Branding

Short essay question

1. Brand power is your company's ability to uniquely elevate itself above the rest in terms of its earned reputation built on attributes like quality, speed, luxury, pricing, and customer care. In short, it is nothing but the consumers’ perception about the product. It is the manner in which a specific brand is positioned in the market. Brand image conveys emotional value and not just a mental image. Brand image is nothing but an organization’s character. It is an accumulation of contact and observation by people external to an organization. It should highlight an organization’s mission and vision to all. The main elements of positive brand image are- unique logo reflecting organization’s image, slogan describing organization’s business in brief and brand identifier supporting the key values. Brand Positioning involves identifying and determining points of similarity and difference to ascertain the right brand identity and to create a proper brand image. Brand Positioning is the key of marketing strategy. A strong brand positioning directs marketing strategy by explaining the brand details, the uniqueness of brand and it’s similarity with the competitive brands, as well as the reasons for buying and using that specific brand. Positioning is the base for developing and increasing the required knowledge and perceptions of the customers. It is the single feature that sets your service apart from your competitors. The “Just Do It” slogan was effective in reassuring consumers that the brand they picked, Nike, was a quality brand. This was most effectively portrayed by many celebrity sports figures such as Bo Jackson, John McEnroe and later, Michael Jordon, and Tiger Wood. If Michael Jordan can play an entire NBA season in a pair of Nikes, certainly the average weekend warrior can trust the shoes’ durability. Nike was very smart by using celebrity endorsements which appealed to the consumers’ sense of belonging and “hipness,” as Nike became a self-fulfilling image prophecy for example,if you want to be hip, wear Nike; if you are hip, you are probably wearing Nike. The “Just Do It” slogan was able to turn sweaty, pain-ridden, time-consuming exercise in Nike sneakers into something sexy and exciting. Perhaps most importantly, even those who were not in fact exercising in Nikes (the vast majority) still wanted to own them. By focusing on the aura and image conveyed by the fitness culture, Nike was able to attract those who wanted the image without incurring the pain. This is what set them apart from other competitors, like Adidas and Reebok.

2. Humor Appeal: Humor in advertising is a delicate method of attracting a viewer's/listener's attention to the client's product. Done right, it achieves success. Doing it right means not only engaging the prospect but getting them to remember the product. On a national level who can forget the Budweiser Frogs and Wendy's "Where's the Beef" on television. The VW Bug intro campaign was a great one in print.
Fear Appeal: An appeal is the motive to which an ad is directed. Its purpose is to move the audience toward a goal set by the advertiser. Fear appeals are commonly used in many types of marketing communications, e.g., the marketing of products, services, social causes, and ideas. The basic message is “if you don’t do this (buy, vote, believe, support, learn, etc.), some particular dire consequences will occur. So therefore the advertisers invoke fear by identifying the negative results of not using the product or the negative results of engaging in unsafe behavior. In general, however, fear appeals are effective in increasing ad interest, involvement, recall, and persuasiveness.
Rational Appeal: Rational (cognitive) appeals, then, are communication messages directed toward the message receiver’s logic and self-interest, emphasizing hard facts, presenting reasoned arguments to buy, and focusing on informational needs. The appeal is cognitive—to the head or intellect. The sales pitch is heavily factual and information intensive, describing product features and benefits, functions and uses, claims about product performance, and other objective information about tangible product attributes such as value, performance, size, weight, ingredients, efficiency in operation, and dependability in use. Generally, rationality prevails for high-involvement “considered purchases” with real physical brand differentiation, such as appliances, tools, furniture, consumer electronics, and medicine. Print media are most heavily used as they allow for detailed, informative copy and can be reread and studied, if necessary.
Which appeal work best? I would argue, If you want to persuade consumers as do Pepsi, Skittles, and Coke, it’s about getting people to associate your brand with a humor appeal. I believe you have to show the brand and then entertain. That’s when the conditioning occurs. To have someone attention and maintain it throughout the commercial while portraying humor would be and excellent strategy. And here's Why? If you show somebody a stimulus (the brand) and then you show qualities (fun) right after, people better associate those two things.