Brand Management Is A Process

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Abstract

Brand value is very much like an onion. It has layers and a core. The core is the user who will stick with you until the very end.

Edwin Artzt

Brand management is a process that involves every part, bit and employee of the company to capture the true essence of the brand. Brand Value cannot be built in a day. It is a long process of building inseparable attributes in consumers mind. Consumers take time to adjust and bond well with a brand. They, like any other child, need to be taken care of, served well and be communicated as well as educated with the correct knowledge at every touch point. Over a period of time, as the brand ages, the loyalty within their minds evolve into an inseparable bond. Hence, brand Value cannot be created by the company alone; it requires to be co-created by the consumers too. The process of brand management is not the role of the marketing department but of the top management of the company. The paper will discuss the theory of creating a brand strategy for a company as a tool for managing a brand and developing it. Now at Present the role of branding is of great importance in the business world and its role is quite hard to ignore. Branding helps differentiate goods or services of one firm from another. It is because of branding that customers are able to identify and prefer the products and services of one firm over another. The paper will examine a uniform knowledge of what the brand stands for and how it will be communicated to the general public and serve as a framework for strategic decision-making for the company management and employees.

Keywords: - Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Market Attractiveness, Market Segmentation and Communication.

1Assistant Professor, Department of Management & Commerce, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, Jaipur, Mobile: +918852867958, Email Id: [email protected], [email protected].

2Research Scholar, Department of Management & Commerce, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, Jaipur, Mobile: +919971117099, Email id: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Brands are in stores, in advertisements, television commercials and with the internet, they are everywhere we look, while browsing through the vast networks of our interests. In brand management, brand contains manager-based and customer-based functions. Brand managers usually stand from the marketer’s and the firm’s perspectives, stressing the perceptions they accrue to a brand to promote products, differentiate companies from their competitors and satisfy short-term commercial goals [5, 6]. From the customer’s point of view, brands not only sign to differentiate products from competing goods but also a semiotic engine producing meaning and values [13]. Therefore a brand is the product as it is experienced and valued in social life, and branding refers to all the activities that shape customer perceptions, particularly the firm’s activities. Today brand management’s importance lays company′s outside the business itself, in the minds of potential buyers [16]. These values of brands are reflected in the, anchors of company. Products are introduced, they live and disappear but brands never ended [16]. The term "brand" holds multiple meanings. According to John Murphy, founder of Interbrand, a brand is not only an actual product, but also the unique property of a specific owner.

Brands are increasingly considered to be the primary capital in many businesses. Sterne [26] argues that "a brand is not a name. A brand is not a positioning statement. It is not a marketing message. It is a promise made by a company to its customers and supported by that company. Sterne’s statement indicated a phenomenon of how consumers give their passion and loyalty to a brand. We can explain this phenomenon in a more straight forward way via taking an example of Apple. Apple maintains its consumers by creating a brand connecting with an image of imagination, design and innovation, which is the key to its survival. This phenomenon indicates a brand has an additional value that enables marketers to maintain current consumers and attract new consumers. This value is "brand equity." Brand equity means raising brand awareness, maintaining brand loyalty, building up positive associations about brand, and spread product or service information via words-of-mouth communication. How to achieve these goals via optimizing of brand management resources becomes the challenge for today’s marketers [1]. Hence, the paper begins by giving a background of the happening of brand and brand equity valuation are the centre of interest of both academic and business experts in today’s world. The paper also highlights how a company can build, and use a brand in order to obtain and sustain the competitive advantage in the market place. Therefore a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

STRATEGIES FOR HARNESSING LOCAL BRANDS

Brand strategy is how, what, when, and to whom we plan on communicating our product or service. Having a clear and concise brand strategy leads to overall stronger brand equity - how people feel about or perceive your product, and how much they are willing to pay for it. These problems have given rise to the search for new and more effective ways to increase their influence on the customer in the marketplace through brand strategy. Companies that have a strong brand strategy benefit from strong customer loyalty as well as brand awareness and favourable views towards the entire company. As a brand strategy firm with experience developing over 200 brands, we believe the strongest brands are built on three foundational points—Relevant, Believable and Defendable. We work with companies in every phase of the business lifecycle to develop their brand strategy and position for growth. The battle for the customers is fought by simply out-branding the competitors. However, this is much easier said than done. The brand strategy must be very unique and effective when compared to other competitors. Also, the entire company must be on board with the proposition to the customers. From the senior executives to customer service, everyone has to be on the same page when it comes to the brand strategy. The brand strategy is soul of business and these strategies are as follows:-

1. CLARIFY WHAT IS DRIVEN GLOBALLY AND WHAT IS MANAGED LOCALLY

A global marketing approach does not cover the local market-specific plans and initiatives; in fact it should be complementary. Global marketing will set the framework and parameters within which local marketing lies. Various Companies like MTV and HSBC have shown the power of creating a globally recognized brand that is tailored to individual markets. HSBC uses a decentralized management structure to ensure that local brands are responsive to their markets, a strategy reflected in its tagline of the "world’s local bank." HSBC was named "Global Bank of the Year" in 2004 by The Banker magazine the "Most Admired Corporate Brand" by Asiamoney magazine and the "World’s Best Bank " by Euromoney. Five years after the launch of the global brand in the late 1990s, HSBC was rated among the top 50 global brands. The logo of HSBC may look the same around the world, but its similarity masks the fact that it is seen as a local brand across more than 90 countries. Aman Mehta (former CEO of HSBC) said in an interview that "In most countries in which we operate, we are perceived to be a local brand; It has been a great success story in branding". For a successful strategy, HSBC has to have a superior product behind the brand, and operations really have to be local.

2. UNDERSTAND LOCAL MARKET NEEDS AND DEVELOP A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

Global marketing enumerates plans with marketing teams for its success. It is realizes that a US-based customer is likely to be very different from a customer located in India or abroad. Their lives, cultures and needs are different, so it makes in the sense that they will interact very differently with the products or services. Local brands can be a great asset, particularly in building a presence in a market. HSBC spent a century working with local brands in different countries before bringing them under the banner of its global brand. Coca-Cola has relied heavily on local brands to go where its flag ship brand could not go around the world. By 2004, the company owned more than 400 brands in 200 countries, earning about 70 percent of its income from outside the U.S. we can say that Coke has "taught the world to sing," but in different languages. Two different product, Coca-Cola offers water and tea products under its locally developed Tian Yu Di ("Heaven and Earth") brand, a successful carbonated juice-flavoured drink called Smart, and a non carbonated juice drink called Qoo, being use developed in Japan. It became the leading Asian juice drink in just two years. These global sales are increasingly important to Coca-Cola’s future. Its sales growth was just 2 percent in the U.S., sales grew 16 percent in China, 22 percent in India, 14 percent in Thailand, and 10 percent in Mexico in 2003.

3. EARLY DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIALISING OF GLOBAL MARKETING PLAN

Before to Develop and implement a global marketing plan early we have established key relationships, researched local markets, and defined global marketing plans which we think accommodate local needs where required. Socialise these plans with international teams as soon as possible, seek their feedback and ensure that there are no legal issues to prevent the plans from working in certain markets. It is possible to create new local brands that pay close attention to market needs. In India, the detergent brand Nirma was created in the 1960s by Karsan Patel, a chemist who made detergents in his backyard and sold them on a bicycle. Today, the brand has 15 percent of the Indian detergent market. In response to the success of Nirma and other brands, Hindustan Lever established its own low priced local brand, Wheel, in the 1980s. This new brand allowed the company to meet the needs of price-sensitive consumers without eroding the position of its established brands.

4. BRAND MEAN SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Brands that may stand for certain qualities in the developed world may have a completely different meaning in the developing world. Companies often expect their established brands to be greeted with open arms as a sign of development – and sometimes they are. But global brands may be virtually unknown in rural areas, conveying little advantage in the sense of unawareness about the brand so the acceptance. For instance, fast-food brands such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and KFC are considered upscale in developing markets. Their Western image raises the level of their brand among customers who want to be connected to the global village. This is contrary to their image and reputation in the developed world, where they are near the bottom of the food chain in luxury dining. Because of these differences in how brands are interpreted, companies need to take care in rolling out brands in the developing world. Managers need to carefully assess what the brands mean in different regions.

5. ADDRESS THE LIABILITIES OF GLOBAL BRANDS

Campaign initiation in market means disciplined tracking results. Multinational companies need to address these liabilities, while local rivals may be able to benefit from them. For instance, anti-American sentiments helped Mecca Cola challenge Coke and Pepsi among Muslim customers in Paris and other parts of the world and aiding Quibla Cola in the UK and Zamzam Cola in Iran. These products are purchased by customers who like the appeal of cola but object to "Coca-Colonization."The complexity of global and local branding can be seen in the success of Cola Turka in the Turkish soft drink market. This brand was launched in 2003 with advertising featuring U.S. actor Chevy Chase (popular in Turkey for his National Lampoon movies. This odd mix of local and global positioning led to a highly successful launch, provoking significant price cuts by Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

6. CONSOLIDATE AND SHARE INSIGHT

In 2004, Coke moved out of the major cities in China and India to push deeper into the smaller cities and towns, offering small bottles and low prices of about 12 U.S. cents per serving. The challenge was to address these markets without eroding its urban image. The spot is in sharp contrast to its urban advertising, which positions Coke as a sophisticated drink for the rising middle class and Pepsi has focused more on the cities, Coke holds a 55 percent share of Chinese sodas overall, compared to 27 percent for Pepsi. But will its more countrified image in rural areas erode the brand among urban customers?

7. PUT THE BRAND ON WHEELS

To make popular of brands in rural areas, companies have used banner advertisements on elephants and video vans to build brand awareness. for instance, Colgate-Palmolive, drives vans into rural villages to build brand and product category awareness. These vans, designed to introduce villagers in India to the concept of brushing teeth, show half-hour infomercials on the benefits of toothpaste and then distribute free samples of Colgate-Palmolive. Whereas the company might fight for a share of the supermarket shelves in cities or developed markets, in these rural villages, competition comes from local preparations made from charcoal powder and the Neem tree (Azadirahta inidca) products. These local rivals have a significant advantage in distribution because their products can be found in the surrounding countryside. Companies also team up with Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to promote tooth brushing or other aspects of personal hygiene by combining product promotion with social action. In media deprived areas of the world, brands may rely much more on word of mouth and village leaders to develop the brand.

Hence, global marketing requires some effort to work, but it does have a number of benefits. It ensures that marketing strategy is applied consistently across territories and it allows operating more efficiently through economies of scale. Beyond this, one of the biggest benefits of operating globally with a local presence is the opportunity it provides to develop a deeper understanding of the markets in which the company operates and their potential. It enables you to prioritise and optimise these efforts and budgets effectively. The portfolio of global and local brands should be shaped by the company’s brands and the demands and characteristics of specific markets within a given country.

UNIVERSAL TRUTH BEHIND BRAND MANAGEMENT

Branding is the main important strategy of any business. Branding or Brand is not important only for companies but it takes equal importance for customers. Brand for customers will indicate commitment towards quality from sellers there by reducing time spent in coming to a purchase decision. Brand for companies will indicate a sort of benchmark in quality as well as customer expectation, a point of differentiation from competitors and a steady stream of profit. The brand value can be shown in to four dimensions like Reputation Value, Relationship Value, Experiential Value, and Symbolic Value.

BRAND = STORES, IMAGES, ASSOCIATIONS

Experiential Value

Stories shape experience of

the product.

Reputation Value

Stories imply perceived

quality of product features.

THE PRODUCT

(objective features, quality

standards, augments)

Symbolic Value

Stories imbue the product

with values and identities.

Relationship Value

Stories imply that firm is a

long-term partner that will

attend to customer interests.

What is a Brand?

Source: Holt Douglas B., "Brands and Branding", Harvard Business School (Note), Harvard Business School Publishing, March 11th 2003.

Modern technique has given new challenges to the branding. Now consumers can have more information because of more access source to information, internet is one of them. So in response to more consumer awareness programme companies also have responded to this challenge by better brand strategies. With better brand strategy a stage will come where brand name will be synonymous with the product name like skype means video chat, google means online searching, starbucks means coffee.

1. LEVERAGE INFORMATION VIA HYPOTHESIS-LED DATA ANALYSIS

This means collecting information from different sources and resulting it into a forceful rationale to take the right action for the brand strategy. This understands the problems at hand by anchoring the hypothesis and looking at the data or information to prove whether the hypothesis is wrong or right. Like the brand Aleve a pain-relief medicine had been struggling with single-digit market share. The team put two hypotheses: First Consumers were not fully aware about the brand Aleve, and second consumers were aware but didn't want to try the brand due to some reasons. Investigation reveals that more than 35 % patients were using this brand but with other. So it was clear that people were known about the brand but not more as others.

2. UNDERSTAND THE COMPETITION AND MAINTAIN POINT OF DIFFERENCE

Now a day’s competitive environment is very important because that sets the context under which consumers will be viewing your brand. It's important to maintain the point of difference for the brand and play to its strengths. For instance When Coke managed to get sponsorship rights for the 1996 Cricket World Cup in India, Pepsi gauged the competitive threat and stuck to its point of difference which differentiate it from others. It’s slogan "nothing official about it" campaign during the Cricket World Cup, which helped Pepsi strengthen its leadership position in Indian market.

3. BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR POSITIONING OVER TIME AND ACROSS PLATFORM

It's imperative to create a distinctive and meaningful position in the mind of consumers for the offering for any brand. So no matter what brand extension or innovation you are planning for your brand but ensures that it is builds on strengthens that distinctive positioning. For instance the Dove brand has extended its categories from skin care to hair care to others like deodorants by positioning itself on the soft/smooth platform and the fact that it contains natural moisturizing agent ‘milk’. Dove deodorants are positioned as leaving the underarms feeling soft and smooth. The brand has extended itself only in those categories where natural moisturising ingredient is required, thus staying true to the positioning over time and across platforms, thus strengthening the brand.

4. KNOW, WHAT YOUR TARGET CONSUMER WANTS

So by evaluation of all the market choice from the consumer point of view, it will help to connect with the consumer and genuinely make a positive difference in his or her life. And so it's important to understand both the stated and unstated needs - the insights into the target consumers' lives. Like Louis Vuitton was started in the late 1800s by supplying LV-branded suitcases to travellers. Travel then was a luxury afforded to only the wealthiest. Thus the brand became a symbol of status. It helped consumers showcase their differences from others. By leveraging this core human insight, LV extends to shoes, apparel and bags, and many other things related to our daily life. It has become one of the most extended brands but has suffered almost no diminishing returns. The brand was positioned not just on a functional need (like storage), but instead it tapped into deeper daily need of the consumers to connect with consumers.

5. MANAGE BUDGETS WITH A "SCARCITY" MENTALITY 

Working with a scarcity mentality will help maximize returns for every dollar spent by answering the question, "Is this the best way to spend dollars on marketing my brand, or is this money better spent elsewhere to generate greater returns?" Like Starbucks, instead of spending money on TV advertising, clusters an area with its stores, increasing total revenue and market share. This was contrary to what established retailing houses did, which was to avoid placing stores near each other so as not to cannibalize sales at existing outlets. For Starbucks, doing so resulted in reduced supply costs and made management of the stores cheaper, which more than made up for sales lost to cannibalization. Thus, funding for expansion from internal cash flow was a judicious use of money. Until recently, Starbucks spent just 1% of its revenues on marketing and advertising (compared to more than 10% for companies of the same size).

6. GET THE RIGHT PRICING THAT OFFERS VALUE IN THE MIND OF CONSUMERS

Pricing determines the value that consumers get offering: Perceived consumer value equals perceived brand benefit/price. Thus it's critical to decide the pricing strategy for the brand so that there is a net positive value for the consumers. Like Gillette's pricing strategy for its flagship men's razors and blades brand focuses on regularly upgrading them, and hence pricing up on their newest offerings. The innovations are consumer significant, so that they are ready to pay a premium to upgrade to the latest offering. Right from their twin blade to triple-blade Mach3 to Mach3 Turbo (with vibrating motor) to Gillette Fusion (with an additional trimming blade), their upgrades have been significant, and as a result they've been able to charge a more than 10% premium with them.

7. MOTIVATE THE TEAM THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Building a successful brand requires dedicated support, not just from the leader but from the whole multifunctional team - sales, research, R&D, finance. To do the same, the brand leader needs to have a clear vision for the brand and enlist the team toward the same. Like When it launched, Cosmopolitan had been positioned on a broad "for the family" platform. However by the mid-1950s it was suffering from declining leadership. In the 1960s Helen Gurley Brown took charge. She sharply defined the target audience (progressive, career-oriented and open-minded women) and then rallied the team to deliver a product that would appeal to the target. They came up with innovations like a glossy format, inspirational articles and writings, and talking frankly and honestly about various issues and needs of women. The first print run of about 350,000 was sold out by the end of publication day, and the Cosmopolitan of today was born.

TOP 10 MOST VALUABLE GLOBAL BRANDS

Building a brand is the success of any business. When a product is used or consumed by people around the world, their feelings regarding with that brand can make it or break it. Every year, Interbrand, a global consulting firm, compiles a list of the top brands. This year, much of the top 10 companies remained unchanged, like Coca Cola, Microsoft and Google. Although the following list is dominated by billion-dollar corporations, many of the traits and strategies that keep these companies on top can be applied to small businesses. From a more organized product portfolio to focus on sustainability, these principles of huge corporations can help grow and sustain small business.

Table: 1.1

Name

Brand Value (USD $ Millons)

2009

2010

2011

2012

Apple

13,648

19,829

29,543

70,605

Google

29,261

36,191

44,294

47,463

Microsoft

30,882

33,604

42,805

45,812

IBM

31,530

33,706

36,157

39,135

Walmart

40,616

41,365

36,220

38,320

Samsung

13,541

18,925

21,511

38,197

GE

26,654

31,909

30,504

33,214

Coca-Cola

32,728

34,844

25,807

31,082

Vodafone

24,647

28,995

30,674

30,044

Amazon.Com

7,466

13,340

17,780

28,665

Source: Annual Report on the World’s most valuable Global Brands.

FIGURE: 1.1

Apple is the brand that puts innovation into the hands of the consumer and as a result consumers have a love affair with the brand. In 1976 the late Steve Jobs, together with his partner Steve Wozniak, set out to change the world and by the time of his untimely death he had succeeded. The man behind the Apple brand was one of life’s great pioneers. The Apple brand is very strong because it develops modules from the very core of the company. Because of this the products themselves are innovative, stylish and easy to use and management runs just as efficiently as any of the Apple products themselves. It comes as no surprise then that one of the world's

most admired brands achieved the highest brand value ever at a staggering $71 billion. The company also achieved the highest brand rating.

Google has increased its brand value by 7%. Google is the world’s largest internet search engine with over a billion unique visitors every month. The brand generates the majority of its $37.9 billion revenue through advertising. It organise systematically a huge amount of information and make it accessible for the entire world to use. Google keep the site fresh by inventing new Google products such as Google. The site also retains users by providing products that are better than and more easily accessible than the competition such as Gmail, Google Maps and Google Translate. By providing products that continually put the user first, the Google brand is able to achieve high levels of unique visitors as well as retaining the majority of these users by providing up to date information.

Microsoft, achieving 3rd place in the Brand Finance Global 500, though the success is more a case of holding firm against increasingly powerful opposition rather than surging ahead. Brand value has risen by $3 billion. Microsoft has been a technology superpower since the early 1990s, when it was able to operate in the absence of equally powerful opposition. It has been a late entrant into the mobile sector, its products command minimal market share. Despite operating some of the earliest internet-based social networking tools, such as MSN Messenger, it has seen first MySpace then Facebook dominate in this sphere. Microsoft’s oldest rival is of course Apple, which has surged to the top of the Brand Finance Global 500 for the first time. This turnaround highlights Microsoft’s failure to capture the hearts and minds of consumers, who accept the clear utility of PowerPoint, Outlook, Word and Excel, but look to rivals for more innovative products. If Microsoft can inspire consumers with all its products as it has with the hugely successful Xbox and Kinnect, then it may be able regain its position at the top of the BrandFinance Global 500.

Over the years IBM has gradually shifted its focus away from computer hardware and towards consultancy and information services. However, the company has lost none of its potency as in all of its areas of operations the brand has become renowned for its ability to innovate and consistently provide success for its clients all within the framework of a business culture which is atypical of other corporate behemoths. The shift away from components towards information services has also made the brand far more resilient to cyclical movements in the demand for computer hardware so that it is now seen as not only the bellwether company for the entire technology industry, but also as the name in IT consulting.

Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, the Walton family themselves are still very much involved in the business and control a 48% stake of the corporation. Walmart Stores Inc boasts the title of the world’s largest public corporation by revenue and serves both customers and club members up to 200 million times per week. The multinational retailer is also the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees and was named the Brand Finance Best Retail Brand 2012. Today the company operates in three business segments: Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club in the United States and Walmart International in 15 countries. Nevertheless Walmart, like much of the retail industry, was not immune from the financial crisis and recorded three years of slowing sales growth and as a result suffered a relatively large brand loss between 2010 and 2011.

The brand belonging to the giant South Korean chaebol (or conglomerate) Samsung Group has performed exceedingly well in this year with its brand value increasing by 78%. Hence, the true extent of Samsung’s business empire which comprises some of the largest companies in the fields of technology, shipbuilding, construction, finance, PR and even amusement parks are realized by few people. A fifth of Korea’s exports are generated by Samsung. However, Apple the only one competitor consistently putting up a fight against inexorable domination of the smart phone market, Samsung has had a year of good financial results peppered with minor controversy stemming from its long running intellectual property battle with the US technology giant. Therefore, Samsung is also a world Olympic partner and will likely make further gains.

The $4.3 billion increase in the brand’s value has come on the back of a relatively successful year for the company General Electric. General Electric, one of the world’s most famous brands and the oldest name on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has seen its brand value increase by a very healthy 14% this year. it has helped it to build on its gradual recovery from the global financial crisis. As one of the world Olympic partners the brand will receive a huge amount of exposure to a global audience.

There is no need to introduce the name Coca- Cola to anyone as world famous. The company benefits from a large global footprint which is supported by advertising spend of just under $3 billion a year, enhanced through sponsorship of major events such as the football World Cup and the Olympics. Coca-Cola is the world’s best selling soft drink by volume. Hardly there will be any corner of the world not touch by this brand. The company’s drinks are sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. Approximately 74% of the company’s volume sales stem from outside the USA. Coca-Cola has responded to this by creating two sub brands which are variations of the original product but with 0% sugar. These two healthier alternatives are essentially the same product; one of which, Diet-Coke is targeted at women and the other, Coke Zero, being targeted at men. In addition Coke also produces Coke sub brands in the form of Vanilla Coke, Coca-Cola with Lemon and with Lime. The purpose behind this sub brand is to reduce the carbonated product from the market due to the health related risk. Although initially decline in brand value of Vodafone this year, the company which made the first ever mobile phone call remains the most successful telecoms brand in the BrandFinance Global 500. Vodafone is a truly global brand enjoying high levels awareness across both developed and developing markets. The company has been remarkably successful in avoiding many of the problems that can emerge when trying to propagate a foreign brand in fiercely competitive new markets whilst simultaneously trying to compete with the entrenched incumbents. This is one of the reasons that the company has been able to establish thriving partnerships across the globe further contributing to the growth of its brand by adopting all legal strategies. In order to stay ahead Vodafone has continued to be a brand which innovates and actively takes a position of leadership in its sector. Mobile payment technology allowing Vodafone customers to use their smart-phones as mobile wallets is just one example of the many ways in which the brand will seek to help its clients this year.

This is the era of internet and most of the vital things are being provided to the people via internet in this field internet shopping is one of them and Amazon.com helping in this way. The e-commerce giant, Amazon.com, has had a year of growing revenue and falling profits, the latter item being widely regarded by analysts as insignificant in comparison to the growth of the company. Amazon.com has firmly established itself as the world’s number one online retailer and sells more than three times as much as its nearest rivals. It has the widest range of products as well as the fastest delivery times and often charges the lowest price. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, and named after the river, the company initially only sold books but soon diversified into selling various products and today has separate websites for each individual country that they operate in. Financial results of 2011 reflect Amazon’s growth with second quarter revenue increasing by 51% to $9.91 billion from the period a year earlier, whilst half year revenue increased 45% from 2010. Amazon now sells its own range of products including the hugely successful Amazon Kindle e-book reader. The company recently reached a milestone by revealing that it now sells more e-books than real books. The expansion of Amazon.com continued with the full acquisition of Love Film in 2011 which boasts an impressive 2 million subscribers and is now the leading online DVD rental outlet in Europe.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Market Segmentation is a method of dividing a large market into smaller groupings of consumers or organisations in which each segment has a common characteristic such as needs or behaviour. "Market segmentation is the sub-dividing of market into homogenous sub-sections of customers, where any sub-section may conceivably be selected as a market target to be reached with a distinct marketing mix" [21]. Market segmentation allows a marketer to take a heterogeneous market, a market consisting of customers with diverse characteristics, needs, wants and behaviour, and carve it up into one or more homogeneous markets which are made up of individuals or organisations with similar needs, wants and behavioural tendencies. Hence, McDonald’s and other marketers have found market segmentation to be a valuable technique for the following reasons:-

Efficient use of marketing resources

Better understanding of customer needs

Better understanding of the competitive situation

Accurate measurement of goals and performance.

A brand strategy is a strategic decision-making tool that should not be confused with a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy defines how the products and services will be sold to the target market. The brand strategy will involve the marketing strategy but will also go beyond that. As marketing is about communicating with customers and the market, the brand strategy focuses on what type of brand image and personality will be communicated, to which audiences and how will they be communicated with. The brand strategy will be used to define how the company will improve their internal communication as well.

Once marketers have identified the best segments, they have a variety of ways to apply to market segmentation. A market segment consists of a large identifiable group within a market. A firm recognises that buyers differ in their wants, purchasing habits, buying attitudes, etc. like an Instant Shelter Company may identify six broad segments: Hotels, Open air restaurants, Clubs, Resorts, Temporary markets and Government agencies. But some segments want big-sized instant shelters and other small-sized shelters. Thus, segmentation help in designing the marketing mix as per the requirements of customers. For example Cigarettes market can be segmented on the basis of first, Type of cigarettes (a. Filter b. Plain), second, price (a. High-priced cigarettes b. Medium-priced cigarettes c. Low-priced cigarettes.) and Airline Services can be segmented on the basis of Region, Density, Occupation, Benefits, etc.

PROCEDURE FOR MARKET SEGMENTATION

There are three-step procedures for identifying the market segment of a product [22]:-

FIRST STEP (SURVEY STAGE)

The first step is the stage set for survey conducted by a researcher. He/She carries out exploratory interviews and focus groups with intent to have an insight into the consumer motivations, attitudes and the behaviours. Based on the information collected from a questionnaire, prepared by him, the researcher compiles data with regard to brand awareness and brand rating, patterns of product-use, consumer attitudes towards product category. Moreover, the researcher identifies the demographics, geographies, psychographics and media graphics of the respondents. All these help the marketer identify the characteristics of the particular segment. Thorough research will give the company important and much needed information on its target market, their market environment, industry and own strengths and weaknesses. The information gained from the research will also give insight as to what media should be used for communicating with the target market and stakeholders in order to achieve the best results.

SECOND STEP (ANALYSIS STAGE)

The second step is the stage for carrying out different types of analysis to determine the characteristics of a particular segment. These analyses are comprised of factor analysis and cluster analysis. Relative to marketing, research is an integral part of how the product should be positioned. The more information on the target market, the better the brand can be positioned for this particular market.

THIRD STEP (PROFILING STAGE)

The third and final step towards identifying a market segment, the researcher goes to profiling each cluster in terms of its distinguishing features that help him determining variables like attitudes, behaviour, demographics, psychographics and media patterns. Each segment is ascribed with a name based on the characteristics appearing to be most dominant.

Therefore, marketing segments may be one or a combination of the like Division level, Territory level, Market level, Product level, Customer level, Size of order.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Communication is the process by which individuals share meanings, for instance between the company and its consumers. In order to successfully communicate, the information needs to be shared amongst all parties involved and be completely understood. The communication process is therefore an essential part within marketing, were understanding of this complex process could lessen the risk of ambiguity and instead create a successful conversation with the target group [11].

Marketing communications refers to "the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers-directly or indirectly- about the product they sell" [22]. Through improved communication of products and company identity, the value of marketing communication can be enhanced. Therefore, the business must understand the consumer environment and develop and present messages particularly for its identified group [11]. For marketing communication to be effective in conveying its message a simple cycle has to be understood. Marketers need to understand the present state of brand awareness and brand image within consumer’s mind and then ask question, do they want to be in current state. Now design communication in whatever form required that will take to desired level, while clearly stating similarity and difference from competitors. Finally, research consumers to understand whether desire effect or brand knowledge has been created Marketing communication serves as helpful support for consumers in their cognitive processing when solving problems and satisfying their needs and wants. Company communication can inform the consumer of the utilization of the product, how, when and where it should be used, as well as illustrate what kind of person would use this product and the benefits received from it. This is also a way for businesses to present themselves, who they are and what they stand for, and to present the production process behind the product [22]. Advertisement and other communicative options play an important role in the marketing plans; development of brand equity is the main goal.

Advertisement is one the most common form of marketing communication; this can be done through television, radio, magazines, newspaper, direct approach, etc along with other resources. Television is good medium to target large audience and greater geographical area, thereby reducing dollar cost per customer. However this medium can be expensive and may not create a strong impact. Radio on other hand has lesser geographical coverage and audience, thereby creating focus on selective audience and reducing cost. However radio again can only have audio and cannot grab attention the way visuals can. Magazines and newspaper can provide good coverage with greater information content. However it is just visual and may not generate desirable consumer response. Other form of marketing communication are direct marketing which includes door to door, phone calls and mail, then, marketing at point of purchase through cut outs and display, another way through billboards which can have both visual as well as audio. Marketers also extensively use promotional activity for marketing communications. These are of two types’, consumer promotion and trade promotion. Consumer promotion can be in form of sampling, evident at malls and super market, another way by providing coupons and various other schemes. Trade promotion is targeted for channel partner like retailers, distributors and these could be in form cash incentives etc. To design a complete marketing communication program, marketers have to ensure that they are able to establish connection with consumer and able to effectively communicate about brand, thereby creating a strong brand awareness and image. This will ensure in creating a strong consumer based brand equity.

CONCLUSION

A strong brand gives the customer value for the dollar and gives employees the satisfaction and confidence in their products. Strong brands also accelerate market awareness and acceptance of new products entering the market. Once a brand has successfully entered the marketplace and has achieved status as a leading or strong brand, marketers must be concerned with keeping it there. Since brand management involves so many different kinds of disciplines, it would be really useful to get as much experience (like work place) as possible in a wide range of disciplines connected to, or intrinsically part of, brand management. A Strong brand initiates an opportunity for comprehensive evaluation of any offering with firm’s previous competence, capability and customer’s trust in the offerings.

Trust ensures building and maintaining a strong, emotionally driven and enduring brand. However, in a world of promotion-driven-marketing tactics, many brand owners forget that building trust is the only thing holding the relationship with the customer together. This enables consumers to make confident purchase decisions about the latter. Most marketers are in business to create demand and sell more equipment. For most customers, selling is not a very trustworthy practice. Nobody likes to be sold, but people surely do love to buy. More than ever customers buy from brands they trust. At the beginning of any relationship, trust is the most difficult component to establish. There are two kinds of people–those who begin a relationship with little trust which needs to be gathered over time, and those who begin with trust freely given, but is forever taken away on the first sign of behaviour deemed untrustworthy. Either way trust must be established or there will be no relationship. Relationships with trusted brands are built and maintained in this same fashion. When trust is established at its highest level between a brand and the customer, there is always an emotional "investment" made between the two parties. This bond is fully on strong emotional connections as a result of the recognised shared values between the brand and the customer. Thus, trusted brands understand what customers really care about so completely that they become a quality of identification for the relationship. Hence, the components of trust in building enduring brand value.

However, Strong brand provide numerous benefits in terms of greater revenue and lower cost. If the brand is considered the favourable and strong in the market then association of the customer will play a vital role by leaving the positive influence on product‘s evaluation by consumer, price and the quality of the product. The main characteristic of the brand is the brand loyalty which plays an importance for the company as well as brand loyalty has a direct and close relation with the brand equity. If the customers are loyal to a particular brand never seeing the price while purchasing the product which provide the greater revenues along with the repeat purchase by consumers. Positive brand equity develops the brand association in other product categories. Another aspect is that brand companies used to license their brand names in order to capitalize the awareness of brand. Company can increase its revenue by giving the trademark to a brand and creating its relationship to other products which lead to increase the revenue and after that licensing to trade mark provides the legal security to brand lead to increase the customer trust and prevent company from its competitors. Another benefit of strong brand with brand equity is to provide the better space to enter into a new market [18,19]. According to Keller, Strong brand develop the brand awareness among the customers which provides the benefits to company like less marketing efforts. Hence, Strong brand can have an impact on aspects of consumer behaviour and consumer decision-making processes [27].