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growing and sustaining brand equity
Chapter 10 crafting the brand positioning
growing and sustaining brand equity
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Positioning is a significant part of organizational or business strategy. MUJI, as a retail company, is consistently successful in branding and positioning in contemporary global market. This is shown in the article “The Commercial Zen of MUJI” written by Silvia Killingsworth in December 2015 on the New Yorker website. Began with describing the scene when MUJI opened a new flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York, Silvia introduces the origin and current situation of MUJI. In her article, she explains the ‘no-brand’ branding strategy, and discusses the ways in which MUJI position their brand image in consumers’ minds. MUJI promotes ‘minimalism’ design against waste in packaging and production, emphasizing on recycling and reusability by utilizing …show more content…
(P179) Products need to be positioned when being introduced by a marketer to ensure characteristics most desired by the target market are highlighted. MUJI is an example that succeeds in positioning in marketplace. Launched by Seji Tsutsumi in 1980, Muji is a retail company from Japan which sells a wide range of household and living goods. The brand’s name is originated from its Japanese name “Mujirushi Ryohin” which denotes “no label quality goods”. As Silvia says in her article that, “The colors, patterns, and materials are generic, but everything, from toothbrush holders to storage boxes, comes in pleasing shapes” Every product in stores is in MUJI’s own style. With the slogan call “lower priced for a reason” and the concept “less is more”, MUJI offers high-quality, functional and affordable goods to its consumer from all over the world. A product’s position can be based of specific product attributes or features. MUJI has positioned itself primarily on simplicity, functionality as well as lower …show more content…
By using its own way of positioning and branding, MUJI manages to establish and develop its brand image as well as brand identity which leads to great brand equity. As shown in the article “The Commercial Zen of MUJI”, we can see that brand equity brings benefits to a brand by setting it apart from its major competitors and creating increased sales growth. Consequently, MUJI obtains the potential for higher marketshare. Hence, it is necessary to appropriately position a brand and maintain brand
Considering 4 elements of the marketing mix and the case discussion of the general trends in the industry, it seems that MCB is experiencing problem with place and determining its target market. The case provides many examples of the company's difficulties in gaining more retail locations, maintaining sufficient inventory level, and, the most important, improper positioning of its product, which impeded the MCB to reach its potential customers.
More important than product, people, and advertising, branding is going forward as one of the most important factors in a business. While Klein has a bias against branding and wishes the reader a word of warning, in this specific essay she focuses on what branding means for the future. Klein starts off her minor claims with the bloating of corporations. “A consensus emerged that corporations were bloated, oversized; they owned too much, employed too many people, and were weighed down by too many things (Klein 769).” Through the use of branding, these same businesses could cut down all of their problems and payrolls through importing and simply putting their brand name on the product. Then when the dreaded “Marlboro Friday” happened, and it seemed that all brand significance was for naught, Klein showed us examples of businesses that thrived from a new age of marketing. “For these companies, the ostensible product was mere filler for the real production: the brand (Klein 774).” With brand driven marketing rather than product driven sales, businesses soared with selling the idea of their products more than their products quality. Using the example of Starbucks, Klein also supports her claims of branding not through marketing but weaving its name into products and culture. “The Starbucks coffee chain was also expanding during this period spinning its name into a wide range of branded projects: Starbucks airline coffee, office coffee, coffee ice cream, coffee beer (Klein 775).” By spreading its name not through marketing, but through spreading the brand through new and different products Starbucks found success in turning their brand concept into a virus and sending it through cultural sponsorship, political controversy, consumer experience and brand extensions. These forms of image building could make a company like Starbucks successful with branding over
Have you ever thought how much research and effort a company has done to make their product appeal to you? A company will conduct surveys, record human responses to specific images, and adhere to government regulations not to mention all the different designs produced, just so that you will want to buy their product over their competitors. In Thomas Hine’s essay, What’s in a Package, Hine discusses the great length the response that a consumer should have when looking at a product’s packaging, the importance of manufactures’ marketing campaign, the importance of packages depending on the culture, then finally to why designs will change over time.
Marketing and Brand Management Strategy – Showing the passion and pursuit of innovation to create strong global awareness of the brand.
The brand identity building process is complex. This is especially true for organizations that offer a range of services and products. The process entails extensive research, including market research, marketing audit, competitive audit and usability, and a clear branding strategy. Furthermore, a brand identity is only truly successful when customers closely identify with the brand. This happens when a brand caters to customer requirements and preferences. Marketers have to keep this in mind and ensure that the brand identity is aligned with, and relevant to, its customers.
Paramount Health and Beauty Company (Paramount) set out to introduce a new non-disposable razor to the market, the Clean Edge. “Clean Edge’s improved design provided superior performance by utilizing a vibrating technology to stimulate hair follicles and lift the hair from the skin, allowing for a more thorough shave” (Quelch and Beckham, 2011). While Paramount’s senior management agreed on pricing segmentation, they (management) remained split on product positioning in the market. Kotler and Keller (2012) define positioning as “the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market.” Some of Paramount’s executives envisioned a broad positioning
The ability of the management in positioning and establishing the product is a success in any company that operates for marketing and profit acquisition. Furthermore, the ability of the company and its management to complete and maintain a competitive edge among its competitor throughout the product differentiation is another basis to say that is successful. Also, innovation and the constant development on the product lines and the growing number of customers also define the corporate standing of a company. Effective branding strategy and strong brand name are an important part of the profitable business. But, all the strategies and all marketing theories can be worth nothing without the compliance of the desires of consumers.
Brand image is about how consumers perceive a product and the ability for the customers to be loyal to the brand irrespective of the threats from its competitors. Starbucks prides itself as the best coffee produce, and most consumers have been heard admitting that the company produces coffee that is quality and that makes users sometimes to consume even when they had not budgeted for it. Cleanliness seems to be another strategy that Starbucks uses to promote the image of its brands because customers can trust their products and knows that the company is keen enough in cleaning its environments and the utensils used for the preparation of coffee and other brands. Brand image is critical for measuring brand equity, and it is from this point of view that the company comes up with marketing and operational strategies to make it successful (Keller & Lehmann, 2006). Brand resonance is another important technique that should not be avoided because of its impact towards the study. The attachment that a consumer has to a product will help discover the relationship between a customer and a product. Identifying oneself with a product is only possible if the product is
What is branding? Branding has been advocated as a potentially successful response to heightened market concentration; it offers the possibilities of centralized control and format standardization, and an added value or cost driven strategy can be used to differentiate the retail offering and reinforce market positioning. Brands provide informational cues for buyers about the store's merchandise quality, and favourable images of brands positively influence patronage decisions." Successful retail branding can provide a form of "insulation" against price competition and states: "Where the store brand name is itself a brand name based on a quality appeal, it will be easier to position the own brand as a premium product under the same name" (Schmidt, R., & Pioch, E., 2005). Further as consumers, we tend to think about brands as symbols like the Nike swoosh or McDonald’s golden arches; the working definition of a brand is broader. A brand is usually defined as a name, logo, symbol, words, or combination of these, intended to distinguish a particular company’s offerings from those of competitors. In this sense, the modern use of the word “brand” harkens back to its older meaning which is a distinguishing mark or burn to identify wine, livestock or other commodities by their owner (Koehn, N., 2013).
Companies use a collection of brand equities to represent their products in the market (Voolnes, 2012). Brand equity refers to the commercial value that is derived from the perception of consumers on any given brand name of particular products in the market as opposed to the product itself. Ataman (2003) notes that the effect to the consumer is in the brand name and not the product itself. Companies use logos, trademarks and a collection of other symbols to present this information to the customers. The use of these symbols is meant to try and capture the customer mindset so that they can be thinking about the company products at all times through the items they possess at home (Estes, Gibbert, Guest, & Mazursk, 2012). This can well be explained by use of the customer-based brand equity model that brings together the requirements for a publicly renowned brand in the market.
Marketers assert to develop branding and packaging strategies that signify the brand’s products in a way that establishes lasting impressions in consumers’ thoughts. Because brands distinguish the many product offerings in the marketplace, brands help consumers choose between product offerings. When branding and packaging strategies clearly illustrate worthy product expectations, and products remain true to branding messages, positive consumer perceptions ensue, and brand value is strengthened.
The review of relevant literature is to identify what's brand awareness and how to carry out in strategic marketing, and consumers' behavior. The study prove that the significant factors on brand awareness as a perception of product, service, and image of the company and has a tremendous effect on consumers’ evaluation of system results. From reading all of the relevant journals, it is understandable that the significant factors on building a successful brand image and awareness is consumers and their relationship with the brand, company, service and the product. Brand awareness is the vital importance to marketing strategy and marketing communications because it links customer behavior to firms’ financial metric. Keller (2001), noted, customers’ reaction toward brand awareness is associated profitably brand equity.
An observational study was conducted on consumer attention to see if a correlation existed between the brands displayed on supermarket shelves and the interplay between in-store and out-of-store factors. It concluded that the display and arrangement of products, also known as facing, positively affects consumers who value brand and low-prices. Furthermore, the attention getter items were not always necessary enough to increase the sale items at supermarkets.3,4 The items that receives the most attention are placed on top and middle shelf rather than the bottom shelf. The top shelf items were mainly reserved for brand named items. In conclusion, the study emphasized that product placement within the shelf and display positively affects consumers purchase.3,4
Moving up the pyramid, the next level includes brand meaning – what are you? This incorporates performance and imagery. The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, and designing and delivering a product that satisfies the consumers’ needs and wants is crucial for successful marketing. In order to reach resonance at the top of the pyramid, the product must (at least) meet, if not surpass, customer expectations and functional needs. The goal here is to identify and communicate brand meaning. Performance dimensions consists of five categories: primary characteristics and supplementary features; product reliability, durability and serviceability; service effectiveness, efficiency and empathy; style and design; and
The shifting of the consumer’s taste of simple products to high quality branded products is not sudden. It grew out in the middle of the 20th century and the companies selling various products needed a new way to differentiate their products from the others giving it a unique identity.