Vegemite Brand Heritage - Case Study Example

Vegemite Brand Heritage Student Name Institutional Affiliation Executive Summary The purpose of this paper is to analyze and examine the Vegemite brand heritage with a focus of giving a judgment of its value, its quality and the extent to which it has been has been effective in the target market. In addition, the paper has significantly outlined various challenges and opportunities in regard to the Vegemite brand heritage and consequently drawn several substantial and feasible recommendations that would be executed to improve the company’s brand heritage as a strategic tool for competitive advantage. The report will base its judgment on different parameters that are, generally, used in examining the entire ensemble of indicators portrayed to different interested parties as defining features on how a product is promoted to the contemporary consumer. The report’s recommendations would be very useful to management of the Vegemite heritage brand, so as to ultimately develop an effective marketing strategy for enhancing the brand heritage. Firstly, the report begins with reviewing the literature regarding the brand heritage theories, which is highly paramount as it significantly assist in deriving the potential brand heritage opportunities underlying at the company’s disposal, as well as the possible recommendations that can strengthen the company’s competitive edge in the long run. Therefore, the parameters examined in the report include the general theories of brand heritage from relevant literature, the company’s brand heritage challenges and opportunities, as well as the possible feasible recommendations for improving the company’s brand heritage. The proposed improvements or recommendations will, basically, be aligned to the real time challenges and opportunities attributed to the Vegemite heritage brand. Vegemite Brand Heritage Brand Heritage theory Brand heritage refers to an asset of building a long term reputation of a brand. Brand heritage is also referred to as icon brand, legacy brand, enduring brand, as well as the vintage brand (Wiedmann, Hennigs, Schmidt & Wuestefeld, 2011). When a brand heritage continues to be strengthened and to offer both the current and future consumers with substantial reasons and desires to buy the product, its sustained heritage continues to be a main asset of its entire brand equity. Nevertheless, when the heritage brand sustains its appeal to only the current customers, its brand heritage will have shifted from being a benefit into a liability (Urde, Greyser & Balmer, 2007). Essentially, brand heritage is characterized with the attributes of being sincere, honest, wholesome, friendly familiar, trustworthy, authentic, assuming and caring, particularly from the customers’ point of view. The identity equity of such brands is remarkably valuable and strong. The today’s rapidly growing technology, as well intensified competition has increasingly enhanced organizations to search for their lost treasures from their past, especially as the future of the business environment becomes uncertain. In addition, brand names with remarkable heritage, particularly those considered to be well established, are usually viewed to be of high brand equity, which are cherished by consumers that loyally return for future purchases (Burghausen, 2011). Therefore, it is of high significance for organizations to seek a way of maintaining, reviving, or perpetuating heritage brands without making them become a liability to the respective firm, or outdated entity from the consumers’ perspective. But equally, heritage brands must always adapt and recognize the fact that the market is experiencing rapid changes, which consequently call for brand evolution (Aaker, 2004). Notably, change is always inevitable in all aspects of life, and consumers are invariably inconsistent. Therefore, the brand owners must never assume that brand heritage alone is sufficient for a business to survive the test of time. In addition, heritage brands are significantly vulnerable to competitors in the market who builds active partnerships with consumers with a focus of innovating on brand, thereby elevating customers from heritage aspects to value creation in order to satisfactorily meet their needs (Kivenzor, 2007). Thus, the treasured brand heritage may appear to be a strategic tool for enhancing competitive advantage to a company, but, it is seemingly more probable that such brands require to be consistently analyzed so as to prevent them from becoming out of context, less relevant, or lack mutual benefit. This means that such heritage brands require striving to maintain an updated connection to the needs of both the existing and future consumers, as well as offering the specific benefits sought by those consumers. When this is not executed; however, the stupor slide would increasingly become a reality, regardless of the products past brand heritage (Aaker, 1991). Opportunities of the Vegemite Brand Heritage Although the Vegemite heritage brand is seemingly of high value in the Australian target market, and with remarkable strategies having been executed to sustain it, there are several heritage branding opportunities yet to be exploited by the company. i. Vegemite Heritage Brand Evolution Opportunity As established in the reviewed brand heritage theories, even if the treasured Vegemite brand heritage appears to be enhancing the product’s competitive advantage in the target market, it is highly important to consistently analyze the market environment so as to subsequently innovate and evolve the brands, in order to suit them to the real time needs and trends within the market (Seybold, 2012). This could probably ensure that they remain relevant to the target consumers and that the competitors do not take advantage of a conserved brand weakness in the name of brand heritage. In this regard, the Vegemite heritage brand would be strived and evolved through innovation with a focus of maintaining an updated connection to the needs of both the existing and future consumers, as well as offering the specific benefits sought by those consumers. Currently, the Vegemite heritage brand is remarkably vulnerable to competitors in the industry who are increasingly creating active partnerships with consumers with a focus of innovating on brand, thereby elevating customers from heritage aspects to value creation in order to satisfactorily meet their needs. Thus, the Vegemite heritage brand has an opportunity of consistently adapting and recognizing the fact that the market is experiencing rapid changes, increased technology advancement and customers’ dynamic changes being some of them (Clark, 2004). ii. Vegemite Brand Heritage Personality Opportunities Notably, the Vegemite heritage brand has been attributed to consistent traits as a brand over many years since its inception. A look at its advertisements from 1920s to the ones being used currently shows that Vegemite spread is a family product, and it has significantly portrayed genuineness, sincerity, kindness and thoughtful (White, 1994). However, owing to the fact that, the Vegemite heritage brand is more recognized to be of children energetic food products, effective brand awareness could be done to enlighten the target market that the Vegemite products are for all, including children and adults. This could be done effectively so as to strengthen an emotional connection to the entire target audience through re-establishing the brand (Benson, 2005). Thus, the company has an opportunity of enhancing the Vegemite heritage brand personality, particularly among the adult target market. iii. Vegemite Heritage Brand Communication Opportunities Besides brand innovation and improving the brand personality, the other main area that significantly offers the company with many opportunities is the brand communication. This is a combination of activities which influence the opinion of consumers making them positively disposed towards the product. In this regard, the company made remarkable effort in enhancing the brand communication strategy, such as repeated communication of brand values to the customers and also the conduct of regular trainings to staff associated with the brand. However, the use of internet and social media as brand communication vehicles has considerably been ignored, and the use of traditional media has been increasingly sustained, which include print media, posters, television and radio adverts. Effective brand communication should be clear, consistent and constant (Lowe & Palokangas, 2011). Thus, the company has got an opportunity of embracing the use of the new technological media of brand communication, which involve the use of internet and social media. Notably, this would be a great opportunity to the company, especially in reaching the young group target market, as well as provide a swift and cheaper marketing and branding communication in the entire global market. This is because of the verity that internet and online social media network platforms are increasingly becoming the normal and most popular mean of communication among the world population (Seybold, 2012). iv. Opportunity of Becoming a Global Heritage Brand Precisely, Vegemite is one of Australia’s staple foods. The brand is one of the richest sources of Vitamin B known in the world (Teara, n.d). Vegemite is still very popular in Australia, with it being found in over 80% of all homes in Australia; the product is particularly popular among Australian born parents, who give it to their children almost like a rite of passage. In addition, the brand has been essentially recommended medical associations around the world as a source of Vitamin B makes its consumption a medical necessity when a patient needs a healthy dose of Vitamin B supplements. Besides, the brand has also acquired the Halal certification, which makes it consumable by the global Muslim religion, in addition to Christians (Vegemite, n.d). Having these facts and remarkable developments, as well as with the presence of the information and communication technology, the Vegemite heritage brand stands a high chance of successfully becoming a global brand. Through acquiring a global heritage brand, characterized with high focus to the specific needs of the market, as well as effective global marketing communication, the company would ultimately enjoy a high brand equity, which would consequently lead to increased market performance (Aaker, 1996). Furthermore, the company has an opportunity of increasing its market share is through taking advantage of market diversity in the domestic market (Australia), which has been increased as more immigrants enter the country, coming from other countries especially in Asia and do not have brand loyalty for Vegemite as the people born in Australia. Such would effectively be accomplished through the acquisition of a global Vegemite heritage brand. Challenges of the Vegemite heritage Brand Vegemite heritage Brand has faced numerous challenges over its long history since its inception. Firstly, after the product was launched in the target market, it failed to get a substantial market share occasioning the change of its name to Parwill in an attempt to help the product compete effectively with its then main competitor Marmite (The Eureka Council, 2008). This approach was, however, not effective, and the product reverted to its original name. In essence, such was a significant thrash to the company’s brand name heritage, owing to the fact that, consistency is the key secret to realizing a strong brand heritage as authenticity cannot be accomplished without consistency in brand communication (Spiggle, Nguyen & Caravella, 2012). Nevertheless, the challenge was overcome through aggressive marketing communication, which even made it become one of the household brands in Australia. The product has also recently faced backlash from Jewish users for the withdrawal of Kosher Vegemite, which forced the company to resume production. The company also faced criticism from the public after it sought and acquired Halal certification for Vegemite, some members of the public saw this as politically correct stunt (Vegemite, n.d). Currently, the Vegemite heritage brand is facing the possibility of a reduction of its market share. This is because of the fact that, the vast majority of households using it are the ones with young children, whose parents also had Vegemite given to them by their own Parents. Once children grow up they stop using it and seemingly prefer other brands, this puts the product’s brand heritage in a dangerous position in regard to its future market share, which was because as the children increasingly abandon it as they grow could not be as inclined as their parents to give Vegemite to their children (Vegemite, n.d). The other challenge is the continued diversification of Australian population with more and more people coming from other parts of the world, these people do not have attachment to Vegemite as the people who grew on it this also eats into its market share. Feasible Recommendations Although Vegemite heritage brand is remarkably a strong brand, there is a dire need for strategic measure to be taken in order to enhance its relevance in the market. While it is essential to keep the heritage of the original product, the trend is clearly moving away from it in as far as the younger Australians are concerned. This is the larger and increasing part of the population. The vegemite heritage brand should diversify the flavors to come up with ones that would be more appealing to them. The same strategy should also be adopted to target the increasing Asian population. The brand awareness that Vegemite has would make it easy for the new products associated with it to be marketed. The new flavors should also be marketed internationally to reduce the over reliance on the Australian market. The original Vegemite may also be marketed among the health conscious foodies across the world. This is an area where brand equity may be greatly increased since this section of the market tends to ready to pay more for products they consider healthy. Furthermore, the company should sufficiently invest on enhancing its brand awareness, especially to the young generation, with investment on the new information and communication technology. More specifically, the company should market its heritage brand through the use of internet, as well as various online social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, which have increasingly become the main media of communication among the youth. On the same note, the company should focus on making the Vegemite heritage brand a global brand as opposed to a domestic brand. This is owing to the fact that many business firms in the industry across the world are acquiring multinational brand recognition, which is potentially depriving the market share of the companies with limited global brand recognition. Thus, with the use of the newly developed information technology, as well as increased international trade deregulations, the company should take this opportunity in enhancing its heritage brand awareness (Gelder, 2005). Moreover, the Vegemite heritage brand should be evolved with time through innovation. This should be done with a focus of maintaining an updated connection to the needs of both the existing and future consumers, as well as offering the specific benefits sought by those consumers. This would be done to enhance the company’s competitive edge, as the market increasingly become more competitive. Lastly, owing to the fact that the Vegemite heritage brand is more recognized to be targeted unto children, in offering them energetic food products for growth, effective brand awareness should be done to enlighten the target market that the Vegemite products are for all, including children and adults. Such would be done to enlarge the market size of the Vegemite heritage brand for increased market performance. Reflection The study has significantly helped the writer in establishing the general insight regarding the brand heritage concept. In the study, it was revealed that Brand heritage is an asset of building a long term reputation of a brand, but it could as well be a liability if not managed strategically. In respect to this, it was established that when a heritage brand sustains its appeal to only the current customers, its brand heritage will have shifted from being a benefit into a liability. Most importantly, brand heritage is was found to be characterized with the attributes of being sincere, honest, wholesome, friendly familiar, trustworthy, authentic, assuming and caring, particularly from the customers’ point of view. In addition, the writer unraveled that it is imperative for any organizations regardless of the industry to seek way of maintaining, reviving, or perpetuating heritage brands. In addition, it was found that heritage brands are significantly vulnerable to competitors in the market who builds active partnerships with consumers with a focus of innovating on brand, thereby elevating customers from heritage aspects to value creation in order to satisfactorily meet their needs. Despite the Vegemite having a remarkable brand heritage, much opportunities of strengthening the company’s brand heritage were found either under or un-exploited at all. Such heritage brands opportunities include heritage brand evolution and innovation, brand personality opportunities, heritage brand globalization opportunities, as well as heritage brand communication opportunities. Notably, the writer established that the internet brand communication was significantly being ignored by the company, which is a substantial branding error in today’s increasingly digital business environment. Furthermore, it is vary essential to embrace heritage brand innovation so as to curb the competitors’ threats towards attacking the company’s brand heritage. Essentially, these branding opportunities for the company’s heritage if exploited were found to contain the company’s heritage branding challenges, including the increasingly diversifying domestic market population due to increased immigrants. Ultimately, the writer denotes that if the brand heritage continues to be strengthened and to offer both the current and future consumers with substantial reasons and desires to buy the product, then its sustained heritage would continue to be a main asset of its entire brand equity. References Aaker, D. A. (1991). Managing Brand Equity. Journal of Marketing, 56(2), 125.  Aaker, D. A. (2004). Leveraging the Corporate Brand. California Management Review, 46(3), 6-18.  Aaker, David A. (1996). Building Strong Brands. New York, NY: The Free Press Benson, Joseph. (2005). Heritage: A Master Brand Builder. Retrieved from http://www.allaboutbranding.com Burghausen, M. (2011). Heritage and Corporate Brands: a case study explicating the nature and role of heritage in the context of corporate marketing. Brunel Business School Doctoral Symposium (p. 13). Clark, Kevin A. (2004). Brandscendence: Three Essential Elements of Enduring Brands. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade Books. Gelder, S. V. (2005). Global brand strategy: Unlocking brand potential across countries, cultures & markets. London: Kogan Page. Kivenzor, G. J. (2007). Brand Equity Aberrations: Heritage Brand Perception. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 11(10), 1-20. Lowe, G. F., & Palokangas, T. (2011). Heritage Brand Management in Public Service Broadcasting Heritage Brand Management in Public Service Broadcasting. Reinventing Public Service Communication European Broadcasters and Beyond (pp. 128 - 141) Seybold, Patricia B. (2001). The Customer Revolution: Heritage Branding Helps in Global Markets. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group. Spiggle, S., Nguyen, H. T., & Caravella, M. (2012). More Than Fit: Brand Extension Authenticity. Journal Of Marketing Research,Xlix (December), 967-983. Teara. (n.d). New Zealanders take to Vegemite. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/619/new-zealanders-take-to-vegemite The Eureka Council. (2008). History of Vegemite – 1922. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20080723130242/www.eurekacouncil.com.au/5-Australia- History/History-Pages/1922-vegemite.htm. Urde, M., Greyser, S. A., & Balmer, J. M. T. (2007). Corporate brands with a heritage. Journal of Brand Management, 15(1), 4-19.  Vegemite. (n.d). Heritage Timeline. Retrieved from http://www.vegemite.com.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/VEGEMITE_Heritage%20Ti meline_VEGEMITE%20TIMELINE.pdf White, R. (1994). A Brief Cultural History of Vegemite. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Wiedmann, K.-P., Hennigs, N., Schmidt, S., & Wuestefeld, T. (2011). Drivers and Outcomes of Brand Heritage: Consumersʼ Perception of Heritage Brands. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 205-220. Read More