What Brands means to us

Corporate Brand & Aim Corporate Brand should:

differentiate the company from its competitors and other

entities in favourable way for itself

should create value for the consumer

Aim: To influence people in a desired way so that the image of

the entity, the sender, will develop as is wished by the sender.

Everything can be branded Branding is more of creating an identity.

Anything & everything can be branded including: Products

Services

Everything can be branded Countries

Cities

Individuals (constructing an identity for oneself)

Suonenjoki Darjeeling

Importance of Brand – Consumer’s View

Brands – 2 way

approach

Sender Focused

(Company)

Consumer Focused

• Sender Focused – Brand Identitye.g. – Facebook, Reality shows

• Consumer Focused – Brand Image

Brands from Customers View Levy – “people buy things not only for what they can do,

but also for what they mean”

Consumer consumption choice = product utilities + Brand

symbol

E.g. – Nike, Adidas, Puma etc.

Identity Construction Process Consumer – Need for consumption

Brand + Image/Symbol

Product Utilities

+ve/-ve memory (if +ve memory)

Association with the Brand

Purchase/ Not purchase (if purchase)

Repurchase No Purchase

Brand relationships live on also after our death

Brand Image

Constructed over time

Process is dynamic and

relationalEarlier

memories

Experiences from multiple

sources

BRAND COMMUNITIES

Meaning-

A specialised, non-geographically bound community, based

on a structured set of social relationships among the

admirers of a brand.

e.g. Harley Owners Group

3 Dimensions of a brand Community

Citroen 2CV-case study

1. Consciousness of a kind- Group of people feel

a collective similarity to another group and feel

they are different from others.

2. Ritual and traditions- The way in which people

greet and welcome one another.

3 Dimensions of a brand Community

3. Moral obligation-

o The club members share the clubs history and stories from the earlier and what

is expected from its members.

o The members share appreciation and technical solutions of the brand and the

beliefs with the other members of the community

Factors affecting Consumer’s Brand Image

Culture CompanyConsumer

’s Own Experienc

e

Earlier Images

over Time

Other Important Sources

Brands as citizen-artists “McDonaldization” of the culture.

o Efficiency- minimization of time

o Calculability- objective should be quantifiable

(e.g., sales) rather than subjective (e.g., taste).

o Predictability- Standardized and uniform services

o Control Through the Substitution of Nonhuman for Human Technology

o The Irrationality of Rationality

Moral of the Case Important to understand brands from consumer’s perspective

Factors affecting Consumer’s brand image:

o Brand Culture

o Consumer’s own experience

o Company/ Sender

o Earlier images over time

o Other important sources (friends, relatives etc.)