Brands and Customers Satisfaction - Essay Example

Lecturer’s Submitted Products & Brands: Tinned tomatoes (Hunts) and Medical Service Provider: (Dr. Coldfinger) Introduction Brands play a vital role in the marketing choices of consumers because consumers look for the most unique brand that can satisfy their needs. Strong brands create relationships with customers by building customer loyalty, which leads to repeat sales and recommendation to others through word of mouth. Businesses often exploit strong brands to develop new products and attract a large consumer base. A brand if that name, design, symbol and term among other features that identifies one seller’s products and services as unique from those of other marketers. Marketers position their brands in a distinct manner to ensure that the target consumers find a reason to purchase their products in preference to others. In position, a marketer identifies a target market for a product or service through the strategies of price, promotion, place and packaging (Cooper 25). Through constant use of a certain product brand, consumers develop relationships with the brand and it becomes a part of them. This paper examines the relationship consumers have with Hunt’s tinned tomatoes and Dr. Coldfinger’s medical services. It also determines if people have relationships with all brands and distribution of brands. Fournier’s argument Fournier argues that consumers have relationships with the brands they use. Fournier asserts that for consumers to have a relationship with brands, there must be some interdependence between the two. The characteristic of interdependence is enhanced to the scope that brands are humanized, personalized and somewhat animated (Fournier 344). In addition, just like the way relationships between people reflect common features between the two participants, brand relationships also do the same. Moreover, Fournier compares particular types of human relationships with brand relationships that are similar. The aspect of a brand as a relationship partner broadens the understanding of brands beyond the concepts of loyalty, brand satisfaction, brand personality and brand attitude. The objective of analyzing these concepts is to consider brands as contributing partners to the customer in the dyadic relationship. Fournier argues that brands can and often do serve as feasible relationships partners. The relationships between consumers and brands involve mutual exchange between interdependent partners and it is purposive in providing meaning to the people involved (Fournier 350). In addition, this relationship provides a variety of potential benefits to participants and with time, these interactions change according to fluctuations in the contextual environment. Tinned tomatoes (Hunts) and Medical Service Provider: (Dr. Coldfinger) Most people have developed a relationship with Hunt’s Tinned tomatoes because of the value that these products offer to consumers. Hunt’s canned tomatoes come in different varieties leaving the consumer spoilt for choice. Consumers have developed a relationship with these products because of their delicious flavors that they add to meals. The tinned tomatoes provide the highest quality that consumers are looking for and hence consumers have developed brand loyalty with Hunt’s canned tomatoes. The interdependence between consumers and the canned tomatoes is enhanced to the extent that Hunt’s products have a personal feeling. The brand uses a person’s name i.e. Hunt, which enables consumers to identify with the products on sale. Besides, Hunt’s tinned tomatoes are animated and humanized making it easier for consumers to develop a relationship with the brands. Consumers of Hunt’s canned tomatoes have accepted the attempt by advertisers to humanize the products by animate the products, which has made consumers accept the brands as crucial members of the dyadic relationship. People have a relationship with Dr. Colfinger because of his excellent provision of medical services. People have developed a relationship with Dr. Coldfinger because he is human and he has the ability to provide personalized services to each customer independently. Because of the interdependence between the brand and consumer, people have established a strong relationship with the medical services provider and developed loyalty (Anon 49). Dr. Coldfinger is a strong personality that identifies the medical services he provides to a certain niche market and these services are unique as opposed to others of competitors. Therefore, people have developed loyalty for these services hence creating interdependence with the brand and establishing strong relationships with Dr. Colfinger. The medical services provided by Dr. Coldfinger have been positioned in such a manner that the target consumers have found a reason to purchase them in preference to those of competitors. People have thus developed a relationship with the Dr. Coldfinger brand because of the positioning of the products. Additionally, people have relationships with the brands because Dr. Coldfinger’s brand contributes to the relationship dyad by being humanized and reaching to the consumer in a personal sense. The brand has human-like features that reciprocate in the relationship with the customer hence enabling people to have a relationship with Dr. Coldfinger and accept his medical services. Relationship with all brands Based on Fournier’s paper, people do not have relationships with all brands. Fournier asserts that in order for people to have a relationship with a brand, there must be interdependence between the two, which is enhanced to the extent that brands provide a personal sense to the consumer. Brands should also be animated and humanized in order to establish a relationship with the customer (Fournier 345). Not all brands can be able to develop human-like traits or provide a personalized sense to the customer. Besides, not all brands have the ability to be animated and thus, people cannot have relationships with all brands. In my opinion, people do not have relationships with all brands because it takes time for customers to develop loyalty in the brand. In addition, if the marketer does not correctly position the brand in the mind of the target customer, it is not possible for the customer to have a relationship with the brand. Brand positioning should inspire the loyalty of customers to encourage repeat purchase and recommendation to other people through word of mouth. Therefore, without correct brand positioning, people cannot have a relationship with the brands. The brands need to offer satisfaction because of their unique features as opposed to other brands for them to create a relationship with the customer. Place (section 4): Tinned tomatoes (Hunts) and Jewelry (E-Bay) After positioning a certain brand appropriately, the marketer needs to find out the best methods that the products will reach the target customer. A distribution strategy defines how the marketer will manage the brand by moving products from the creation point to the point of consumption to satisfy demand and maximize sales. There are several distribution strategies used for different products. In my opinion, the most appropriate strategy for Hunt’s brand of tinned tomatoes would be through direct marketing where the products move from the manufacturers to one wholesaler before reaching the retailer who then sells to the final consumer (Cooper 26). The intermediaries are important in the distribution of these products because the assist in moving large quantities and breaking bulk. The intermediaries also provide additional services adding more value to the customer. An appropriate distribution strategy for E-bay branded jewelry would be direct movement of the product from the manufacturer to the final customer. These are expensive items, customers would not want quality compromised, and thus personalized distribution would be the best. Customers can order for the jewelry online and wait for immediate delivery without the use of intermediaries. The distribution strategies for these two products are different because of the nature of the products. Marketers can be able to break the products into small sizes for easy distribution and for the products to reach the intended target market. On the contrary, it is not possible to break jewelry into small pieces because it would lose value and hence a short distribution for this product from the manufacturer to final consumer is appropriate. E-bay is an appropriate brand for jewelry because it enables marketers to advertise and distribute their products online without the need for many intermediaries that can interfere with the process (Anon 51). On the other hand, Hunt’s brand of tinned tomatoes is appropriately distributed through several intermediaries that can assist in reaching the target consumer. Conclusion From Fournier’s argument, customers do have relationships with brands that provide them with the required satisfaction. However, people do not have relationships with all brands because some marketers do not appropriately position brands to develop brand loyalty in customers. For brands and customers to have a relationship, there must be interdependence between the two, which is possible if brands are somewhat personalized, humanized or animated. Hunt’s tinned tomatoes and Dr. Coldfinger’s medical services have relationships with customers because of their interdependence and positioning. However, the distribution strategies of tinned tomatoes and jewelry are different because of the nature of the branded products. Works cited Anon, David. “Consumers say “no thanks” to relationships with brands”. Direct Marketing, 64.1 (2001): 48-51. Cooper, Lou. “Customer relations: The secret to a good customer relationship”. MarketingWeek, (2010): 24-26. Fournier, Susan. “Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research”. Journal of Consumer Research, 24.4 (1998): 343-368. Read More