Brand Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Brand Management - Dissertation Example Although there is an accounting and legal meaning of branding but in terms of marketing it refers to the products that have clear identity, that uniquely associates and establishes a meaning between the brand and the customers. From the perspective of customer, a brand is a promise that the product will perform perfectly as per their expectation and provide them with consistent performance across â€Å"all the touch points or moment of truth with the company (distribution channels, customer service, pricing, warranties and so forth)† (Bidgoli, 2010, p. 430). It is originated as a sign of ownership via the recognition as a mental depiction of customer benefits. But now brand has arrived to such a point that it represents the strategic position and vision of the company in relation to its environment. The brands has moved from merely being an addition to the offering to its reception as a symbol of knowledge, vision and culture that would strategically guide the offering (Abbing and Gessel, 2008). The process of innovation helps not only to reduce cost but also improves the quality of the product. Thus it improves the relative value of the product. Innovation not only affects the value of the product but also helps in creating reputation. ... to liberation of brand and plan, value and meaning as associates as well as essential resources in the development of leading services and products in the market. 1.1 Branding life cycle Kotler (2000) has defined brand as an expression, name, sign, design or a combination of all these which signifies a particular seller or a group of sellers and aims towards differentiating them from the other competitors available in the market. This definition can be limiting. Dibb et al. (1997) suggested that branding is one of the tangible features of a product. It provides the customer with the verbal and physical clues that helps them to choose one particular product over the others that are available in the market. However it is not only limited to products; services also communicates physical and verbal clues. For instance the hotel that provides its wide range of varieties of services also provides and transmits a range of physical and verbal communication to its potential customers. The ter m â€Å"life cycle† is often linked with the development of a service or product. The same metaphor is used to link human behaviour with the concept of branding. This suggests that there are possibilities that the brands that one finds in the offices and homes may be seen to face a decline and finally seen to die. These brands also have long history of struggle and have left various legacies. Brands are affected by various combinations of macro and micro environmental factors (Chitale and Gupta, 2011; Majumdar, 2004; Kurtz and Boone, 2008; Gelder, 2005). By understanding the influence of these factors on the position of the brand in the market place, the management of the organization will be able to forecast the health of their brand in future and will be able to plan their strategies.

Business Memo on AVON Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Memo on AVON - Essay Example More and more women aspired to be more than just homemakers and part time sales women and more importantly fewer women purchased products door to door. New innovative ways of selling such products are being adopted by its competitors like specialty retail chains. Selling through internet was taking off in a big way. There were no doubt many other reasons also contributed for this; product positioning and price (Avon’s products had little appeal with teens and many lower-income women found Avon’s products too expensive), poor brand image (not glamorous), inadequate research and lack of new products, but these as has been seen could be quickly addressed with appropriate results. While suggesting solutions to problems, it is being taken without questioning for the time being that the company does not want to change its core value of reaching customers predominantly through its direct representatives. Avon is the world’s largest direct seller of beauty products (Miller and associates, 107). Whether the company is deriving competitive edge through this strategy is not verifiable because of lack of data. Assuming it does, the solution to the problem will have to address the issue of how to better equip its sales representatives to deliver better. The solution in brief would see the entire marketing model is reengineered to see that the selling agents add substantial value as channel partners to the company, as well as create scope for themselves to earn much more and find self-fulfillment in their association with Avon. Such an exercise should also make it possible for the company to become flexible in deciding its channels of marketing. Players in the CFT industry operate in an oligopolistic market (Oligopoly watch 19 March 2006). No company derives advantage from one sole unique competitive advantage. They follow several strategies