The concept of Branding as Marketing Management:
Branding’s marketing concept is to attract customers and advertise with a consistent theme. Branding is considered a set of tangible or intangible attributes symbolized by a trademark. That trademark can be a name, logo, or image of a product or company. If the brand is used correctly, this creates value for the company or product and influences the consumer (Todor, 2014, pg. 60). Both the customer and manufacturers can realize the importance of a brand. No other product element can convey more information about a company than a brand. Brand equity is also significant since it is used to frame the relationship of a company’s brand to its consumer base (Marshall & Johnston, 2019, pg. 247). Brand equity can be broken into five categories: brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand association, and, lastly, brand assets (Marshall & Johnston, 2019, pg. 250). Those five categories are essential when creating a good brand for a company or product. In today’s world, the quality of products or services is not enough to ensure that a company will be successful. Because of this fact, most companies that want to obtain high levels of profits in both the national and international markets have considered branding marketing a necessity. And since marketing changes can occur over time, this can lead to the erosion of a company’s brand, forcing them to rethink their branding strategy and rebrand (Todor, 2014, pg. 59). However, rebranding is a tough decision to make since the main challenge is to rethink the brand’s image but not create confusion in the mind of the consumer base (Todor, 2014, pg. 64). If a company or product makes a good brand, this can positively affect the product/ service for the consumer, which in turn creates a sense of loyalty to a specific product (Todor, 2014, pg. 61). This leads to a consistent consumer base for the company’s service. In conclusion, branding is an important marketing strategy since it directly influences consumers when purchasing. A brand is a promise to your consumer base on what your product will offer them over your competitors. It is an integral part of a company’s development process. They know that successful outcomes result from a good branding strategy (Marshall & Johnston, 2019, pg. 247).
Example of Branding:
Nike’s branding strategy is its logo. The recognizable logo comes from the Greek mythology of the Winged Goddess of Victory. Nike’s swoosh logo represents the sound of speed, movement, and power (Srivastava, 2016, pg. 40). Nike’s brand strategy takes on the role of the everyday hero story but with a twist. Instead of building customer loyalty by focusing on an external enemy, it focuses on the consumer’s internal foe, their laziness. The swoosh logo also represents athleticism, hard work, victory, and teamwork that are the foundations of many sports (Srivastava, 2016, pg. 41). Connecting their brand to those main aspects, in turn, encourages consumers to buy their products to achieve those same things. Nike branding promotes the idea of competitive spirit and that whoever plays needs to win (Matović et al., 2019, pg. 36). This creates a sense that only the best of the best wears Nike; this is the perfect brand for a sports company because being a part of a sport means outperforming others. Nike branding is a perfect example of how great branding can be for a company. The Nike swoosh is so recognizable in the public consciousness that the company does not have to include its name in ads or billboards. Nike could sign their ads with only its logo if they wanted to since everyone knows what company is being advertised to them when they see that symbol (Goldman & Papson,1998, pg. 2).
Question Regarding Nike’s Branding:
As mentioned above, Nike has done very well branding its company. However, that does not mean they have always had a great branding strategy. What are some branding issues that Nike, or another company of your choice, has encountered over the years of their company?
References
Goldman, R., & Papson, S. (1998). Nike culture: The sign of the swoosh. Sage.
Marshall, G. W., & Johnston, M. W. (2019). Marketing management (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Matović, V., Stanić, M., & Drinić, I. (2019). Impact branding on consumer preference towards buying a particular product: Comparative analysis of brands Nike and Adidas. Ekonomika, 65(3), 35-44.
Srivastava, P. K. (2016). Emotional Branding: Marketing Strategy of Nike Brand.
Todor, R. D. (2014). The importance of branding and rebranding for strategic marketing. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 7(2), 59.
Second Discussion post that needs a response:
Customer Loyalty
Concept
Customer loyalty means that the customer is willingly purchasing a brand frequently, over all others. It is both an instinctual and behavioral experience with one brand that satisfies the customers needs. “The product experience is at the core of delivering value to the customer.” (Marshall &Johnson,2019) If the customer is familiar and satisfied with said product and choses it over other available products, then it is customer loyalty. Building customer loyalty always encourages the customers to buy more, spend more and feel a positive and emotional tie to the purchase. In the business sector, customer loyalty has an important role to up lift the business as well as focus on establishing good relationships between consumers and suppliers. A loyal customers is a prime sources of generating profits and bringing morenew customers into a business. Word of mouth is now with social media platforms very important to the success of businesses. A consumer will start to trust a brand when the brand delivers on exactly what it presents itself to be.
Application/Example
When I think of an organization that has a big customer following the first thought was Starbucks. Starbucks has done an excellent job of branding their company. Howard Schultz, company President and CEO set out to provide a new customer experience and he exceeded at just that. Since the opening of its first stores in Seattle, Starbucks has strived to be more than just atypical place you buy coffee. Starbucks takes the cake for brand loyalty. Starbucks fans support it like someone supporting their favorite football team. The company has a loyalty program called “My Starbucks Rewards” That keeps loyalist coming back to the stores over and over again. In July 2021 this program had 24.2 million members in the United States alone. Reality is, people taste images not ingredients. The trademark of any Starbucks is its rich ambience with music, comfy chairs and sofas to sit and enjoy their beverage. Starbucks customers can also use free Wi-Fi while there. When you walk in you immediately feel at home. The atmosphere while there with the barista’s yelling orders and the hustle and bustle of the environment dazzles customers. People who buy their coffee buy it for the sheer, inexorable, ineluctable, emotional uniqueness, or Starbuckiness, of the brand. Its ritual, history, logo, aromas, color, design- and our own memories of it and its unique brand identity. (Maggiore, 2009) For example barista’s used to grind beans throughout the day whenever a new pot of coffee was made. (Rothaermel, 2017 pg. 443) Starbucks has continued to expand globally. It opened more than fourteen hundred net new stores in the fiscal year of 2020 and two hundred and seventy eight in the fiscal year of 2021. Management is planning for a total of two thousand one hundred and fifty new stores in 2021, with the most openings in the U.S. (eight hundred fifty) and China (six hundred). The company previously stated that it’s planning to grow to fifty five thousand total stores over the next ten years, or about two thousand two hundred annually, potentially overtaking McDonald’s as the largest global restaurant chain, with thirty eight thousand restaurants. Some of those are bound to be order only locations, and although the company ended its leases for many of its urban locations, those will eventually come back as well, as businesses figure out a balance between office and home-based work environments. (Saibil, 2021)
Question for Classmates
What product or service are you loyal to and why? I myself am loyal to McCafe Coffee from McDonalds. Every morning Monday through Friday I pull in the drive thru, so they can poor me a cup of ambition before work. I think I am loyal to this because it is conveniently located below my job. Also, I have become very attached to the taste and buy this brand of Coffee in the grocery store.
References
Innis Maggiore. (2009, March 3). Retrieved November 18, 2021, Starbucks: Get back to being unique. from https://innismaggiore.com/news/blog/starbucks-get-back-to-being-unique/.
Marshall, G.W., & Johnson, M.W. (2019). Marketing Management. New York, NY: McGraw Hill/Irwin
Rothaermel, F. T. (2017). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education.
Saibil, J. (2021, April 8). Where will starbucks be in 10 years? The Motley Fool. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/04/08/where-will-starbucks-be-in-10-years/.
