The Importance of Brand Name - Essay Example

Tide – Withstanding the Ever Changing Time Surges with Strong Brand If any person asks what the best chocolate you have eaten is, everybody will give a different answer. There are so many next bests. But the number one position will be given to only one particular brand. This is known as brand positioning. It is determined based on the perception of the customers, depending on the products performance, reputability and popularity. Tide marketed by P&G stays as the number one laundry detergent in the US market. It has spread its branches throughout the world using this brand name and number one positioning. We will analyze the various strategies followed by the company to attain and maintain this position in this paper. The Importance of Brand Name Entering a market or industry during its inception is definitely profitable in several ways. There are very little competitors and the chance to lure customers is easy. Tide was introduced way back in 1946. It was one of the pioneers in its field of detergents then. It was able to lure the customer in several ways. The competition was quite less. Tide took advantage of these situations and established itself as a leader in the industry through its quality products. Their target customers were the mothers aged 18 to 50 who did ample washing for the whole family. But, the real challenge began after that. The New Challenges Within a short time, the detergent market in the US became a highly competitive field. The new cultural changes gave rise to micro families. The feminism wave increased the marriage age of the women considerably, and the technological improvements paved way for wide spread use of washing machines. Many brands which emerged alongside Tide lost to these changes and closed their shop, while Tide succeeded to go manage all these ups and downs successfully, retaining their number one brand position. In fact they used this brand image quite cleverly to maintain this position throughout all these years. Brand positioning is very important to build a long lasting customer relationship, get popular worldwide to expand the buying market, stay steady in the market for a long time and to increase the sales constantly. Four key strategies should be followed to reach the above mentioned targets. They should define their space, own it, keep competitors out of it and keep expanding it constantly (McGhie, 2012). Tide did exactly that in the following ways, keeping its brand name as a shield. Defining Space through High Quality and Attractive Ads Tide always concentrates on maintaining the best quality. To this day they are the best stain removers in the market. This high quality is a great reason for their long lasting success. They produced very creative ads, targeting the women’s changing mentality. The fifties Tide ad features pin up models hand washing their dresses, while the current ad showcases foot ball moms, laundering their aspiring kids clothes. The “resonance advertising strategy” used in their ads is considered as one of the best in the market till day. Every ideal mother working hard for the child’s bright future identifies herself with the mum shown in the ad. Aaker defines perceived quality as “the customers perception of the overall quality of superiority of a product or service with respect to its, intended purpose, relative to alternatives.” Tide ads create a high perception about the product to fulfil its intention of staying ahead of other detergents. The adverts make the ladies think this is the better choice compared to other alternatives. Changing the Target Audience according to Cultural influences Instead of targeting mothers alone, products like “Tide Plus Jasmine & Rose” target teenagers with their attractive pack design and aroma. They target the ever increasing single men population with their “Tide He” product. The punch line for the product is “High efficiency”. It defines manliness as well as proves it is suitable to clean the sports mess and hard stains made by men. Take a look this American Tide ad. Americans usually use hot water in their machines. The ad states using the Tide Cold water detergent will save energy required to heat the water. It symbolically represents using one Tide packet will save the energy created by so many windmills together. It is a suitable ad for the modern environment frenzy people Exploring the New Markets Constantly They never hesitated to expand their market. They were the first brand to enter the Middle East market and the Eastern countries like China, India and Indonesia. They compromised on the price and create ads targeting the locals in those markets. “Positioning of a brand by companies refers to the choice of the customers groups to be served, the structure of the activities necessary to answer to their needs and desires,”(Franzen & Moriarty, 2009). Tide follows this golden rule precisely in the new and foreign markets. In India, they advertise their product as the one using the most less quantity water, understanding the demand for water. In the Middle East, they market Tide bleach which makes white clothes shine prominently, because Arabs wear only white clothes. In china, they mainly advertise about their fabric softeners which do not cause any damage to the colour of the soft dresses they wear. They distribute the concerned products mainly in these areas, understanding the demand of those foreign markets well. Adhering to the Changes in Technologies Tide never hesitated to update its technology. When washing machines started to get popular, they immediately started producing machine specific detergents. They were the first ones to introduce liquid detergents most suitable for the modern washing machines. It still rules the detergent world till date. They were quite early to introduce the modern washing Pods which can be found widely in the markets now. Curbing the Competition with Low Price As explained earlier they created a space for themselves in the detergent market and owned it by updating themselves constantly according to the emerging trends and kept exploring new markets constantly and carefully supplying exactly what they needed. All this combined with the very good quality and the brand name created out of it, helped them keep other competitors in check automatically. Tide was also able to keep its competitors down by giving massive price discounts, because of its mass production easily. When customers get the best product at the lowest cost and are kept well informed about the same through expressive and aesthetic ads, they choose it naturally. This helps the brand stay on top forever. Tide controls 33% of the entire liquid laundry detergent market in the United States Another important success formula of Tide brand is its quick adaptation to change. Over the years, the brand keeps changing everything from product cover to formula, produce new products to suit the varying needs and meet the new technologies constantly. Take a look at their constant changes in brand covers over the years. Conclusion Tide remains as one of the most profitable product of the world’s largest consumer products producing company P&G because of its reputable brand name and the tireless efforts it takes to maintain the brand positioning it has gained early in the market. There are very few brand names associated with products directly. For example we automatically associate Intel with chips and Apple with Amazon with books. Tide is one such product known for its fabulous brand image. References 1. Moriarty, S & Franzen, Giep. The Science and Art of Branding. New York:M.E. Sharpe, Inc, 2009. 2. McGhie, A. Brand Is A Four Letter Word: Positioning and The Real Art of Marketing. South Carolina: Advantage Media Group, 2012 . p 93 - 94 3. Aaker, D. Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name. New York: The Free Press, 1991. Read More