The Company as a Brand

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The Company as a Brand

• Corporate Reputation and CompetitivenessLecture
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Lecture Objectives

• To explore what in branding can be applied to
  the management of corporate reputation

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What is a brand?

• A company with a price advantage can be undercut.
  A company with a performance advantage can be
  outflanked. But a company with an emotional
  difference can potentially demand a premium
  forever. David Ogilvy
• The most important aspects of a brand are the
  associations we make with the brand name,
  particularly the more affective (emotional) ones.

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THE MARKETING MIX
People
Sales
Place
Product
Customer Offer
Price
Service
Promotion
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Advertising Sales Ratio
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Brands and Advertising
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Todays Brands are Corporate Brands

• Multiple stakeholders customers, employees,
  shareholders, the media, suppliers.
• Multiple channels Direct, Intermediaries, the
  Internet.
• Multiple product types Products and Services,
  Umbrella brands and extensions.
• The Service Economy

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People
Sales
Place
Product
Customer Offer
Price
Service
Promotion
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Electrical Retailers
Fashion Retailers
Customer Numbers
Advertising Spend
Advertising Spend
Source Davies (1991)
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The Different Roles of Advertising

• Advertising can create a brand image for a
  physical product
• The customer recreates the imagery in use
• Advertising can communicate a brand for a service
  or corporate brand
• Advertising an image for a service which is not
  matched by the experience is a mistake

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How Reputation is Created
From Bernstein (1984)
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The COO Effect

• "Before 1918 nobody knew where a product came
  from. In that year Germany lost the First World
  War. To punish German industry and to warn the
  European consumer of that time, German
  manufacturers were obliged to put on each product
  they exported 'Made in Germany' labels (in
  English). Very soon it became a sign of
  quality", (Morello, 1984 p.5).

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The COO Effect

• Generalized images created by variables such as
  representative products, economic and political
  maturity, historical events and relationships,
  traditions, industrialization and the degree of
  technological virtuosity which will have effects
  upon consumer attitudes additional to those
  emanating from the significant elements of the
  products. Bannister and Saunders (1978)

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The Industry Effect

• God made the wicked grocer for a mystery and
  sign,
• That men might shun the awful shops and go to
  inns to dine,
• GK Chesterton
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Corporate v Product Branding

• The case of own brands competing with national
  brands
• Own brands have many cost advantages
• They often lack cache, but not always!
• They have an image for poor qualitybut
• Other corporate brands are seen as quality signs

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Supply Chain Cost Structure Margarine
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The Theft of Image
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Positioning

• Positioning is the place the product occupies in
  consumers minds relative to competing products.
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• Positioning is the way the product is defined by
  consumers on important attributes.
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Positioning (Ries and Trout)

• Positioning is what is distinctive about you,
  what sets you apart from the rest
• Positioning is not what you do to the product or
  service. Positioning is what you do to the mind
  of the prospect. You position yourself in the
  mind of the prospect.
• Positioning requires a frame of reference,
  usually the competition.

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Competitive Strategy (Porter)

• Strategy is concerned with identifying how you
  intend to meet your corporate objectives
• Competitive Strategy involves positioning a
  business to maximise the value of the
  capabilities that distinguish it from its
  competitors.

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Speciality
Wholemeal
Wheatmeal
Health
White, sliced
High fat breads
Price
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Fraser
Principles
Next
MS
Debenhams
Dorothy
BHS
Perkins
River
Littlewoods
Etam
Island
New
Look
Top Shop
CA
Evans
Miss
Mail order
Selfridge
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Understanding Brands The Use of Metaphor

• Metaphor is (literally) false (Roger is a lion)
  but our view of the target (Roger) is transformed
  and illuminated by the lion metaphor
• Metaphor helps us to understand the complex
  through the medium of something more familiar

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3 Main Root Metaphors

Brand as differentiating mark
Brand as Person
Brand as Asset
Brands can be valued Brands can and should be
protected Brands can be invested in Brands can be
bought and rented Brands can be used for
different businesses Brands are sources of
economic power
A Brand has a Personality We can have a
relationship with a Brand We are loyal to
Brands Brands have reputations Brands have Values
A Brand is a Name
A Brand is a Symbol
Metaphors and Sub Metaphors for a Brand
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Potential New Root Metaphor
Brand as Role
Brand as Pilot
Brand as Partner
Brand as Seducer
Brand as Family
Virgin v Nivea Brand extensions as brother etc
Co-branding IBM Intel Ford Firestone
Cigarette brands Cosmetics Cars
Virgin Retailer as agent
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Seeing Brands as People

• Qualitative research What newspaper would the
  brand read? Where would it go on holiday? What
  car would it drive?
• Quantitative research On a scale from 1 to 5
  with 1 meaning strongly disagree and 5 meaning
  strongly agree, if MBS came to life as a person
  how well would friendly describe its
  personality?

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Summary

• Many Branding ideas can be applied to managing
  corporate reputation
• One exception is the value of advertising