Role of Clothing in Product Branding - Essay Example

Role of Clothing in Product Branding Introduction Marketing communications are undertaken with different aims within organisations. While continuousproduct marketing remains essential in ensuring success of products, branding could present a long-term solution towards continued success. Traditionally, branding involved making mission statements, which would identify the organisation within a specified market. Modern branding, however, involves intangible elements, which are contained within the behaviour and culture of the organisations (Kapferer, 2012). These attributes present the unique identification of products developed by a company, within a market. Branding has been a fundamental modern product differentiation strategy, commonly utilised by many multinational organisations. While different approaches to branding remain available at the disposal of organisations, the capabilities and resources available to organisations determine the branding strategy adopted. Modern branding is presented through organisational culture portrayed by individuals coming into contact with the company customers (Temporal, 2002). While many employees might come into contact with customers, sales representatives have the opportunity to interact with organisations while undertaking their routine duties. Their physical appearance, therefore, becomes fundamental towards enhancing the branding concept. Marketing communication Marketing communication has been defined as a means utilised by organisations in seeking to inform, and persuade consumers about the presence of their product and brands(Kotler & Keller, 2011). Undertaking marketing communication involves identification of effective communication channels, which shall be utilised to facilitate the communication. The communications channels utilised by organisations in delivering marketing communication could either be personal or non-personal. Persona communication involves the utilisation of individuals like the case of direct sales, while non-personal communication is commonly contained in different forms of media utilised in advertisements. The choice of communication channel utilised by organisations is determined by the target market. When communicating to the general public, non-personal communication channels become effective. Upon identification of a target market, personal communication is utilised to make emphasis on the message presented through non-personal communication. The aspect of marketing communication traditionally consisted of development of printed materials, which formed marketing collateral. This approach to communications marketing has been fundamentally transformed in seeking to capture the attention of the target market. Modern marketing communication, however, seeks to capture the customer through psychological elements, like colour, which create an aspect of appeal among the customers. Marketing communication is effectively utilised in achieving strategic elements like branding(Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). This is done through consideration of other factors when engaging in marketing communications, like presentation and appearance of the products. Marketing communication focused on factors of “look &feel” seeks to enhance the consistency of message throughout an entire market(McCraw, 2000) This is enhanced through uniformity of the appearance, which results in lasting impressions being left upon the customers. Modern marketing communication emphasises these elements through colour, associated to the organisation and product. Marketing communications remain fully focused on delivering product information to a target market. Promotional events undertaken by companies commonly seek to market products and effectively communicate to individuals, information pertaining to a product. These are perceived as marketing opportunities which are fundamental components in establishment of a brand. These events present the organisation with opportunities to impress the brand upon customers, within an identified market(Clow & Baack, 2007). These define the instance when brands come into contact with the customers, commonly called the brand touch points. The brand touch points are aimed at ensuring the customers understand the product better through effective communication. The brand being communicated becomes easily identifiable by the target customers following effective marketing communication. During these instances, the marketing communication must ensure the message is conveyed with the intention of enhancing brand recognition. Other than the printed materials, non-verbal communication is presented through the colour and clothing of the individuals undertaking promotional events. The individual’s appearance remains fundamental in creating perception regarding the brand being communicated(Hatch & Schultz, 2001). The elements of colour and clothing remain fundamental in communicating non-verbally with the market, and defining the brand attributes. Clothing can be effectively utilised to deliver multiple messages to the market, and effectively define the brand to the customers Clothing of Sales representatives Sales representatives are the individuals who are hired by organisations to represent the organisations to their potential customers within a market. These individuals could be describes as the link between companies and their customers. These individuals perform a fundamental role of ensuring the customers perceive the company as having a face, which customers can identify. Many organisations nowadays emphasise on sales representatives wearing clothes matching organisational colour or product colours. This makes them easy to spot and the target market can easily identify the representatives (Duncan & Moriarty, 1998). This becomes essential in communicating presence of the brand within a place, especially when undertaking promotional events. These representatives must ensure they represent the company well in seeking to win the trust of target customers. As representatives of the company, their role in marketing the company remains fundamental because they present the only human touch upon the company. While customers might depend on products to identify the company, human representation remains essential in assuring the customers of a company existence. Colour provides an instantaneous message without saying any spoken words. It is inextricably linked to the recognition of brands and identity of same brands. Even when undertaking business online, the power of colour cannot be ignored as websites are commonly designed with colours depicting the particular product or organisation, depending on the branding strategy. The behaviour exhibited by representatives becomes essential in establishing customer perceptions of the particular organisation. The clothing of representatives in marketing the organisations forms a fundamental element in enhancing product branding. The role of clothing of sales representatives in product branding cannot be neglected hence; organisations must always ensure that their representatives are dressed in colours which enhance quick identification of the product brand, within a market. The clothing of sales representatives performs various functions in enhancing the branding concept. Many of the fundamental aspects of branding enhanced by clothing are contained within the appearance and the colour of the representative, in relation to the brand being marketed. Clothing and marketing communication Clothing of sales representatives conveys a strong message to the target market because of the appearance and colour. Through the design and colour of clothing, the customers could identify fundamental attributes of a specified brand being promoted. When marketing the leading brand in a company, for example, the promotional staff would dress in colour similar to the company colours. This becomes essential in establishing a direct link of product to an organisation, which the market already knows about. The marketers would be seeking to utilise the organisational reputation to achieve similar reputation for the product. Designs of the clothing, on the other hand, effectively seek to capture a particular target market. when undertaking promotional events for children products, for example, the personnel must dress in designs which appear attractive to children, and acceptable to parents, who could be the individuals purchasing the products. Clothing communicates much of the desired information through capturing the attention of the customer. Clothing presents the following effects in event branding. Brand representation Brand recognition Brand touch points Brand image and Brand identity Brand representation Sales representatives perform the responsibility of communicating crucial information regarding a company and its products to their customers. While information regarding company brands could be presented to customers through other methods, like electronic media, utilisation of individuals enhances the customer perceptions regarding the company products (Villarejo-Ramos & Sánchez-Franco, 2005). The colour of the clothes worn by the representatives communicates crucial message to the customers, without the individuals engaging in conversations with the customers. Information presented through advertisements is commonly aimed at sensitising the target markets about the presence of a specified brand within the market. Employees form an essential part in providing further information, which could not be presented through advertisements, as they have the capability to answer questions raised from the advertisements. As brand ambassadors, the sales representatives must present the brand in a method which the customers can understand easily. Utilising the product colour not only enhances recognition, it personalises the product. The customers perceive the person as the product itself. This representation captures the appeal of customers when undertaking promotional event and field marketing (True, 2006). Children will fondly remember individuals dressed in product colours because of such appeal. This dressing makes the product to appear as moving towards the customers and not being moved by sales representatives. Clothing sales representatives in product colours humanises the product, and consequently gains increased popularity among the target customers. Their appearance defines the perceptions of the customers regarding the brand being promoted. Brand identity This is a process of inducing art related concepts into business branding in creating unique brands, which could be utilised in defining companies. The aspect of brand identity involves the organisation of messages of images delivered to customers, by the company, intentionally or unintentionally. The utilisation of colour captures the imaginative aspects of the customers quite easily. The product images presented by the representatives must have a colour, which leaves a lasting impression on the customer memory. The clothing of sales representatives continuously communicates such messages and portrays the images of the product upon the customer (Burmann & Zeplin, 2005). These individuals can be described as the brand curators within many organisations. They communicate directly and represent company image to the customers. The images presented to the customers remain fundamental in establishing brand recognition attributes among different customers. The sales representative must continuously monitor the images and communications delivered to customers in enhancing brand recognition. The colour remains a fundamental element of art, and in brand identity the role of colour remains essentially communicating the various attributes of the brand. Brand colour is commonly presented in the packaging of products and enhanced through association of the colour to the brand. The association could be created through dressing of sales representatives with the colours representing the product colour. Many companies and products have differentiated themselves from others through colours(Schroeder, Salzer-Mörling, & Askegaard, 2006). The impact of colour upon customers remains a lasting image of the products and also enables the sales representatives to identify themselves easily. The role of the clothing worn by the representatives, therefore, becomes creating an identity which associates the persons to the brand being marketed. Brand recognition This could be defined as the creation of a unique identification attribute for a brand, through capturing the customer attention. Recognition remains an essential element in gaining the trust of customers and recognition of the brand. Persistence and consistency remain the major characteristics which enhance the trust of customers upon a brand. Maintaining a constant attribute of the brand would become perceived as consistency, clothing and colour are some of the attributes which could be easily maintained (Urde, 1994). The identity of any particular brand is commonly contained within the products and the presentation of the products. While competitor products have similar contents, differentiation and subsequent creation of a recognisable brand can only be undertaken through the presentation of a brand. Presentation occurs through the clothing with colour being the most striking feature for capturing the attention of customers (Mulyanegara, 2010). Retail outlets commonly arrange similar products within the same sections of a store. Colour becomes the differentiating element which helps customers to recognise specific brands. Similarly the clothing of sales representatives could effectively enhance customer recognition of the brand during promotional campaigns. The appearance of sales representatives remains an essential element in the strengthening of brands (Bridson & Evans, 2004). Integration of existing markets enables companies to strengthen brands through ensuring brand coverage becomes widened. This remains an approach which has been extensively utilised in achieving globalisation of various brands (Ewing & Napoli, 2005). The clothing of sales representatives defines their appearance and enhances the perception of the customers regarding the brand. This becomes essential in seeking to enhance brand recognition within a target market, with many products. Brand image Brand image can be defined as the perception held by customers regarding certain attributes of an organisational product (De Chernatony, 1999). Sales representatives present a chance for direct contact between customers and organisations. This interaction presents an opportunity to make an impression which would become essentially enhanced by their appearance. The perceptions held by customers regarding the appearance of the representatives remain essential in establishing brand image and the subsequent reputation of the brand. The clothing of these representatives, therefore, becomes a fundamental component in creating a desirable image for organisational brands. Brand images could either be positive or negative, depending on the presentation made the employees coming into contact with customers (Berry, 2000). While the company might have its perception of the brand, the most significant element in establishing brand image remains the customer perception. The dressing of the sales representatives of a company performs the function of enhancing the perception of the customers, through the appearance. Desired brand image by a company can only be achieved through the appearance of the individuals interacting with the customers directly, commonly characterised in clothing. Brand touch points These could be defined as instances when brands come into direct contact with customers either before or after transactions have occurred. Brand touch points have been identified as the moments of truth within a company (Carlzon, 1989). The moments of truth define the instances when customers come into contact with the actual physical producers or manufacturers of a product, like during promotional events. Brand touch points form essential aspects in determining the perceptions of the customers regarding the products being discussed. Within the service industry, moments of truth or brand touch points commonly occur during the delivery of services. These moments determine a customer’s acceptance or rejection a product brand being presented. Similarly, during these moments, companies could lose or gain client confidence in a brand. Sales representatives commonly encounter these moments while undertaking their responsibilities. Sales representatives represent the brand touch points where customers have opportunities to interact the product owners. The point of sale remains an essential part for establishing interactions between the customer and the product being purchased; consequently presenting a required brand experience. The brand experience is presented by all the interactions which occur between the customer and products or organisation (Brakus, Schmitt, & Zarantonello, 2009). Since the customers cannot interact physically with the organisations, sales representatives become the face of organisations during these interactions. The experience is relayed through conceptualised feelings and cognitions evoked by brand related actions like communications and the clothing of the representatives (Aaker & Biel, 2013). The clothing of sales representatives becomes fundamental in determining the perception of the customers regarding appearance of representatives. The physical appearance of sales representatives leaves a lasting impression on the customer regarding the brand. The touch points present the customer with reality regarding the capability of the company to deliver the promised experience (Spengler, 2008). The associated quality and service promised by companies to customers remain the element which must be enhanced by the brand during the moment of truth. 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