Brand Marketing & Management PDF

AS1901 BRAND MARKETING & MANAGEMENT In as much as brands are the faces of an organization, marketing tools and management endeavors are needed to bring these brands closer to their consumers. Communicating the brand marketing strategies has a huge impact on the effecti...

AS1901 BRAND MARKETING & MANAGEMENT In as much as brands are the faces of an organization, marketing tools and management endeavors are needed to bring these brands closer to their consumers. Communicating the brand marketing strategies has a huge impact on the effectivity of establishing the brand among its stakeholders. This handout will give light to the tools and strategies in order to effectively market brands to the consumers. Branding, Marketing, and Management are important tools and functions for any organization, but they have different, yet still complementary, functions. Branding Branding answers the question “why?” and establishes the principles and values of an organization. It refers to the overall long-term strategy of a company. Branding is who you are as an organization and your promises to the consumers. This is the first and foremost to all the endeavors that could exist within a company. Marketing Marketing answers the question “how?”. It materializes the long-term strategy of a company through short- term tactics that establishes the brand to the minds of the consumers. Marketing is what the organization does to attract the consumers and persuade them with the brand message and promise. When it comes to the overall strategy of communicating the organization’s principles and values in the corporate setting, branding comes first and then marketing, and finally, management. A company must know first who they are before they deliver the products or services to the consumers. If the company does not have a strong idea of their brand, it puts their organization to a great disadvantage. Management Because of the developments that took place over the last 30 years in the business’ perspective over their customers and their behavior, the important and complex role of brand management emerged. This aspect provides sustainability to the branding and marketing efforts of a company. There were many cases of unsuccessful relationships or dynamics between customers and the products and services available. Thus, having products sold on the market does not guarantee an increase in sales. Therefore, companies started establishing their brand to give clarity and direction to the marketing tools that will be used by the brand. BRAND EQUITY Brand Equity Brand equity refers to the descriptive aspects of a brand such as symbols, imagery, or consumer associations that reflect the strength of the overall consumer perception. Basically, it is the added value endowed to products and services with consumers. Key Elements of Brand Equity 1. Brand Knowledge – Brand Knowledge creates the differential effect that drives brand equity. It is the point of comparison among brands of the same product line or services. Associative Network Memory Model (ANMM) – This involves the use of linkages of memory to influence perception. An information stored in our memory gets associated with other information when introduced to a general concept. These ideas form a network that establishes a general concept. Components of Brand Knowledge a. Brand Awareness – The strength of the brand traced in one’s memory. Consumer’s ability to identify and recall a brand among all other information specifically in their consideration set. The increase in familiarity of the brand happens through repeated exposure. The more the 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  AS1901 consumer sees, hears, thinks, and experiences the brand, the stronger it registers to the consumer’s memory. o Components of Brand Awareness  Brand Recognition – it is the consumers’ ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue. So if an avid customer of Nike sees a shirt with the swoosh logo or the statement “just do it.”, they will automatically recognize that the shirt is a product of Nike.  Brand Recall – it is the consumers’ ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase or usage situation as a cue. For example, if a regular Filipino household drinks coffee every morning and if the brand that pops in their head with the category coffee drink is Nescafe, then it exhibits brand recall. o Advantages of Brand Awareness  Learning Advantages – The first step of building strong brand awareness is to register the brand in the minds of the consumers. With the proper brand elements, the building of brand awareness gets easier.  Consideration Advantages – Raising brand awareness will increase the likelihood for the brand to be a member of the consideration set in the mind of the consumer. Being a part of the choices among brands strengthens the brand.  Choice Advantages – Raising a strong awareness of the brand leads the brand to be the top of mind choice of the consumer among brands in the consideration set. b. Brand Image – It is the consumer’s perception of the brand and its associations. Through repeated exposure and awareness, it leads to strong associations. A great way to build brand image is through the use of different social media platforms. The frequency of published content from these platforms boosts the exposure of the brand.  Brand Associations – Brand image relies heavily on the associations created with the brand. Strong, favorable, and unique associations of marketing strategies or tools with the brand highly impacts the overall brand knowledge. Brand associations take two forms:  Brand Attributes – these are the descriptive features that characterize a product or service such as physical characteristics and personality.  Brand Benefits – these are the personal values and meanings that the consumers attach to the product or service attributes. These are the promises of the brands that sets them apart from their competition. Source: logonoid.com/disney-logo/ Source: planetminecraft.com/project/disney-castle- Source: youtube.com/user/ hybrid/ DisneyShorts/videos?app=desktop 2. Brand Experience - Brand experience is the feedback to the brand story. It becomes the very connection of brand story, and brand perception as the brand’s message is translated and perceived by the senses creating response and experience. 3. Brand Positioning – Brand positioning is the heart of marketing strategy. It is the “act of designing the company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the minds of the consumers.” (Keller, 2013) 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  AS1901 Positioning basically means finding the proper “location” in the minds of a group of consumers or market segment. It is vital to brand management as it takes the basic tangible aspects of a brand to build the intangibles in the form of an image in people’s minds. Key Elements of Brand Positioning a. Target Market – It is an important element of brand positioning because different consumers have different brand knowledge structures and thus different perceptions and preferences for the brand.  Market segmentation – it is the division of the market into distinct groups of homogenous consumers who have similar needs and consumer behavior, thus requiring similar marketing mixes. The more finely segmented the market, the more likely that the company will be able to implement marketing programs that will meet the needs of one segment. Market segmentation has two major bases for categorizing the market:  The Entrenched – they are the highly committed to using the brand, and will not switch in the foreseeable future.  The Average – they are committed to the brand, but not as strongly as the entrenched.  The Shallow – they are not content, but waiting for a better alternative.  The Convertible – they are discontented and actively seeking alternative brands.  The Available – they are actively considering conversion, and may switch immediately.  The Ambivalent – they are attracted to the brand, but need motivation to switch brands.  The Unavailable – they are not interested in switching in the foreseeable future. Source: homeshop.ph/nestle-milo-actigen-e-chocolate-milk-drink-300g bruneimarketplace.com/beverages/others/chocolate-and-malted/milo-activ-go-rtd-1-l/ clickthecity.com/hot-off-the-press/a/16630/refuel-and-re-energize-with-milo-r2 nestle-cereals.com/sg/en/products-promotions/brands/milos-brand/milos sessiongroceries.com/product/milo-nutri-up-sachet/ africanhut.com/products/nestle-milo-bar-kosher-80g_104761 b. Competition – It is an element of brand positioning that identifies the other choices of customers of a specific market segment. This gives a full circle for the brand’s equity and how it will be perceived and experienced by a consumer.  Nature of Competition  Indirect Competition – marketing strategy suggests not to define competition too narrowly. Research on noncomparable alternatives suggests that even if a brand does not face direct competition in its product category, and thus it does not share performance-related attributes with other brands, it can still share more abstract associations and face indirect competition in more broadly defined product category.  Multiple Frames of Reference – since competition of brands has moved to a broader category, brands need to identify to more than one frame of reference. Most functions of a product can be performed by a different type of product. A good example would be brands of high-end cameras that take aesthetically pleasing photos against smart phones that are becoming sophisticated when it comes to photography and can be published immediately.  Points-of-Parity – POPs refer to shared qualities between brands.  Category POP – it represents necessary–but not necessarily sufficient–conditions for brand choice. It is set by the consumers’ expectations. 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  AS1901  Competitive POP – it is designed to negate competition’s points-of-difference. It breaks even any area that which competitors are trying to take advantage over a brand.  Correlational POP – these are potentially negative associations that arise from the existence of other, more positive associations for the brand. An example would be “inexpensive” yet “high quality” brands which are often the promotional strategy of different brands.  Points-of-Difference – PODs refer to the attributes or benefits that consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe that they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand. Consumers’ brand choices mostly depend on perceived unique qualities and associations of a brand over the competition. BRAND VALUE Brand Value Brand value is distinguishable from brand equity. It is the estimate of the brand’s financial value defined as the net present value of the future earnings that can be attributed to the brand alone. These financial results can only be achieved once good brand equity is established and managed. Globally, 70 percent or more of the market capitalization of companies are represented by intangible assets, a significant part being the value of brands themselves (Temporal, 2010). Brand names are often worth multiples of the value of the actual businesses, thus selling and buying brand names for a considerable amount of money. Other intangibles assets include patents, customer lists, licenses, know-hows, and major contracts. Measures of Financial Strength 1. Mergers and Acquisitions – Potential acquirers of branded goods companies, together with investors and bankers, desires legitimacy of their investment as it reflects in the value of intangible and tangible assets. 2. External Investor Relations – The actions and contribution of external investors help strengthen the financial value of a brand. A good relationship means stability for the brand and it will be achieved by building a world-class brand portfolio. 3. Internal Communications – The increasing value of a brand boosts management morale, thus organizational performance. A part of it manifests with internal royalty rates based from the brand value that can be used by the management. 4. Marketing Budget Allocation – The value of the brand assists to how budgeting decisions are made. In turn, these decisions accumulate in good brand stewardship and strengthens the financial value of the brand. 5. Internal Marketing Management – These are techniques that allow senior management to compare success of different brand strategies and the relative performance of particular marketing teams. 6. Balance Sheet Reporting – Intangible assets such as acquired brands are amortized. 7. Licensing and Franchising – Identified financial value of brands sets realistic charges for licensing and franchising. 8. Securitized Borrowing – Brands along with its investors secure the brand value as group of illiquid assets–such as debts, stocks, hedge funds, interests–are sold to investors. 9. Litigation Support – Whenever legal cases are won by brands, brand value increases. Legal provisions and regulations become advantageous to the company. 10. New Product and Market Development Assessment – Brand value becomes a measure for identifying the best brand, best market extension, and best consumer segment. 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  AS1901 SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the external and internal factors of an organization’s environment. It can be used by any field of knowledge specially in problem solving. Brands use the SWOT Analysis tool in order to have a full-view perspective on how companies can reach the optimum value of the brand. Purpose of SWOT Analysis 1. Redirect organization’s focus on strengths, minimize weaknesses and threats, and take greatest possible advantage over opportunities. 2. Determines feasibility of objectives. It sets achievable goals and objectives, as well as the subsequent steps. 3. Helps the organization dedicate itself to the mission, fulfill the vision, adjust to social context, achieve strategic goals, develop effective action plans, and conduct objective evaluations. 4. Gathers meaningful information from strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, to maximize the benefits of your evaluation and advantage. These are the questions needed to be answered for each area of the analysis: Strengths Weaknesses What advantages does your organization have? What could you improve? What do you do better than others? What should you avoid? What unique or lowest-cost resources can you What factors limit your growth? draw upon that others cannot? What are people in your market likely to see as What is your organization’s unique selling your weaknesses (challenges)? proposition? What factors may cause you to lose your sale? What do people in your market see as your strengths? What factors mean that you “get the sale”? Opportunities Threats What good opportunities can you spot? What obstacles are you facing? What interesting trends are you aware of? Are quality standards or specifications for your Who can be your partner? job, products or services changing? Who can be your potential investor? Is changing technology challenging your position? How to keep and develop your key stakeholders’ Are changing policies and social context interests? challenging your service area? Could any of your weaknesses (challenges) seriously affect your business? What are your competitors doing? References Bjerre, M., Heding, T., & Knudtzen, C. F. (2009). Brand Management: Research, Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge. Huang, C.-C., Lu, S., & Quincy, R. (2012). SWOT Analysis: Raising Capacity of Your Organization. Huamin Philanthropy Brochure Series - 2, 1-14. Keller, K. L. (2013). Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. New York: Pearson Education Limited. Leland, K. T. (2016). The Brand Mapping Strategy. Irvine, California: Entrepreneur Press. Temporal, P. (2010). Advanced Brand management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons Asia Pte. ltd. Wheeler, A. (2018). Designing Brand Identity. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 05 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5