Branding in Higher education
6.1 Elements of Brand Management
Branding is the art and cornerstone of marketing. Without brands, human beings would be like fish without water. Brands are unique in many ways as they are characterized by enormous amount of complexity, which results from the service attributes of the retailers as well as from the multiplicity of the brand attributes.
Following diagram represents the seven main elements of Brand Management.
6.1.1. Brand Positioning
The most important motive of any company is to create a distinctive space in the mind of customers, generally termed as Positioning. The secondary objective is to make this positioning distinct from other brands. A strong position is always built upon consumer associations with the brand; that is a position that reflects how the brand is perceived in relation to competitors. To Kapferer, positioning is a two-step procedure in which the first step is to clarify which product category the brand should
Figure 6.1- Elements of Brand Management
Source: Own Analysis
110 be compared to and associated with. And the second one talks about the brand‘s individual characteristics which are recognized and communicated.
6.1.2. Brand Equity
Brand equity indicates to a value premium that a company generate from a product with a identifiable name, when compared to a general equivalent. Companies can construct brand equity for their products by making them unforgettable, easily recognizable, and exceptional in quality and reliability. Mass marketing campaigning also help to create brand equity. Brand equity has three basic components: consumer perception, negative or positive effects, and the resulting value. Generally, brand equity is created by perception of consumer, which includes knowledge and experience both, with a brand and its products. The perception that a customer segment holds about a brand, directly effects in either positive or negative consequences. If the brand equity is positive, the organization, its products and its financials can be in profit. If the brand equity is negative, the opposite is true. Finally, these effects can turn into either tangible or intangible value. If the effect is positive, tangible value is realized as increase in income or profits and insubstantial value is accomplished as marketing as awareness or goodwill. If the effects are negative, the tangible or intangible value is also negative.
6.1.3 Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is the likelihood that consumers recognize the existence and availability of a company's product or service. Creating brand awareness is one of the crucial steps to promote a product. Brand awareness is primarily important at the time of launching new products and services; and for a company to differentiate similar products and services apart from its competitors.Products and services that uphold a high level of brand awareness compared their competitors are more likely to generate greater sales. Brand awareness includes brand recognition as well as brand recall.
‗Recognition‘ is the ability of consumer to distinguish previous knowledge of brand when they are asked questions about that particular brand or when they are shown that specific brand, i.e., the consumers can obviously differentiate the brand as having being earlier noticed or heard. ‗Recall‘ is the probability of customer to pick up a
111 brand from his memory when given the product class/category. Building brand awareness is important to build brand equity. It includes use of various renowned channels of promotion such as advertising, word of mouth exposure, use of social media like blogs, sponsorships, launching events, etc. to create brand awareness, it is important to build reliable brand image, slogans and taglines. The brand message that is to be communicated should also be consistent. Well-built brand awareness leads to increased business and a high market share. Brand awareness can be considered as a way by which customers become aware and familiar with a brand and recognize that brand. Brand awareness is best spread with the help of inward and outward marketing efforts. When competition in an industry is high, brand awareness can be one of a business‘s greatest assets.
6.1.4 Brand Identity
A company‘s brand identity is how that business needs to be perceived by consumers.
The components of the brand (name, logo, tone, tagline, and typeface) are shaped by the business to reflect the value the company is trying to bring to the market and to appeal to its customers. Brand identity should be able to set up a relationship between the brand and the customer by creating a value proposition that will involve functional, sentimental or self-expressive benefits. Brand identity consists of a core identity and an extensive identity. The core identity represents the timeless spirit of a brand .It is essential for both the meaning and success of the brand. It signifies the reasons why the brand has been brought into existence. It holds the relations that are doubtlessly to remain constant as the brand travels to new markets and products. The fundamentals of the core identity remain more resistant to change than the elements of the extensive identity. Thus the core identity is everlasting while the brand position or the communication strategies might change. It is generally the first word that people behind the brand may utter when asked what the brand stands for:
Lux – Beauty bar for young women
Dettol – Antiseptic, protection
112 6.1.5 Brand Personality
Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name.
A brand personality is something to which the consumer can relate; an effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys. This personality is a qualitative value-add that a brand gains, in addition to its functional benefits. Brand personality is a framework that helps a company or organization shape the way people feel about its product, service or mission. A company's brand personality elicits an emotional response in a specific consumer segment, with the intention of inciting positive actions that benefits the firm. There are five main types of brand personalities: excitement, sincerity, ruggedness, competence and sophistication. Customers are more likely to purchase a brand if its personality is similar to their own. Examples of traits for the different types of brand personalities are as follows. Excitement is synonymous with a carefree, spirited and youthful attitude. Sincerity is highlighted by a feeling of kindness, thoughtfulness, and an orientation toward family values. Ruggedness is thought of as rough, tough, outdoorsy and athletic. Competence, in the mind of a consumer, is considered to be successful, accomplished and influential, highlighted by leadership.
Finally, sophistication makes a brand seem elegant, prestigious and sometimes even pretentious. Dove, for example, chooses sincerity as its brand personality. This allows the company to attract feminine consumers.Allen Solley brand speaks the personality and makes the individual who wears it stand apart from the crowd. Infosys represents uniqueness, value, and intellectualism.
6.1.6 Brand Communication
Brand communication involves all the ways your brand come into contact with current or potential customers and how these activities influence the way they think of you and your products. People can come into contact with brands in a lot of different ways like advertising in a magazine, seeing a product in a shop etc. If a company has great brand communication; people will not only come into contact with the brand but they will also associate with the brand and this will bring about more customers.
Brand communication programmes represent a part of the marketing communication
113 strategy of the organisation. Marketing communication is an important tool through which organizations inform, teach, persuade and remind customers about their products and brands that they sell. Marketing communications represent the ―voice‖
of the brand and are one way to establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers (Kotler and Keller, 2007). Marketing communication explains to customers what the company and its brand stand for, it is a way to link brands to other people, places, events, brands, experiences, feelings, and things. Thus, it is vital for companies to communicate with present and potential stakeholders and the general public. According to Kotler and Keller (2007), marketing communication is a way to build brand equity. They suggest the following marketing communications mix, which consists of six major modes of communication
6.1.7 Brand Image
Brand image is the current view of the customers about a brand. It can be defined as a unique bundle of associations within the minds of target customers. It signifies what the brand presently stands for. It is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand. In short, it is nothing but the consumers‘ perception about the product. It is the manner in which a specific brand is positioned in the market. Brand image conveys emotional value and not just a mental image. Brand image is nothing but an organization‘s character. It is an accumulation of contact and observation by people external to an organization. It should highlight an organization‘s mission and vision to all. The main elements of positive brand image are- unique logo reflecting organization‘s image, slogan describing organization‘s business in brief and brand identifier supporting the key values.Brand image is the overall impression in consumers‘ mind that is formed from all sources. Consumers develop various associations with the brand. Based on these associations, they form brand image. An image is formed about the brand on the basis of instinctive perceptions that the consumers have about the brand. For example Volvo is associated with safety whereas Toyota is associated with reliability. The idea after brand image is that the customer is not only purchasing the product or the service but also the image associated with that product or service. Brand images should be positive, distinctive and instant. Brand images can be enhanced using brand
114 communications like advertising, packaging, word of mouth publicity, other promotional tools, etc. Brand image develops and conveys the product‘s character in a unique manner different from its competitor‘s image. The brand image consists of various associations in consumers‘ mind - attributes, benefits and attributes. Brand attributes are the functional and mental connections with the brand that the customers have. They can be specific or conceptual. Benefits are the rationale for the purchase decision. There are three types of benefits: Functional benefits - what do you do better (than others), emotional benefits - how do you make me feel better (than others), and rational benefits/support - why do I believe you (more than others). Brand attributes are consumers overall assessment of a brand. Brand image has not to be created, but is automatically formed. The brand image includes products' appeal, ease of use, functionality, fame, and overall value. Brand image is actually brand content. When the consumers purchase the product, they are also purchasing its image. Brand image is the objective and mental feedback of the consumers when they purchase a product.
Positive brand image is exceeding the customers‘ expectations. An optimistic brand image enhances the reputation and brand value of an organization.