How Visual Brand Identity Shapes Consumer Behaviour: McDonald's - Case Study Example

How visual brand identity shapes consumer behaviour How visual brand identity shapes consumer behaviour: McDonald’s case study Introduction Brand is different from the real product since it entails the accumulations of the functional and emotional associations of the customer towards the product (Simonson & Schmitt 1997). Brand offers a promise that the product will meet the customer expectations and creates positive corporate reputation (Verma 2006). From the perspective of consumers, brands signifies quality symbol, lower product risk, less search costs and perceived high quality of the product (Lury 2011). In this case, consumers will easily recognize the brand in the market and make faster purchase decision since there is an assurance that the brand will meet their expectations. Plummer (1984) outlined that brand are described using three dimensions that include the physical attributes, functional characteristics or benefits of consumption and personality traits associated with the brand (Katz& Marshall 2003, p 8). In other words, brand is a promise that the company will consistently provide unique set of advantages and characteristics that consumers seek from purchasing the product. The brand comprises of the ideas, values and personality and includes the functional, rational and emotional associations or benefits that occupy consumer’s mind (Halsall 2008, p 27). Brand identity consists of six aspects that include the physique, culture, personality, relationship, reflection, and self-image (Aaker 2012). The personality of the brand refers to the human characteristics that are associated with consuming the brand such as competence, excitement and sincerity (Lury 2011). Brand personality assists in differentiation through enhancing brand meaning and creating brand trust and loyalty. Branding has attained high significance in contemporary marketing due to globalization, evolvement of individualism, and high preference of symbolic experiences when making a purchase decision (Verma 2006). Businesses have moved from traditional marketing to consumer oriented models such as branding in order to strengthen their relationships with their target market (Arvidsson 2005, p 248). The brand is significant in connecting and strengthening relationships with consumers since it conveys a consistent brand image to both the internal and external environment in the company (Cova and Dalli 2009, p 327). Branding enables companies enhance their product awareness and recognition in the market since consumers are capable of distinguishing the product while in the shelves. Branding sustains business growth and enables companies charge premium prices since consumers associated the product will differentiated benefits (Ritzer and Stillman 2003, p 35). Brand management starts with understanding the brand meaning, brand promise and positioning of the brand in the market. Brand management helps in creating and sustaining brand value thus enhancing customer loyalty to the brand (Cova and Dalli 2009, p 318). In this case, the brand managers and marketers must understand the tangible and intangible dimensions of the brand thus as the product, price, packaging, perceived brand attributes and expected customer experiences (Lury 2011). The intangibles of the brand evolve around the emotional connections with product. The main aims of brand management is to convey the brand messages consistently and create customer loyalty through persuading customers to purchase the product and establishing emotional connectivity with prospective and current customers (Willmott 2010, p 520). Branding will create customer perceptions and raise the customer expectations regarding the product thus facilitating in product differentiation. Strong brands such as McDonalds will reduce the customers’ perceived social, safety and monetary risks of consuming the product since customers have an emotional connection with the brand (Lury 2011). Companies should consider the brand equity, accessibility, relevance, vitality, consumer personality and emotional connectivity before making a decision to rebrand. In this case, brand identity enables a company attain competitive edge through stimulating growth in crowded markets or fragmented audiences (Arvidsson 2005, p 249). Branding is also done to reflect the changes in market dynamics such as market size and market position such as the advancements in technology. In this case, the brand will reflect the level of technological innovation attained by the company and how the company has maintained pace with the changes in the society (Lury 2011). Brand associations The brand associations are symbols and images that are associated with the brand or not the benefits of consuming the brand. The associations offer differentiation and form of acquaintance (George 2014). For instance, BWM is associated with fun driving, quality engineering and sophistication. McDonald’s is associated with excitement. Brand association is created through celebrity endorsements, point of sales displays, word of mouth, and quality of the product and customer service. Brand positioning Brand positioning refers to the reasons why customers prefer purchasing the brand and positioning of brand should be unique and distinctive in order to attract the niche market. The positioning should be appropriate for all geographical markets (Simonson & Schmitt 1997). Strong brand positioning is critical in driving marketing strategy since it explains the brand details, the brand differentials and the reasons for using the brand. For instance, McDonalds stands for excitement (George 2014). Brand image This is the set of beliefs held by the customers about the brand and conveys the emotional value of the brand (George 2014). The brand image is conveyed in mission and vision statement and main elements that contribute to positive brand image include the slogans that briefly describe the values of the company (Simonson & Schmitt 1997). The brand image should be unique and marketers should strengthen the image through their packaging, word of mouth publicity and advertisements. The image will consist of the attributes and benefits that are automatically formed such as appeal functionality, fame, and ease of use. According to self-congruity theory, favourable brand attributes are a function of mental comparison and image congruence in regards to the similarity or dissimilarity with the brand’s image and self-image (George 2014). Brand equity George (2014) defines brand equity as the strength and value of brand. It is the differential impact or consumers response to brand marketing that occurs when a consumer has positive and distinctive associations with the brand (George 2014). Brand equity will occur when the consumer unique and favorable brand associations in the memory and results from brand awareness, associations, perceived superior quality, trademarks and loyalty (Tulin & Joffre 2004, p 293). The brand equity can be measured by through calculating the returns to the shareholders, comparing the premium pricing compared to non-branded substitutes, and evaluating long-term earning potential of the brand (Parameswaran 2006). Visual Brand identity Brand identity stems from the brand elements that include the brand vision, brand positioning, brand personality, brand culture, relationships and brand values. The identity entails the mental and functional perceptions that differentiate the product such as the signature tunes during advertisements, colours, logo designs, slogans and trademarks. It includes the noticeable elements such as name, symbol, and logo that will enable the target audience differentiate the brand in their minds. Brand identity is formed in the minds of consumers through consistent and repeated exposure to brand elements such as the packaging, logo, symbols, taste, and sound. The visual graphic design such as logotype, colour, slogan, topography and name plays a significant role in constructing identity, influencing the imagery and creating the symbolic value of the brand in the market (Parameswaran 2006). For instance, the shape and colour of the logo influences the consumers’ social, behavioural and emotional reactions towards the product. Accordingly, the brand identity aggregates the company mission, competitive edge and promises to consumers and includes the perceptions, feelings and associations that associated with the brand (Zwick, Bonsu, and Darmody 2008, p 170). According to Keller and Kotler, brand identity strategies should ensure that consumers connect with the brand. The marketers must understand the consumer preferences and use the knowledge of how consumers acquire and use information in formulating the brand identity strategies. The consumers are more likely to notice stimuli that relates to their needs or stimuli that they anticipate. Case study of McDonalds rebranding Rebranding refers to brand renewal, freshmen, reinvention and repositioning in order to enhance the brand equity and operational efficiency. It may entail use of new symbol, new name, slogan or logo in order to develop a new and differentiated identity in the mind of the target consumers. Rebranding aims at responding to changes in the market so as to maintain the rich history and heritage of the brand to the target audience. Accordingly, rebranding is carried out in order for the brand to remain relevant to the market due to changing consumer need for convenience, technology and better customer service. Rebranding aims at creating a compelling reason for the customers to purchase the products in the targets of the audience thus overcoming stiff competition in the market (Parameswaran 2006). Rebranding is also essential during internalization or globalization of the operations since it makes the product offering and advertisement messages consistent across different geographical markets. Companies may also rebrand in order to demonstrate their innovation and their pace in embracing changes in technology. For instance, software companies are constantly rebranding through offering added product benefits and changing their slogans. Accordingly, rebranding is essential when a company changes the product portfolio since it reduces the business development costs and builds brand confidence. A complex product portfolio may cause brand incongruence or fragmentation of audiences thus rebranding helps in reinforcing the brand associations and stimulating growth. Brand elements a) Brand name McDonald’s brand name is unique and relevant since it is easy to pronounce, easy to identify and memorise (Ritzer 2006). Accordingly, it should provide an overview of the product benefits and qualities and should not portray negative meanings in other languages or cultures. The brand attributes should depict the company characteristics and personality aspects of the brand. Some of the attributes of strong brands include relevancy since brand must meet the customer expectations and should be consistent in building customer loyalty (Ritzer 2006. The brand should be properly positioned in accordance with the target audience and should be credible in communicating to the audiences. Accordingly, strong brands should be inspirational and appealing to the target customers in order to sustain business competitiveness and innovation (Ritzer 2006). b) Logo McDonald’s has been named as one of the most successful rebranding campaigns. McDonald’s logo is not just a yellow representation of the first letter of the company name. The ‘m’ represents nourishing breasts and consumers get hungry when they imagine a pair of nourishing breasts. In 1955-1961, McDonalds logo featured a pudgy winking little chef with a hamburger and holding a sign reading ‘I’m Speedee’. The company was founded in 1940 as a Barbecue restaurant, but shifted to Hamburger fast-food restaurant in order to keep pace with innovation. The initial branding was the speedee-service. In 1961, Fred Turner sketched the famous ‘Golden Arches’ logo and the initial arches were interlocking. The Golden Arches logo of 1961 which was designed with yellow and red highlights the happiness and energy that is reflected through the chain work systems where the labour endures the high speed work system (Ritzer 2006). From the perspective of consumers, the happiness is reflected in the low-priced menu and the playground areas are placed in all restaurants signifying that the brand caters for the family. The brand attributes included convenience and practicality as consumers were promised and guaranteed rapid discount and discounts for the take away food (Parameswaran 2006). The consumers associated the brand with friendly, fun and welcoming experience with the kid gifts surprises, or clown mascot. The company vision aimed at making McDonald’s the favourite eating place through fulfilling gaps in the market such as creating practicality, hard-discounts and rapidity (Ritzer 2006). The consumers were the core of the promotional messages since tag lines like ‘we love to see you smile’ were carried through the advertisements. The brand experienced criticism due to health issues of its menu thus rebranding efforts focused on promoting dynamic and healthy lifestyles through conserving the environment. Due to rise in environmentalism, the logo was changed to green and white in order to reflect the sustainable aspects of the brand and efforts dedicated towards preserving natural resources. The company partnered with Greenpeace and WWF to enhance it brand reputation and build credibility in conserving the environment (Ritzer 2006). The rebranding efforts led to unveiling of a new logo in 1968, that was tied in with a architectural change to signify the modern age and Space Age-style restaurants. The Modern age logo of 1968 In 1986, McDonalds released a new logo (red rectangle) that was surrounded with a red rectangle for advertising, packaging and promotional messages. A significant change of the logo occurred in 1996, the ‘Super M’ logo that was unveiled with blue shadow over geometric gold and red shapes. The logo aimed at associating the brand with the 1996 Olympics games. (Super M logo of 1996) The current official logo of McDonald’s is the stripped-down yellow arch that entails ‘I’m Lovin it’ slogan. The golden arches are symbol of America’s influence across the world. McDonalds has rebranded itself to more health conscious company with great variety of salads and healthy meal options under the slogan ‘I’m Lovin it’ that featured a tune by Justin Timberlake. McDonalds Logo is recognised as a symbol of expansion of multinational business and part of American culture. The Golden Arches portrays uniqueness, elegance and concrete corporate image. The golden arches resembled the new arched shaped symbols on the sides of newly established restaurants. c) Colour McDonald’s rebranding comprised of shades of golden and red that signified the corporate strength and the red colour was used as the background of the logo. The colours represent the company’s courage, authority and supremacy. The font of the ‘M’ symbolises the strong image of the firm and simplicity of the font in the logo make the logo more engaging and appealing to the target audience (Ritzer and Stillman 2003, p 33). d ) topography McDonald’s style and appearance of the branding including the fonts and visual elements have utilised the right topography. The topography has a significant influence on the consumer purchasing behaviour since it conveys the messages. The font choice and typeface determines the easy of communicating the marketing slogans and in this case they have conformed to the overall visual brand style (Aaker 2012). e)images McDonald’s rebranding campaigns have used consistent styles and images. The company has used the same photos over and again with minimal changes to the line style treatment, the color blocks, and background textures. f) packaging Packaging has been another powerful McDonald’s branding strategy since the original packages had a photo of a chef and words ‘thank you’. The packaging has the company logo and slogans that aim at outlining the company offering and promises to the consumers. G ) sounds McDonald’s has used various musicians and other celebrity tones to endorse their advertisements thus enhancing the brand recognition. For instance, McDonalds includes cool background music to its service offerings in all restaurant outlets in order to enhance the customer experience (Aaker 2012). According to Don Thompson, McDonald’s President and CEO, the rebranding aims at fortifying the principles elements of the business through focusing efforts in enhancing value, marketing and operational excellence in order to become a trusted brand. The rebranding plan is aimed at reshaping the basic offerings that include the service, business value, marketing and menu. Brand distribution is another critical aspect of current McDonald’s rebranding and covers more than just the physical distribution of the brand across the outlets (Aaker 2012). The distribution aims at enhancing brand awareness and includes the customer service and ambience branding that aims at creating the expected customer experiences. McDonalds aims at enhancing memorability and brand recall among the target consumers (Tulin & Joffre 2004, p 295). One of the reasons why McDonalds has rebranded is the international expansion and the need to remain consistent in its brand offering across all the geographical markets. The outlet location is another element of McDonald’s branding strategy since it enhances brand distribution and awareness. McDonalds serves more than 54 million customers in 120 countries each day and its expanded brand coverage has enabled the company to attain higher market share. The company has gained multinational status and has global connections. For instance, the ‘I’m Lovin it’ slogan has been translated in 12 different languages to millions of consumers across the world. McDonalds success is a symbol of globalisation and its key competitive edge is the ability to adapt to local tastes (Ritzer and Stillman 2003, p 34). The salads are mainly offered in the US, Lamb burgers are common in India and Salmon Sandwiches are common in Norway. The secret has been understanding the local customer needs and understanding the lifestyles of the customers. For instance, American customers value their time and McDonald’s offers convenient service and drive-through services that enhance customer convenience. Accordingly, the company offers 24-hour service in selected outlets and these customer experiences enhances the brand associations and brand memorability (Oswald 2012). McDonald’s rebranding strategy has involved improvement in the customer service that has enabled the company to create favourable and pleasant customer experience. The aim of customer service is to increase customer loyalty and attract new customers through the word of mouth publicity (Aaker 2012). Accordingly, rebranding efforts at McDonalds have aimed at enhancing the service environment through creating a welcoming ambience. The amble, calm and welcoming environment at the outlets comprises of music at the background and excellent interior designs that enable customers generate better brand relationships (Ritzer and Stillman 2003, p 38). Advantages Branding and rebranding has various advantages to both the company and consumers. Branding enhances the product awareness and perceived attributes in the minds of the consumers since customers can easily select the company product among a variety of related products in the stores. According to McLoughlin and Aaker (2009), the company logo and colour guide consumers perceptions and stimuli in recognising the brand in the shelves thus facilitating the purchase decision. Visual brand identity facilitates the creation of positive brand value and equity since consumers perceive the quality offerings as consistent. Rebranding has enabled McDonald’s to extend the product offering through adding new and healthy conscious menus to the same ‘family’ brand without affecting the sales volumes of the traditional menu. The rebranding campaign has been critical in enabling the company to introduce new menus easily since consumers are aware that the new menu is healthy conscious and aligned with their taste expectations (McLoughlin and Aaker, 2009). Oswald (2012) asserts that rebranding facilitates product and company positioning that aims at attaining competitive edge in the market. For instance, McDonald’s rebranding efforts has positioned the fast food chain restaurant as a healthy conscious company that offers nutritious menu, excellent customer service and value. The rebranding efforts have positioned the company as convenient and customer friendly company that are committed to meeting customer expectations and providing superior customer experience due to the unique ambience, welcoming staff and variety of menus (Aaker 2012). According, rebranding at McDonald’s was essential since it has enabled the company to charge premium prices for its superior customer service and premium reputation. Although the company offers hard-discounts and low-priced menu, McDonald’s is capable of increasing its price margins without affecting the sales volumes due to the positive brand image and association in the minds of the target consumers (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). Accordingly, the loyal customers are capable of paying higher prices since they trust the brand for its healthy, clean and superior quality salads and other menu. Rebranding has enabled the company the company to reduce the marketing communications mix costs. The company will incur minimal expenses in advertisement, public relations and sales promotions due to the high brand awareness and recognition across the world (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). Accordingly, the consistent brand messages are ideal in creating favourable brand attributes thus the word of mouth publicity and referrals will enhance the marketing campaigns of the company (Parameswaran 2006). Rebranding at McDonald’s has helped in building customer and brand loyalty since the customers are less likely to switch to alternative brands due to the positive brand associations, positive brand attributes and positive brand personality. The customers are assured of healthy menus and superior customer services and associated the brand with convenient, fun and welcoming ambience and quality (Parameswaran 2006). The rebranding has reinforced the brand image of superiority, authority and supremacy that is associated with American ideals and has enhanced customer convenience. Accordingly, the positive customer brand associations have created positive feelings and perceptions towards McDonald’s and this will increase the number of repeat purchases (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). The rebranding campaigns carried out by McDonald’s have helped in building and sustaining the credibility of the company. The company has a long history since 1940s and its credibility was threatened due to global warming, changes in attitudes towards the need to recycle and conserve natural resources and need to protect consumer health (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). In this case, the company included green colours in its logo and partnered with Greenspace in order to demonstrate its commitment towards conserving the ecological environment. The company has included motivational messages on the need to conserve the environment in its packaging and utilises renewable packaging materials. These efforts have shaped the consumer attitudes towards the company and McDonald’s values on environment are congruent with the societal values thus enabling the company have credibility in the market (Aaker 2012). Rebranding at McDonald’s was occasioned by changes in attitudes towards the brand and social-cultural changes in the society (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). The increased consumer awareness and education has led to high demand of health diets since lifestyle diseases have increased tremendously over the past few years. In this case, rebranding has reduced the consumers’ perceived social, monetary and healthy risks of consuming the brand (Aaker 2012). The company has made promises that its entire menu will comply with international standards on nutrition thus increasing consumer confidence towards the brand (Aaker 2012). In this case, the company has been able to counter a likelihood of negative reputation in the market. Branding and rebranding aims at building and sustaining brand equity since long-term gains can be realized through other arrangements such as outlet licensing or franchising arrangements. The franchises will adhere to the brand attributes and the parent company is assured of long-term success of the company due to the established brand equity (Parameswaran 2006). The rebranding is a barrier to competition since the company has differentiated its product offering from those of competitors. The company has set high standards for competitors through attaining consumer preference and positive consumer perceptions towards the brand. The brand has high perceived functional and emotional benefits that create a competitive advantage in the market (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). Disadvantages However, branding and rebranding faces various shortcomings since it may lead to confusion and negative image of the product in the market. Negative events in the market may tarnish the reputation of the company thus leading to massive product recalls. For instance, messages that portray different meanings in other languages or cultures may lead to negative reputation thus hindering he geographical expansion of the company to those markets (Ravens 2013). Branding and rebranding identity building is complex since it comprises of extensive market research, market strategic audits and clear branding strategy (Aaker 2012). The branding is only successful when the brand strategy can influence the attitudes and perceptions of consumers towards the brand. The brand identity should be relevant, unique and aligned with the attitudes of consumers (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). Branding and rebranding is expensive affair that requires hiring of consultants and professionals to develop a compelling logo and make clear decisions on colour, topography and sound motions (Aaker 2012). The branding may involve several unsuccessful trials before the approval of the final visual identity that is included in the packaging, letterheads and advertising. Another disadvantage is the difficulties encountered in changing or modifying the brand identity since the process requires aggressive marketing communications and management expertise (McLoughlin and Aaker 2009). The brand may lose loyal customers due to change in visual brand identity especially when the customers are not aware of the planned changes. Conclusion The visual brand identity shapes the consumer purchase behaviour towards a particular brand. The viewers of various visual images undergo various psychological and cognitive processes that influence visual information processing. The visual images determine consumers’ eye movement and sensory processes that create either positive or negative perception towards the brand. The images entail historical and cultural aspects genealogy that influences how a consumer will produce, reflect and initiate meaning. Branding creates emotional associations that appeal to the senses of consumer. McDonald’s logo is not just a yellow representation of the first letter of the company name. The ‘m’ represents excitement, convenience and superior quality. Rebranding is essential for business repositioning since it changes the brand promises and makes the change visible to all stakeholders. Colours of the logo act as non-verbal signals that are important in brand recognition in the marketplace since they attract the attention of the consumers and are the first signs that consumers notice in the product packaging. The shapes of the logos appeal to the attention of consumers and design of the logo communicates an impression about the brand attributes. 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