Category: Brand

Abstract

Personal computers were introduced in the 1970s, but they have been improving in terms of specifications over the years. Students use laptops for academic and non-academic purposes, which require diverse computing abilities of computers. This study focused on using a survey to determine the common brands of laptops among students in the UAE. A sample size of 1000 students was used. The survey data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0. It was established that the MacBook brand was being used by the highest number of students (P>0.05). Marketing executives of other brands would be advised to adopt the marketing approaches that are being used by Apple and focus on providing excellent features on their personal computers.

Introduction

Allan Kay can be remembered as the pioneer of the idea of laptops in 1968. However, it was not until 1971 when specialists in the field of computer science executed the novel idea. In 1973, the IBM started producing and selling laptops on a large scale. However, the products were limited to the US, preventing other parts of the world from using the new technology. In1984, technology companies commenced large-scale production of laptops, which could be distributed to global markets. Maxwell (2006) argues that people were amazed that the new computing devices could be used anywhere with a lot of ease, unlike workstations.

Purpose of the study

The study aimed at determining the preferred laptops among students in the UAE.

Significance of the study

The study findings would be important in the laptop industry because they would help firms to produce laptops that would attract many customers who would be students in various institutions of learning in the UAE. It would be critical for marketing executives to redesign their marketing approaches so that they would capture the market. In fact, students have computing needs that are different from those of other users of computing devices. Another important aspect of the study is that students would benefit from improved laptops that would be produced and sold by players in the telecommunications industry because they would be competing against each other. The competition would be on the premises of offering consumers with computing machines, which would have excellent features.

Literature Review

Since the concept of personal computers was developed and made practical in the 1960s and 1970s respectively, there have been rapid improvements that have resulted in better laptops across the world (Fert, 2008). Research has shown that the first PC that was characterised by the flip form factor was manufactured in the early years of the 1980s. In fact, the firm involved in the production initially marketed the product in Australia before it was distributed to other parts of the world in mid 1980s. However, when trying to trace the term laptop, it is worth noting that it was the Gavilan SC that produced personal computing devices and called them laptops.

Most of the techniques that were included in laptops were mainly those involved in data input such as the touchpad, the pointing stick and handwriting recognition features, among others. Over the years, computer technology has focused on making laptops lighter and more powerful with regard to the ease of performing various operations. For example, some CPUs produced in the 1990s were designed with a better ability to use minimum power than those marketed in the 1980s. The power saving attribute was on the platforms of dynamic power usage features such as those adopted by Intel and AMD (Fert, 2008).

It is no doubt that students contribute to a significant market of laptops in the UAE. Students have diverse tastes with regard to the models of personal computers that they purchase, which are influenced by many factors (Noorali, Karampour & Razmavar, 2014). In a survey conducted among students in 2010, it was established that a significant number of students purchased and used MacBook (Elmer-DeWitt, 2010).

Methodology

The study used a survey to identify the brands that were being used by students in different institutions of learning in the UAE.

The expected study findings

It was anticipated that the study could yield similar results to those published by Elmer-DeWitt (2010), which indicated that the majority of students preferred using MacBook personal computers.

Research findings

The survey was conducted using a sample size of 1000 students who were selected randomly from the population on the premises of owning laptops. Six brands were studied. The survey data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0. The following diagrams represent the results of the study.

Figure 1. A summary of the survey data.

Figure 2. A diagram showing the results of descriptive statistics using SPSS table.

Figure 3. A diagram displaying the SPSS results of correlations.

Discussion

The results imply that college students in the UAE have unique preferences with regard to different brands of laptops. The leading type of personal computers among the students was found to be MacBook, which was being used by 450 respondents in the study. Among the brands studied, Zenbook (by Asus) was found to have the least number of users. The results established that a significant number of students were using MacBook PCs. In fact, the correlation test that analysed the brands showed that there was a significant correlation (P>0.05) with regard to the adoption of MacBook. Thus, the findings are similar to those established about four years ago (Elmer-DeWitt, 2010).

The MacBook has maintained the lead among brands of personal computers in the recent past (Wright & Yoshida, 2014). It would be important to conclude that the brand has the best sales in the region. This could be true even in other groups of users apart from the students. Thus, it is important to assess the features that make the product the preferred brand among students. The brand is characterised features that support the educational requirements of students. It has a high level of serviceability that make students buy it because it could be repaired easily. In addition, it is relatively light and easy to carry. Finally, it adopts the current attributes of the computing technology.

Recommendations

Based on the study findings, several recommendations would be made.

1. Other companies should improve the computing features of their laptops.
2. Personal computers manufactured to be used by students should have a high level of usability and maintainability.
3. The competitors of Apples MacBook should adopt marketing approaches that are successful in the UAE.

References

Elmer-DeWitt, P. (2010). Big Macs on campus. Web.

Fert, A. (2008). Nobel lecture: Origin, development, and future of spintronics. Reviews of Modern Physics, 80(4), 1517. Web.

Maxwell, J. W. (2006). Tracing the Dynabook. Web.

Noorali, M. R., Karampour, A. H., & Razmavar, T. (2014). Product Rating Based on Marketing Mix Elements According to Customers Preference Using ANP Technique (Case Study: Market of Laptops ASUS, DELL, HP and SONY in Tehran). Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 10(3). 345-359. Web.

Wright, G. D., & Yoshida, M. (2014). Winners of the 2013 JA Medals for excellence. The Journal of antibiotics, 67(5), 351-352. Web.

Introduction

Many companies today turn to co-branding, pairing their brands with one another in collaborative marketing efforts (What is the logic behind Co-Branding? 2010). Although the concept of co-branding is not new, it became specifically evident in the era where the companies brands started bearing a value, equal to the companys tangible assets.

There are many reasons to embark on co-branding programs, but the rationale can be seen specifically obvious for the case of mobile phones. With the rapid advancements in mobile technologies, the companies reached a point where the three important components of successful mobile phone models on the market, i.e. technical characteristics, software, and design, are gradually equalized for different manufacturers.

The usage of co-branding is one of the effective methods of overcoming such a dilemma, where the cooperation between different brands was used in other industries (McKee, 2009). It should be noted that the wide recognition of the partner in co-branding is seen as one of the aspects, where the importance of other elements such as the attributes of the product and the preferences of the consumers might be questioned.

The Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the proposed study will be to elaborate on and clarify the link between co-branding and the product attribute preferences for a Motorola mobile phone brand. The study will use data from surveys to answer the following questions: 1) does co-branding increase consumer perceptions of the price, quality, and image of the product attribute?; 2) what attribute(s) preferences are not affected by co-branding?

Participants

The participants of the study will be young consumers, 20-29 years of age. The participants will be acquaintances, friends, and visitors of social networks on the internet. Additionally, part of the participants will be students affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, which the author of the research is currently studying, with no preferences for race, gender or ethnic groups. The main consideration is paid to the age group, which will be selected on the basis that this category falls within the age group of the university and college students.

Research Design/Procedures

The Hypothesis

The hypothesis of this study states that the collaboration of a mobile phone brand with another market brand will not significantly change the attributes preferences of the mobile phone brand. The null hypothesis for this study is:

The collaboration between a mobile phone brand and another market brand will lead to a significant change of attribute preferences for the mobile phones of the selected mobile phone brand.

The Rationale for the Study

The benefits of the study can be seen twofold. On the one hand, the findings might outline the weight that consumers put on the image component of mobile phones, as compared to the functional. Comparing devices with similar functionalities, in which one is co-branded with another major brand, a substantial price difference might exist.

In that regard, from a business point of view, the study might indicate for marketers, which attributes of the product can be reduced in a co-branding initiative. On the other hand, the same can be said about the attribute, the sacrifice of which might negatively impact the sales of the co-branded product. On an individual level, there are direct benefits expected in this study.

Sampling Procedures

The main inclusion criterion for the participants in the high-quality age group, where participants above the age of 30 will be excluded from the study. The exclusion will be based largely on a visual identity for personal selection, and general guidelines on the survey.

The rationale for such criteria can be seen in the importance given by the specific age group for the brand name and the extensive usage of the specific attributes of the product, e.g. cameras, games, etc. The sampling was non-probability convenience sampling of the students whom the authors of the study know, including the students of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW).

The link will be posted on social networks over the internet, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc. For the students of (UWW), the link to the survey will be given upon their approval for participating in the study. Additionally, snowball sampling will be used, in which the participants applicable to the selection criteria will be asked to recommend and provide the link of the survey to their friends, who are applicable to the selection criteria.

Research Procedures

A survey was composed consisting of several parts, a basic survey and a basic information questionnaire intended to categorize the respondents and their basic preferences. The second part is Likert scale questions, which will measure the dependent variable in the study, i.e. the preferences of product attributes. The independent variable is the co-branding of mobile phones with a brand of choice or selected from a list.

The data collection will be consisting of several steps, which after receiving the complete approved protocol from UWW for the UWW participants, the surveys will be collected from the website SurveyMonkey, which link was given to the participants, upon the return of which the answers will be reviewed for completeness. The estimated duration for the study is approximately a week, where 3 days will be given for collecting the participants, with the rest of the week given for data retrieval so as to reduce the possibility of low return. The location of the data collection will be the UWW campus. The data will be analyzed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

Rewards

No rewards will be established for the study, where the participants will be solely on a voluntary basis.

Safeguarding the Identity

The information gathered from the participants might be used as a part of the research, in case it will be published. The data which will be used implies the only statistical representation of the correlation between the investigated variables. No personal information will be given to any third party, including the respondents emails. The statistical data used will not allow the identification of the participants in any direct or indirect way.

The immediate use of data will be comprised of measuring the correlation, through a statistical program. The long range of data will show only the findings of the study, and the implications for practical use.

Risk

Minimal risk is expected for the study. In case such risks do occur, such risks might be expected from potential intrusion to the data collected from the respondents, which will be accordingly connected to their email addresses. Nevertheless, it can be stated that such risk is minimal as well as the harm that might be produced, while on the other hand, the potential benefit of the knowledge might outweigh such risks. The study will attempt to contribute to the area of marketing and explaining the behavior of consumers.

Deception

No deception will be used

Consent

As the survey will be provided in electronic form, the consent of the participants will obtain through include the consent statement on the cover page of every survey. The informed consent statement, which will be used, can be seen below:

You are to participate in a research project called Effects of Co-branding on Product Attribute Preferences. The study has the main purpose of learning what effect co-branding has on the product attributes preferences. The expected length of this study is 10-15 minutes, during which you will be required to select the answer that corresponds to your preferences as well as providing personal information. The answers to the survey will be collected electronically, by sending the survey sheet to the email address indicated at the end of this page.

The potential risks of this study include the possibility of information theft and subsequent misuse. There are no direct or indirect benefits to you from participating in this study. The answers that you provide might help marketing analysts better understand buyer behavior. The study does not involve any treatment or any alternative procedures.

The answers that you will provide will be kept confidential, where every effort will be made to safeguard your personal and other information from unauthorized access. Your name will not be used in any reports, publications or future presentations that might be derived for this study. The information used will be encrypted using TrueCrypt, disk encryption software, which will limit the access only to the author of this research. The research project is not conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater or any affiliated department, and they will not be able to identify the identity of the respondents through the copy of the results, which they shall receive.

Participation in this study is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time. There is no penalty for the withdrawal of the study as well as there is no reward for participation.

References

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

McKee, S. (2009). The Pros and Cons of Co-Branding. Business Week. Web.

Trochim, W. M. K. (2006). Nonprobability Sampling. Social Methods Research. Web.

What is the logic behind Co-Branding? (2010). Management-Hub.com. Web.

Introduction

The progress of medical technologies, the increased financial pressure within the industry, and different reforms affect the fundamental changes in the work of health care organizations. Therefore, various medical organizations have to develop new differentiation and branding strategies to increase their competitive advantage. These strategies can strengthen the organizations relationship with clients oriented to meeting their needs effectively. From this point, branding strategies are relevant to achieve the goals of health care organizations. However, there can be many challenges experienced by health care organizations while promoting their services with references to branding. In spite of the fact that the focus on branding can result in such consequences as the increase in financial spendings and service prices, it is important to state that the use of branding is mostly beneficial for health care organizations because the branding strategies contribute to improving the organizations competitive advantage within the industry and to increase the services quality; but it is necessary to refer to such aspects as trust and quality because they are important conditions to affect the organizations success.

Circumstances and Conditions to Support the Importance of Branding

The competitive advantage of health care organizations depends on the ability to find ways to attract and satisfy the clients and to develop the existing relations while focusing on differentiating from competitors. From this point, there should be a correlation between the brands objectives and patients requirements. Thus, the development of a branding strategy in the health care industry is based on the principles of trust and quality along with brand awareness and patients loyalty. That is why the concentration on promoting trust and quality is the necessary circumstance and condition to rely on the branding strategy as a beneficial one for the health care industry. In this case, the developed branding strategy offers guidelines to improve the quality of services (Snihurowych, Cornelius, & Amelung, 2009, p. 126). This fact also contributes to the sustainability of the health care organizations brand.

The importance of using the branding strategy is in improving the organizations competitive advantage within the industry because the quality of the services increases along with developing the clients trust toward the organization or company. Strong brands create financial and strategic value because they foster the relationship between health care organizations and clients (Dumovic & Knowles, 2008, p. 5). Thus, the use of a strong brand has positive effects on various aspects of the organizations performance. These aspects include increased employee motivation and increased patient acquisition. Strong brands attract more patients, but the effect is based not only on brand awareness and loyalty principles but also on the quality of the provided services. The use of branding changes the perception of the consumer about the health care organization, and this fact contributes to developing the organizations existing identity and increasing the competitive advantage (Dumovic & Knowles, 2008, p. 6; Spur Interactive, 2009). From this point, the branding strategy can offer a new direction for an organization to increase the quality of services.

Negative Consequences of Branding

It is also important to note that there are situations when the focus on the use of branding can have negative consequences for the development of health care organizations. Thus, organizations can spend a lot of money to increase public awareness of the brand. Any mistake in the branding strategy can lead to general strategical loss. As a result, the organization will experience a loss because of the improper development of the health care brand. In addition, ineffective branding in the health care industry can result in liabilities because of the services low quality. In addition, if the value of the brand exceeds the value of the organizations tangible assets, the organizations competitive advantage decreases (Schmidt & Pioch, 2005, p. 494). Furthermore, the ineffective branding strategy can also lead to an increase in the services prices, and this situation can influence the patients interest in the definite health care organization negatively.

Moreover, it is also important to refer to the interests of the staff along with the focus on the interests of patients because all the stakeholders play an equal role in influencing the health care organizations development. There are situations when branding strategies are oriented predominately on patients, and employees become less involved in the organizations work (Gapp & Merilees, 2006, p. 162). As a result, the quality of the services decreases.

Conclusion

Health care organizations try to increase their competitiveness within the industry using branding strategies. Thus, companies can utilize any opportunity to differentiate their strategies. The use of branding increases the companys competitive advantage and the customers interest in the organizations services. However, the ineffective use of branding and inadequate development of strategies can result in definite negative consequences. Therefore, health care organizations should orient to receiving adequate knowledge about their target audience and the quality of products and services provided in order to use branding as an advantageous strategy which can affect the customers interest in the health care provider.

References

Dumovic, P., & Knowles, D. (2008). Marketing Masterclass: Product differentiation for competitive advantage. Journal of Medical Marketing, 8(1), 5-8.

Gapp, R., & Merilees, B. (2006). Important factors to consider when using internal branding as a management strategy: A healthcare case study. Journal of Brand Management, 14(1/2), 162-176.

Schmidt, R., & Pioch, E. (2005). Community pharmacies under pressure  can branding help? International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 33(6/7), 494-504.

Snihurowych, R. R., Cornelius, F., & Amelung, V. E. (2009). Can branding by healthcare provider organizations drive the delivery of higher technical and service quality? Quality Management in Healthcare, 18(2), 126-134.

Spur Interactive. (2009). Online Marketing for Health Care. Web.

Introduction

This paper is a case study of transmedia storytelling through the reality brand, Big Brother Africa. Created by Underdog productions (a subsidiary of Transmedia entertainment  a large South African media group), the brand (mainly) appeals to young people (Routledge 1). In South Africa, the creators of the Big Brother brand did so using a ground-up approach. Indeed, as opposed to designing the product to fit in only one media platform, the creators enabled the brand to work on multiple platforms.

This approach is part of a larger philosophy pursued by Underdog, which assumes the holistic advantages of creating the product, as opposed to different components of the same brand (Routledge 1). This way, Big Brother Africa does not depend on the available media platforms; instead, the media platforms depend on the brand. This transmedia approach led Routledge to say, Big Brother Africa & is a property that has been created specifically to be exploited across several media in a cohesive and integrated manner (1).

This paper shows the transmedia elements associated with the brand  Big Brother Africa. In line with this strategy, this paper underscores how different audiences engage with one another using transmedia storytelling options. Similarly, this paper explains how expanding the narrative over a variety of platforms would extend the brand. This analysis is important not only in comprehending how Big Brother has become popular among young people in Africa, but also around the world.

Transmedia Elements used to tell the Story of the Brand

By replicating the format of other Big Brother brands, in other parts of the world, Big Brother Africa drew a lot of attention in Africa. The larger Big Brother franchise works by putting different contestants in one house and watching their interactions through strategically placed cameras. Using this technology, viewers can stream (live) what is going on in the Big Brother house. Endemol is the official company that manages different interactive platforms in Big Brother Africa because it closely monitors SMSs, online chats and all incoming and outgoing emails (Routledge 2).

The purpose of managing these interactive platforms, in real time, is to give the show a new twist that would keep the audience engaged (Routledge 2). These interactive platforms are essential for the proper functioning of the Big Brother Africa brand because without them, it would be difficult to maintain the brands popularity. In line with this advantage, Routledge says, There is a strategy that aims to create an audience loop that pushes people from TV to telephony, to iTV to the Internet, and back to TV (3).

Big Brother Africa has several transmedia elements, including websites, webcams, interactive television, telephony (through interactive voice response), and short message services (SMS) (Routledge 2). Different media platforms serve different purposes. For example, the SMS platform allows fans to vote for their favorite contestants during eviction shows. Viewers can also use the same platform to send their views about live television shows.

Usually, their messages scroll at the bottom of the television screen when live television shows happen. Websites and webcams are useful for viewing what is going on in the big brother house. Usually, these messages are about events that happen in the house (Routledge 3). For example, when one issue dominates the interactive platform, other viewers comment on it. This interaction creates an interactive dialogue as the television show airs.

How the Transmedia Elements Create Engagement

Unlike other types of media engagement, transmedia communication is inclusive (Miller 150). The engagement could happen in different ways. For example, by redirecting the shows performance, according to the audiences feedback, viewers would believe that the content developers respect their views. They also develop an attachment in this regard. Using this logic, Rutledge says, The audience becomes actively involved, elevated social and creative collaborators.

They become stakeholders in the transmedia experience alongside the brand or cause (2). The unfolding story design allows viewers to engage with one another within the interactive platform. This way, the brand incorporates the views of all interested parties. Their contributions add to the content development processes. By breaking down traditional barriers to communication, transmedia communication also breaks down the barrier between storytelling and reality (Miller 150-153). It does so by bringing out the Big Brother Africa narrative in the real world by screening live events on online portals (Rutledge 4). Through this expansive engagement strategy, the audience develops an attachment with the brand and becomes a stakeholder in its development.

Based on the above dynamics, transmedia communication supports collective intelligence gathering. Similarly, it enhances viewers involvement. These advantages emerge because traditional media platforms often create inherent communication gaps between content developers and their intended audience (Philips 7). Transmedia communications help to fill this gap. This is why the structure of Big Brother Africa differs from traditional television shows. Moreover, it is difficult to contextualize the brand as a television show, because it uses other media platforms to reach its audience, besides television. These advantages are real because the brand merges different aesthetic and logistical elements of entertainment production.

How Expanding Narrative over different Platforms extends the Brand

Traditionally, mainstream media monopolized the market and made it difficult for new content providers to gain access to the market. However, transmedia communications has made it possible for content providers and brand developers to maintain a crossover market (Philips 7). For example, this multivariate platform has made it easy to sell the Big Brother franchise in not only South Africa, but the rest of the world as well. Media consolidation and synergy are at the heart of this transformation because new media brands, such as Big Brother Africa thrive on them (Routledge 3).

Indeed, the brand has expanded its outreach because it attracts different audience segments through different entry points, such as web broadcasts, television shows, emails, and SMSs. The brand is also able to barrage its contents through other media platforms, such as magazines. However, instead of using its content for promotional purposes, the brands developers use a hunting and gathering strategy where they prefer to use different media platforms to distribute their contents (Routledge 3).

This way, the ancillary content has not only expanded its outreach, but also enriched its contents. Recent market research, which shows that many viewers have trouble dismissing contents that would improve their entertainment experience, supports this strategy (Philips 7). Using the information gathered in this section of the paper, the Big Brother Brand could easily expand its outreach through the horizontal integration strategy that thrives on transmedia stories. Nonetheless, based on the fragmented nature of the audience, content developers are not the only competing parties because media outlets also compete in similar fashion. For example, mainstream media houses, such as NBC and ABC would have to compete with YouTube and similar online platforms.

In the context of the Big Brother Africa brand, different audiences may be willing to experiment with different media platforms because of unique reasons (say, they get to interact with their favorite contestants through this platform). For example, in the gaming world, a lost fan would most likely shy away from participating in an alternate reality game. However, they would be willing to participate in playing a game that promises to solve some of the problems they have experienced when playing a previous game. This strategy means that transmedia communication uses a cross platform franchise to draw out the different audiences from their accustomed viewing habits (ASMEDIA 7). Comprehensively, if each media platform offers a fresh experience to its viewers, there would be increased satisfaction for the viewers within each platform.

The only challenge experienced by the brand creators of Big Brother Africa is coordination problems across different sectors (ASMEDIA 7). Concisely, instead of different transmedia segments working together to create one story, they often limit the extent that each sector could add to the brands portfolio (ASMEDIA 7). These constraints make it difficult to explore the market potential for all transmedia segments. This problem is endemic because research shows that, in many transmedia storytelling platforms, different media usually compete aggressively, as opposed to collaborating. To enjoy the benefits of transmedia communication, content developers should avoid these challenges.

Conclusion

This paper shows that expanding the Big Brother narrative across different platforms would increase the brands outreach. Nonetheless, Transmedia storytelling has helped to fragment different audiences and allowed the brand to penetrate further than it would have done if it relied on mainstream media platforms only. This paper shows that the Big Brother Africa brand uses different media platforms, including websites, webcams, interactive television, telephony (through interactive voice response), and short message services (SMS) to interact with its audience (Routledge 2). These platforms help to shape and enrich the brand. In fact, it would be difficult for the brand to survive without them. The same is true for the larger Big Brother Franchise.

By catering to fragmented audiences, it is also possible for transmedia stories to expand their outreach and appeal to people who have different viewing preferences. For example, those who have an internet access and prefer to watch episodes of Big Brother could easily do so using the online platform. Alternatively, those who prefer to watch the shows highlights could prefer to do so by watching it on television. Some of the shows loyalists would be willing to use multiple media platforms to watch the show.

Advertisers are the main beneficiaries here because through the multifaceted strategy, they could reach multiple audiences. Other transmedia examples, such as the superhero merchandise, also benefit from this multifaceted strategy because content developers could advertise their materials through the Incredible Hulk Online (among other platforms). Content developers in the sports industry could also benefit from the same multifaceted strategy by advertising on Friday Night Lights and similar platforms. Therefore, instead of paying huge sums of money to gain access to mainstream media, advertisers could use transmedia streams to gain access to small interest communities. These contributions of transmedia storytelling show that it was central to the brand development process of Big Brother Africa.

Works Cited

ASMEDIA. Advantages and Challenges in the Business of Transmedia Storytelling. 2015. Web.

Miller, Carolyn. Digital Storytelling: A Creators Guide to Interactive Entertainment, London, UK: Elsevier Inc., 2008. Print.

Philips, Andrea. A Creators Guide to Transmedia Storytelling: How to Captivate and Engage Audiences across Multiple Platforms, London, UK: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 2012. Print.

Routledge. An actors perspective of transmedia storytelling. December. 2014. Web.

Rutledge, Pamela. Transmedia Storytelling. 2015. Web.

Introduction

Celebrities are individuals who are globally regarded as people who have achieved something in their area of expertise. The areas in which people can become celebrities are vast, ranging from politics to sports to different forms of entertainment. Because of their popularity, stars can be used in advertisements and marketing campaigns to promote certain products or services, and are referred to as endorsers. Celebrity endorsements date back to the middle of the nineteenth century as famous people began being heavily present in advertisements with the widespread popularity of television. TV ads have become one of the primary resources of contemporary marketing, while the current trend is rapidly shifting toward the Internet and social media. Despite the changes in the marketing channels, celebrities remain to be relevant tools for advertisements that reach global audiences that could not be reached before.

Endorsements

The success of endorsements that include celebrities is attributed to the fact that consumers can associate a person with the brand that he or she is promoting. The association between a person and a brand creates a link between a celebrity and a company, which helps potential consumers to relate to the brand and be more inclined to purchase the products or services that it offers. The face of the brand that celebrities provide is expected to bring attention to the company. For instance, George Clooney became a face for Nespresso Company back in 2006. The appeal of Clooney as an actor brought popularity to Nespresso, which greatly benefited the sales and the overall reputation of the product advertised by the actor.

While brands acquire significant advantages thanks to celebrity enforcements, the latter also benefit from partnerships with companies. Not only do celebrities get great exposure in advertisements, but they also get paid high amounts of money for their appearances. An example of a fruitful collaboration between a brand and a celebrity is the partnership between Michael Jordan and Nike. Since 1984, when the initial line of Air Jordans came to the market, Nike used Jordan as the face of the campaign, with the shoe gaining wide popularity with thirty-three editions and re-releases of various designs. According to the report from Forbes, since the first collaboration with Nike, Michael Jordan earned around $1.3 billion, which is a substantial amount of money. Moreover, the collaboration with Nike led the basketball player to create his brand under Nikes umbrella, Jordan Brand, which has long had the reputation of the second best-selling company specializing in sneakers in the United States.

Endorsements have shown to be popular tools for marketers to promote their companies, services, and products. The overall positive image and characteristics that celebrities have are appealing to customers, which is offers a benefit for marketers who gain success in triggering consumers to purchase the services or products being promoted. Previously, companies have been focusing on celebrities in such areas as entertainment and sports, while today, the trend includes social media influencers. This category of celebrities is relatively new because social media influencers have only become relevant recently as companies have begun investing in online advertising. Compared to conventional celebrities who have acquired popularity because of their talent and work, social media celebrities have become successful by working on personal branding and gaining a large following on such platforms as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and others. Social media influencers have a unique way of promoting themselves  they develop personal content on a variety of themes ranging from fashion to food. The influencers who are predominantly used for company advertising are female and created their professions based on their reputations as fashion, food, fitness, or beauty bloggers.

It is reasonable for companies to use both traditional and social media celebrities in their advertisements because of the high competition and the need to attract audiences to particular products or services. The positive reputations of influencers can have a positive impact on how consumers perceive the credibility of the brand that their favorite stars are promoting. Both expertise and trustworthiness are important in this case  trust is needed to embed the notions of integrity and honesty that would be transferred to the audience of potential purchasers. In advertisements that employ endorsements, the trustworthiness of a person is imperative because of its overall positive influence on purchasing intentions. The better is the reputation of a celebrity or influencer, the more likely will customers opt for the product or service that they promote.

In general, celebrities are usually likable and believable individuals whom regular people can trust, which is a significant benefit for advertisements. Although, it is important to account for limitations of using celebrities in marketing, such as liability associated with scandals in which a person may be involved. The unfavorable publicity that presents a celebrity in a negative light is highly likely to hurt the success of a marketing campaign as well as the products themselves. Importantly, the severity of the impact will depend on the extent to which a celebrity and the product are connected. Thus, based on how a celebrity is perceived, either positively or negatively, the effect on the brand will be proportionate.

Celebrity scandals and the negative publicity associated with them are usually associated with their personal life and or the choices that they had made, especially in terms of socially-unacceptable behaviors such as violence or drug consumption. The example of Tiger Woods illustrates this problem brilliantly. As a well-liked personality, he was signed to endorse products from Gillette, Nike, Electronic Arts, and others. In 2009, when the golf player was involved in reckless driving and infidelity scandals, his popularity declined. Nikes profits for Woods campaigns fell alongside the overall drop in the customer base. Although some companies may consider any publicity to be good, which means more attention and the impact of ads that include celebrities. Besides, it was found that negative information is stored in ones memory for longer compared to neutral information.

Conclusion

To conclude, celebrity endorsements offer great opportunities for brands to advertise their products or services to large audiences. The recognition and the impact of such peoples presence in marketing campaigns are expected to increase purchasing and overall company income. The current trend to include social media influencers and not only traditional celebrities is interesting as the web sphere remains expanding. The more influence and trustworthiness a personality has, the more likely it is for the audience to buy what is being promoted to them by that person. While there are some pitfalls to celebrity endorsements, such a method of advertising is not expected to grow out of popularity any time soon.

Introduction

Acco Brands Corporation and V.F. Corporation are two companies listed in a website called AnnualReports.com. These two companies released their annual reports recently and are the subject of discussion in this report. The two companies also fall under the consumer goods sector and release reports to various stakeholders every year. Acco Brands Corporation designs, creates, manufactures, and markets several conservative computer based office products in regions serving North America, Europe, and the Australian continents (Acco Brands Corporation, 2012). On the other hand, V. F. Corporation brands lifestyle outfits such as jeans, footwear, and other types of apparels (V.F. Corporation, 2007). The main objective of this report is to compare several aspects of the annual reports as presented by each of these corporations.

Discussion

Acco Brands Corporation and V.F. Corporation exhibit obvious differences in the manner in which their annual reports are organized and presented. Organization of a piece of communication in written format needs to follow various styles and formats to achieve a certain effect on the consumers of the organizations brands. Looking at the two reports, one notices completely different reports basing on style and organization of information. For instance, while Acco Brands focuses more on details through written word all through its report, V.F. Corporation follows a completely different format of using catchy and well colored photos and graphics to ensure readers understand information well. Both companies however do a very good job in presenting the information that they need to convey to their target audiences. This is done through the use of facts and figures which are properly arranged in charts and tables. Acco Brands Corporation annual report covers 2012 while V.F. Corporation report summarizes operations in 2007. As a result, I can confidently conclude that the companies achieve the sole goal of showing the necessary conclusions that can be easily interpreted by shareholders concerning the performances of the companies.

Going through each of the single reports of the companies sampled here, there is a mutual manner in which the goals, plans, and challenges faced by the organizations are discussed by the top managers. Each report clearly outlines each of the products that the companies sell to satisfy their markets. Distribution and sale of each of these items is discussed in length in the reports signaling either success or failure in achieving any set goals. All the challenges faced are detailed properly in the balance sheets relative to the financial proceeds collected from the operations of the companies. The roles of the management and that of each of the stakeholders are also well documented within the reports. It hence remains clear concerning who takes responsibility regarding the failure or success of each plans as set out by the management.

As earlier mentioned, each of the reports as presented by the two companies varies greatly in style and format. Acco Brands Corporation for instance details much information in written form and the use of a few tables and charts especially when discussing the financial statements (Acco Brands Corporation, 2012). V.F. Corporation on the other hand focuses greatly on the use of pictures and images in expressing its views and information (VF Corporation, 2007). These formats could serve to enhance or detract audiences from the information being presented. For instance, too much use of pictures and images could end up causing little information diffusing to the readers minds. However, being visually appealing, it may enhance the interest of people into reading what is being presented in the reports. Looking at a report that is too much detailed with information and expert analysis has the advantage of instilling trust in the stakeholders. However, the disadvantage may be that it may cause lack of interest to read on the part of stakeholders who are not experts or not well schooled.

References

Acco Brands Corporation. (2012). Annual Report Pursuant To Section 13 Or 15(D) Of The Securities Exchange Act Of 1934. Web.

Acco Brands Corporation. (2012). AnnualReports.com. Web.

V.F. Corporation. (2007). AnnualReports.com. Web.

VF Corporation. (2007). Summary Annual Report. Web.

Luxury Brand Imitation

Brand imitation refers to copying attributes like design, logo, and shape of a renowned product. Doss and Robinson (2013, p. 427) define brand imitation as a product that borrows or copies some special attributes of a famous or leading product such as name, shape, or color. According to Doss and Robinson (2013), the act amounts to a breach of the core value of the original product. Different states have laws that prohibit imitation of luxury brands. Brand imitation deprives the original product designers of the right to reap benefits from their innovation. Additionally, it leads to companies losing significant market share. Mostly, customers opt to purchase the imitation as it goes at a low price. Today, brand imitation poses a major threat to branded companies.

The reason for focusing on brand imitation is the danger it poses to the growth of companies and innovation. As per Doss and Robinson (2013), brand imitation is a great crime in the 21st century. Currently, imitated products account for at least seven percent of the global market. The vice is highly concentrated in the luxury product sector. As companies continue to invest in the development of prestigious products, counterfeiters are increasingly targeting them. Growth in technology has made it easy for people to imitate brands. Geiger-Oneto et al. (2013) allege that it is hard for a person to notice a counterfeit brand. One requires paying attention to the unique features of the original product. Below is an example of a counterfeit T-shirt.

According to Geiger-Oneto et al. (2013), imitators can target all kinds of luxury brands. Nevertheless, there are areas where imitation is particularly practical. Mostly, they target sectors with limited legal protection. Geiger-Oneto et al. (2013, p. 361) claim that they target sectors where complementary assets cannot be mustered to protect innovators. The industries that are highly prone to imitation include fashion and apparel companies. This report will focus mainly on the apparel industry. The study will concentrate on the imitation of branded T-shirts and handbags. Limited legal protection of the branded handbags and T-shirts makes it easy for people to imitate these brands. Besides, technology has made it possible for counterfeiters to come up with diverse appealing designs for handbags and apparel. Below are images of different varieties of handbags from My Other Bag brand, which are replicas of Louis Vuitton handbag brands.

Popularity of Imitations

To combat imitation, it is imperative to understand the factors that contribute to customers purchasing counterfeit goods. Scholars have conducted significant research to determine the factors that contribute to the imitation of luxury brands (Lee, Chen & Wang 2015). A majority of people who do not respect the law are likely to purchase counterfeit goods. Besides, customers with prejudice against big companies have a high propensity for buying imitated brands. The customers argue that the companies sell original products at exaggerated prices. According to Triandewi and Tjiptono (2013), individuals who wish to assert their status but do not have money to purchase authentic brands can purchase counterfeit products. Curiosity amid customers is another factor that leads to the popularity of imitated brands. The desire to experiment with certain brands leads to customers purchasing counterfeit products. Today, every woman yearns to own a handbag from Louis Vuitton brand. However, not every woman can afford to purchase the brand. As a result, some customers purchase counterfeit handbags due to the desire to experiment with the brand. Below is an image of handbags from My Other Bag brand that use designs from the Louis Vuitton brand.

Numerous factors have contributed to the popularity of imitated products. They include celebrity endorsement and low prices (Modi et al. 2014). The apparel industry is fond of using popular personalities to endorse brands. The clothing companies use musicians and actors to advertise their products. Consequently, everyone craves to be associated with the brand. Today, many counterfeit products use celebrity endorsement strategy to win customer loyalty. Modi et al. (2014) argue that the use of celebrity endorsement strategy makes it hard for customers to distinguish counterfeits from the original brands. One of the renowned counterfeit brands is the Homies sweatshirts and vetements. Popular musicians like Kanye West and Rihana wear such apparel. Whenever the celebrities wear products their fans take photos and share them on social media. Counterfeiters take this opportunity to produce identical merchandise. The flashy and audacious designs of the counterfeited products captivate the clients. Eventually, they develop an interest in the products resulting in the popularity of the brands. The figures below represent images of brands worn by renowned celebrities.

Past studies show that experience with counterfeit brands and stance towards fiscal and hedonic advantages of pirated products influences consumer buying behavior (Pierre 2012). The theory of planned behavior holds that there is a connection between stance, behavioral intent, and behavior (Pierre 2012). Some consumers purchase counterfeit brands due to materialistic minds. Many consumers value owning and displaying luxury products. Thus, they are likely to purchase counterfeit brands if not in a position to own the original products. People feel the same regardless of whether they are wearing authentic or counterfeit luxury brands (Pierre 2012). The more they continue to wear counterfeit brands, the more the products become popular. Today, many people wear counterfeit Louis Vuitton T-shirts due to their popularity. It has become hard for most customers to differentiate the original T-shirt from the imitation. Below is an image of a counterfeit Louis Vuitton T-shirt.

Customers consider the price of a product before opting to purchase. One factor that encourages customers to purchase imitations is their prices. Counterfeit products go at low prices. The study shows that customers who have experience with counterfeit products claim that they are as good as the genuine brands (Pierre 2012). Thus, they do not consider the quality of the brands. It underlines the reason why some customers will always purchase imitated products. The inability of the manufacturers of the branded products to change clients opinions about counterfeit goods makes it hard for companies to fight imitation (Pierre 2012). Below is an image of the handbag from My Other Bag, which is an imitation of Louis Vuittons handbag. The handbag on the right is a Louis Vuitton brand while the one on the left is its imitation.

According to Romani, Gistri, and Pace (2012), intellectual property laws are weak regarding the protection of luxury handbags. For a product to qualify as an imitation, it must be proved to be a parody. Unfortunately, counterfeiters know how to design their products in ways that they look genuine. Romani, Gistri, and Pace (2012, p. 818) posit, Counterfeiters do not require getting a license in relation to trademark uses for purpose of parody. It underlines the reason Louis Vuitton did not win the case against My Other Bag. The counterfeiters make sure that their products cannot be confused with the original brands. Besides, they are keen not to be liable for trade dilution. The judgment passed in the Louis Vuitton vs. My Other Bag case revealed the degree to which counterfeiters can imitate luxury brands without plagiarising. Lack of stringent laws that protect intellectual property makes it easy for imitators to circumvent legal risks. Today, My Other Bag continues to use Louis Vuittons brand to caricature the companys superior luxury image. Below is an image of My Other Bag tote that was in contention.

Benefits of Imitation of Luxury Brands

According to Romani, Gistri, and Pace (2012), fashion and apparel companies benefit from imitations in numerous ways. The availability of counterfeit products helps to communicate with high-end clients the desirability of the authentic brand as a component of a rising fashion trend. In other words, at times, imitation of luxury brands serves as an advertising strategy in disguise. Counterfeit products are of low quality. As such, high-end customers can easily detect them. Besides, the availability of imitations in the market signifies that the apparels or handbags they copy are enviable. Romani, Gistri, and Pace (2012, p. 823) hold, Counterfeits communicate the fact that even those who cannot afford the original brands still want them. Therefore, they serve as free advertising for branded products. Branded companies do not require using a lot of money to popularise their products. The presence of counterfeit products in the market is adequate to inform high-end clients of the availability of the branded merchandise.

A study in the United States found that the sales of counterfeit luxury brands like handbags and T-shirts do not affect the returns of genuine brands. Consumers can easily distinguish counterfeits from authentic brands. In most cases, clients use counterfeits as trial versions. Triandewi and Tjiptono (2013) hold that at least 40% of clients who purchase counterfeit handbags end up buying the actual brand. Triandewi and Tjiptono (2013, p. 25) argue, There is reciprocal causation between consumer purchase intention of counterfeit products and consumer intention to buy originals. The intention to buy counterfeit products has a positive impact on the desire to purchase authentic goods. Conversely, the desire to buy original brands has a negative effect on the intention to purchase counterfeits. The purchase of counterfeit luxury brands arouses the desire to own the original products.

Imitation of luxury brands helps to boost the value of the original products. According to Romani, Gistri, and Pace (2012), products that are not copied are deemed of poor quality. Such products do not trigger consumer demand. The demand for quality products increases with an increase in their presence in the gray channel. Some scholars argue that imitation of luxury brands damage their popularity. On the contrary, it helps to strengthen their attractiveness. Counterfeited brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Burberry, and Adidas continue to do well in the global market. The turnover of the counterfeited brands continues to increase signifying growth in their value.

The solution to Imitation of Luxury Brands

Implementation of stringent laws or the creation of anti-counterfeit technology will not help to resolve the problem of imitation of luxury brands like handbags. The fight against counterfeit brands should be directed to the consumers. Doss and Robinson (2013) allege that branded companies should leverage demand and supply in the fight against counterfeits. Organizations should ensure that they provide the products that customers require. Taking away the demand for imitations will go a long way towards curbing the production of counterfeit brands. Doss and Robinson (2013, p. 30) aver, The lasting quality of a luxury Louis Vuitton Speedy 35 handbag is not even close in style and substance to the phony one purchased after onerous negotiations in disreputable Canal Street basement. Clients who yearn to be legitimate members of high society are unlikely to purchase counterfeit products. Buying fake handbags would affect their social status. A decrease in the demand for counterfeit products would result in a decline in the production and supply of unoriginal brands.

Conclusion

The imitation of luxury brands is on the rise across the globe. Numerous factors have contributed to the demand for counterfeit brands. They include the endorsement by celebrities, the cost of original brands, and consumers perception of the authentic products. The absence of strong intellectual property laws also encourages imitation of luxury brands. Counterfeiters have devised ways to avoid trademark violations and dilution. As a result, they can easily produce brands that parody original products without violating intellectual property laws. Imitation of luxury brands can benefit the original product. It can serve as advertising in disguise. The presence of counterfeit products in the market communicates the appeal of the original brand. Branded companies should leverage demand and supply in the fight against the imitation of luxury products rather than depending on intellectual property laws.

Reference List

Doss, F & Robinson, T 2013, Luxury perceptions: luxury brands vs. counterfeit for young US female consumers, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 424-439.

Geiger-Oneto, S, Gelb, B, Walker, D & Hess, J 2013, Buying status by chosing or rejecting luxury brands and their counterfeits, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 357-372.

Lee, H, Chen, W & Wang, C 2015, The role of visual art in enhancing perceived prestige of luxury brand, Marketing Letters, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 593-606.

Modi, A, Patel, J, Shukla, Y & Gadhavi, D 2014, Consumers attitude and purchase intention towards counterfeit of luxury brands, International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 145-162.

Pierre, V 2012, Luxury and counterfeiting: issues, challenges and prospects, Journal of Brand Management, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 541-543.

Romani, S, Gistri, G & Pace, S 2012, When counterfeits raise the appeal of luxury brands, Marketing Letters, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 807-824.

Triandewi, E & Tjiptono, F 2013, Consumer intention to buy original brands versus counterfeits, International Journal of Marketing Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 23-32.

Introduction

The symbols, names, designs, terms, or other aspects that identify good or service from a seller as unique from those of different sellers denote a brand. Brand experience underscores sensations, cognitions, emotions, and behavioural reactions induced by brand-associated stimuli that are components of identity and design of a brand, wrapping, communications, and surroundings (Neumeier, 2006, p. 18).

Originally, branding sought to distinguish the cattle of an individual from those of another by way of a characteristic mark burned into the skin of the animal using a hot iron stamp.

Branding was afterwards employed in marketing, advertising, and business (Neumeier, 2006, pp. 19-20). A current instance of branding is the Coca Cola used by the Coca-Cola Company. The most precious fixed asset to a company is its brand. A first encounter at the undergraduate dissertation briefing a month ago could make someone feel his or her heart sink at the massive books that one must read.

I went to Starbucks to have a nice coffee, took out my Apple laptop from my Zara message bag, dropped a note on Moleskine notebook using a Muji ballpoint, and noticed that brands are surrounding us. Brands actually use our emotions to divide us into numbers of tribes and choosing a brand turns out as our symbol of personal identity. Marty Neumeier has supported this view in the book, The Brand Gap.

I cannot live without brands, everything I am using is related to a specific brand, all the products or services have a label or logo on them and take over our life (Lindstrom, 2011, p. 123). After having conducted research, there is a conclusion that people cannot live without brands and thus I am interested in comprehending more about how people choose a brand. Martin Lindstrom wrote in his book, Brandwashed, that our taste preferences of a brand are firmly embedded before we were even born.

In addition, a research carried out by Yeh and McNeal found that by the age of six months, babies are able to form mental images of corporate logos and mascots (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 124-125). Besides, in what way do we choose brands (service or product) based on the taste fondness given by our parents?

Moreover, the society has in particular shifted from an economy of bunch manufacture to an economy of bunch customisation and hence our purchasing options have multiplied. In our each day lives, habitually the initial thing we arrive at in a brand is the logo (logotype or brand gap).

A study done by Meyvis along with Janiszewski found that individuals select a brand and not another due to a novel logo. Furthermore, the quality of the logo indicates the quality of the company, particularly to potential consumers who have not already had an experience with the company (Neumeier, 2006, pp. 21-22).

Nevertheless, branding does not only denote a logo design. The five different disciplines of branding that exist include validate, differentiate, innovate, and collaborate. The aforementioned five disciplines assist in creating a stage to commune with clients with the intention of manoeuvring their mentality and persuading them.

Similarly, the objective of design goal is to communicate a message, by using design principles to generate a clear idea of what a designer is trying to communicate (Neumeier, 2006, pp. 23-24). This paper will discover the resemblances between branding disciplines and design standards and to give insight into the manner in which the experience of a brand is influenced by its design.

Interview of Designer from Hong Kong

Branding process takes strategy and creativity together with sometimes there being a rift between them caused by two kinds of people that favour to use different sides of the brain. The left-brain thinking is linear, analytical, verbal, rational, numerical, and concrete. On the other side of brain, right-brain thinking is intuitive, emotional, spatial, visual, and physical. How about the reality branding process?

Therefore, I interviewed a designer Khendi Lee who is the art director of STEPWORKS creative agency, his works also gained several recognitions like D&AD 2007, Future Talent Award 2008, and Crowbar Awards 2008. He claimed that there are four stages of the branding process, viz. research, identity, testing, and brand guideline, which is familiar to the five branding disciplines, mentioned before (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 126-129).

Firstly, the initial stage is research, and it all depends on the budget. For a large company, the branding project would be very complicated. On the other hand, for a small company, it would be more simplified as they have a small team. Branding requires research strategy to build up the project and target marketing is important as it deals with the main consumer of the brand.

For example, Samsung has many products from television to mobile phones, starting with analysis of the core business of brand, vision, and mission. Different products have different target markets (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 130-132). Therefore, it is important to determine the right consumer in order to expand the business further. After collecting all these data, marketing strategy is the next. If there is a new product or new brand, finding out the disciplines of its unity helps the stage to continue.

The second stage is identifying. After modifying all the direction as well as examination, the next aspect would be brand identity where one is tangible and the other one is intangible, which is a very interesting phase for designers. The tangible factors include packaging, logo, design language, and texture (Neumeier, 2006, pp. 25-27). However, the details are not hard to apply, as the hardest would be the concept, which denotes the core idea that is the backbone to live with the brand.

For example, Apple always talks of simplicity and team difference, which are the core ideas (concept) and the backbone of the corporate. Once the concept materialises, it is simple to do the brand DNA for people to easily understand and distinguish internal concepts from external ones. 10 years ago, branding was not important but now it turned out to be different, because of story telling.

Storytelling is important for certain brands. For example, Moleskine notebook claimed that they were the legend of notebook used by Picasso but they did not actually prove it. They related the feeling when touching Moleskine notebook they made to consumers becoming creative people. Therefore, story telling would be important if it can be translated to become tangible (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 133-137).

Intangible factors include vision, mission, and tone of vocals coupled with whether a person is friendly. The tone of vocals could extend its significance to the app, Facebook, Twitter and many other applications, and thus they all have to be in the same language.

The case Study of Khendi was worked on a brand identity of education centre located in Indonesia. Firstly, he shortened the name to Yoho from Yoholala and applied the colour blue (which is always used in education institutions such as Harvard) in their logo, which made it appear old and classic (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 155-157).

In order to make it playful enough for the kids who actually are the true consumers at the study centre, he switched to using the baby blue and brought out the contrast by applying colour red, which made it stand out more. Khendi also chose to use a plus sign on the logo because it is a symbol of improvement and it acted as an increase in semiotics.

The third stage is testing. Testing would be in the way to launch the brand, which could be both internal and external if the corporate is big enough to do internal and external launch. For internal, they have to hire a focus group (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 65-66). This group of people would be interviewed and their comments collected to learn the reaction before launching the brand (product) to the community.

A good example of brand where excellent external launch was done would be Uniqlo. They hired many designers to collaborate, create noise, and invite celebrities to parties (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, p. 67). Using social media can create a lot of word-of-mouth travel to the audiences. Testing is thus very stressful for the designers as is as well significant where there is a certain time and budget allocations.

Finally yet importantly, after the launching, we come to brand guideline. It is a recommendation to pass the brand to another designer who will have a certain project, which is always to look back. Another vital thing is brand book. Though small and more relaxing, the brand book is an account of the brand telling the vision, mission and language as a way to try and make people become inspired by the brand and know their attitude.

Nonetheless, brand book might be less serious as it could be fun just like a cosmic book. Once brand guideline and brand book are ready, brand guidance is another position for branding as it keeps and protects the brand contingency. Additionally, brand management is as important as brand guidance when it comes to creating the brand unity (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 68-70).

As a result, he said that design and branding are inseparable. However, clients usually trust the marketing research more than design; therefore, it would be important to have innovation. In order to launch a successful brand, understanding the disciplines of branding and design can be integrated as needed.

Brand Experience

Many practical measurements and constructs have been built up of late in the branding literature that encompasses brand trust, brand individuality, brand attachment, brand society, and brand love (Carroll, & Ahuvia, 2006, pp. 79-81). Nonetheless, a conceptualisation and extent of gauging brand experiences is yet to be developed. Moreover, circumstances where certain experiences for products come up have been set up by study that has however largely overlooked the precise dimensional arrangement and nature of brand experiences.

Particularly, brand experience has drawn a lot of consideration in marketing practice where marketing practitioners have recognised that comprehending the brand experience by consumers is vital for extending marketing policies for products and services. Numerous trade writings have shown that present practical concepts in addition to some specific experience measurements.

Consumer and Marketing Researches

Consumer and marketing researches state that experiences come about when consumers hunt for goods and services, when they purchase them and obtain service, and when they use them (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 57-62). The following section discuses these experiences.

Product Experience

Product experience comes about when customers interact with products; for instance, when customers hunt for products, scrutinise, and assess them. Product experiences can either be direct (in situations of contact with the consumer) or indirect (in situations of offering a product virtually).

In either case, respondents are characteristically requested to reflect on an amalgamation of both indirect and direct product experiences with the aim of investigating the way the combination influences product views, attitudes, tastes, purchase intention, and recall (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 62-64).

Shopping Experience

This element takes place in circumstances where customers interact with the surroundings of a store, its employees, and its policies and carry out window shopping or real shopping. Therefore, study in this area examines the manner in which atmospheric variables as well as salespersons influence the experience. A number of articles have examined consumers interaction with salespersons coupled with how that experience influences consumers sensations, brand attitudes, and contentment (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 139-141).

Consumption Experiences

This occurs in situations where customers consume as well as make use of goods and services. Consumption experience is multidimensional and contains hedonic measurements, such as sensations, fantasies, and excitement. Lots of interpretive study based on this kind of experience evaluated hedonic aims that come about at some point during and/or following the use of products. In brief, experiences occur in a diversity of surroundings.

Most experiences come about directly when customers shop, acquire, and use products (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 142-144). Experiences as well take place indirectly, for instance, when customers are rendered to the promotion and marketing contacts, encompassing Web sites.

Conceptualising Brand Experiences

The majority of studies on experiences thus far have concentrated on utilitarian product qualities and class experiences and not on experiences presented by brands. In situations where customers pursue, purchase, and utilize brands, they are rendered to useful product aspects.

Nevertheless, customers are as well presented to a scope of precise brand-associated stimuli like brand-categorising, catchphrases, and brand nature. The brand-associated stimuli emerge as a component of a uniqueness and design of brands, wrapping, and marketing communications (for example, adverts) and in settings where the brands are sold.

The brand-associated stimuli comprise the major basis of subjective, internal customer reactions that we denote as brand experience (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 70-72). Therefore, we conceive brand experience to be individual, internal customer reactions and behavioural reactions induced by brand-associated stimuli that are component of a brands uniqueness and design, surroundings, packaging, and communications.

Further clarification of Brand Experience

Construct

The differences in brand experiences occur with respect to potency and strength; that is, a number of brand experiences tend to be stronger or more potent as compared to others. With respect to product experiences, differences in brand experiences arise in terms of valence. This denotes that various brand experiences are more beneficial as compared to others; in other cases, numerous experiences are possibly negative.

Furthermore, some brand experiences come about spontaneously devoid of much consideration and are brief; others arise more purposely and last longer (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 145-147). In due course, the long-lived brand experiences kept in customer remembrance works to influence customer faithfulness and satisfaction.

Brand Experience as compared to Brand Constructs

Distinctively, brand experience is different from the following constructs:

• Brand attachment
• Brand involvement
• Consumer satisfaction
• Brand outlooks
• Brand personality

Outlooks are general assessments derived from beliefs or automatic emotional responses. On the contrary, brand experiences do not denote general evaluative findings concerning the brand (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 148-151). They consist of particular sensations generated by particular brand-associated stimuli.

Brand experience is as well different from motivational and emotional concepts like involvement, consumer satisfaction, and brand attachment. Involvement anchors on requirements, values, and concerns that motivate a customer toward an item (for example, a brand). Contrary to involvement, brand experience is not associated with motivational stipulations. Furthermore, brands that customers are exceedingly involved with are not essentially brands that induce the greatest experiences.

Contrary to brand attachment, experiences are not emotional affiliation concept but are, as aforementioned, sensations evoked by brand-associated stimuli. Similar to brand attachment, consumer satisfaction, as typified by stimulation and positive influence, can be deemed the affective part of contentment. Contrary to consumer satisfaction, brand experiences do not arise just after consumption but they arise every time there happens to have direct or indirect contact with the brand.

At last, brand experience has variations when judged against brand image as well as brand association. Brand personality is the most researched construct of brand association (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zhang, 2008, pp. 73-76). Clients have a tendency of providing brands with personified attributes in circumstances where the brands bring about a brand personality. On the contrary, brand experiences are real sensational reactions.

Brand Experience Dimensions

Philosophical researches

In a bid to categorise aspects of brand experience some philosophers consider experience to be the interlocking of individuals and their environments. Philosophers consider the cognitive Kantian perspective of experience to be information, affirming that information is just one facet of an individuals comprehension of the globe. Besides rational experiences emanating from knowledge, brand experiences as well comprise perceiving (via senses), achieving, and feeling (Lindstrom, 2011, pp. 152-154). Furthermore, people are attached to others.

Cognitive Science

Cognitive science labours to examine psychological components, or unique purpose computational structures that react to particular environmental signals and resolve a limited class of setbacks. Four psychological components that match closely to the pleasure dimensions include sensory insight, inventiveness and reasoning, social affiliations, and feelings and sensations (Carroll, & Ahuvia, 2006, pp. 82-85).

Nevertheless, as opposed to a detached achieving unit, there prevails motor actions, and performances component of the sensory-motor unit, resembling the notion of personified cognition.

Design Element

Recognition is fundamental in a competitive market. In a state of great competition, markets are frequently saturated by a steady flow of designs and messages from several brands. Consequently, the formation and management of brand recognition becomes an essential communication objective.

There are different ways employed by different companies to realise brand recognition. One of the ways employed by companies is product design, which has been presented as a central ingredient in promoting a powerful visual brand identity and in establishing brand value (Carroll, & Ahuvia, 2006, pp. 86-89).

In this section, it is clear that design element heavily influences brand experience. Some companies have effectively articulated their brand values by means of product design. For instance, the Caterpillar brand articulates its key brand values as regards performance and comfort not just via its web site, slogan, and adverts but as well in the design element of its products.

With respect to design element, Caterpillar loaders and trucks are equipped with soft interiors in addition to dust and noise avoidance features. In addition, the well-built colour and logo design indicate that the products do well in rough conditions. The aforementioned design elements pertain to the heavy machines of the company as well as to its shoes that are intended for the consumer market (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009, pp. 52-55).

Accordingly, the core brand values of the Caterpillar Company are associated to identifiable and significant features of its designs. Additionally, recognition may be conscious or unconscious. Thus, customers can identify the product and its elements without much attentiveness of it. Design element is employed to reveal brand experience, corporate values, and to identify the distinguishing characteristics of brands of a company.

A significant foundation for exploring this concern is in the use of case studies that look at the way companies manage their tactical design effort. Such a study illustrates the significance of design element that creates a link amid the core potential of the company, its policy, and brand image. Design element can be instrumental in establishing visual identifiable designs that articulate the core values of the brand.

Intentional Communication

Design element is a significant media employed by companies in communicating core brand values in a bid to generate brand experience. The articulation of brand value must be conducted in a harmonised manner so that every communication modes convey an intensive brand communication to consumers.

This holistic perspective implies that design and branding are intertwined and they together bring about a commanding mix of connections that give rise to the core brand values. If design elements give rise to the required communication, additional forms, such as advertising, could be utilised more successfully and efficiently.

The link between the design element and brand experience is anchored in more than recurred exposure. The recognition of products as components of a brand is reliant on visual manifestation, which can hold a set of connections of its own (Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012, pp. 1-11). Therefore, the design elements are a direct embodiment of (interconnected) brand and product relationships, able to communicate core brand values in their own unique way.

Hence, product design can play a key role as an unrelenting reminder of the core values of a brand. Every product can be observed as uttering something via their design, deliberately or by chance, actively or passively. The intentional approach of design is the one of a strategic action, involved in the way things should to be, and formulating artefacts to achieve goals (Hanna, & Rowley, 2011, pp. 458-466).

Design carries the potential to steer tactical innovation based on a design philosophy that includes a stylistic identity (anchored in value-founded design elements) as well as core design principles (a consistent set of values regarding the advance to design by a company). It is crucial that design philosophy co-advances with other forces to assist designers associate their work to major concerns of competition in addition to market positioning.

Case Selection

The choice of two cases was anchored in purposive sampling to ensure that the cases were consciously selected and judged on a theoretically prepared distinction. Particularly, this move aimed at finding companies that consider design element as a crucial instrument for ensuring visual brand recognition in a bid to influence brand experience. Nokia has turned out to be a universal leader in cell phones, amid other things due to the strong emphasis on the design element as a competitive aspect (Schmitt, 2003, pp. 97-101).

More significantly, the wealth of implications assigned to cell phones and their link to Nokia brand identity resulted in the continued success of the company. At the start of the 1990s, there was already a declaration from the Nokia design policy that Nokia products are recognisable and global and include soft design language.

Volvo has gone through a planned renewal progression from the 1990s to 2000s, which has been an outstanding process where design has played a significant role. Some articles and studies in the automotive press focussed on the steady and significant relation involving new design course of Volvo and heritage and brand values of the company. For instance, the S80 model launched in 1998 won the European Automotive Design Award (EADA) the following year (voted by certified car designers as well as design learners from 33 nations).

Volvo S80 represented a radical modification without affecting the stability of Volvo design. The design endeavours of both Nokia and Volvo were extensive. Therefore, the two cases clearly illustrate the influence of design element on brand experience (Batra, Ahuvia, & Bagozzi, 2012, pp. 12-16).

Branding and Design Element

As products and services continue to serve as sensational expressions for customers, design element has appeared as a significant strategic benefit for numerous companies.

Design is a clear foundation of differentiation. Additionally, design element has turned out to be a significant factor for branding; not just because aesthetically pleasant products and services compete better short attention extent of the for customers, but as well because design might serve as the unified aspect for every element that constitutes a brand experience (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009, pp. 55-58).

Customers can comprehend what a brand signifies, and what it accomplishes for them if every one of its brand elements is constant. This constancy is attainable through design. The brand has to steer the design. A strong integration must link design and brand management.

Nevertheless, regardless of the fact that recently both branding and design have turned out to be strategic for corporations, brands have developed into being vital organisational assets and design, through promoting product aesthetics. Brands have also been revealed to create positive influences on customer inclination and organisational performance.

Branding and design management

Brands have turned out to be tactical assets for numerous organisations and rise beyond the services or products they assist recognise. Brands are strategic grounds for companies to interact with their clients, and are considered as emotional concepts that decrease observed threat, offer worth, and exemplify an entire experience. In this regard, brands must capture the anticipations of and signify the set of assurances for every one of its target sections, hence turning the brand into a collection of implications.

Design has a key role in generating consistency within the collection of the meanings of a brand. On the other hand, design management denotes a holistic course of formation and judgment making that boosts both professional and strategic choices (Hanna, & Rowley, 2011, pp. 467-470). The effectiveness of design management relies on the way it aligns with other managerial roles.

By incorporating design management with building of the brand and New Product Development (NPD) practices, it turns out to be easier to extend services and products that create positive relations with the consumer. Thus, customer-centred design is rising as the best practice in numerous sectors and market research practices that assist translating statistics into sensory dimensions.

Design acts as a device for generating intense, combined brand experiences. Given that visual representations have gained greater significance in the market than words, brands are carrying symbolic signs that centre on the formation of experiences and influences.

Since artistically attractive product designs initiate positive brand assessments, aid product and brand classification, and promote customer relations, the artistic characteristics of design can assist build satisfiers in the customers experimental worlds that are capable of generating loyalty and a feeling of exclusiveness or eminence. In short, artistic aspects present benefit for the consumer and create positive results on organisational performance (Schmitt, 2003, pp. 102-105).

Despite the fact that little effort has been applied in this field, design and artistic aspects have been recognised as tactical tools for companies to acquire a competitive advantage. There is an agreement amongst designers and marketers that design must be combined with other organisational tasks, as it appears to be a daily more critical element in the pursuit of building a distinguished brand.

Brand design management

Design should be part of a companys business policy, engaged from the initial steps of the New Product Development process, and must eventually reflect on the philosophy or briefing of a company (Schmitt, 2003, pp. 106-118). As a way of coordinating practices within the novelty process of a company, design controls innovation at both functioning and strategic levels. The four major activities that constitute innovation policy include:

• Concept generation
• Design strategy
• Resource procurement
• Implementation

Concept generation

Concept generation involves the gathering of external and internal ideas and stimuli.

The commencement of the design progression involves analysing the manner in which design can be engaged in the creation of fresh ideas, the description of new product impressions, the marketing practice, and with different organisational tasks and departments. At least sixty-one ideas must be approved to be necessary prior to a product finally gaining authorisation in the market (Hanna, & Rowley, 2011, pp. 471-476). It is the responsibility of designers to define concepts and make them clear for the entire organisation.

Design strategy

This aspect consists of examining the function of design within the company, growth of new products, and branding policies of the firm. As a strategy, design can assume three stages of participation in the business policy (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009, pp. 59-62). For instance, design can be the head of the entire NPD progression where design is perceived as the chief driver of novelty and designers direct the entire development progression of the offering.

Resources

Resources serve to identify the way external and internal design groups are exercised, the way existing requirements are managed to increase human resources, and the way information is generated, utilised, and protected (Schmitt, 2003, pp. 109-110).

Implementation

This activity denotes the execution and completion of the design progression. It permits measuring the extent of innovation that design brings about within the company, comprehending the way different design progressions are organised, and assessing design and its outcomes for the company.

Given that the innovation process could be costly and time-consuming due to unanticipated technical and market hitches that may arise, it is vital that the design be accurately engaged in the NPD progression to decrease the effect of these situations (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009, pp. 63-68). The accomplishment of this activity relies mainly on the integration of the entire organisational tasks.

Conclusion

In this paper, brand experience has been regarded as sensations, cognitions, emotions, and behavioural reactions induced by brand-associated stimuli that are components of identity and design of a brand, wrapping, communications, and surroundings. The five different disciplines of branding mentioned include validate, differentiate, innovate, and collaborate. The five disciplines assist in creating a stage to commune with clients with the intention of controlling their mentality and persuading them.

This paper discovers the resemblances between branding disciplines and design standards gives insight into the manner in which the experience of a brand is subject to design element. During an interview of a designer from Hong Kong, it was clear that there exist four stages of the branding process, which include research, identity, testing, and brand guideline. Lots of practical capacities and constructs have been built up of late in the branding literature.

The effectiveness of design management relies on the way it aligns with other managerial roles. It is clear that design element heavily influences brand experience. Additionally branding and design are inseparable. Some companies have effectively articulated their brand values by means of product design. For instance, the Caterpillar brand articulates its key brand values as regards performance and comfort not just via its web site, slogan, and adverts but as well in the design element of its products.

Design element is useful in revealing brand experience, corporate values, and identifying the distinguishing characteristics of brands of a company. The differences in brand experiences occur with respect to potency and strength, viz. a number of brand experiences tend to be stronger or more potent as compared to others. This paper presents two instances of companies (Nokia and Volvo) that have tactically used design to generate visual identification for their products.

In these two instances, it was clear that the companies took intentional and strategic attempts to interpret their core brand values to a design attitude. The design philosophies of these companies specified some design values and design elements to be employed in the design of their products. Management of this process allowed managers of both companies to generate strategic judgments over the kind, strength, and generality of the interconnection between design elements and brand experiences.

The design attempts of the two companies in creating visual recognition hinged on a constant renewal of the link between brand value and design elements. The findings from this study can be utilised as a foundation for further research on the role of design in innovation progressions and NPD. In this regard, further research could, for example, consider companies that lack such a strong concentration on design as a tactical instrument as the one in the case of Nokia and Volvo.

References

Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2012). Brand Love. Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 1-16.

Brakus, J., Schmitt, B., & Zarantonello, L. (2009). Brand experience: What is it? How is it measured? Does it affect loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 73(3), 52-68.

Brakus, J., Schmitt, J., & Zhang, S. (2008). Experiential Attributes and Consumer Judgments. In B. H. Schmitt, & D. Rogers (Eds.), Handbook on Brand and Experience Management (pp. 57-76). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Carroll, B. A., & Ahuvia, A. (2006). Some Antecedents and Outcomes of Brand Love. Marketing Letters, 17(2), 7989.

Hanna, S., & Rowley, J. (2011). Towards a strategic place brand-management model. Journal of Marketing Management 27(6), 458-476.

Lindstrom, M. (2011). Brandwashed: Tricks companies use to manipulate our minds and persuade us to buy. New York, NY: Crown Business.

Neumeier, M. (2006). The brand gap: How to bridge the distance between business strategy and design: a whiteboard overview. San Francisco, CA: Peachpit Press.

Schmitt, B. H. (2003). Customer Experience Management. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Introduction

Nowadays, there are too many similar products in the same market. Hence, competition is high in the contemporary market. Besides, for some products, it is hard for customers to determine the right products to use since a majority of the customers do not have any outstanding popular brand. For any business or company to outdo others in the modern market, it has to make sure that it positions its brand in a way that it attracts customers and stands out from other brands (Aaker & Keller, 2005).

The brand should be in a position to draw customers attention. Brand presents the product image and sometimes it tells a story about the product. Businesses use numerous strategies to enhance brand experience including visual advertisement, audio advertisement, and a combination of both the visual and audio advertisement (Aaker & Keller, 2005). All these strategies contribute to the enhancement of brand experience in different ways.

Advertisement departments have understood the role of visual advertisement in enhancing brand experience. The departments have realised that people are able to interpret and retain visual messages at a higher rate relative to other forms of messages.

Therefore, consumers are likely to understand and remember a brand if it is advertised through visual method (Grossman, 2003). Besides, understanding and remembering the brands image, visual advertisement, if well designed triggers the emotions of the target consumers making them attached to the brand.

Not all aspects of a brand can be advertised visually. Hence, organisations also use audio communication to capture those aspects that visual advertisement does not capture. Audio advertisement is one of the channels that spur peoples mood. Use of music in brand advertisement helps in energising the customers spirit, therefore, luring them to try the brand. Besides, the music makes the target audience develop a positive perception towards the company.

Combining audio and visual aspects of communication in a brand advertisement gives an organisation an upper hand. It not only makes consumers understand the brand but it also makes them retain the experience of the brand for a long time. Even though visual communication might help the target audience to understand the intended message, the communication might fail to inspire or trigger emotional thoughts, which are crucial in making sure that the audience responds to the message (Aaker & Keller, 2005).

Hence, inclusion of sound in a visual communication helps to inspire the target audience and encourage them to associate with the brand. There is a strong synergy between visual and sound communication in brand management. The sound cues included in an audio communication serves to convey additional information, which the visual communication does not offer (Juslin, 2001). Consequently, it makes the target audience understand the brand better.

The combination of visual and audio aspects in a brand enhancement strategy facilitates in arousing positive attitude towards the brand and draws the attention of the target consumers. Hence, the two modes of advertisement compliment each other to enhance brand experience. Without the two, an organisation would not be able to capture all aspects of communication that are critical in brand enhancement. This paper will look at how both visual and sound might facilitate to enhance brand experience.

Visual importance

Physiological and emotional changes

What we see have significant influence on our emotions, our reactions, and they define whom we are. We continually familiarise with our surroundings through experimentation and experience. According to a research conducted by Albert Mehrabian, a psychologist, the majority of the advertisements are nonverbal.

The reason behind this assertion is that people process visual advertisements at a higher rate relative to textual advertisements. Additional studies have proved than the human brain decodes pictorial presentations concurrently, while language or text is interpreted in a sequential and linear manner and it requires time (Grossman, 2003, p.193).

Human beings are genetically conditioned to react in a different way to images relative to texts. For instance, people have an inherent tendency to prefer big images that depict open landscapes since they trigger a sense of contentment and well-being. During the process of child development, the child begins by seeing things before it can learn to speak.

Unless the brands ideas, words, and concepts are attached to an image, they are likely to go through one ear of the customer and exit through the other (Grossman, 2003, p.193). According to psychologists, human being processes words using a short-term memory. Hence, only few words are retained making it hard for customers to retain texts.

The same visual constituents that we are permanently attracted to and we swiftly absorb not only pass across data more effectively and efficiently but also have significant impacts on our emotions. For example, a research has proved that when people are exposed to red colour for a long duration, their breathing and pulse rates go up (Grossman, 2003, p.194).

Today, many people go by the saying seeing is believing. Even though some of the images we se might be altered, the fact remains that images are more persuasive. The same applies in the business world. Brand images facilitate in persuading consumers to associate with the brand. According to Grossman (2003, p.191), Visual communication is more ubiquitous than ever before. Images do what words alone cannot do.

They affect the audience both emotionally and cognitively. Images increase and accelerate the rate of communication. Visual clues included in brand advertisement help the target consumers decipher the text (Keller, 2003). Moreover, they draw the consumers attention increasing their chances of retaining the conveyed message.

Visual presentations affect or enhance attitudes and emotions and graphics normally trigger our imagination and stimulate other areas of our brains, which heighten our creativity (Keller, 2003, p. 596). When a person becomes creative, one is capable of understanding the presented information and retaining it. In most cases, people make decisions based on their emotions (Keller, 2003). Emotions play a significant role in learning, perceptions, and in the decision-making process.

Besides, they significantly affect the system of cogent thinking. According to behaviour psychologists, emotions and intuitive judgment significantly influence our decisions (Keller, 2003). Hence, the images organisations show to their audience influence their decisions. The images affect the emotions of the target audience, which in return influence their decision-making.

Graphics facilitate to establish brand identity. Images bring out the picture of advertisers. In addition, they show what the advertisers believe in and stand for, and how it might be of help to the audience (Keller, 2003). Since graphics have the ability to influence the audience, they act as strong selling entities.

How an institution uses its visuals determines how the audience views the institution as well as its staff. Research has proved that graphics have a significant effect on the audiences understanding of the issue at hand and, by extension the presenter.

The audiences perception of the presented idea, attitude towards the idea and the presenter, and their emotional state greatly influences the decisions made by the audience (Keller, 2003). Definitely, visual presentation has a great impact on the decisions made by the target audience. Organisations that make good use of visual images in advertising their brands are able to overcome competition.

Case study

Organisations understand the role played by visual advertisements in enhancing brand image and brand experience. This element underlines the reasons why organisations spend billions of dollars yearly to come up with the most appropriate images to help sell their ideas, services, or products (Keller, 2003, p.599).

Every year, organisations spend heavily in visual advertisements with an aim to enhance brand identity and increase their customer base. A case where visual communication has significantly facilitated in enhancing brand experience is in Coca Colas advertisement in India. For a long time, the Coca-Cola Company was out of the Indian market (Kadri, 2006).

When the company resumed into this market, it had to come up with measures to overcome competition and attract more customers, which prompted the company to embark on visual communication since it was easy for the locals to decipher. The company came up with a Thanda print advertisement depicting a truck driver cooling the trucks radiator with water using a coke bottle (Kadri, 2006).

The advertisement was portrayed in a way that it acknowledged the local people, therefore, making the consumers perceive that the company recognises them and wishes to relate with them. This advertisement went a long way in helping the Coca-Cola Company regain its glory in the Indian market.

Source: Kadri, 2006.

Brand experience benefit

Visual advertisement has numerous benefits to the company with respect to brand enhancement. One of the benefits a company accrues from visual advertisement is the establishment of a strong relationship with customers. Most of the current strong brands were once novel in the market. Through advertisements, the customers increasingly get to know the brand and become loyal to the brand leading to the establishment of a strong relationship (Keller, 2003).

Visual advertisement helps consumers recall the brand whenever they come across it. This element facilitates in cutting down on the advertisement cost as well as overcoming competition. Once the customers become loyal to a brand, it is hard for a rival company to convince them to abandon the brand and start using a new brand. Hence, visual advertisement relives a company from the cost of having to advertise its brand all the time.

Apart from customer retention, visual advertisement leads to numerous customers knowing the brand therefore increasing the sales volume of an organisation (Keller, 2003). When customers get satisfied with any brand, they always go back for the brand. Besides, the return customers lure their friends to use the same brand, which helps the respective company to expand its customer base thus promoting sales growth.

Sound Importance

Physiological and emotional changes

A strong brand identity is normally viewed in terms of the brand logo, name, and stylish package design. All these perceptions involve visual sense. Nonetheless, this view does not describe what actually comprises a strong brand identity. For brand identity to be strong, it has to consider all the five senses that human being uses to identify with everything that surrounds him (Lindstrom, 2011).

It is hard for an organisation to incorporate the senses of touch and taste in brand identity. Nevertheless, some companies like Singapore Airlines have managed to incorporate the sense of smell in their brand identity strategy.

Currently, organisations are focusing on sound as the alternative method of enhancing brand experience. Sound can be classified into three groups, which are ambiance, voice, and music. Voice is any sound made by a human being. Ambiance refers to any sound made by our environment, such as the sound made by machines (Lindstrom, 2011, p. 89). Music is any sound made by combining instrumental sounds and vocals. Music plays a significant role to enhance brand experience.

While visual, touch, or taste features of a product requires customers to have direct contact with the product for them to understand the brand, sound feature is a good channel for reaching customers without them having to do anything (Lindstrom, 2011).

People are exposed to sounds at all time and they are not required to do something to hear the sounds. Besides, human beings are exposed to sounds long before they are born. This exposure helps them learn to interpret different sounds and decipher their meanings. Besides, sounds affect peoples mood thus making them to feel sleepy, energised, sad, or happy.

The sound used in brand advertisement might lead to the target audience being energised or looking down upon the brand. Using an attractive music to advertise a brand leads to the target audience being keen to understand the brand (Lindstrom, 2011). Besides, the music makes the target audience develop a positive perception towards the company, and makes them wish to go a step further to understand the brand.

Music inspires people and makes them attentive. Hence, using music to advertise a brand might help the company to draw the attention of many consumers and make the brand known to many (Juslin, 2001). Psychologists have proved that people strongly relate music to specific memories.

Hence, sound has the ability to make consumers recall specific experiences, which underlines the reason why organisations are turning to sound as one of the strategies of enhancing brand experience. Using a unique sound like music to advertise a particular brand would go a long way to make sure that customers remember the brand whenever the song is played. Using sound to enhance brand experience helps customers to distinguish the brand from others (Juslin, 2001).

Sound not only helps customers remember the brand, but also helps the customers learn something about the company. Hence, organisations position their sounds in a way that makes them stand out from others. For instance, they look for the most attractive music in terms of melody and ensure that the music is of high quality. In this way, consumers perceive the company to offer quality products by the mere nature of the quality of their brand advertisement.

The influence of music in brand enhancement is indisputable (Juslin, 2001). Music spurs an emotional reaction and, therefore, it quickly establishes client identification with a brand. Music, as a constituent of an inclusive brand management has a high emotional effect across all the target groups and it can be used in different ways.

For instance, organisations can use logo sounds, incorporate music in radio advertisements, use background music in stores, and incorporate on-hold music in their telephones (Juslin, 2001). This assertion implies that music is everywhere and is a viable method of enhancing organisational brand.

Case study

Many companies are now using music as one of the methods of enhancing brand awareness. Today, companies use customised play lists that add value to products or services they offer. Music can facilitate to relay a message to target customers if done correctly and at the right time (Juslin, 2001).

Currently, most of the American companies have understood the role played by audio branding in brand enhancement and are now turning to music as one of their brand enhancement strategies. Since 1934, Muzak, a United States company has been producing functional music to facilitate in brand enhancement (Juslin, 2001).

The company comes up with background music that the consumer is expected to recognise at a subconscious level. The music creates a serene atmosphere and cheers up customers. With time, the company has transformed its background music to reflect certain lifestyles and identity based on consumer demand. Companies use this music to establish a cooperative environment with their customers.

Brand experience benefit

One of the benefits of sound in brand experience is that it facilitates in retention of the brand in the mind of the target audience. People have the tendency of remembering sounds like music and associating them with specific phenomena (McEnally & De Chernatony, 1999).

Hence, when an institution uses sound or music to communicate its brand to the target audience, the audience always remembers the brand whenever they hear the music or music with similar melody is played. This aspect implies that an organisation does not have to incur an extra cost in advertising its brand every now and then like other methods of brand enhancement requires.

Sound may help an organisation to tap into idle brand potential. For instance, an organisation can use sound like music to create emotions and differentiate its idle brands, therefore, enhancing the brand identity and improving the performance of these brands in the market.

Music arouses an emotional feeling in the target consumers (McEnally & De Chernatony, 1999). Hence, an institution might use it to trigger an emotion towards a product or service that is not performing well in the market, which would make consumers identify with the product or service.

In the process, the respective organisation would enhance its brand in the market by making sure that consumers identify with all its products or services. By using sounds and melodies that are instantly recognisable, an organisation would be able to round off its brand identity in a unique way. Some of these sounds might include audio logo, brand song, the jingle, and soundscape (McEnally & De Chernatony, 1999).

Combining visual and sound

Association

Combining of visual and sound communication to enhance brand experience goes a long way not only to promote understanding and awareness among the target consumers but also to make sure that the consumers retain the image of the brand (Eimer, 1999).

When communicating, it is easier to do it on a face-to-face context than through email. Visual or sound communication alone has particular shortcomings that might jumble the message or lead to misunderstanding (McEnally & De Chernatony, 1999). The combination of visual and sound communication helps to boost the likelihood of the audience understanding the message.

Even though visual communication might help the target audience to understand the intended message, the communication might fail to inspire or trigger emotional thoughts, which are crucial in making sure that the audience responds to the message. Hence, inclusion of sound in a visual communication helps to inspire the target audience and encourage them to associate with the brand.

Companies include sound in a visual communication to create the fundamental argument. Some of the images the organisations use in the advertisement campaigns carry deeper meaning than they portray (Eimer, 1999). However, a majority of the consumers do not decipher the inner meaning of the advertisement. In such an instance, inclusion of sound facilitates in inspiring the consumers to be impulsive and to take the initiative to pursue that what they desire.

There is a strong synergy between visual and sound communication in brand management. The sound cues included in an audio communication serves to convey additional information, which the visual communication does not offer.

Consequently, it makes the target audience understand the brand better. According to Eimer (1999), visual and auditory stimuli compete for audiences attention because of humans limitation on processing multiple sources of information&the tradeoff between attentional resource allocations across sensory channels implies that audio-visual information promotes a stronger brand experience (p. 1252).

A study by Mayer and Moreno (2002), found that students that employed audiovisual techniques in analysing data did well than those that used only visual or audio technique. The study proved that combining visual and sound techniques in any form of communication boosts understanding. The same case applies to brand enhancement. Combination of visual and audio communication in an advertisement facilitates in enhancing brand experience.

Inclusion of both audio and visual elements in a message facilitates to elicit positive attitude in the target audience. In most cases, visual communication is not inspiring (Mayer & Moreno, 2002). Hence, the target audience might not take any interest in a visual message even if it targets them. On the other hand, most of the audio messages are crafted in a manner that they are captivating.

Consequently, the combination of visual and audio aspects in a brand enhancement strategy facilitates in arousing positive attitude towards the brand and draws the attention of the target consumers. Attitude is critical in determining the consumer behaviour (Mayer & Moreno, 2002). If consumers develop a negative attitude towards a particular advertisement, they are likely not to take the initiative to understand the brand the advertisement is propagating.

On the other hand, if the advertisement invokes positive attitude in the audience, it is likely to take the initiative to understand the brand even more (Mayer & Moreno, 2002). Therefore, the ability by audio communication to elicit positive attitude within the audience facilitate to reinforce a visual communication in an advertisement, therefore, enhancing brand experience.

Case study

Currently, organisations are turning to audiovisual mode of communication to advertise their products or services. Businesses are learning the benefits of including sounds in pictorial or textual messages. Sounds trigger the emotions making the target audience take an extra step to achieve what it desires. Hence, including sounds in a pictorial brand advertisement makes the target consumers desire to know more about the brand (Mayer & Moreno, 2002). In the process, an organisation manages to make its brand known to the public.

One of the organisations that are currently using audiovisual communication is the Nike Company. The company teamed up with Dazed Digital Magazine to come up with an audiovisual advertisement dubbed Nike FIELD. The advertisement incorporates digital technology, music, and human action.

The main objective of introducing this audiovisual communication was to help the Nike Company advertise its sportswear brand (Vong, 2012). The advertisement is interactive and allows its viewers to change the colour and direction of the images. By making the advertisement fascinating, Nike Company has managed to popularise its sportswear across the globe. Today, many people have the perception that the company produces the best quality of sportswear as evidenced by their preference by most of the sports personnel.

Brand experience benefit

The main brand experience benefit accrued from audiovisual communication is that the communication facilitates in enhancing brand awareness. As earlier noted, people are capable of deciphering images faster than sounds or texts. Hence, incorporating the two in an advertisement creates a basic argument (Muehling, 2000).

The two helps in bringing out the deeper meaning of the advertisement that a single mode of communication could not bring out. Consequently, audiovisual communication makes the target audience understand the brand better than they could when using a single mode of communication. Emotions influence the consumer decision-making process (Muehling, 2000).

Consequently, for consumers to like a particular brand, its advertisement should be able to arouse their emotions. Audiovisual advertisements have the capacity to trigger the emotions of the target consumers thus making them use the brand. Either the sound or the visual component of the advertisement is positioned in an attractive manner drawing the attention of the consumers.

Besides bringing out the deeper meaning of the brand and triggering emotions within the consumers, audiovisual communication facilitates in retention of the conveyed message. According to study conducted by the United States Department of Labour, people retain 10 percent and 35 percent of information relayed through audio and visual channels respectively.

However, after combining the two modes of communication, people retain 65 percent of the information (Muehling, 2000). The fact that audiovisual communication facilitate in information retention makes it the most appropriate method of brand advertisement. Using this mode of advertisement helps in making sure that the consumers remember the brand for a long time. Hence, the method facilitate in enhancing brand experience.

Applying the benefits of sound and visual to enhance brand experience

According to Keller (2003, p. 595), Brand experience is associated with the strength of a brand node in memory, as reflected in the consumers ability to identify the brand under different conditions. There is a common belief that brand experience entails two dimensions. The fist dimension is brand recognition, which is a cognitive process and it entails easy salvage.

The second dimension is brand remembrance, which comes when a consumer is able to elucidate a brand-motivation that is not physically available. Combining visual and sound communication in a brand advertisement campaign facilitates to enhance brand experience in that it boosts the consumers ability to recognise and distinguish the brand from others (Keller, 2003). Different brands may use almost similar sounds in their advertisements.

Consequently, using sound alone in brand advertisement might lead to the consumers getting confused. Nevertheless, different brands cannot use similar images in their brand advertisements. The fact that people are able to decipher and retain pictorial messages more than textual or sound messages implies that inclusion of images in brand advertisement would help consumers distinguish the brand from others whenever they come across it.

Currently, consumers identify the brands of most of the popular companies through their logos. For instance, people identify the Nike Company with the tick sign it uses as its logo. Even if companies like Adidas happen to use audio messages resembling those of Nike Company to advertise its sportswear, consumers would be able to distinguish the two because of the difference in their logos (Wilbum, 2006).

Hence, a combination of visual and sound elements in a communication helps to enhance brand experience since the two boosts brand recognition. Whenever the target audience hears a certain sound, they attribute it to a particular brand, and to make sure that the sound belongs to that brand, they use the brands image. In other words, visual and sound compliment each other to enhance brand experience.

People develop image awareness at an early age. For instance, when a child is six months old, it can develop mental images of different items and remember the items whenever it comes across the images (Ji, 2002). The same happens to brand awareness. Inclusion of visual components in an audio advertisement helps the target audience develop mental images of the particular brand.

As time goes by, the image is implanted in their mind. Hence, whenever the consumers come across the image, it reminds them about the brand. One of the best areas where audiovisual advertisement would be of great importance in enhancing brand experience is when advertising children products. Ji (2002) posits, Children will instinctively favour a particular brand due to the connection or relationship they had formed as a child (p. 369).

Hence, a combination of sound and visual presentations might go a long way to enhance brand experience among the children. Introducing children to sounds or images of a particular brand at an early age would help an organisation enhance the brand experience among the children. This aspect would ensure that the children continue using the brand even at their later age.

Audiovisual advertisements do not only help in enhancing brand awareness but they also help in establishing an interactive environment between the organisation and the target consumers. In the process, the interaction might be switched into an exclusive and steady event-experience for customers across all the touchpoints of the particular brand (Travis, 2000). The combination of audio and visual elements in a brand advertisement helps the company play around with the emotional responses of the target audience.

This element helps to promote an intricate buying behaviour within the consumers. Music is one of the major audio components that evoke emotions within the consumers. Hence, organisations are continuously integrating music into most of their visual advertisements (Travis, 2000). According to Beeching and Flemmings (2005), music helps the advertisers establish an experience where consumers relate with brands at their own pleasure.

Beeching and Flemmings (2005) posit that audiovisual communication helps in differentiating a brand from others. By targeting consumers through audiovisual advertisement, companies are able to do away with challenges of brand differentiation. Currently, visual marketing dominates the society. Demographic approach in the market is inclined towards visual advertisements.

Most of the advertisers design their messages based on how they wish the target market to perceive the message visually (Travis, 2000). The advertisers fail to understand the role that sound plays in influencing consumer decisions. Including sound in a visual advertisement, helps to capture the values that consumers wish to see in a brand. Hence, inclusion of sounds like music in a visual advertisement enhances brand experience and gives the brand a competitive edge.

Case study

In response to the challenges encountered in the brand enhancement campaigns, there has emerged a novel technique in the field of brand advertisement. Currently, organisations are embracing sonic branding as the most recent mode of enhancing brand awareness. Sonic branding technique combines both visual and sound elements in brand advertisements. Nevertheless, the technique put more weight on sound elements than on visual (Levie & Lentz, 2004).

Sonic brand employ sound as the channel for communicating the importance of a brand. It focuses on brand identity and it tries to persuade consumers to purchase the particular brand. This technique tries to revolutionise the role of sound in brand advertisement by cutting down on the level of brands reliance on visual communication. The technique uses sound to transmit the brands value while using visual elements like texts to capture the consumers attention creatively.

One of the core values behind brand identity is uniqueness. For a brand to withstand competition, it has to be unique and to stand out from others in the market. Sonic branding employs sound and visual elements to introduce the brand and to spur interest within the consumers (Levie & Lentz, 2004).

The technique uses music to present a brand in a way that it captures the personality of the target consumers, which facilitates to differentiate the brand from others, makes the brand unique, and easy for consumers to remember. Garnier ^TM is one of the companies that have used sonic branding technique to enhance brand experience. The company has a sonic logo that uses a unique sound, which makes the consumer perceive the companys brand as unique, honest, and memorable.

Conclusion

Currently, there is stiff competition among numerous brands in the market. Every company is using all the available means to position its brand in a unique way.

With most of the companies using advertisement to differentiate their brands and to enhance brand experience, it has turned out that combining visual and sound elements in a brand advertisement campaign would go a long way to enhance brand experience.

Each of these elements plays a unique role in the enhancement of brand experience. What we see has a significant influence on our reactions, emotions and it defines us.

People normally decipher images at a higher rate than sounds. Moreover, they are able to retain the images for a longer period and to recall whenever they come across the images. In addition, images affect our attitudes and emotions triggering creativity. Hence, inclusion of visual elements in a campaign aimed to enhance brand experience would facilitate in heightening chances of consumers to understand and remember the brand for a long time.

On the other hand, sound plays a significant role to enhance brand experience. Sounds like music affect the mood of the target audience. The sound might energise or demoralise them. The sway of music in brand enhancement is indisputable. Music spurs an emotional reaction. Therefore, it quickly establishes client identification with a brand. Music as one of the components of brand management strategy helps to capture the emotions of the target group.

Since emotions play a significant role in the decision-making process, capturing the emotions of the target audience increases the possibility of the audience to associate with the brand. Psychologists have proved that people strongly relate music with specific memories. Hence, sound has the ability to make consumers recall specific experiences. This aspect underlines the reason why organisations are turning to sound as one of the strategies of enhancing brand experience.

By combining visual and sound elements in a brand advertisement campaign, a company improves the chances of enhancing brand experience. The two elements facilitate to establish a basic argument. While consumers are capable of deciphering images and retaining them in their memories for a long time, sound helps to inspire and arouse emotions of the target audience.

Once the target audience is aroused emotionally, it takes the initiative to understand the particular brand, which might be by trying the brand. In the process of using a brand, the target consumer might experience and like it thus being loyal to the brand.

Combining visual and audio aspects in brand awareness campaign might help to establish an interactive environment between the organisation and the target consumers. In the process, this interactive environment might be transformed into a steady and unique event-experience for customers making them understand and embrace the brand.

The combination of audio and visual elements in a brand advertisement helps the company play around with the emotional responses of the target audience. This element influences them in their decision-making process luring them to use the brand. If sound and visual elements are blended well, they might help in bringing out the brand quality. Consumers associate advertisement with brand quality. Hence, a high quality advertisement depicts the brand as of high quality increasing the chances of the consumers using the brand.

References

Aaker, D., & Keller, K. (2005). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 2741.

Beeching, M., & Flemmings, J. (2005). Dont tell  Brand experience is the new marketing imperative. Web.

Eimer, M. (1999). Can attention be directed to opposite locations in different modalities: An ERP study. Clinical Neurophysiology, 110(7), 12521259.

Grossman, R. (2003). Branding in advertising: Developing effective associations. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 6(3), 191201.

Ji, M. (2002). Childrens relationships with brands: True Love or One Night Stand? Psychology and Marketing, 19(4), 369  387.

Juslin, P. (2001). Music and Emotion: Theory and Research (Series in Affective Science). Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford.

Kadri, M. (2006). Visual communication of Coca Cola in India as a site of mediation between global and local factors. Web.

Keller, K. (2003). Brand synthesis: The multidimensionality of brand knowledge. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(4), 595600.

Levie, W., & Lentz, R. (2004). Effects of text illustrations: A review of research. Educational Communications and Technology Journal, 30(4), 195-232.

Lindstrom, M. (2011). Brandwashed: tricks companies use to manipulate our minds and persuade us to buy. London, UK: Crown Business.

Mayer, R., & Moreno, R. (2002). Aids to computer-based multimedia learning. Learning and Instruction, 12(1), 10719.

McEnally, M., & De Chernatony, L. (1999). The evolving nature of branding: Consumer and managerial considerations. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 199(2), 130.

Muehling, D. (2000). Comparative advertising: The influence of attitude-toward-the-ad on brand evaluation. Journal of Advertising, 16(4), 439.

Travis, D. (2000). Emotional branding: how successful brands gain the irrational edge. London, UK: Crown Business.

Vong, K. (2012). Dazed Digital and Nike FIELD project incorporates human action. Web.

Wilbum, M. (2006). Managing the customer experience: a measurement-based approach. New York, NY: ASQ Quality Press.

Driving Forces: Liz Claiborne, Inc.

Liz Claiborne is a name popular in the apparel and fashion business. The brand speaks for itself. Its growth has been unprecedented that can be attributed to several factors. The firm has a different type of business strategy: it manufactures products through subcontracting companies throughout the world. Claibornes managers occupy two buildings in New York while their workers are working in factories in more than thirty countries worldwide. But there is more to this that has attributed to the firms successes in the past.

During World War II, Liz Claiborne fled the Nazis to study art and to start a career in the apparel and fashion industry. Her special design was for the American working women so they could have an alternative to the traditional dark tailored suits. She introduced a classic style for women that would last for years with a price that is not exorbitant. (Siggelkow 55)

Liz Claiborne had the urge and the motivation. While working in a company that manufactured sportswear, she thought she could do more.

It was not only sportswear that she had in mind, it was something formal that the ordinary American woman could wear, be comfortable of her clothing and be proud about it. She worked for her dream, i.e. to make a powerful brand that would empower the working, professional women who are left with no other choice but to wear the traditional dresses not fit for the modern American woman.

An initial driving force of Liz Claiborne was the emerging demographic at the time she founded her company; this was the working women of America. In 1960, there was an estimated 21.9 million American women working in different industries. This was an ever growing working class because by the 1990s, it grew to 53.5 million, an equivalent of 45 percent of the working class of America. (Siggelkow 54)

Ms. Claiborne had noted the lack of choice the working American woman had at that time when it came to career clothing. The young Liz was then a designer of womens sportswear in a company known as Youth Guild.

She knew that the market segment of the working American women was growing and that she had to grab the opportunity because she felt she had a role to play with respect to fashion and apparel for American women. When Youth Guild closed down, Ms. Claiborne saw a greater opportunity.

Along with her husband Arthur Ortenberg, who was also involved in the apparel industry as a consultant, Liz Claiborne opened up a company to design apparel for the professional women of America. (Siggelkow 54)

She wanted to save the American women from being too traditional through their clothing and formal wear. She knew she could do something. By her creative design and experience she started the Liz Claiborne Lines, providing the women of her time a casual but unique American wear. Claiborne products also include fragrance products. Now, Liz Claiborne brands are for high-end fashion apparel that includes the moderate fashion apparel for women of all ages and nationalities.

Claibornes strategy all through the years has been subcontracting. Her style was to go to different countries, particularly in Asia, provide workshops and do presentations for her new designs and fashion, then go back to her headquarters in New York. The companies she worked with knew her strategy and so they offered their expertise for her designs. (Siggelkow 55)

Liz Claiborne is a global organization. It is global not only in the sense that it operates internationally but also it is working under certain circumstances, and this includes the structure, the motivation, the market, and so forth. In the age of globalization and high-technology, Liz Claibornes strategy has become effective.

Distance is no longer a problem because of the popularity of the Internet. Claibornes designers and managers do not need to go to other countries to demonstrate and instruct their subcontracting companies on how to follow their designs. They can use the Internet and teleconferencing to do it. It can use screen-based activities. Features of the Internet provide interactive methods or networks.

There are many opportunities and realities the world has offered because of globalization. Transportation has been revolutionized allowing people to travel faster than the speed of sound. Technology is the powerful force that now drives the world toward a converging commonality.

Outsourcing has become a trend in the age of globalization. With countries like China and India and the rest of the Asian countries now offering cheap labor, global firms can outsource their production that are labor-intensive. Global companies can utilize the services of outsourcing companies which offer cheap labor. Their costs are relatively low. Liz Claiborne has tapped the emerging market and the cheap labor that could also facilitate an effective supply chain.

This is what the firm has been doing. In the beginning, Liz Claiborne and her husband would personally go to Asian countries, particularly Taiwan and Hong Kong, to demonstrate and instruct the employees of subcontracting companies on their designs. But this is now easily done. There is no need of personally going to those places where subcontracting is being done. The Internet and teleconferencing can provide the necessary tool for two parties to interact and communicate.

Globalization has become phenomenal due to the high-technology tools that have sprung these past decades. We have become globalized means we can now connect and conduct business with the rest of the world so easily. With just a computer with internet connection, we can connect with anyone around the world that has an Internet connection. Any sort of business can be benefited with Internet applications.

Globalization is happening, faster and faster. But it is far from complete, and far from inevitable. Globalization can disrupt, but it can also empower. What does it all mean, for real people in the real workaday world? (Larsson 3)

Advancement made in communication and the internet makes it very easy to connect with people in the other side of the globe. The global age is here and will continue to dominate mans activities  businesses for that matter  for many years ahead, centuries perhaps, with more and more industries emerging everyday as a result of new tools, innovations, and inventions made by man. Because of these advances, changes, innovations, or development, and new industries are formed.

Liz Claiborne has international-based brands. These brands are for retail outlets but they also have MEXX, which has become an international name. They have partnered brands which are for men and women. Liz Claiborne brands also include Dana Buchman, Kensie, Monet, and many more.

But the strategy has evolved; they have retails for domestic and international markets. Since Claiborne is a global organization, it licenses third parties to provide cost-effective utilization and sale of Claiborne products. (Liz Claiborne Inc.  Company Overview)

Another driving force for Liz Claiborne is its philanthropic activities. Liz Claiborne believes that one way of continuous successes in the corporate world is to give back. By this, Liz Claiborne formed the Liz Claiborne Foundation, a vehicle of Claibornes corporate social responsibility (CSR). Claiborne has close contact with the communities they have businesses with and the various civic organizations for partnerships. Their primary focus is on women who are victims of domestic violence. (Liz Claiborne Inc.  Philanthropic Programs)

Managers can drive forces either up or down. This happened to Liz Claiborne. There were low sides in business for Liz Claiborne. In 1992, problems started to surface. Its sales were down and market capitalization went down fast at $1.3 billion by the closing period of 1994. A series of strategies in operations and marketing, implemented by the new CEO Paul Charron enabled Liz Claiborne to rise again. The companys capitalization went up to $3.2 billion. (Siggelkow 54)

Organizational performance is responsible for this trend. The managerial capabilities of Claiborne were responsible for the downward trend of the sales and its losses in the stock market. The top management team (TMT) of Claiborne that could have identified opportunities was a driving force for the firm to lose those opportunities. The opportunities are internal and external factors. (Kor and Mahoney, 2000; Bosch and Wijk, 2001 as qtd. in Chen 1)

Knowledge and expertise of the managers failed to identify the factors that could have maintained Liz Claibornes lead in the apparel and fashion industry. And when the company changed the CEO, there was sudden upturn in the sales of the firm, including the price of its share. This was because the new CEO, Paul Charron, instituted drastic operational and marketing reforms.

Key Success Factors

Designing and marketing are two of Claibornes specialized techniques in business. Their premium brands include Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, and more. JC Penney has the sole right of manufacturing and distribution of some of the department store-based brands. Liz Claiborne was accompanied by her husband and two other partners Leonard Boxer and Jerome Chazen when they started the fashion apparel company that later became a multi-billion dollar business. (Liz Claiborne Company Heritage)

Originality and innovations are some of Liz Claibornes success factors. She was a designer by birth and her quest to help women like her made her a true designer for the professional women. Liz Claiborne is said to be the inventor of imported fashion merchandise. She imported the products she designed (Collins 106).

While the rest of her competitors were working under one roof, or that their workers and managers were working in one building and one factory. Claiborne perfected the concept of subcontracting to different factories in Asia and the rest of the world. Subcontracting has become a trend because of Liz Claibornes successes.

Prices were low despite the fact that they were considered designer level. These were compatible with Calvin Klein and Bill Blass, but still affordable for the professional women.

Another success factor is Claibornes ethical standards which are said to be the backbone of a successful organization. This is what Claiborne aimed to do. Their ethical standards are guided by the virtues of honesty, integrity and their accountability to the people. Because of this, they have gained respect from their customers and partners. (Liz Claiborne Inc.: A Portfolio of Brands)

The strategy of selling is also one of a kind. Claibornes first strategy focused on selling via large department stores. In the United States and Canada, Claiborne accounted for about 9,500 locations filled with products on apparel and fashion. This was aided by four of the largest department stores, namely Dillards, May, Macys and one which was composed of several stores, Federated Department Stores.

Liz Claiborne introduced a presentation format unique from other fashion designer companies. They used what Liz Claiborne called Claiboards and Lizmap diagrams. These presentation materials contained sketches and pictures including notes and instructions on how their products should be presented to the public.

The pieces of merchandise were grouped together and each group had its own name or label. Claibornes strategy is to sell their products as a collection rather than ordinary clothing or apparel. Presenting their merchandize as a collection is an effective way of selling to a great number of loyal customers. (Siggelkow 56)

According to the Liz Claiborne website, department stores used to have a classification-oriented style of selling. This means pants were sold in one section of the store, skirts in another area, and shirts are also separately sold in another department.

This provided difficulty to women in that when they would try to assemble an outfit, they would have to transfer from one place to another in the department store. In order to solve this problem, Liz Claiborne Inc. managers talked it out with department owners and retailers on the way the different sportswear collection would be presented. They should be in one location. (Liz Claiborne Inc.: Company Heritage)

Consultants travelled to many places to ensure that Claibornes products were arranged and presented to the public correctly. For all these stores, a special space was provided to present the entire Claiborne collection. The presentation of the merchandize proved effective as many provided positive feedback. (Siggelkow 56)

Among Claibornes strategic innovations is the use of technology in its processes. The company website is a 24/7 interactive method wherein customers can make suggestions and also air their complaints.

Claiborne also uses technology in their design of products. They use computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) in the design of apparel and fashion products. This is one of the productive means of the company, the use of computers. Speed in manufacturing and quality of products are one of the benefits of using CAM. Other large and successful companies in different industries also use CAM.

Another computer method used in making designs is computer-aided design (CAD). Integrating these two concepts  CAM and CAD  allow for more speed, accuracy and quality of the design. Combining CAM and CAD provides ways for a new process known as computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM). CIM enables manufacturers to design the product and to control the machinery that makes the products. (Pride et al. 288)

Claiborne is also affected by the growing tide of globalization. It is a knowledge-based organization, and its workforce is composed of a pool of talented and expert designers. Claiborne has invested on its employees. The company also aims for customer satisfaction and loyalty; its products and services are quality-oriented. The company sees to it that the company adheres to quality management and best practice.

Their strategy is customer-driven, a success factor effective up to today. Claiborne aims for talents and customers focus and loyalty and also sees the importance of focusing on their employees because they see the relation between contented employees and contented customers.

Satisfied employees result in satisfied customers. Meeting the customers needs and wants is a business trend in the age of globalization. Liz Claiborne aims for customer loyalty while keeping cost of production low. This is shooting two birds in one shot but difficult to achieve; difficult because meeting the customers needs and wants at the same time minimizing cost of production do not ensure quality product or service. Claiborne focuses on quality in design.

Most of the companies nowadays, particular the global ones, prefer standardized products which can be manufactured by outsourcing companies from China, in order to minimize production costs and the flow of supply chain.

The apparel industry is labor-intensive; its process of manufacturing requires the services of more people, which is unlike other manufacturing processes where they use machines and robots to manufacture the products. Claibornes strategy of subcontracting may be similar to outsourcing strategy. It has been proven effective.

Liz Claiborne does not own factories where they can produce quality apparel. Claibornes strategy has long been introduced since its inception as a global company. Products are produced by companies throughout the world. But quality is not sacrificed. They have their own quality control checked by their own managers. (Collins 104)

Application of Information Technology

Customer interaction is now enhanced by technology and the Internet or the World Wide Web. Customers can ask questions or complain through company websites or through emails. Modern information technology used in supply chain includes Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which is the information transmission backbone of manufacturing companies and supply interfaces. The popularity of the Internet has led to the introduction of Internet-based EDI.

Another important factor that brought success to Liz Claiborne is its application of knowledge management. Knowledge management has made it successfully handle the cost, quality and the different improvements for the organization and its branches overseas.

Knowledge management is significant to Claibornes global operations and in the study of innovations and adoption. When we say knowledge, we usually understand this to mean theoretical knowledge or practical knowledge, but it also includes experience and skills. In the age of globalization, knowledge is both a product and resource.

Knowledge and knowledge management are significant developments in the new globalizing environment. Competitive advantage among organizations is more pronounced with the knowledge people possessed, or what is termed, people-embodied knowhow (Rodriguez and de Pablos, 2002, p. 174). Firms are focusing on what their people know, and invest much on intellectual capital.

More success factors are attributed to the right fashion they have introduced to the public. From the firms initial demographic of the professional women of America, Liz Claiborne has introduced almost any brand for men and women; thus the brand Claiborne (for no gender) has stayed for men and womens clothing.

Their fashion styles introduced to the public are long lasting. Claiborne has a strong brand that they could boast of. These brands have their own particular niche focus. The firm also has a decentralized form of management with departments and units making their own decisions. These decisions are automatically carried out with speed and accuracy. (Scribd.com)

Competencies

Brands are a name that cannot be taken away by competitors. Sometimes, its the brand that competitors are trying to beat and not the product, although the brand speaks for the products. Claiborne has multiple quality brands like Kensie, Kensiegirl, DKNY, etc. These brands are international names and they compete with well known other brands like Zara of Inditex and Hennes and Maurits (H&M), etc.

Added to the brands were the so-called apparel seasons to meet customer demands and taste. Liz Claiborne was concerned with the buying patterns of customers in order to guide their production processes. Other companies in other industries usually do this particular in-house survey to determine customer demands and loyalty. Some of these companies come from the automotive industry, like for example Yamaha, Honda or Toyota. (Bower and Hout 49)

Liz Claiborne opened retail stores aside from going wholesale and selling their products through exclusive contracts with department stores. In 2006, Liz Claiborne competed with other retail stores like Apple, Bose, and Nine West, to find ways to test customer loyalty and following. The stores boasted the companys exposure to their customers, not only on the market segment that the company serves. (Anderson)

In 2008, Liz Claiborne Inc. granted license to Elizabeth Arden, Inc. for the latter to manufacture, sell and distribute Claiborne fragrance products. These fragrance products include JuicyCouture, Usher, Mambo and other fragrances. (Elizabeth Arden, Inc.)

E. Scott Beattie, the CEO and Chairman of Elizabeth Arden, Inc. said that the licensing agreement was a strategic move for both firms that could also bring competitive advantage on their respective companies.

The alliance also brought benefits such as improved market share and more profits for Arden in their American fragrance stores; improved supply chain and a wider organizational perspective; increased customer and more sales from a wider audience. Growth in earnings and sales for the company was expected by 2009. (Elizabeth Arden, Inc.)

The licensing agreement was made effective with some conditions such as the fulfillment of the requirements of the law known as the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. (Elizabeth Arden, Inc.)

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. was founded by Miss Elizabeth Arden in 1919, with specialty in beauty products. Like Liz Claiborne, its mission was to initially serve the American woman and it first focused on this particular market segment. Through the years, its strategy has been for continuous innovations. They have tapped other market segments aside from the women demographic. (Elizabeth Arden)

Many of Claibornes brands have been carried or sold by big department stores. But department stores nationwide suffered a setback; many of them are not earning that big anymore probably because of the recent economic downturn. The once popular and big chains of department stores have been closed. One chain, the Marshall Field, had been changed to Macys. Claiborne lost a bit of its popularity. (Boone and Kurtz 376)

Liz Claiborne had to part ways with some of the big department stores that sold its products for years. Claiborne is now exclusively contracted by JC Penny to sell its mens, womens and other product lines for ten years. In short, Claiborne moved from Macys to have an exclusive contract with JC Penny and no other department store shall have the opportunity to sell Claiborne products.

Under this agreement, JC Penny also has the exclusive right  if it wants to  to buy Claiborne products in five years. The arrangement also states that Claiborne will continue to be designer of the apparel and fashion products and JC Penney will do all the other responsibilities like production and marketing, procurement of raw materials and promotion and distribution of the finished products to end users. (Boone and Kurtz 376)

JC Penney had in the past demonstrated that it could successfully market Claiborne products.

With respect to Claiborne subcontracting style, Claiborne developed a special bond with apparel suppliers in Asia. In Hong Kong, the company Fang Brothers made their factories available for Claiborne.

Fang Brothers was a growing company in the 1960s until it expanded to other countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. It also expanded to Panama and Ireland. The Fang Brothers was good at the strategy known as triangle manufacturing.

In this particular strategy, U.S. companies and other importers would place their apparel orders through companies, for example Fang Brothers who, because of over capacity, would place the same orders to affiliate factories located in other Asian countries that offered lower cost of production. (Collins 108)

In Europe, Liz Claibornes competitors include Zara and Hennes and Mauritz (H&M). Zara and H&M are said to be low-cost competitors. Liz Claiborne goes for quality although its prices are not so exorbitant. Zara and H&M have been expanding to markets of the same segment. (Ryans 4)

Zara is owned by Inditex and is into the international apparel market and fashion, which are customer-driven markets. It is continuously growing and said to be leading in Europe. Following closely is Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) which outsources most of its products at lower cost. Like Liz Claiborne, Zara is quality-oriented. It produces 60% of its products and introduces quality management. Unlike H&M, Zara ensures that its customers are satisfied and hopes to come back to buy more of its products.

Zara is more liquid but, like the rest of international firms, is affected by the growing tide of globalization. It is a knowledge-based organization, and its workforce is composed of a pool of talented and expert individuals. Inditex, Zaras mother company, sees to it that the company adheres to quality management and best practice. The companys financial standing is as healthy as ever. (Inditex)

Zara and H&M have been closed competitors of Liz Claiborne, quite a feat for the two since Liz Claiborne is more of a traditional and considered higher end manufacture in the industry, while the two are considered low-cost. They however have been expanding and their financial standings are also considered healthy. To solve the problem of competition, Zara and H&M have used high-profile endorsers such as Madonna and Kylie Minogue. (Ryans 15)

This also challenged the firm of Liz Claiborne. In responding to the challenge of competitors on low prices, Liz Claiborne also had to act or she could lose some of her following and some profits. Claiborne used the same strategy by producing apparel and fashion products of low cost, something very affordable to the working women.

Talking of globalization, this has affected even the smallest firm. But it has worked in Liz Claibornes advantage. Liz Claiborne manages a pool of expert managers but not an entire workforce. Production line is handled by subcontracting firms. Claiborne goes to a country and instructs supervisors of firms doing the production. It has only to make sure that the design is being followed to the smallest detail. After that, the Claiborne and her managers go home to their headquarters.

Globalization has modernized the concept of human resource. International HRM explores how global organizations manage the demands of ensuring that the organization has an international coherence and cost-effective approach to the way it manages its people in all the countries it covers, while at the same time ensuring that it is responsive to the differences in assumptions and in what works from one location to another.

This is very relevant to managing an organization of different culture. There are countless other issues that have to be addressed by the assigned senior manager and staffs.

Claibornes managers do not manage a workforce in a factory setting. They just have to present their design and go home to their headquarters. Finished products are presented to them. And finances would be taken care of by their people on a contractual basis. Although this strategy of Claibornes is not new, it has been perfected by the firm.

Distinct Competitive Advantages

Claibornes strategy is marketing orientated which requires that a number of changes takes place in the organization, in practices and in attitudes. Implementing the marketing concept requires more than paying lip service to the ideas inherent in the concept. Behavioral sciences can lead to an understanding of buyer behavior.

Liz Claiborne saw the opportunity when she founded the company, along with her husband and a few trusted friends in the apparel and fashion industry. She knew the business and how to run it. She had discovered her niche and her market segment, capitalizing on the gender she was most acquainted with and her creativity and experience.

Liz Claiborne knew what to sell and to whom. She analyzed the future of the company and the market she was in. In doing this, a company can shift focus to analyzing what the future holds with the customer. This may include determining if the customer may still want to deal with the company, or buy products from the company or shift to other competitors. The information on customer satisfaction is vital in the improvement and enhancement of the product. This information and data can be linked back to the manufacturer for further quality enhancement.

Liz Claiborne became aware of this when the firm attained competitive advantage. Competitive advantage became more visible when in the year 1999. Liz Claiborne produced more than 120 million pieces of clothing from 256 factories around the world that supplied these products (Collins 105). Liz Claiborne had used this strategy since the 1970s and has come to perfect it with ease and accuracy to make the firm ahead of the competition.

Strategic competitiveness is achieved when a firm successfully formulates and implements a value-creating strategy. (Hitt et al. 4)

This value creating strategy was attained even during Liz Claibornes early years as a firm producing apparel and fashion products. It gradually grew and came to its height of corporate success.

In 1976, Liz Claiborne started with a capital of $250,000. It was a small capitalization that became big. Five years later, it went public and earned revenues of up to $116 million, becoming a part of the Fortune 500 list. This was a feat by a woman at that time. Fortune also said that Liz Claiborne had become the top earner with respect to the year-end equity in the 1980s.

Then in 1991, Liz Claiborne earned more than $2 billion with its shares of stock rising. An investor who bought $10,000 worth of shares from Liz Claiborne was assured of a profit for investment of up to $610,000 (Siggelkow 54). In 1996, Claibornes profit reached $155.7 million, even surpassing Wall Streets prediction (Kernaghan 36).

Claibornes top management was successful at the beginning, although later it experienced rough sailing. They effectively used strategic management by focusing on the capabilities of their human resource, designers and managers who were properly screened, tested and trained.

A successful strategic management allows for competitive advantage or edge for the organization. In strategic HRM, strategies and people are involved; in other words, the firm was putting people together, including their talents, skills and capabilities, to make the business successful.

The concept of strategic HRM is based on the important part of the HRM philosophy that emphasizes the strategic nature of HRM and the need to integrate human resource strategy with the business strategy (Armstrong, 2000, p. 6). The top management team (TMT) failed to deliver the necessary managerial capabilities to its senior and medium-level managers that forced Claibornes sales and stocks to go down.

The top management team which is responsible for the managerial capabilities of Claiborne failed in their strategic management. When the firm replaced the CEO with a new one, Paul Charron, who instituted reforms, the sales and stocks rose.

Moreover, Claibornes supply chain also adds to its competitive advantage. The firm has focused on quality, least cost, and effective utilization of the resources to provide the goods and services to the end users at the shortest possible time. Supply chain management is traditionally focused on least-cost transaction, but the new trend in business-to-business transaction is long-term relationship.

Claibornes subcontracting firms are from Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries in Asia. Claiborne maintains a good relationship with these firms, assuring the conditions for a safe and fast delivery of products to the end users.

This strategy can test the customers and consumers. The question that is always in the mind of the marketing manager is: will the customer come back? One significant strategy in meeting the needs and wants of customers is introducing an approach to supply chain that aims back at the customer. Satisfying their needs and wants is always a challenge to marketers. Knowing the customers needs have become a foundation for which a company is founded.

Customer focus is vital to supply chain. The customer wants to be understood, and the marketer can interpret this by answering what he/she wants of the product. The information can be inputted back to the customer for enhancement of the product. If it is service-oriented, the company has to modify the service. Supply chain has to be continually improved in order to attain customer satisfaction and loyalty, while customer focus can reflect satisfaction and loyalty.

An excellent supply chain management can attain customer satisfaction; at the same time, customer satisfaction may lead to loyalty, although satisfaction does not necessarily lead to loyalty. Before loyalty can be attained, customer closeness is crucial; meaning some activities have to be geared towards contacting the customer in order to acquire more data and information about the product, and how the customer reacts to the product, including suggestions for improvement.

Acquiring more profits, which is one of the major goals of companies, seems to be not a sure goal. It is also one of the difficult objectives to achieve. There are more and more products being manufactured but there are fewer customers who buy these products. Companies, or global business and organizations, have to find their segments and customers because they have more products to sell. There is a surplus of products and less customers.

In other words, organizations around the world compete to gain more customers, and one way of gaining more customers is to win their trust, answer and meet their needs and wants, and make sure that they come back. It is not enough that they buy the companys products; it is important that they come back; this is loyalty.

Supply chain is an important factor to consider in attaining customer satisfaction. When a product is being bought by a customer, it must be delivered quickly, with ease and comfort of delivery, and must have the desired quality that the customer asks for.

Subcontracting has assured Liz Claiborne of an effective supply chain. The firm sees to it that their designs are followed and manufactured on time. Marketing however has been changed every now and then to answer the demands of the changing times.

As stated in the section for Competencies, Liz Claiborne entered an agreement with Elizabeth Arden, Inc. for the manufacture and sales of Claiborne fragrance products. This is one way of creating a fast and effective supply chain. Elizabeth Arden, Inc. is a former competitor that has turned into an ally and promoter of Claiborne products.

Claiborne products are manufactured by manufacturing companies through subcontracting and now delivered exclusively by JC Penney. JC Penney has acquired exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Claiborne products. JC Penney can provide an effective supply chain for Claiborne products.

Innovations and changes are continuously introduced into Claibornes strategies. This is to answer organizational and customer needs. An example is Claibornes introduction of what they call fashion moderates, from branded and costly fashion apparel to fashion moderates. The price has been lowered to meet customer demands and expectations. (Collins 104)

The company also emphasizes diversity in the organization and in the workplace. The strategy is to emphasize inclusion that should be a part of the organizational culture and cultural fabric. Inclusion is synonymous with diversity. It allows a collection of ideas and concepts to help in everyones advancement and the organizations. Training and development are a part of this so-called cultural fabric. (Liz Claiborne, Inc.: Diversity)

The firm also emphasizes inclusion to its various suppliers and associates. They regard inclusion as very important to company principle and philosophy. It is a shared responsibility that should be practiced by every executive and employee. Senior executives should be leaders to promote inclusion. All of their associates share the responsibility of honoring everyones contribution for the fulfillment of the organizations objectives.

Works Cited

Anderson, George. Liz Claiborne to Open Stores. Retailwire, 21 Mar. 2006. Web.

Armstrong, Michael. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Limited, 2006. 6. Print.

Boone, Louis E. and David L. Kurtz. Contemporary Marketing. United States of America: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2010, 2012. Print.

Bower, Joseph L. and Thomas M. Hout. Fast-Cycle Capability for Competitive Power. The Product Development Challenge: Competing Through Speed, Quality, and Creativity. By Kim B. Clark and Steven C. Wheelwright. United States of America: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1994. 49. Print.

Chen, Pao-Lien. The Performance Implications of the Evolution of Managerial Capabilities in the Context of Industry Evolution. United States of America: ProQuest, 2007.

Collins, Jane Lou. Threads: Gender, Labor, and Power in the Global Apparel Industry. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; London: The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., 2003. Print.

Elizabeth Arden. About Elizabeth Arden, 2011. Web.

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. Nasdaq OMX: GlobeNewswire, 2008. Web.

Hitt, Micahel A., R. Duane Ireland, and Robert E. Hoskisson. Strategic Management: Competitiveness & Globalization, Concepts. OH, USA: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

Inditex. Zara Improves its Ranking in Interbrands Annual List of Global Brands. 10 May 2011. Web.

Kernaghan, Charles. Behind the Label: Made in China. United States of America: DIANE Publishing, 1998. Web.

Larsson, Tomas. The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2001. ISBN: 1930865147, 9781930865143. Print.

Liz Claiborne Inc.: A Portfolio of Brands. Our Vision. 2011. 6 October 2011. Web.

Liz Claiborne Inc.: A Portfolio of Brands. Company Overview. 2011. 8 October 2011. Web.

Liz Claiborne Inc.: A Portfolio of Brands. Philanthropic Programs. 2011. 8 October 2011. Web.

Pride, William, Robert Hughes, and Jack Kapoor. Foundations of Business. United States of America: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009. Print.

Rodriguez, J. & de Pablos, P. O. Strategic Human Resource Management: An Organisational Learning Perspective. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, Vol. 2, Numbers 3-4/2002. 27 September 2011. Web.

Ryans, Adrian. Beating Low Cost Competition: How Premium Brands can Respond to Cut-Price Rivals. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2008. Print.

Scribd.com. Liz Claiborne Inc., 2005. 8 October 2011. Web.

Siggelkow, Nicolaj. Change in the Presence of Fit: The Rise, the Fall, and the Renaissance of Liz Claiborne. Strategy Process: Shaping the Contours of the Field. By Bala Cakravarthy. United States of America: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2003. 54-56. Print.