3 Successful & 3 Unsuccessful Brand

3 Successful Brand:

Pepsi - has changed its logo, and even its name, over the years, but the soft drink company has remained relevant by catering to customers. During the Great Depression, Pepsi branded itself as the cheaper, tastier version of Coca-Cola. And in the ’50s, the brand targeted the untapped African-American audience.

Nike - The athletic apparel giant has been able to succeed for generations because it’s constantly changing to meet market needs. When the company started in 1964, most people couldn't have even dreamed of the Internet. And Michael Jordan was a toddler. But, as the years passed, Nike geared up to compete. Imagine the outcome had Nike drawn its signature "swoosh," then sat back and said, “We’re good for this generation.” The swoosh would be dead and buried at this point.

So, the lesson is clear: If you want your brand to last more than a few months, you should emulate Nike. At the core of this essential strategy is communication. Branding, after all, is a feeling that founders convey to staff, and the staff conveys to consumers.

Warby Parker - An affordable, stylish eyeglass retailer whose philosophy encompasses sophistication, purpose and fun, Warby Parker has seen steadily building consumer awareness and sales that have jumped by several hundred percent each year since its 2010 launch.Co-founder and co-CEO Neil Blumenthal says the New York City-based company--named for the obscure Jack Kerouac characters Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker--tries to deliver on its promise by designing stylish frames using premium materials and offering them at the game-changing price point of $95, including prescription lenses.The company also has a "buy a pair, give a pair" program that helps low-income men and women start their own businesses selling affordable glasses and is one of the world's only carbon-neutral eyewear manufacturers. "Warby Parker exists to demonstrate that you can be profitable and do good in the world, at scale, without charging a premium for it," Blumenthal says.

That positioning has struck a chord among consumers, says Tracy Lloyd, partner at San Francisco brand strategy and design consultancy Emotive Brand. "Today, consumers want their brands to matter more; they'll support the brands that align to their values and are meaningful to them," she says. "This give-back mentality really resonates with people."Of course, serving up a great user experience and a bit of quirk doesn't hurt. Warby Parker emphasizes speedy and efficient customer service, and offers innovative shopping experiences such as a try-at-home option and a mobile retail pop-up shop housed in a renovated school bus.

Last year the company opened six new showrooms and doubled its employee ranks. Blumenthal attributes the rapid growth in part to the fact that the brand has meaning for many types of consumers, from style mavens to the socially conscious.

3 Unsuccessful brands:

Rasna Ltd. - Is among the famous soft drink companies in India. But when it tried to move away from its niche, it hasn’t had much success. When it experimented with fizzy fruit drink “Oran jolt”, the brand bombed even before it could take off. Oran jolt was a fruit drink in which carbonates were used as preservative. It didn’t work out because it was out of synchronization with retail practices. Oran jolt need to be refrigerated and it also faced quality problems. It has a shelf life of three-four weeks, while other soft- drinks assured life of five months.

Ben Gay - Having a big name behind a new product doesn’t guarantee success – and sometimes it can even be a hindrance, if the brand is too closely tied to a single product or image. Ben-Gay is most known for its unique strong smell – and this pain-relieving balm’s warming/burning sensation upon contact with skin. Not exactly a good fit for the Ben-Gay aspirin product originally launched by Pfizer years ago. As an article noted, while the products were associated in that they were designed for pain relief, people just couldn’t get a taste for swallowing something made a brand they associated with a burning sensation. Ben-Gay made the fatal mistake of attaching a recognizable brand name to something totally out of character.

Microsoft's Zune - first introduced this portable media player in 2006, with several new generations of the device to follow. The Zune faced several major challenges: namely, inevitable comparisons to the iPod, which rules the portable media marketplace, and the fact that its software is only available for Windows (so far). In a financial report covering the fiscal quarter ending in December 2008, Microsoft said Zune revenues had decreased by 54%, or $100 million. Laermer blames the bust on several factors, including software that was constantly changing and iPod’s head start of several years in the market

TV Show: Secrets of Branding - Crisis

Branding is one of the most critical parts of a successful business marketing strategy. A strong brand goes way beyond its visual logo or business name – it’s a set of associations that a consumer has with a particular product, and good brand identity can create an emotional relationship of trust, credibility and quality that carries immense power.

The Secrets of Branding asks the question, “What’s behind the label?” This fascinating and insightful series looks at how brands are first created and shares the insights of the world’s leading business entrepreneurs as to why some brands succeed and others don’t. The episodes examine some of the latest brand strategies and marketing techniques adopted across Europe and America which include the growing use of social media and the concept of augmented reality.

Crisis discovers the secrets behind the brands recognised the world over, as this insightful series looks at how brands are created and explores why some succeed where others fail.

Looking at the latest techniques and marketing strategies in Europe and America – including the use of social media and augmented reality – Secrets of Branding shows how luxury brands are often ‘refreshed’ to attract new generations of customers across the globe.

Crisis reveals the secret marketing tactics of some of the world’s most successful brands, while leading business entrepreneurs, advertising and marketing gurus share insights into the do's and don'ts of brand development.

This episode looks at how an unexpected crisis can bring even the most powerful brand to its knees, and what steps can be taken to protect global brands from major reputational damage. Being prepared for a brand crisis is a vital part of developing a brand and marketing strategy.

Incidents like the Pan American Airliner bombing of 1988 and the recent disappearance of flight MH370 have shaken the airline industry and specifically these two brands to the very core. It has also raised questions on airline safety and making people think twice whenever they are opting to travel by these two airliners.

The fact that people started cancelling Pan Am flights and the compensation pan Am had to give affected their business heavily. The brand had lost brand equity and the brand was on its way to a diminution.

Post that consumer confidence on the brand fell considerably and from being ranked 23^rd on Superbrand list (at that time) it failed to make it into the top 500 list the next year.

Three things a brand need to keep in mind while sustaining a brand and that is:

1. An unfortunate disaster is not the brand’s fault but to aloof your business from the disaster and shying away from taking responsibility and that to too quickly can have a negative impact on the brand.

2. Showing compassion for the mishap and dealing the situation in a honest and candid way helps to regain consumer trust and pulls the brand from declining.

3. Consumers don’t blame brand for this kind of mishaps but if the brands lack an emergency damage control or crisis management infrastructure then the onus comes back to the brand.

Fords Edsel development issue of 1955 is also another brand failure’s classic example. Ford completely ignored the market research report, went against it and did something on their own. their add campaigns promised more than what the car was people’s expectation went high but when the car came out eventually it was not what it promised.

The Edsel was saddled with quality and reliability issues from the very beginning. Its price was another sticking point: It started at $2,500 and topped out at $3,800, which was much more expensive than other Ford models at the time. Adding to the Edsel’s woes was the fact that it debuted at the beginning of a recession. An expensive Ford didn’t look like a good option for most consumers.

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol medication commanded 35 per cent of the US over-the-counter analgesic market - representing something like 15 per cent of the company's profits.

Unfortunately, at that point one individual succeeded in lacing the drug with cyanide. Seven people died as a result, and a widespread panic ensued about how widespread the contamination might be.

By the end of the episode, everyone knew that Tylenol was associated with the scare. The company's market value fell by $1bn as a result.

When the same situation happened in 1986, the company had learned its lessons well. It acted quickly - ordering that Tylenol should be recalled from every outlet - not just those in the state where it had been tampered with. Not only that, but the company decided the product would not be re-established on the shelves until something had been done to provide better product protection.

As a result, Johnson & Johnson developed the tamperproof packaging that would make it much more difficult for a similar incident to occur in future.

The cost was a high one. In addition to the impact on the company's share price when the crisis first hit, the lost production and destroyed goods as a result of the recall were considerable.

However, the company won praise for its quick and appropriate action. Having sidestepped the position others have found themselves in - of having been slow to act in the face of consumer concern - they achieved the status of consumer champion.

Within five months of the disaster, the company had recovered 70% of its market share for the drug - and the fact this went on to improve over time showed that the company had succeeded in preserving the long term value of the brand. Companies such as Perrier, who had been criticised for less adept handling of a crisis, found their reputation damaged for as long as five years after an incident.

In fact, there is some evidence that it was rewarded by consumers who were so reassured by the steps taken that they switched from other painkillers to Tylenol.

Conclusion

The features that made Johnson & Johnson's handling of the crisis a success included the following:

• They acted quickly, with complete openness about what had happened, and immediately sought to remove any source of danger based on the worst case scenario - not waiting for evidence to see whether the contamination might be more widespread
• Having acted quickly, they then sought to ensure that measures were taken which would prevent as far as possible a recurrence of the problem
• They showed themselves to be prepared to bear the short term cost in the name of consumer safety. That more than anything else established a basis for trust with their customers.

THE UNINVITED BRAND !!

A brand typically refers to a symbol or name associated with a concept, an influencing group, a product, or a seller of a product. In most cases, a brand is legally controlled by a single entity that is responsible for marketing and protecting the brand. An open-source brand, on the other hand, is a brand that is largely controlled by customers or users.A similar concept is crowd sourced branding, where a legal entity still owns the copyright to the brand but users are given great freedom to influence the brand.

The purest form of open source brand is not controlled by any legal mechanism. For example, there is no legal entity that owns a copyright to the hacktivist brand Anonymous great freedom to influence the brand.

The love affair between big brands and mass media is over.  But where do marketeers go next?  The Open Source Movement has the answers....

FREE AND EASY:

Another important factor is that technical knowledge is no longer required.

The rapid growth of online tools that have made it easier for people with no technical interest or knowledge to chat, publish, promote, discuss and interact online.

OPEN SOURCE MEETS MARKETING:

1. BACK TO THE SOURCE :Consumers are no longer happy to sit back and be fed a brand and its values.

2.  SPOT BRAND FANS:  The new breed recognise there is no point in ‘demanding back the source material’ because it is well and truly out there -- in the public domain. 

3.  BE A BRAND HOST : They know that that brand guardians are no longer relevant to the marketplace and that brand hosts are more in tune with the times.

4.  ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?:  The voice of the mass markets was a LOUD and BOOMING monologue.  Which didn’t leave a lot of time to listen to anyone.

5.  YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE CLEVERER THAN YOU: Open Source marketeers understand that their customers are clever, cleverer than themselves and their agencies. 

THE AGE OF TRANSPARENCY:

·         Availability of and convenient access to information is one of the empowering and revolutionary forces of internet.

·         In open source branding , secrecy is no longer a legitimate competitive strategy for a firm.

THE AGE OF CRITICISM:

·         Web technologies make criticizing easier, and linked social networks help the content to travel fast and far.

·         Rating & Ranking has made customer more critical of their companies and their brands.

THE AGE OF PARODY:

Spoofing has become the popular time pass for the people seeking entertainment on web , brands provide perfect fodder for this activity.

STRATEGIC PLANNING TO EXECUTIONAL EXCELLENCE:

Traditional marketing is a structured and controlled strategic practice guided by advanced communication, media, and promotion plans. In the landscape of Web 2.0, companies not only encourages, but demands flexibility, opportunism, and adaptation on the part of brands. Brands on the social web win through excellence in execution.

 The success formula is : you need engaging content, and a blueprint that helps that content “go viral” and be shared. Executional excellence are more driven by the principles of public relations. For example : Witness the Wall Street Journal quote from a McDonald’s corporate spokesperson regarding the 300 Facebook groups devoted to its McRib sandwich: “There is no connection between McDonald’s or any of its McRib lovers” .This unfortunately-classic press response may protect the brand from legal entanglements, but it does nothing to build community for this open source brand.

Thus social media raises the stakes for engaging brand content by keeping strategy concerns aside

Don’t let Big Data bury your brand !!

WHAT IS BIG DATA ??

Big data enables brands to quickly and precisely measure an audience’s short-term response to marketing activity

DANGER ASSOCIATED WITH “BIG DATA”

Danger with basing marketing decisions on this information is: Detrimental behavior to long-term brand equity such as price promotions tends to spike such measures. Result: Gravitation toward programs that ultimately degrade the brand.

WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR BRAND FROM THE PITFALLS OF BIG DATA:

Develop and use long-term measures of brand equity instead of, or in addition to, short-term indicators. Factors such as perceptions and attitudes toward a brand, and loyalty for a brand are important indicators of brand equity.

Use the common sense test. Is this program consistent with what we want the brand to stand for? (Of course, this assessment requires that the brand first have a vision that is clear, known, and accepted.)

Compel the mar-tech and brand teams, which are usually staffed by very different types of people, to work together to create win-win programs. For marketing programs to be impactful in the near term yet still build equity over time, the perspectives and talents of each group are needed. The challenge is to create an organizational structure that allows them to collaborate successfully.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS BIG DATA CAN ENHANCE A BRAND’S MARKETING EFFORTS THAT CARRY LITTLE RISK:

Big data can be used to create strategic insights about the brand’s customer segments and behaviours. General Mills uses data to understand the sentiments of consumers who are buying for young children or those responding to cholesterol guidance from a physician.

Big data can even be used to change the consumer experience like L’Oréal did with their Make Up Genius app

A BLOGGER IN THE MIDST

This is the typical case of a girl who endorses her company Lancaster-Webb’s product without proper approval from the company and also made an image that she represents the company and has came out with a name -- 'Glove Girl'. In the process she also leaked out confidential information of the company where by breaching the contracts.

In this type of situation Will Somerset should not fire the girl as first of all she doesn't harm the company and on the contrary endorsing its products which in turn increasing reach and awareness. She does the hard work which instead should be done by the advertising department, So in a way she is doing more good than harm. Instead of firing her the company should use her endorsement skill as a strong forte to put her with the marketing department.

Then here comes the concept of Gonzo marketing.  Now the biggest question is what is gonzo marketing.

Concept Coined by Christopher Locke. It is essentially about moving from traditional advertising to a more conversational approach using the world-wide web. In this marketing Concept, the company-customer relationship is broadened to allow for the exchange of information, experiences, support and input, as well as products and money. In this model, both the consumers and companies benefit without the traditional bombarding of marketing messages that is so off putting to consumers.

Also the concept of marketing through blogs comes into play.

MARKETING THROUGH BLOGS:

Blog is a web site where entries are made and displayed in reverse chronological order. A blog for marketing can give an identity and a “voice,” to gain visibility on the Web. It can generate word-of-mouth interest and display current work. It is a way for you to write about your work and tell the story behind it. It allows others to get involved with your work by leaving comments. The blogs can be noticed by the media bringing requests for interviews.You can educate people without being too preachy. Search engines love blogs because there’s usually a lot of specific topic-oriented content.  A blog allows people to see a more private side of you and get to know you. It gives you the chance to interact with clients as friends.

Blogs create communities of like-minded people. One of my favourite uses for freelancers is to publicize and promote—even raise money for—charities they feel strongly connected with.

If Brands Are Built Over Years, Why Are They Managed Over Quarters

The main theme of this article is to get companies to focus on the long term instead of the short term. It is much easier for companies to focus on the short term in this age gaining immediate sales trends but only focusing on the short term which deteriorates the health of the company.This discount in products, especially in premium brands, can significantly hurt the life of a product. Discounting strategy results in changes in consumer behavior, diluted brand equity and a competitive response.

Companies need to focus more on marketing, new product development and new forms of distribution rather than gaining short term sales by discounting products.Nike – Foot Locker, Finish Line.Few ways to track a brand’s long term health that will help companies evaluate their products:

o   Evaluate baseline sales over months, quarters and years

o   Using this data brand managers can evaluate performance over monthly, quarterly and yearly segments and take marketing decisions .

THE SHORT TERM VIEW:

·         Store scanners reduced the lead time for getting the sales data significantly. Store Scanners gave the real time data to the store managers, thus enabling the attribution of spike in sale to a price promotion.

·         The problem – Didn’t tell about the profitability of a promotion.

·         The Solution – Baseline Sales.

·         Baseline Sales are estimated by extrapolating from periods when there are no price promotions.

·         No discounts

·         Consumers buying at full price, resulted in higher profit and higher brand value.

CHANGES IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR:

• Consumers purchase at next sale rather than at full price.
• Baseline sales eventually decrease and lift over baseline increases.
• This lift makes promotions look highly profitable so managers push for more discount.
• Eventually most of the product is sold at discount and profit margins decrease.

LONG TERM VIEW:

The effects of discounts and other components in the marketing mix-such as advertising, new products, and distribution only can be understood over long run. Distribution in high end stores and product innovation play greatest role in increasing sale in the long term.

LONG TERM METRICS CAN REDRESS SHORT TERM MYOPIA

• Dashboard approach will improve brand performance
• Prevents an exclusive focus on short-term data. Managers can establish whether price promotions have  damaging long-term effects on brand equity and can therefore make more strategic decisions about marketing spending.
• Brand managers’ performance can be judged on a combination of quarterly sales and quantity and price premiums. The temptation to discount a strong brand will be reduced, because damage to the brand’s long-term health will become more apparent.
• Finally—and most broadly—long-term  metrics inform a company’s marketing decisions

TELMA: TELMA :BUILDING & DEFENDING MARKET LEADER

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA:

In 2010, the Indian pharmaceutical companies produced 20-22% of the world’s generic drugs in terms of volume & offered 600 finished medicines & nearly 400 bulk drugs. Top 10 players accounting for nearly 37% of the market share in 2010.  Top 10 players accounting for nearly 37% of the market share in 2010. The domestic market was worth $ 12.26 billion growing at 17% per year , the industry enjoyed a market share of $ 14 billion in the US growing at  22% per year.

Telismartan:

·         Telmisartan was used for the management of hypertension.

·         It was discovered by Boehringer Ingelhiem

·         ONTARGET trial was done with both telmisartan and Ramipril.

·         The result of the trial was announced in 2008 and proved that telmisartan was as effective as Ramipril with better tolerated with lower side effects.

Telma: The Brand

In 2003, Telma was introduced. Telma built a powerful identity and an enviable market position in the antihypertensive category. Campaigns to occupy a position of leadership & give out info related the brand. To reinforce this message, the brand imagery used bright yellow .

Position Defense:

The position defense is the simplest defensive strategy.  It simply involves trying to hold your current position in the market. To do this, you simply continue to invest in your current markets and attempt to build your brand name and customer loyalty. The problem with this strategy is that it can make you a target for new entrants to the market.

Mobile Defense:

The mobile defense involves making constant changes to your business so that it is difficult for competitors to compete with you. This can involve introducing new products, entering new markets or simply making changes to existing products. This constant moving between strategies requires a flexible business that can adjust to change.

Counter Offensive Defense:

The counter-offensive defense is a retaliatory strategy.When a competitor attacks your business, you strike back with your own attack. For instance, if you operate a bakery that only produces gluten-free products and a competitor who produces regular bread also begins producing gluten-free products, you could hit back at it by introducing regular bread products.

Contraction Defense:

The contraction defense is the least desirable defense because it involves retreating from markets. If you don't believe you can successfully defend those markets, however, then it can be the best option. This allows you to redeploy your resources into other areas. For example, imagine that you manufacture two products: liquid soap and bar soap. If you find that you can no longer compete in the bar soap market, then it makes sense to retreat from that market and focus on liquid soaps.

STRATEGIC BRAND PROGRAMS

Strategic Brand Program can be sub-divided into 4 phases:

•         2003 – 2005: Initial Years of Building Telma

•         2006 – 2007: Growing the Brand

•         2008 – 2010:  Fortifying the brand

•         2011 – Beyond: Sustaining the Brand

TELMA: THE CHALLENGE AHEAD :

Telma had created a new category for the Telmisartan molecule in the antihypertensive market in India. The brand adopted a premium pricing strategy and yet occupied a leadership position, not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of number of prescriptions.Since Telma was already the ‘‘cardiologist’s favorite’’, Should they devote more marketing effort towards diabetologists who were the second highest segment of prescribers ?