Category: Brand

Introduction

Meaning of brand equity

Brand equity is viewed as the result of marketing when a product becomes recognizable among other brands. Brand equity is the power and ability in the minds of the consumers to recognize a product then purchasing the product which leads to augmented sales and amplified profits against similar competing brands. Brand equity has been adopted by large and small businesses. To realize brand equity, marketing mix has been adopted¹.

Advantages of brand equity

Brand equity enables the company predict their income. Increased market share leads to increases revenues. The costs involved in promoting the product are also reduced. The company can enjoy premium pricing. In some cases, brand equity is sold or released. This is because it is considered an asset. Brand equity is a bridge that enables the company realizes success in a competitive environment.

Brand equity causes the company to reflect on the past and develop a direction for the future. It allows companies focus and obtain guidance in a competitive environment. Brand equity facilitates customer recognition from the packaging, logo, color and name. It increases the number of loyal customers who have experience with the product and even associate with the product.

Consequently, the revenues increase with the number of customers increasing. When younger people become loyal they grow up with the brand and become a reliable customer for the company. Promoted brands are effective and allow extension of products. Brand equity becomes an asset to the organization and can be leased or borrowed to yield more revenues².

Thesis statement

This paper seeks to describe the concept of brand equity, its underlying theories and its practical application.

The concept of brand equity

A brand which is either a name or a symbol will identify the origin of a product. Branding is significant when it comes to recognition and positive perception in the minds of the customers. Brand equity is positive associations given to a particular brand by customers. Brand equity can be viewed in three points of view; financial, brand extension and consumer based.

The financial view considers the price premium of the product over the other brands. Brand extension view utilizes the successful brand image to launch new products. The advertising cost can be reduced in brand extension and enhance the existing brand.

The consumer based view influences the consumer perception of the brand. Actual experience if form of trails builds the brand. Positive perception, good attributes and association lead to brand loyalty from the customers³.

Brand equity is leased or sold. It can be borrowed and extended to a line of products in same or different categories. Some companies have the same brand for different products while others have a single brand for each product. Brand equity should be protected and be consistent as it meets the customers needs⁴.

Theories underlying brand equity

Different scholars have done research in brand equity. More literature has been generated from the research to shed more light in the branch. Brand equity has been discussed as a theory that portrays the outcome of brand recognition⁵.

Branding involves popularizing an image or brand name to the public to make it recognizable. Branding also includes creating a positive image for a company. Branding sets a standard for a company which should be maintained.

Branding enables companies extend their product line beyond what they had as an original product. A successful brand name causes customers to choose products over others offered by competitors. Branding enables companies to bring better and affordable prices to the consumers.

Marketing communication is also related to brand equity. Marketing communication reveals the perceptions and the mindset of the consumer on particular brands or products. As a result, marketing communication enables the company adopts a strategy that is practical, efficient and maximizes the results. It is possible to identify the consumers needs and get a feed back when the product is in use.

The company can communicate to the customer in a timely manner. Marketing, advertising, new developments, new brand names and repositioning of brands depend on effective marketing communication for successful brand equity. Marketing communication is based on the customers hence the company can view the situation form a different perspective⁶.

Practical application of brand equity

Brand equity can be introduced inform of a quality product. The quality product will build the brand name and future products will be launched using the established brand name. Positive assessment from the customers is important.

The brand should be easy to remember by elaborating. Brand attitudes are developed when the customer can recall their evaluation of the brand. Consistency and fortification play a significant role in the application of brand equity. The image should remain consistent for a long time. The customers mind will remember and develop a positive image of the brand⁷.

Brand equity can be applied in both services and products. When the correct combination of marketing mix is adopted, brand equity can be achieved. The application of brand equity involves expertise at the different phases. Expertise are involves in the manufacturing and marketing of the products⁸.

The aim is to serve the particular needs of the customers. Brand equity application recognizes important measurements in the sales, marketing and customer loyalty. The company understands that the branding actions are interrelated with other functions of the business. Moreover, application reflects the overall goal of the company. The qualities of the brand can be identified in the different brands.

During application of brand equity, the company makes note of the diverse disciplines in branch management. The marketing strategy, the product, customer perception and recognition as well as promotions should be applied in correct measure to ensure that brand equity is attained. Effective and efficient application will lead to focused marketing strategies that are reliable in creating awareness of a particular brand⁹.

The strategies of increasing brand equity

Strategies of increasing brand equities require planning, implementation and evaluation at all phases of the process. One of the strategies of increasing brand equity is using the marketing mix. Marketing mix is a practice in marketing where different elements of a product in market are controlled and adjusted to meet the customers needs and to bring revenue to the company.

Marketing mix also refers to marketing plan commonly referred to as the 4Ps. The 4Ps include place, price, product and promotion. The marketing plan or extended market mix usually involves 7Ps which include: place, price, product, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. All the 7Ps which make up the marketing mix are significant.

People in the marketing mix are the personnel in the company that customers interact with. Process in the marketing mix is the systems and practices of the company that influences the marketing methods of the company.

Physical evident in the marketing mix refers to the elements of the store such as the uniform of the employees, sign boards and images in the store front. Different ways of advertising or marketing can be used in combination¹⁰.

Marketing is a concept that denotes placing the correct product in the exact place, with the right price and in the paramount time. This means that a company can develop a product targeting a particular group, put the product where target group can access and give prices for the group. The price of the product will correspond to the value the customer feel the product is worth.

Moreover, the company marketing will take note of the time the customer will want to buy such a product. Investigations are important in getting information on what people want and where they buy their products. When producing the item, the company will equate the product with the value of the product and provide the product for them to buy at the critical time in their convenience.

Failure to identify the markets trends can be challenging because products may get negative brand equity. Marketing mix is one of the efficient and useful ways of increasing brand equity. Marketing mix has also been used to refer to decisions that a company makes when introducing a product to the market¹¹.

The product satisfies a need. The product meets the customers particular needs. There are features in the product that satisfy the customers needs. Features included will impact on the value. Features included are carefully selected. The products include the relevant and affordable features the customer can afford. Costly features that the customer will not use can be avoided.

When developing the product, where and how the product will be used is considered. The product should be easy to use and friendly. Another element considered is how the product looks like. The color, sizes and form are central. The expected experience when the product is used should meet the customers hopes.

Naming and branding the products should be recognizable and outstanding for to increase brand equity. The product should be unique and different to be identified from the competitors products. The product should be made affordable to the customers and enable the company make revenue¹².

When selecting the correct place to avail the product, the company places the product where the customers can access. The company identifies the kind of stores where the customers look for the products and where they can purchase the product. Depending on the product, the company identifies if the product can be sold as specialized product, online, directly or using a catalogue.

Then the company identifies the appropriate and reliable distribution channel. Marketing the product may require the company to attend trade fairs, avail samples with catalogue companies or use sales force.

One can investigate where the competitors have stocked, mistakes they have done before, what they succeeded in doing and where they market the products. By investigating the competitor, the company will avoid doing mistakes and improve the approach. The company will venture into places with potential customers that have not been reached¹³.

Price is an important factor that customers consider before buying a product. The prices indicate the value that the consumers will obtain from the goods they consume. The company should adhere to price regulations from the government or regulation bodies. The company can review the established price points given to similar products. Customers are sometimes very responsive to prices of the goods and services they consume.

A small reduction in price may cause more buyers to choose the product, while a small increase of price may not be recognized; hence you may gain the advantage of augmented profits. Consider what discounts can be given to special groups in the market or trade partners. Reflect on the price of the product when compared with the competitors prices¹⁴.

Promotion will ensure that the message about the product is known. Promotion is concerned with the channels or methods of passing on the message to the target customers. The company will consider different mediums like the press, televisions, bill boards or radio. The company can deem to use direct marketing by mailing, using public relations or the internet.

Depending on the nature of the product, the company can decide if they are required market the product all year round or during a particular season. Environmental factors that may affect the timing of the promotion and sales should be identified.

The marketing mix is a model that helps a company introduce a new product or offer in the market. The marketing mix can be used as measurement for the existing marketing strategy. To apply the marketing mix the company identifies a particular product. Then the 4Ps are used to evaluate the strategy¹⁵.

Brand equity increases the level of recognition. A brand image or symbol is important in identifying a company or a product. When a brand has a positive image in the thoughts of the consumers, then value is added to the particular brand. When planning to increase brand equity, it is necessary to consider evaluating the brand image and may end up developing a new brand depending on the situation.

To increase brand equity, a company may think about adopting new ways of making the brand image known or tray diverse option of making the brand known. Before engaging in any activities for increasing brand equity, the company will get reliable information on whether the brand has a positive or negative image.

The evaluation on brand equity begins with evaluating the existing brand. Some of the factors to consider will include the consistency and if it is recognizable.

Assess if the brand is up to date in terms of how it looks and how it sounds. Review if the brand has any emotional attachment to the consumer. Emotional impact increases brand identity to the target group. Also evaluate if the brand or product is relevant to the target group. Ensure that the message of the brand is consistent¹⁶.

After the evaluation of the existing brand, it may be necessary to adopt a new brand that customer identify and are attached to emotionally. Adopting a new brand will assist in achieving brand equity. The aim of adopting a new brand will be to increase awareness, influence customer to recognize and associate with the brand, get adequate information and decide to purchase the particular brand.

After ensuring that the brand is good and will meet the target customer, the next step is to market the brand. Different ways of marketing the brand can be exercised. New ways of marketing can be effective in increasing recognition of the product. Marketing the product will reach the target customers. The brand should be available to the consumers. Availability, recognition and marketing increases brand equity¹⁷.

There are places where advertisements can promote brand equity. The social networks have spaces for advertisements. The space can be used to place and advertise the product. The space can also be used to discuss the brand. Links can be placed where a customer can purchase the product. Discussions and testimonials can assist popularize the brand. Potentials customers can encourage brand recognition.

New products that feature in contests effective increase the level of recognition to the public and potential customers. Blogs have the latency to increase brand equity. Blogs spots are effective and one of the fastest ways of increasing brand equity. Blogs may contain discussions that may popularize a brand in a group of potential customers.

Sponsoring activities in the community is one of the ways of increasing brand equity. Activities such as sports and community service in the streets make your brand name known by many people in the community. People begin to recognize the product and buy the brand hence increase brand equity.

Another way of marketing is texting the brand. A contest where those texting have a chance of winning a prize can be effective in creating recognition. The brand name will be in the text¹⁸.

New marketing strategies are significant in achieving brand equity. One can consider making the brand known to the young people. This will ensure that the young people grow with the brand. One should constantly engage in market evaluation to detect any change in brand equity.

Constant evaluation will enable one to notice when competition and customers shift to favor another brand. Consequently, changes can be made to retain and increase brand equity¹⁹.

Brand equity can be increased in the case where a product has reached its maturity phase. A product in the maturity phase will have increased competition accompanied by low sales and low level of brand recognition. The domination of a single product in the market and differentiation of products are the major concerns in the maturity phase of the brand equity.

The brand equity can be improved by increasing awareness of the product, going into new markets and enhancing the brand image. When the brand image is enhanced, the product becomes favorable and unique to the particular brand. Some of the brand elements can be improved to enhance the brand image²⁰. Furthermore, the brand can also be repositioned.

Repositioning the brand is effective in influencing customers opinion on the particular brand. The opinions over a particular brand enables the customer select the particular brand and perceive that it meets their expectation at the particular time. If the expectation of the customers is met, then repositioning plays the role of additional persuasive points of difference.

Repositioning a brand will ensure that the product is relevant, fashionable and modernized to merge with the lifestyle of the product users. Products that are mature may be viewed as trustworthy. Since the customers trust the product, cases where the customer may consider the product boring should be avoided.

The company can consider adopting a strategy that will place the product free from aggressive competition by emphasizing and making the product unique. The product should meet the customers taste. This can be achieved by making new products, advertising, promotion and packing a new product differently²¹.

Conclusion

Brand equity is as the result of marketing when a product becomes recognizable. Brand equity enables a company increase awareness of the brand and lead to increased revenues. The company direction and expansion of new brands is easier and affordable. Customers become loyal to the brand. Marketing, branding and market communication are some of the underlying theories in brand equity.

Brand equity requires the company to engage in evaluation of the product in the market and make plans to adopt a marketing strategy. Marketing mix is one of the marketing strategies a company can adopt. Marketing mix refers to the 4Ps: place, product, price and promotion. The product should meet the specific needs of the consumer. The product should have a price that can be equated to the value of the product.

The product should be availed in the accessible place where customers can purchase. Marketing mix enables a company introduce a new brand in the market. When marketing mix is used in the correct combination of measures brand equity is achieved. Marketing can be done in the social networks, discussion in blogs, introduce contests, sponsoring sports and advertisement in the media.

Marketing mix assists the company thrives in a competitive market. The brand is consistent, provides quality, satisfies the customers need, is fashionable, is reliable and has affordable prices.

Bibliography

Berthon, Pierre., Pitt, Leyland., Chakrabarti, Ronika and Berton, Paul. Brand worlds: From articulation to Integration. Journal of advertising research, 51, no. 1 (2011): 182-194.

Binet, Les and Carter, Sarah. Mythbuster: brands are not buddies. Admap, (2011): 9

Boisvert, Jean. Conceptualization and modeling of the process behind brand association transfer. International Journal of market research, 53, no. 4. (2011): 541-556.

Bucklin, Randolph., Gupta, Sanjeev & Han, Song. Brands Eye View of Response Segmentation in Consumer Choice Behavior. Journal of Marketing Research, 32 (1995): 66-74.

Bucklin, Randolph & Lattin, James. A Two-State Model of Purchase Incidence and Brand Choice. Marketing Science, 10(1991): 24-40.

Choi, Young and Rhee, Khun. Dimensions of Brand Equity of Luxury Fashion Brands. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, (2004): 1007-1018

Chung, Moo. Antecedents and Consequence of Brand Personality and Brand Equity on Private Brand. Korea Research Academy of Distribution Information, (2007): 97-120

Clift, Joseph. Why brand relevance explain brand movement. Warc Exclusive, (2011).

Gasket, Paul. Brand Management: brand Ethics. Admap, (2011): 40-41.

Hardie, Blandworth., Johnson, Elizabeth & Fader, Bruce. Modeling Loss Aversion and Reference Dependence Effects on Brand Choice. Marketing Science, 12(1993): 378-394.

Jung, Hyung-Shik. Building Brand Equity Through Advertising and Evidence Utilization (Implications for Brand Extension Strategy). Industrial Relations Research, (1999): 158-171

Keller, Kevin. Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 57 (1993): 1-22.

Kim, Yu. and Park. Young-Hoon. A Conjoint Measurement of Brand Equity with Internet Effect. Korean Academic Society of Business Administration, (1996): 61-96

Kim, Hoon. A Study on the Effects of Brands on Products Purchase and Choice.The Korean Society of Management Consulting, (2008): 155-177

Kotler, Philip Kevin and Burton, Susan. Marketing management 1^st edition. Sydney: Prentice Hall, 2009.

Mackay Mariso. Application of brand equity measures in service marketing. Journal of services marketing, Vol 15, no. 3. (1987): 210-221.

Sng, Mark. Brand culture. Admap, (2011): 18-19.

Sung, Yang. and Woo, Sung. Psychological Approach to Brand Equity: Interaction of Consumer and Brand. Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology, (2000): 39-61

Vardis, Harry. What is brand identity and how can knowing it increase your bottom line? Research review, 13 no. 2 (1998).

Woodward, John. Point of view: why brands need the wow factor. Admap, (2011): 7

Footnotes

¹ Moo Chung, Antecedents and Consequence of Brand Personality and Brand Equity on Private Brand, Korea Research Academy of Distribution Information, (2007): 97-120

² Kevin Keller, Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity, Journal of Marketing, 57 (1993): 1-22.

³ Y Yu Kim and Young-Hoon Park, A Conjoint Measurement of Brand Equity with Internet Effect, Korean Academic Society of Business Administration, (1996): 61-96

⁴ Randolph Bucklin & James Lattin, A Two-State Model of Purchase Incidence and Brand Choice, Marketing Science, 10(1991): 24-40.

⁵ Blandworth Hardie, Elizabeth Johnson & Bruce Fader, Modeling Loss Aversion and Reference Dependence Effects on Brand Choice, Marketing Science, 12(1993): 378-394.

⁶ Yang Sung and Sung Woo, Psychological Approach to Brand Equity: Interaction of Consumer and Brand, Korean Journal of Consumer and Advertising Psychology, (2000): 39-61.

⁷ Randolph Bucklin, Sanjeev Gupta & Song Han, Brands Eye View of Response Segmentation in Consumer Choice Behavior, Journal of Marketing Research, 32 (1995): 66-74.

⁸ Jung, Hyung-Shik, Building Brand Equity Through Advertising and Evidence Utilization (Implications for Brand Extension Strategy), Industrial Relations Research, (1999): 158-171

⁹ Hoon Kim, A Study on the Effects of Brands on Products Purchase and Choice, The Korean Society of Management Consulting, (2008): 155-177

¹⁰ Yu Kim and Young-Hoon, Park, A Conjoint Measurement of Brand Equity with Internet Effect, Korean Academic Society of Business Administration, (1996): 61-96

¹¹ Kevin Keller, Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity, Journal of Marketing, 57 (1993): 1-22.

¹² Harry Vardis, What is brand identity and how can knowing it increase your bottom line?, Research review, 13 no. 2 (1998).

¹³ Young Choi and Khun Rhee, Dimensions of Brand Equity of Luxury Fashion Brands, Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, (2004): 1007-1018

¹⁴ Paul Gasket, Brand Management: brand Ethics, Admap, (2011): 40-41.

¹⁵ Mark Sng, Brand culture, Admap, (2011): 18-19.

¹⁶ John Woodward, Point of view: why brands need the wow factor, Admap, (2011): 7

¹⁷ Les Binet and Sarah Carter, Mythbuster: brands are not buddies, Admap, (2011): 9

¹⁸ Pierre Berthon, Pitt Leyland, Ronika Chakrabarti and Paul Berton, Brand Worlds: From articulation to Integration, Journal of advertising research, 51, no. 1 (2011): 182-194.

¹⁹ Joseph Clift, Why brand relevance explain brand movement,, Warc Exclusive, (2011).

²⁰ Jean Boisvert, Conceptualization and modeling of the process behind brand Association transfer, International Journal of market research, 53, no. 4. (2011): 541-556.

²¹ Mariso Mackay, Application of brand equity measures in service marketing, Journal of services marketing, Vol 15, no. 3. (1987): 210-221.

Air Jordan is a brand of custom made shoes produced originally by the U.S. based sports merchandise manufacturing company Nike. These shoes were designed for and endorsed by all time celebrated in NBA basketball player Michael Jordan. The Air Jordan brand of shoes has significantly revolutionized foot wear in basketball. Before their debut into the world of basketball, all shoes in the game were white. This situation has since changed. The Air Jordan line of shoes and other Jordan products are since being marketed and sold by the Jordan Brand Company.

Michael Jordan started his relationship with Nike in the 9^th month of 1984 after he had signed for the Chicago Bull. This resulted in the subsequent release Air Jordans 1, the first of the Air Jordan line of shoes, in March 1985. These shoes were inspired by the vibrant heritage, dream and undeviating concern of Michael Jordan. The replica design of this shoe in different colors and sizes for men, women, and children went on sale the same year drawing massive sales worldwide.

The $2.5 million 5 year deal revolutionized sports entertainment. The bold black and red styling of Jordan 1 flouted the traditional convention color rules in basketball and led to their subsequent banning on the court (Sneaker Head). This line of shoes became one of the leading retailing basketball shoes in the market. This lay the basis of Air Jordan becoming a house hold franchise in sports merchandise particularly shoes.

The following year saw the launching of Air Jordan II. Its reception in the market was, however, not as altruistic as its predecessor. This was attributed to leading designers leaving Nike to start their company and high retail prices that accustomed the shoe. The entry of a designer called Tinker Hatfield brought a new concept into the world of design. He personally engaged Jordan in the design of the following years shoe which cemented Michaels loyalty to Nike.

Air Jordan III took the market by storm as a result of Jordans direct input in requesting for its specifications. In addition to that, it bore the famous Jumpman logo that accustomed his winning of the 1986/7 slam duck competition held at Seattle Coliseum. This trade market design of shoes was to later curve out a niche in the market for Air Jordan. Tinker was to team up with Michael in producing exclusive designs of basketball shoes that recorded massive sales within the US and beyond.

Michael Jordan retired from professional basketball in 1993 with the release of Air Jordan VIII (Sneaker Obsession). This was the 9^th Air Jordan shoe type since the partnership between Jordan and Nike begun. His retirement, however, did not mark the end of the Air Jordan brand of shoes. Nike continued to release this line of shoes, and they continued with the impressive sales that had been witnessed during his period at the top of NBA basketball.

The successful partnership between Nike and Jordan continued until the latter part of 1997 when Nike adopted a new marketing plan. The Air Jordan line was turned into a sub brand under the larger Nike family and merchandise. The shoes produced from this year were not to bear the Nike logo instead only the Air Jordan Jumpman was to them.

The Jordan brand has since diversified its operations to include other fields rather than just the manufacture of basketball shoes (AirJordanCity). Nevertheless, the manufacture of the trademark shoes still goes on, and it underlines the brand. The Air Jordan Brand has come up with the Jordan Sports Performance collection.

This collection is tailored with training and performance needs of athletes across all the sporting disciplines. This is through supply of training gear, equipment and match day uniforms for the various sporting franchises. In addition to that, the collection also exclusively dresses and brands some superstars e.g. Carmelo Anthony who is under a contractual obligation with them.

The Jordan Lifestyle was also established under the Air Jordan brand of Nike. The lifestyle feature of the sub brand works on specifically producing wares bearing an athletic theme. This feature of Air Jordan is solely designed for youths and young adults and it entails T-shirts, caps, track suits, shorts, and hats.

The Jordan Womens was also established to take care of the ladies who account for a substantial number. Most women fancied Michael Jordan during his playing days both on and off the court. The target of most of the Jordan Womens is the urban lady most of whom are trendy and fashion conscious with regard to their clothing lines.

Air Jordan also endeavors to give back to the community in the line of, social corporate, responsibility. It issues of up to $1million annually, which has totaled up to $7 million, through the Jordan Fundamentals program from its sales for community development. The sub brand caters for the annual Jordan Brand All-American Classic (JBAAC) at Madison Square Garden where massive scouting of raw college basketball talent is done.

Financial position of the brand

The monetary accomplishment of the Air brand is best exemplified by the year 2009, as illustrated by Nike brand which amassed proceeds totaling to $ 1 billion. Further statistics point out that the brand contributes approximately 5% to Nikes revenues (Rovell). It is further noted that the Jordan brand captures close to 0.8 % of the shoe marketplace in the nation

The Air Jordan brand has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. Its growth from 1985, when Jordan was fined for using his brand shoes to 2010 when the brand enjoys the stability the market has been remarkable. The brands quality has helped it to diversify its products and field of operation.

Works Cited

AirJordanCity. Over 50% off all cheap air jordans plus free worldwide shipping. N.D. October 10, 2010.

Rovell, Darren. Michael Jordan First Athlete To $1 Billion. CNBC. 11th September 2009. Web.

Sneaker Obsession. Jordan Brand, N.D. Sneaker Obsession Web.

Sneaker Head. Jordan Brand History. N.D. Web. Sneaker Head October 10, 2010.

Introduction

Technology advancements continue to influence perspectives and practices of branding, but important constructs of branding are still relatively unchanged from what they were a decade ago. However, the entire concept has leapfrogged when observed in the context of ten decades ago.

The change has been from a marketing ideology and its various associated changes to a branding ideology. Branding has shifted from being an accessory of corporate strategy to become a critical success factor for organizations, individuals, special interest groups, institutions, and movements alike.

Marketers and brands can now reach targets in the context of their daily lives and routines. This ability presents various opportunities and threats.

Growth in brand reputation also increases stakeholder scrutiny of the brand. Going forward, it will be critical for all practitioners and scholars to embrace the fact that brands are performative because they transform the context of their application and the subjectivity of participants (Nakassis 2012).

Review of academic literature on recent trends in branding

The rise of branding as a corporate activity in the recent decades has been successful, but the trend is now facing challenges from the rise of anti-brand activism (Palazzo & Basu 2007).

These two trends come from a societal transition from an industrial to a post-industrial society, which, coupled with globalization, is calling for brand success to encompass more than just superior product performance. Corporations now have to think beyond performance and into the social behaviour of their brand as evoked by their brand (Palazzo & Basu 2007).

According to Wang et al. (2012), consumers deploy superstitions to fill the void of unknown company offerings when they first encounter a brand logo. They also use the superstitions to evaluate a brand logo and judge benefits arising from its offerings. Individuals who believe in fate see less need to seek control over their fortune or fate in an uncertain market condition (Wang et al. 2012).

Therefore, they take less cues from external information sources like brand logos. On the other hand, people can form positive attitudes toward a brand logo because of their perceived benefits, as indicated by the images and connotations arising from psychological beliefs.

In such cases, strong beliefs influence positive associations and evaluation of brand logos (Wang et al. 2012). In general, companies must appeal to peoples psychological belief orientations to influence positive attitudes shown by their consumers, which should lead to a favourable performance of company offerings in a target market.

Even with the constant flux of the environment for corporate branding, many organizations still conceptualize themselves as stable entities (Melewar, Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2012). As firms continue to focus on consistency and continuity in their branding efforts, the external and internal environments are increasingly becoming blurry.

Rather than merely change corporate brands to reflect changes in internal and external environments, organizations have to establish traditions, cultures, and strategies that make their corporate branding tactics fluid and reflective of the dynamic internal and external environmental needs (Melewar, Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2012).

Nations are also embracing place branding in a corporate way and coordinating the activities of their various state-level organizations to create a common brand (Dinnie et al. 2014). With integrated communication marketing approaches, nations act like individual firms and reach diverse audiences with a constant message.

They focus on having optimum market coverage with the least amount of investment. This comes in the wake of concerns about a nations reputation and its competitiveness, especially the attraction of foreign direct investments and export of services.

Place branding is a newer concept than product branding and follows the many principles of brand management. However, place branding has multiple stakeholders and decision-makers, while product branding is mainly tied to specific organizations and their stakeholders (Sharp 2010).

Recent trends in branding of countries force the development of efficient and systematic methods to align key stakeholder groups. Branding of places is now more than a focus on particular environments and advanced infrastructures or other attraction points (Dinnie (ed.) 2011).

States that have no explicit branding activities are ill-equipped to compete for economic, political, and social attention. Most countries are now changing the definitions of traditional diplomacy to reflect market needs and view collaboration and cooperation at an international level as avenues for integrated marketing communications (Dinnie et al. 2014).

Directors of different state agencies, embassies, or state affiliated organizations continue to increase the frequency of informal meetings that may not be explicitly about representing a countrys economic or political agenda, but create a convenient channel for future formal negotiations. Such activities aim to soften the nation brand reception by hosts (Dinnie et al. 2014).

Place branding lays emphasis on brand identity elements such as mission, vision, values, personality, and distinguishing preferences and benefits of a place (Sharp 2010). Practitioners are looking at relationships of influential stakeholders as key areas to review when creating a place brand because places have a number of stakeholders in them and rely on their brand equity.

The main aim of intervening on relationships among stakeholders is to ensure that they live up to the promise of the brand, just like company employees are supposed to live the promise of their organizations brand.

In addition, the growth of brand management and a common use of the term now place a brand image on everything. Political parties, schools, museums, national or international sporting events, activism campaigns, military, celebrities, and any individual or entity now is understood as a brand and managed as a brand. As such, branding has become a business imperative, rather than merely a marketing decision (McKee 2014).

Partner brand attitudes continue to have positive effects on the attitudes towards brand alliances and international brand alliances (IBA) are becoming a common feature for global companies.

Just like marketing entry strategies, firms on a global scale are increasingly going for IBA because they want the benefits of quickly gaining trust, knowledge, expertise and established distributed channel, as well as the categorys reputation and native brand value (Li & He 2013).

Nevertheless, consumer ethnocentrism continues to play a part in an actual brand performance in foreign markets through alliances or direct entry. In spite of this, there continues to be a push for branding strategies that rely on product reputation to grow brand reputation and go past the market challenges caused by consumer ethnocentrism (Li & He 2013).

Although the concept of corporate branding is well known, there continues to be confusion and conflicting literature concerning corporate branding, corporate identity, and corporate reputation (Olins 2008).

On one part, corporate branding focuses on relevancy to customers, while corporate reputation concerns the legitimacy of the organization with respect to stakeholders. On the other hand, there is a view of corporate brand being an integral factor for building corporate reputation to all stakeholder groups.

As corporate entities attempt to fix their brands and use them as unique resources for competitive advantage, they create heightened importance on their corporate affinities, products and services, as well as social responsibility programs. While some firms are choosing to focus on particular elements of identity, many other companies choose to embrace a wholesome approach that covers the entire range of options.

Branding is, therefore, becoming a means of achieving a desired corporate identity and it is no longer a tool for marketing alone. Consumers are becoming aware and critical of organizations impacts on society and ecological environment. As argued earlier, companies have to shape consumer perceptions about their products and their overall practices and roles in the society.

Other than simply work on the associated reputation, organizations or individuals embracing a corporate brand also have to cultivate a brand personality, which mimics a set of human characteristics identified by all stakeholders.

Stakeholders behaviour, attitudes, and intentions collectively constitute the brand equity of a place. In the same manner, values, actions, and words of all employees in an organization make up its personality (Olins 2008).

Technological advancement, especially internet and mobile communications, have now enabled brands to reach people in intricate ways.

However, many companies still make the mistake of perceiving the medium as a stand-alone platform, while others go on to dominate market shares and improve their brand performance by focusing an entire ecosystem that uses various media appropriately (McEwen 2005). The following figure shows brands that use colour as a medium of communication without losing their identities.

Branding practice in the last ten decades

In the 20^th century, industrial societies had cultural homogeneity and early 21^st century societies were moving toward fragmented pluralistic cultures (Palazzo & Basu 2007). In the past, people had traditional sources of identity, which gave them a stable set of expectations.

There were limited questions about brands and people had no or limited reflexive processes of identity formation. Consumption had not picked up as a key part of the society, until the late 20^th century; therefore, branding activities and intentions were less concerned with self-constructing activities (Palazzo & Basu 2007).

In the early 1900s, trade was an activity restricted to geographically defined locations. The period was also filled with explorations and colonialism; thus, its commercial ideology was a product of mercantilism.

The overall trading environment was characterized by strong governmental control, monopolies, search for exotic substances, special focus on elites, exploitation of colonial resources, and the use of high tariffs to influence the trade direction (McKee 2014).

The 1920s witnessed the rise of chain stores and the marketing ideology created a world view of marketers as people who mastered the complexities of national advertising campaigns, sales, and management of product policy to earn profits. Later on, marketing became the process of transferring goods through commercial channels. Such a channel started from a producer and ended at the consumer.

Marketing became a service that marketers offered at a commercial rate. Meanwhile, producers began focusing on more than the subsistence consumption market and they sought to provide rare or seasons produced throughout the year to increase consumption and boost profits.

The industry was concerned mainly with profits and opted to overprice and deceive consumers to make ends meet in a highly competitive environment (McKee 2014).

Marketing as a concept of consumer orientation began with the end of the Second World War. Scholars developed management concepts and behavioural theories, such as the marketing mix (Dinnie et al. 2014). At the same time, consumer appreciation began and marketers focused on the need to be economical and the desire to emulate people of high status (McKee 2014).

Consumers, faced with unlimited choices, became judgmental through their purchase behaviours and criticisms. Marketers faced accusations of creating artificial problems to increase product sales.

The media became an influence of branding developments and consumer criticism, a trend that proceeded into the 90s decade. The period between the 1970s and late 1980s also saw the shift from marketing concepts to branding concepts and ideologies (Dinnie et al. 2014).

In the last few decades, corporate brand appeared as conscious decisions by senior management to distil and make known the attributes of the organizations identity.

They relied on a clearly defined brand position to achieve this goal. Following the premise, corporate brands in the second half of the twentieth century became promises that organizations made to shareholders and the promises were steered by management (Melewar, Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2012).

Brands that disappeared in the last ten years

Piene Webber, one of the biggest brokerage firms on Wall Street. Altoids was a food processing firm that was a household name and it later disappeared. The brand disappeared after the acquisition of the firm by Kohlberg. Another brand yet to die, but showing signs of dying is IBM that is no longer making consumer products like laptops (Daily Finance 2014; (Mont 2011).

Pan Am international airline was a major airline company whose brand is no longer recognized due to the collapse of the company (CNBC 2014). Compaq is a computer manufacturing company that has vanished too (Hess & Sauter 2013).

Brands that have grown

Meanwhile, other brands have grown in the past ten years and they include Google, LG, Audi, SAS, Samsung, and Toyota because the companies responsible for these brands are doing business that is relevant to the needs of consumers. Google is an internet company that also provides smartphone operating systems. Audi is a car manufacturers, Samsung is similar to LG in scope of work, while Toyota is a car manufacturer.

Brands that have delivered great commercial results

The dominant companies in the Worlds Most Admired Company list are praised for their brand power. On the other hand, activists against brand, corporate identity, and multinational companies also target the Worlds Most Admired Company list, with the top companies in the list receiving the greatest backlash.

Examples include Wal-Mart, Apple, and Starbucks (Palazzo & Basu 2007). Brands like Samsung and Toyota have been at the forefront of technology innovation and have created meaningful additional to innovations that ease ordinary tasks and are less harmful to the environment.

Hypothesis of the future of branding

The global cultural environment is complex, overlapping, and disjunctive. In this regard, it is impossible to understand it as separate conceptual entities divided by characteristics of producers or consumers, surplus or deficit, and centre or periphery (Palazzo & Basu 2007).

Societal transformation continues to influence identity-driven consumption and identity-driven activism. Corporate branding will continue to encourage consumers to see themselves as part of a brand narrative, but it will also raise ethical issues.

Therefore, successful corporate branding will only be possible when tackled with adequate corporate social responsibility perspectives (Palazzo & Basu 2007).

With high stakes being placed on brand identity among consumers and shareholders, businesses will face a heightened risk of severe reputation and financial backlashes when their branded values go contrary to their actual brand behaviour, or when they become front-page news for the wrong reasons.

As the no logo brigade continues to gain followers, top recognized brands will continue to become the most targeted references for external critics. They will, in turn, have to invest more than they currently do to balance the positive and negative associations of their brand. Branding will, therefore, not be a competitive strategy alone, but also a survival tactic in reaction to rising anti-brand activism (Romaniuk & Nenycz-Thiel 2013).

A saturated populace in Western Europe and North America may decide to stick to present consumption levels (McKee 2014). The continued focus on increasing consumption may stagnate due to a lack of a relevant response from the market.

In this regard, there will be a reinvention of marketing that must balance sustainability needs and accept the fact that wants rely on cultural influences and would be shaped by marketing and other forces (Ottman 2011). Already, the most recognized brands in the world, Apple and Google, as reported by Gross (2014), are focusing on socio-physiological and aesthetic enhancement of their brands (McKee 2014).

Summarised results of interview with 3 experts

The following paragraphs represent a summary of results from interviews done with three experts on the subject of branding. The main interview questions precede the interview summary in each paragraph.

What challenges are both practitioners and researchers going to face concerning branding?  The rise of a global culture does not infer an amalgamation of tastes and preferences of consumers. Both practitioners and scholars have to consider the implications of their actions towards their overall goals and the provisions available for them to do so.

What is your take on the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and social networking as tools for branding?  Part of the move by branding strategists to embrace mobile technologies and social networks or other forms of Web 2.0 technology has been the fact that a critical population mass is already using these features.

What can you advice firms seeking international brand alliances?  When considering international brand alliances, partner brands will have to seek to have their brand appear first because this has an effect of enhancing the brand attitude. The arrangement should follow the contribution of a brand to the alliance, with the more resourceful brand taking the first position.

What is your take on the future of place branding?  As part of the demands to improve place brands, such as countries or cities, practitioners will face increasing pressure to look at identity and equity. On one side, there is the brand identity that integrates facets of internal stakeholders living and constituting the brand.

Building alliances is a tough thing to do and a brand for a company is life reputation for a person; therefore, it pays to do the hard things well.  Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon (Goodreads 2014).

One way for academics to explore this subject further

Scholars have to conceptualize processes that increasingly manage corporate brand meaning within and outside organizations. While doing that, the conceptualizations should also remain consistent and coordinated (Melewar, Gotsi & Andriopoulos 2012).

With the paradox of focusing on individual or the organization level, the research will have to embrace a multiple-level analysis that captures the individual level experience, interpretation, and influence of corporate brands and one that seeks to understand and explain motivation for employees to live the brand and deliver on the brand promise (Rauch 2012).

Rather that view the relationship of brand formation between stakeholders and organizations as one-directional, the new research focus should be on the multi-direction perspective of influence and the dynamic natures of an emergent relationship that builds or destroys brand identity.

Future research should look into empirical evidence for the constructs of corporate identity, corporate brand, and corporate reputation to provide additional understanding of their relationships, amid the growing influence of branding as an ideology.

One way for practitioners to respond to trends identified

Marketers must continue to embrace the dynamic nature of the marketing ideology and follow the present trend of seeing branding as more than product function. They should include salience of reputation in their strategies; otherwise, they might lose their jobs as their organizations rapidly decline due to unfavourable market conditions caused by a sudden change in their reputations.

A focus on reputation does not imply abandonment on quality functionality. Therefore, it is important to avoid conflicts of branding and marketing ideologies in the formulation and execution of strategies. Nevertheless, branding will overtake marketing in glamour, sophistication, and virtue.

Thus, both marketing and branding goals will have to move beyond commercial goals and embrace the use of expressions, tangibility, imaginative language, and artistic visualizations (McKee 2014).

Reference List

Dinnie, K, Melewar, TC, Seidenfuss, K-U & Musa, G 2014, Nation branding and integrated marketing communications: an ASEAN perspective, International Marketing Review, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 388-403.

Gross, D 2014, Study: Google leapfrongs Apple as worlds most valuable brand. Web.

Li, Y & He, H 2013, Evaluation of interantional brand alliances: Brand order and consumer ethnocentrism, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, pp. 89-97.

McEwen, WJ 2005, Married to the brand: Why consumers bond with some brands for life, Gallup Press, New York, NY.

McKee, S 2014, Power branding: Leveraging the success of the worlds best brands, Palgrave MacMillan, London.

Melewar, TC, Gotsi, M & Andriopoulos, C 2012, Shaping the research agenda for corporate branding: avenues for future research, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 600-608.

Nakassis, CV 2012, Brand, citationality, performativity, American Anthropoligist, vol. 114, no. 4, pp. 624-638.

Olins, W 2008, Wally Olins: The brand handbook, Saffron Brand Consultants Ltd, London.

Palazzo, G & Basu, K 2007, The ethical backlash of corporate branding, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 73, pp. 333-346.

Romaniuk, J & Nenycz-Thiel, M 2013, Behavioral brand loyalty and consumer brand associations, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, pp. 67-72.

Sharp, B 2010, How brands grow: What marketers dont know, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Wang, YJ, Hernandez, MD, Minor, MS & Wei, J 2012, Superstitious beliefs in consumer evaluation of brand logos: Implications for corporate branding strategy, European Journal of Marketing, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 712-732.

Brand Type

This discussion focuses on Vaseline as the preferred product to use in brand and packaging perspectives. Vaseline lies under personal care products and is owned by Unilever Global Company. Vaseline comes as a lotion as seen in figure 1 below, spray, and jelly and is used as a product for oiling the skin, ointment for wounds, and healing balm. The product is an international item that is sold and distributed in all parts of the world. Under Unilever, Vaseline is categorized as a consumer good that is sought by many especially youths.

Product Familiarity

Brand familiarity can be on various levels such as rejection, non-recognition, recognition, preference, and insistence. In 2017, Unilever presented statistics on the rate of sales for the product in 21 countries across Africa, Europe, America, and Asia and found that Vaseline had hit 470 million units of sales in that year (Vaseline named the worlds No.1 hand and body care brand, 2017). Thus, the product can be said to be familiar to the consumers and the current level of brand familiarity level is preference and insistence. The reason is that many people have tested the effectiveness of Vaseline in healing projects that brought along much-needed demand to communities in need to heal their skin. By 2020, more than 20 million people benefited from the product from that perspective (Vaseline named the worlds No.1 hand and body care brand, 2017). The brand accounts for a significant share of the personal product market.

Brand Name

As noted in the previous section, the brand name is Vaseline by Unilever. Vaseline has various taglines that are made to note its effectiveness which is a major focus of the product. Some of the slogans include Take good care, The Healing Power of Vaseline, Keeping Skin Amazing Since 1870, and Soothe and Relax with Vaseline Intensive Care. Vaseline as a brand has a role to play in the products success. The branding has been effective to define the specific target group that Unilever wants to reach. Having the slogans accompanying the brands products ensures that the critical element of luring and enticing buyers are well performed. Vaseline has been effective and thus, Unilever has been on the frontline to make other products have the same rate of purchase and loyalty to the brand.

Packaging

During the manufacturing process, crude oil is converted to petroleum through the extraction of liquid hydrocarbons. There follows vacuum distillation and then the residue is filtered through bone char hence yielding petroleum jelly that serves as the primary ingredient of Vaseline. Unilever uses polypropylene containers that are recycled and melted during production. The type 5 plastic is used to make the end containers that are used to pack the jelly, lotion, cream, and spray. While packaging, Vaseline uses its logo as shown in figure 2 above as a packaging promotion aspect, and the minimum amount that can be held in the container during packaging is 100 grams (Magnier & Schoormans, 2017). The container is left with some space to allow ample swiping during use.

For the protective packaging, Unilever has had a technical strategy to use cardboards to place the processed brands of Vaseline that are well-organized and arranged to prevent the product from any risk of distortion during shipping and warehousing. As seen in figure 3 below, the plastic trolley serves as the holder of the product and must display the logo and name during the process (Magnier & Schoormans, 2017). Vaseline has enhanced the product by creating a cap that is easy to open, that can allow content preservation for a long time, and by using more environmentally friendly plastic material.

References

Magnier, L., & Schoormans, J. (2017). How do packaging material, color, and environmental claims influence package, brand, and product evaluations?Packaging Technology and Science, 30(11), 735-751.

Vaseline was named the worlds No.1 hand and body care brand. Unilever global company website. (2017).

Introduction

Under Armour (founded in 1996 by the present-day CEO, Kevin Plank) is currently one of the most well-recognized sports brands in the world. Initially, the company was focused on the production of inner wear for American football players; however, in a rather short time, Under Armour expanded its scope to encompass other sports by providing innovative, high-performance clothes, footwear, digital fitness platforms, and other accessories for professionals and amateurs of all age groups and genders.

The mission statement of the company runs as follows: To make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Over the past decade, Under Armour has achieved a significant growth in scope, stock value, and brand recognition, which allowed it to overcome its competitors and win its high standing in the U.S. market (Thompson, 2013).

Under Armour specializes in the production of high-performance goods for sports activities in any kind of environment as they allow for maintaining stable body temperature and keeping the body dry in any climatic conditions. The main product line is apparel, which is divided into heat gear, cold gear, and all-season gear. The core market is North America (91% of all revenues); the better part of the income comes from wholesales to national, regional, and independent retailers, although the company also has direct sales channels (websites, factory houses, and brand stores, etc.).

The revenue increased dramatically (32.3%) in FY 2014 due to brand recognition, expanded distribution channels in EMEA and Latin America, and the introduction of e-commerce (the core of the current distribution strategy). Under Armour uses a generic differentiation strategy: Before introducing a new product, the company tests its viability and assesses the competitive advantages it can provide, which allows it to compete with such industry giants as Adidas and Nike. As far as grand strategy is concerned, it is focused on (Ratten & Ferreira, 2016):

• innovation (impressing consumers with highly innovative goods);
• market development (selling products to emerging markets);
• market penetration (improving footwear and accessories sales);
• product development (finding new categories of goods);
• research (studies of emerging technologies that would allow for producing goods superior to those offered by competitors).

Strategic Issue

Under Armour differentiates itself from its competitors by producing apparel made of innovative synthetic material that maintains the normal temperature of the body. However, it is not enough to ensure brand loyalty. Therefore, the major current strategic directions are (Ratten & Ferreira, 2016):

• at the business level: increasing market share in the female market as the company is now perceived as a male-oriented producer;
• at the corporate level: partnering with professional, college, and university teams as a sponsor to be able to advertise its products;
• at the domestic level: targeting individual sportsmen and sporting teams to find stars that could represent the brand, increasing its recognition;
• at the global level: expanding to global markets (especially to Europe and Asia) through the establishment of new distribution channels and tailoring products based on local demand.

As far as strategic challenges are concerned, the major one is connected with increasing the companys market share since it has to compete with the undeniable leaders of the industry, Nike and Adidas. Both competitors are brands with a long history, high brand recognition, efficient supply chains, and a large customer base (Thompson, 2013). Although Under Armour has already achieved a continuous growth of revenue, it lags far behind the two giants as their figures are incomparably higher (Rothaermel, 2015):

This makes it possible for the competitors to push Under Armour out of the market. Moreover, this threat is aggravated by the lack of its presence in the global market as North America still accounts for more than 90% of the revenue. Brand equity of Nike and Adidas hinders global expansion since their influence and recognition are unparalleled. The problem is that the companys strategy to focus on such sports as American football and baseball automatically limits its scope of action to North America.

Thus, the major strategic issue for the company is whether it should continue relying upon the selectivity of the target audience or redirect its attention to sports with a larger global presence, leaving its differentiating strategy behind.

External Analysis

The sportswear industry has seen significant growth in the U.S. over the last decade due to the increasing popularity of healthy living and fashion for the casualization of dress codes (wearing sports clothes and shoes for performing daily activities). The present-day leader of the industry is Nike, which holds a 22% value share (Ratten & Ferreira, 2016).

The industry is expected to remain strong and continue growing at high speed. This is explained by the trend of making everyday apparel casual and functional: It is likely to become acceptable to wear sports clothes at various social gatherings. Such popularity of sportswear outside the world of sports will allow current leaders to expand their target audience and will certainly bring new players to the market (Thompson, 2013).

Porters Five Forces Analysis

Porters Five Forces Analysis is a powerful tool that demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of the business situation as well as the current positions of the major competitors of the industry. In most general terms, the analysis can help determine whether new entrants to the industry have any chance of becoming profitable. The model consists of five components (see Fig. 1).

For the sportswear industry, the analysis gives the following results (Ratten & Ferreira, 2016):

1. The threat of new entrants  moderate. The industry is highly competitive, with the leaders having significant market coverage, which sets high entry barriers. Existing competitors have been investing in the advertisement, market research, and innovation to win brand recognition for many years. This allows them to retain their performance advantage over potential entrants.
2. Power of buyers  moderate. The number of customers is huge in the market; therefore, companies have to advertise their products and differentiate their goods from the competitors products. However, the emergence of e-commerce has increased accessibility and created even closer relationships between customers and brands, thereby increasing commitment. For instance, Nike lets its buyers customize their footwear according to their preferences, even printing customers names on their shoes. Such superior quality of products, coupled with brand recognition makes it possible to retain customers.
3. Bargaining power of suppliers  low. The sportswear industry has a great number of input suppliers with little differentiation among them. This makes their bargaining power close to non-existent as all the materials (leather, rubber, cotton, plastic, etc.) can be purchased anywhere in necessary quantities. Moreover, many of the suppliers have become dependent on industry leaders as their major clients.
4. The threat of substitutions  moderate. On the one hand, there are many firms manufacturing sports products, which implies that the customer has a lot of alternatives to choose between. On the other hand, the propensity to substitute is not high if we analyze the market in comparison to other apparel and footwear markets. In this case, it is next to impossible to find a replacement (e.g., boots, sandals, or dress shoes do not provide the level of comfort and safety needed to perform sports activities).
5. The intensity of competition  high. There is a great number of competitors in the industry, yet very few of them (such as Puma, Reebok, Brooks, and Under Armour) have the power to compete with Nike and Adidas.

Thus, the analysis shows that the strategic implications for the companies would be to emphasize differentiation to obtain a competitive edge. The growing and prospering industry may seem attractive for new entrants; still, a closer look reveals that despite a considerable number of competitors, the market is dominated by several companies with aggressive policies that have the power to push out newcomers.

Key Success Factors

Key success factors are the major factors ensuring that the company is going to prosper and out-compete its rivals. There are three main success factors of the industry under discussion (Rothaermel, 2015):

1. Innovative products. Every brand in the sportswear market strives to create authentic goods. Strategically, it implies that a company has to invest in innovation to create new, previously non-existent benefits for its potential customers. Since we are not dealing with every day but rather with special apparel, it is not enough for it to be attractive. The manufacturer has to bring out the innovative qualities that the item features.
2. Good marketing and promotion. The promotion and advertising strategies of sportswear companies have to be rather aggressive to succeed. Generally, they agree to sponsor everyone, starting from individual sportsmen to national teams, to increase brand visibility. Some of them even provide beginning athletes with clothes and footwear to ensure their future loyalty to the company. It is also popular to devise spaces in sports stores devoted solely to one brand.
3. Research and development. In a highly competitive industry, it is essential to be one step ahead of your rivals. That is why much attention should be paid to studying new technologies, market analysis, opinion polls, and other forms of research that help with collecting valuable information about changes that occur in the market.

Industry Profile and Attractiveness

The external analysis has revealed that the industry presently faces a moderate threat of new entrants (due to the influence of well-established brands); moderate bargaining power of customers (who stay loyal to the selected brand due to its quality and recognition); low power of suppliers (as all the materials required for production are easily accessed); the moderate threat of substitutions (since customers can give preference to this or that company only within the sports industry); and high intensity of competition (due to a large number of newcomers) (Ratten & Ferreira, 2016).

The key success factors for the industry are innovation, good marketing and promotion, and research (Rothaermel, 2015). The major strategic implication for the brands is making an emphasis on differentiation as only producing goods that will stand apart from those offered by rivals can give a company a chance to survive in this aggressively competitive environment. It is crucial to create an authentic brand that would have room for expansion in all directions (internally and externally, nationally, and globally).

As far as the prospects are concerned, the industry is likely to continue growing. It will remain highly attractive to new players despite harsh competitive conditions as it promises huge profits in the case of success.

References

Ratten, V., & Ferreira, J. J. (Eds.). (2016). Sport entrepreneurship and innovation. London, UK: Routledge.

Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Thompson, A. (2013). Under Armours Strategy in 2013  good enough to win market share from Nike and Adidas?

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to assess the marketing mix of the crest toothpaste brand, and also make possible recommendations for changes to the brand.

Background

The Crest toothpaste brand is manufactured by Proctor & Gamble and was first introduced into the United States in 1955. The brand is sold globally, with a majority of the European countries such as Russia, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine selling it using the Blend-A-Mend brand name. This is the brand name is a renowned toothpaste in Germany, and it was acquired in 1987 by P& G (Toothpaste industry market report, 2007).

The product line of the crest brand consists of toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, toothbrushes, and whitening products. The depth of a product line is used in reference to the various product versions that each line has to offer. In the case of the Crest toothpaste by P & G, the brand is normally offered in two formulations (gel and paste), and three sizes (economy, medium, and large) (Neff, 20004).

With respect to the target market for Crest toothpaste, P & G has thus far identified a total of six different segments of the market for the toothpaste, on the basis of ethnic differences and age. For example, there is a segment for the children, the African Americans, as well as one for the Latinos (Neff, 2004). In addition, P & G has also developed appeals for the various segments by way of using various distribution, promotion, and strategic positioning of the product to suit the needs of the various segments.

The toothpaste market could be differentiated on the basis of the benefits sought by the customers. For this reason, there are variations in the use and packaging, seeing that some of the toothpaste brands are normally dispensed via a pump, while others still rely on the conventional tube.

Additionally, there are those that whiten teeth, others assist in the control of plaque, removal of stains, as well as cavity prevention. The childrens toothpaste market is often targeted by such manufacturers as P & G by the use of toothpaste that is flavored with, for example, vanilla flavor.

As such, both the benefits feature of a product, as well as the attributes of such a product, is a useful pointer to the positioning strategy of such a product (Michman et al, 2003). In the case of the crest toothpaste, the product is able to position itself on the basis of preventing cavities.

On the other hand, Aim toothpaste employs the positioning strategy of fighting cavities and a pleasant taste. Aquafresh has positioned itself on the basis of fighting cavities, while at the same time also offering fresh breath as an added benefit (Toothpaste industry market report, 2007).

Marketing Mix Analysis

Overall, the Crest toothpaste brand has not been doing as well as it ought to. Between 1987 and 1997, the market share for the product plummeted by 12 points, from 39 percent to stand at 27 percent (Neff, 2004). This has been attributed to an overextended strategy of the benefit sought. In light of this, Crest has for far too long banked on cavity prevention as the only main strategy to help retain its market share. As such, the brand has failed to keep pace with the developmental changes in marketing.

In 1997, Colgate launched Total, an innovative product that got the approval of the FDA as the only oral care product capable of helping fight gingivitis, a gum disease that affects some 100 million consumers in the North American region. Thanks to Total, Colgate gained a 30 percent share of the market by the end of 1998, while Crest still remained at 26 percent (Neff, 2004).

Product

Crest toothpaste is a toothpaste with fluoride, often classified under the oral care market that includes such other segments as mouthwash products, toothbrushes, dental floss, and whiteners. The market of toothpaste has been categorized as a mature one, with growth pegged at a dismal 2 percent year-on-year (Neff, 2004). For this reason, any form of growth often experienced by a brand comes at a price. This is usually in the form of a negative impact on another brand.

As with any other mature market, competition tends to be quite stiff in the toothpaste market. In addition, the main players in the market engage in intensive marketing promotion campaigns to either win a market share from their competitors or just to maintain their current share (Sandhusen, 2000). Barriers to entry are also low, meaning that more and more commentators are likely to enter the market. The maturity stage of products is the time when a company reaps benefits following aggressive research and development stages of the product, followed by aggressive marketing strategies.

Crest has been positioned as an oral care product that offers prevention against cavities, relative to similar products in the market (Neff, 2004). Furthermore, the Crest brand comes in the form of a dispenser, and this eases the difficulty in usage by the consumers. Additionally, there is a wide range of product sizes to choose from, depending on the price and needs.

Pricing

Crest employs a product line pricing strategy. This is where the various prices of the different products lines for the brand shall be different, as they are targeted at different target markets. Furthermore, the products also serve various benefits that are much sought after by consumers. As such, Crest complete, Crest MultiCare, Crest kids (sparkle Gel), Crest vivid white, and Crest whitening (plus scope) all have different prices based on their feature attributes and benefits sought by consumers (Michman et al, 2003). Nevertheless, the price of Crest brands is relatively comparable to that of the penetration price of the market.

Placement

According to available data by AC Nelsen, a renowned company in market research, supermarkets have emerged as the key outlets for the sale of toothpaste, accounting for 50 percent of all the distribution outlets. These are then followed by bulk merchandising agents at 23 percent, and drug stores (12 percent), in that order. Warehouses and other kinds of stores come in last, at 8 percent and 7 percent respectively (Toothpaste industry market report, 2007).

Promotion

The success of anyone given brand (or a lack of it) is dependent upon the effect of sales promotion and advertisement. Nevertheless, understanding the mindset of consumers remains among the most critical areas that challenge marketers to a great deal (Michman et al, 2003). P & G has often heavily invested in a television advertisement in order to promote its Crest brand.

Furthermore, offers and discounts are still relied upon to help attract customers, in the face of stiff competition. A majority of the companies in the toothpaste market offer free gifts, extra quantity, and price offs, as a way of attracting customers. Crest has also benefited from publicity, in the form of news articles that features a new cavity fighter. Furthermore, sales promotions for the brand have been geared towards relationship marketing with the customers, with a view to obtaining brand loyalty, and hence a repeat purchase by customers.

Recommendation

There is a need to thoroughly assess the various aspects of the marketing strategies for the Crest brand, in line with the different kinds of external market trends, with a view to identifying new strategies that are aimed at facilitating the establishment of a greater market share.

Furthermore, there is also a need to identify those marketing strategies that need to be rejuvenated, along with a change in the organizations culture in order to embrace the introduction of more innovations.

References

1. Michman, R, N., Mazee, E, M, & James, A. (2003). Lifestyle marketing: reaching the new American consumers. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
2. Neff, J. (2004). P& G, Colgate step up oral-care fight. Advertising Age, p. 10.
3. Sandhusen, R, L. (2000). Marketing. London: Barrons.
4. Toothpaste industry market report (2007). Can Procter & Gamble change its culture, protect its market share, and find the next tide?
5. Tucker, R. (2001). P & G struggles to regain Crests toothpaste lead, The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Luxury brands have dominated the fashion world for decades; however, as of late their position has been threatened by the creation of an underground imitation industry that appears to garner more favor than the luxury brands ever could due to their affordability. It is based on this that I have chosen Saint Laurent in Rodeo Drive, one of the most sought after high-end fashion retail destinations in the world, in order to examine the current popularity of the brand, its general level of competitiveness, how the brand attempts to operate within a world filled with fashion fakes and whether it will continue to be profitable in the future.

The main area of contention I have with the iconic products of the fashion world (i.e. the various brands such as Yves Saint Laurent) is that when broken down into their basic components, they are actually comprised of the same type of materials that can be found in other brands at less than a quarter of the price. Brands such as Saint Laurent defend the quality of their products as being far superior to cheap knockoffs, however, the fact remains that at times suppliers for luxury brands are also the same suppliers for other lesser known brands as well.

The overall quality of what is being sent to each individual company is exactly the same. This calls into question the validity of defending a brand based on the concept of quality. It is true that the designs produced by luxury brands exceed those of most other companies in the same type of business. However, if the type of material used is the same and if the design could be replicated, then it can be assumed that the same type of product could also be produced at a lower cost. It is based on this that I will investigate what practices are currently being done by the company in order to contend with such an issue and maintain their brand position.

Background of Channel

History of the Brand

The Yves Saint Laurent brand was started in 1961 by Yves Saint Laurent and his business partner at the time, Pierre Berge (The Man, The Designer: Fashion Weighs Legacy Of Yves Saint Laurent 1-3). Presently, the products under this fashion line signify wealth, high fashion, extravagance and, of course, the exclusivity of possession. As a fashion house, Saint Laurent was a pioneer in womens fashion creating numerous iconic designs such as the beatnik look, the female tuxedo, various ballerina inspired dresses and an assortment of boots, pants and coats that defined the epitome of high fashion during the 1970s to 1980s. (The Man, The Designer: Fashion Weighs Legacy Of Yves Saint Laurent 1-3)

Primary Locations

Since the brand focuses on selling high end fashion, its various boutiques and fashion houses are primarily concentrated in some of the richest metropolitan areas in the world. These include, but are not limited to: Tokyo, London, Paris, New York, Beverly Hills, and Monaco. By placing itself in these locations, this has enabled the company to more effectively target its desired market segment.

How the Brand Started

Originally, the brand was created as a partnership between Laurent and Berge as a fashion house that expanded into becoming a luxury brand company. Over time, the company expanded into other industries such as perfume, hand bags and an assortment of other luxury products.

Sale of the Company

Eventually, the fashion house was sold to Sanofi (a pharmaceuticals company) which helped to provide the necessary capital and financial infrastructure to expand the companys market share into the cosmetics industry as well as provide it with sufficient capital to continue operations due to lackluster local demand during the early 1990s (The Man, The Designer: Fashion Weighs Legacy Of Yves Saint Laurent 1-3).

Current Ownership

Presently, the brand is owned by Gucci with many of its locations closed due to a lack of patronage from local buyers as well as the emergence of newer brands that rival and even exceed the original customer base of Saint Laurent.

Production Methods

Initially, the company focused on producing their bags within Europe, however, by the late 1990s production shifted towards areas in India, China and Vietnam. Unfortunately, once the method of production was exported, this also led to the proliferation of many fake goods bearing the Yves Saint Laurent brand.

Current Issues Facing the Company

An investigation into the means of product duplication showed that the process starts with the factory where the products are initially made. After the methods of production are taught to the local workers, they are subsequently copied by local groups, even down to the method of stitching utilized. They are then made in nearby factories, sometimes even adjacent to the one producing the original product. With the designs copied and similar materials used, the end result is a product nearly identical to the original. The only difference between the two production methods is that those who made the imitation used inferior materials in certain stages of the production process to create the following imitation product categories:

1. Class A (nearly identical to the original)
2. Class B (still identical but cheaper due to inferior materials used)
3. Class C (not quite as identical but far cheaper and can be passed off as an original)

After the imitation products are made they are then subsequently shipped to either local malls to be sold or are shipped to locations such as Hong Kong, which has become one of the major hubs of imitation product retail in the world (Murphy 5). It is estimated that through the production and sale of fake Saint Laurent products, the company loses several billion dollars a year (Murphy 5).

Primary Mission Statement

The primary mission statement of Saint Laurent is to help people dress to impress by providing a style that is, in their words, eternal. It is based on this mission statement that the brand has attempted to create a variety of iconic fashion items that exemplify the term eternal.

Success of the Mission Statement

Evidence of the success of the brand when it came to the development of such items can be seen in the iconic tuxedo for women, its various bag designs as well as its fashionable mens clothing line (Yves Saint Laurent: Style 267). Unfortunately, within the past few years the brand has lost its appeal to its current customer base either through the development of new brands within the hyper competitive fashion industry or the fact that its original customers that patronized the brand have begun to die off due to old age (Yves Saint Laurent: Style 267).

Customer Service Philosophy

Unlike the service philosophy of hotels where the customer is always right, Saint Laurent has a more uptight personality when it comes to dealing with customers. While they are polite when it comes to product inquiries, general customer service and phone inquiries, they lack sufficient flexibility when it comes to returns, promotions or guarantees wherein it is far easier to buy a product than it is to return it. Aside from that, their sales promotions and online services are actually quite good and showcase an attempt to better connect with young customers (Tom 13).

Employee Relations

One of the more interesting aspects of Yves Saint Laurent is that there are actually two types of employees that work for the company with each receiving a different level of treatment. The current global business environment has become dominated by one word outsourcing; it is the process by which a company transfers different aspects of their management and production capabilities to other locations that are far cheaper to conduct their manner of business. Countries such as India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines have become the new outsourcing hubs of the world with China dominating the industrial sector as a prime location for producing any manner of goods to be shipped and sold in any shop located in any country around the world (Cornett 539).

Companies such as Saint Laurent, Nike, Gucci and numerous other brands have capitalized on the cheap source of labor and materials that China can provide in order to produce their products cheaply and sell them at current market rate in their major retail outlets. This is where the first type of employee for the company is present wherein they are normally paid far below the minimum wage rate of any western country (ex: $10 to $15 a day), have little in the way of health insurance, promotions and cannot even hope to afford a single one of the companys products.

On the other end of the spectrum, the companys store employees within its various locations do have commissions on the products they sell (5 to 10% in certain cases), receive high salaries, vacation time and do have employee discounts on the products. However, promotion in the company for store based employees is not often done since there is a considerable level of segmentation behind store operations and the management division of the company (Cornett 539).

Conclusion

When examining the future of the brand, it is immediately apparent that it will run into a considerable amount of problems in the future due to its current outsourcing of its operations to locations such as China. One problem with outsourcing methods of operations is that at times the means of production as well as the design of the product itself could be copied by the outsourced factory and produced at another location.

Not only that, but due to globalization the means of procuring the materials used by luxury brand companies has become far easier than it used to be. The end result of these factors has been the creation of an underground industry solely for the production and distribution of imitation luxury goods for the express purpose of taking advantage of the one thing a customer loves, namely a good discount. This underground industry has its roots in Taiwan, China, South Korea and Vietnam which are synonymous with locations of many of the factories of various luxury brands (Rawsthorn 266).

Taking this into consideration, it can be seen that Saint Laurent actually set up their own downfall by outsourcing their methods of production. This resulted in the proliferation of fakes that are bringing down the value of the companys products resulting in billions of dollars lost every year.

Works Cited

Cornett, Rhojonda. Seeing Red: A Critical Analysis Of Christian Louboutin S.A. V. Yves Saint Laurent America, Inc. Alabama Law Review 65.2 (2014): 539-566. Web.

Murphy, Robert. Yves Saint Laurent: Still Smoking After All These Years. WWD: Womens Wear Daily 190.66 (2005): 5. Web.

Rawsthorn, Alice. The Genius Of Yves Saint Laurent. Harpers Bazaar 3484 (2002): 266. Web.

Tom, Leonard. Yves Saint Laurent copycat heels that has Christian Louboutin seeing red. Daily Mail. 2011: 13. Web.

The Man, The Designer: Fashion Weighs Legacy Of Yves Saint Laurent. WWD: Womens Wear Daily 195.117 (2008): 1-10. Web.

Yves Saint Laurent: Style. Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 32.1 (2009): 267. Web.

As a former member of a business team, I used to be involved in a project concerning the development of a brand product. Particularly, it was necessary to come up with a brand image for a new application for smartphones, identify the key characteristics of the target audience and appeal to it so that the sales rates could be increased (Gulsun, 2013). Since the roles and the responsibilities were distributed adequately among the people involved and the leadership strategy contributed to a rapid increase in the team members motivation, the key goals of the project were attained. Particularly, the brand became quite popular among the target audience, and the number of customers increased by 40%.

The lack of resources could be defined as the key constraint of the project. The participants had a limited amount of financial resources since the investments were rather scanty. As a result, it was crucial to locate the cheapest services and team up with the partners that could take a significant part of the project liabilities (Karlsson, 2012). Consequently, the quality of the end product was rather mediocre. It is assumed that more could be achieved with the redesign of the conflict management strategy and the avoidance of the arguments regarding the financial resources usage. The scope creep threat, therefore, cannot be considered an issue in the specified project. Quite on the contrary, the adoption of the techniques appropriate for the reduction of costs could be viewed as an efficient tool for bringing the scope creep down and keeping the key objectives simple and attainable (Larson & Gray, 2014). Nevertheless, the project could have used a better conflict management strategy.

Reference List

Gulsun, E. (2013). Project management approaches for online learning design. New York City, NY: IGI Global.

Karlsson, E. A. (2012). Is project management support useful?

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (6th ed.). New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Recent economic uprising of the Peoples Republic of China has made an undeniable impact on the world globally. Two out of four top-selling smartphone brands in the world, Huawei and Xiaomi, are initially Chinese. The way these companies have handled the enlargement of their audience to a global scale, however, differentiates by a number of points. The brands under analysis are Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and Apple, all of them have their distinct perception of the position on the global market, as well as their consumers.

Huawei, being a Chinese leader in the field, bases it globalization strategies on the sustainability of a local market, perfectly falling into the globalization paradigm (Wu, 2008). The companys vision is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world (Huawei, 2021). Xiaomi, with only under a decade of its existence, has reached international success by producing available, unique products and quality tech  from smartphones to smart home devices, thus, widening the possibilities for further development of the company. Apple has received international acclaim by employing the elitist strategies and focusing on their premium-feel devices, marketing themselves the original tech company which was the first to reinvent the world by making the iPhone. Samsung, an over-the-century old Korean manufacturer, started as a budget company, but in 2019 marked a decade as a global industry leader in digital signage (Samsung, 2021). The brand bases its smartphone product range according to customer requirements, considering the idea of a quality smartphone in every budget.

The following study goes along the way with these companies usage of hybridized marketing strategies  each one being unique. The identity of every brand reflects both the origins of the said company and its ambitions and achievements in the field of globalization. The social impact of this is the result of how these brands influence the life of a typical end consumer. Everything the companies put in the market implies not just further economic changes, but also the availability of certain technologies for the general public, thus, changing the lives of millions in a major way. The academic side of this research lies in the interest of analyzing their marketing and extracting a possible common denominator as well as differentiating their strategies.

References

Wu, D. D. (2008). Between global and local: Hybridized appeals in China web auto ads. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 13(1), 68-79.

Huawei. (2021). Building a Fully Connected, Intelligent World.

Samsung US. (2021) Mobile, TV, Home Electronics, Home Appliances.

Executive Summary

The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) is dynamically increasing in the healthcare industry. AI experts believe that it is a revolutionary technology, and its impact in the medical sector is life-changing (Mills, 2020, para. 4). Its great potential drives a transformative change in the modern-day and future medical care system by advancing patients experience and health outcomes. The amplified focus on AI is linked to its comprehensive abilities to resolve complex issues (Reddy, 2018). The intense healthcare climate of 2020 will go down as one of the most challenging periods of this generation. One year later, we anticipate a turning point in the medical system to establish meaningful connections with patients and provide them with safe and responsible care during a crisis. We have developed a new personalized health record-keeping app called iMed for iOS platforms to help both physicians and patients manage their health records and address all the vital health concerns.

The Rationale Behind Launching the New Sub-Brand

Artificial intelligence has been paving the way towards a digital shift in healthcare. In Apple, we control the modern technology market and strive to maintain our leading position long-term (Rawlinson, 2017). As a trendsetter in mobile technologies, we decided to take a step forward and examine the digital healthcare niche to develop innovative solutions and address the ever-increasing patients demands and simplify physicians responsibilities. iMed is the ultimate result of the year-long academic and medical studies, augmented by technological development. With solid brand loyalty and our three main strategic pillars:

• We cultivate an empathic approach towards consumers and understand their needs during the time of the pandemic.
• We focus on our iMed users. We eliminated all unimportant opportunities to develop the most beneficial and useful technology to make a significant contribution to the medical field.
• We present a new product in a creative, professional way to impute the anticipated qualities.

The Brand Identity of the New Sub-Brand

The external brand identity

iMed follows the simple and elegant style of the Apple brand. It has a black-colored logo and tagline in Helvetica font and a moderate blue accent of the medical symbol of a heart with a heartbeat line.

The iMed logo includes Apples signature logo, which highlights the famous saying: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. This saying keeps us closer to consumers since everyone has heard this saying since they were little kids.

The internal brand identity

Culture

We believe that health is the most crucial value that one can have. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to regularly check the health status indicators to ensure positive health outcomes. With a restless culture of the brand, we never stop evolving because AI technologies never do.

Ethos

iMed helps both the clinicians and patients to stay organized with the medical records, appointments, vaccinations, screen services, and preventives. It significantly helps to reduce the time spent at the doctor since all of the information is already in this app.

Purpose

Focus on people first. Every users health is a vital concern that shapes the health of the overall society and future generations. With such a forward-thinking approach, we build a healthy future society.

iMed positions itself as an innovative AI-powered tool and personal health assistant for the users.

Brand Culture

We understand that it is essential to grasp the full potential of AI to deliver easy, accessible, and safe medical assistance. We advocate for the collaborative work of clinicians and AI researchers to pair healthcare challenges with innovative technical solutions. A mindful and coherent engagement in such close partnerships has helped to create iMed through meaningful algorithms. Our novel healthcare record-keeping app creates a new tech-savvy community and culture of safety.

Brand

By updating the daily data of ones health, it is easier to manage a patients health between the visits and give any suggestions according to the daily improvements. There is no need to wait in long queues and put oneself at risk during the pandemic.

Brand purpose

Focus on people first. Every users health is a vital concern that shapes the health of the overall society and future generations. With such a forward-thinking approach, we build a healthy future society.

The Value Proposition of the New Sub-Brand

iMed is a health record-keeping app powered by AI technology. Based on the health-related personal data of iMed users, the app can suggest them going to the doctor for a check-up or can detect the potential health hazards that might develop in the future. iMed is also the time- and money-saving solution that optimizes the operational performance of the physicians.

iMed users can share, organize, and manage their health-related data at their own discretion.

Customers want to feel safe and have easy access to medical treatment and valuable information, including doctors advice. Mills (2019) emphasized the fundamental role of mobile health apps in remote areas that require increased access to healthcare. We ensure a private, secure application through which an individual can access, manage, and share his or her health information with the doctor. That is what makes our brand attractive to consumers.

Customers Journey

Among other benefits iMed provides:

• streamlining the process for healthcare professionals;
• recording and sharing data in real-time;
• ease of e-prescriptions;
• eliminating the risk of an incorrect diagnosis or therapy;
• helping to transform healthcare industry and business model.

The Launch and Management of the New Sub-Brand

The launching strategy for iMed will be targeted at the most popular online platforms to engage the most of its audience. The advertisements will be promoted with the hashtag #iMedKeepsYouSafe.

Launch and management tactics:

• Market research;
• Defining the success: setting the measurable objectives around the launch;
• Developing cross-platform and browser versions of the iMed app;
• Social media accounts to generate the publics interest;
• Creating health-related content;
• Recording the demo; how to use iMed correctly;
• Launch a website;
• Networking with other medical app developers;
• Introducing iMed to tech, mobile, and industry journalists and influencers;
• Monitoring customer feedback and encourage reviews;
• Establishing potential integrations;
• Retaining customers excitement with our future goals.

The pandemic promoted telehealth solutions; however, it does not guarantee that people will continue this digital behavior when the crisis is over (Uzzaman, 2021). Therefore, we must deliver the highest quality of care and professional advice to keep our customers engaged. In the future, we aim to evolve the iMed application and develop more disease-specific sub-apps that are explicitly designed for a particular disease.

Reference List

Collier, R. (2017) Electronic health records contributing to physician burnout, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189(45), pp. E1405E1406.

Davenport, T. and Kalakota, R. (2019) The potential for artificial intelligence in healthcare, Future Healthcare Journal, 6(2), pp. 9498.

Davenport, T. H., Hongsermeier, T. M. and Mc Cord, K. A. (2018) Using AI to improve electronic health records. Web.

Ghassemi, M. et al. (2019) Practical guidance on artificial intelligence for health-care data, The Lancet Digital Health, 1(4), pp. e157e159.

He, J. et al. (2019) The practical implementation of artificial intelligence technologies in medicine, Nature Medicine, 25(1), pp. 3036.

Mills, T. (2019) How health care apps can improve patient health and support physicians. Web.

Mills, T. (2020) How AI is revolutionizing health care. Web.

Rawlinson, N. (2017) History of Apple: The story of Steve Jobs and the company he founded. Web.

Reddy, S. (2018) Use of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery. in Heston, T. F. (ed.) eHealth: Making health care smarter. London: BoD  Books on Demand.

Toews, R. (2020) These are the startups applying AI to transform healthcare. Web.

Uzzaman, A. (2020) How data and AI will continue to change healthcare in 2021. Web.