Category: Brand

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 brand’s 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 individual’s 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 company’s 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), 79–89.

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 brand’s 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 people’s 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 brand’s “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 audience’s understanding of the issue at hand and, by extension the presenter.

The audience’s 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 Cola’s 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 truck’s 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 people’s 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 consumer’s 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 brand’s 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 brand’s reliance on visual communication. The technique uses sound to transmit the brand’s value while using visual elements like texts to capture the consumer’s 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 company’s 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), 27–41.

Beeching, M., & Flemmings, J. (2005). Don’t 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), 1252–1259.

Grossman, R. (2003). Branding in advertising: Developing effective associations. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 6(3), 191–201.

Ji, M. (2002). Children’s 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), 595–600.

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), 107–19.

McEnally, M., & De Chernatony, L. (1999). The evolving nature of branding: Consumer and managerial considerations. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 199(2), 1–30.

Muehling, D. (2000). Comparative advertising: The influence of attitude-toward-the-ad on brand evaluation. Journal of Advertising, 16(4), 43–9.

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.

The team’s main project will involve branding a product. The product is a jewelry line that was previously being made in a local cottage industry. Following the success the jeweler had among the local community, she now wants to brand her products. This branding will be followed by a marketing campaign. The jeweler has contracted me to lead a small team that will be in charge of the branding process. The jeweler started making these products to be able to cope with the effects of the recession four years ago.

Initially, her work was part time but it has since become full time. Because of the economic situation during the inception of the business, most of these products are lowly priced. By branding her products, the jeweler is hoping to raise the products’ stature. The jeweler is hoping to use my expertise to make sure that the branding transforms the market value of her products.

Having been contracted for this project I proceeded to set up a creative team that would accomplish this task. Unfortunately, all the three people I requested were in different states. The budget set aside for this project would not be sufficient to gather the group in a central point. This is why we decided to collaborate virtually.

Virtual collaboration seemed like a viable option because it saved costs and ensured none of the team members would have their social life disrupted by the project. All the three members are in different states across the country. Two of the members in this team are my former college mates while the third member is a former colleague. The virtual collaboration will encompass different platforms such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and audio conferencing among others.

The project at hand might seem simple but it is actually very momentous. If the jeweler’s products are well branded, it might be a stepping-stone to a bigger market for her products. On the other hand, if the branding fails even the little progress made by the products could be reversed.

The team’s first task will be to conduct intensive research on the jewelry market. The initial research will focus on the jewelry shops within this state. Then the research will explore online marketing options. After exploring these fundamentals, the research will then explore the impact this branding can have on the national and global markets.

The latest research indicates that some of the most successful branding and marketing campaigns in recent times are the ones that had both originality and simplicity. However, originality does not translate to ignorance of market principles. This is why the research part of the project is very important. After this initial research, the group will embark on the real collaborative activities.

The first will involve sharing of the information each member gathered through individual research. Then we will move on to brainstorming sessions. During these sessions, there are two important details that the group needs to agree on. The first is the jewelry line’s brand name and the other one is the logo for the brand. When going about this, it is important to put into consideration the brand’s future expansion.

For this collaborative project to be successful, all members of the team need to commit themselves to this project in the course of the next one month. As the team leader, I am in charge of specifying the modes of collaboration as well as the time commitment procedures. When selecting the team, I took several factors into consideration.

The first of these factors is the ability of every member to employ fresh thinking. Fresh thinking means that there is no room for conservativeness in the team. To meet this criterion, I chose to start by considering those people I have worked with before.

The two first members of the team are my former college mates. In college, we had already collaborated in several successful projects. The third member is someone I worked with during my internship at an investment firm. I preferred this member because he has the ability to supply original ideas and at the same time be a team player. Most original thinkers are reserved people who have trouble collaborating with others. The third member of the group transcends this impediment.

The next requirement was the members’ ability to work seamlessly with up to date collaboration tools. This simply means that all the members need to be technologically versed. In today’s terms, these are the people who often use the virtual communication tools on a day-to-day basis.

This means that their facebook or twitter accounts are regularly updated, they take part in online forums, and they most likely run blogs. Two of the members in my team possess all these three requirements. All the members of this team also need to be able to interact with one another comfortably without having to meet face-to-face. In modern times, people do not necessarily need to “meet” in order to be comfortable with one another.

However, there are people who are yet to grasp this concept. All the members of my team need to have overcome this hurdle. For instance, at times the jeweler might be part of our video-conferencing sessions and this should not be a discomfort to anyone. Finally, all the members of my team need to have covered brand development either in school or during later careers. It is also important that all the members have access to high-speed internet and up to date video conferencing software and hardware.

My role as the team’s leader will be to coordinate not to dictate. This means that all decisions have to be agreed on by all the team-members. Each individual’s contribution to the group is equally important. However, in some instance the members will be assigned tasks that relate to their areas of residence.

For example, a member might be required to visit the jewelry shops in his/her area of residence and purchase a particular product. These tasks are very important as they are meant to capitalize on the collaborative nature of this project. Nevertheless, the final decision belongs to the jeweler herself. If she is not satisfied with a particular idea, then the group is obligated to supply a new one.

The group will undertake this project as a networked team. This means that the group will dissolve at the end of the project. The budget provided for the team can only accommodate two face-to-face meetings during the entire project. However, these are only on a need-to basis and they are not scheduled. All the other communication will be through virtual means. At the stipulated time, the group will hold video conferences to discuss matters concerning this project.

Only one member of the group is in a different time zone. This member is already aware of this, and has agreed to make adjustments. Video conferencing will use laptops or personal computers. All other pertinent information about the project can be communicated through mobile phones and emails. This can either be in form of calls or text messages. In case connection is lost during a meeting, members can reschedule or take short a recess until the problem is resolved.

There is a single payment for the entire project. As the team’s leader, I am in charge of the budget. I have also managed to negotiate salaries with all the other three members. The salary structure for all members is similar but there is a stipulation for penalties.

The structure allows me to earn a profit from the entire project. My profit margin is however dependent on the speed with which the team is able to deliver. Therefore, it is my goal to keep the team motivated and efficient in order to avoid a loss-making scenario. As an added perk, the jeweler has promised to extend our services to advertising and marketing if we do a good job with the branding.

The success of this project depends on the ability of the team members to work under the stipulated environment. Given that all the team members have a commendable level of experience in branding, the team is likely to come up with a good brand name and logo. The main advantage for the team is that most of the members have interacted before. This means the team has already overcame one main limitation of virtual collaboration. The jeweler who has contracted the team also supports this idea because she believes it is a great way to gather talent.

Chiquita’s Dilemma: Balancing Security and Ethics

Chiquita Brands is a highly profitable company with operations in more than 70 countries. Banadex is the Colombian subsidiary of the company. Banadex has been operating in the country for more than 100 years. The subsidiary employs more than 12,000 people either directly or indirectly. Increased insecurity in Colombia threatens the continued existence of the subsidiary.

United Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a terrorist group, would like Banadex to offer the group a few thousand dollars monthly to prevent the group from disrupting the activities of the company.

If Chiquita pays the ‘security’ fee, it would be financing a terrorist group. On the other hand, if the company fails to pay the money, the group may kidnap and execute its employees. The company may also relocate to a different country leading to the loss of livelihoods of thousands of its employees.

Chiquita has four options that it may undertake to tackle the problem. In the first option, the company may choose to pay the ‘security’ fee that AUC demands. The US government does not term the organization as a terrorist group (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012).

Therefore, it is legal for the company to transact with the group. Paying the ‘security’ fee would ensure that AUC does not kidnap or execute Banadex employees. This would make the company continue with its operations without interference from the group.

However, paying the ‘security’ fee would fuel the activities of the terrorist group. In addition, the company does not have a guarantee that the group will keep its word. AUC can still kidnap or execute employees of the company.

On the other hand, the company may choose not to pay the ‘security’ fee. However, this would jeopardize the lives of its employees. AUC may kidnap or execute Banadex employees. In addition, the group may interrupt other activities of the company. This would lead to huge losses.

Chiquita may also hire a separate security firm to protect its employees. However, this would be very expensive. The private security would not be able to cope with the massive size of the terrorist group. Only government forces can cope with the massive size of the group. However, the Colombian and American governments are not willing to provide the company with the protection it needs (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012).

Chiquita may also choose to exit the country. This would make the company lose a sizeable percentage of its revenue. This is because Banadex is one of the major international subsidiaries of the company. In addition, exit from the country would make thousands of people who depended on the company to lose their source of livelihoods.

Since the Colombian and American governments are not willing to provide the company with protection, this may be the only viable option for the company. In addition, the company does not have guarantee that AUC will keep its word. The company should develop an exit strategy that would not have huge financial impact.

Is it ethical for companies to deal with terrorists when the security of their operations is at risk?

Companies can deal with terrorists when the security of their operations is at risk. Companies should always strive to protect their interests. Failure to deal with terrorists may have devastating effects on the company.

Should companies relocate from failed states?

The political environment affects the operations of companies. Therefore, it is vital for companies to operate in a peaceful environment. Companies should relocate from failed states since political instability is not suitable for the long-term growth of the company (Jain, Trehan & Trehan, 2010).

References

Jain, T.R., Trehan, M. & Trehan, R. (2010). Business environment. New Delhi: FK Publications.

Wheelen, T.L. & Hunger, J.D. (2012). Concepts in strategies management and business policy, 13^th edition; Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc.

The consumer attitude to the Pink brand has proven to be higher than positive, and it is necessary to track the peculiarities of its formation in order to make some feasible conclusions about the secret of Pink’s success in the market, both as a part of the Victoria’s Secret brand, and separately, as a cute, young, and bright brand.

1. Buyer Decision Process of Pink consumers. The typical customer’s decision-making process concerning the purchase of the product under the Pink brand may identified the following way, depending on whether it is a customer new to the Victoria’s Secret brand or not.

In case the customer has never bought the Victoria’s Secret items before, she is likely to perceive the increased accessibility of the aspired brand, and buy the products that she used to want to buy, but could not afford due to the higher than average prices of the VS’s exclusive products.

However, some customers (who are indeed of younger age) may really want to buy an item from the Pink series because it suits their hip and fashionable style more than the luxurious items of the mainstream Victoria’s secret brand that may look not old-fashioned, but too adult for some young women who want to seem younger.

Those who are not new to the brand, and used to buy Victoria’s Secret items, may be attracted to the Pink series for two reasons: first of all, because they are loyal to the brand and they are sure in its quality, so they want to diversify the set of their lingerie by some more hip, bright, and cute items of the same brand.

Every woman is versatile, and at times she wants to look serious and mature, but at times she wants to have fun with peers and friends, so wearing cute and bright lingerie may contribute to the playful mood of a woman belonging to any age group.

The second reason is trust to the trend; women know that Victoria’s Secret is a highly fashionable brand that speaks for itself. Hence, issuing a collection of bright, even childish loungewear may indicate the coming fashion for bright colors and playful designs, which makes it strategically important to have such an item in every woman’s wardrobe.

2. Concept of Aspirational Groups; Limits for Its Application. The concept of aspirational groups also has a very serious impact on the buying decisions in the present case. There are two aspirational groups that produce the influence on buyers of Pink items; first of all, it is the group of upper class.

As it has been mentioned above, the Pink series is much more accessible in price than standard Victoria’s Secret offers, hence the middle class women who have dreamt of having a VS bra will finally have it, no matter that it will belong to the Pink sub-brand; the main idea is that it is the sub-brand of Victoria’s Secret.

However, there is one more aspirational group producing impact on the buyers; according to Kotler and Armstrong (2010), aspirational groups are those “to which the individual wishes to belong”; hence, here not only issues of class but issues of age as well as concerned.

As the case study says, the Pink series has attracted attention of much younger categories such as teens and ‘tweens’, who are younger than 18, though the advertising campaign of Pink stated that the targeted segment was between 18 and 30 years old.

The Pink products are very attractive to younger girls because they let them feel older, and the aspirational group is already the group of older, more mature girls. It is obvious from this case that marketers should establish certain boundaries for the creation of the aspirational groups’ concept through their advertising or promotion.

It is important due to the loss of the brand’s authenticity, specificity, and individuality; in case the brand is suitable for all people in the market segment, or for many market segments, there will be no uniqueness and individuality that is highly appreciated by many customers. More than that, the aspirational group of age is non-ethical, since it creates false images and aspirations in younger categories of customer groups and distorts the brand perception.

3. Positive and Negative Consumer Attitudes towards the Pink Brand. Despite the popularity of the Pink label growing recently, there are clearly both negative and positive attitudes that can be formed towards the sub-brand.

The negative attitudes may arise from the change of focus that was exclusive, limited series of supreme lingerie that is now longing to mass production and attraction of greater masses of middle-class consumers. In addition, Victoria’s Secret has been traditionally viewed as a deluxe brand for mature women, so the childishness and light-mindedness of the new brand may also be disapproved as negative reputation to the serious, luxury brand.

However, the positive perceptions of the brand are much more popular, and may arise from the accessibility of the brand, at least in a different form, to larger numbers of buyers. In addition, younger women, and girls in their early twenties, may not have to choose between wearing cute, bright lingerie, and buying supreme items thereof. In addition, younger girls may like the brand because it fits their tastes and interests, which is often neglected by lingerie producers – teens already need it, and they should be targeted as well.

4. Role of Pink in the Formation of Teens’ and Tweens’ Self-Concept. It is hard to say what role the Pink brand may play in the formation of the teens’ and tweens’ self-concept, but it is highly probable that a significant change will not occur.

The reason for this is in the design of Pink items – they are cute, funny, even childish, so they, on the contrary, will help teens and tweens wear lingerie and loungewear and still be teens and tweens, without the need of getting old quickly. The hearts and polka-dots, staffed animals, bright colors and hip designs of the Pink loungewear will help young women and teens remain in their age, having all items in the wardrobe that they want and need for their casual life.

References

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, J. (2010). Principles of marketing. (13^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Creating a brand flavor of Lipton Ice Tea is an article that deals with Lipton Ice Tea as a brand of Britvic. In this article, the core, actual and augmented benefits of Lipton Ice Tea will be discussed. The article will also discuss the sources of brand equity of Lipton Ice Tea. The article will also recommend marketing positioning and targeting for Lipton Ice Tea. Britvic is among the leading companies situated in Europe that deals with soft drinks. Britvic has a desirable portfolio of brands leading in the soft drink market.

The brands of Britvic include Lipton Ice Tea, J₂O, Robinsons, 7Up, Fruit Shoot and Tango among many others. Britvic International has operations in various countries. The current branches that operate are Britvic Ireland, Britvic France and Britvic GB. Lipton Ice Tea is a desirable tea product and is sold in over fifty countries.

The core benefit of Lipton Ice Tea is that it is nutritional, tasty, colorful, aromatic and has flavor. The ingredients of the brand include sugar, water, extract of black tea, flavoring, citric acid, some concentrate of juice of lemon and peace among other fruits. The presence of fruit juices concentrate shows that core benefit of being nutritional.

The nutritional information indicates that there are traces of protein and salt. Lipton Ice Tea has carbohydrates and sugars that will provide energy to consumers (Mehtab and Noorani 15). Lipton Ice Tea is also easily accessible by consumers.

Lipton Ice Tea has actual benefits of having an antioxidant. An antioxidant acts as a defense mechanism in human bodies that helps in fighting our cells from being damaged. Lipton Ice Tea has antioxidants that are flavonoid due to present fruits concentrates and provide benefits that resist viral, allergies, inflammatory and tumors.

Since adult humans require about eight glasses of water per day, studies has shown that three cups of Lipton Ice Tea which is unsweetened tea can be substituted for the eight glasses of water and therefore enhance hydration in humans. Drinking Lipton Ice Tea provides purifying water effect and therefore removing toxins from human body (Atma 1). The packaging of Lipton Ice Tea shows that it can be easily be resealed and consumer at a later time.

Lipton Ice Tea is the world’s leading tea brand sold in the world. With the launch of the ‘Pepsi-Lipton’ alliance in Indian market, Lipton Ice Tea has formed an augmented benefit to Pepsi brands. As an augmented benefit Lipton Ice Tea is shown to be complementing Aquafina and Tropicana brands of Pepsi (Exchange 4 media 1).

Already tapped market segments provide the source of brand equity for Lipton Ice Tea. Tea that is used for production of Lipton Ice Tea is sourced from alternate plantations in popular tea producing countries such as Kenya, India and China among other tea producing countries that are sources of brand equity for Lipton Ice Tea.

Lipton Ice Tea should target people of all generations and needs. There should be different packaging and contents to suit people with different needs. For example, people with special diets can have diet Lipton Ice Tea for the diabetic and for people who need lots of energy such as students and athletics can have Lipton ice tea that have increase levels of energy and sugars to restore nutrients lost.

I recommend that there should be flexibility of Lipton Ice Tea. There should be a variety of choices of Lipton Ice Tea so have to be competitive in the market segment. Currently, there are only two flavor of Lipton Ice Tea, which includes lemon and peach.

The market segment can be enhance with the introduction of new and variety of flavors such as orange among others. There can also be improvement of the packaging of Lipton Ice Tea including a variety of quantities at have affordable prices for the less fortunate and students (Agarwal 10).

Works Cited

Agarwal, Parag. “Case Study: Lipton and Kai Shii. Competitors in the iced-tea market. ”2002. Web.

Atma, Michael. “The Benefits of Lipton Ice Tea.” EasyPublish. 2010. Web.

Exchange 4 media. “Pepsi-Lipton alliance introduces ready to drink Lipton Ice Tea.” 2006. Web.

Mehtab, Ariba, and Zainab A. Noorani. “Lipton Yellow Label Tea: Positioning Statement and Marketing Analysis.” 2010. Web.

Introduction

Branding is regarded as a process of assigning a specific differential name to a product for the reason of differentiating the product from competitive products of similar characteristics (Meenakshisundaram 2006).

Visual interpretation is an important element in branding. This means that design also plays an important role in branding. Thus, it is obvious that design is the visual articulator of the brand’s expression just as Davis & Baldwin (2005) suggest. In the electronics industry, there are a number of branding strategies used to increase a products sales volume in the market.

They include price reduction, discounting and increasing the number of loyal customers for the brand. An organization must consider the factors that affect branding in order to come up with the best brand. Some of the factors include role of the brand, internal conventions, brand legacy and birthright. Branding comes with its advantages as well as disadvantages to an organization.

Branding strategies used in the industry

Brand positioning

Brand position is clearly a strategy for competitive advantage. Developing a brand statement should occur after an extensive research of the market has been done. This statement must be easily understood by the target audience. Its context must be properly presented to demonstrate its relevancy in the market.

Brand positioning must promise the customers that which it has to offer. If the existing customers get what the brand promises, they will help in marketing the brand. This will help to increase the market share and thus increase the volume of the product. Brand positioning should also have the ability to deliver the unexpected because an engaging and unique message to the customers always attracts them to the brand. Customers will expect the organization to offer good services or standard products.

This means that if an organization has to increase its market share, it must offer quality services or products that are above the standards of other similar products to enhance competitive advantage (Bloise, 2011). Brand positioning is therefore not about running more ads because this does not actually increase the number of customers of the brand. The most important thing that branding should be able to demonstrate is to differentiate itself from other competing products in the market (Sengupta 2007).

Brand name selection

Different brands have different effects on the customer’s image. For instance, some customers may recognize high quality brand names for their electronic devices. It is thus very important to display such names so that the purchasing decisions of customer are made easier.

Customers can also develop particular effects as they gain experience in operating certain electronic devices. For instance, the ‘halo effect’ suggests that if the operators have a positive experience with the company’s brand, they will purchase the brand when it is time to replace some derelict elements in the machine. Customers will also feel more positive about that manufacturer’s brand (Feinstein & Stefanelli 2008).

Brand sponsorship

There are four options for brand sponsorship. The first option is when the product is launched as the brand of a particular manufacturer. Most of the brands that have dominated the retail market in the past have been using this option. The second option is in the private brands.

This means that the manufacturer sells the brand to a particular reseller who gives the product his own brand name. These kinds of brands can also be called store brands.

The third option is when the organization licenses names that have been created by another manufacturer. These could be the names of books or celebrities, and these brands are called license brands. The fourth and last option of brand sponsorship is called cobranding. Cobranding is done whereby a particular product has two names that belong to two different manufacturers.

This increases the market share because it broadens the consumer appeal. Cobranding also increases the brand equity and allows the company to expand its existing brand to a higher category (Zainbooks 2011). Brand sponsorship requires the company to make an additional investment beyond its donation to be considered for brand sponsorship. A brand sponsor may not have a product to sell. He may be offering a service or even promoting a website (Beck-Burridge & Walton 2001).

Brand development

Successful brand development and branding requires a business organization to develop a brand proposition that will provide an attractive message to current and prospective customers.

The leadership of the organization must support the proposition. Brand development also needs the customers’ support as well as support from the marketing department. A strong sales team must also show their support so that a successful brand development can be realized. The core values of the brand must be determined before any process of brand development begins.

The process can include a demonstration of the organization’s honesty, integrity, and excellent communication in order to attract clients. The strategies for brand development require the organization to do extensive research of the market so as to reach the target audience and subsequently increase the volume of the product in the market. This is because the target audience is the most important factor that determines whether or not the brand will be successful (Finskud 2009).

Also, creating a positive emotional attachment to the brand is important since the customers respond even without seeing the product (Bloise 2011). This means that the brand should also win the hearts and minds of the population. Thus, the brand is everything to any particular product. It exhibits all the success and failures of a product as a result of the strategies employed.

Factors affecting branding

Factors that affect branding must be considered before an organization launches its branding process. The factors enumerated here are just some of the ways in which any business organization can consider so as to come up with the best brand in the market. These factors include the role of the brand, internal brand legacy, milestone, birthright and internal conventions.

Role of the brand

The role of the brand is a factor that affects the internal legacy of the brand. This has to do with a corporate product, service product and also the perception of the brand in terms of its contribution to the organization. The brand architecture is an important phenomenon in this aspect. This shows how a brand relates to other of the organization’s brands or to partner brands in different organizations.

The levels of brands and their linkages are two very important issues here. Top level, corporate and banner brands usually connect up the organization (Gelder 2003). They also connect up strategy and leadership thereby working as a unique organizing purpose. On the other hand, low level sub-brands target messages that fall within products and service sectors that are also within a higher level organizational script.

The brand architecture works in a way that it ensures that global and local brand managers work towards similar goals for the brand. It also makes sure that the brand managers do not cannibalize other brands in the organization’s activities. Brand managers are therefore checked by the brand architecture in that they are prevented from going too far and dilute the brand, and from claiming too much of the organization’s resources that will overwhelm higher level brands.

How to measure the effectiveness of the branding strategy

Brand effectiveness can be carried out in several ways. Notable among them is the 4D’s of branding. “The four D’s represent differentiation, distinctiveness, defendable and digit-able”, (Modernmind 2011).

Therefore, a brand must be distinct in relation to the spoken and visual aspects. This will make the brand to be more unique and hence more desirable. The brand should be differentiable in a way that it separates itself from products of similar nature. The brand should also be succinct in its purpose and clearly speak out its intention.

In addition, the brand should be defendable in a way that it possesses some ownership strengths. This will keep other products of similar nature from mimicking the brand. The name and trademark of the brand should be distinct in order to clearly differentiate it from other products. Last but not least, the brand must be digit-able. This means that it must have the element of electronic communication. Thus, it must be leveraged well especially in its electronic format (Modernmind 2011).

Internal brand legacy

The internal legacy of a brand can leverage for the purpose of the company’s pride. This is quite advantageous to the company. On the other hand internal brand legacy can be a barrier to future development of a brand. Thus, a battle may ensue between provision of brand consistency and the brand vitality (Buckingham 2008).

Milestones

There are several particular events specific to the brand that may be extremely important by the organization. For example, the introduction of a particular feature or change in design of a product can be a defining moment in a company’s operations (Schmitt & Rogers 2008). This is true because customers usually go for products whose quality has increased or whose design has changed for the purpose of getting the value for their money or just for fashion.

Birthright

It is important to note that brands have a way in which they maintain a certain legacy within the organization, regardless of whether they are new or old. The legacy mostly goes back to the people who first developed the brand or to a single founder. Thus, it is not surprising to know that the company founder, whether alive or deceased, can have a large effect on the brand (Gelder 2003).

This is because successful brand creators usually have superior sales abilities, profound knowledge of their products and customers, dogged enthusiasm for their business and they are also found in the right place at the right time. The brand founder will always have influence regardless of whether the product bears his name or not.

Internal conventions

Internal conventions of an organization can also affect branding. Conventions can seriously circumscribe the brand expression and limit it to what is internally acceptable. They can restrict a brand’s manifestation and the communication of the same brand. In addition, internal conventions can also affect a brand’s distribution and its character development (Schmitt, Rogers & Vrotsos 2004).

The stories told by members of the organization to each other, to outsiders, and to new recruits embed the present in its organizational history thereby highlighting important events and personalities (Plessis 2000). The symbols of the organization such as logos, offices, cars and titles and even the type of language used in the organization also affects the branding of a product.

Power structures affect branding in that the most powerful managerial groupings in the organization are likely to be the ones that will be most associated with core assumptions and beliefs on what is important (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride 2002). Formal organizational structures delineate important relationships and emphasize what is important in the organization. The control systems aid in focusing on what is important on organizational attention and activity.

Last but not least, the rituals and routines of organizational life such as training programs reinforce to the way the organization does things and signals what is valued (Gelder 2003). In my opinion, all of the above are correct because employees views regarding the company actually market the company to outsiders. Also training of employees increases their skills thereby making the company produce high quality brands that are competitive in the market.

Advantages (measure its effectiveness) and disadvantages of branding

Practically speaking, branding is a way in which the volume of a product can be increased in the market (Middleton et al.1988). It is the ways in which multiple sensory stimuli can help a customer recognize a particular product. This is because a brand can be recognized easily in the market by the way it is packaged, its logo and the shape of the product (Ferrell & Hartline 2008).

Another way in which a brand can be recognized other than visual is through sound. Customers can hear the sound of a brand through the mass media or through talking with someone who has the knowledge of the product (Branded consultants group 2010). The ways in which the above authors echo branding is quite synonymous with my opinions since the views are pretty obvious on an average situation.

Also, those customers who frequently purchase a particular brand are actually most likely to be loyal to the brand. Such customers are called “brand loyals”. The reward for successful marketers often comes by way of brand loyalty because loyal customers are quite unlikely to switch to another brand (Bowie & Buttle 2004). On the contrary, non-loyal customers can easily switch to another brand since they are not bound by anything to stick to a particular product.

If a brand is well developed, its positioning in the market becomes more effective (Tulsian & Tulsian 2002). This is because customers usually visualize some mental images after they have heard of a particular product because they begin to feel the benefits they can receive from the utility of that brand (Jain 2009). In addition, new products can be added under the same brand thereby causing the firm to establish a successful brand. Thus, other brand names can sell pretty well by riding on the advantages of the successful brand.

Last but not least, brand equity can emanate from a strong brand name especially when the brand itself becomes so valuable (Management Study Guide 2011). Licensing arrangements and out-right sale of the brand can cause the above to happen because. In this context, a company may sell their rights to another company if the first company wants to concentrate on another market. Hence, a company can achieve a large financial gain just by selling their brand name.

One of the disadvantages of branding is that it increases cost (Jones, P.). These costs emanate from production of the brand, marketing and the legal processes. Also, brand extension can lead to reduction of total brand value if any of the products are of lower quality (Ellwood 2000). A standardized brand ignores fundamental differences across consumers, countries and cultures (Bell 2008). These are some of the reasons why companies have to set a side huge amounts of money before engaging in the process of branding.

In branding, the organization may develop a trend of compromising on the standards over a long period of time. In many circumstances, a larger budget on branding may not guarantee success but can lead to the loss of money and time used in the branding process. This is because it becomes so difficult to sell a brand at a lower price especially if the cost involved in the manufacture was increased. This opinion is also shared with Horner & Swarbrooke (2005).

Conclusion

Branding is regarded as a process of assigning a specific differential name to a product for the reason of differentiating the product from the competitive product of similar characteristics. Organizations regard strategy as a way of beating the competition by becoming good at one or more established processes. The strategies for branding are brand positioning, brand name selection, brand sponsorship and brand development.

Some of the factors that affect branding include the role of the brand, internal conventions, brand legacy and birthright. The advantages of branding are: increase in awareness, increase in the number of loyal consumers and brand equity. However, branding is also accompanied by its own disadvantages which include higher costs, compromise of standards and loss of money if the process of branding does not positively affect the market.

List of References

Aaker, D., & Biel, A., 1993, Brand equity and advertising: advertising’s role in building strong brands. Hillsdale: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.

Beck-Burridge, M. & Walton, J. (2001). Sports sponsorship and brand development: the Subaru and jaguar stories. New York: Palgrave.

Bell, S., 2008, International brand management of Chinese companies: case studies on the Chinese household appliances and consumer electronics industry entering US and western European markets. Essen: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg.

Bloise, J. (2011). Successful brand development. Web.

Bowie, D., & Buttle, F., 2004, Hospitality marketing: an introduction. Burlington: Elsevier.

Branded Consultants Group. 2010. Advantages of branding. Web.

Buckingham, I., 2008, Brand engagement: how employees break or make brands. New York: Palgave Macmillan.

Davis, M., & Baldwin, J., 2005, More than a name: an introduction to branding. Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA.

Drolet, A., Schwarz, N., & Yoon, C., 2010, The Aging Consumer. New York: Routledge.

Ellwood, I., 2000, The essential brand book: over 100 techniques to increase brand value. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Feinstein, A. & Stefanelli, J. (2008). Purchasing: selection an procurement for the hospitality industry. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ferrell, O., & Hartline, M., 2008, Marketing Strategy. Ed. 4. Ohio: Thomson, South Western.

Finskud, L., 2009, Developing winning brand strategies. New York: Business expert press.

Gelder, S., 2003, Global brand strategy: unlocking branding potential across countries cultures and markets. London. Kogan Page Limited.

Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J., 2005, Leisure marketing: a global perspective. Burlington: Elsevier.

Jain, A., 2009, Principles of Marketing. New Delhi: V.K. (India) Enterprises. Jones, P., 2004, Flight catering. Burlington: Elsevier.

Management Study Guide., 2011. Brand extension-meaning, advantages and disadvantages. Web.

Meenakshisundaram, N., 2006, Rural Industrial Management. New Delhi: concept Publishing Company.

Middleton, V., Fyall, A., Morgan, M., & Ranchhod, A., 1988, Marketing in Travel and Tourism. Ed. 4. Burlington: Elsevier.

Modernmind. (2011). Brand effectiveness. Web.

Morgan, N., Pritchard, A., & Pride, R., 2002, Destination branding: creating the unique destination position. Burlington: Elservier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Plessis, D., 2000, Introduction to Public Relations And Advertising. Lansdowne: Juta Education (Pty) Limited.

Schmitt, B., & Rogers, D., 2008, Handbook on brand and experience management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Schmitt, B., & Rogers, D., & Vrotsos, K., 2008, There’s no business that’s not show business. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Sengupta, S. (2007). Brand positioning: strategies for competitive advantage. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Tulsian, P., & Tulsian, S., 2002, Tulsian’s Commercial Studies and Applications. Ed. 2. Mumbai: Ratna Sagar P. Ltd. Zainbooks. (2011). Brand sponsorship. Web.

Biography

Branson was born on 18 -07-1950 in UK, he is acknowledged globally due to the accomplishment of the Virgin trademark, which he established by himself. It currently encompasses more than 360 companies (virgin.com, 2010). He is currently in nuptial with Joan Templeman. His preceding nuptials to Kristen Tomassi gave him two children thus Holly and Branson.

He was born into in a fine family, being the initial child of his four siblings. He had dyslexia, a circumstance that disallowed him from getting decent grades. He excelled in sports instruction, most notably swimming (virgin.com, 2010). All in all, he rose from modest beginnings, often an object of scorn and changed himself into a thriving capitalist and entrepreneur.

He possesses the Virgin brand that was registered in 1989 and listed in UK as an asset corporation. The name came from one of his commerce acquaintances when they were establishing a music allotment house.

They chose to adopt it due to their relative rawness in the ventures they were undertaking. It should be noted that most corporations operating under the Virgin name are individual entities, although he owns either mainstream or marginal stake in some of them (virgin.com, 2010). He has leased patents of his trademark to some of these companies after they procure divisions from him.

Career

His prowess in commerce was manifested early on after he recognized a publication for students when he was only 16. He received four pounds from his mum, which he used to cover telephone and postal expenses.

It was an inter instruct periodical which paid attention to students, which sold promotion space to probable employing companies, politicians, scholarly persons and many other celebrities. It was successful, making them sizeable amounts in the process. His desires for a fresh confront and the predisposition of setting flamboyant dreams for himself saw him branch out his business widely.

He envisioned another commerce opening when the administration abolished initial agreement on retail prices (virgin.com, 2010). None of the obtainable retail outlets presented discounts on LPs; hence he decided to venture into it. He received many tasks and decided to wind down publication of the Student.

Music and Entertainment

He went full throttle into commerce in 1970 by establishing a mail order corporation that procured and re-distributed cut-out records. He achieved this by buying them in large quantities, then travelling to transaction outlets in London consequently selling them.

The workers of Student publication were recruited to administer this novel venture. He made as much as necessary money and bought a shop to house his allotment business, which was run from the boot of his automobile (Dearlove, 110).

Two years afterward, Branson used money from his record store to set up a soundtrack studio in London, which had Mike Oldfield as the initial performer. Tubular Bells was the initial song to be recorded in the studio. The studio was later transformed into a completely fledged music allotment amass and was renamed Virgin Records.

The year 1987 saw him make forays into the American marketplace through his foremost brand virgin Records. He had watched the documentation corporation grow tremendously in Britain, a move which inspired his decision to diversify his marketplace base (Dearlove, 112). It was beneficial as the corporation remained cost-effective and funded some of his newer associations.

In 1979, he acquired a night-club specializing in amusing males only, another departure from the norms expected by culture. This club was sold in 2008 to MAMA assembly of entities.

To ensure the continued existence of his airline venture, Virgin Records was later dispatched off to EMI records. This deal earned him over $500 million, some of which he used to institute the V2 music tag during his re-entry into the music production.

In 1981, he came up with Virgin Games. This undertaking was later called Virgin Interactive in 1994. It is noteworthy that the corporation published video games in the UK. It became a large corporation after acquiring Mastertonic, which was a dispenser of low-cost processor software and capture games.

Mastertonic had concluded a succession of mergers and was faced with pecuniary difficulties (Dearlove, 115). Since it had outsold all of its contestants, Branson bought a considerable entitlement of the firm through his Virgin trademark. They went on to develop into sole dispensers of SEGA commodities in the United Kingdom (UK). The group was merged with Virgin Games after Branson amplified his existence in the firm. The corporation was later allotted as distributors in other divisions of Europe.

Hospitality and Travel Agencies

It is noteworthy that in 1984, Branson formed the Airline Company. It is remarkable how he has overseen the stable growth of this company into the successive principal carrier in UK. Branson’s virgin groups possess a 51% stake in the firm with 49% held by Singapore Airlines (Shepler, 2010).

Its operational center is based in place known as Crawley, which is situated close to Gatwick airport. Another ancillary, Virgin Cargo was launched in the same year. It operates flights within the UK and to overseas locations, like US, Africa and other diverse regions. It is noteworthy that the venture has process centers in Gatwick and Heathrow. He encountered a multitude of challenges, due to turbulent market conditions and from British Airways.

In a bid to rescue his airline flagship from collapse, the UK government increased Virgin’s quota in Heathrow. This move increased their competitiveness by opening up more international destinations to them. It also placed them in direct competition with British Airways, the state carrier, which doubled up as market principal at the time (Shepler, 2010).

A series of mud-slinging operations followed, sparking a competition that was manifested on all fronts. Branson sued the state carrier for unfair practices, after their strategy to fasten prices was realized. They opted for an out of court declaration and the recompense received was divided similarly among employees of Virgin Airlines.

In the mid 90s, Virgin opted to capitalize on a government’s resolution to privatize railway services. They hold a 51% in the service while Stagecoach services holds 49%. The service covers operates from London to the Midlands. They also travel to the neighboring Wales and Scotland (virgin.com, 2010).

This service operates nine trains every hour and has incorporated in-house catering as for those who travel first class. The enterprise has replaced all stock they inherited with high-speed coaches, a move that was aided by the decision to upgrade existing railway infrastructure.

The greatest challenge they faced was poor punctuality. Major changes that included operating radio controlled watches helped them to improve on this aspect. They also operate centers, which exclusively pick up or drop clients, a move which was instrumental in distinguishing long-distance customers from the short distance ones.

Media

In 1985, Virgin group acquired Music Box, a satellite-based music center that operated on a 24-hour basis. It broadcast across numerous EU nations, mostly those which used cable TV. The corporation was later set up as a self-governing production house that majored in assembly of music programs. It ceased being an affiliate of the Virgin group in 1990.

Virgin Broadcasting, which was fashioned in 1988, acquired a stake in British Satellite Broadcasting (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). This entity later merged with Sky Television. They mainly offered satellite services to audiences in the UK. The corporation was in rivalry with Sky TV for a short while. They had a colossal investment outlay, a feature which led them to unification with Sky TV, their erstwhile rivals.

Retail Outlets

Many retail outlets operated in London and all over the UK under the Virgin brand on a small scale. Branson opted to shut down most of them, a move which enabled him to combine them into large departmental stores. These stores later re-opened to the pleasure of customers, offering more goods at the same aggressive prices.

After enforcing this move, Virgin was better placed to compete constructively with other retail outlets and supermarket chains, which had similarly rolled out on a large scale (Dearlove, 114). They had a lead on their rivals due to their presence in many EU countries. In subsequent years, Virgin Megastores was initiated in Japan as part of the growth strategy.

Other Investments

He commissioned the production and manipulation of bridal garments under his trademark (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). The suggestion belonged to a worker who approached him and requested for pecuniary assistance. This project was terminating as a result of the stiff opposition.

The opening of virgin cosmetics served to diversify their market base. They concentrated on individual effects, cosmetics and skin-care goods. Currently, it is a prize winning enterprise, which has established its presence in overseas destinations in the UAE and Africa. Virgin Books is a publishing house he helped to establish, which has released numerous books with some becoming finest sellers.

He leased his patent to mobile operators in Australia and Canada, allowing them to function using the name Virgin Mobile. His most determined scheme so far has been the takeover of Manor Racing (Shepler, 2010). Together with other sponsors, they named it Virgin Racing and took part in the 2009 season. With new guarantors coming on board, the firm has received the obligatory fiscal support to facilitate improvements on the engine.

Social Life

He was knighted in 1999 by the queen for his involvement and services to free enterprise behavior in Britain (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). Thatcher tasked him with the conscientiousness of ensuring Britain’s hygiene. Branson committed profits from different segments of the virgin group to fund study on sustainable power sources.

Part of this funding could be deployed in the necessary sections to spur growth of the sector. It is noteworthy that the company devoted its services to charity by flying compassionate aid to Islamabad for sufferers of the 2005 earthquake (Shepler, 2010).

They are a marketplace leader since they have dedicated some of their jets to testing bio-fuels. His philanthropic tendencies were highlighted when he formed Virgin Unite, an entrepreneurial foundation that is not-for-profit. It is focused on different approaches to societal and ecological issues affecting entrepreneurs.

This is to be achieved by converting business into a force of good, by uniting business leaders and social workers under a common purpose. Establishing an earth test and a green fund serve to underline his obligation to bequeathing the future generation an apt place to exist (virgin.com, 2010).

Management Philosophy

His dyslexic nature prevented his handlers from picking out his ability to bring together citizens and channel their energy for an ordinary rationale (virgin.com, 2010). He had an uncanny ability of connecting with people and drawing them to him. This enabled him to make the most of their full abilities since they trusted in him (Look to the Stars.com, 2010). This gift has been his foremost asset and has seen his business escalate as per revenues over the years.

It should be noted that he entirely advertises his business ventures by engaging in publicity stunts. He holds the record of the express instance taken to cross the Atlantic on boat (Shepler, 2010). He has made attempts crossing oceans on balloon to no avail. He even commissioned a personal TV show on Fox TV that incorporated business-oriented tasks with interesting stunts.

The showing was ended as a result of poor response in the American market regardless of fine endorsement and viewer ratings. In spite of this, the agenda was exported to other regions across EU, Asia, Africa and Australia. In total, nineteen countries televise the concept and reported good ratings. Some TV channels as evident in Fox still air episodes of the same (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).

Whenever a novel brand is launched, he allows proficient employees from other branches of Virgin to manage it with autonomy. This helps them build self self-assurance and develop charisma required to excel in commerce (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).

His companies have review mechanisms, which question all strategies before they are implemented to make certain they meet purchaser satisfaction standards, which are followed to the latter. These guarantees continued manufacture of better-quality quality goods that pledge its continued occurrence in the market (Shepler, 2010).

Branson has been branded as reckless in some quarters, due to his continued investment in diverse commerce ventures. He reckons that he is often misunderstood, since he only spots and exploits the right market at the opportune time. This principle has seen him develop an assorted business empire from modest beginnings.

His administration style is best illustrated by the fact that his companies do not follow a specified hierarchy (Dearlove, 116). They operate as separate entities that are entirely autonomous of each other. In spite of this, they harmonize each other, and often strive to ensure every sister entities remain gainful. Most solutions are generated in-house, at times coming from organizations free from the one in difficulty (Look to the Stars.com, 2010).

Summarily, the Virgin Brand is synonymous with Branson. It embodies his individuality and standing as one of the finest in processes he undertakes. He has established a large unrivalled network of acquaintances and connections that have been instrumental in propelling his brand (Shepler, 2010).

He has instituted an administration agenda that ensures competence is developed and utilized to promote the franchise. Unlike his peers, he has conventional companies that have small executive structures, which reduce official procedures. This ultimately increases competence and the overall presentation of the company.

Works Cited

Dearlove, Des. Business the Richard Branson way: 10 secrets of the world’s greatest brand builder. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. 2007. (3) 110 – 116.

Look To the Stars.org. Richard Branson’s Charity Work, Events and Causes. 2010 Web.

Shepler, John. Richard Branson’s Virgin Success: The Incredible Triumph of an Enigmatic Entrepreneur. 2010. Web.

Virgin.com. Virgin Atlantic.About Virgin. 2010. Web.

Virgin.com. Richard Branson. Virgin Atlantic. 2010. Web.

Introduction

Blendworth is one of the international companies that deal with the production and sale of fabrics. The company is in the business of selling high quality fabrics and wall coverings which match the current fashion trends.

The company sells products such as; skills, velvet and wall papers (Blendworth 2012). A brand can be regarded as a promise by the company to the consumer that the product will perform as per the customer’s expectations. Branding is imperative as it gives information about the superiority and quality of a given product as opposed to the competitor’s products.

To the customer, branding entails quality, less time wastage during buying, a symbol and lower risk as one knows the product performance. Proper branding means that customers spend less time making purchasing decisions and they remain loyal to the brand as it satisfies their needs.

To the company, branding is the basis for competitive advantage, a sign of high quality, increased financial returns and a means of developing unique connections with the customers.

Brand Goal

The overall goal of this project is to increase the profile and reputation of Blendworth Company (Holt 2004). The project hopes to create awareness among the consumers of the company’s products, improve the company’s competitive advantages, differentiate a company’s product from others and create a connection between the company and the customer.

Situational Analysis

The development and enhancement of the Breadworth Brand is mainly geared towards increasing awareness, differentiating the company’s products and creating a competitive edge for this company (Kotler 2003).

Through the previous research, it was found out that Blendworth has a good reputations and brand that is slowly eroding due to increased competition and lack of proper marketing strategies. The SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) analysis revealed that the company has a strong brand, experience, good capital base, highly experienced workers and excellent corporate culture.

Its main weaknesses are few products, lack of adequate marketing strategies and failure to introduce new products. The main opportunities are the high demand for fashionable fabrics, a large international market and company’s positions. The main threats are increased competition by incumbent companies as well as new entrants, substitute products and customer tastes and preferences (Aaker 2005).

Most of the Blendworth company customers are both local and international. The domestic market has 2500 customers and the foreign market having 3000 customers in 40 countries. The main customers are individuals, designers and retailers.

The company faces stiff competition from local and international companies that are slowly eroding the brand and reputation of the company.

Brand vision strategy

The brand vision strategy is an expression of the future that the company wants to take based on deep understanding of the consumers wants and the ability of the company to fulfill these wants.

Blendworth Brand vision: Blendworth, prides itself in the productions and sale of high quality fabrics and wall coverings that exceed the customer’s wants and provide unsurpassed comfort.

The company will strive to lead in providing fashionable and aesthetic fabrics, wall papers, silks, velvet and other fabric related products. The company will ensure proper evaluations on quality, price, employee and customer satisfaction so as to ensure that continued growth of the business (Clifton 2009).

Brand promise: Blendworth will ensure the provision of high quality fabrics at reasonable prices

Target Audience

Blendworth branding campaigns are intended to target three different kinds of audiences as represented by the target market analysis. The target audience can be classified into two main groups and further, these two groups are subdivided into three main parts. These are indicated below

Local audience

The local audience comprise of all the local customers found in United Kingdom. Currently, the company has 2500 local customers who can further be classified in a hierarchical manner such that the most important client is given the highest priority.

1. Designers.
2. Retailers.
3. Individual customers.

International audience

The other class of customers is located outside the UK. Currently the company has 3000 international clients working across 40 nations. Again, the organization of audience in terms of priority is shown below

1. Designers.
2. Retailers.
3. Individual customers.

Branding objectives

Blendworth will launch a three year branding campaign. The main objectives of this branding campaign are:

• To develop a three year promotion and advertisement campaign aimed at strengthening the Brendworth company image.
• To redesign the web and other brand element.
• To increase the Blendworth company customers by 20 percent every year for the next three years (this applies to both international and local customers).
• To increase the brand loyalty, company prestige and status.

Branding Strategies

Branding is a holistic process where the company’s products are promoted as being effective, of high quality and of a competitive price (Aaker, 2004).

For Blendworth Company to brand their product, the change process should be holistic and should improve the product quality, price, promotion, the distribution channels and the communication between the client and the company (Aaker 1995). In this regard, the branding process will focus on these major issues. The branding strategies are:

Product improvement

The first step will be study the company’s product in relation to the competitors. The company’s fabric will also be compared to the best quality fabric worldwide. This will enable the company to improve their products based on existing standards. The production department will work closely with the sales department and ensure that continuous improvement of the products based on the current fashion trends.

Promotions and advertisements

The company will create a two year advertisement and sales plan that will be rolled out locally and internationally. The company will prepare a two year marketing plan to help in branding (Caples 1998). Locally, Blendworth will market its products through the use televisions, broadcast messages and through the print media.

The use of these media will ensure that the message reach the targeted customer. Other marketing strategies to be used locally are the social media and the internet (Hooley 2012). These will enable the company capture the young people who will be drawn to buy the products. Internationally, the company will prepare advertisement materials and work closely with the retailers and designers.

The promotional messages will then be transmitted to these middlemen who will then market the products on behalf of Blendworth.

To prepare adverts for the international customers, Blendworth will work with designers and retailers in those countries so that the advertisements are tailor made for a given target market (Kaser 2012). It is important that the advertisements be made so as to target a particular region Yeshin 2006).

Product branding

The entire product from the Blendworth will be branded with the companies name and a promotional statement. These two items will be redesigned so that there are more appealing and they artistically represent the company’s main theme.

Website redesign

Blendworth website will be redesigned so as to make it more appealing and flashy. This process will transform the website into a creative, user centered site that integrates the company’s missions and vision with the brand that is being developed.

The website will have additional features such as linkages with the social media where feedback from customers can be accessed. The development of this website is imperative as it will serve as a communication link between the customers and the company.

Product launch

One of the best methods to show continuous improvement is the use of product launch. As aforementioned, the company will develop new fabrics in line with the changing fashion trends.

When new improved products are brought into the market, the company will organize for product launch to be aired on televisions, print media and through the internet (Doyle 2001). These launching events will ensure that the company gets media attention as well as involvement by top designers and retailers who will in turn buy the products (Lynn 1995).

Sponsoring events

The Company will sponsor events dealing with interior decorations and trade fairs. These events will be held in the major towns around the world. These events will bring designers, retailers and the public into viewing our products and this will enhance the brand (Kapferer 2012).

Success stories from top designers

The company will collaborate with successful people in the fashion, music, movie and athletics industry. Using these people, the company will show their homes having blendworth fabrics and other products. This will enhance the brand image (Mullin 2012).

Price discrimination and differentiation

For Blendworth to succeed in international market, prices and quality should be differentiated regionally. High class markets should get high quality fabrics at a very high cost. This is because these customers link high cost to quality.

On the other hand, medium and loss class residents should get fabrics at a lower price and of a reasonable quality. In this way the company will become a market leader in terms of pricing (Nagle & Holden 2001).

Resource provision

For effective branding, the necessary resources for product improvement and advertising should be availed on time. Provision of resources will ensure timely implementation of the branding enhancement process.

Measurement and evaluations

The success of the branding campaigns must be measured so as to determine the overall effectiveness of the whole process. Several measurement procedures were developed. These are outlined in table (1). The measurement will be determined by the key performance indicators (Neumeier 2005). The process of evaluations will follow the following structure

1. Base-lining: at this stage, the researcher will determine the existing conditions. These are the current sales record, the current feedback message on the website, the current profit, the number of customers at the moment and the available resources.
2. Outlining the evaluation procedures: The researcher will then outline measurement methods for all the strategies and objectives, these measurements are outlined in table 1
3. Evaluation: The measurement will be carried out during the whole implementation period. These measurement will enable the implementation team understand progress and make the necessary changes (Sheth, Gardner & Garrett 1988).
4. Changes: After evaluations, the changes will be made so to restore the branding process on track. If the evaluations indicate that the process is on track, then no changes will be made.

Table 1: evaluation strategies.

Brand Element

For Blendworth to succeed in building its brand, it is imperative that the main brand elements are designed so as to effectively communicate to the customers and there are also easily recognized by the clients. Brand elements must be memorable, meaningful, protectable, transferable, aesthetic, appealing and adaptable (Wheeler 2009). The following brand elements are necessary:

• Position statement: This is a unique selling proposition that will be used to market a product. Blendworth is an international company selling high quality fabric at the most cost effective price; we are the best in the market offering unsurpassed products that exceed the customer expectations.
• Logo: The Company will hire artist to design a logo to be used as a label. When customers see the logo, they will be able to recognize the company’s product. The logo will combine aspects of quality, the company name and create an image of excellence.
• Brand name: “Blendworth” will be used as the brand name. This is because the name has been used for many years and it represents excellence and experience.
• Communication tone: The company staff should be trained so that they communicate with clients in a friendly and appealing way. Communication through telephone, writing and internet should be done in a friendly way.
• Company jargon: this is a single statement that sells the company products. The proposed jargon will be “fabric quality and excellence”

Time plan

The main activities during the branding process are tabulated below

Communication Methods

Communications plays an imperative role during branding as it provides channels though which customers get information. The main communications methods to be used are:

• Advertisement: these will be carried out through
  • Print media: include newspapers, magazines and articles
  • The use of television and radio for advertisement
  • Use of promotional merchandise such as flags, banners and billboards.
• Direct marketing: will be done using broadcast emails sent to prospective designers and retailers.
• Internet advertisements: it entails the use of Google, social media sites such as face book and tweeter, tumbler and advertising on designer websites.
• Events: these include trade fairs and interior décor shows. These events will be advertised to ensure public awareness.

References

Aaker, D 2005, Strategic Marketing Management, 7^th edition, Wiley, New York.

Aaker, D 1995, Building Strong Brands, Free press publishers, London.

Aaker, D 2004, Brand Portfolio Strategy: Creating Relevance, Differentiation, Energy, Leverage, and Clarity, Free press publishers, London.

Blendworth 2012. Belndworth company website. Web.

Caples, J 1998, Tested Advertising Methods, Prentice Hall publishers, New Jersey.

Clifton, R 2009, Brands and Branding, Second Edition. Bloomberg Press, Blomberg towers, New York.

Doyle, P 2001, Marketing Management and Strategy. 3^rd Edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Farris, P, Neil, T, Phillip, E & David, J 2010, Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance (2nd Edition), Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Hooley, P 2012, Marketing Strategy & Competitive Positioning, 5^th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Holt, D 2004, How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding, Harvard Business School Press, Harvard.

Kapferer, J 2012, The New Strategic Brand Management: Advanced Insights and Strategic Thinking (New Strategic Brand Management: Creating & Sustaining Brand Equity), Kogan Page publishers, London.

Kaser,K 2012, Advertising and Sales Promotion. South-Western Educational Publishers. London.

Kotler, P 2003, Marketing Management. 11^th Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Lynn, B 1995, Building Brand Identity: A Strategy for Success in a Hostile Marketplace. Wiley publishers, New York.

Mullin,R 2012, Sales Promotion: How to Create, Implement and Integrate Campaigns that Really Work, Kogan Page publishers, London.

Nagle, T & Holden, R 2001, The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Profitable Decision Making (3rd Edition), prentice Hall publishers, London.

Neumeier, M 2005, The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design, New Riders, New Jersey.

Sheth, J, Gardner, D & Garrett, D 1988, Marketing Theory: Evolution and Evaluation, Wiley publishers, New York.

Wheeler, A 2009, Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team 3^rd edition, Wiley publishers, New York.

Yeshin, T 2006, Sales Promotion, International Thomson Business Press, London.

As a freelancer, you are a small businessperson. As such, you have a product to sell, which is usually yourself. You, as a product, deserve and need to be perceived as a brand just as surely as a multinational corporation does. How can you create this perception? Let’s examine some of the elements of the branding process, as applied to a freelancer.

The basis for successful branding for any business, of any size, is analysis. This may sound boring, or scary if you are, as is the case with all too many of us, numerically challenged. It may seem unnecessary and excessive. Don’t be misled by these often-reflexive reactions. Your investment in preliminary analysis will allow you to spend your time, energy, and money efficiently in branding yourself.

Analyze yourself as a product:

You need to know who you are and what you offer the marketplace. This is the same process that would be undertaken by a widget manufacturing business to establish a brand identity for their product.

This is especially important when you work independently, because few people start out to be freelancers. You might have fallen into this role, perhaps as a bridge between organizationally-based jobs, or to try out a new career. You may missed out on the sort of self-inventory often involved in job-hunting. Freelancing certainly lacks detailed job descriptions.

List the skills that are obviously applicable to the work you do or aim to do. Then list everything else you do well, and your areas of expertise and familiarity, even if they are not obviously related. Remember, as an independent worker, you are a one-man/woman band. You may find yourself needing to do things handled elsewhere if you were working with an organization.

For example, if you were proofreading for a publisher, you might read, correct, hand your work in, and go home. As a freelance editor, in addition to proofing, your could very well find yourself shepherding a writer past an episode of writer’s block, or a failure of confidence, or some other existential nightmare.

Describe what you do, or intend to do, in as much detail as you can. Explain what you do as if talking to an extra-galactic alien. Make sure that you do not assume any prior knowledge. To continue with the example of a freelance editor, if you know how to import bibliographies from external bibliographic tools, or to embed complicated figures into a document, explain it, using the name of the tool (for example, Moodle). If you can edit in multiple languages, mention that.

Analyze the market around you:

Just like a giant corporation, you need to carry out an environmental assessment. Using the description of your skills, and what you do with those skills that you have created, generate a list of keywords. Search online using these, to identify your direct competitors – not the whole world of people and organizations who do something roughly similar.

Thus, to use the proofing example again, instead of just searching on ‘editor’ to find out who else is out there doing the same thing, search on ‘editor’ plus ‘graph creation’ or other extra special things you can do. The pool of folks who pop up after such a highly targeted search are probably your direct, head-to-head competitors as a freelancer.

Analyze how you want to be perceived:

Consider the way you want people to describe you. How would you like people to (you hope) refer their friends and colleagues to you? These are the words and phrases you want to convey consistently in both your behavior and in whatever marketing you do for yourself. Make sure they fit; as an example of what not to do, think of how “global warming” fails to fit the climate change has undermined subsequent efforts to affect policy and public opinion.

If you can feasibly ask customers how they perceive you, this is a wonderful tool in your efforts to brand yourself. This kind of data is not available to everyone, but worth trying to acquire. The gap between what people actually think about you professionally and what you want them to think of you is your challenge to bridge.

Analyze how to communicate who you are, and what you, do as a freelancer:

As you identify other entities, whether individuals or firms, that do what you want to do, look at their websites and other promotional materials. Discreetly, and without overtly stalking, keep track of how they present themselves and what they are doing for publicity and marketing.

This includes everything from the screen name they choose, to the way they present themselves in photographs, to the text in their websites or profiles. There will be some aspects that you will not be able to see, for example, the arcana of search engine mechanics. However, there is a great deal that you will be able to discern.

Use everything available to publicize yourself:

Now you know who you are, what you do, how you want to be perceived, what your competition is, and how they are marketing themselves. You can use free social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram, and even resources like YouTube to discuss or demonstrate what you, uniquely, do. Join and become active in all the relevant professional organizations in your field. The key is to be consistent.

Everything that originates with you should convey the same message. Let us imagine that you want to distinguish yourself as being able to help ESL students, or proof quantitative and scientific material. Your profile in every medium, and even your greeting on your email, should carry a tagline including those professional attributes.

Careful analysis and observation will help you figure out how to distinguish yourself. Consistency of message and presentation in everything written, and in your behavior, will help you to build a successful brand out of your skills and unique product, or service.