Brand Growth Strategies - Literature review Example

Imagine the world all around. Everywhere one turns his head, brand names pop up for one to consider, buy, and make part of one’s life. Daily one sees images of such products as Coca-Cola products, Nike, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Starbucks, and others. One can’t help but make a brand name product an extension of one’s lifestyle or well being. Also, no matter where one may be, whether it is listening to a radio commercial, seeing a television ad, or glancing through a newspaper centerfold, the world of top brand advertising invades the senses. That is just it. The world of brand name consumerism, as Peters (1997) indicates is “inescapable.” It is part of life, work, and play. It is a reflection of modern culture. There is no thinking twice about it. Also when watching a feature-length film with a top-notch movie star, popular or familiar products one may find in his or her own home catch the eye. The well-known movie star, for example, could be wearing brand-name clothing (i.e. Levi’s jeans), driving a brand-name vehicle (i.e. Lexus), or drinking a brand-name soda (i.e. Sprite). If one admires that actor, one could be more than likely inclined to go out and buy that same product. Remember what happened in the “Wayne’s World” movies? Furthermore, one may find one’s self, as an employee, entering a meeting where a marketing consultant could be giving a motivational speech. That marketing consultant, after having studied and reviewed the consumer culture and how to best reach out to the average person with a brand-name item, could be saying something like, “It’s not that people have a poor image of your brand. It’s more about the fact that people simply don’t think of your brand at all, particularly when they’re in a buying situation. You need to increase your brand’s salience. If your brand can come to mind for more people when they’re about to buy from the category, this will affect your brand’s growth.” At that point in time, one’s immediate reaction is to step back and think how true and consistent that statement sounds with what is known about brand growth strategies and buyer behavior. Tan (2007, p. 4) points out that without somehow reaching out to the consumer, the selling of a brand-name product would be fruitless. It is like showcasing a product for the very first time for public viewing without an explanation of its benefits or usefulness. Brand salience equates to the power of teaching the buyer about a particular product’s quality, value, benefit, and long-lasting appeal. Marketing of the product, on a continual basis, becomes key through word of mouth, billboard advertisements, radio commercials, and television ads. One may ask one’s self how often one has seen an advertisement for a particular product, for example, on television, in one day. The answer would more than likely be more than once. On the other hand, buyers do not simply walk into the store consistently thinking about that product, totally and holistically. It becomes all the more important to “innovate and reach out” (Tan, 2007, p. 4) to the buyer consistently and proactively. These products, marketed to individual consumers under what become popular brand names, could appeal, if successfully put forth for public viewing, could, in their widely global appeal cross from one generation to the next and have long-lasting appeals by adding to a particular culture’s piece of mind and “welfare” (Sandler, 1999, p. 20) through safeguarding it against destruction or warfare. One may then find intergenerational peace in one’s kitchen, bedroom, living room, or even in the closet. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you they know who Mr. Clean is. Once the buyers realize that their wants, needs, and dreams have become a number one priority for those making a brand-name product, buyers become more likely to shop for those particular products. And, in turn, those “brands thrive” (Jeffrey, 2006, p. 18) by constantly bombarding the mindsets of the buyers. As Jeffrey (2006, p. 18) indicates, “800 new brands a day” pop out of the 50 United States of America alone. A marketing consultant, realizing the sheer number of products in existence and in production each day, could be facing increasing pressure to market those brands to individual buyers, the consumers. Otherwise, if the brands will not be bought, they could be taken off the market and cause the companies making them to lose profits and employees. Jobs could be cut and optimism of those making the products or brands could falter. Such is the “unfortunate fact in the modern marketing environment” (Romaniuk, 2003, p. 73) Despite increasing pressures, a marketing consultant, understanding the importance of reaching out to buyers, would not back away, but step forward with the thought in the back of his mind that not all individuals buy the same products. As Nedungadi (1990) points out, to persuade buyers to behave in such a way as to purchase a particular brand or product, the marketing forces need to keep in mind how those buyers think, how they perceive the world around them, and how needy or in want they are of that particular product or brand. It, then, becomes the goal of a marketing consultant to come to a decision of finding “the best message to communicate” (Romaniuk, 2003, p. 74) to the individual buyers. When messages to buyers seem unclear, distant, or not related to what is immediately related to their social, working, or family lives, Usunier and Cestre (2007) argue that the buyers will less likely buy the brands or products associated with those “unfamiliar” (p. 62) products. In other words, and as a marketing consultant may realize, brand salience and marketability of a particular brand or product equates to how familiar buyers may be or may become with those brands or products. That is, the messages have to relate or center on those aspects or attributes the buyers recognize or see through what may be described as a known “reference frame” (Usunier & Cestre, 2007, p. 63) of mind. Palazzo and Basu (2007) contest that the marketing to the wants, needs, and desires of the buyers through recognizable messages and media influences helps to bring about buyer behavior that moves society forward through “identity-driven consumption and identity-driven activism” (p. 339). Buyers, spending more and more money on familiar products, it may be argued, evolve new understandings of those products, and in turn, help shape the future of brand growth. As consumer needs change, brand growth and its marketability cater to those changing frames of mind. In order to survive, brand growth must align to the changing states of buyer mentality and behavior. Thus, a marketing consultant must keep in mind both the values of the brand and the values of the buyers. Palazzo and Basu (2007) describe this synchronous action on the part of a marketing consultant as “congruence of one’s life values with those enacted by corporations” (p. 339). This flourishing type of “branding” (p. 333) on the part of nationally renowned corporations can be seen within such companies as Nike, Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola, for example. To stress the matter further, a keen marketing consultant quickly realizes that successful and continual marketability and salability of brands needs to be revamped with each new generation of buyer, or as Norman (2007) suggests, in accordance with a particular buyer’s or consumer’s “language” (p. 13). The best type of brand is one which fits a buyer’s or consumer’s lifestyle. If a marketing consultant does not keep this in mind, his or her job, in relation to a forgotten or discarded product, may be jeopardized. This is when, it could be said, the wheel, if not recreated, is reinvented to express “the company to consumers” (p. 13). Also, to be keen in his or her approach to buyers, a keen marketing consultant adds a sense of “excitement and sophistication” (Monga & Lau-Gesk, 2007, p. 390) when reaching out to buyers and influencing their behavior. Buyers, then, become conscientious of a need to possess a particular product of products to enhance their well-beings. This “self-expressive use of brands” (p. 398) is what keeps buyers coming back for more. The products and brands bought become extensions of expressing one’s feelings, dreams, desires, and emotions. Davies (2007) summarizes the role of a triumphant marketing consultant by saying that “their most important communication is not just with their customers, but also with their staff” (p. 41). No one employee or staff member needs to be left out. No product going out to a consumer would be in such a state if it were not for a dedicated and loyal employee or staff member. In such an environment where products are produced in accordance with consumer needs and wants, those in the front lines require several influences behind the scenes to make the proper branding of a product a continuous success. According to Davies (2007), and if one steps into the role of a marketing consultant, an “element of trust” (p. 41) must be established and maintained at all times among a marketing consultant and those whom he or she supervises, a “belief in the brand” (p. 41) must evolve among the marketing consultant and those whom he or she supervises, and an element of satisfaction of the results must be established for “a dissatisfied customer” (p. 41) could result in a reaction by an employee or a staff member that may equate to a level of discontent that may have a marketing consultant questioning his or her ways. Brand growth, as can be seen, relates to buyer behavior. A successful marketing consultant motivates his or her employees or staff members. Quality products are produced and marketed in such a way that influence and motivate consumers to buy and buy some more. Even those who are the employees or staff members within the corporations marketing and branding quality products are also as likely to step out of those roles and into the shoes of buyers. Outside of work, the employees and staff members become buyers and, in turn, see both sides of the coin. That is, seeing that in today’s world, “brands are everything” (Peters, 1997), these employees turned buyers spread the world around by either word of mouth, visually displaying or using particular products, or in such subconscious way that could give hints to a total stranger that there may be some benefit in the products being used, utilized, and had, and more than likely, to the enhancement of one’s lifestyle. Tavassoli (2007) summarizes this consumer-oriented schematic through what he describes as an “awareness-interest-desire-action” (p. 40) line of attack. While being aware of buyer behavior, and to achieve successful brand growth, a marketing consultant, through pro-active supervision and motivational words of inspiration, will see to it that “the right people” (p. 40) are hired. A marketing consultant will also make sure that those who are hired become occupied “on day one” (p. 40) in a team-oriented environment of bringing the product or products to life for those who would eventually become the buyers. And in the end, a marketing consultant, while taking in what would most likely be positive reactions of the employees or staff members, will market the products to the “outside customers” (p. 41) through what could be termed as “buy-in” (p. 41) of the product or even the brand itself. To reiterate, no product or brand-name item could be bought without influencing the consumer in a positive way. A company must cater to a consumer’s wants, needs, desires. As times change and consumer’s needs change, a company making a particular brand must respond to that change, or, as Marks (2007) points out, to the “total customer experience” (p. 12). One reaches branding success when one reaches out to the consumers, listens to the consumers’ needs, keeps the consumers coming back for more, and conveys “the brand’s promise” (p. 13) of quality and value to the consumer. In turn, the consumer is valued. And when the consumer is valued, he or she becomes faithful to a particular brand or products. Think of the vice-versa effect. If a product were made that did not appeal to anyone, any one consumer would pass it for something more useful and beneficial. If a company has faith in a product, it should appeal to the consumer as such. Has anyone seen a negatively advertised product on television or radio? Think about why not. Again, the words of a marketing consultant echo in one’s mind long after they are spoken. “It’s not that people have a poor image of your brand. It’s more about the fact that people simply don’t think of your brand at all, particularly when they’re in a buying situation. You need to increase your brand’s salience. If your brand can come to mind for more people when they’re about to buy from the category, this will affect your brand’s growth.” One can’t help but wonder how true those words are. As Marks (2007) so clearly summarizes, “And consumers responded: They sought the products and bought and rebought” (p. 12). Branding could not exist without consumers. And consumers could not exist without companies responding to their needs, wants, desires and dreams. Taking those words into account, one can see that the current generation helps sell the brand, its image, and the product to the next generation. Branding and brand growth can be perceived as future-moving and back-looking. While “applying altruism towards future generations” (Sandler, 1999, p. 44) - that is the taking of the wheel and making it fit the customs and norms of a current generation – one encourages new consumers to buy a particular product or brand by always reminding them how in generations past that product or brand had beneficial results. Without pro-active measure, brand growth would just not happen. And it would not occur without being mindful of the buyers’ needs, dreams, wishes, and desires. The brand new world of the 21st Century, making the world a more familiar place through brand-name familiarity, has become “a new brand world” (Peters, 1997) of motivating, encouraging, motivating, and persuading each new generation of buyer to become brand savvy. References (Davies S 2007, July 27 Are staff on-message?)Davies, S. 2007, ‘Are staff on-message?’, Cabinet Maker, no. 5548, p. 41. (Jeffrey B 2006 An Indian Revolution)Jeffrey, B. 2006, ‘An Indian revolution’, Adweek, vol. 47, no. 45, p. 18. (Marks W 2007, July2007, JulyAugust Beyond communications)Marks, W. 2007, ‘Beyond communications’, Marketing Management, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 12-13. (Monga A B Lau-Gesk L 2007, August Blending co-brand personalities: An examination of the complex self)Monga, A. B., & Lau-Gesk, L. 2007, ‘Blending co-brand personalities: An examination of the complex self’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 389-400. (Nedungadi P 1990 Recall and consumer consideration sets: influencing choice without altering brand evaluations)Nedungadi, P. 1990, ‘Recall and consumer consideration sets: influencing choice without altering brand evaluations’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 17, pp. 263-276. 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(Sandler T 1999 Intergenerational public goods)Sandler, T. 1999, ‘Intergenerational public goods’ in Global Public Goods - International Cooperation in the 21st Century, eds. I. Kaule, I. Grunberg, & M. Stern, Oxford University Press, New York. (Tan E 20070813 Kraft should lose the brands that have been putting it down)Tan, E. 2007, ‘Kraft should lose the brands that have been putting it down’, Advertising Age, vol. 78, no. 32, p. 4. (Tavassoli N 2007, July2007, JulyAugust Branding from the inside out)Tavassoli, N. 2007, ‘Branding from the inside out’, Brand Strategy, no. 214, pp. 40-41. (Usunier J Cestre G 2007 Product Ethnicity: Revisiting the Match Between Products and Countries)Usunier, J., & Cestre, G. 2007, ‘Product ethnicity: Revisiting the match between products and countries’, Journal of International Marketing, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 32-72. Read More