Netflix: Controlling and Harmonising Brand Identity, Image, and Personality - Case Study Example

Brand identity and personality Brand identity and personality Introduction and corporate brand An organization having a controlover and harmonizing their brand identity, image and brand personality is important in ensuring their competitive advantage. Brand identity is the way consumers perceive the visible elements of a given brand. The visible elements include the design, logos, name and the symbols of an organization that are able to identify and also distinguish the brand in the mind of the consumers. Brand image is the impression or perception that consumers have on the specific brand (Meyer 2007). Brand personality is the characteristics or traits that are associated with the brand in question. The organization in question is Netflix, which is the provider of the internet streaming media on demand (Lusted 2013). This brand was established back in 1997 in Los Gatos in California. The brand was launched in the UK in 2012 (Telegraph 2012). Initially, the organization commenced on a subscription based service provider which later developed into a leading internet television networks globally in only under 20 years. It serves over 50 countries and has over 57 million members (Netflix 2015). Its main concept is to provide various TV shows, series, documentaries and other featured films for members to watch at all times without any commercials interrupting them. It is important to note that brands are integral aspects of societies globally, and they are strengthened on their importance on cultures and economies (Cayla & Arnould 2008). As such, Netflix is a brand that is important for its consumers who depend on it for their entertainment in the form of series or feature films among others. Considering that the company has over 57 million users, it shows the importance of the company to the society (Smith 2015). As a brand, the company creates a relationship with its consumers by coming up with a personalized service that is driven by the preferences and the needs of the customers. Moreover, considering that its corporate brand is interested and inclined towards creating a relationship and being friendly to its customers, then the brand is attempting to replicate the humanizing characteristics (Wilson & Joseph 2011). The organization’s mission is sustaining growth and building a brand reputation that is based on its original contents through various differentiation service strategies. Its vision is to become an expert programmer that is able to provide high-quality services thus increasing their licensed content on their exclusive basis (Netflix 2015). Thus, considering that a brand image is associated with the vision and mission of a brand and its promise to their customers, Netflix provides a large content selection which is convenient, accessible and low-priced. Thus, their brand image is associated with convenience. The organization’s brand identity is its logo which is bale to uphold a clean and simple look with a good spacing of letters which provides it a more cohesive feel that its customers can associate with. Its letters are bold and colored in red (Neflix 2015). Literature review Today’s world is considered to be consumer driven where consumers are able to research, customize and also purchase anything they want. Thus, branding is used to defend an organization against a consumer environment where their choice for services or products exceeds their capacity for browsing and even knowing. The ability of consumers to relate with brands is important to the consumers’ products. Thus, it is important to understand the relationship between the levels of consumption and brand to come up with a profitable consumer product (Meyer 2007). Moreover, tapping into the personalities of consumers is able to enable an organization to develop brand loyalty. Brand personality is attractive and appealing concept in the marketing world (Rajagopal 2008). Consumers are able to perceive the brand on dimension that enables organization to capture the consumers’ personality thus influencing the brands that are brought about by the organizations. The personality traits of consumers, their cultural values, the effect that a brand identity has on the consumers and the functional utility that a brand has assist in the development of successful brands for an organization. That is why most of the multinational brands often focus on the growth of the global brands built in the reference of the preferences of the consumers regarding their buying decisions. This focus on the growing equity of the brand is consistent with the overall goal of growing equity of the customers that emerges from the customers’ personality traits and their brand identity (Anthony & Glenn 2006). Companies communicate brand identity by positively influencing its reputation to consumers and thus positioning itself in the required manner in the marketplace (Anandan 2009). One major concept in corporate identity is corporate personality which embarks on a series of corporate philosophy and the required values. The organization’s mission and their vision statements are important to convey these values and communicate the uniqueness of the brand and its difference. Brand personality is important for a firm to identify its long-term equity of its brand (Diana & Tanja 2010). An organization is able to keep the promise it made to its consumers through a brand. Brands trusted by the consumers reduce the risk of the post-purchase cognitive dissonance, due to the creation of a given brand identity and the image in the mind of the customers (Srivastava 2011). Thus, through various marketing strategies, organizations seeks to convey a given brand identity and image for a given brand. Brand identity and image are used interchangeably in the communication to the consumers. Thus, organizations seek to create the brand identity and personality through communication and feedback from the consumers (Rajagopal 2008). Brands that consumers identify with affect their self-esteem and dignity. Thus, a customer would prefer to pay higher for such a brand as opposed to other cheaper brands (Ali, Zeynvand, & Karimi 2013). Considering that it is difficult to imitate, marketing practitioners make use of brand personality to create product differentiation and positioning (Suvenus & Kawpong 2009). These consumers have a tendency of endowing brands with certain human-like personalities which deepen the symbolic exchange between the brands and the consumers. The brand personality of consumers is important for management of organizations to identify the needs and preferences of the consumers in order for them to come up with high-quality products and services for the consumers (Heding, Knudtzen, & Bjerre 2008). Brand identity prism There are six traits that are associated with brand identity prism. • Physique: Netflix takes advantage of this trait by having a logo that captures the attention of its customers. Its white large fonts with a black color in the border and a red background enables the company to create the required enables the consumers to have the right perception on the brand (Netflix 2015). • Personality: Netflix critically observes the personality of its customers to come up with their preferred television series and films. That is why the organization incorporates various genres of movies and television series to capture the needs and preferences of its various customers. • Culture: Netflix works observes the cultural requirements of its customers and thus coming up with a product that captures various customers’ requirements. Their main aim is to beat the competitiveness in the market thus aim at coming up with high-quality products and services at a considerable cost. • Relationship: Netflix creates a relationship between the brand and its customers. The organization achieves this by ensuring that they listen to their customers’ wants and preferences and thus suggest other TV series and films based on what the customer have already watched. • Reflection: the brand reflects the aspect of what the brand represents in the minds of its customers. Considering that Netflix is able to meet the needs and preferences of all categories of its customers, the customers reflect it as expert in what they do. This is regarding that Netflix concentrates on streaming services thus providing the best services to various categories of customers. • Self-image: the brand enables the customer to view him or herself in comparison with the brand. Repeated use of Netflix’s products and services demonstrates the value that the brand has in the market. Netflix provides a self-expressive value that enables its customers to express themselves through their preferred films and tv series. This enables the organization to communicate about its overall value. Product or service Netflix is able to capture and harmonize its personality and image through the products and services it offers to its customers. The organization offers a variety of movies selection and TV shows with famous movies included in the platform or created by Netflix itself, in consideration to their customers’ preferences. The customers’ preferences represent their personality, which the organization uses to come up with the required TV series and films for the customers. Their TV tiles’ selection is better and exhaustive and inclusive of various contents preferred by their targeted population (Netflix 2015). These TV series includes the orange is the new black and the house of cards. Their programming selections have won various Emmy awards thus making them excellent for the audience. Unfortunately, the company has no DVD rentals in the UK though there are no payments made during the holidays. There is also a representation of games consoles and laptops at high resolution through mobiles, tablets and media streamers. Their consumers are able to access Netflix on any device they can afford with the mobile and other fixed gadgets being highly represented (Arnhold 2010). This is the organization’s main advantage since it adds into the organization’s image. Netflix also has an intelligent profiling system of its users allowing the customers to set up their separate login and username for the same account and this software enables the user to view other shows similar to the ones they have already watched. This considers that every customer has their own brand personality thus enabling them to access their accounts and watch their preferred TV series and films. Moreover, users channel their kids profile to be more child-friendly. Considering that the kids section is accessible through a different home screen, it makes it easy for the parents to regulate the content that their children watch. As a result, the organization is able to heighten its reputation as kid friendly thus increasing customers’ framework. Thus, Netflix attempts to create friendship with their consumers by allowing them to create their own wish lists thus personalizing their skills with their favorite programs. This is a strategy that enables them to create a bond between them and the consumers (Anandan 2009). This considers the preferences of the customers and the need they have on the specific films or TV series thus making them feel part of the brand. The personality of these consumers will also determine the types of TV series or films that they choose from Netflix. Competitor comparison Amazon.com is the greatest competitor of Netflix. The organization provides a variety of services including unlimited music statement and free kindle book that consumers can borrow each month. Amazon.com websites enables their members to subscribe for a stream video for free. The organization also record the history of purchase made by an account holder making it easier for these account holders to download it again for free in the event that they lose their eBook or their digital album. Amazon also has a joint venture with Epix enabling them to expand the categories of the films or TV series they stream. The organization should consider attaining and maintaining its competitive advantage through its TV advertisements. Considering that most of its adverts in the TV focus on the promotion of series itself rather than promoting the brand itself act as their uttermost disadvantage in the market. In the event, that most people do not like this show, they might fail to subscribe to the brand since there is a very high association between the brand image and the series. Brand NETFLIX Amazon Prime Instant Video Now TV iTune Free Trial 1 month 1 month 1 month No Free Price 3 types of plans. Basic £5.99 No HD & Ultra HD, one screens. Standard £6.99 Only HD, No Ultra HD, two screens. Premium £8.99, available HD & Ultra HD, four screens. £5.99 £9.99 Rental Price: £3.49 Purchase Price: £13.99 Content Devices Digital media receiver. Digital media recorder. Set top box. Handheld game console. Video game console. Tablet computer devices. Mobile phone devices. High definition television receiver. Home theater system.  Tablet computer devices.  Mobile phone devices except android.  Video game console.  High definition Television receiver.  Blu-ray disc  Handheld game console.  Digital media receiver.  Digital media recorder.  Home theater system.  Apple TV.  Set top box.  Android devices.  Video game console.  IOS devices.  Tablet computer devices.  High definition television receiver. All apple devices. No. of movie Features Market Share NetFlix has 19% of UK home entertainment market. 9% 6% 3% Consumers The consumer behavior The most preferable devices in the UK that consumers use to access videos is the laptops (63%), smartphones (61%) and DVR (60%) in the respective order ( Ofcom 2014). In addition, customers have their priorities while choosing the video streaming of their choice which includes: the convenience, speed, personalization, affordability, and high titles of selection (Krengel 2010). In this context, the organization should be in a position of maximizing on their customers’ personality of the brand to increase their brand image. Most of these customers are interested in a convenient and affordable means of watching their favorite TV series and films and thus the ability of Netflix to provide this to them will increase their competitive advantage. Consumer dynamics Netflix collects information from their websites by their ability of keeping tab of their subscriber’s interactions (Fiegerman 2013). The information include the selections of titles, reviews and the commentaries, the ratings of these movies and TV shows, instant watching hours, the consumption habits, the ignored content and the interaction with their marketing strategies including their methods of advertising. This feedback they get from their customers represents how the customers perceive the brand. The feedback also represents the brand’s personality. Netflix should maximize on this feedback to ensure that the come up with high-quality services for their customers. Segmentation Netflix segments through the behavior of their consumers, the lifestyles and the preferences of these consumers (Fiegerman 2013). The variety of its products and services are available in all age groups from 5 years old to 60 years old. Various customer segments have varying brand personality on Netflix. The brand personality affects how the customers identify and perceive the brand. By Netflix coming up with various TV series and films for its different customer segments, it is able to increase the reputation of its brand by these customers. Busy workers Netflix benefits from the loyalty of consumers to a great extent partly because of time. Time is one of the main reasons why most consumers use this service since they miss their favorite programs due to conflicting time with their busy work schedules (Ofcom 2014). The consumers are in the category of middle class aged between 24 to 35 years. These individuals are likely to use a variety of devices to watch these programs, and they can either choose standard or premium subscriptions. Series lovers There are certain consumers who like keeping up-to-date with their favorite latest series that Netflix offers. Cartoon fans There is a category of Netflix that airs the original cartoons. Often, this category is mostly enjoyed by the younger generation of children. However, there are also other older cartoon lovers who subscribe for their favorite cartoon episodes. Animated movie series also fall under this category, and there are a considerable number of customers who prefer such movies and are able to pay a subscription fee for them either monthly or according to their terms and conditions. Discussions and evaluations Netflix maintains their customers relations through either online or offline channels. Customers are able to communicate with the company through their website. The organization uses online media to make advertisements for their brand and create their products and services awareness to potential customers (Franzen & Moriarty 2008). The association created between the product, its original series, and Netflix’s brand image is strong. As a result, the perception that the consumers have on their products and services is dependent on these products and the services that are provided. The organization makes considerable effort to link its brand image with its levels of technology and innovation. One good example is that many of the YouTube videos with high level of technological content are sponsored by Netflix (Netflix 2015). Thus, consumers are highly likely to make an association between the two. The company also encourages various potential consumers who are interested with their products by offering them with a free trial each month and these consumers can then choose any payment plans including the premium ones (Ambrose & Harris 2011). This helps them to increase premium buying and heightening the level of sales volumes. The reason is that if these potential customers are contented and happy with the services and the products offered during the trial period, then they have a good brand image on Netflix. Their probability of purchasing Netflix’s products or their services increases. The ability of the organization to memorize and suggest related programs for the customers adds to their advantage. The reason is that they are able to learn the customers brand personality thus learning their preferences. As such, they are able to come up with similar TV series of films that are in line with this tastes and preferences of the customers. The organization’s customers from the required brand identity and brand image thus developing loyalty on Netflix (Laforet 2009). This enables the organization to retain its customers by continuously coming up with original and up-to-date content thus preventing their consumers from switching to other competitor brands. The organization also makes the payment of their consumers easy by making a combination of payment transactions with other partners. Those BT customers who subscribe to Netflix are also able to pay with the same BT bill. Netflix health check The organization is a national brand that has been able to reposition itself through the use of simple but quite consistent brand name with a white print, red background and also a black border. The organization relies on the pure recognition of its name through the use of their logo and neflix.com. The company tries to evoke a theater setting with black bordered screens of projections with curtain rich in red color though in a home setting. It creates the picture of a theater setting for the consumer though in their home settings. The organization has also built the identity of its brand through convenience for their low monthly prices. First, it used to offer this through home delivery but is has now incorporated media streaming due to changing and advancing technology. The organization has been engaging in the process of repositioning itself from the media since 2011. It has tried several methods where some of them have been unsuccessful. In 2011, the company responded to the dissatisfaction of their customers by coming up with a Quikster (Kapferer 2008). This is a separate website brand that they created to develop their individual brands by splitting the streaming services and their home delivery services. They have a good repositioning strategy that is able to provide their customers with their preferred media needs using the right technology and packaging. The consumers brand awareness rely on Netflix’s streaming services that is able to provide consumers with their perceived value with the suggested options and accuracy of their marketing. Netflix now often describes itself as an internet subscription service and fails to mention its media delivery services. Their stated goals of future development reveals that the organization has to associate itself with various productions of original media that include the house of cards thus enabling it to reach a new market of consumers who are seeking for exhaustive and exclusive programs. Recommendations Netflix main problem results from their advertisements. Thus, their main consideration should be on how they advertize or create awareness of their services to their customers. Most of their TV series are often aimed at creating awareness of their TV series rather than creating awareness of their brand. This is problematic considering that different customers have differing brand personality which affects their brand image (Olins 2008). As a result, such TV series may only create an impact among certain segmentation of customers and not others. This reduces customers seeking their services since they might think that Netflix only streams only a certain genre of TV series and films and not others. Creating awareness of their brands and emphasizing that they meet different needs and preferences of their customers is capable of creating the best reputation of their customers and increase the level of attraction and retention of various customer segments. This is considering that the needs and preferences of their customers represent their brand personality which should come in handy when the organization comes up with various TV series and films. The organization should also consider attracting a wider international market segment by setting their company in various international markets. This could increase on their profits while at the same time reducing the piracy of movies and TV series prevalent today (Franzen & Moriarty 2008). Bibliography Ali, S., Zeynvand, L. H., & Karimi, A. 2013. Investigating the Effects of Brand Identity on Customer Loyalty from Social Identity Perspective. Iranian Journal of Management Studies, 153-179. Ambrose, G., & Harris, P. 2011. 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