Brand A brand represents what a customer thinks of a product and what the product means to them. It includes the name, logo, design etc. of a company/product. Brands can be very powerful and can be worth more than a company’s assets. Brand Equity Brand equity is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing. It is a measure of the brands ability to capture customer preference and loyalty. Brand Valuation is the measure of the value of the brand in terms of customer loyalty and preference. Brand equity offers the company some defense against fierce price competition.
Brand Positioning Brands can be positioned at three levels; product attributes, benefit or beliefs and values. Product attributes are the aspects of the product and it’s functions. Customers are interested in what the attributes can do for them. The benefits of a product can include health benefits etc. The beliefs and values aspect is used by some company’s to create surprise, passion and excitement in the customer/user. Brand Name Selection Desirable qualities for a brand name are:
1. it should suggest something about the products benefits and qualities 2. asy to pronounce, recognize and remember 3. it should be distinctive 4. it should be extendable 5. it should be translatable Brand Sponsorship There are four options for sponsorship; national brand, private brand, licensed brands and co-brand. Brand Development A company has four choices when it comes to developing brands; line extensions, brand extensions, multi-brands and new brands. Line extensions occur when a company extends existing brand names to forms colour, sizes, ingredients or flavours. A brand extension extends a current brand name to new or modified products in a new category.
Companies often market many different brands in a given product category. A company might believe that the power of its existing brand name is waning a new brand name is needed. Brand Personality A brand personality is the human traits of a brand; people tend to choose a brand with a personality similar to their own. A brand personality provides a source of differentiation and it should be managed so that customers don’t create a negative personality of the brand. Brand Personality Consumers are like tribes, they believe in a product like they do in religion.
A brand personality allows customers to become passionate about a product or company. The Apple Brand Personality Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from people’s lives; people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers.
Strategic Marketing Planning (focus on process) Strategic Planning Strategic Planning is the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organisation’s goals and capabilities in the light of changing marketing opportunities. It relies on developing a clear: * Company mission * Objectives * Sound business portfolio * Coordinated functional strategies Strategic Planning Hierarchy * Corporate Level Planning * Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Planning * Functional Level Planning Must have consistency between plans. Marketing Plans
The marketing plan has its focus on customer acquisition, retention and the resources required. It includes the resources needed to implement specific marketing functions (such as selling, advertising, sales promotion and market research). Most marketing plans cover one year, but some cover a few years. Shortcomings of marketing plans are lack of realism, insufficient market and competitive analysis and a short-run focus. The Process 1. Finding opportunities and developing profitable marketing strategies: Requires constant and ongoing analysis of the macro, micro and competitive environment in which the firm operates. . Identifying a target market: A group of customers with similar needs to whom a company wishes to appeal.
3. Developing marketing strategies – the marketing mix The controllable variables that the company puts together to satisfy this target group. 4. Develop a marketing plan. 5. Implementation and control. Structure of the Marketing Plan 1. Executive Summary 2. Current Marketing Situation 3. SWOT and issue analysis 4. Objectives 5. Marketing strategy 6. Action plan 7. Projected profit and loss statement 8. Control mechanisms Other
Implementation of Market Plans Controlling and Evaluating Performance * Marketing Control is the process of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing strategies and plans, and taking corrective action to ensure that marketing objectives are attained. * Operating control involves checking ongoing performance against the annual plan and taking corrective action when necessary. * Strategic control is checking that the company’s basic strategies are well matched to its opportunities. Marketing Audit Services Marketing (differences and extended marketing mix)
Services Marketing Services are intangible experiences not good, they are still classed as a product. Service industries and companies (core product is a service), customer service (support service of a product) and derived service (value of a good is the service provided by it). Growth Drivers in the Service Economy Changes in Government policy, social change, business trends, internationalization and advances in IT. Distinguishing Characteristics of Service * Intangible elements dominate value creation
* Customers do not obtain ownership of services Service products are ephemeral and cannot be inventoried * Greater involvement of customers in production process * Other people may form part of product experience * Greater viability in operational inputs and outputs * Many services are difficult for customers to evaluate * Time factor is more important * Delivery systems include electronic and physical channels Classifying Services High contact services – customer visits service facility and remains throughout service delivery, active contact between customers and service personnel, includes most people-processing services.
Low contact services – little or no physical contact with service personnel, contact usually at arms length through electronic or physical distribution channels, new technologies help reduce contact levels. Risks Perceived risk – based on a customer’s judgment of the likelihood of negative outcomes. Types – functional, financial, temporal, psychological, social, sensory Control : Behavioral control – giving people control over factors in their environment. Cognitive control – giving the feeling of control through information and predictability (certainty and trust) Challenges
Defining and improving quality, designing and testing new services, communicating and maintaining a consistent image, accommodating fluctuating demand, motivating and sustaining employee commitment, coordinating marketing, operations, and human resource efforts, setting prices, finding a balance between standardization versus personalization and ensuring the delivering of consistent quality. Extended marketing mix People – employees, customers. Management of people is critical, makes a heterogeneous service. Physical Evidence – the environment or any tangible components.
Physical evidence is used as a marker of quality, it includes: buildings, layout and design, colour schemes, signage, written documentation, vehicles, parking, web presence and people. Process – the procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities. Must be clear on the customers and employees roles during the service delivery process. Increased use of self-service technology to deliver services. Service Quality Vital due to intangibility of the service industry. Not-for-profit, Government & Societal Marketing (social and societal marketing) Social and Ethical Issues in Marketing
A number of social and ethical issues arise from marketing practice and emerge as areas of attention for marketing scientists and regulators. The Impact of Marketing Consumer concerns include: high prices, poor-quality, dangerous products, misleading advertising claims, deceptive practices, breaches of privacy, high pressure selling, planned obsolescence and poor service to disadvantaged consumers. Marketing System accused of adding several ‘evils’ in society: false wants, too few social goods, cultural pollution, too much political power, marketing to children, sex in ads and environmental damage from a throw-away society.
Moves to Regulate Marketing The two major movements are The consumer’s Rights Movement and Environmentalism. Environmentalism Environmentalists want people and organisations to operate with more care for the environment and achieve sustainable development. Ethical Marketing Ethical marketing is an approach where organisations recognize that the task of marketing is to be both enlightened to society’s views and ethical in the organisations approach to society. Marketing Ethics Marketing ethics are the moral standards that guide marketing decisions and actions.
Teleological view – assesses the moral worth of behavior but its consequences (Egoism and Utilitarianism). Deontology – emphasizes the importance of methods and intentions and judges individual acts by the nature of the act itself. Relativism – no universal ethical rules exist that apply to everyone because all normative beliefs are a function of a culture or individual. Ethical Marketing Issues in Australia Se appeals in ads, marketing of addictive products – tobacco, alcohol etc. , marketing to children and childhood obesity, trademark protection and development of ethical standards. The Societal Marketing Concept
The societal marketing orientation is a response to these issues – it is the idea that the organisation should determine the needs, wants and interests of target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors, and in a way that maintains or improves society’s wellbeing. The Societal Marketing Orientation The idea that marketing strategies need to balance economic, environmental and social needs, marketing strategies should have a pro-social, pro-environmental element. Legal Aspect – ACCC, Intellectual Property Examples: McDonald’s salads and ad times, eco stuff
