Marketing and brand Management

MODELS AND THEORIES

Branding

Brand is a term that is used to distinguish an organization and its products from its competitors. There are some characteristics such as innovation and uniqueness that can help the firm in maintaining their position at the marketplace. This depends upon the perceptions that are made by the customers for company's products and services. Sometimes, by adopting the concept of marketing an enterprise can enhance their brand image through promotional and advertisement activities.

As per the views of Hanna and Rowley (2011) branding is the combination of communication and marketing methods that help the organization in attracting number of customers. When the mind-set of service users is get changed for company's products and services then their overall image can be improved at domestic as well as international level.

Brand perception

Customers make perception about the different services of company and on the basis of that their brand is get affected. The perception can be identified by conducting the survey in the market. Some of the surveys are like questionnaire, interviews, observation, focus group and so on. Through this, marketing manager will be able to collect the need and demand of end users. According to the view point of Zarantonello and Schmitt (2013) there are some factors which affect the consumer choices such as price, quality, services, reputation, social network and so on. When their choices are get influenced then this may affect the brand image of the firm.
An enterprise can use Keller's brand equity marketing model in order to maintain their position in an effective manner. This model is based on some steps which are as follows:

Step 1: Brand identify- At the first step, firm have to more focused on their brand so that consumers will be aware about the different products and services. Along with this, manager has to ensure that customers have right perception about the enterprise.
Along with this, marketing manager of particular organization has to conduct the survey so that customer's needs can be identified. For this, the higher authority has to explore different segments and identify the strategies that are adopted by their competitors.

Step 2: Brand meaning- In this, manager communicate to their service users about their products and services. This is based on performance that how an enterprise fulfils the needs and demands of their consumers.

Step 3: Brand response- The manager can collect the feedback from their customers so that performance of products can be evaluated in the market (Michaelidou, Siamagka and Christodoulides, 2011). Different consumers make their judgement on the basis of quality and credibility.

Step 4: Brand resonance- At this stage, company should make a strong bond with their service users so that they feel satisfied. This is the more complex stage which is not easy to achieve. This is based on some factors such as customer's loyalty, attitude and engagement.

The difference between brand and product

The brand is different from the products and services that are provided by companies to their end users. It has been analysed by Huang and Sarigöllü (2014) that product is a commodity that is consumed by the customers in order to fulfil their expectations and brand can distinguish an enterprise from their competitors. Some difference between these are as follows:

• Products are made by the organization and purchased by an individual but on the other hand, brand is based on customer's experiences and their perception.
• Goods and services can be copied at any time but brand is unique which can gain the attention of different users. Along with this, products can be replaced from the rival's if customers think that both have same features.
• When an organization offer services to their customers then these are useful for the people as through this they will be able to fulfil their demands. On the other hand, brand is meaningless until consumers experienced the services of particular enterprise.

Products can acquire brand status

An organization can use different branding strategies in order to gain the attention of customers. Hultén (2011) says that when brand status is achieved then they will be able to achieve success in the market in more effective manner. Marketing also help the company in enhancing their branding and through this brand awareness can be increased at the marketplace. It has been analysed that if company will offer more quality or innovative products to their consumers then through this an enterprise can retain their brand loyal consumers.

For an effective brand image, the firm can use the marketing communication in order to maintain or build relationship with their service users. Through the two-way communication approach, manager of the organization will be able to know about the requirements of service users. For this, they have to identify the buying behaviour of consumers and their choices. Through the behavioural model their buying decision behaviour can be evaluated in more effective manner. Some steps are involved in this which are as follows:

• Problem recognition is the first step which is related to the problem that is faced by an individual and for this they purchase services so that their needs can be fulfilled.
• The manager can evaluate the buying behaviour of customers from their past report so that they will be able to identify that how many people are there who continuously purchase the services.  
• The information which is gathered from past data needs to be evaluated so that an appropriate needs and demands of the people can be identified.
• After the evaluation, they have to identify the purchase and post purchase behaviour so that manager will be able to get the reviews about the current products and services.

When an enterprise launch product then they can follow all the stages for product development by identify the interest of people. Gertner (2011) stated that for this, the manager can conduct a research so that current trends in market can be evaluated in more effective manner. Along with this, they can use porter generic strategic model in order to sustain competitive advantage. Some of the approaches are like cost leadership, differentiation and focus. On the other hand, it has been confronted that industry has to use differentiation approach so that they will be able to make their unique image in the mind of customers.

Some customers are there who look for the unique services with some advanced features so that they can maintain their social status. There are some benefits of this selected question is that companies will be able to know that how brand is different from products. Various needs and demands of the customers can be identified so that their perception for the particular services can be enhanced. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks like time and cost (Iglesias, Singh and Batista-Foguet, 2011). When marketing manager conduct a survey at the marketplace then it will consume time and incur high cost.

CONCLUSION

From the above carried out analysis it can be summarized that marketing can help the firm in enhancing the brand awareness. Through this, people will be able to know about the different features and benefits of the products. If all customers will get more innovative services, then their perception regarding to the company can be changed. The perception of the customers is based on some different factors such as quality, price, innovation and so on. If prices of the goods are flexible, then people who are price sensitive can purchase those services in an efficient manner. Organizations can also use Keller's brand equity model in order to maintain their position at the marketplace as compare to their competitors.

The firm can use porter generic strategic model in order to sustain their competitive advantage. Through differentiation, an enterprise will be able to make their unique image in the market so that their perception among the customers can get changed. Furthermore, an enterprise can use two-way communication approach so that they will be able to get the reviews of their service users. Through consumer buying decision process, the manager will be able to identify the buying pattern of their end users.

REFERENCES

• Keller, K.L., Parameswaran, M.G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India.
• Hanna, S. and Rowley, J., 2011. Towards a strategic place brand-management model. Journal of Marketing Management. 27(5-6). pp.458-476.
• Zarantonello, L. and Schmitt, B.H., 2013. The impact of event marketing on brand equity: The mediating roles of brand experience and brand attitude. International Journal of Advertising. 32(2). pp.255-280.
• Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N.T. and Christodoulides, G., 2011. Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands. Industrial marketing management. 40(7). pp.1153-1159.
• Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132). Springer New York.
• Hultén, B., 2011. Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. European Business Review. 23(3). pp.256-273.
• Gertner, D., 2011. Unfolding and configuring two decades of research and publications on place marketing and place branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. 7(2). pp.91-106.

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