Rationale of Branding

How is branding effective? Discuss about the branding strategies to get recognized?

This assignment reflects over branding and strategies involved in brand effectiveness. Companies use branding to create an affecting relationship between customers and a particular product. A brand mainly a product, solution, idea that is extensively illustrious from new services, products or solutions so that it can be easily communicated and effectively marketed. Brand name is a name related to distinctive merchandise, service, or idea. Branding could be effected to the entire business self and also to individualistic products and services. The idea behind branding is to ensure sales and success for that product by making it readily identifiable to the public by and large. If a product or service is not properly branded or made popular, the same will not be likable amongst consumers. Branding as the name suggest refers to is a prolonged process of involvement of creation of a unique name and icon for a particular product or solution in the mind of a consumer. Branding is a typical marketing practice that of a creation of a name, design or symbol that differentiates and identifies a product from the rest. It helps in retention of devoted customers. Companies or firms deem branding campaign a success when their items catapult into a common name and that the same enjoys a base of loyal consumers.

Before brand management and its various avenues, it is imperative to discuss rationale or underlying principle of the same. The rationale refers to the reasonability of brand and brand management, by and large. Branding as a concept has been in the fray for over a period of hundred years or maybe more than that. As a matter of fact, the same has undergone a sea of change owing to countless factors. Still, despite the changes that had occurred about branding, the original concept or notion remains unchanged. It is interesting to note that regardless of all changes and alterations that it had faced, each of older kinds of brands do exist till date. This clearly states that the ethos and values of branding did exist earlier as well as will be in existence at all times. The term of brand dates back to 950 AD when it deduced from ‘Brandr’ meaning to burn (Urde 2016).  In old days, cattle, timbers were consumed or imprinted with symbols of the possessor with the hot iron rod to denote the ownership and uniqueness of the item. Through branding, the name of product or item leaves an indelible impression on the mind of a consumer. The history of brand informs us how the product or item has been used as a mark of identification amongst the masses. In the present times, a brand is used not only for offering information about a particular product or solution but also create a distinction and difference from other products and ideas. The figure below is an indication of various steps and stages of Brand rationale (Nguyen et al. 2016).

Effectiveness of branding

Figure 1:             

Brands contain a significant value. For example, as per Forbes magazine report, Apple was named as number one ranked global name with a value of whopping $87.1 billion. The brand of Apple is mainly that of a partially bit apple fruit as its brand image ((Löfsten 2016). Hence, consumers whenever sights an apple, the fruit that is, subconsciously reminds of the Apple company and its sensational products and solutions. However, this is not true in any and every case. Over the years, due to complex and paraphernalia that business units operate in, it has become essential for executives dealing with branding and promotions to comprehend what brands can do to build this consequential relationship with their customers and other interested parties and ascertain about the outcome relating to the particular brands (Bakshi and Mishra 2016).

A brand, however, possess value to an industry only to the degree that it enables drive the purchasing resolutions of consumers. An accurate understanding of how brands the likes of Apple, persuade buying judgments can be helpful in development of branding strategies. Relationship with any customer comprises the total of the experiences associated with the particular brand. Since the concept of a brand is the entirety of a consumer’s experiences with the brand, the customer owns the name because he associates his experiences through that brand, according to the Advertising Educational Foundation. As a businessman, one might hold the trademark, which identify with the brand, but consumers will help in defining the brand. To explain brand effectiveness, it is necessary to understand the brand metrics (Järvinen and Karjaluoto 2015). These are explained as under.

It is a simple metric or determinant tool which is used to quantify between prospective consumers. It measures the brand effectiveness (Yeh et al. 2016). This particular computation is based on scoring patterns as developed by means of consumers’ reviews and surveys. The distinctive survey questions could be the likes of regarding merchandise or services, what is the first product or name of the company that appears in mind? Secondly, regarding product and services, what are the players that the consumers feel about? Based on statistics collected through surveys, comparative brand knowledge chart may be made for own brand with regard to players. The studies offer deep insights and information about brand effective campaigns. (Brooks and Anumudu 2016).

There exist varied options and approaches pronounced by marketing experts about the measurement of Brand Equity. One approach is to consider the brand equity as the amount of owner’s equity in balance sheet. The formula mentioned below will offer clarity on the subject. Brand Equity = Brand Assets – Brand Liabilities.  Brand Assets stand for Market Leadership, Brand Awareness, Brand Loyalty, and Reputation (Hennigs et al. 2016). Whereas, Brand Liabilities refer to Customer dissatisfaction, Product Issues, Legal tribulations, and environmental issues. Similar to brand assets the liabilities constitute important yardstick to work out brand equity. Other easy approaches recommended experts comprise of taking the market value of a company and subtract the book value of assets as shown on the balance sheet (Cooper et al. 2015). The remaining figure throws light about various intangible assets like human capital; profit capability, intellectual property etc. a large segment of that can be ascribed to the reputation of the firm. Even more economically focused estimation form suggests subtraction of all the marketing costs from the total revenue resulting in value that is measured as a fair representation of the scale of brand value. This model of valuation may furnish the needs of the interested parties who want to ascertain a financial value for this most critical and important marketing asset (Dall’Olmo Riley et al. 2016).

Brand awareness

With increase in strain on firms to progress the efficiency and competence of the large operations, marketers experience demands to develop the production of their campaigns everywhere possible. One of the metrics to gauge the effectiveness of short-term direct marketing activities is to measure the response rate. The response rate is also considered an indicator of the long-term popularity of a brand (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2013). The formula below explains the above discussion.

Figure: 2

Source: Author

For example, an online email campaign may be sent to 1000 respondents and out of those if only 300 respond the response rate would be 300/10,000 which equals to 3%.

The conversion metric throws light over alteration of leads in to actual purchase.  Barring, Response rate this too is an effective tool in measurement of Brand effectiveness. The same is influenced by the reputation and popularity of the brand. For example, the promotional activity of Apple is expected to yield much higher conversion rate or figures than its counterparts or for that matter other brands which are less popular. The rate is attained by dividing number of people who purchased by number of respondents (Gomes et al. 2016).

For the establishment of competent branding, a sound strategy should be in place to support the same.  The key principles or philosophies behind this are described as under.

It is essential to decipher the purpose of carrying out business operations. The owner or entrepreneur should be very clear as to the principle of business. Once it is clear, he may devise plans and ploys to form strategies which may be implemented in later stages. Business owners should be clear about the evaluation of success regarding growth and monetary reasons. They must also introspect of how the money could be utilized for benevolence (Grigoriou et al. 2016).

Expansively use your brands prospects by sustaining and using the industry model. Let the total business operations mirror the unique brand.

While enticing or attracting consumers, try to influence the internal employees to develop into constructive representatives about the brand (Du Preez and Bendixen 2015).

All of the business activities should be harmonized with that of stated mission, values, and vision. This stance will uphold the prominent situation in the domain.

The business managers should be informed about faster; better, additional lucrative competitors may always penetrate the industry. This consciousness should stir the managers to maintain focus on the higher value. They would have to sporadically appraise and progress the strategies associated with the brand (Högström et al. 2015).

Brand Equity

The business managers should never be complacent about their performance. They should thrive to do things better (Pappu and Quester 2016). One should include and involve all pertinent stakeholders as far as this initiative is concerned. In this way, they should seek out for originality.

The varied options and avenues of brand strategies in meant for recognition are laid below.

All exchanges, namely, advertising materials and websites emanating from the firm should meticulously exemplify the very brand. As per an article on the Entrepreneur website named Sending the Right Message, the brand’s core meaning should be uncomplicated, unswerving and reliable among every promotion channel. Furthermore, the brand ought to communicate what the firm is all about, its offerings and status in the domain (Dinnie 2015).

Informally cultivating and entertaining the regulars will help in brand recognition. According to a popular article, engaging with social media sites, the likes of Facebook, Twitter, may enhance the appreciation and allotment of the brand. Furthermore, offering business opinions news articles, blogs, business dailies, journals, social sites, corporate events, etc. provides the brand with credibility including acclaims.

Brands should aim to be exclusive, being exceptional relevant to customers, as per the Dummies.com article titled “Noting a few Truths About Branding.” One may achieve this by study of your audience and reacting accordingly. Also, make sure staffs are always reflecting the company’s present brand while having any interaction with customers.

For small scaled businesses, word-of-mouth means of advertisement assumes importance and mostly it is free. Experts are of the opinion, that serving clientele competently, courteously and about that of the brand’s image will create positive, credible recognition for the brand.

There are several theories involving branding and brand management performance, but only those that reflect over the strategies for better performance are laid as under:

The brand loyalty theory lucidly describes about relationship of consumers’ psychology along with the likes of brands of a organization. As far as this proposition is concerned, there are three aspects which connect a consumer with that of a brand, namely, Emotional attachment, Brand evaluation and Behavioral facet. Here, the primary feature relates with regard to emotional attachment of a customer with a particular brand. It means the quantum of likes and dislikes in relation to the brand. If the emotional attachment is on a positive graph, the consumer will always be inclined towards the brand and he will never check other products of different organizations (Yadav 2016).

Response Rate

The Brand Management theory throws light over important and relevant features or components of Brand Management which includes the project of a particular brand name which can depict the standard of business which it subscribes to. The next step is to make the people or consumers by and large aware of this brand. It is important to offer and provide what the consumers want. The organizations should aim to establish a relationship with the consumers in the first place and exploit the opportunities and grow with regard to the existing relationship. Firms should strive to attain the topmost position without making any compromise or for that matter negotiation of the product, service and solution, in any particular function of brand development (Powell 2015).

The value-based brand theory is yet another proposal which portrays about brands and strategies involved in it. This explains that value-based brands are projected to build a relationship with consumer which is long-term in nature, thereby, deriving value for its own products and services. Its success depends upon the value it generates with regard to the customer. This theory opines that the consumer is the ultimate means which is enough to surpass the competitors. In other words, it signifies that a particular brand’s life blood is customer and nothing more than that (Barney 2014).

Clarification of global and local market: Global marketing will typically set the structure and parameters within which local marketing operates, whilst giving in-market teams the freedom to control local success levers. A tiered market will help the marketer to identify territories that might oblige the highest potential returns. It also allows top tier markets to access bigger budgets, giving them autonomy; for example, research into local users’ behaviors to inform product development. Some avenues of marketing that provide themselves to being led at a global or central level include branding and brand guidelines, strategic marketing planning and budgeting (with autonomy given to markets within their allocated budget), large-scale marketing campaigns, social media strategy and guidelines, research strategy, and global PR.

Understanding of local market: While delving into branding strategies the marketer should be well informed about the nuances of local market. Normally, globally operated markets do not delve into the nuances of local customers’ needs, wants and desires. It is obvious that a US-based customer is likely to be very different from a customer located in SEA. Their cultures and needs are different, so it makes sense they will interact very differently with your products or services. Hence the marketer needs to adopt a good approach which is relevant and befitting for different territories. For a global model to work, global teams need to develop an understanding of local markets and establish a close relationship with local marketing teams. The preferred recommendations could be the likes of; Research of the markets and being aware of the international teams’ one will be working with. Secondly, imposing trust over the teams who are proficient on local customs and users (Kumar and Balbanis 2016).

Conversion Rate

Seeking feedback: Once the marketer have established key relationships, researched local markets, and defined global marketing plans which he thinks are ample to accommodate local needs where required. A proactive approach will give the marketer time to adjust and revise his plans in the occurrence of a problem. It will also allow the concerned parties to get buy-in from local colleagues.  And, after all, a huge part of the success will rest on their shoulders during execution.

Effective campaign strategy: The marketer should engage on a drive of aggressive marketing campaign which will promote the brand and also keep the brand in good stead in the market. The marketer may appoint a global marketing manager, consideration of different time-zones, and initiate and establish an effective communication policy with the stakeholders and interested parties to promote the brand.

Maintaining real-time tracker of events: The global manager should maintain a real-time tracker of the events and happenings in the market. Running a campaign in multiple markets means one needs to be particularly disciplined about tracking results.  The campaign manager is a good person to coordinate this. Important recommendations in this regard could be, defining key goals and metrics, sustaining a centralized and widely accepted template, regular review of the set metrics and taking appropriate measures in the same regard.

Reaping of benefits of operating in global parlance: Though operating in global environment is complex as well as tough, the same offers certain benefits which the marketers should cash on as far as branding strategies are concerned. This ensures the marketing strategy is applied consistently (but smartly) across territories and it allows the marketer to operate more efficiently through economies of scale. One of the biggest benefits of operating globally with a local presence is the opportunity it provides to develop a deeper understanding of the markets in which one’s company operates and their potential. It enables the marketer to prioritize and optimize your efforts and budgets effectively. This is invaluable insight the marketer can leverage by developing a storehouse rather powerhouse of best practice and ideas which will enable and sustain the drive of the firm’s long term success.

Branding goes beyond mere names and logos. It encompasses the entire customer experience and interface. The definition of branding is overwhelming to think about what is involved with the brand. Companies or firms devoid of any brandings and brand management would face hindrances in its products promotions and services. Barring the branding, the firm may lose out to its competitors thereby the products, services and solutions falls apart in the global competition and subsequently, loses the competitive spirit. Through branding, the business announces and its business DNA so to say (Olbrich et al. 2016). If it is devoid of branding and promotion, the firm will be incapable of going about its business. People love to share about the experiences associated with the brand. A strong brand is clinical in generating referrals and word of mouth. A company having no branding would never achieve that and the sales would cut a dim and gloomy picture. A brand of any organization becomes the face of that particular company. It is clear, without a sound and effective branding measure; the company would fail to achieve the objective. The brands represent the company by and large and the promise it makes to the customer and consumers (Coursaris et al. 2016). Absence of branding will fail to create the bridge between the consumer base and the company. Branding of a company helps the firm to stay focused and maintain clarity over its products. Nonexistence of effectual branding means will hinder the company to attain its goals and maintain the clarity. Finally it is fair to say, that branding, promotions and brands create an overall value to the firm that goes beyond physical assets and valuations. For instance, people remind themselves of Coca Cola experience on sighting the logo of Coca Cola (Ross and Hajjat 2016). An emotional and psychological relationship develops between the interested parties. Firms devoid of sound and competent branding strategies would falter in creation and maintenance of that relationship which is pervading and goes a long way.

Brand strategy recognition deals with the clarity of the brand. Developing it involves spotting the customers, establishing the connection with them on a shared proposition, and clearly the presentation of the particular brand proposition. While developing the approach, one requires factoring in the key principles. At the outset, one should clarify the brand and business model. Consistency should be maintained in this regard. The business managers should avoid being a content of what they are performing but be alert about players and be consistent. The same will empower the employees to be the biggest stakeholders. They must be certain about ways of influencing and retention of customers.

Conclusion:

Forming a new corporation and also, a novel brand name is a colossal undertaking. This approach proves to be helpful. Prominent companies have utilized the above-stated methodologies and manners and have assumed to be the brands to reckon with. Rebranding the business has enabled to create new prospects while introspecting over the positives of past also works wonders for the firm. Because development of a strong brand name is dependent on the creation of appropriate perceptions, the internal as well as external communication movements have been fundamental in quickly making up of stakeholders buoyancy. Creation of a reliable and well-recognized disposition to the corporation all through the world based on excellence, presentation and actions will give rise to beneficial results, thus reaffirming the culture of a single company, having one name, idea. The researcher has exhaustively laid the nuances and intricacies of business and how strategies could be formed and implemented to bring returns for the business. Furthermore, the author has explained the rationale and need for the branding of a product or idea. He follows his observations by stating how branding could be effective. In fine, the author opines that a competent brand management should exist in the business which will empower the company in all respects.

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