Monday 5 December 2011

Brand Senses

Speaking in regards of the senses that influence consumers' perception, a good example would be Abercrombie and Fitch shop. They are trying affect as many senses as it is possible by using specific darker in-store lighting, good-looking sales assistants and very strong appealing signature smell of their perfume. Concerning the touch, this sense is influenced by actual products.

The following framework is demonstrating the connection between the human senses and their loyalty for a brand:

Social Media for Project B


Here is the decisions upon Social Media Planning for the Pedigree Rebranding project:  

As a mean of branding implementation, it was decided to use social media in order to increase brand’s overall awareness. Two major strategic tools will be aplied: Facebook, which is the most popular social network globally and YouTube, which is the second largest browser after Google.


Currently Pedigree has only one page in Facebook and it is only in Spanish. However, as this website is a crucial tool for marketing, the idea is to launch an official Pedigree Facebook page in English which is a universal language. Moreover, it is believed that by doing so Pedigree will reinforce its brand identity, improve direct customer engagement and facilitate the process of acquiring new customers. Facebook page will be called ‘ PetLovers’ and will act as a non-sponsored page. This page will include ads from Pedigree but also general information about pets and perhaps the creation of events such as dog competitions with winning Pedigree prizes. Moreover, we are also planning on using celebrity endorsement: indeed, attracting such personalities as Angelina Jolie and Paris Hilton, who are considered to be dog lovers, to participate in these events and ads.
For the other channel, it will be set up to create many short videos to be placed on YouTube. The idea is to have different pets-related educational topics on each video. The examples of them are: “how to feed correctly your dog” by Pedigree™, “how to bathe your dog appropriately” by Pedigree™ so as to guide pet lovers on the finer points of dog care.

PROJECT B - Presentation

TASK C: Brand Naming


Discuss the difficulties in coming up with suitable brand names and the importance they have in business.

Brand name is an inevitable element of any brand and has a critical significance on the brand image and consequently on the overall performance of the company. Most of the times the brand name captures the initial central attention and therefore formulates the first impression that is sometimes crucial for the further rapport with other brand aspects.

By its nature the brand name is communicating the information to the consumer in less than a few seconds (Keller, 2008). In such a short period of time this word or phrase has a responsibility to pass a clear understandable message to the recipient, which will trigger some memories and associations in his/her head. At the same time this message should be able to touch upon emotional perception of the recipient. Therefore the brand name must exceptionally effective.

Another issue is that it is truly difficult to change the name that has already been established because it is firmly tied to the product in the mind of consumers (Ollins, 2008).

One more challenge stands in the legal registration of the name as a trademark. Even though it seems that there are plenty of words available, the number of words in everyday use is substantially less than the dictionaries provide. Also, because of an increasing flow of new names being registered recently, the available options are not only decreasing in quantity but also in their quality.

The criteria for a good brand name is very high, apart from being distinctive, unique and catchy, the name must also be simple and easy to pronounce and spell. At the same time names should be easy to remember, discuss and compare for the general public. Moreover, the name should be relevant and appropriate with the unambiguous idea behind it. The meaning behind the name must also be instantly understandable and familiar to the population of various ages and backgrounds.

Furthermore, the brand name must be also checked against negative translations into all other languages in order to avoid harmful coincidences. 

Nonetheless, if the brand name is constructed correctly and effectively, this aspect of a brand may be unbelievably beneficial to an organisation by adding value and cutting costs on marketing efforts. It may directly affect brand loyalty, demand, attracting and retaining customers, as well as overall organisational culture and core brand philosophy.

For all these reasons the time and effort spent into generating a brand name must not be neglected or diminished. The right name can be the brand’s most precious asset (Neumeier, 2006).


References:
Neumeier, M (2006) The Brand Gap. Pp.82-86. Berkeley: New Riders  

Keller, K.L (2008) Strategic Brand Management: Builidng, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 3rd ed. Pp.145-151. Pearson Prentice Hall

Ollins, W (2008) The Brand Handbook. Pp.56-57 London: Thames and Hudson

360 degrees study into Tiffany&Co.

 It is an American luxury jewellery and silverware company, one of the world's most distinctive iconic brands.
  •  It was founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in 1837 in New York City as a "stationary and fancy goods emporium". Only in 1853 the focus on jewellery was established when Charles Tiffany headed the company. 
Although it is more than 100 stores and boutiques worldwide, the brand is still very firmly associated with its home city New York.  
  • In 1862 Tiffany&Co was supplying the Union Army with swords, flags and surgical implements (Birnie, 2003).
  • 1867 it was the first US firm to win award for excellence in silverware at the Explosion Universaille in Paris. 
  • In 1968 US First Lady Lady Bird Johnson ordered a White House china service design, featuring 90 flowers (Courtesy of Clinton Presidential Library, 2008) 
  • In 2004 Tiffany& Co sued eBay on the ground that the latest profits from selling counterfeits of Tiffany products, however lost the trial and an appeal (Baertlein, 2004).
  • In 2008 there was a collaboration with a japanese operator SoftBank to create a limited (10 numbers) cellphone collection, where each phone consists of more than 400 diamonds and cost approximately £781,900.  
  • Each year Tiffany&Co. is responsible for creation of the trophy to award the NFL winners of the Super Bowl for the year, as well as MLS championship trophy.
Brand Mantra:

* One of the most distinctive features of the brand is their special turquoise blue, "Tiffany Blue", which is currently a registered trademark. It was introduced in its very first year as it is considered to be a colour of luxury due to being the hardest and most expensive colours for painters to during Renaissance to find and produce. Tiffany has never used any other colour. 

* Breakfast at Tiffany's - the movie starring Audrey Hepburn that has been eternalise in 1961.

*In 1878 Charles Tiffany acquired one of the world's largest and finest diamonds, uncovered in teh Kimberley mines in South Africa, with weight over 287 carats. He also acquired teh French crown jewels. 

*Celebrity involvement: apart from Audrey Hepburn, acting in the film and shooting promotional photographs, Abraham Lincoln commissioned the company to create a pitcher for his presidential inauguration and, while being at it, bought a Tiffany seed-pearl jewellery set for his wife. 
The company has also worked with such high-profile designers as Paloma Picasso and Coco Chanel.

*Luxury is the quality that has always been strongly associated with Tiffany. The company retains the same connotations it created in 19th century by sustainably working with leading jewellery and accessory designers in the world.

*The simplicity the brand portrays creates this special gentle and unique feeling of care and love, which instantly creates a charming emotional attachment to the brand image. 




*Addressing families in their public communicational messages enhances the sense of stability, trust, loyalty and love.



* Tiffany was able to create a completely unique lifestyle associated with the brand that is a inevitably appealing to a wide range of age groups as well as social classes and segments.  


Reference:
Baertlein, L. (2004) "Tiffany sues Ebay". Reuters. [online] Available URL: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-22-tiffany-ebay_x.htm, Accessed on 20.11.2011

Courtesy of Clinton Presidential Library (2008) Party Politics [online] Available URL:  http://www.firstladies.org/documents/PartyPoliticsbrochure-webcompress.pdf, Accessed on 20.11.2011

Birnie, M (2003) Tiffany Medal of Honour Comes to Navy Museum [online] Available URL:  http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=7048, Accessed on 20.11.2011

"Lovemark" rather than Trademark

The first and the most important impression is based on visual elements, they identify and portray teh meaning of the brand to the public. The whole visual recognition pattern is formed by various aspects, such as colours, slogans, tone and volume of voice and style of expression (Olins, 2008). However at the core of all these elements lies logo - the first and most important visible element, the heart of the brand communication. "The logo encapsulates the brand"(Olins, 2008).  

Symbols are tremendously powerful: as primary visual factors they reach the nervous impulses many times faster than any other triggers, such as words that set ideas in the mind.   

"Symbols can unleash the most complex and profound emotions"(Olins, 2008).

References:
Ollins, W (2008) The Brand Handbook. pp30-31 London: Thames and Hudson

Guest Lecture

Necessary components of a brand:
1. Positioning
Example of Prada doing boat racing, team Prada
Example of GAP aids in Africa, Red label

2. Storytelling 
Example of BMW - stylish fun
Example of Nike - enable

3. Design
Example of Coca-Cola bottle shape and red colour - brand power
Example of Apple: "Design must so good that you want to leak it" - Steve Jobs, 2011

4.Customer Relationship
Example of Travelogue - affordable, practical
Example of One and Only - concierge, personal services


What makes a brand successful?
- values
- mission
- point of difference
- adaptability

Example of BP vs British Petroleum name strategy changes


Touch points of a brand:
- advertising
- packaging
- online
- design collateral, posters
- PR
- signage

Brands going global:
- consistency of a brand offer
Example of Starbucks
- cultural differences
Example of HSBC
- harmonisation
Example of Opal Fruits change into Starburst


Tools to create a brand:
1.Expression of a brand - colour
2. Typography - font
3. Brand mark
4. Imagery, visions
5. Graphic device - panoramic/Eureka Illusion
6. Applications
7.Competitive Set

Exercise: Being able to portray the image and mission of a brand using visual graphics:


McDonald's
- animal - squirrel, represents fast service and children and family friendliness overall
- building - portraying colour schemes of the plays as well as mass targeting
 - drink - typical one
- car- family car, not too sophisticated
- furniture - family dinner table, place of warm and family gatherings
- -celebrity - comedy movies, joy, friends, happiness, always positive, not too elite or posh-style