products in the category, they probably will not meet with success. Consumers might expect that at minimum Maruti‘s automobile have four wheels with rubber, inflatable tires, run on a widely-available fuel source, be able to operate during both night and day in most weather conditions, seat at least two people comfortably with luggage, be able to operate on existing roads and highways, and provide a fair level of personal safely to occupants. If their automobile does not possess these points of parity with competing brands, then it might be too different and might not be seen as a viable choice or a strong brand. The lesson here is that differentiation and singular distinction are necessary for strong brands, but they do not solely make for a strong brand. Your brand must also measure up well against the competition on expected criteria so as to neutralize those attributes. Once you have met the points of parity requirement and then you provide a unique selling proposition and hold a strong, defensible position, then you have the makings of a very strong brand.  Establishing a Brand III. Something More About Brands Along with a word or symbol used to identify products and companies, a brand also stands for the immediate image, emotions, or perceptions people experience when they think of a company or product. A brand represents all the tangible and intangible qualities and aspects of a product or service. A brand represents a collection of feelings and perceptions about quality, image, lifestyle, and status. Intangible qualities, perceptions, and feelings are often hard to grasp and clearly describe. Brands create a perception in the mind of the customer that there is no other product or service on the market that is quite like yours. A brand promises to deliver value upon which consumers and prospective purchasers can rely to be consistent over long periods of time. IV. Brand Management If a brand is not effectively managed then a perception can be created in the mind of your market that you do not necessarily desire. Branding is all about perception. Brand management recognizes that your market‘s perceptions may be different from what you desire while it attempts to shape those perceptions and adjust the branding strategy to ensure the market‘s perceptions are exactly what you intend. Brand management is all about shaping and managing perceptions. Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding Quality Positioning Repositioning Communications First-mover advantage Long-term perspective Internal marketing Brand extension Brand Stretching Brand equity Brand image Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand. Remember the “core benefits” – the things consumers expect. These must be delivered well, consistently. The branded washing machine that leaks, or the training shoe that often falls apart when wet will never develop brand equity. Research confirms that, statistically, higher quality brands achieve a higher market share and higher profitability that their inferior competitors. Positioning is about the position a brand occupies in a market in the minds of consumers. Strong brands have a clear, often unique position in the target market. Positioning can be achieved through several means, including brand name, image, service standards, product guarantees, packaging and the way in which it is delivered. In fact, successful positioning usually requires a combination of these things. The “added value” or augmented elements determine a brand‘s positioning in the market place. Positioning can be defined as follows: o Positioning is how a product appears in relation to other products in the market Brands can be positioned against competing brands on a perceptual map. o A perceptual map (next slide) defines the market in terms of the way  Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding The basic perceptual map that buyers use, maps products in terms of their price and quality, as illustrated below: High Price Low High Quali ty Qualit y Low  Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding Repositioning occurs when a brand tries to change its market position to reflect a change in consumer‘s tastes. This is often required when a brand has become tired, perhaps because its original market has matured or has gone into decline. The repositioning of the coca cola brand from a sweet fizzy drink to a healthy low calorie and sugar free drink is one example. Communications also play a key role in building a successful brand. Brand positioning is essentially about customer perceptions – with the objective to build a clearly defined position in the minds of the target audience. All elements of the promotional mix need to be used to develop and sustain customer perceptions. Initially, the challenge is to build awareness, then to develop the brand personality and reinforce the perception. First-mover advantage Business strategists often talk about first-mover advantage. In terms of brand development, by “first-mover” they mean that it is possible for the first successful brand in a market to create a clear positioning in the minds of target customers before the competition enters the market. Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding Long-term perspective This leads onto another important factor in brand- building: the need to invest in the brand over the long-term. Building customer awareness, communicating the brand‘s message and creating customer loyalty takes time. This means that management must “invest” in a brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term profitability. Internal marketing Finally, management should ensure that the brand is marketed ―internally as well as externally. The whole business should understand the brand values and positioning. This is particularly important in service businesses where a critical part of the brand value is the type and quality of service that a customer receives. Think of the brands that you value in the restaurant, hotel and retail sectors. It is likely that your favorite brands invest heavily in staff training so that the face-to-face contact that you have with the brand helps secure your loyalty.  Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding Brand extension and stretching Marketers have long recognized that strong brand names that deliver higher sales and profits (i.e. those that have brand equity) have the potential to work their magic on other products. The two options for doing this are usually called “brand extension” and “brand stretching”. o Brand extension Brand extension refers to the use of a successful brand name to launch a new or modified product in a same broad market. A successful brand helps a company enter new product categories more easily. For example, Fairy (owned by Unilever) was extended from a washing up liquid brand to become a washing powder brand too. o Brand stretching Brand stretching refers to the use of an established brand name for products in unrelated markets. For example the move by Yamaha (originally a Japanese manufacturer of motorbikes) into branded hi-fi equipment, pianos and sports equipment. When done successfully, brand extension can have several advantages: - Distributors may perceive there is less risk with a new product if it carries a familiar brand name. If a new food product carries the Heinz brand, it is likely that customers will buy it. - Customers will associate the quality of the established brand name with the new product. They will be more likely to trust the new product. Establishing a Brand I. Important Factors about Branding You cannot build a strong brand solely through advertising. Branding is also more than a logo, a color scheme, and a catchy tag line. While these all are important components in branding, they are simply tactical tools that help establish and build the brand. Adding two more to the above list :- Brand equity - ”Brand equity” refers to the value of a brand. Brand equity is based on the extent to which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality and strong product associations. Brand equity also includes other ―”intangible” assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships. Brand Equity is the sum total of all the different values people attach to the brand, or the holistic value of the brand to its owner as a corporate asset. Brand equity can include: the monetary value or the amount of additional income expected from a branded product over and above what might be expected from an identical, but unbranded product; the intangible value associated with the product that can not be accounted for by price or features; and the perceived quality attributed to the product independent of its physical features. A brand is nearly worthless unless it enjoys some equity in the marketplace. Without brand equity, you simply have a commodity product. (Next 2 slides) Brand image - ”Brand image” refers to the set of beliefs that customers hold about a particular brand. These are important to develop well since a negative brand image can be very difficult to shake off. Brand Equity Concept Branding is all about endowing products and services with the power of brand equity. Despite the many different views, most observers agree that brand equity consists of the marketing effects uniquely attributable to a brand. That is, brand equity explains why different outcomes result from the marketing of a branded product or service than if it were not branded. Celebrity associations (Example: next slide) build up the value of a brand further. Branding is all about creating differences.  Brand Equity Concept Diana first wore the red jumper, which depicts a lone black sheep among rows of white sheep, to watch then Prince Charles play in a polo game in June 1981, a month before they were married, sparking speculation over its potential significance. After it was damaged on the wrist, her private secretary sent the jumper back to the designers hoping to get it repaired. A few months later, Diana received a replacement, which she was photographed wearing in 1983. The designer found the original in a box in her attic in March 2023 and so is being auctioned with a price estimate of up to $80,000. Types of brand There are two main types of brand – manufacturer brands and own-label brands. Manufacturer brands Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand name. The producer is responsible for marketing the brand. The brand is owned by the producer. By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread distribution (for example by retailers who want to sell the brand) and build customer loyalty (think about the manufacturer brands that you feel ‘loyal’ to). Own label brands Own-label brands are created and owned by businesses that operate in the distribution channel ‘often referred to as ‘distributors’. Often these distributors are retailers, but not exclusively. Sometimes the retailer‘s entire product ranges will be own-label. However, more often, the distributor will mix own-label and manufacturers brands. The major supermarkets (e.g. Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury‘s) are excellent examples of this. Own-label branding – if well carried out – can often offer the consumer excellent value for money and provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes to negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands. Branding Challenges and Opportunities Some recent developments that have significantly complicated marketing practices and pose challenges for brand managers :- 1. Savvy Customers. Increasingly, consumers and businesses have become more experienced with marketing, more knowledgeable about how it works, and more demanding. A well-developed media market pays increased attention to companies’ marketing actions and motivations. Consumer information and support exists in the form of consumer guides (Consumer Reports), Web sites (Epinions.com), influential blogs, and so on. 2. Economic Downturns; A severe recession that commenced in 2008 threatened the fortunes of many brands. One research study of consumers at the end of 2009 found the following sobering facts: 18 percent of consumers reported that they had bought lower-priced brands of consumer packaged goods in the past two years. 46 percent of the switchers to less expensive products said “they found better performance than they expected,” with the vast majority saying performance was actually much better than expected. 34 percent of the switchers said “they no longer preferred higher-priced products.” As the economy appeared to move out of the recession, the question was whether attitudes and behaviors that did change would revert back to their pre-recession norms. Regardless, there will always be economic cycles and ups and downs. Branding Challenges and Opportunities 3. Brand Proliferation. Another important change in the branding environment is the proliferation of new brands and products, in part spurred by the rise in line and brand extensions. As a result, a brand name may now be identified with a number of different products with varying degrees of similarity. Marketers of brands such as Coke, Nivea, Dove, and Virgin have added a host of new products under their brand umbrellas in recent years. There are few single (or “mono”) product brands around, which complicates the decisions that marketers have to make. With so many brands engaged in expansion, channels of distribution have become clogged, and many brand battles are waged just to get products on the shelf. The average supermarket now holds 30,000 different brands, three times the number 30 years ago. 4. Media Transformation. Another important change in the marketing environment is the erosion or fragmentation of traditional advertising media and the emergence of interactive and nontraditional media, promotion, and other communication alternatives. Marketers have become disenchanted with traditional advertising media, especially network television. The commercial breaks on network TV have become more cluttered as advertisers increasingly have decided to advertise with 15 second spots rather than the traditional 30 or 60 second spots. Thus the percentage of the communication budget devoted to advertising has shrunk over the years. In its place, marketers are spending more on nontraditional forms of communication and on new and emerging forms of communication such as interactive digital media; sports and event sponsorship; in-store advertising; mini-billboards in transit vehicles, parking meters, and other locations; and product placement in movies. Branding Challenges and Opportunities 5. Increased Competition. One reason marketers have been forced to use so many financial incentives or discounts is that the marketplace has become more competitive. Both demand-side and supply-side factors have contributed to the increase in competitive intensity. On the demand side, consumption for many products and services has flattened and hit the maturity stage, or even the decline stage, of the product life cycle. As a result, marketers can achieve sales growth for brands only by taking away competitors’ market share. On the supply side, new competitors have emerged due to a number of factors, such as the following: Globalization: Although firms have embraced globalization as a means to open new markets and potential sources of revenue, it has also increased the number of competitors in existing markets, threatening current sources of revenue. Low-priced competitors: Market penetration by generics, private labels, and low-priced “clones” imitating product leaders has increased on a worldwide-basis. Retailers have gained power and often dictate what happens within the store. Their chief marketing weapon is price, and they have introduced and pushed their own brands and demanded greater compensation from trade promotions to stock and display national brands. Brand extensions; We've noted that many companies have taken their existing brands and launched products with the same name into new categories. Many of these brands provide formidable opposition to market leaders. Deregulation: Certain industries like telecommunications, financial services, health care, and transportation have become deregulated, leading to increased competition from outside traditionally defined product-market boundaries.  Branding Challenges and Opportunities 6. Increased Costs. At the same time that competition is increasing, the cost of introducing a new product or supporting an existing product has increased rapidly, making it difficult to match the investment and level of support that brands were able to receive in previous years. In 2008, about 123,000 new consumer products were introduced in the United States, but with a failure rate estimated at over 90 percent. Given the millions of dollars spent on developing and marketing a new product, the total failure cost was conservatively estimated by one group to exceed billions of dollars. 7. Greater Accountability. Finally, marketers often find themselves responsible for meeting ambitious short-term profit targets because of financial market pressures and senior management imperatives. Stock analysts value strong and consistent earnings reports as an indication of the long-term financial health of a firm. As a result, marketing managers may find themselves in the dilemma of having to make decisions with short- term benefits but long-term costs (such as cutting advertising expenditures) Moreover, many of these same managers have experienced rapid job turnover and promotions and may not anticipate being in their current positions for very long. One study found that the average tenure of a CMO is about three and a half years, suggesting they have little time to make an impact? These different organizational pressures may encourage quick-fix solutions with perhaps adverse long-run consequences. References Brand Management; Knowledge Management and Research Organization Pune. 2015 Prof Abhishek Rai