Understand the concept and techniques used in branding

Unit 4
Understand the definition of brand and the role of brands for business performance

1.1 Identify a range of brand and branding models

Effective branding can result in higher sales of not only one product, but of other products associated with that brand. Brand development takes time to produce and oftentimes handled by a design team. For example, if a customer loves Pillsbury biscuits and trusts the brand, he or she is more likely to try other products offered by the company - such as chocolate-chip cookies, for example. Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: customers, staff, partners, investors etc.

Some people[who?] distinguish the psychological aspect (brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand) of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known [by whom?] as the brand experience. The brand experience is a brand's action perceived by a person The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people, consisting of all the information and expectations associated with a product, service or the company(ies) providing them

People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand can therefore become one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management. Orientation of an entire organization towards its brand is called brand orientation. Brand orientation develops in response to market intelligence.

Careful brand management seeks to make the product or services relevant to the target audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference between the actual cost of a product and its selling price – they represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer.

A widely known brand is said to have "brand recognition". When brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. Brand recognition is most successful when people can state a brand without being explicitly exposed to the company's name, but rather through visual signifiers like logos, slogans, and colours. For example, Disney successfully branded its particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney's "signature" logo), which it used in the logo for go.com.

Consumers may look on branding as an aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services can command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the perceived quality of the brand or on the basis of the reputation of the brand owner.

Brand awareness

Brand awareness is a customers' ability to recall and recognize the brand, the logo and the advertisements. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services sell under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. Brand awareness is of critical importance in competitive situations, since customers will not consider a brand if they are not aware of it.

Various levels of brand awareness require different levels and combinations of brand recognition and recall:

Most companies aim for "Top-of-Mind". Top-of-mind awareness occurs when a brand pops into a consumer's mind when asked to name brands in a product category. For example, when someone is asked to name a type of facial tissue, the common answer is "Kleenex", represents a top-of-mind brand.

Aided awareness occurs when consumers see or read a list of brands, and express familiarity with a particular brand only after they hear or see it as a type of memory aide.

Strategic awareness occurs when a brand is not only top-of-mind to consumers, but also has distinctive qualities which consumers perceive as making it better than other brands in the particular market. The distinction(s) that set a product apart from the competition is/are also known as the Unique Selling Point or USP.

Marketing-mix modeling can help marketing leaders optimize how they spend marketing budgets to maximize the impact on brand awareness or on sales. Managing brands for value creation will often involve applying marketing-mix modeling techniques in conjunction with brand valuation.

Brand elements

Brands typically comprise various elements, such as

Name: the word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept

Logo: the visual trademark that identifies a brand

Tagline or catchphrase: "The Quicker Picker Upper" is associated with Bounty paper towels

Graphics: the "dynamic ribbon" is a trademarked part of Coca-Cola's brand

Shapes: the distinctive shapes of the Coca-Cola bottle and of the Volkswagen Beetle are trademarked elements of those brands

Colours: Owens-Corning is the only brand of fiberglass insulation that can be pink.

Sounds: a unique tune or set of notes can denote a brand. NBC's chimes provide a famous example.

Scents: the rose-jasmine-musk scent of Chanel No. 5 is trademarked

Tastes: Kentucky Fried Chicken has trademarked its special recipe of eleven herbs and spices for fried chicken

Movements: Lamborghini has trademarked the upward motion of its car doors

Brand communication

Brand communication is important in ensuring brand success in the business world and refers to how a business transmits its brand message, characteristics and attributes to their consumers.

One method of brand communication, which can be exploited by companies, is electronic word of mouth (eWOM). EWoM is a relatively new approach identified to communicate with consumers, one popular method of eWOM is social networking sites (SNSs) e.g. twitter. This study found that consumers classed their relationship with a brand as closer, if that brand was active on a social media site i.e. Twitter. It was further found that the more consumers 'retweeted' and communicated with a brand, the more they trusted the brand. Thus suggesting that a company should look to employ a social media campaign to gain consumer trust and loyalty as well as in the pursuit of communicating their brand message. McKee (2014) also looked into brand communication and stated that when communicating a brand, a company should look to simplify its message as this will lead to more value being portrayed as well as an increased chance of the brand being recalled and recognized by their target consumers. When communicating a brand, in 2012, Riefler identified that, if the company in question is a global organization or have future global aims they should look to employ a method of communication which is globally appealing to their consumers and choose a method of communication with will be internationally understood. One aspect a company can do this is when choosing a product or service's brand name, as this name will need to be suitable for the market place that it aims to enter. It is important that if the company wishes to pursue global business, the company name chosen will need to be suitable in different cultures and not cause offensive or be misunderstood. It has also been found that when communicating a brand a company needs to be aware that they must not just visually communicate their brand message and should take advantage of portraying their message through multi-sensory information.

Anon, (2007) suggests that other senses, apart from vision, need to be targeted when trying to communicate a brand with consumers. For example, a jingle or background music can have a positive effect on brand recognition, purchasing behaviour and brand recall. Therefore, when looking to communicate a brand with chosen consumers, a company should investigate a channel of communication, which is most suitable for their short term and long term aims and should choose a method of communication which is most likely to be adhered to by their chosen consumers. The match-up between the product, the consumer lifestyle, and the endorser is important for effectiveness of brand communication.


1.2 Explain the difference between business plans and brand plans

A business plan covers the entire business, including overall strategy, financial plans, target markets, sales, products and services, operations, and how they all relate to each other. A marketing plan, in contrast, focuses on the marketing: marketing strategy, target markets, marketing mix, messaging, programs, etc. Cash flow is vital for a business plan, but not usually included in a marketing plan

Yes, a business plan almost always includes the marketing portion. Emphasis varies, and I’ve seen some plans that focus much more on product or service than on marketing. But those are unusual.

Lots of people do marketing plans rather than business plans because their job or their attention or their focus is on the marketing, not the whole business.

Your identity as a business.

Create separate lists that identify your business’ strengths, weaknesses and goals. Put everything down and create big lists. Don’t edit or reject anything.

Then, find priorities among the bullet points. If you’ve done this right, you’ll have more than you can use, and some more important than others. Kick some of the less important bullets off the list and move the ones that are important to the top.

This sometimes requires input from your managers as well. For example, your management team thinks being conservative on spending is a weakness but you don’t. That might be something to drop off the list.

Step Two: Focus on markets.

The next list you’ll need to make outlines your business’ opportunities and threats. Think of both as external to your business — factors that you can’t control but can try to predict. Opportunities can include new markets, new products and trends that favor your business. Threats include competition and advances in technology that put you at a disadvantage.

Also make a list of invented people or organizations who serve as ideal buyers or your ideal target market. You can consider each one a persona, such as a grandmother discovering email or a college student getting his or her first credit card. These people are iconic and ideal, and stand for the best possible buyer.

Put yourself in the place of each of these ideal buyers and then think about what media he or she uses and what message would communicate you’re offering most effectively. Keep your identity in the back of your mind as you flesh out your target markets.

Step Three: Focus on strategy.

Now it’s time to pull your lists together. Look for the intersection of your unique identity and your target market. In terms of your business offerings, what could you drop off the list because it’s not strategic? Then think about dropping those who aren’t in your target market.

For example, a restaurant business focused on healthy, organic and fine dining would probably cater to people more in tune with green trends and with higher-than-average disposable income. So, it might rule out people who prefer eating fast-food like hamburgers and pizza, and who look for bargains.

The result of step three is strategy: Narrow your focus to what’s most in alignment with your identity and most attractive to your target market. In other words, focus on the area that is shared by all three lines in the diagram here.

Step Four: Set measurable steps.

Get down to the details that are concrete and measurable. Your marketing strategy should become a plan that includes monthly review, tracking and measurement, sales forecasts, expense budgets and non-monetary metrics for tracking progress. These can include leads, presentations, phone calls, links, blog posts, page views, conversion rates, proposals and trips, among others.

Match important tasks to people on your team and hold them accountable for their successes and failures.

Step Five: Review often and revise.

Just as with your business plan, your marketing plan should continue to evolve along with your business. Your assumptions will change, so adapt to the changing business landscape. Some parts of the plan also will work better than others, so review and revise to accommodate what you learn as you go.

1.3 Describe the types of market drivers, trends and issues involved in branding

Here are the 10 trends that I think are going to have the biggest impact on the future of marketing.

1. Mobile is going to become the center of marketing. From cell phones to smartphones, tablets to wearable gadgets, the evolution of mobile devices is one of the prime factors influencing the marketing world. As the focus is shifting to smaller screens, brands will be able to strike up a more personalized relationship with their customers by leveraging the power of mobile.

2. Transparency will dictate brand-customer relationships. Currently, customers are seeking more engagement from brands. This trend will continue with customers becoming more demanding in their expectation of transparency. Genuine brands – the ones that “walk the talk” and create real value – will be rewarded. This means brands that still haven’t made their customer dealings transparent are headed to a future of doom.

3. The need for good content will not slow down. Ever. Content, particularly visual content, will rule the roost in the online marketing world, evolving into various forms and disrupting the conventional marketing models. Moreover, the speed at which a brand can create amazing content will play a part in their success.

4. User-generated content will be the new hit. The power of user-generated content will surpass branded content as brands begin to relinquish control of their own brands’ marketing to their customers. From online reviews, to social media posts and blogs, this means there will be a strong need for brands to create a positive impact in their consumers’ minds. In response to this model of content production, content co-creation between brands and consumers will become a popular trend.

5. Social will become the next Internet. Social will become an integral part of the “broader marketing discipline.” As its impact grows stronger, most brands will fully transition their marketing efforts to social channels. As such, social has the full potential to become not just one of the channels but the channel.

6. Brands will own their audience. By cultivating brand community and entering into direct conversations with their customers, brands will begin to own their audience in a way that will create loyalists and brand advocates. In the future of marketing, branding and marketing efforts will have their seeds rooted in what customers are talking about. The customers’ responses and feelings toward the brand will dictate future campaigns. Essentially, if the customers are happy, they’ll gladly wear the marketer’s hat and do what is needed to bring their favorite brand in focus.

7. Brands solely-focused on Millennials will go out of relevance. Brands will need to understand that the millennials are not a niche “youth” segment but a generation of people who will ultimately give way to a newer generation. Therefore, millennial-focused brands will have to change their game to stay relevant.

8. Good brands will behave like product companies and not like service companies. While service companies aim to create a happy customer and look forward to a contract renewal, product companies thrive on innovation. So, for brands of the future, customer satisfaction and retention will not be enough. They will need to innovate more efficiently to create more value for their customers. However, great service will NEVER go out of style.

9. Personalized, data-driven marketing will become more refined. There is a difference between data-driven marketing and intrusive marketing. While the former is based on relationship-building, the latter is nothing but old-school push marketing wrapped in a new cover. The difference between these two formats will become even more prominent in future. Marketers who focus on relationship building will be rewarded, while intruders will be shut out.

10. More accurate metrics will surface. What most brands do in the name of measuring marketing success is look at hollow “vanity” metrics such as likes, shares, or tweets. Even in terms of data mining, we are still developing more sophisticated means to capture the right data. Many ideas are hypothesized, but few are practical. The future will witness the rise of better analytical tools to help marketers gauge the success of their campaigns.

[04.2] Understand different tools and techniques used in branding

2.1a Identify the range of audit tools and methods used for:

-branding

2.1b – design

Whilst we are all familiar with the terms ‘financial audit’ or ‘tax audit’, there is some confusion and mystery surrounding a brand audit. It is quite a simple concept if you accept that your brand has a value that can and should be managed and increased over time – an asset of your business just like your production facilities, finance and human resources.

Typically, a brand audit will:

– give an insight into your brand architecture/business structure and portfolio

– help to connect your visual communication efforts with financial returns

– discover and assess your market positioning

– define your brand stakeholders and competition

– improve brand management and marketing

– assist in securing and enhancing the value of your brand

Step 1: Create an Audit Framework

The first step of your brand audit process is to create a framework. Before you start examining your website, make a list of topics to be covered and how will you go about the process. I use mind-mapping for this and scribble down everything that directly or indirectly relates to my business. These are the elements which need to be considered during the brand audit:

Your website’s purpose and use

Your main competitors

Your target market and product niche

Your product strengths/weaknesses

Your market positioning vis-à-vis competitors

Your current and anticipated industry trends

Your differentiators, like pricing, quality of service, first mover advantage, etc.

Step 2: Take a Look at Your Web Analytics

For online businesses, it is crucial to scrutinize web analytics on a frequent basis. Think of these as vital signs of your business that keep it alive and running. These analytics include the following metrics:

Traffic Analysis – This is an incredibly obvious first step, but necessary to see if your brand is gaining popularity. An often overlooked component of analyzing your traffic is identifying whether or not your traffic gains are actually coming from your geographical target markets. You may be seeing traffic increases, but they might be coming from the wrong countries. Make sure you identify what kind of traffic is increasing, before assuming everything looks like it’s going well.

Step 3: Question Your Customers

Checking your website analytics is a good first step to get a bird’s-eye view of the health of your brand. It’s also good to hear directly from your customers to find out how they perceive and speak of your brand.

A great place to start is to run an online poll. Running an online poll is an easy and effective technique used to perform a quick check on how customers feel about your business. Polls, as a rule, consist of one question, so you can run a different poll for each question you want to ask.

Here are some example questions you can use:

Did the customer service representative handle your call quickly?

How would you rate our website based on ease of navigation?

Please rate your overall experience on our website?

Why did you decide to do business with us?

Step 4: Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes

Have you ever wondered what a real customer experiences when he or she uses your website? Well, you will never know until you get into your customer’s shoes. If you have an e-commerce site such as a shopping portal, run a quick checkup every once in a while to discover any errors or glitches in the system. This will let you assess key features of your site, including navigation, account creation, data accuracy, shopping cart, and checkout.

User Testing – How does a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) business audit its services? Simple! By having a random group of users test performance, usability, accessibility, and durability, and then provide you with feedback on the app (pretty much similar to the mystery shopping technique).

In addition to testing general usability, be sure to test these critical factors:

Security and Privacy Testing: Your application needs to guarantee that all security and privacy related concerns, like user privileges and data integrity, are tested

Performance Testing: Ensure that your SaaS application is tested with a number of users simultaneously accessing it from various locations

Data Migration: Since users want to import/export their data from the application, validating for data migration is essential

Step 5: Post Brand Audit – Action and Monitor

In the end, a brand audit is useless if you don’t devise an action plan for the issues highlighted. In order to do that, make a detailed report using your findings in the brand audit process and set actionable targets that are required to address those issues.

List all of the problems that turned up during the brand audit process. Next to each issue, write down the action plan(s) required to resolve it along with expected results and a reasonable timeline. Setting a timeline is crucial as each error has its own weight in the functioning of your website and must be timely addressed.

After all of your action plans are executed, monitor the progress by repeating the brand audit process. Remember…brand audit is a continuous exercise and must be conducted regularly. I would recommend a quarterly audit of your website to ensure that its health remains in check.

So the next time you feel that your business isn’t up to snuff and is lagging behind its competitors or your web site traffic slows down or the bounce rate is high, it’s a clear sign you need a BRAND AUDIT!

2.2 Explain positioning, competitor’s analysis, benchmarks and segmentation

Market segmentation

Market segmentation involves grouping your various customers into segments that have common needs or will respond similarly to a marketing action. Each segment will respond to a different marketing mix strategy, with each offering alternate growth and profit opportunities.

Some different ways you can segment your market include the following;

Demographics which focuses on the characteristics of the customer. For example age, gender, income bracket, education, job and cultural background.

Psychographics which refers to the customer group's lifestyle. For example, their social class, lifestyle, personality, opinions, and attitudes.

Behaviour which is based on customer behaviour. For example, online shoppers, shopping Centre customers, brand preference and prior purchases.

Geographical location such as continent, country, state, province, city or rural that the customer group resides.

Targeting

After segmenting the market based on the different groups and classes, you will need to choose your targets. No one strategy will suit all consumer groups, so being able to develop specific strategies for your target markets is very important.

There are three general strategies for selecting your target markets:

Undifferentiated Targeting: This approach views the market as one group with no individual segments, therefore using a single marketing strategy. This strategy may be useful for a business or product with little competition where you may not need to tailor strategies for different preferences.

Concentrated Targeting: This approach focuses on selecting a particular market niche on which marketing efforts are targeted. Your firm is focusing on a single segment so you can concentrate on understanding the needs and wants of that particular market intimately. Small firms often benefit from this strategy as focusing on one segment enables them to compete effectively against larger firms.

Multi-Segment Targeting: This approach is used if you need to focus on two or more well defined market segments and want to develop different strategies for them. Multi segment targeting offers many benefits but can be costly as it involves greater input from management, increased market research and increased promotional strategies.

Prior to selecting a particular targeting strategy, you should perform a cost benefit analysis between all available strategies and determine which will suit your situation best.

Positioning

Positioning is developing a product and brand image in the minds of consumers. It can also include improving a customer's perception about the experience they will have if they choose to purchase your product or service. The business can positively influence the perceptions of its chosen customer base through strategic promotional activities and by carefully defining your business' marketing mix.

Effective positioning involves a good understanding of competing products and the benefits that are sought by your target market. It also requires you to identify a differential advantage with which it will deliver the required benefits to the market effectively against the competition. Business should aim to define themselves in the eyes of their customers in regards to their competition.

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning together comprise a three stage process. We first (1) determine which kinds of customers exist, then (2) select which ones we are best off trying to serve and, finally, (3) implement our segmentation by optimizing our products/services for that segment and communicating that we have made the choice to distinguish ourselves that way.

Segmentation involves finding out what kinds of consumers with different needs exist. In the auto market, for example, some consumers demand speed and performance, while others are much more concerned about roominess and safety. In general, it holds true that “You can’t be all things to all people,” and experience has demonstrated that firms that specialize in meeting the needs of one group of consumers over another tend to be more profitable.

Generically, there are three approaches to marketing. In the undifferentiated strategy, all consumers are treated as the same, with firms not making any specific efforts to satisfy particular groups. This may work when the product is a standard one where one competitor really can’t offer much that another one can’t. Usually, this is the case only for commodities. In the concentrated strategy, one firm chooses to focus on one of several segments that exist while leaving other segments to competitors. For example, Southwest Airlines focuses on price sensitive consumers who will forego meals and assigned seating for low prices. In contrast, most airlines follow the differentiated strategy: They offer high priced tickets to those who are inflexible in that they cannot tell in advance when they need to fly and find it impractical to stay over a Saturday. These travelers—usually business travelers—pay high fares but can only fill the planes up partially. The same airlines then sell some of the remaining seats to more price sensitive customers who can buy two weeks in advance and stay over.

Note that segmentation calls for some tough choices. There may be a large number of variables that can be used to differentiate consumers of a given product category; yet, in practice, it becomes impossibly cumbersome to work with more than a few at a time. Thus, we need to determine which variables will be most useful in distinguishing different groups of consumers. We might thus decide, for example, that the variables that are most relevant in separating different kinds of soft drink consumers are (1) preference for taste vs. low calories, (2) preference for Cola vs. non-cola taste, (3) price sensitivity—willingness to pay for brand names; and (4) heavy vs. light consumers. We now put these variables together to arrive at various combinations.

Several different kinds of variables can be used for segmentation.

Demographic variables essentially refer to personal statistics such as income, gender, education, location (rural vs. urban, East vs. West), ethnicity, and family size. Campbell’s soup, for instance, has found that Western U.S. consumers on the average prefer spicier soups—thus, you get a different product in the same cans at the East and West coasts. Facing flat sales of guns in the traditional male dominated market, a manufacturer came out with the Lady Remington, a more compact, handier gun more attractive to women. Taking this a step farther, it is also possible to segment on lifestyle and values.”

Some consumers want to be seen as similar to others, while a different segment wants to stand apart from the crowd.

Another basis for segmentation is behavior. Some consumers are “brand loyal”—i.e., they tend to stick with their preferred brands even when a competing one is on sale. Some consumers are “heavy” users while others are “light” users. For example, research conducted by the wine industry shows that some 80% of the product is consumed by 20% of the consumers—presumably a rather intoxicated group.

One can also segment on benefits sought, essentially bypassing demographic explanatory variables. Some consumers, for example, like scented soap (a segment likely to be attracted to brands such as Irish Spring), while others prefer the “clean” feeling of unscented soap (the “Ivory” segment). Some consumers use toothpaste primarily to promote oral health, while another segment is more interested in breath freshening.

In the next step, we decide to target one or more segments. Our choice should generally depend on several factors. First, how well are existing segments served by other manufacturers? It will be more difficult to appeal to a segment that is already well served than to one whose needs are not currently being served well. Secondly, how large is the segment, and how can we expect it to grow? (Note that a downside to a large, rapidly growing segment is that it tends to attract competition). Thirdly, do we have strengths as a company that will help us appeal particularly to one group of consumers? Firms may already have an established reputation. While McDonald’s has a great reputation for fast, consistent quality, family friendly food, it would be difficult to convince consumers that McDonald’s now offers gourmet food. Thus, McD’s would probably be better off targeting families in search of consistent quality food in nice, clean restaurants.

Positioning involves implementing our targeting. For example, Apple Computer has chosen to position itself as a maker of user-friendly computers. Thus, Apple has done a lot through its advertising to promote itself, through its unintimidating icons, as a computer for “non-geeks.” The Visual C software programming language, in contrast, is aimed a “techies.”

2.3 Describe how user and market research information can be used to support brand strategy decision making frameworks

Marketing research is "the process or set of processes that links the consumers, customers, and end users to the marketer through information — information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications."

It is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior. The term is commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes

2.4 Identify typical examples of success and failure in branding and the reasons for this

Overview

Product and brand failures occur on an ongoing basis to varying degrees within most product-based organizations. This is the negative aspect of the development and marketing process. In most cases, this “failure rate” syndrome ends up being a numbers game. There must be some ratio of successful products to each one that ends up being a failure. When this does not happen, the organization is likely to fail, or at least experience financial difficulties that prohibit it from meeting profitability objectives. The primary goal is to learn from product and brand failures so that future product development, design, strategy and implementation will be more successful.

Studying product failures allows those in the planning and implementation process to learn from the mistakes of other product and brand failures. Each product failure can be investigated from the perspective of what, if anything might have been done differently to produce and market a successful product rather than one that failed. The ability to identify key signs in the product development process can be critical. If the product should make it this far, assessing risk before the product is marketed can save an organization’s budget, and avoid the intangible costs of exposing their failure to the market.

Defining product and brand failures

A product is a failure when its presence in the market leads to:

The withdrawal of the product from the market for any reason;

The inability of a product to realize the required market share to sustain its presence in the market;

The inability of a product to achieve the anticipated life cycle as defined by the organization due to any reason; or,

The ultimate failure of a product to achieve profitability.

Failures are not necessarily the result of substandard engineering, design or marketing. Based on critic’s definitions, there are hundreds of “bad” movies that have reached “cult status” and financial success while many “good” movies have been box office bombs. Other premier products fail because of competitive actions. Sony’s Beta format was a clearly superior product to VHS, but their decision to not enable the format to be standardized negatively impacted distribution and availability, which resulted in a product failure. The “Tucker” was a superior vehicle compared to what was on the market at the time. This failure was due to General Motors burying the fledging organization in the courts to eliminate a future competitor with a well-designed product posing a potential threat to their market share. Apple has experienced a series of product failures, with consistent repetition as they continue to fight for market share.

Product failures are not necessarily financial failures, although bankruptcy may be the final result. Many financially successful products were later found to pose health and safety risks. These products were financial and market share successes:

Asbestos-based building materials now recognized as a carcinogenic—Insulation, floor tile and “popcorn” ceiling materials produced by a number of manufacturers.

Baby formula that provided insufficient nutrients for infants resulting in retardation—Nestlé’s.

The diet medication cocktail of Pondimin and Redux called “Fen Phen” that resulted in heart value complications—American Home Products

What successful products may be next? Frequent and high dosages of Advil are suspected to correlate with liver damage. Extended use of electric blankets is suspected by some to increase the chance of cancer. The over-the-counter availability and high use of Sudafed is feared by some physicians and is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Product failures and the product life cycle

Most products experience some form of the product life cycle where they create that familiar—or a variant—form of the product life cycle based on time and sales volume or revenue. Most products experience the recognized life cycle stages including:

Introduction

Growth

Maturity (or saturation)

Decline

In some cases, product categories seem to be continuously in demand, while other products never find their niche. These products lack the recognized product life cycle curve.

Failure, fad, fashion or style?

It is important to distinguish a product failure from a product fad, style or a fashion cycle. The most radical product life cycle is that of a fad. Fads have a naturally short life cycle and in fact, are often predicted to experience rapid gain and rapid loss over a short period of time—a few years, months, or even weeks with online fads. One music critique expected “The Bay City Rollers” to rival the Beatles. Do you know who they are? And the pet rock lasted longer than it should have, making millions for its founders.

A “fashion” is what describes the accepted emulation of trends in several areas, such as clothing and home furnishings. The product life cycle of a “style” also appears in clothing as well as art, architecture, cars and other esthetic-based products. The “end” of these product life cycles does not denote failures, but marks the conclusion of an expected cycle that will be replaced and repeated by variations of other products that meet the same needs and perform the same functions.

2.5 Identify a range of storytelling techniques that are used in branding

Storytelling is one of today's hottest marketing trends and brand stories have been growing in popularity, especially on the Internet. Brand storytelling is not a new marketing technique – it has long been utilized in advertising. However, there are many brands out there that miss the mark and make poor use of stories. So how do you get storytelling right? In the following post we will nut out the elements of a good story and offer you some pointers on how you can use the technique to attract more customers.

Why use stories?

Let’s, face it, people love stories. Think of all the books we read, TV shows we watch and films we see. Since our ancestors were first able to scrape pictures in the dirt and jump up and down, wildly waving their arms, imitating the beast that just tried to eat them, we have been sharing stories with each other. It's in our DNA. Thus stories are appealing to people and are even more likely to be remembered over facts and figures. For these reasons storytelling can be a valuable marketing tool that encourages interaction with your brand.

What makes a good story?

There is a bit of science to telling a good story that is both appealing and engaging. Good stories are not only well constructed and entertaining, but also speak to the target audience. When creating your own, consider what sort of story your customers would find interesting and ask yourself the following questions:

Who are your customers, what do they care about, what is important to them, what do they find entertaining?

What language tone will they understand best and be likely to engage with?

What stories are your customers already telling?

What is the narrative behind everything your brand/business does?

What medium will your story be told in? Will it be in writing, via a podcast, using images, or through video?

Once you have answered these questions it is time to start drafting your own story. All stories should be comprised of three main parts: a beginning, middle, and end. It is also important to consider the basics of the medium you use to tell your story. For example if you were using a website to tell a story you would look at layout, design, pictures used and language, but if you were creating a video of your story you would also look at characters, dialog, timing, visual elements, music etc.

Overall most good stories contain some common features. These include:

An element of conflict, adversity or struggle.

Answers to questions raised as well as solutions to conflict, adversity or struggle.

One or more interesting characters that customers can relate to (your business can also be a character).

A basis in truth – hyperbole is ok, but your story needs to be believable as well as entertaining.

An emotional element – stories that elicit an emotional response, particularly a positive one, are more likely to influence buying behaviour.

Humour – if it fits with your brand's image or the story you are trying to tell.

Something unexpected – surprise your audience (see the examples below).

A call to action – this is unique to business stories and can be subtle or strong.

2.6 Explain the role of design management and the management design process

Design management is a business discipline that uses project management, design, strategy, and supply chain techniques to control a creative process, support a culture of creativity, and build a structure and organization for design.

The objective of design management is to develop and maintain a business environment in which an organization can achieve its strategic and mission goals through design, and by establishing and managing an efficient and effective system.

Design management is a comprehensive activity at all levels of business (operational to strategic), from the discovery phase to the execution phase. "Simply put, design management is the business side of design.

Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments, and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organizational success."[1] The discipline of design management overlaps with marketing management, operations management, and strategic management

2.7 Describe how communications, products and services should be coordinated

Traditionally known as the promotional element of the four Ps of marketing (product, place, price, and promotion), the primary goal of marketing communication is to reach a defined audience to affect its behavior by informing, persuading, and reminding.

Marketing communication acquires new customers for brands by building awareness and encouraging trial. Marketing communication also maintains a brand's current customer base by reinforcing their purchase behavior by providing additional information about the brand's benefits. A secondary goal of marketing communication is building and reinforcing relationships with customers, prospects, retailers, and other important stakeholders.

Successful marketing communication relies on a combination of options called the promotional mix. These options include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and personal selling. The Internet has also become a powerful tool for reaching certain important audiences. The role each element takes in a marketing communication program relies in part on whether a company employs a push strategy or a pull strategy. A pull strategy relies more on consumer demand than personal selling for the product to travel from the manufacturer to the end user. The demand generated by advertising, public relations, and sales promotion "pulls" the good or service through the channels of distribution. A push strategy, on the other hand, emphasizes personal selling to push the product through these channels.

Elements of Marketing Communication

For marketing communication to be successful, however, sound management decisions must be made in the other three areas of the marketing mix: the product, service or idea itself; the price at which the brand will be offered; and the places at or through which customers may purchase the brand. The best promotion cannot overcome poor product quality, inordinately high prices, or insufficient retail distribution.

[04.3] understand the impact of social responsibility, sustainability and innovation in branding

3.1a Describe the policy, aims and impact on brand strategy of:

– Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship or responsible business) [1] is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national or international norms. With some models, a firm's implementation of CSR goes beyond compliance and engages in "actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law."[2][3] CSR aims to embrace responsibility for corporate actions and to encourage a positive impact on the environment and stakeholders including consumers, employees, investors, communities, and others.

3.1b – sustainability

Step 1: Refocus on your target audience

You have a target already, don’t you? You know, that group of people you’ve studied and cherished for years, the ones who love the things you’re great at and don’t mind your occasional flaws. They remain your target for the sustainable product improvement or brand campaign you’re considering.

Your target is not a separate group of “conscious consumers.” Your target is not the familiar category in“green” consumer segmentation. Green consumers don’t exist — at least not in numbers great enough to satisfy most ROI requirements.

Nike knows this. Its recycled and waterless-dyed apparel and community-based initiatives are aimed at ambitious athletes just as much as its coolest trainers are.

Step 2: Get real about your target’s needs and motivations

Anticipating needs is great — expecting people to buy something without a clear benefit isn’t. Chances are your customers don’t need a new brand extension that is slightly greener and pricier than your core product. They’re also unlikely to want to invest time and money making a small positive impact on a faraway place at some time in the undetermined future.

What they want is more value. That doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper. It certainly doesn’t mean just greener. It means better. The research question isn’t “How do you feel about us making our product more sustainable?” The question is “Does making our product more sustainable in this way help us solve your problem?”

Selfridges’ Project Ocean did this brilliantly. Knowing that shoppers visit them for fashion and fantasy, their sustainable fishing campaign reached beyond the food hall and into activities across the store, including their famous window displays and a gallery of ocean-inspired haute-couture frocks.

Step 3: Remember what helps you deliver better than anyone else

Sustainability is rarely a viable point of difference. Even if it helps you stand out from the crowd today, it probably won’t do so for long. And as any good marketer knows, a point of difference is only valuable if customers value it. Frankly, sustainability’s just not the main purchase driver for most consumers.

What is your existing source of differentiation or competitive advantage? That is the foundation upon which you need to build any sustainability activity. Greener, kinder and worthier isn’t benefits in and of themselves. Faster, tastier, thriftier — those are the qualities that appeal to buyers.

Toyota created a brand synonymous with dependability and durability. The success of the Prius was certainly due in part to its reflection of these long-held attributes alongside innovation and eco-friendliness.

Step 4: Stick to initiatives that support your brand positioning

Just as you wouldn’t approach sustainability as a point of difference, your aim shouldn’t be to improve your brand’s reputation or build trust — those are just happy outcomes. The objective, as ever, is to reinforce what you stand for in the minds of your target audience.

Sustainability marketing isn’t about jumping on the bandwagon before it gets too crowded. It’s about considering the social and environmental factors that may affect your company, and how addressing those can help deliver your brand promise or support your proposition.

Ariel laundry detergent had always promised superior cleaning power. Its Turn to 30°campaign promised that even at low temperature, “With Ariel, you still get outstanding results.” Thus, the brand strengthened its positioning while encouraging an environmentally friendly change in consumer behaviour.

Step 5: Execute with gusto

The first four steps get you to a better and more sustainable product (or service). The remaining three P’s should be approached with the same energy and rigour that applies to any traditional marketing initiative.

More sustainable shouldn’t necessarily mean more expensive. But if your sustainable innovation has truly added value in the eyes of the customer, there’s no harm in capturing that through pricing. Consider whether your sustainability thinking offers opportunities for distribution and the customer experience at point of sale. If you believe in what you’ve created, don’t shy away (as many companies do) from promoting it.

M&S launched its Shwopping clothing-donation scheme with all the fanfare of a major brand push. TV advertising was supported by a high-profile launch event, extensive PR and social media, experiential activity and a dedicated website.

It’s not about greener, it’s about better.

Sustainability marketing is about delivering greater value to your customers and ensuring that your brand remains viable over time. Good intentions are just the start, and authenticity and credibility are a given, but don’t forget the basics. Marketers have the power to create a more sustainable economy through their influence on product development and purchasing decisions. It’s time to use those well-honed tools.

3.2 Explain the importance of innovation as a strategic competence and how to integrate design and innovation in brand strategy for business and brand competitiveness
A strategic management discipline is developed from data, information, knowledge, and understanding. The developmental levels of the discipline corresponding with the levels of intelligence identified in the intelligence hierarchy. Research captures data and information. From this information, the strategic management body of knowledge is formed. The body of knowledge organizes and defines information according to the critical ideas, themes, and concepts. From the body of knowledge, assessment and experience builds understanding reflected in the strategic management framework -- a guide for both applying current knowledge as well as for integrating new knowledge in the future.

THE ALLURE OF innovation has always been in the chance of finding the next “big thing;” however, businesses often find themselves on the treadmill of relentless innovation as markets mature and technology advances. In addition, innovation has a poor track record of delivering commercial success for businesses. Often, the value of the innovation requires a broader system of products and services for the true benefit of experience to be available to consumers.

Great customer experience is both a necessity and an advantage as competition for customers intensifies. Unfortunately those that use this to their advantage are often the nimble start-ups who emerge free from legacy constraints. They can often set the bar higher than many pre-existing businesses will be able to meet.

Yet the growing complexity of operating in the Omni-channel world where the customer relationship is always on makes understanding — let alone improving and existing customer experience a challenge for all. The journey a customer has with a business typically crosses multiple functions and managers. Customers often wind up dealing with a headless beast of experiences with inefficient communication and too many businesses make the mistake of assuming that superficial design efforts can fix the problems.

The age of image as brand is closing and fixing the experience at the 11th hour through brilliant design cannot create value that doesn’t exist. Businesses must accept the limitations of placing blind-faith in innovation and brand and focus on keeping customers engaged, without sacrificing the quality of the experience, while developing new products and grow into new markets.

The key is to understand that engaging customers in experiences they find value in. Innovation, brand, and customer experience all support this goal, but they aren’t the end-goals in and of themselves.

The successful businesses will be the ones that learn to navigate the most efficient course, keep the passengers happiest, build faster engines, all while keeping the plane in the air. They will use a new playbook that begins with understanding the strategic role of experience and how to use it to design products, services and customer interactions accordingly.

This playbook has a name: experience design. It’s based on a simple idea that everything a business does should be based on the following assumptions:

An engaged customer is worth more than a loyal customer

Engagement comes from meeting expectations, which means being relevant, which means providing value

It’s more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one, so figure out how to grow value for existing customers while they still are customers.

Experience design is not a checklist, a recipe, or a series of maneuvers; it is a way of thinking. It uses brand as a compass for identifying differentiated value and experience. It considers how products, services, and solutions play a role in delivering value over time and how this must be accounted for even in the early phases of innovation or the product design process. It considers all stages of the customer journey as opportunities to provide value and further engage customers. And it brings the concept of time to the table as a way of exploring options, innovation, implications, and interdependencies.

Experience design doesn’t replace innovation. It complements the efforts. Innovation should augment and extend the current portfolio and brand. Innovation for existing products, services, and customer experiences is low hanging fruit and doesn’t require hiring innovation consultants. It starts with visibility into how you act and then fixing problems and enhancing strengths.

Deeper innovation efforts can begin by looking at the interface between what is changing at the limits of value you provide and the emerging needs of your customer, since you will use value to drive adoption. And innovation can’t occur in a vacuum. It’s never too soon to start planning for how a new product or service integrates along the lifetime of the customer relationship.

Experience design doesn’t replace brand strategy, but pushes beyond the traditional approach of defining brands. It advocates using the concept behind the brand as a way to identify and define value for customers in ways that can be differentiated in the way that products and services deliver value. And this becomes the purpose and intent of the business — to deliver products, services, and experiences that deliver the value that the brand represents, as a way of giving the brand meaning.