Marketing Slogans and Its Impact on Organisational Branding - McDonalds UK - Essay Example

A Critical Evaluation of Marketing Slogans and Its Impact on Organisational Branding: A Case Study of McDonalds (UK) Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Literature Review 3 Branding 3 Elements of Brand 5 Marketing Slogan 6 Characteristics of Slogans 6 Objectives of Slogan 7 Importance of Slogans in Branding 7 The Slogan Brand Linkage 8 Literature Review Branding Healey (2008) thought, branding can be defined as a name, symbol, term, design or any other feature that helps to differentiate one’s product or service from that of the competitors. Branding plays a very important role in evaluating the product and helps to add value to its worth. When the marketing strategies are prepared then the seller of a product has to take into account the issue of branding. Brand creates a valuable position in the hearts of the consumers which represents their behavioural thinking as well as their experience with the brand (Healey, 2008). According to Motameni (1998), brand is not at all an easy thing. It not only denotes the actual tangible product but also it is the unique property that a specific owner has created so as to hold grip of the tangible and intangible goods. It also helps to appropriately differentiate those products that are otherwise similar to those of the competitors (Motameni, 1998). According to Grant & Et. Al., (2005), brands serve as an important tool for the marketing. Whenever the marketers create any strong brand then it helps to attract the mass consumers because of the unique feature that it possess and also serves to build a self protective wall against competition (Grant & Et. Al., 2005). According to the Giddens (2010), branding has been one of the most significant factors that affects the success or the failure of the product in the market. The term branding is used by the businesses in order to market a new product, protect the positioning of the market, offerings of the product to be broadened and to enter a new product category. There has been four different types of branding like new product branding, flankers branding, brand line extension, brand leveraging. A sensible brand is the important feature without which it really becomes difficult for the marketers to differentiate the products. Without a proper brand the choices of the customers become subjective in nature. Therefore branding is considered to be a very important activity in the consumers market. It is to be remembered that the brand needs to be clear, unique and specific for the product. There are various steps that are to be followed in order to establish a good and sensible brand. First of all it becomes utmost important to find a name for the product. The name must be easy to remember and must be specific to the product. It is also important to keep into mind that the name doesn’t exceeds more than three words as it really becomes difficult for the customers to remember and recall it. The process of naming a product may need to have legal screening in order to check the availability of the name. Then the next step is to develop a slogan which needs to be of three to four words. In order to develop the slogan ideas the developer needs to answer the question like why will the consumers buy the product? What would attract them towards the brand? If the developer is able to answer all these then he will be able to develop the best slogan. Then it is important to generate a symbol or logo for the product. The logo can be of any shape that would help the companies to remove the inefficiencies that are associated with the production fees and other related matters. It is the greatest challenge for the marketers to create the right name, symbol and slogan for the product when they are in the process of building or developing the brand. Therefore the marketers must have feedback from the customers and must think properly in an attempt to eliminate this problem. Also it becomes difficult to get customers recognition for the product that has been newly developed. Therefore the marketers must focus on immense promotion of the product before and after the launch of the product. This kind of promotion will help the marketers to gain loyal customers and encourage them to have repeated purchase (Giddens, 2010). Elements of Brand Moor (2007) observed, the various elements of brand are brand equity, brand vision, brand awareness, brand image and brand identity. Visual fame of the brand can be made up of the name, colour, slogan, and signature or through the usage of a particular type of face or any other specific feature (Moor, 2007). According to Lane (1998), brand elements are also known as brand identities which help to identify the brand. He describes a different set of brand elements like URLs, logos, characters, spokespeople, jingles, packages, symbols and signage. Brand elements can serve to build as much brand equity as possible that doesn’t depend upon the decision made for the product. Through brand elements, enhancement of the brand awareness is possible and the facilitation of the formation of the strong, unique and favourable brand association is possible. It would also extract positive brand judgments and feeling. There are various criteria for choosing the brand elements which are memorability, meaningfulness, likability, adaptability and transferability. The first three criteria’s are basically brand building in nature and is concerned with how the brand equity can be build via the sensible choice of brand element (Lane, 1998). Marketing Slogan According to Reisenwitz (2001), Slogan has been a significant element of the brand equity as it helps to increase the customer’s attraction, loyalty and retention. It also serves to provide a solid ground with the intention that it becomes very easy for the customers to purchase the particular brand products and services (Reisenwitz, 2001). Kam (2007) viewed, slogans tend to be quite confusing at times, but it is advisable to have concise and precise slogans for branding. It must be not more than three to four words as it becomes easier for the customers to remember the slogan. These few words must convey what the marketer exactly wants to achieve. The confusing slogans may provide a hard time for the consumers to understand the brand (Kam, 2007). Characteristics of Slogans According to CEMCA (2008), slogans has been used as a recognition tool that uses smart expressions and phrases that helps to recognise the brand, campaign theme, organisational image and marketing communication image. The main characteristics of the slogan are as follows. It helps to bring back the memory It reminds the consumer of the brand It includes the main benefit It helps to illustrate the brand personality It is basically competitive and strategic in nature. It is easy and simple for the consumers to understand and for the marketers to convey their product message It helps to instil a kind of positive feeling about the brand It also serves to differentiate the brand from those of the competitors (CEMCA, 2008). Objectives of Slogan According to Werz & Et. Al., (1998), there is number of objectives of the slogan. The main objective of the slogan is to build the companies name recognition. The next objective can be to establish a good image and feeling in the minds of the customers about the products of the companies. Another important objective is to create customer loyalty and to offer a new marketing strategy. A number of companies develop slogans in an attempt to position a product and to establish credibility. If the slogan is well conceived then it will definitely meet the above objectives (Werz & Et. Al., 1998). Importance of Slogans in Branding According to Article Grip (2010), slogans play a vital role in new business marketing. There are many other factors other than the aggressive campaign. This implies that the companies are at disadvantageous position in comparison to the competitors and it needs to work harder in order to bootstrap itself and its product in the minds of the customers. Therefore these objectives can be achieved through the usage of the powerful business slogans. Once the businesses have created strong slogans then they have stepped into the first stage of creating the brand and they can also promote their products easily. Apart from the selection of the medias that the companies choose in order to advertise, slogans helps to create a kind of continuity via the ad campaigns which is very important for any business specially if the company is a new one (Article Grip, 2010). According to Dahlen & Et. Al., (2010), slogans basically speak for the brands through communication and provide recognition to brands and explain what those characteristics are that makes the brand unique and matchless (Dahlen & Et. Al., 2010). According to Nbomark (2010), the main purpose of the slogan is to recall the brand name. Slogans basically speak about the companies and also help to generate a long lasting memory in the minds of the memories that pictures or images fail to portray. Therefore a creative slogan must be build that takes into account the consumers and produces interest in the minds of the potential customers. Slogans can be utilised to appeal to the needs, emotions and attitudes of the buyers which compels them to make an action in the form of purchase of the particular product (Nbomark, 2010). The Slogan Brand Linkage According to Hazlett (2008), there is strong linkage between the slogan and the brand. The CMO of the company called Epilson has written a book on marketing slogans where he gave new name to the slogan as Powerlines. According to him, a brand name that is unique and sells a product, person, and place more efficiently in comparison to the lines or slogans that are used by the competitors as the brand has promised to do so is something that is remarkable. He also says that when sounds are used in an attempt to communicate, intimidate, to motivate or to persuade the consumers and the usage of the words that best conveys the messages of the companies products are basically Powerlines. If anyone wants to understand what Powerlines is then it is important for them to understand themselves. He further discusses that the slogans help in providing the historical perspective in the development of the verbal communication. Brands that promise to provide certain things that helps to make life more predictable becomes the most desirable message and it remains in the minds of the consumers for a longer period of time and also reminds them to try the product and services at least once. Therefore the remarkable slogans have helped the brand to create golden history. It is because of the attractiveness of the particular slogan that the companies are marketing their brands using the same slogan since decades. A successful business is the one that creates an everlasting impression in the minds of the consumers rather than fade away into forgetfulness by wasting millions of dollars in this process. Therefore according to him slogan has been playing a very important role in establishing the brand and it also helps to create the difference with the intention that the products can be differentiated in comparison to the competitors (Hazlett, 2008). The diagram below shows the linkage of brand and slogan. (Aaker, 1991). Read More