George Clooney's Brand Strategy - Example

George Clooney’s Brand Strategy Report Student Number Student name Total Number of Words Course Code Course name Institution of affiliation Instructor’s name Tutorial time Date Executive summary The dream of every organization is to control the largest market share for its product compare to similar products from competitors. The best tool to achieve differentiation and positioning with a market is through branding. Branding not only identifies a product but also markets it. For any organization, a brand is a sign or symbol that brings social and personal identity which results to good reputation. Although branding is mostly used on products from companies, it is also applicable to human beings especially where they need to belong to the society and differentiate themselves from others within the society. The main sector where humans brand themselves is in films and visual arts sector. Using the customer-based branding model of brand management, this paper performs are brand audit of George Clooney. From the brand management theory, Clooney is identified as a celebrity who observes numerous branding strategies which include position, pricing, and ensuring that customers do not buy the product but establish relationship with him. The paper also focuses on three recommendations which Clooney should employ in order to retain his brand relevance. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 1.0.Introduction to Branding Strategies 4 2.0.Branding theories and concepts 5 3.0.Introduction to George Clooney’s Brand 8 4.0.Banding Strategies used by George Clooney based on brand management theory 9 5.0.Three recommendations for Clooney 11 6.0.Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 George Clooney’s Brand Strategy Report 1.0. Introduction to Branding Strategies For any products’ or services company, there is a great push to have a brand. However, it should be understood that a brand is not the same as the product. This is because a brand is a feature that with the sole responsibility of distinguishing the products of a given seller amidst those of others from competitors. Conversely, a product could be generic, expected, augmented or potential products after a undergoing a given process[Jave2].For instance, in visual arts and films, a brand like George Clooney or James Bond is a brand and a product. In order to achieve a brand, a company has to have a branding strategy in place founded on the company’s goals and objectives. Branding strategies are also essential for movies films and visual arts such that they can be differentiated from the competition [Jave2]. In any case, the brand strategy is the what, how, when and to who the branding strategy plan will communicate to. When properly defined, branding strategy results to a strong brand equity that determines how people feel about the product and how much they are willing to pay for the brand. In this case, brand equity is the set of brand assets and liabilities associated to its name and symbol and that adds or subtracts the brand value [Jon00]. At this point, the company and the customers do not perceive brand as the product, logo, website or name. On the contrary, the perception of the customers about the product or services and how the customers feel about it is the brand. This is because in any market, there are very high chances that your company is not the only one that sells such a product or service. In order to achieve the best brand equity, organizations have to struggle to be consistent, connect emotionally with their customers, reward and cultivate and be flexible. Consistency in branding involves ensuring that the key brand attributes are clear and well known to the customers through communications both to the customers and organizational employees. Clear communication of the brand results to an emotional connection with the clients who then develop a feeling for the brand. Connection with the customer can be done in numerous ways but the main aim according to Llopis [Llo14], should be aimed at establishing and sustaining the loyalty and trust of customers, and building relationships with them. In the modern day world, customers want to associate with a brand which they can grow with. In this regard, organizations have to remain on the trend, inspiring, relevant, innovative and purposeful such that their lives can be meaningful and significant. Llopis [Llo14] also reveals that the best branding strategies should focus defining a brand identity that is easy for customers to relate with and that is aligned to their evolving lifestyle demands. Consequently, a powerful brand identity will end up communicating hope and inspiring people such that the brand resides in their minds, is perceived as meaningful and influences the customers’ choice. Besides having a strong brand identity, companies should also seek to adapt continued innovation coupled with proper execution and timing. For loyal customers, their wish is that when they are ready, the company is also ready to meet their demands and not to launch products when the audience is not ready. 2.0. Branding theories and concepts Successful branding involves putting in place several branding concepts. Branding architecture is the configuration around which the brand portfolio is organized. Brand architecture defines the relationship among company’s brands. In order to understand the health of a brand, audit is used as an assessment tool and comprises of brand inventory and brand exploratory. While the brand inventory concentrates on the interior definition of brand marketing, brand exploratory deals with the examination of the external definition of how consumers feel the brand. Further, brand community represents the entity where consumers interact with a brand socially. Brand essence ensures that the brand is not compromised over the course of time but remains strong despite numerous marketing actions around it. The strength of brand essence is identified by brand image which represents how consumers perceive the brand through the creation of strong and favorable links to the brand in their mind. In branding, the most common theory is Keller’s Costomer-based brand equity Keller’s CBBE. This model has become significant over years as organizations have to deal with competition through creation of very strong brands. Powerful brands remain in the mind of customers while the brand image and reputation contribute to differentiation enhancement and creation of positive influence on the customers’ purchase conduct. According to Keller’s CBBE model the only way to establish a strong brand is through shaping the way consumers feel and think in regards to the product. The theory bring out the concept that a strong brand for any product demands that the organization inputs lots of efforts especially in building the best form of experience around the brand such that customers will want to be associated with it. This way, the customer can manage to have defined positive feelings, thoughts, opinions, and perceptions around the product. Additionally, Keller’s model argues that when customers have the right perception about a product there are high chances that they will recommend the same to others as well as remain loyal hence strengthening the competitive advantage of that product. According to Keller (1993) the CBBE model comprises of four strong brand building steps which are identity, meaning, response, and relationships[Ker04]. These four steps demonstrate six building blocks for a strong brand- salience in the brand identity stage; performance and imagery on the brand meaning stage; judgment and feeling in the brand response stage; and finally resonance in the brand relationship stage. The intention of the CBBE model is to ensure that a brand gets to the resonance point. Here, the customers and the brand demonstrate a harmonious relationship. From Kerri-Ann and Alpert (2004), any organization that intends to build a strong brand has to begin from defining strong brand identity. Brand identity involves bringing to the customer some unique need or class[Jave2]. This purpose is associated to the existence of brand salience. Salience represents awareness about the brand that and the range of situations for purchase and consumption. When a brand identity is said to be linked with consumer satisfaction, then there are high instances of the brand getting into the consumers mind during purchase and consumption. After the consumer realizes the identity of a brand, they go ahead to define the meaning of that brand in their minds[Kel01]. Such links are created using the product attributes in the brand. The product attributes at this point can are both tangible and intangible which when associated result function characterization or performance, or abstract or image-oriented associations[Ker04]. The functional attributes are the core ingredients and auxiliary features; product sturdiness, dependability, and serviceability; effectiveness, empathy, and efficiency of services; price; and style and design. Further, the elements associated to image are extrinsic including user profiles; character and values; situation surrounding usage and acquisition; and the past and legacy experiences (Keller, 2003). The outcome of the meaning stage is brand loyalty especially arising from elements like dependability, service, quality, and performance. At this point, the theory of brand loyalty is comes into play as the psychology of the customer reveals emotional attachment[Oak13]. After realizing brand meaning, organizations are expected to understand the brand response and this is only possible through consumers’ opinions and evaluations. The brand attributes mostly used in offer brand judgment are brand quality, superiority, credibility, and superiority. From Keller’s (2003) the six forms of emotional responses and reactions include security, self-respect, warmth, excitement, fun, social approval, and warmth[Ker04]. The final step in Keller’s model is formation of brand relationships after the evaluation of brand response. At these step, the major attribute is resonance[Rat05]. Resonance defines the nature of the relationship that exists between the brand and the customer. Resonance is characterized by active commitment, behavioral allegiance, attitudinal affection, and community intellect[Ker04]. Emphasis is put on brand loyalty especially since any gain or loss in customers means negative impact on the profits which are the company’s bottom line. At this point, the values associated to products make them purchase them. This would be referred to as value-based brand theory[Oak13]. 3.0. Introduction to George Clooney’s Brand Bastos & Levy [Bas12] reveals that branding does not necessarily involve real products from different companies. At the core of branding activity is the desire in humans to establish their social and personal identity the context within which they present themselves both as belonging and both as standing out. The key aim is to gain good reputation. In order to achieve reputation, humans like other products have to use branding theories like Keller’s CBBE model through which they define their own symbols and signs, and apply them on oneself. In this section, branding focuses on George Clooney. Clooney is one of the world’s popular actors, producer and screen writer. He was born in Kentucky in 1961 and in 1996 he discovered his breakthrough in acting “From Dusk till Dawn”. Since the beginning of his acting career, Clooney realized that he belonged to the visual arts and film sector and he had to differentiate him from the rest of the other actors. Like any seller of goods, Clooney realized he had the responsibility of creating a brand that will identify them as distinct from any other hence giving him a competitive advantage[Jave2]. Clooney’s brand is characterized by his ability to reside in the minds of the consumer especially through roles that saw him as the best actor, best supporting actor, an award winning movie director and producer and as a social activist. For such reasons, Clooney has managed to clearly state his position which then has paved way for him in great commercial deals, and his promotion of humanitarian activities. Additionally, Clooney’s ability to brand himself throughout his career has seen him become an exclusive image that is distinctively unmatched by other Hollywood stars. 4.0. Banding Strategies used by George Clooney based on brand management theory In the process of establishing his brand, Clooney has been very keen of the fundamentals of brand management. These fundamental elements include attention to customers, competing in a market where a competitive advantage can be defined, ensuring that audience do not buy the product and being in line with the changing and heterogeneous market. Within the acting industry, Clooney has managed to focus on his audience especially through his selective nature on what he wears and the roles he plays in the movies. As a result, his fans consider him as charming, powerful, handsome, and faithful. Additionally, Clooney is known to wear selective suites that present him as unique. Further, Clooney has made sure that customers do not buy him as a product. Since he is deeply rooted in his career, Clooney maintains appearance in any movie to not more than three times in a year, as a result, Clooney’s content to the market is always reliable, credible, and superior[Rat05]. By not making frequent appearances to the public eye, Clooney makes customers respond to them based on how they feel him and his ability to meet their unique needs that are not present from any other actor. The customers crave for Clooney’s performances. Remaining scarce from the customers is a good way of understanding what a given market needs and present it to them just the way they need it since it focuses on creating value with the customers. According to Java[sts121]singhe [Jave2], Clooney uses the concept of brand management involving understanding of customer requirements, positions self with competition and outshines competition. These strategies make it possible for Clooney to keep his focus from the tactics to use to fit into the market and focuses on the long term impact he will have on his audience and his image. Through the strategy of brand awareness creation, Clooney has focused on brand recognition and brand recall. For his brand recognition, Clooney has participated in numerous advertisements with the most renowned advert being with Nescafe Nespresso where he remains the brand ambassador. To this product, Clooney brings out glamour, status and class which triggers the product consumers to associated with him. However, Clooney is careful not to participate in all projects that anticipate including him in their advert since he does not want to saturate the market with his image and brand[Jav]. Conversely, Clooney participates in social activities like fundraising for numerous humanitarian aspects. The result is the creation of a positive brand that is favorable, outstanding and strong. Additionally, engagement in advertisement and humanitarian events has resulted to brand positioning since these aspects differentiate him from his competitors[Jav]. To effectively manage his brand, Clooney focuses on channel branding strategy which he uses to allow consumer participation and experience and provide consumer learning. Consumer participation is enhanced through involvement in charitable activities like co-founding ‘Not on our Watch’ non-profit organization to end atrocities in Darfur[Ace141]. For his pricing strategy, Clooney ensures that his pricing is well selected to reinforce his position and image in the market. According to ststisticbrain.com[Sts12], Clooney’s pay for each movie was about $8million. Although this may seem like a way of focusing on profitability, the only a few organizations can afford to have his services and this reinforces his position in the market and demonstrates him as glamorous and classy. 5.0. Three recommendations for Clooney Despite being a well-established actor in America, Clooney should understand that the management of his brand requires his consideration that customers like the market, are changing constantly. As a result, Clooney should try and remain relevant by increasing his market share through the use of lower pricing strategy. This way, it is not just his loyal customers who will be interested in his services but also referred customers. Loyal customers can go to any height to promote their product and concentrating only on retaining through high prices will gradually result to lower brand awareness. Since Clooney is a well-established within the visual arts and films industry, he should also focus on managing his brand over its life cycle. Having been associated with acting for more than two decades, Clooney is at the point of market maturity. This stage is followed by market decline and Clooney should concentrate on extending his market through more appearances in the market like through social media. This will create a portfolio where consumers can follow their brands on Twitter or join their Facebook pages just to be part of and share experiences with their brands. Clooney should focus more attention to social media for his positioning. It is also commendable for Clooney to focus on using a service-dominant logic or SDL marketing approach with the aim of obtaining response then evaluating the resulting value created for what is meant for and shared to consumers. This is a good way to keep in touch on just how fast he is losing or gaining strategic value amongst his customers. 6.0. Conclusion This paper discusses branding in terms of theories and concepts used; branding of George Clooney with reference to the brand management theory, and strategic branding recommendations for George Clooney. From the paper, branding is an essential aspect of any product or human being who wants to belong to a category and differentiate them from competition within that category. Using Keller’s Customer-Based Branding Model, numerous strategies for branding are identified and used for Clooney’s brand audit. Although Clooney is famous and renowned, three recommendations are provided on how to remain relevant to changing market, improve his market share and extend his market maturity. . Bibliography Jave2: , (Javasinghe, week 2 lecture 2), Jon00: , (Jones, 2000), Llo14: , (2014), Ker04: , (Kerri-Ann & Alpert, 2004), Jave2: , (Javasinghe, week 2 lecture 2), Kel01: , (Keller, 2001), Oak13: , (Oakley, 2013), Rat05: , (Ratneshwar & Mick, 2005), Bas12: , (2012), sts121: , (Anon., n.d.), Jave2: , (week 2 lecture 2), Jav: , (Javasinghe, lecture 3 week 3), Ace141: , (Aceshowbiz.com, 2014), Sts12: , (Ststisticbrain.com, 2012), Read More