How to Manage Brand to Preserve the Values?

  The durable values of brand amongst customers is the key to maintain a brand’s appeal and authenticity; otherwise, even an influential and hot brand might plummet to nothing but a least favorite one overnight due to increasing loss of support of customers and endorsers. The brand values, as William Neal stated (n.d.), are the general perception of customers referring to the assessment of physical and readily identifiable features (i.e. the fast and standardized food of Macdonald’s), intangible and intrinsic values associated with brand name (i.e. high social status and eminence of Louis Vuitton), and the price or cost (the always price-low of commodity of Wal-Mart), of the brand. In order to maximize brand effect to seize and appeal more profits, brand managements must take good care of these three components above, thereby knowing better to refine its marketing operation to hold on to supporters’ loyalty to itself and attract more recommendation.

                                                    Figure 1.1 Three components of Brand Values

  Mainstreaming a brand to secure customers’ purchase and everlasting revenues might be the ultimate stage where most of brand developments, but marketers must first understand the value system underlying this adoption and then fit the marketing program to these values. (Beverand and Ewing, 2005, p, 385) In the case analysis of Dunlop Volley, it used to be the most striking Australian hippest teen shoes brand in late 20th century. Resisting alluring attempt to quickly capitalize on mass markets for bigger profits has assured it to preserve credibility and loyalty in customers procrastinate the diffusion process into mass marketplace while also lengthening profitable period in primary niche market to enhance brand repositioning. Four key constituents are identified in case analysis to extend fashion cycle of brand values: rejection of hard sell, being authentic, targeting alternative distribution channels and the appropriate of timing getting into mainstream.

                                                     Figure 1.2 Dunlop Volley

  The strategy of marketers back then was to target the small audience with high ability of economic consumption and, for a period of time, they all stick to producing teen shoes and through brand communication to make it applied to teenagers’ subculture, which reflected on the product’s design and advertisements’ slogan. It is Dunlop’s customer-led view in marketing to make them get access to filter deeply into teenagers’ market segments before jumping into mainstream mass marketplace and selling out products to reap profits, and yet usually the credibility and authenticity established in customers were squandered too.

  In December 2002, nevertheless, most of its early adopters gradually turned to prefer other shoes brands, such as Nike or Adidas, due to their growing and changes in preference, Dunlop had leveraged the opportunity to reposition the brand in the mainstream marketplace to cope with shakeout. It gradually put more emphasis on mass markets’ layout and catered to average taste of mass customers while, without giving up on certain small niche markets by customizing its product with particular use and utility. Investments in quality have helped improve perceptions of the brand, and support the positioning around value for the money and an active healthy lifestyle. As such, the Volley has achieved product parity with Nike and other big brands for all but a few extreme uses, such as professional marathons. (Beverland and Ewing, 2005, p, 386 )

  To sum up, rather than seeing a brand in short-term fad, the marketers should manage brand by interrogating brand values into customers’ life style as long as possible and provide chances to participate in developing new brand identity with creation of authenticity. Once customers’ feel exploited and perceive the brand diffusing into mainstream at speedy pace, it is likely of them to forsake the original preferred brand and go seek for another “authentic” one which matches their taste the best. Hence, it’s decisive to adopt a soft approach, according to Beverland and Ewing (2005), to view brand as “a two-way conversation rather than a top-down communication exercise, and most significantly, help the brand reposition in market properly to innovate customers such as a desire for individuality, creative expression, identification among peers and a search for authenticity” (p. 391). The less commercial intent and more authentic compassion towards the communication recipients, the possible it is to strike a chord for customers’ sense of identification.

Key Word:

*Brand value

Reference:

Neal, W. (n.d.). Modeling Brand Equity. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.sdr-consulting.com/article12.html

Beverland, M., & Ewing, M. (2005). Slowing the adoption and diffusion process to enhance brand repositioning: The consumer driven repositioning of Dunlop Volley. Business Horizon, 48, 385-391.