Brand War
BRAND WARS: WHEN BIG BRANDS PLAY DIRTY
“In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”
Chester L Karrass. Today companies do not sell on the basis of their products. The features or benefits provided by the product is a small cog in the whole machine of the customer interaction process adopted by the company. The product sells on the basis of its power to convince customers, to appeal to customers and to attach a certain sentiment with the customers. This is primarily why brands have been created. Brands are a promise by the seller to the buyer to deliver a certain quality of the product. The customer in this case trusts the brand to perform to his expectation. Brands add an emotional as well as a functional value to the product. Customers associate products with brands. The success of a brand can be determined when the brand replaces the name of the product in general terms. As is the case with cola drinks- where most people refer cola drinks to Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
Is it branded or is it not? You would probably have heard it whenever you make a buy.
Be it a car, a newspaper or even a chocolate buy, the fact that its a branded product or not is often more important than whether the product is actually doable. The average consumer even in this day of consumer awareness is still more aware of the belief of being seen only with branded buys rather than on the usability of the product.
The trend of being trendy with brands being the watchword, the consumer space has effectively moved into a state of war, the war of the brands. While competition is a watchword and is no doubt healthy in any business space, the jostle for brands has reached such a frenetic state today, that competition is no longer healthy, its foreboding to be precise.
Over the years we have grown up watching cola commercials fighting among themselves to woo us. In fact when we switch on the television sets, read newspapers, watch
hoardings
“In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”
Chester L Karrass. Today companies do not sell on the basis of their products. The features or benefits provided by the product is a small cog in the whole machine of the customer interaction process adopted by the company. The product sells on the basis of its power to convince customers, to appeal to customers and to attach a certain sentiment with the customers. This is primarily why brands have been created. Brands are a promise by the seller to the buyer to deliver a certain quality of the product. The customer in this case trusts the brand to perform to his expectation. Brands add an emotional as well as a functional value to the product. Customers associate products with brands. The success of a brand can be determined when the brand replaces the name of the product in general terms. As is the case with cola drinks- where most people refer cola drinks to Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
Is it branded or is it not? You would probably have heard it whenever you make a buy.
Be it a car, a newspaper or even a chocolate buy, the fact that its a branded product or not is often more important than whether the product is actually doable. The average consumer even in this day of consumer awareness is still more aware of the belief of being seen only with branded buys rather than on the usability of the product.
The trend of being trendy with brands being the watchword, the consumer space has effectively moved into a state of war, the war of the brands. While competition is a watchword and is no doubt healthy in any business space, the jostle for brands has reached such a frenetic state today, that competition is no longer healthy, its foreboding to be precise.
Over the years we have grown up watching cola commercials fighting among themselves to woo us. In fact when we switch on the television sets, read newspapers, watch
hoardings