Almost all of us, not to generalize, know the traditional character of the cowboy and his unmistakable sound, slogans such as "All possibilities" and "We still have a long way to go" and some easy-to-identify logos such as Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Coca Cola, among many other marketing actions, that regardless of the nature of the originator, are aimed at effective and efficient brand management.
For some decades now, advertisers and marketers have been working together to develop lasting brands that will position themselves in the consumer's mind over time.
The efficient management of brands is an arduous task and one of great care, since each of the actions to be carried out must be aimed at strengthening the context of the brand within its target audience, which if not, for a poorly planned or developed action, can reduce and change the perception of the public in the mind.
Those who are involved in building, developing and caring for the brands that we look for every day in the stands of supermarkets, stores, and the services for which we pay the price based on the value it represents for us, see consumers as a public to which they must offer the best, since they are the supreme judge of the competitive advantages that are presented to them.
Currently, companies in the Dominican environment have been making certain identity changes, aimed at reinforcing or modifying their image before society, a strategy that added to the effective application of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, product quality, among other tools that allow you to improve your positioning.
With few national brands of international and global renown, product managers will have to become “brand anthropologists”, to get to know essentially their movements and everything they are capable of doing for our products and companies.
It is they - the brands - that make companies stay generations after generations, while reinforcing customer consumption habits, which sometimes become cultures so strong that they remain through the years. That is why, we see the order of the day, large acquisitions by various companies, which strategically seek not only to increase market share or diversify the presence in some of them, but also to have traditional brands that are well positioned and guaranteeing success in their respective markets.
Being well positioned is not only an advantage in the market we are targeting, but also against competitors, who increase and focus their efforts to see the positioning of our brands reduced in the minds of consumers.
In order to efficiently plan the work to be carried out with the brands, we must have tools that provide us with the necessary information. In this planning process we must consider several aspects:
Let's look in a little more detail at each of these aspects:
1) Analyze the market: Not only to introduce yourself, it is enough to know the market, but in the different stages of the product life cycle, we must know the internal and external elements that interact, so it is necessary to design a research program, define our products, know the competitors, segment the market and determine its trend. In general, it will entail deciphering who we are, where we are and who we are fighting against.
2) Analysis of the situation: It is decisive for management to fully identify the brand's personality and the attributes that make it up. At the time of this analysis, we can highlight what the real values of the brand are and with which we will achieve a better share of mind in consumers.
3) Brand strategy: It is vitally important to have a good one, but in the same way, knowing how to communicate it. An effective application of the communication tool is key to the success of the positioning strategy. In addition, we must clearly identify what type of markets we are going to direct our communication to.
4) Medium and long-term planning and brand evaluation: All the elements of brand management are of great importance and future planning (vision) turns out to be one of the most interesting and at the same time difficult. Making our brands transcend well positioned is the main strategic objective of this process. For this also, it is necessary to continuously monitor the movements that the brand is capable of making for itself and its consumers. What we must take care of in being coherent between the communication of the brand and the experience of consumers over time.
WHY CREATE GOOD BRANDS?
Getting our brands to position themselves in the minds of consumers represents a highly valuable component that generates value and significant assets for companies. This can be reflected in the assessment carried out by the Interbrand firm each year, on the most valuable brands in the world.
Brands not only represent an asset of great importance for the strategies that design and implement the marketing management, but their importance extends to the capitalization of companies.
For the year 2001, we presented the first twenty (20) brands with the highest value in the world. (In millions of US $)
1. Coca cola ……. 68,945
2. Microsoft …… 65,068
3. IBM …………..52,752
4. GE …………….42,396
5. Nokia ………..35,035
6. Intel ………….34,665
7. Disney ……….32,591
8. Ford ………….30,092
9. McDonald´s..25,289
10. AT&T ……….22,828
11. Marlboro…..22,053
12. Mercedes…. 21,728
13. Citibank …… 19,005
14. Toyota …….. 18,578
15. Hewlett Packard…. 17,983
16. Cisco Systems …….17,209
17. Amex ……………….. 16,919
18. Gillette ……………… 15,298
19. Merrill Lynch …….. 15,015
20. Sony ………………… 15,005
Large product or corporate brands greatly support the capital value of the companies that generate them. We point out how some brands represent a large part of the capital of the companies (In billions of US $).
Company …… Capitalization Value….. Brand Value
Coca Cola Company….. 142,163 …………… 61%
Ford Motors ……………..45,900 …………… 66%
BMW ………………………..22,220 …………… 62%
Kodak ……………………… 13,200 …………… 82%
Nike ………………………… 11,500 …………… 66%
Heinz ……………………….14,700 …………… 48%
Kellogg´s …………………. 12,100 ……………. 58%
Xerox ………………………..6,500 …………….93%
From the era of advertising to the current era of positioning, without a doubt, creating and maintaining high-value brands represents the most important task for marketers and advertisers, since they will allow us to be in place best suited to go far, the consumer's mind.
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