woensdag 27 september 2017

PBL Trigger 5

What is IMC and what does it mean for a company to follow IMC (is it a strategic or an operational tool)? Who are in charge of IMC?

Definition of Integrated Marketing Communications according to the business dictionary :

An approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign, through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other. As defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, integrated marketing communications " ... recognizes the value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion and combines them to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact."

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/integrated-marketing-communications-IMC.html

According to the West Virginia University :

Simply, IMC attempts to unify all pieces of marketing communications, including, advertising, public relations, direct marketing, social media and sales promotion. It is designed to create messaging that is consistent across all channels.

According to Angeles Navarro, Maria Sicilia and Elena Delgado-Ballester in their article Integrated Marketing Communications, Effects of advertising-sponsorship strategic consistency.

When a company follows IMC it means that they need to have strategic consistency. Strategic consistency refers to the extent to which information conveyed by different communications options share meaning

Paul Turner’s article: Implementing integrated marketing communications through major event ambassadors

For IMC to be implemented successfully, a number of issues need to be considered.

Planning of campaigns must be considered holistically, employees must be given new skills

and staff in the organisation need to understand the contribution each communication

element can make and understand how these elements affect the communication process

I think IMC is a strategic tool instead of an operational tool because IMC is setting the global strategy of what message all of your different marketing channels will communicate with the public. Each different marketing channel wil use a different operational approach to communicate with the public.

There are 4 stages of IMC as described in the model above.

The first stage in the progression towards integrated marketing communications approach inside a company is a simple coordination across specialist areas, where they agree upon the use of a standard logo, a company slogan, corporate colors, and a general message.

It is likely that various areas of marketing communication – advertising, direct marketing, sales, online and social media, and public relations – still act quite independently, yet a similar look and feel and message.

Each of these functional areas would have their own goals and targets to achieve. For example, the advertising function might seek to improve brand awareness, the direct marketing area may be focused upon sales conversion rates, the public relations area might be measured upon earned media, and so on.

Despite these areas using a similar approach of message and brand elements, they still generally act independently and are not strategically integrated to achieve an overall goal.

Source : Advertising and Promotion written by Belch and Belch

in the second stage towards integrated marketing communications, the company starts to consider a broader set of touch points than its main communication tools (several of which were mentioned above).

In the first stage, the company is mainly concentrating upon the main communication tools. Second phase is when the company considers how and where a potential or current customer can become exposed or engaged with the brand.

For a company to effectively understand this range of potential interactions and exposures (brand contact or brand touch points) may become a little bit more research based and consider how consumers in different target markets end up becoming customers of their brands. Therefore, the company tries to look at the brand through the eyes of a consumer.

So in this stage, the company might consider email contact, interaction with staff, sponsorships, unplanned media attention, competitive comparisons, information and comparison websites, retail sales people, after sales service contacts, signage on buildings, staff uniforms, word-of-mouth, and so on -as all possibly being part of their customer’s journey towards or away from the brand.

The third stage is really trying to integrate the overall communications approach, as achieved in stages one and two, across the knowledge and practices of the organization. To do this, greater use of data and information is generated and shared across their distribution channels, even extending to their retailer and supplier partners.

Probably the best example of this would be in the banking sector, where the banking customer databases allow them to track each customer’s progression – either towards or away from using the company and certain products.

Obviously the goal is usually to increase share of customer in this progression can be identified relatively easily with today’s technology tools in a bank. Therefore, over time, with the use of information, a bank can get very effective about understanding and even predicting the customer’s behaviour when they come into contact with various marketing communications.

Part of this knowledge is built through market testing and experiments, where different communication mediums and messages and combinations are tested on a small scale before being ramped up and exposed to larger numbers of customers. Therefore, we end up with a relatively scientific approach to marketing communications.

The final stage really reflects that the overall marketing function inside a large company becomes strategically and financially integrated. The starting point for all marketing communications is essentially driven by the top-level strategic plan, which then feeds down to the marketing strategy and plan, which is then effectively executed through the marketing mix elements, including marketing communications.

Contrast this to the first stage listed above, there are various marketing communication specialists act relatively independently to achieve their own targets and KPI’s.

At this level of the final stage, not only are all the improvements from the previous three stages being implemented, but the organization becomes very financially and marketing metric driven in terms of its overall marketing communications. This would mean it would look at the ROI, for example, of increasing brand awareness by 5 percentage points – and work out what impact that has over time trial rates and brand loyalty and therefore bottom line impact.

This becomes increasingly challenging when companies have multiple target markets to pursue the need to consider a range of strategic initiatives. As pointed out earlier in the article, only explore percentage of organizations truly operate at the fourth stage of the model.

1. What are the roles of the company and the different agencies
(such as marketing/ brand/ communication/ advertising/media/research agencies) ?

The role of the different agencies is to give the client company advice on how to use the IMC strategy. When a client company struggles with implemting strategies or doing the right market research, they can hire the following agencies to help them with problems.

Marketing agencies : marketing firm will plan out and implement a company’s marketing strategy. They often do market research and optimize sales letters. The goal of a marketing firm is to enhance the sales and profits of a company by not only providing more exposure but also by providing targeted exposure, which means reaching potential customers who are likely to be interested in the product or service being offered.

Source : https://www.balcomagency.com/blog/what-does-marketing-agency-actually-do

Source : https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-marketing-firm-4017678

Brand agencies : A branding agency will support your brand, by developing an understanding of your business, clarifying your goals and objectives and communicating this in the right way to the right audience. From this information they will help provide a strategy to grow your brand and provide you with the right toolkit to embed your brand purpose, values, promises, positioning, and identity into your organisation.

Source: http://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2016/06/what-is-a-branding-agency/

Advertising agency : Firm that (1) creates new promotional ideas, (2) designs print, radio, television, and internet advertisements, (3) books advertisement space and time, (4) plans and conducts advertising campaigns, (5) commissions research and surveys, and (6) provides other such services that help a client in entering and succeeding in a chosen market. In general, advertising agencies are not deemed agents of the advertisers, because they act as principals for the services they buy on behalf of their clients.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/advertising-agency.html

Communication agency : A communications firm helps companies hone and communicate their message, better reaching the target market for their products and services. In the case of this company, SpeakWell Communications, we focus almost exclusively on online communications.

Source: http://www.speakwellcommunications.com/what-the-is-a-communications-firm/

Media agency: a company that advises companies on how and where to advertise and on how to present a positive picture of themselves to the public

Source: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/media-agency?a=business-english

Research agency: A company offering market research services to clients, comprising a group of researchers and an administrative infrastructure. An agency may offer qualitative research, quantitative research, or both, increasingly supplemented by consultancy services, workshop facilitation and so on. Agencies vary in size from one or two individuals to several hundred people, though qualitative specialist agencies tend to be at the smaller end of this range.

Source : https://www.aqr.org.uk/glossary/market-research-agency

(golden triangle plaatje)

2. How does/should the client company follow IMC? What are the roles of its different agencies?

I found three approaches to IMC

Inside-out approach

The inside-out approach focusess more on the company’s own capabilities and strengths

Outside-in approach

The Outside in strategy focusses on costumer value, focused on creating high calibre costumer value

Cross functional approach

The cross functional approach tries to combine the inside-out and outside-in approaches together to form strategy that takes care of the company’s internal and external stakeholders.

Source : https://brandmatters.com.au/blog/outside-in-and-inside-out-strategy

Schultz book called : imc the next generation

Gives 5 steps on how to start with implementing IMC into a company

1. Identifying customers & prospects

2. Valuation of customers/ prospects

3. Creating & delivering messages and incentives

4. Estimating return on customer investment

5. Budgeting, allocation, and evaluation

donderdag 21 september 2017

PBL Trigger 4

Definitions:

Storytelling: definition in the book (Storytelling organizations by David M Boje): storytelling is used for emotional engagement with consumers through narratives and stories. So rather than trying to sell your products with rational engagement like low prices, high quality or fast delivery, companies try to connect with consumers on an emotional level to build a relationship.

Brand story: According to Bernadette Jiwa, who is apparently a recognized global authority of the of story in business. A definition of brand story is as follows:

“A brand story is more than a narrative. The story goes beyond the copy on your website, the text in a brochure, or the presentation used to pitch to investors. Your story isn’t just what you tell people. It’s what they believe about you based on the signals your brand sends. The story is a complete picture made up of facts, feelings, and interpretations, which means that part of your story isn’t even told by you.
Everything you do, from the colours and texture of your packaging to the staff you hire, is part of your brand story, and every element of it should reflect the truth about your brand back to your audience.

source: http://thestoryoftelling.com/what-is-a-brand-story/

Community management: I couldn’t find a clear definition on Community management but most articles I read about community management agreed that community management is different for each type of company (non-profit, agencies or corporations) but there were some basic ways to describe community management:

Build relationships within the community
Create value for members who participate in the community
Be the liaison between the community and the company behind it all

Source: http://thecommunitymanager.com/2014/01/31/the-definition-of-community-management/

What is a brand story and what makes a good brand story?

Brand story: According to Bernadette Jiwa, who is apparently a recognized global authority of the of story in business. A definition of brand story is as follows:

source: http://thestoryoftelling.com/what-is-a-brand-story/

What makes a good brand story? I found an article written by Hung-Chang Chiu, Yi-Ching Hsieh and Yi-Chu Kou that was published in the journal of retailing in 2012 and they gathered results from researches about storytelling and they created a table with the most important aspects of a good story.

Table in the article:

What is storytelling and how does it affect people?

Gerard Danford who teaches the course Internationalization of a firm. Gave 5 stages of storytelling which should be included in your company’s story.

Stage 1 Exposition

The exposition is the initial part of the story in which the stage is set for the main action. Early questions are answered here, including where and when the story is set. The main characters (exporter) who will be involved in the story may also be introduced, with their basic life being painted.

The exposition also introduces the point of view, the position from which the story is being told (often an objective third person).

Stage 2 Rising Action

After the relative calm of the exposition, there is a gradual raising of the tension in the story using danger, hazard, conflict and other devices. The protagonist is usually deeply involved in this, struggling with others and their own ability to handle the tension. All stories contains sequences of rising action and climax, creating a saw-tooth pattern of tension and the resolution of closure at the final climax. The skillful development of rising action is like playing to the crowd, with changes in the rate of rise and periods of respite. The overall direction, though, is always upwards towards the grand climax when all tensions will be resolved.

Stage 3 Climax

After the long and steady rising action within a story or sub-plot, at last things come to a head in the climax of the story. The climax is often the most exciting part of the story, where a lot of major action happens. In movies, it’s the most expensive bit, with lots of special effects. Stories can have several climaxes as sub-plots reach smaller conclusions before the grand climax near the end of the story. The climax leads to a point of closure that resolves much of the tension in the story (although not necessarily all of it). False climaxes can also be used to increase tension further. The storyline may indicate that the main climax is about to be reached, but something happens and the real climax does not occur

Stage 4 Falling Action

After the excitement of the climax, the story may not yet be complete and there can still be unresolved and outstanding tensions that are waiting for closure. These are largely resolved in the falling action stage, as the last few issues are mopped up. After the excitement of the climax, the falling action can seem something of an anti-climax, and so most authors keep this relatively short, using it to tidy up the loose ends and bring things to a satisfying completion in the final resolution.

Stage 5 Resolution

After the excitement of the action and climax within story, the final scenes tie off all remaining loose ends and bring the story to a satisfying and final resolution. When we remember a story, the recency effect means that we are particularly affected by the ending. It is thus important to ensure that the story is tidied up such that the resolution of the story gives us a sense of final satisfaction with the whole situation. In classic stories, comedies end with the hero being rewarded or villains punished, while tragedies end in catastrophe, where the hero ends up worse off and villains may, if they are lucky, escape punishment.

I found a good example of storytelling from Nike. One of their campaigns involved storytelling and that campaign is called Equality. They had several videos on social media and on tv where they were telling a story about how people wearing Nike are connected to each other and that there is no difference between the people from different heritages. Nike tries to position itself as the binding factor between people.

Link to video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43QTjFCPLtI

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billeehoward/2016/04/04/storytelling-the-new-strategic-imperative-of-business/#3fb8b00c4d79

What is the role of community management in brand building and how to engage customers?

Build relationships within the community
Create value for members who participate in the community
Be the liaison between the community and the company behind it all

Source: http://thecommunitymanager.com/2014/01/31/the-definition-of-community-management/

I think community management nowadays is mostly on social media. Almost all companies have Facebook pages and they can communicate with their costumers via those Facebook pages.

I found a few tips online on how to engage with your customers online:

1. Segment your social audience

If you have a wide audience you should consider splitting it into different communities. This way, you can have an overview of all your different customers and it is also easier for your costumers to find people with the same interests/problems.

My source named Sega as an example. Sega created multiple videogames so they decided to create a facebook page for each game aswell as a facebook page for the sega brand in general and even facebook pages for the merchandise.

2. Know how to communicate with your customers

My source gave a few tips on how to talk to your customers and solve their issues

· “Hey Mike” – using the customer’s name is the most efficient way to part-personalise a generic message

· “we’re really sorry to see this” – expresses empathy without directly apologising to the customer. Sneaky!

· “that’s not right” – when the customer provides compelling evidence to back up their complaint (i.e. that photo of a mangled-looking burger), it’s important to let them know that you understand they’re in the right

· “Would you mind logging full details at […] please?” – funnels the interaction into a private customer service channel, potentially preventing further public negativity

· “ASAP” – assures the customer that the issue is being treated urgently, without giving any specific guarantees

Source: https://www.targetinternet.com/5-examples-of-incredible-social-media-community-management/

Another development I would like to discuss is UGC (user generated content)

Definition: User-generated content (UGC) refers to content relating to your brand that’s made by members of your audience, rather than by your marketing team.

Example: Marc Jacobs won big by offering their audience something huge: the opportunity to become a Marc Jacobs model. Entering was simple: just upload a hash-tagged selfie to Instagram.

Within 24 hours of the campaign’s launch, the hashtag #CastMeMarc had been Instagrammed over 12,000 times – and in time that figure would rise to well over 100,000. Considering the combined reach of all those participants, that’s an awesome result. For Marc Jacobs, incentivising the brand’s social community to post UGC online has yielded immense visibility.

http://www.successagency.com/growth/2017/04/12/user-generated-content-campaigns/

Analyse or design a brand story for a chosen company.

I took Jack Daniels as an example

Their brand story focuses deeply on heritage and tradition. They called it bar stories

Being a brand from the south of the US. They developed Jack barbeque apps for their costumers to use and to promote the idea of drinking Jack Daniels while barbequing. The website tries to give off a cool vibe with a lot of dark colors and a few photos of cool celebrities drinking jack (like Frank Sinatra), They have a timeline on their website with videos telling about the heritage and history of Jack Daniels. They promote the idea of taking your time, relax with a drink because age is good( older whiskeys and such)

They also have videos of interviews with long time employees of Jack Daniels, creating the idea of one big family.

How could the chosen company build the brand in social media?

I scanned the facebook page of Jack Daniels and I noticed that they only really focus on the different kind of bottles they are selling. Maybe the company could show their fans that they care about them by posting more Facebook posts about responsible drinking and how you can still have fun. I also noticed on a few festivals that there are special Jack Daniels tents where you can only buy Jack Daniels products but I can't find anything about that on social media so maybe they could put more emphasis on that to let their fans know that they support the festivals or events they love.

zondag 17 september 2017

PBL trigger 3

PBL session 3: Brand architecture and brand strategy

1. Compare the brand strategies and architectures of different companies. How and why are they different?

Definition of brand strategy according to business dictionary:

Long-term marketing support for a brand, based on the defition of the characteristics of the target consumers. It includes understanding of their preferences, and expectations from the brand

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-strategy.html

One of the brand strategies I witnessed personally was the brand strategy of Red Bull. Red Bull is a big sponsor of many sports events and not only the well-known sports but also more extreme sports like space jumping and cliff diving. One of the lesser known sports sponsored by Red bull are the soapbox races. There was a soapbox race in Helsinki a few weeks ago and it was organized by Red Bull. There were multiple races simultaneously in countries all over the world. I think this is the strategy of Red Bull. Sponsor lesser known sports to make them known to the bigger public. This also creates goodwill for Red Bull.

Coca Cola’s new strategy is also a world wide strategy now that they are using the ‘one-brand’ strategy. Coca cola launched the “taste the feeling” campaign in 2016. It undescores the commitment to choice, offering consumers different coca cola’s for different tastes, lifestyles and diets. A few examples are the cola light with no sugar but also the coca cola bottles without caffeine. Coca Cola wants to advertise that their product is for everybody.

Source: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/taste-the-feeling-launch

I think the main difference between these two brand strategies is the fact that coca cola wants to unify their customer groups and red bull focuses on the many different customer groups. Red Bull is sponsoring a lot of different sports and these consumers may also differ from each other but coca cola wants to promote their idea that all of their consumers can enjoy the same product together.

2 What brand architecture models do companies you know use?

3 Which brand architectures are good for different products and services?

I think that the monolithic systems is a good system for companies with a reputation for being of high quality or high luxury. Porsche is a good example of a monolithic brand. They use a single name for all of their products like sports bags, watches, blackberry phones, clothing, sunglasses, desk lamps, shoes, pens, leather gloves and even pocket knives.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-coolest-products-made-by-porsche-2012-11

The product architecture system is used by Procter and Gamble as the image above describes. Unilever is also a good example of this. Unilever has a lot different products with different uses and if one of these brands is performing poorly or is part of a scandal, the Unilever brand stays intact because Unilever is not directly linked to the product.

Endorsed systems are used by companies that are known for their quality in one or more branches. A good example of this is the Marriot. They are known for their quality and luxury hotels and they want to use that good name on their brands that are operating in the same business.

4 Analyze the brand strategy and architecture of a chosen company.

The brand strategy of Heineken is to create the feeling that drinking a Heineken is fun and it helps you relax after work or during a holiday. Their advertising campaigns focus heavily on the friendship between men and watching football as Heineken is one of the main sponsors of the champions league in Europe.

The brand architecture used by Heineken is the product architecture system. Heineken bought a lot of different brewers and brand but Heineken still sells these drinks under their original name without a link to Heineken.

maandag 11 september 2017

PBL trigger 2 branding and marketing communications

What is brand identity vs. brand image?

The definition of brand identity according to the business dictionary: The visible elements of a brand (such as colors, design, logotype, name and symbol) that together identify and distinguish the brand in the consumers’ mind.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-identity.html

The definition of brand identity according to Investopedia: A company’s brand identity is how that business wants to be perceived by consumers. The components of the brand (name, logo, tone, tagline, typeface) are created by the business to reflect the value the company is trying to bring to the market and to appeal to its customers. Brand identity is separate from brand image – the term for how consumers actually perceive the brand.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-identity.asp

the definition of brand image according to the business dictionary: The impression in the consumers’mind of a brand’s total personality (real and imaginary qualities and shortcomings). Brand image is developed over time through advertising campaings with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers’ direct experience.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-image.html

the definition of brand image according to management study guide: Brand image is the current view of the customers about a brand. It can be defined as a unique bundle of associations within the minds of target customers. It signifies what the brand presently stands for. It is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand. In short, it is nothing but the consumers’ perception about the product.

http://managementstudyguide.com/brand-image.htm

The difference between brand identity and brand image:

http://amiemt-journal.com/test2/vol2-no4/18.pdf

In this article that was written by Zahra Mahdi and 2 other writers, it is explained that the main difference between brand identity and image is the fact that brand identity is the way a company wants to represent itself to its stakeholders, how they want to be perceived. A company has to determine a frame in which they specify their brand’s uniqueness and value. The meaning, aim and self-image has to be specified and they should be based on the company’s core competences.

An example is the logo of Nike. Nike adopted a check mark as their brand logo and that creates a positive association as a check mark is indicated as a sign of approval. The article describes that consumers usually have a limited time frame to make an informed purchase decision when they have to choose between similar products. Therefore, consumers use brand image to make a purchase decision. Consumers acknowledge product quality faster when the product they want to buy is from a company they perceive as a one with a positive brand image. A company has to determine a frame in which they specify their brand’s uniqueness and value.

Brand image is how a company actually is perceived by its stakeholders. Stakeholders base their perception of their experiences with a company. The article describes that consumers usually have a limited time frame to make an informed purchase decision when they have to choose between similar products. Therefore, consumers use brand image to make a purchase decision. Consumers acknowledge product quality faster when the product they want to buy is from a company they perceive as a one with a positive brand image

There could be a difference between the message a company wants to send and how it is perceived by stakeholders. A consumer bases the brand image of a company of their own experiences with the company so it is important for a company to make sure that consumer experience the same values the company tries to represent in their brand identity.

Compare different brand identity models.

Source: http://amiemt-journal.com/test2/vol2-no4/17.pdf

Brand identity prism by Kapferer.

The brand identity prism consists of 6 different concepts(physique, personality, relationship, culture, reflectiom and self-image). Together, they form the brand identity that is shown to the consumers.

Physique:

The physique consists of the salient objectives, which are the features that immediately come to mind when thinking about a brand. Furthermore it is the brand’s strength of character and its intangible outer value. Relevant questions when defining the physical facet are what is it concretely? What does it do? What does it look like? For Volvo it is the security that represents the physical facet. (Kapferer, J-N. 2004)

Personality:

This is a way in which the company is communicating its products. It describes what kind of a person the brand would be if it were human and its characteristics. A spokesperson can easily form a brand’s personality. An example of brand personality could be a famous athlete or afiction, like the Marlboro Man. (ibid)

Culture:

Culture is a set of values that are the brand’s inspiration. It is the source of a brand’s core values. Culture links the brand to the firm and plays an essential role in differentiating the brand. A question which can be asked is; what are the values for which the brand stands for? An example of culture are banks, such as American express gold card which symbolizes dynamic, triumph and capitalism where money is shown and flashed about. (ibid)

Relationship:

Every brand has to maintain a good relationship with their customer, which marketing measurements are intended to do. A question to be asked is; how does the brand want to be seen by customers in marketing communication? Dior symbolizes a relationship that is extravagant and grandiose, with a desire to shine like gold. (ibid)

Reflection:

It is a description of the way customers wishes to be seen as a result of using a brand. This reflection becomes identification. The company needs to answer the question; what would the users imagine while using the product? The reflection is the idealized vision of the company’s target group and is its outward reflection. For example Coca-cola that has a wider clientele than the narrow segment it reflects. This is because the younger segment identifies Coca-cola as a dream and the older as a way of living. They segment their target group based on customers’ lifestyles rather than age. (ibid)

Self-image:

Self-image is the target’s internal reflection. It is individuals’ attitudes towards certain brands and by purchasing certain brands customers send out a picture of who they want to be. (ibid)

De chernatony model of brand identity

Explanation by the article:

Personality:

The brand personality establishes what specific characteristics the brand has, and these characteristics should indicate how the brand would be in human life. By humanizing a brand, it plays a more central part in consumers’ lives (Kapferer, 2008), which is good considering individuals are to keener towards brands that share the same or similar ideas (Ponnam, 2007). Aaker (1997) also states that brand personality refers to the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. It regards how the brand personality enables a consumer to express his or her self through the consumption of a brand. Furthermore, brand personality increases consumer preference and usage, evoke emotions in consumers, and increases levels of trust and loyalty (Aaker, 1997). Aaker (1997) has developed a theoretical framework of brand personality dimensions that measures the perception of a brand. These are measured by considering the extent to which the respondents believe it possesses the characteristics of personality dimensions. This framework enables experimental researchers to measure symbolic meanings of brands as if they were people (Aaker, 1997). Swaminathan et al. (2009) highlight that brand managements need to understand which brand personality traits are going to matter to customers in order to attach the potential of brand personality. However, not all customers are equally sensitive to a brand’s personality. Interpersonal attachment styles determine what types of customers are most likely to be influenced by a brand’s personality (Swaminathan et al., 2009).

Positioning:

According to Kapferer (2008), companies can distinguish brands according to their positioning, which is when one emphasizes the distinctive characteristics that make it attractive to consumers and different from its competitors. Keller et al. (2002) agree that positioning sets the product apart from the competition. However, the researchers stress that companies also need to pay attention to other aspects of the positioning; understanding the frame of reference that your brand is working in and address the features that your brand has in common with the competition. This will ensure the companies a better understanding of the market (Keller et

al., 2002). Kapferer (2008) further states that positioning controls the words that are communicated to the customer and can be explained as the brand’s message and outward expression of the inner substance. However, the researcher rather refers to this as "phvsique", which mainly describes the brand's physical qualities and the brand's performance characteristics (Kapferer 2008). Bronnenberg and Wathieu (1996) state that positioning is an important aspect that managers need to take into account when evaluating the promotion asymmetry and communication. Moreover, Sujan and Bettman (1989) believe that the aspects of the brand itself, such as physical attributes or situational factors, determine which positioning strategy is best suited for the brand. The positioning also influences the customers’ perception of the brand and their memory, which in turns can determine in what category the brand is seen to operate in (Sujan & Bettman, 1989). However, Kotler and Gertner (2002) state that brands can add or subtract from the perceived value of a product. They also suggest that differentiation based on product characteristics do not motivate consumers or making them able to evaluate the products in dept. Companies should therefore use the combination of a brand name and brand significance in order to achieve a better evaluation for consumers (Kotler & Gertner 2002).

Vision and culture

As De Chernatony (1999) mentions, a brand needs a clear vision that describes a well-defined direction of what it wants to achieve. Managers need to envisage the brand’s environment for at least five years ahead and consider how the brand is going to make the future world they operate in better (Collins & Poras, 1996). The brand culture describes the set of values that are feeding the brand’s inspiration, as well as explains from where the product is derived (Kapferer, 2008). To improve the communication with consumers and decrease misunderstandings, Kapferer (2008) stresses that brands need its own culture from which every product should originate. Banerjee (2008) adds that the cultural values are principles that determine how people perceive themselves and others. It is also highlighted that marketers need to view the brand culture as a main weapon considering it can increase the competitive advantage in operating markets (Banerjee 2008). Kapferer (2008) and Schmidt et al. (1995) stress that the culture links the brand to the firm and highlights the differencing factors, making it stand out from the competition Kapferer (2008) further states that these differentiating factors of the culture can refer to the basic principles leading the brand’s outward signs, such as product and communication. It is also mentions that countries of origin are for example a highly valuable factor used by well-established companies; Volkswagen stands for Germany and IKEA stands for Sweden (Kapferer 2008). Moreover, forms and shapes, colours and materials in the visual and auditory communications express the brand’s culture and values. This indicates that aesthetics either can add value to a brand, as well destroy a reputation if handling wrong (Schmidt et al., 1995). De Chernatony (1999) further elaborates that one needs to audit brand culture in order to develop a strategy for reaching consumers. Schein (1984) believes that this can be measured through the brand’s visible artefacts, employees’ and managers’ values and mental models of the people involved in brand building activities. One can then understand which values that have remained unchanged over time, such as core values, and values that have changed. This audit illustrates the brand culture’s suitability to help achieve the brand vision, through appreciating the gaps between desired and current components of culture (Schein, 1984)

Relationship:

Relationship is defined by Blackston (1992) as the interaction between consumers’ attitude towards the brand and the brand’s attitude towards the consumers. This means that consumers’ perception plays an important part into the brand communication (Blackston 1992). Kapferer (2008) stresses that companies should include the relationship facet into their brand in order to succeed in the process of transaction and exchange. Meenaghan (1995) adds that companies need to involve brands into the world of the consumer in order to gain a ―magnetic‖ relationship between them. Kapferer (2008) and Lannon and Cooper (1983) agree that brands need to be the voice that the consumers hear. The communication should answer who you are, where you are in life and where you are going. Brands and consumers are therefore connected since they are part of ourselves and we are part of our brands (Lannon & Cooper, 1983). Swaminathan et al. (2007) and Fournier (1998) mention that consumers therefore form strong relationships with those brands that have values and personality associations that are similar to their selfconcept. Brands need to act, deliver and relate in accordance to the consumers, and companies need to consider this when communicating to the consumers. Every part of the communication, such as images and symbols must relate to and exploit consumers’ values and lifestyles (Kapferer 2008). Broadbent and Cooper (1987) mention that can particularly be a way to increase the added value and differentiating factors of the brand. Moreover, De Chernatony (1999) explains that the relationship and increased interaction can boost the innovation and success for the brands, considering the company gain furthered understanding of the consumer. One downside of the Brand image studies however is that the focus of the relationship is on customer to brand, which makes the assumption that the brand is passive (Blackston, 1992).

Aker model

This model describes 4 ways a brand identiy can be shown by a company.

The difference between the models:

The kapfere model explains the different aspects of brand identity and the difference between consumers perception and the identity that a company wants to project.

The de chernatony model focusses more on the internal aspects of brand identity (staff behaviour and the repuation a company receives because of that.

The aker model describes 4 ways in which a company can show their brand identity.

How is the visual identity based on the brand identity?

The definiton of visual identity by the business dictionary: Visible elements of a brand, such as color, form, and shape, which encapsulate and convey the symbolic meaning that cannot be imparted through words alone. In a broader (corporate) sense, it may include elements such as building architecture, color schemes, and dress code.

http://blog.jcimarketing.com/business-marketing/the-difference-between-visual-identity-and-branding

How Visual Brand Identity Shapes Consumer Response Barbara J. Phillips University of Saskatchewan Edward F. McQuarrie Santa Clara University W. Glenn Griffin University of Alabama

The article describes that the visual identity of a company can be used to reinforce the brand identity a company wants to project to consumers. When a consumer interacts with a brand they are exposed to visual stimuli such as logo’s, colors, shapes and even fonts. These visual elements become a part of the brand image a consumer perceives and that is why visual identity is an important part of the brand identity. The article gives some examples of the way visual identity is used in advertising and one of the examples is that some companies try to have as much of their company colors in their advertising as possible to reinfore the brand image of consumers.

Analyze the brand identity of a chosen company with a suitable model.

Coca cola with the kapfere model

Phisque:

Word famous bottle design

Red color with white letters

Personality:

Happiness

Share a coke

Being with friends

Refreshing

Relationship

Coca cola wants their stakeholders to see coca cola as a company that provides you with a lot of different drinks for a good time with your friends

Culture:

Core values of coca cola are: American values of pursuing happiness

Reflection:

Hip

User of top quality brand

Self image:

Social and happy

Analyze (or design) the visual identity of a chosen company.

The company that I will be analyzing is called strato. Strato is a german webhoster who sells internet domains and sitebuilder packages. Strato’s company color is orange and blue and when you visit the strato website, you can see that they use a lot of orange and blue on their webpage to try and associate the color with the brand. The company logo can be also be seen on the website and they use a clear and professional font. They use photos of people who are either happy or who are working and the people all wear funny masks. I think that they do this to show that strato is a serious company who also wants their customers to be happy at the same time while also expecting good results from strato

This gives you an example of the strato’s website.