The Importance of Brand Equity

“If the businesses were split up, I would take the brands, trademarks and goodwill, and you could have all the bricks and mortar – and I would fare better than you.” The optimism for the concept can be stated on the fact that when one would say as a predictor of future financial performance, brand equity, if reported, would be valuable for capital marketers and shareholders. Brand equity has the potential to become the set of measures of business performance that matter most. For example, Starbucks can sell its coffee at a higher price than solid market competitors because consumers associate the brand with quality and value. This is why brand equity is oftentimes directly correlated with a brand’s profitability. The motivation for brand equity comes from the observation that many marketing efforts “realize” benefits; such as sales or profit and these are accounted for in the firm’s profit and Continue reading

An Introduction to Branding

The term brand means different things to the different roles of buyer and seller, with buyers generally associating brand with a product or service, and merchants associating brand with identity. Brand can also identify the company behind the specific product — that’s not just a biscuit, that’s Britannia biscuit. This use of brand puts a “face” behind the name, so to speak, even if the “face” is the result of advertising copy and television commercials. This use of brand also says nothing of quality, just the buyer’s exposure to the brand’s PR and media hype. For the typical merchant, branding is a way of taking everything that is good about the company — positive shopping experience, professionalism, superior service, product knowledge, whatever the company decides is important for a customer to believe about the company — and wrapping these characteristics into a package that can be evoked by the brand Continue reading

Case Study: Apple Switch Ad Campaign

By June 2002, after 18 months of new products that included the eMac, OS X operating system, G4 processor, iPod, and new flat-screen monitor, Apple Computer, Inc., still held only 5 percent of the U.S. market and between 2 and 3 percent of the worldwide market in personal computers. Apple’s proprietary lock on technology in the 1980s had forced hardware manufacturers like Dell, Gateway, and Compaq to avoid Apple software and to ship their PCs with Microsoft’s operating system. Apple isolated itself from the masses even more with its 1997 ‘‘Think Different’’ campaign, which associated the brand with revolutionary figures like Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon. It was to attract a broader range of computer users that Apple launched its ‘‘Switchers’’ campaign in 2002. With the cost estimated at $75 million, the ‘‘Switchers’’ campaign was executed by Apple’s longtime partner and marketing firm TBWA\Chiat\Day (TBWA\C\D). Using print, television, and the Continue reading

Major Benefits of Branding

Branding is undertaken to help support sales and revenue generation; stimulating initial sales and then retain sales. By creating a strong brand name with the associations identified above in terms of brand identity, the consumers perceptions may be influenced which potential to impact on the purchase decision. When a consumer makes a purchase, they will traverse the purchase process model, usually defined as occurring in five stages; need/desire recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behavior. Branding has the potential to impact across all of these stages, potentially influencing the process in favor of that particular brand. Strong brands have the potential to stimulate the perception of a need or a desire; as seen with Coca-Cola and the sound of the bottle opening included in the advertisements, often accompanied by images of an apparently refreshing drink, seeking to stimulate thirst. Apple have also been good at Continue reading

Case Study: Marketing Strategy Analysis of Apple iPad

To survive in the global and competitive business environment, it is essential for a companys to conduct extensive research so that they can develop a strong brand image from the initial stage as it leads to greater financial benefits for the company. The marketing plan of Apple’s iPad is the topic where an effective marketing strategy is developed to ensure its success in the global competitive market where major plays such as Sony, Compaq and Dell have a significant impact upon Apple’s strategies. Apple’s latest iPad is the revolutionary product which is a portable mini device used as a pc anywhere with its wide range of options and innovative design. Apple’s marketing strategy will be focusing upon the product design, brand positioning, price and promotion of iPad in the global market. This will be linked to the research and analysis of the environmental forces and SWOT analysis to understand the Continue reading

Characteristics of Brand Positioning

The core thought behind brand positioning is the idea that each brand (if at all noticed) occupies a particular point or space in the individual consumer’s mind, a point that is determined by that consumer’s perception of the brand in question and in its relation to other brands. The spatial distance between the points in that consumer’s mind reflects the subject’s perception of similarity or dissimilarity between products and brands. Four  Important  Characteristics of Brand Positioning The four salient characteristics of brand positioning are:. 1. Look to the Core Identity The core identity by definition represents the central, timeless essence of the brand. Thus the most unique and valuable aspects of the brand are often represented in the core identity. Further, there should be a cluster of brand elements surrounding each core identity component that (in addition to giving it richness and texture) opens up multiple execution alternatives. Finally, the Continue reading