Mktg711 Brand Management | Concept Assessment Answers

Success and failure of a brand launch depends on a wide range of factors, internal, and external. Factors such as ineffective visual and conceptual positioning, authenticity, clear brand identity, consistent brand communications, targeting wrong customers, using irrelevant brand elements, etc may all contribute towards the success or failure of a brand launch. Brand managers therefore need to make sure they get the influencing factors for a successful brand launch right.

In this report, you are to

Review and critically analyse the main academic and industry literature on brand launch success and failure factors, 

Answer:

Introduction

The business world of the present times is a diversified one and at the same time the choices that are available to the customers have also increased in a significant manner over the years (Zhang, 2015). This can be seen as the end results of the extensive use of the strategies of globalization, product adaptation, product standardization and others (Zhang, 2015). The increasing choices which are available to the customers means that they have a wide range of products or services available to them from which they can select the ones which fulfill their demands or expectations in the best possible manner (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy & Pervan, 2015). It is here that the concept of brand or market of the organizations comes into play since the recent business trend shows the fact that because of the almost similar nature of products offered by the diverse business enterprises the focus of the customers have shifted more towards the entity of brand image (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy & Pervan, 2015). This report will discuss about the concept of brand management and also the factors which determine the success or the failure of a particular brand.

Brand image and its management

The concept of brand or market image broadly described refers to the image or the value that a particular organization or the products or the services offered by a particular organization has in the business market or among the diverse customers (Kim, Choe & Petrick, 2018). The focus of the present day customers have shifted from the quality as well as the price of the products or the services that they opt from the diverse business enterprises to the entity of the brand or the image of the concerned enterprise (Dall’Olmo Riley, Hand & Guido, 2014). This can be seen as the result of the increasing number of choices that are available to the customers or the fact that the bargaining power of the customers have increased in a substantial manner in the present manner because of the emergence of the diverse kinds of organizations which offer almost kind of products or services to the customers and that too at almost similar kind of prices (Stocchi, Driesener & Nenycz?Thiel, 2015). Many experts are of the viewpoint that in the present business world the prospects of any organization depends to a large extent on the kind of brand or the image that it boasts of rather than on the quality or the nature of the products or the services which it offers to the customers (Gensler et al., 2015). The end result of this particular psychology of the customers is the fact that the various business enterprises are focusing on the process of improving the brand or the market image of their organization rather than on the process of improving the quality or the nature of the products or the services that they offer to the customers (Chen, Yeh & Huan, 2014).

Studies have shown that the organizations which take the entity of brand image into effective consideration and at the same time devote a significant amount of resources of the organization towards the improvement as well as the development of the brand or the image of their have a better chance of gaining not only a higher profit margin but at the same time a larger customer base as well (Anselmsson, Bondesson & Melin, 2016). Furthermore, in order to effectively develop the brand or the market image the various organizations take the help of diverse kinds of methods or strategies. The most commonly used strategies by the various business enterprises and the brand managers for the improvement or the development of the market or the brand image is the effective use of the principle of entity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Miquel-Romero, Caplliure-Giner & Adame-Sánchez, 2014). The diverse organizations of the present times are not only required to follow the various precepts of business ethics for the conduct of their business but at the same time are required to contribute in a positive manner towards the environment, planet and the society (Cho, Fiore & Russell, 2015). It is here that the concept of the various CSR activities gains prominence within the business world. The diverse organizations thus take the help of various kinds of social, environmental and others issues or often work for the improvement of the society with the ulterior motive of improving their market or brand image (Cho, Fiore & Russell, 2015).

Another common tactic adopted by the diverse organizations and the brand managers for the effective management of their brand or market image is the effective use of social media (Sasmita & Suki, 2015). It is with the objective of improving their image that the diverse organizations create various kinds of brand or fan pages over the internet and social media wherein they post all the good or the positive information about their organization so as to influence the customers in the best possible manner (Sasmita & Suki, 2015). In addition to these, it is also seen that the customers at the same time get influenced by the posts of the other existing users or the customers of a particular organization and thus the effective use of the process of customer relationship management is another strategy which is being used by the diverse organizations for the process of the effective management of the brand or the market image (Buil, Catalán & Martínez, 2016).

Factors determining the success or the failure of a particular brand

There are various factors on which the success or the failure of a particular brand depends like the conceptual positioning of the concerned brand, the communication process used by the concerned organization, the targeted customer base and others (Anselmsson, Bondesson & Johansson, 2014). Furthermore, it is the cumulative effect of all these factors or entities determines to a large extent the success or the failure of a particular brand.

Ineffective visual and conceptual positioning

The process of conceptual positioning refers to the manner in which a particular brand or organization decides to conceptualize the products or services offered by it to the customers so as to enhance the chances of the customers opting for the services or the products offered by them (Manhas & Tukamushaba, 2015). However, many times it is seen that the diverse organizations make an error of judgment in conceptualizing the product or the service in a wrong or erroneous manner and this affects the prospects of the brand that they are offering to the customers in an adverse manner (Heding, Knudtzen & Bjerre, 2015). It thus becomes very important for the diverse organizations to conceptualize the products or the services that they are offering to the customers so that they are not only being able to make the concerned brand or product appealing to the customers but at the same time being able to make the concerned brand a successful one as well in the longer run (Manhas & Tukamushaba, 2015).

Authenticity

The various customers look for similarity between the things that have been promised to them regarding a particular product or the service that have been promised to them and the things that they actually get through the usage of the concerned product or service (Nyadzayo & Khajehzadeh, 2016). The customers generally prefer the kind of brands or products that are not only authentic but at the same time true to the things that they propose the concerned product or service would offer to them. This is important since the prospects of a particular brand or service depends to a large extent on this particular factor and the effective use of this particular strategy can help an organization or a brand to gain a considerable amount of success among the customers in the longer run (Zhang, 2015). The company The Body Shop takes the help of kind of media advertisements which represents the values of the products offered by them in an authentic manner and this is one main reason for the success that the concerned organization has been able gain over the years.

Brand Identity

Brand identity refers to the unique features of a particular brand or a service that distinguishes it from the other products or services and it is seen that each product or service or for that matter an organization has a unique brand identity of its own (Chen, Yeh & Huan, 2014). There are various factors that determine the brand identity of a particular organization or a product like the reputation that it has in the business market, the past record or the history of the concerned organization and others (Chen, Yeh & Huan, 2014). Many scholars are of the viewpoint that the effective utilization of the identity can contribute in a significant manner towards the creation of a positive brand or market image of a particular organization and can provide long term benefits to the organizations (Gensler et al., 2015). The effective management of the concept of brand identity is important since it not only helps a particular organization or a product to establish an identity of its own among the plethora of the diverse kinds of products or services that are available in the business market but at the same time it is seen that the present day customers opt for the products or the services which have a unique brand identity of their own (Gensler et al., 2015). The organization Apple has developed a clear identity for the iPhones and the Macbooks sold by them and this has contributed in a significant manner towards the success gained by them (Gensler et al., 2015).

Brand Communications

One of the most important prerequisites for the development of a positive brand or market image is the fact that the concerned organization needs to convey the required as well as adequate information regarding the products or the services to the customers on a regular basis (Kim, Choe & Petrick, 2018). This not only requires the concerned organization to effective convey the required information about themselves or the products or the services that they are offering but also adequate information regarding the products or the services which they would be launching in the future times (Kim, Choe & Petrick, 2018). This is important since it not only conveys the required information to the customers but at the same time enhances the credibility and transparency of the concerned organization. The use of this method not only helps the organizations to earn the trust of the customers but at the same time helps them to boost the sale of the products or the services offered by them to the customers. Recent studies have shown that the organizations which the effective use of the process of effective brand communication have been able to gain a considerable amount of success in comparison to the ones which do not take the help of this particular process in the long term (Anselmsson, Bondesson & Melin, 2016). A pertinent example of the use of this particular strategy was made by Nike for the promotion as well as the sale of the Fuelbands offered by them to the customers (Anselmsson, Bondesson & Melin, 2016).

Target Customer Base

The products or the services that a particular business enterprise offers to the customers should be in synchronicity with the demands and the wants of the target customer base on which the concerned organization is focusing (Cho, Fiore & Russell, 2015). The effective focus of a particular section of the entire population helps a particular organization to offer the kind of products or services that would be agreeable with them and thereby enhances their chances of gaining success and thereby improves their image (Cho, Fiore & Russell, 2015). However, it is often seen that the diverse organization launch products or services without taking into effective consideration the demands or the needs of the customer base that they are targeting (Sasmita & Suki, 2015). This can affect the brand or the market image of a particular organization in an adverse manner and thereby ruin its prospects. Thus, it becomes important for the organizations to integrate the demands or the wants of their target customer base in an effective manner within the products or the services that they offer to the customers since this not only enables them to earn amount of revenue but at the same time improves their brand or market image as well in the longer run. The organization Amazon for the process of their international business only focuses on the customers who technologically savvy and has designed the services offered by them on the basis of this particular fact.

Irrelevant brand elements

It is often seen that the various organizations in order to make the advertisements campaigns used by them for the promotion of the products or the services offered by them to the customers take the help of irrelevant content which not only mislead the customers but at the same time can cause long term damage to the brand image of the concerned organization (Zhang, 2015). Thus, the organizations should refrain from using such irrelevant brand elements as they can adversely affect the brand image of the concerned organization. 

Recommendations

The various brand managers as well as organizations to ensure the success of the brands that are being launched by them can take the help of various kinds of strategies or policies. For example, through the effective use of the process of social media marketing the brand managers can provide information to the customer about the brand way before its actual launch and thereby build anticipation among the customers. Furthermore, the use of relevant and effective media advertisement can also help the concerned brand in a significant manner. In addition to these, the brand manager at the same time needs to develop a clear identity of the brand and the brand should be designed taking into effective consideration the demands of the intended customer base. 

Conclusion

To conclude, the brand or the market image which a particular organization has determines to a large extent the success or the failure of a particular organization to a great extent and thus it has become important for the various organizations to take into effective consideration the factor of brand image. Furthermore, at the same time focus of the customers has also shifted from the diverse aspects of the products or the services like quality, price and others to the brand or the market image of the concerned product or service. Thus, the brand managers are required to take into effective consideration diverse factors like brand communication, authenticity, target customer base and others for the effective development of the brand image of the organization and also the product or the service. This is important since the prospects of a particular organization are directly related to its brand image.

References

Anselmsson, J., Bondesson, N., & Melin, F. (2016). Customer-based brand equity and human resource management image: Do retail customers really care about HRM and the employer brand?. European Journal of Marketing, 50(7/8), 1185-1208.

Anselmsson, J., Vestman Bondesson, N., & Johansson, U. (2014). Brand image and customers' willingness to pay a price premium for food brands. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 23(2), 90-102.

Buil, I., Catalán, S., & Martínez, E. (2016). The importance of corporate brand identity in business management: An application to the UK banking sector. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 19(1), 3-12.

Chen, H. B., Yeh, S. S., & Huan, T. C. (2014). Nostalgic emotion, experiential value, brand image, and consumption intentions of customers of nostalgic-themed restaurants. Journal of Business Research, 67(3), 354-360.

Cho, E., Fiore, A. M., & Russell, D. W. (2015). Validation of a fashion brand image scale capturing cognitive, sensory, and affective associations: Testing its role in an extended brand equity model. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 28-48.

Dall’Olmo Riley, F., Hand, C., & Guido, F. (2014). Evaluating brand extensions, fit perceptions and post-extension brand image: does size matter?. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(9-10), 904-924.

Gensler, S., Völckner, F., Egger, M., Fischbach, K., & Schoder, D. (2015). Listen to your customers: Insights into brand image using online consumer-generated product reviews. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 20(1), 112-141.

Heding, T., Knudtzen, C. F., & Bjerre, M. (2015). Brand management: Research, theory and practice. Routledge.

Kim, S. S., Choe, J. Y. J., & Petrick, J. F. (2018). The effect of celebrity on brand awareness, perceived quality, brand image, brand loyalty, and destination attachment to a literary festival. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management.

Manhas, P. S., & Tukamushaba, E. K. (2015). Understanding service experience and its impact on brand image in hospitality sector. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 45, 77-87.

Miquel-Romero, M. J., Caplliure-Giner, E. M., & Adame-Sánchez, C. (2014). Relationship marketing management: Its importance in private label extension. Journal of Business Research, 67(5), 667-672.

Nyadzayo, M. W., & Khajehzadeh, S. (2016). The antecedents of customer loyalty: A moderated mediation model of customer relationship management quality and brand image. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 30, 262-270.

Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., & Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic brand management. Oxford University Press, USA.

Sasmita, J., & Mohd Suki, N. (2015). Young consumers’ insights on brand equity: Effects of brand association, brand loyalty, brand awareness, and brand image. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(3), 276-292.

Stocchi, L., Driesener, C., & Nenycz?Thiel, M. (2015). Brand image and brand loyalty: do they show the same deviations from a common underlying pattern?. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 14(5), 317-324.

Zhang, Y. (2015). The impact of brand image on consumer behavior: a literature review. Open journal of business and management, 3(1).