Building Brands

The following paper provides detail insight into the different concepts regarding branding. It starts off by defining the brand and the importance of brands I the market. It then continues on to elaborate on the brand building process, the conceptual framework and the customer relationship building process for a brand. The paper also highlights the characteristics of leading and successful brands in the market. The problems and risks associated with branding are discussed and solutions for overcoming the specific problems related to brand imitation and been devised.

The paper also follows the work of brand theorists and researchers in order to establish the barding concept and discuss the new branding strategies comparative to the traditional brand building strategies. An in-depth analysis of three major brands of today is conducted using the case study method. The case studies for Ebay, Emirates Airlines and Ferrari are performed in order to identify their unique brand proposition and their brand building strategies in the different sectors and industries of the economy. 1. Overview

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The following paper provides in depth information and commentary about the importance of brands and the characteristics of the brands. The process of building a brand has been discussed and the case studies have been analyzed in correlation of their brand building efforts. The paper also depicts how brands can be successful in building convincing and long term profitable brands. 1. 1. Objective The objectives of this paper are listed down as: • Define the nature of the brand • Discuss the importance of the brands in an industry and how they effect consumer purchase decision

• Proving a comprehensive resource on the strategies for brand building and long term profitability • Discuss the risks associated with branding • To discuss the prominent brands in the market of diverse natures, and to explain the brand building efforts taken up by these brands 1. 2. Methodology The nature of this paper is that of a research paper. No practical or experimental research has been carried out. Instead the research is supported by literature review and key trends in the market.

The brand building operations discussed in the paper have been supported by real life examples of brand building operation and their effects on the industry and the market. the literature review is also supported by the works of brand building theorists like David Aaker and the Ries’. The paper takes into account there case studies where the history, business operations and the brand building strategy of three diverse and well known brands and been depicted. The brands which have been discusses, analyzed and compared in the case studies are the following

• A web/ internet brand, Ebay. • An international brand, Emirates. • A popular international sports automobile brand, Ferrari. All three brands taken into account for the purpose of case study analysis are brand leaders and the pioneers in their industry of operation. 1. 3. Structure The paper has been structured in such a manner that the components of the research have been divided among 4 categories. The first category discusses the nature and basics of the brands. It depicts what the brand actually is and what are the different layers of the brand.

The different types of brands are discussed here and the importance of brands according to customers is also depicted here. The value based bands are also discussed in this section and the specific values the brands have for the company as well as the customers are explored. The second category covers the brand building strategy. In this the brand building process and the development and frame work of a brand have been discussed in detail. The supporting action of relationship building for brand building operations is also discussed here.

This section is closed by discussing the different characteristics of successful brands and the risks that are attached with branding The third section covers the three case studies of the prominent brand leaders in the market. rtheir value proposition id s depicted in this section and their brand building strategy is identified here. The research is supported by the SWOT analysis of these brands and the comparative analysis of these brands relative to other in the same market. The reasons for their leadership in their specific industries have also been realized here.

The last section comments on the nature of the research, and the conclusion gained from the research. Further opportunities of research on the topic have also been identified. 2. Basics of a Brand: 2. 1. What is a brand? A brand is essentially an entity which has certain visual, rational, emotional, as well as a cultural image which is associated with the brand. The brand does not exist solely to sell the product to the people. It creates a bond and an associative relationship between the customer and the company.

The brand can be a product or a service or even simply the name of the company which manufactures or provides the product of service. Branding gears to evict a response from the users via the advertising tools of targeting the audience through positive reinforcement based on cumulative impressions of the brand. Through branding the target audience is forced to remember the brand and have positive associations because its helps the consumers in making decision at the point of purchase about the selection of brands they want to buy and consume.

The value and the satisfaction that the consumer derives from the product or service is also enhanced by existence of the brand Simply put a brand is a promise made by the company to its customers regarding the quality of the products. The quality of the product/ service is central to the brand and helps in differentiating it from others in the market whereby reducing competition. As said before the brand can be an image, a logo, a slogan and even the brand name. “If you want to build a successful brand, you have to understand divergence.

You have to look for opportunities to create new categories by divergence of existing categories. And then you have to become the first brand in this emerging new category. In the great tree of brands, a successful brand is one that dominates an emerging branch ad then becomes increasingly successful as the band expands to block the sunlight from nearby branches. ”(Ries & Ries, 2004) Branding however is the process by which the company communicates its mission and objectives to its target audience.

“Branding is a rather new concept: a single, seemingly innocuous idea conceived by the strategists Al Ries and his wife, Laura Al Ries in the mid-1980s. They believed that successful companies produced brands instead of products, that is, brands were intangible and existed only in the minds of the consumers” (2007, Brand Wagon). The branding process is initiated as well as structured and proposed by the founders of the brands, or the key people in the company who have come up with the concept of the brand. Branding can also be defined as the process by which the business builds its activities around the promotion of its products.

It deals with creating a unique idea, or mindset in the minds of the consumer relative to the brand which helps the target market differentiate it from, the competition in the market. People often make mistakes while branding their products. These mistakes mostly relate to not thinking rationally or logically when building the brand, not maintaining the brand or keeping up with the environmental, technological and cultural changes in the market and trying to appease everyone. Problems can also arise if the company itself is unaware of what the brand actually stands for and who they actually are targeting.

When the company employees are not fully committed to branding then this can also lead to a failed brand. Similarly not having a dedicated marketing plan set out or using too much technical jargon in the communication process leads to creating inconsistency in the resultant brand. The biggest pitfall in branding however is trying to hard to be different and differentiating the product or service from the competition. This can lead to a loss of visions for the brand. The following diagram depicts the Brand Hexagon which shows the integration of brand equity and brand identity which forms the brand

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