Building a brand - Essay Example

Brand is a promise of consistent level of service quality that consumers can expect from a certain product or services. This promise need not be implicit. In fact the brand creates positive consumers’ perception towards a product. It is an effective way of positioning a product or service in the minds of consumers. This favorable position has become increasingly important in the rapidly changing environment in which the businesses operate. This has also made the role of a marketing manager more difficult.

A good marketing manager is not the one who brands a product. In fact a good marketing manager positions the brand in a way that is most desirable for the company. (Kotler and Keller, 2004) Branding has gone a long way since its inception. Earlier businesses were product oriented. They considered that a good product will eventually sell itself. However, businesses and consumers learned the impact of branding in the late 19th century. Several top companies of that era started branding their products more regular and extended their product lines under the same brand umbrella.

Market researchers soon found out that branding helps a product do well in the market if positive heuristics for the brand already exist in the market. It is one of the several reasons why Sprite was started under the umbrella of Coca Cola and was not started as a separate brand. Brand competition has changed a lot in the last few years with each company trying to provide the best customer service to its customers. This has resulted in extremely fierce competition between brands and battle for finding and serving the niches has become more intense.

Branding has also changed in way that many brands these days seek to segment their market rather than serving the mass market. (Lehmann and Keller, 2009) Roger Federer endorses Mercedes Benz. Although Roger Federer has no apparent connection with the line of business Mercedes is in, still this partnership is doing wonders for the brand. The advertising shows that like Roger Federer has done it all and dominates the tennis courts for almost a decade, in the very same way Mercedes is doing this in the car industry.

This type of advertising is great for the company as it is using the analogy of Roger Federer to show the bigness of the brand. (PR News Wire, 2007) The other famous celebrities that could be attached with Mercedes should show the same level of domination in their field. Lionel Messi is one such candidate who has been dominating football for good seven years now. Lionel Messi is a consistent performer just like Mercedes and has conquered all. He shows the same level of consistency and performance as the brand Mercedes Benz.

BMW provides competition to Mercedes Benz. Pierce Brosnan endorsed BMW cars. However, the endorsement is not good. First of all not everyone can relate to James Bond or being a 007 agent. Although BMW is not meant for masses, it will lose the market because people are more concerned with the performance of a vehicle than the kind of impact provided by having Pierce Brosnan as an endorser. Hence, it can be seen that the endorsement program of Mercedes is much better than that of BMW. (Schlecht, 2003) References: Kotler, P and Keller, K. L. (2004).

Marketing Management. Prentice. Lehmann, D and Keller, K. L. (2004). Brands and Branding Research. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance 2010 25:645-671 PR News Wire. (2007). Roger Federer Global Partnership with Mercedes. United Business Media. Schlecht, C. (2003). Celebrities Impact on Branding. Columbia Business School.