Materiality of Brands that are Iconic for Russia - Essay Example

Materiality of brands that are iconic for Russia Overview Materiality and iconic brands are very related and interdependent. This is to say that materiality for a certain brand may lead to that brand becoming an iconic brand (Konadu, 2009) whereas iconic brands are promoted through materiality among consumers (Gardener, 2008). For this reason, it is just appropriate that discussion on iconic brands is made to go with materiality. In the opinion of Miller (2008), materiality concerns the “mutual constitution that takes place between people and the stuff they consume.

” This is to imply that materiality is an inner force that serves as compulsive stimuli in getting people to toll a particular line of purchase (Merlin, 2001). Most often than not, the stimuli behind materiality that eventually succeeds in getting people make purchase is the desire to satisfy one’s self quest in a way that he or she feels better expressed of his or her identity (Leingbridge, 2003). Iconic brand on the other hand has to do with promotion of a particular brand to reach a level that can be tagged as a brand of national popularity.

Drawing the relation between materiality and iconic brand, Holt (2004) explains that “consumers flock to brands that embody the ideals they admire, brands that help them express who they want be. The most successful of these brands become iconic brands.” The Iconic Brand of Russia To a very large extent, Russia operates an open economic market in the sense that, hardly does a particular company or corporate dominate all brands of products in the country (RusMarket, 2011). Russia has different companies and corporations with different brands.

There is therefore a lot of competition among brands of all kind – be they consumables, food brands or non-food brand. For any brand to be acclaimed by most of the people in Russia is therefore a great achievement. The achievement of this feat is however not an impossibility. For instance it is common knowledge that the Baltika Beer is indeed an outstanding brand in Russia, worth classifying as Russia’s finest iconic brand. On a personal note, there is nothing more I can do than to agree with the PMR Research (2010), which in 2009 ranked the Baltika Beer as Russia’s most popular brand.

In typical Russian settings where the need for the use of beer and other drinks are required, it is very difficult not to see Baltika Beer among the beer gathered. Indeed, Baltika Beer has equivalent products and competitors but the PMR Research concluded that “Baltika beer is the most popular brand in Russia in terms of sales generated in 2009.” People around me, especially family relations are a proof to me why Baltika is such popular. This is said because they value Baltika as the most respectable beer for events and occasions; including gifts and so spend a lot of their earning on the beer.

Even though I do not fancy the drinking of any beer, the fact that Baltika is adored by many cannot be hidden. There are a number of reasons that can be cited from a national perspective that indeed justify why Baltika has been singled out as an iconic brand of Russia. In the first place, the parent company that produces the Baltika Beer is originated in Russia. For this reason, there is a string passion among Russian populace for the beer partly in solidarity and in an effort to promote patriotism (Pravda, 2003).

Russians believe so much in the promotion of their own culture and brand. It is not surprising therefore that the populace would promote Baltika in the eyes of the foreigner and at the expense of other exotic branded beer. Secondly, there is a generally high level of preference for alcoholic products in Russia as the PMR Research (2010) indicates that “alcohol products account for 40% of all of the brands included in the list with five of them listed in the top ten.” The reason for this is numerous including the fact that alcoholic products are highly essential in the performance of various customs and traditions in Russia.

The role of Materiality in Promoting the Baltika Beer The family around me is a perfect exemplification of how materiality is instrumental in the promotion of Baltika Beer in making it become an iconic brand. Carducci (2005) discusses the Principle of Cultural Branding Douglas Holt and in his discussion, a clear cut role of materiality in promoting the Baltika Beer can be seen. This is because in my family and among most Russian’s there is a cultural perception and believe that it is of class and it is dignifying that a person purchases brands of higher cost and supposed quality.

For this reason, a lot of the people around me who envision themselves to be elite choose the Baltika Beer to other beers in order to satisfy their personal ideologies of well being. This feeling runs across the country and as such, continues to lead to the hyping of Baltika and thus, the products popularity. Conclusion The concluding note will be sounded to marketers who would be sounded to marketers, who will be encouraged to continue researching into the consumer behavior of customer, especially on how their quest for materiality can influence the marketing of their brands in a positive manner.

As long as humans remain social beings, the quest for materiality will continue to exist. This is because humans have always been thought to have personal an inner desire that always seek to satisfy. Again, in almost all countries of the world, there are groups of people who are touted as people with high class and belonging to the elite group. In fact as long as society itself expects these people to live up to certain standards, the issue of materiality will continue to surge higher. This means that there are going to be specific products that are going to be associated with people thought of to be of class and people who are after materiality.

In Russia, the Baltika Beer will continue to come up on top as the iconic product of the country because it has been associated with people of class and people pursuing materiality for long. All said and done, marketers of the Baltika beer come into the scene because they are in a position to take advantage of the quest for their product to increase productivity and expand their sales. They should also be in a position to adapt new and innovative sales techniques to increase their reach to consumers.

REFERENCE LIST Carducci V, 2005, ‘How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding by Douglas B. Holt’ Accessed November 4, 2011 Gardener R. G., 2008, ‘Achievement of Iconic Branding’; Durban: PrintMark Group Limited Holt D. B, 2004, ‘What is an Iconic Brand?’ Harvard Business Press Chapters Prod. #: 4827BC-PDF-ENG. Available online at http://hbr.org/product/what-is-an-iconic-brand/an/4827BC-PDF-ENG Konadu M. A. D., 2009 ‘Materiality as a Marketing Principle’, London: Alpha and Omega Press House Leingbridge R.

2003, ‘Materiality and Materialistic’ Moscow: Golden Publications Limited Merlin A. K., 2001, ‘Importance of Materiality’; Harvard: Harvard University Press Miller D, 1998, ‘A Theory of Shopping’ Cornell: Cornell University Press (9780801485510) PMR Research, 2010, ‘Most popular brands in Russia in 2009’, Accessed November 4, 2011 Pravda, 2003, ‘The New Kind of the Russian Patriotism’, Accessed November 4, 2011 RusMarket, 2011, ‘Russian Business Portal’, Russia Business Directory, accessed November 4, 2011