Branding and Cultural Dimensions - Essay Example

One of the strongest notions amongst most of the managers and companies across the world is the fact that brand and culture is one and the same thing. Identifying the most important one in the company could disadvantage the other because it should be an embodiment allowing better utility of the skilled personnel within the organization. The main idea is to have a culture that can support a brand and a brand that can provide employees with a culture they can stick with at work. Hofstede looked at culture based on various attributes that define how people relate at the workplace. The motivation as to find the main aspects that would increase productivity by understanding how people think and behave based on cultural attributes. This study opened up the need to look for diversity training methods that would improve the way people understood the society. Ideally, the growth of any organization was pegged on an ability to understand the main intrigues that lead to brand loyalty as many argue within the international business platform. Brands will only sell an organization if employees are aware of what the brand means to them and the effects it has on their performance. This essay seeks to answer pertinent questions regarding the link between brand and culture. The main hypothesis is that culture is a huge determinant of how branding will take place, with the building blocks and elements of the brand picking their strength from the key attributes of the inherent culture. If the culture is ignored, branding will not achieve anything in the new market. This will be first handled by briefly looking at the main aspects of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the elements that make brands appealing to clients, and the link between the two. Brand management only happens when managements involve employees in the creation of a motivating and sustainable culture. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions When one hears of the term culture, one of the main definitions that come to mind has to do with the beliefs, customs, art, morals and knowledge that is acquired by a group of people working or living in similar premises. This also extends to the workplace where people share the company’s values, norms, brands, mission statements, objectives, morals, and aims as they work towards meeting the main goals within that organization (Hofstede 2010: 29). Ideally, the growing need for a stable company leads to the growth of a culture that can meet the main demands of the society while working towards the behavioral restructuring of the different people within the organization. Hofstede understood this notion and sought to work from the general meaning of culture to one that specifically analyzed the social organizations and more so international organizations. They had thousands of employees under their organization and were from different cultural background (Hofstede 2010: 30-2). Hofstede wanted to understand whether making use of these differences would place the companies at a better position when it came to meeting the main demands of the organization. The idea was to provide an understanding of what diversity was doing to the workplace, and whether any achievements were present (Hofstede 2010: 33). The first dimension dealt with power distance index. Here, Hofstede noted that the higher the degree of power distance, the more unequally power is distributed in the area. The lower the index, the more consultative and democratic power was in that society. The second was individualism versus collectivism. Hofstede noted that individualistic groups sough to place emphasis on individual achievements and skills, while collective societies wanted cohesive communities where all individuals played their roles actively (Hofstede 2010: 50-3). The third was the uncertainty avoidance index, which sought to check on how well risk was accepted within the society. The fourth was masculinity versus femininity, which sought to examine the distribution of roles between the genders. The fifth is the long-term versus short-term orientation. This examines the importance different cultures associate with the future. The last one was the indulgence versus restraint dimension, which examined the ability of societies to control inherent desires (Hofstede 2010: 54-5). Brands Erdem, Swait & Valenzuela (2006: 36) quote the definition of a brand as a name, sign, term, design or symbol that identifies the goods from one company and differentiate them from other companies. The aim of having a unique brand is to provide services that will be different from what rivals offer and distinguish the brand in the market. If this does not happen, the company will suffer greatly and this could lead to losses. In a world that marvels in globalization, any slight mistake could see the company nose-dive and lose all its worth (Knapp 2008: 126). The aspect of creating a brand involves a lot of things that should be thought of before meeting the main demands of the job at hand. The idea is to create and enhance decision-making attributes regarding the underlying effects of consumer behavior in the market. The brand must be grown and developed from within the company before it gain any prominence on the outside. The idea is to spread the information based on what information is present and allow for better and greater consumer involvement in the setting up of the brand (Pont 2013: 109). Brands go a long way into meeting the main demands of the company as it seeks to leave a mark in the market (Smith 2008:320). Competition has made brands a common battleground, with the notions sold out during that process prepare to society towards meeting the merits the company seeks to sell. The creation of brand credibility is what makes loyal customers sell the brand to others and market the company at will. This shows that companies must work on creating a brand that will be easy to sell to clients and convince them to buy it because of its features (Klein 2008: 249). Culture versus branding Alden, Steenkamp and Batra (1999) argue that globalization has necessitated the growth of new brand positioning strategies to meet the main demands of the growing social status. The main idea is that the potential contributions of these companies to the growth of the company will have to meet the main demands of the brand as it seeks to make an impact on the strategic placement of the companies to the growing markets across the globe (Smith 2008:325). Ideally, these companies have to adhere to what Hofstede learned in his study because diversity is an issue too risky to ignore in the current market. People understand diversity as an added advantage to the company and should always be a part of the society it is in. the culture surrounding the organization will play a huge role in identifying the brand that will be in place (Pont 2013: 112). The idea is to create new parameters that position the organization into the prominence it seeks by abiding by the different dimensions noted by Hofstede. Scholars note that a brand that seeks relevancy in any market or society must be willing to act like a culture (Knapp 2008: 129). The implication is that the brand will develop and ethos that will make people belief in its meaning to them as clients. The world also has a view regarding the market this organization is in. the company, therefore, must be willing to align its activities and processes to these ethos and worldviews that it cannot avoid. In a culture with a high power index, the rich will have a brand that will associate the products to their opulence, while the poor will have a brand that will associate with their desperateness (Smith 2008:326). The brand has to make sure it understands what it wants and the way it will achieve its goals. Apple’s iPod stands for courage and invention that gives identity to anyone wishing to look rebellious to notions of legacy models in the past. This identity gives Apple the kind of clientele it needs for its users (Pont 2013: 116). On realizing this, Samsung sought to create a brand that could be indentified with several people across the globe. It did not concentrate on one tier, but spread out to all others. Even if the item bought does not look as classy as the adverts show, the brand itself is a source of pride to even the poorest in the society (Johnson 2012: 239). The targets of any products will determine how a brand will position itself and the way it will achieve its goals within the growing attributes in the marketplace. A brand has to show the philosophy that the organization wants to sell to the world. Most of these philosophies are meant to create and generate a new sense of beginning for the company as a whole. The main idea is to show the community that the company is working on a collective growth of everyone. In an individualistic society, this could be a bad way of advertising a brand. However, if the brand can manage to change the notions of such individuals, it would be a good way of entrenching the welfare of all members of the society into the brand (Pont 2013: 120). In a collective society, the cohesion within will determine how much the company will put in to maintain the characters needed for the company to sell. It will be important to create enhance the company’s position as a means of aligning the brand experience with expectations held by the client from the start (Johnson 2012: 241). This will create a brand image that can be sold out to clients and associate all brands from the organization with image out there. When one looks at coca cola, its philosophy has made its brand sell out to the rest of the world (Fischer 2009: 37). It has been a good way of dealing with the shortcomings of financial crisis and other expansions as it sells its notion of creating a society that embodies sharing of what is present. This notion sells it as a brand across the world, and that has made it one of the leading global brands of all times (Smith 2008:328). Brand positioning in an area that has a high uncertainty index is quite difficult. People have a high tolerance for uncertainty and that makes people cope with what they have because they have no other options (Smith 2008:328). However, for the marketing department, it is a new way of enhancing creativity and increasing adventure in making the best products and brand for that particular market. Where uncertainty index is low, setting a brand is easy but there are no risks involved. It will not be a moment that will carry away the employees into meeting their main demands (Klein 2008: 256). The goal is to create and generate several attributes within culture that will create and enhance the main values expected and ended within the society. Ideally, the growth of the society is dependent on the way people take their investments. The higher the risks the more planning and regulated the markets are. This will trickle to the brand and the themes, songs and all other attributes will have to follow suit as this new dimension gets into the required state of delivery. The idea is to understand what the society wants and meet these demands within the regulated avenues (Johnson 2012: 242). This also entails understanding whether the growth of the brand will be a pragmatic one as people work towards meeting their goals with the understanding that change requires tolerance and understanding. Such embracement will allow the company to fashion the brand to the ideals of the society (Argo, Popa & Smith 2010: 98). In many areas, a feminine or masculine gender has a great impact on the way things are run. The main issue is whether the company wants to recognize these attributes or conform to them (Smith 2008:330). By recognizing the existence of gender in the society, the organization will choose whether to sell the brand as a target to one of the genders or a unisex kind of branding. By conforming, the brand has to target the dominant gender while hoping that the dormant one will also be influential in decision-making processes at home (Coelho 2011:160). The feelings in place when discussing these issues will only be reflective of what the organization seeks to sell, and thus has to mirror the needs of the society at all levels (Johnson 2012: 244). This will only happen if the organization can inculcate the right morals that will push companies to work on their brands while at the same tome giving prominence to all members of the society (Smith, Peterson & Thomas 2008:32). Nonetheless, in masculine societies, it is important to track the change of events before choosing to target the females. This will save the country any shame of a public uproar, which could hinder their realization of a strong brand position prospect (Petrakis & Kostis 2013: 135). As can be noted from the above analysis, the emergence of a brand is not to showcase different was of meeting the needs of the customer, but a good way of understanding how to talk and associate with the customer. Customers approach a shop or organization because they have been attracted to a service or product that is on offer (Johnson 2012: 250-1). The organization has to look for ways of enhancing this relationship to ensure that the philosophy the company holds can be shared and reflective of the products on sale (Van de Vijver, van Hemert, & Poortinga 2008: 219). This also implies comprehending what the customers want when they look at the product and the way they will act when wooed by rival companies. Setting this straight will allow them to meet the main demands of the society as well as recreate a friendship that will assist in meeting the demands of promoting this product to different persons (Johnson 2012: 253). Brand elements Branding is a process that carries a lot of weight for all those wishing to get the right combination for a strong positioning the market. Keller notes that a business must understand the basics of branding before meeting their goals (2013: 40). This means it has to work on new methods of creating a model that establishes a competitive advantage in the mind of the customer and leaves a huge impression. The business management must understand the kind of advertising that will not give them diminishing returns, making the whole process ideal for the sake of strengthening the brand and the business as a whole (Smith, Peterson & Thomas 2008:35). While coming up with the elements of the brand, the dominant culture has to be considered. For instance, Americans think of homegrown products as the best way of encouraging the patriotism. This is an idea that should be at the heart of the marketing team because it will define how the people will view the product eventually (Petrakis & Kostis 2013: 138). Elements must examine the ideals of the society because they fashion the norms, values and beliefs that occur within the workplace (Smith, Peterson & Thomas 2008:49). The idea is to create and generate new ideas that will place the company at a higher perspective in the minds of the customers, especially when in a low-power distance ranking society. The idea is to show that both the rich and the poor can benefit from the product, something that is lacking in rival companies (Knapp 2008: 156). This will also mean having a good understanding of what is right or wrong within the society while working n understanding how the power distance affects businesses in the area. The application of individualism or collectivism in a society allows the elements in the brand to reflect the society in general. The idea is to get a feeling of how well the achievements of both individuals and groups are considered within that society. The idea is to build close ties with the consumers, but it is also important to understand how the employees operate because they are the engine that runs the organization (Klein 2008: 256). They determine which values to portray and should be the first converts for a successful company. In fact, organizations always seek to take responsibility over the actions of each member, something that places a greater strain on the way these activities happen over some time. The idea is to provide the society with new ways of viewing the product despite the prevalent interpersonal relationships (Petrakis & Kostis 2013: 139). An element that looks to embrace the tolerance between a controlling and more male-dominant society will attract better support from most of the leaders in the society. This is opposed to having a product that seeks to deal with more female-oriented branding, though the company could use this as an opportunity to meet the demands of the dormant gender (Smith, Peterson & Thomas 2008:59). This also ensures that everyone is treated well and people work on establishing new ways of meeting their main goals as a society (Petrakis & Kostis 2013: 142). The idea is to embrace the society as it is and ensure that things work for the wellness of the society and an equal representation of all genders. However, research is essential for the benefits of creating a stable product across the divide. Having a brand element that does not reflect on the uncertainty avoidance attributes within the society could hurt the way the brand works. Most societies that have high uncertainty avoidance indexes has to follow certain rules and regulations that could hinder a better ability to maximize on the growth and spread of the brand across the country (Smith, Peterson & Thomas 2008:109). In a low uncertainty avoidance territory, it is easy to boost a brand by working on what the society reflects and making so many changes that will enhance more risks and grow a better understanding of what the society entails. Eventually, the company has to look for those elements that can be accepted in the society based on its cultural attributes. Conclusion Brands act as the tip of the organization’s spear. The influence created has to reflect in the mission, vision and other elements that make up the organization. Ideal organizations are hard to find, and this necessitates the needs for creating these goals while at the same time providing new avenues for change. The cultural dimensions noted by Hofstede were very important in dealing with the society as a way of ensuring that the purpose, desire and focus of the company goes to the right attributes. The culture has to be taken into serious consideration because it motivates the employees to embrace the mission and philosophy embodied in the organization to deliver quality services to the rest of the society. References Argo, JJ, Popa, M. & Smith, MC. (2010) "The Sound of Brands", Journal of Marketing Vol. 97, pp.97–109 Coelho, D. A. (2011) “A study on the relation between manufacturing strategy, company size, country culture and product and process innovation in Europe”, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, vol.7, no.2, pp. 152-165. Dana L. Alden, DL, Steenkamp, J-B E.M. & Batra, R. (1999) “Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Globai Consumer Culture", Journal of Marketing Vol. 63, pp.75-87 Erdem, T, Swait, J & Valenzuela, A. (2006) "Brands as Signals: A Cross-Country Validation Study" Journal of Marketing Vol. 70, pp.34–49 Fischer, R. (2009) “Where is Culture in Cross-Cultural Research?: An Outline of a Multilevel Research Process for Measuring Culture as a Shared Meaning System”, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, vol.9, PP. 25-48. Hofstede, Geert. (2010) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, New York: McGraw-Hill Johnson, H. (2012) Genuine Jersey: Branding and Authenticity in a Small Island Culture’ Island Studies Journal vol.7 no.2, PP.235–58. Keller, K. (2013) Strategic Brand Management Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Klein, B. (2008) "Brand Names". In David R. Henderson (ed.). Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Library of Economics and Liberty Knapp, D. (2008) The Brand Promise. New York: McGraw-Hill Petrakis, P.E & Kostis, P.C. (2013) "Economic Growth and Cultural Change", Journal of Socio-Economics, Vol. 47, Issue C, pp. 147-157 Pont, S. (2013) The Better Mousetrap: Brand Invention in a Media Democracy, Kogan Page. Smith, P. (2008) “Indigenous Aspects of Management”, In P. Smith, Peterson, M., Thomas, D. (Eds.), The Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Smith, P., Peterson, M, & Thomas, D. (2008) The Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management Research, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Van de Vijver, F.J.R., van Hemert, D.A., & Poortinga, Y.H. (2008) Individuals and Cultures in Multilevel Analysis, Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Read More