How Different Stakeholder Groups Build Brand Value - Research Paper Example

The concept of brand building has witnessed a striking change from the last decade. Traditionally the role of brands was just to provide a name or an identity to a product (Baehrens, 2012). Apart from being an identity is also the association which satisfies emotional and functional needs of the consumers (Glynn, 2009). A brand also helps to distinguish one company from the other (Dunn, 2004). However the modern concept of branding is a step of the entire marketing and selling process. According to Kotler (2008) branding is defined as the name which is associated with the product line of the companies and is used to recognize the product (Kautish, 2011).

Apart from this American Marketing Association (AMA) defined brand as symbol, term, name, sign or design, or an amalgamation of all which are proposed to recognize the products and services of one company to that of the other. In other words brand helps to distinguish a product of a company from that of another company. However many authors have specified that brands are much more than just a mere mark of identification. Brands also act as the element which enhances the societal value of a company and the communal value of the user of a branded product.

Kotler also mentioned brands as the major area of concern in the context of the product strategy. Since brand was only a part of the product strategy, the communication strategy also worked with it in the process of exploring the brand value and creating brand awareness. The brand development process is lengthy and there are a number of factors associated with it. Also there are a number of people starting from the employees and customers, who help in the process of creating brand. Hence there is a part played by the stake holders towards the.

In this turbulent business environment creation of brand value is not an easy process and is mainly created due to active participation of the stakeholders. The situation worsens for the new companies who enter into a market. To cite an example it took many years for Pepsi, Coca Cola, Volkswagen, and Toyota, to get them established and to become renowned brands of the world. Thus, brand equity and brand value are the essential factors towards the success of an organization. Brand value is mainly used to define the association during the process of value creation, while on the other hand brand equity is imperative for the evaluation of the brand value that is also termed as the result for the relationship.

After conduction the research about the impact of stakeholders on the creation of brand value, it can be concluded that the stakeholders plays the most essential role towards the development of a brand. The study also revealed that customers are an important group of stakeholder, but are not the sole responsible group for the development of a brand. Other stakeholders such as suppliers, distributors, business partners, other channel members, government, banks, Ngo’s, media and also competitors plays a major role in the process of brand value creation.

The null hypothesis holds true for the project.