Strategic Brand Management

Q1. Factors that Make a Strong Brand

A variety of factors contribute towards brand strengthening. Keller identifies ten factors in this regard (526). To begin with, managers should understand the meaning of their brand and use appropriate means to market products. A firm should ensure its employees are aware of the goals of a given brand, for them to contribute positively towards its development. The management should also position their brand strategically in the market in terms of product, promotion, place, and price. Moreover, a company ought to provide a unique delivery of expected benefits. Product specifications should match the brand description and meet the customers’ needs. Equally, the marketing department should deploy many complementary brand elements and support awareness activities as well as secondary associations. This will facilitate the growth of brands’ supply chains, eventually reaching many potential customers. Consequently, they should employ integrated marketing communications, evaluate consumer perceptions, apply innovativeness, and strategically implement an architecture strategy. Finally, the managers should determine brand credibility and apply a brand equity management system to enhance the strength of the brand in the market (Keller 526). This set of measures, if applied holistically, will eventually maximize the brand equity.

In addition to the highlighted elements, there are other factors for strengthening a brand. For instance, marketing managers should analyze competition in the market (Hanna and Rowley 459). It is appropriate for an organization to study and note what its competitors are doing in the market because they rival for the same customers. While analyzing the competitors, managers should focus on various aspects, including the quality of their products, customer opinions, brand messages, and the unique strategies employed with the aim of identifying the weak points, and leveraging on them in their own brand. The managers will most definitely provide appropriate products and perfectly satisfy the needs of customers, thereby strengthening the brand.

Moreover, the marketing managers should seek consistent feedback from its customers. Organizations require to continuously evaluate their performance in the market to stay on the right track. In that regard, the feedback from customers is vital in determining whether a given brand is moving towards the right direction. Therefore, managers should implement various systems that enable customers to share their opinions about the brand. For instance, it can encourage its customers to offer online reviews for easy determination of the effectiveness of the brand in satisfying their needs. The organization can, in turn, analyze the feedback with the aim of making the necessary changes in the products or services (Sharma; Wertz). With positive changes to the products, it is indisputable that the firm’s reputation will improve.

Finally, managers can make their brands shiny and omnipresent. Notably, brand building is a continuous process because the target audience expands as opposed to being stable. It is significant for brands to be readily available everywhere and attractive to customers as they seek experiences tailored to their respective wants. Managers can create such a brand by considering every aspect, including logo, tagline, and color scheme. The ready availability of a brand to potential customers will easily attract their attention and eventually become their choice. Resultantly, the firm will increase its sales, thereby becoming stronger in the market.

Q2. Deadly Sins of Brand Management

As per figure 15-8, there are seven deadly sins against brand management (Keller 526). First is a failure to master the meaning of the brand. The fact that consumers “own” a brand makes it critical for managers to note what they feel and think about it, and make the necessary changes to meet satisfy their wants. The second sin is not keeping brand promises to customers, whereby organizations rarely match products with their brand description, especially in terms of quality. Most organizations tend to set unrealistic brand expectations, which they end up failing to meet. Third is inadequate support of the brand due to poor market investments. Managers tend to concentrate on building brand equity and forget to offer appropriate marketing support, a factor that contributes to its failure. Fourth is lack of patience with the brand, whereby most firms quit business before allocating the brand enough time to grow. The fifth sin involves inadequate control of the brand in the sense that not all employees understand the brand’s strategy. Sixth is the failure of managers to balance brand consistency by considering the current market trends and making the necessary changes. The seventh sin entails failure to master the complexity of brand equity management and measurement. Effective brand management needs creativity, proper decision-making, focus, and discipline, aspects that most managers fail to demonstrate, thereby contributing to brand failure.

An in-depth analysis of brand management indicates that other sins can also contribute to the failure of a brand. For instance, no or improper consideration of the customer feedback can impact a brand negatively (Daye). Customers are among the main assets that should be protected. They contribute directly to the establishment and growth of any given company. Firms have a responsibility of following up customers’ comments about the brand with the aim of satisfying their needs. Failure to consider customer complaints can easily destroy a company’s reputation and propel its customers to consider alternative brands.

Inability to keep up with the industry in terms of product or service innovation is another missing sin. The current market is characterized by frequent changes due to advancement in technology. New methods of production that enhances efficiency in production processes are being invented day after the other. Therefore, the marketing managers have the responsibility of ensuring their products and services match the current industry technological level. Most players in the industry are progressively improving their products to outshine one another. Therefore, failure to align products with the market technology, a firm will not compete favorably, thereby leading to brand failure.

The final missing sin entails targeting the wrong audience. It is critical for organizations to identify their market segment and present their brands to the right individuals, which can be achieved through an in-depth analysis of the market in relation to consumer trends. Targeting the specific target audience is economical to a firm and is associated with numerous benefits. For instance, potential customers have easy access to the products, thereby considering them as their brand choice. However, most brands fail because they present the brand to the wrong audience (Bhasin). Therefore, the target audience is a crucial consideration element in determining the success of a brand.

Q3. Special Application of Branding: Online

Online is one of the major applications of branding. In recent times, many companies are striving to establish their brands on the Internet because of the readily available market (Goswami 45). Online branding refers to a brand management strategy that involves the use of the World Wide Web as a means of positioning a given brand in the market. For instance, www.LuckyBrand.com is a fashion brand that is involved in online branding (“Lucky Brand”). The brand has developed their own five guidelines in this regard. The first one entails the basics of brand building, whereby LuckyBrand has a simple website and a variety of products to offer convenience to customers. It further maintains high levels of privacy that has improved the trust among its users. The second guideline involves the creation of a strong brand identity. The fact that under this business, consumers never interact physically with the firm makes brand awareness a vital aspect. LuckyBrand.com has established a strong image in the minds of its users by use of a simple name that completely defines it. It also popularizes its brand through various online promotional hashtags such as #MyLuckyHoliday. Additionally, the brand has been consistent by offering high-quality products to its users, thereby boosting its reputation. The third principle refers to the generation of a strong pull of consumers. The brand uses strategic marketing techniques, particularly by concentrating on social media platforms and television advertisement to pull the consumers. Besides, LuckyBrand’s integrated marketing communication program facilitates its connection with customers, eventually strengthening the brand. The fourth guideline focuses on the selective identification of brand partnerships. LuckyBrand partners with already established brands such as Los Angeles Kings to reach more customers and eventually increase its sales (“Lucky Brand Expands Partnership with Los Angeles Kings”). Such key partnerships are helpful in the growth of the brand by increasing the market segment with reduced costs. The final guideline comprises effective use of relationship marketing. LuckyBrand is committed to developing a good relationship with many stakeholders through social media, its website, and blogs. The brand has built a strong relationship with its consumers by providing trusted information that matches its products.

However, some guidelines seem not included in the list. For instance, the provision of uninterrupted services over the brand’s website. LuckyBrand maintains a stable functioning of its site as demonstrated by limited cases of downtimes. The stable website has profoundly contributed to the growth of the brand as an online business by improving the brand’s trust among the consumers as they are assured of continuous provision of services. Consequently, the stability enhances the customer experience while shopping, thereby improving their possibility to consider the brand to meet their subsequent needs. This increases brand loyalty among customers, which is a major element in the development of any given brand.

Moreover, the firm mobilizes its entire workforce to work towards online branding. In case of the shift to online branding, the employees are well informed of the brand’s vision and are working towards making it a reality. The company is continuously involved in sensitizing and training its employees on technological issues to keep up with the increased competition. With a mastery of how online branding functions, the employees are driving the organization towards the achievement of its goals.

Works Cited

Bhasin, Hitesh. “Why Brands Fail-Several Reasons for Brand Failures”. Marketing91, 25 Dec 2017,

www.marketing91.com/why-brands-fail/. Accessed 11 December 2018.

Daye, Derrick. “41 Causes of Brand Failure”. Branding Strategy Insider, 21 October 2010,

www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2010/10/41-causes-of-brand-failure.html#.XA9o8GgzbIU. Accessed 11 December 2018.

Goswami, Shubham. “A Study on the Online Branding Strategies of Indian Fashion Retail Stores.” IUP Journal of Brand Management, vol. 12, no.1, 2015, p. 45.

Hanna, Sonya, and Jennifer Rowley. “Towards a Strategic Place Brand-Management Model.” Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 27, no. 5-6, 2011, pp. 458-476.

Keller, Kevin Lane. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. 4^th ed. Pearson, 2013.

“Lucky Brand Expands Partnership with Los Angeles Kings”. Sponsorship, 26 October 2015,

www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2015/10/26/Lucky-Brand-Expands-Partnership-With-Los-Angeles-K.aspx. Accessed 11 December 2018.

“Lucky Brand”. Luckybrand, n.d., www.luckybrand.com/. Accessed 11 December 2018.

Sharma, Karan. “Nine Steps to Strengthen Your Brand-Building Efforts”. Forbes, 15 December 2017,

www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/12/15/nine-steps-to-strengthen-your-brand-building-efforts/#41ae63571c9c. Accessed 11 December 2018.

Wertz, Jia. “7 Principles to Building a Strong Brand”. Forbes, 2 June 2017,

www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2017/06/02/7-principles-to-building-a-strong-brand/#5ae9b52b781a. Accessed 11 Dec 2018.

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