Emotional Branding: How Successful Brands Gain the Irrational Edge - Essay Example

Marketing Positioning a brand takes a brand from being just about no where to the league of the super brands which are ruling the roost in the relevant market segments and the industry overall. However before we touch the aspect of positioning itself, we must focus what exactly is a brand all about and what it entails of in the related discussion. A brand does not come into its own overnight. It takes a lot of research, planning and proper execution to take it where the marketers, the advertising agency people and the stakeholders want it to proceed and end up as something quite extraordinary and out of the blue, when one compares other similar brands in a particular market. A brand requires a unique name for its identification that is so very important to chalk out before it turns from a product (or service) into one of a brand. Thus this brand name need not only be unique, it also requires that the name is also what it must convey to the people in mind, how it is meeting their expectations and whether this name has a positive (aspirational) association with the product in the long run or one that takes the end customer away from it, one that can be remarked as being dissociative to say the least. Further, the message which should be used in advertising must be unique as well as fresh so that the consumers are made sure about the quality and the value for which a product is really a known name in the present times. There needs to be a clear and distinct brand positioning statement in order to meet the objectives that are desired by the company in the wake of its new marketing strategy. Strategic positioning research is conducted to determine who the customers of your product/service are and what should be told about the product or service to get them to buy from you. Finding the right target and message to build your marketing plan can be crucial in the success of your product. Similarly, tactical positioning research looks at finding the short term measures which would be suited to the relevant target audiences. We can say that positioning concentrates on getting value to the buyers as concerns to the product. In recent times, positioning has fallen down as becoming a mere document that plays a game with the customers and asks them to fall into the trap of buying the product solely. It is said that the best positioning relies only on how the product will be able to solve the specialized customer queries, concerns and problems. Thus the end result of positioning is one which could be easily observed through a product being received as well as perceived in the market and not to forget the amount in which suitable marketing mix has been designed. As far as the marketing mix is concerned, we find that the marketing mix is a mixture of the product offerings, amalgamated to attract the target audience an organization aims to draw the attention of. This marketing mix consists of the product, price, promotion and place where the product is made readily available to the relevant target audiences. In fact these are referred to as the four P’s of marketing. Positioning strategy could only be the source of business success both in the short term as well as the long run if and only if there is proper usage of resources that have gone in line with the changing times and needs of the relevant target audiences and if the efforts are made in the right direction so as to ignite sales through share of usage on the part of the customers and the potential ones as well. Positioning can become the cornerstone of success and achievement as far as the business is concerned when the ingredients are fully understood and fed into the very system and when there are proper checks and balance acts on the part of the organization itself. Positioning could backfire if an essential part of the very product is not communicated to the target audience or not told about the very same in a 360 degree marketing approach, which means delivering the right amount of product’s message in the right capacity at the right time and at the right place. All said and done, this becomes a very significant part of the whole equation and it must be catered to in order to derive endless success and achievement for the business to let it survive both in the short term scheme of things as well as in the long run. The key approaches to competitor analysis include competing on different tangents with different products which offer more or less the same services or value provision. This means that there could be competition on more than one aspect of a particular product at the same time. We could easily quote the example of Sony and Samsung which are both electronic industry’s giants and are coming with revolutionary technologies day in day out. Both of these brands are competing with each other on more than a single platform. They are outdoing each other as well as other competitor brands like LG, NEC, IBM, Philips, Motorola, Nokia, etc in the mobile, television, radio, projector and electronic gadgets segments to name a few. Sony and Samsung are competing on not only the price quotient but also on the measure of picture quality when it comes to television, 3D surround sound when it comes to audio, camera and other embedded features like Bluetooth technology, wireless LANs when it comes to cell phones and laptops, liquid crystal displays and plasma technologies when it comes to high definition television and projectors and so on and so forth. When it comes to price, there is a huge competition between Sony and Samsung since both are taken in different esteem in the relevant markets across the world. Sony is more expensive since it is renowned for quality in terms of television and audio systems but Samsung takes the lead in electronic gadgets and more so the cell phones and home appliances including the washing machine, blender-juicer machines, etc. However there are differences between Sony and Samsung as we study different regional segments which are an interesting proposition. Sony and Samsung take the lead over other competing brands mentioned above but it is significant to comprehend how they compete in terms of features, price variables, size and shapes and aesthetic opportunities. Competitor analysis is best understood in the contexts of competing variables between two or more brands and in this case we can easily study the similar facets between Sony and Samsung, which incidentally are the market leaders in their respective market segments and consumer share of heart and mind is also substantial. The people would not kind buying any of these brands however there could be a few hard loyal customers of either Sony or Samsung or of any other electronic industry’s giants if they know that the brand under study offers them the value that they so very badly desire of the same. The hard loyal customers are the ones which are pretty difficult to turn the way of a specific brand, say for that matter Sony or Samsung’s. This means that either Sony or Samsung needs to devise certain strategies and tactics to entice these hard loyal customers to try out these products which are offered by them and before that provide them some value so that the sale could be undertaken in the first place. Therefore the key approaches towards competitor analysis looks not only at the competing brands but checks for intrinsic details related with features, size/shape attributes, durability, long lasting aspects, quality quotients and so on. However one significant thing is that how strongly the customers feel about either Sony or Samsung due to their past attachments with the brands or their past trials of the very same. This could also be backed by strong word of mouth which they have received from their family and friends as well as from experts in the related field of selecting a suitable electronic product coming under the umbrella of either Sony or Samsung. This word of mouth could work to the advantage of the brand if it is positive otherwise negative word of mouth makes for a strong negative association which could have a bad effect on the whole related category as well. Effective product policy could only be prepared when the organization understands its product inside out and there are no apprehensions as such. What this means is the fact that product must be something that runs parallel with the mission and vision statements of the organization itself and there should be complete harmony as far as understanding this notion is concerned. As far as portfolio analysis and management issues are concerned, we see that the contribution towards product policy must be one of an immense nature. There has to be a strong working regime between the management and the product policy so that the product comes out clean and clear at the very end and there are no hiccups in achieving the very same. A strong management culture ensures that there are no confusions which might arise at any point in time within the domains of the product policy. However, effective product policy is only possible when all out efforts are directed towards getting the product a stable outlook in the market and when management efforts are geared to achieve success, both in the short term as well as in the long run. Thus portfolio analysis is comprised of different strategic and tactical moves which are made in the wake of a product going through the ranks of a corporate ladder. This usually starts from the introduction of the product into the market and then it grows over a period of time after which it matures in a league of similar competing brands within the market structure. In the end, it comes to a decline and thus fades away from the market. Portfolio analysis can only be remarked as successful when there are all out efforts and attempts on the part of the management team to achieve instant and long lasting results and when there are concerted endeavors to make the product an outstanding entity as far as the competing brands are concerned. This is facilitated by proper time schedules which are followed in the wake of product becoming a mature one and growing more and more over a period of time. Thus effective portfolio analysis is also supported by strong management decisions which are made in the line of the product policy and having said that the management must understand its due role in the related scheme of things. The developing and evaluating strategic marketing plans could be given a boost if the product policy which is there within the portfolio analysis matrix is drafted through a proper procedure and if the required attributes are made a part of the very same. This interestingly echoes the need of the marketing plans which are chalked up in a manner so as to have direct and indirect support from the characteristics as laid down in the portfolio analysis courtesy the product policy which is effective right from the very beginning. Thus these points suggest that the marketing plans could be looked down in a very deep manner if they embody the required facets of the portfolio analysis and talk about the relevant details pertaining to the product policy and the like at all times possible. There must be no absences on the part of the management team when they draft the developing as well as evaluating strategic marketing plans and not only that but also the tactical, short term measures every now and then. All said and done, portfolio analysis helps immensely when one speaks of the foundations of the developing and evaluating strategic marketing plans and lines of actions, which are so very pivotal in the times of today. 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