Influence of the brand uopn the consumer

2.2 Repeated Buying

The concepts of market segmentations and product positioning we have presented imply that the overall market will consist of relatively homogeneous segments to which marketers position brands using their marketing strategies. Although objectively there may be few differences among these brands, they will have unique images that consumers perceive and research measure. This is the idea of product differentiation and brand loyalty, that consumers form positive attachments to particular brands and limit most of their purchases in a product field to a single or a very few brands.

The topic of repeat buying is important because, without some level of repeat buying, a new brand will not survive the maturity phase of the product life cycle. Most descriptions of brand loyalty and switching imply that consumers are loyal to a single brand loyalty and switching imply that consumers are loyal to a single brand in a product field and remain so unless competitive marketing efforts lure them to another brand. Advertising and sales promotion are emphasized as the means to persuade consumers to switch brands or stores. The picture of the market provided by aggregate purchasing data appears to show the success of these efforts as large percentages of buyers fail to purchase the same brand at each purchase. In this ‘leaky bucket’ theory of other-brand users to switch. Many contemporary observers stress the effects of sustained promotions on eroding brand loyalty, leading consumers to become more price conscious and place less emphasis on the image of the brand itself. In this leaky bucket theory of consumption, marketers must constantly use advertising, promotion, and other marketing mix variables to replenish the loss of these old buyers with new buyers. In the light of the difficulties observed in reliably and validly defining and measuring brand loyalty ( Jacoby and chestnut 1978 ), another perspective may be more useful to managers seeking to understand repeat buying behavior.

An alternative view of repeat buying is presented by Ehrenberg (1988). In a large and methodical body of research, he argues that repeat buying behavior is more stable than this and can be described by a mathematical model. For many frequently purchased products, it appears that consumers form a stable propensity to purchase a brand or brands in a given product field much as a habit is developed. That is, consumers form relatively stable buying habits after a new product is introduced into the market or their need for an old product makes it new to them. They cease to give a great deal of thought and energy to evaluating brands in the field, and marketing efforts that cause them to ‘switch’ loyalty can only achieve short run success; as they strategy ceases, consumers go back to their old buying patterns.

3. Rational and Emotional Dimensions of the Band that Influence the Consumer

Consumers have both cognitive and emotional expectations from brands in order to satisfy their cognitive and emotional needs. Research is used in these two cases too with the purpose to determine these needs of consumers, using significant target consumer groups.

It is important to evaluate the rational or cognitive and emotional components of  brands in order to understand to what consumer needs they respond to.

     3.1 Cognitive Brand Dimensions

Consumers of brands use cognitive filters in order to make the proper decision about choosing a certain brand. The cognitive value of the brand is present in the case of all successful brands; it is one of the aspects that creates and retains customers. The cognitive dimension is the pure need of the consumer, without being influenced by marketing speak. This idea has been reflected in the quote of  Phillipe Starck, a French avant garde designer, which says: “The world wants water not taps, the world wants warmth, not a heater.” There are many brands which missed their cognitive value by expressing assumptions about their consumers or about the market, rather than being driven by consumer needs and desires. To categorize these needs they must be analyzed to separate the first-order needs from the higher emotional needs. This can be achieved by making an insight in the consumer’s mind or by studying human life in order to observe human needs in order to observe the latent needs that the consumer was unaware of. Ethnographic and video observation techniques can often provide these kinds of  insights to problems that consumers have adapted to or learned to cope with. The studies might discover that there may be an excellent new brand opportunity that the consumer has been waiting for. The Dove brand of soap introduced the cognitive benefit of moisturizing plus soap cleaning as a new product brand . The company understood that consumers wanted clear skin that resulted from soap. If the company hadn’t  understood that, it might have simply created a new soap brand with a different fragrance or ph value.

Brand managers need to recognize first of all the purpose of their business; in order to do this they should try to list the possible needs the consumer might have surrounding the product category. Taking airlines as an example the answer would be that the main purpose is to fly people, but the consumer may understand what they provide as:

• the vacation business
• the meeting business
• the taxi business
• the once-in –a –lifetime experience
• the glamour business

Most of these are true for many consumers and it is important to identify which are the most significant to be used in building the brand proposition. Once the brand manager understands in what business he is in, it is easier to express the cognitive added value through the brand personality. There is a series of tools that makes more noticeable the difference between the secondary values of the brand and the main cognitive values of a brand. Without these values the brand personality would be blurred and confusing for the consumer.

There are four cognitive dimensions that develop brands along different routes to success:

• Brand weight- the dominance of a brand in a market, e.g. Microsoft.
• Brand length- the ability of a brand to diversify across business categories, e.g. Disney, Virgin.
• Brand power- the loyalty of the consumer group, e.g. Apple.
• Brand breadth- the appeal of the brand across consumer groups, e.g. Coca-Cola.                                                                                                                                                                        

Brand Weight

This type of brand goal relates to the dominance of a brand within its chosen market; it is often referred to as simply the market share, but is more than this. It can also be the total dominance that a brand exerts over the mind of consumer, trade and media. Dominance in a market can be developed through  maintaining a rigorous innovation program that keeps the brand at the forefront of the consumer’s mind. Kellogg’s is continually developing new technologies to enhance the taste of its products in order to deliver improvements to the core cognitive need of a great-tasting cereal. This may be a new toasting process to add crispness to its rice, or a new type of paper for the cereal bag to retain freshness. Everything it does is focused  on enhancing the taste experience of eating Kellogg’s Cornflakes, Rice Krispies, Coco Pops .It never forgets that it is in the taste business, not the rice business, or the packaging business or the breakfast business. Of course all of these things are important and add value to the brand in a crowded competitive market; but they cannot be used to build the brand.

Traditionally, high brand weight has always been a core goal for business, especially if market share exceeds 40 per cent. Many Japanese companies followed this route during the 1980s, managing their business as large-volume, low-margin operations.

This often resulted in high brand weight, which could then be used to manage markets as well as their brand, exerting influence over smaller competitors. Once a high brand weight is achieved, it is possible to increase R&D spend and innovation, while slowly increasing prices and margins to accompany this growth. It can also cause complacency in a business, as the market looks secure. Often it is new entrants that quickly reduce the brand weight of a brand that does not continuously invest. Many marketing directors still specify a number one or two market share position as a critical measure of a brand’s performance.

Brand length 

Achieving brand length focuses on increasing the flexibility of a brand across market categories and segments. Brands achieve this by displaying a power of expertise, not in technology but in their understanding of the consumer’s mind. The Disney brand expresses family entertainment in all its film productions, theme parks, T-shirts, books, games and toys. The central cognitive need is clearly upheld in all these items, even though they represent very different business categories that other suppliers would not dare to cross. Each item also has a series of added value brand dimensions, but they succeed because the core brand proposition remains clear and fulfils the basic need for a large proportion of the consumer population.

Brands that achieve significant brand length do so by marking out a specific territory  in the mind of the consumer and retaining that position across all their activities. They operate a basic brand promise that can be applied to a variety of categories via a franchise with the consumer. They are the ultimate lifestyle brands that people are attracted to because they fit their needs and desires in one category, but, once satisfied, continue to purchase the brand in other categories, often unrelated in the traditional sense. The thing that relates the in mind of the consumer is that they deliver the same cognitive brand promise in all their guises. Whether this is a Disney baseball cap, a Disney soft drink , a Disney holiday or a Disney movie, the core benefit is reinforced by the Disney brand promise and itself reinforces the Disney-ness of the product brand expression.

In the UK, the traditional world of banking has seen supermarket entrants Tesco and department store Marks&Spencer vying for the consumer’s financial capital. Large-scale free Internet service providers have also come from the unlikely sources of NTL, Dixons the high street retailer and the Virgin group.

Some of these have taken advantage of several consumers reports that highlight the fact that more people trust Sainsbury’s and Tesco than the government, the police or the high street banks. This is a clear indication of the power of a brand identity to convey messages to consumers and retain their trust, perhaps as a result of a mass faith in liberal market economics. Alternatively, it could emphasize the continuing mediation of identities and the reliance of consumers on those mediated identities to make choices about their lives, family and finances. The message for governments and institutions is that they must at least match these high levels of seductive media if they are to re-establish their standing and authority with the consumer.

When a brand tries to encompass a wide range of business categories it may fail to achieve significant profitability because at one point the brand promise will not stretch far enough. As this occurs, the dilution effect on the core brand and product combinations will also reduce the validity of the brand offer. Each new brand extensions, like any stretch, must be carefully planned and executed impeccably if it is to succeed.

The bond of trust with the consumer is the critical dimension to any brand proposition; once broken it is difficult or impossible to retrieve. If you only say one thing with a brand message, it must be to convey the trust that the consumer needs to have in a product or service to buy in the first place. If there is insufficient trust projected by the brand, the consumer may never know just how good the product or service is.

Brand power 

Brand power is the strength of an individual or business to influence others, in this case  the consumer. These companies have attained a brand fortress for themselves where they can heavily influence a usually intensely loyal customer base. The old adage about football can be rephrased here for power brands: “ Branding is not a matter of life and death, it is much more important than that”. Typically, consumers of power brands are acolytes and can be relied on to generate a formidable word-of-mouth campaign for the power brand. Brand power is often described as customer loyalty, but it goes beyond that with a quasi-religious connection between the consumer and the brand. It forms  a dialogue that reflects a strong commitment from both sides to developing an enduring relationship. Young start-up businesses often have this type of brand dimension, but many quickly lose it as they become out of touch with their core consumer benefit. Once the corporate regulation and processes take over in a business, it becomes more difficult to retain the human characteristics that first attracted a large number of consumers.

Brands like Apple, Nike and the BBC all retain the strong brand power that connects the business closely with consumer in a symbiotic relationship. Obviously, fashion-oriented brands are more likely to receive this kind of attention, but successful companies from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to The Body Shop cosmetics chain strong brand power is the depth of emotional  attachment that a brand creates with consumer. This goes beyond the implicit cognitive benefits to provide an explicit emotional benefit that can be highly distinctive for particular brands.

Brand breadth    

Another strategic dimension for a brand is to develop a consumer franchise that spans the widest possible range of consumer groups. This may seem ideal, since it maximizes the selling opportunity to as many people as possible, but it is difficult to achieve, especially when the age, sex, class and other socio-economic dimensions create a huge diversity of needs and expectations. There are not many brands that are clever enough to satisfy across these target group without diluting their brand is perceived to be a appropriate for one target group, rather than inclusive for other groups. The problem is that try to attract as many people as possible the message must be inclusive and this often results in a bland message. The result is a brand that is inoffensive to most people, but fails actually to attract anyone. Clearly, large businesses in consumer electronics, retailing and service industries need huge consumer to be viable, but in a c competitive environment they also need to retain distinctiveness for their proposition.

A brand that has successfully generated powerful propositions as well as wide consumer franchise is Coca-Cola, the world’s most recognized brand name, drunk by small children in developing countries and CEOs in the world’s capitals. McDonald’s, Kodak, Visa and Microsoft have also achieved this kind of brand breadth. Their success is due to retaining a distinctive propositions compared with their competitors, while offering an inclusive attitude towards all consumer groups.

Strategic cognitive filters 

To help understand what kind of unmet core need the business fulfils, it is worth understanding some of the filters that brands express to consumers. These include financial, gender and age filters.

By examining the core unmet need through these cognitive filters, it is possible to clarify the brand proposition. There are many more filters that can be used, depending on the nature of the market, your brand and the consumer target group; these are simply examples.

The cognitive financial filter 

In the westernized world it is not surprising that one of the most basic brand dimensions is a financial filter. Free market economies encourage and enable brands to be successful based on the price that the consumer is willing to pay for the brand (a price above any notional commodity price). This is the fundamental advantage of a strong band: an ability to generate extra revenue above that of competitors and the production/ distribution costs. The chosen  price  should therefore best represent that enhanced proposition, or risk being undervalued in the marketplace. For consumers, the financial filter is not fixed over time but only at a single moment in time, the point of purchase ; when economic capital  (cash)  is exchanged for brand capital (identity).

The market can always be sub divided into many financial segments, whether coverage is across the whole market or simply a small niche. The brand may be a  bargain own label, or a mid-priced value pack, or a premium top of  the line product or service. This  structuring of the market helps consumers to filter out the choices that are unavailable or undesirable for them. They use prices as a key guide to which part of the market they fit into, and it acts as a starting point for a brand manager who is trying to reposition the brand. This structuring usually takes place as bands of prices that follow each other up the financial scale, sometimes overlapping. Brands at the bottom of the band may be considered to offer similar benefits but at a slightly lower price and therefore better value. Brands  at the top of the band may be considered to offer better quality but at an inflated price. The brand manager needs to know which competitors fall above and below them in order to make tactical use of the brand proposition.

Most brands use sub-brands or brand extensions to increase the bandwidth of their business revenues. The Giorgio Armani brand occupies the luxury end of the clothing market and it carefully uses a financial filter to define its target consumers. There is also the Emporio Armani brand, which tailors itself to a lower financial target. Still lower on the financial scale are the Armani Exchange and Armani Jeans brands that cater to the mass market. Brand managers can use the financial filter to decrease or increase the bandwidth pf potential consumers, because that bandwidth increases as the price decreases, and vice versa.

The Cognitive Gender Filter

An important question to be answered is : What gender is the brand proposition? It could be masculine, feminine or universal. The result of choosing one of these categories will dictate a large proportion of the attracted consumer group. It can also be used to reflect a known majority market , or reposition a brand into a new market. The gender filter of a brand is often associated with the gender-related nature of the goods or services, but many brands can have a brand gender unrelated to these. The car company Renault and the company Nescafe have a feminine bias that can be used to filter target consumers. The gender filter helps consumers to structure their choices when they come to purchase these goods. The use of trans-gender branding has been obvious for the past years, where CK One led the field of fashion brands to propose dual-use fragrances.

The Cognitive Age Filter

Many brands want to target specific age groups and this will require appropriate brand personalities. The latest tendencies show  that using ‘grey’ targets instead of white and black ones is more and more common. There are many examples of brands that have deliberately tried to filter consumers on the basis of age, after that finding out that their true consumer is typically from a different age category. The Renault Twingo was targeted at young people, but it was bought by different types of users of varying ages. They were all attracted by its interesting styling.

My First Sony, the sub-brand of Sony is the quintessential baby brand and it has encouraged many brands  such as Gap Kids. The My First Sony uses sophisticated images to sell both to the young themselves and to their parents. The products have a youthful design and the quality is identical to the products for adults. By this means Sony draws a significant advantage because it captures the consumer early, promising a lifetime of loyalty. By using a high degree of quality Sony creates a powerful barrier against inferior brands. As a consequence, young consumers treat the Sony quality as the first standard by which all other products are judged, because if the brand lets consumers down they might never use that product again.    

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow, the behaviorist, developed a useful framework for understanding the needs of the human needs in terms of cognitive and emotional requirements. The simplicity of the pyramid generates an immediate understanding of the needs of the consumers, from the core psychological needs to the higher needs of self actualization.

   Self-

    Actualized

Preference

Relativity

Stability

Basic Elements

Figure 2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need

The lowest layer contains psychological needs: shelter, food, water, etc.

The second layer contains the safety needs: the need for financial security, family stability, trust and predictability.

The third layer contains group needs: the need for love, group belonging, family relationships.

The highest layer contains the self-actualization needs: the need to be who we can be, the need to be as good as we can be.

The first two layers represent cognitive needs, while the remaining three are largely emotional needs. Maslow suggested that people tend to fulfill their needs systematically, starting with the basic physiological needs and then progressing up the hierarchy towards the highest layer. It means that the branding team needs to be aware of the different stages of development of distinct markets and consumer groups in those markets.

     3.2 The Emotional Brand Dimensions

It is difficult to analyze quantitatively the emotional dimension of a brand, but they could be revealed through qualitative research approaches. Analysts have found a matrix of four emotional elements of a brand. These are ideological pleasure, psychological pleasure, sociological pleasure and cultural pleasure.

The Pleasure Dimension

This approach to emotive satisfiers focuses directly on consumer needs. It considers the need of consumers to hold different values at different times and in different contexts.The pleasure  approach of branding seeks to maximize the benefits and expresses the consumer satisfaction of a brand.

It is also important to think that brands can also be a potential displeasure or source of dissatisfaction to consumers. The branding team should avoid communicating displeasure to target audiences. For example if a brand disappoints consumers, the branding team should act so as to retain somehow consumer loyalty. Identification of potential brand displeasure characteristics is a useful weapon in the context of competitive analysis of brands.

The four pleasures or four satisfiers of branding are:

Ideological pleasures, belief systems.

Psychological pleasure, task achievement.

Sociological pleasure

Cultural pleasure, iconic satisfaction.

                                                                                  Figure3 Emotional Dimensions

These four pleasures form the framework to understand the characteristics of emotional attractions for consumers. The branding team needs to define the focus of a brands personality.

Ideological brand pleasure

Brand ideology refers to the highest level of consumers’ values. They are the most difficult to change because they represent beliefs that the consumer may have  held for a long time on the basis of their education. This category could be an advantage to a business and help to build a significant segment of loyal customers.

In the context of brands, the ideological pleasure relates directly to the meaning that a brand has and the idea that it embodies. The most common ideological pleasures are:

-religion, patriotism, morality, aesthetics, ecology; while the most known ideological displeasures for the common consumer are: immorality, ugliness, fears, racism.

   3.2.1 Ideological pleasures as surprised in the car and cosmetics industries

Patriotism

The country of origin of a brand may have deep connotations for the consumer. These can be ideological brand satisfiers when they align with the consumer’s ideology. German automobile companies such as Mercedes- Benz, BMW and Volkswagen-Audi they all used their national heritage in the in their company brand identities. Consumers can recognize German characteristics such as precision, quality and reliability; these characteristics are projected over the cars produced by the German factories. This connection between national values and certain brands have proven itself very successful so far.

Automobile manufacturers in Italy are expected to join in their cars the style, the energy and flair that characterize the Italians. However the consumers must also accept that the Italian heritage has a connotation of being temperamental and also unreliable. In the end consumers think which of these brand dimension are more appropriate to their needs, so decision is made very often based on an impression of  a nationality rather than any specific facts about the brand they are interested in.

Brands do not always need to come from a specific country to benefit from a connotation  associated with that country. The brand name and its visual promotional materials can suggest a particular origin. Haagen-Dazs is a prime example of the use of borrowed heritage. It is a company set up by two American companies that produce luxury ice cream. They used this brand name in order to suggest a Scandinavian or Nordic atmosphere. Using this name implies the idea of tradition, which the American firm actually owns; it is very experienced and has a lot of knowledge about the freezing process.

Ecology

The environment and the ecology are significant contemporary issues and therefore they can be used as important brand personality trait for  certain brands.

Using the environmental issue as a central dimension of a brand’s personality can attract consumers who have similar beliefs. The Body Shop is an excellent example of a brand that has differentiated itself  by its environmental beliefs; it uses specific techniques to express this side of the brand.  It promotes recycling the containers and it does not test its products on animals. The company helps the development of small businesses of farmers in some developing countries. Branding executions  are often in natural materials and colors. Using simple shaped jars for creams emphasizes utility over hedonism.

Environmental concern can be equally a brand dissatisfier  for the target group for the target group for luxurious products. These consumers pamper themselves without a guilty conscience. Companies that have a strong environmental position may appear too boring or politically correct for some consumers. There is  a resistance to eco brands because they often seem quite aggressive and may even alienate certain consumers. They rarely wish to be lectured in a moral or ethical tone  by companies to which they have paid money.

3.2.2. Psychological brand pleasure

Psychological brand pleasure refers to the personal achievement gained from a brand personality. This is related directly to the performance image of a brand because it could have a satisfying effect due to its sense of triumph or victory.

On the other hand psychological brand displeasure can involve a sense of boredom, failure or defeat. Brands that maximize the psychological benefits are more often found in domains such as personal care or the home environment.

Psychological brand  pleasure can be changed more easily than the ideological beliefs and often changes as the consumer develops knowledge of that category. Potential psychological pleasures are: personal satisfaction; achievement; performance; mental stimulation.

Psychological displeasures may be: boredom; failure; lack of enjoyment; low interest; low success.

a .Examples from man personal care and the home environment domain

Gillette’s campaigns for attracting customers has always associated the brand with the ultimate performance. The headline “The best a man can get” is difficult to ignore, as it addresses customers on a level of  psychological brand pleasure. The customers must decide whether they need or desire the best for themselves and suggests that the only way to achieve this is with Gillette. Branding on performance has been a key weapon in many categories, especially when targeting male customers. The use of power, technology and performance , it all engages with the male psychological need  for aggression and competition. Gillette’s use of ultimate performance challenges other producers to generate a more powerful superlative for their own brand, but in a certain moment it is possible that the consumers will feel almost, if not even bored with this series of superlatives. In the case of an overstatement of what a brand stands for, consumers may no longer believe or accept the claims of the brand.

Brands often use forms of endorsement to confirm their performance and superiority.. Authority can be claimed through accreditation by a professional or by an institutional organization. All these could provide independent evaluation that can be separated from the manufacturer’s own claims of performance. Consumers often appreciate this kind of independent advice as a method of distinguishing between brands. These statements of quality are often present as approval stamps or signatures of accreditation on the packaging or on the promotional material. They may also be presented in advertisements with actual professionals such as doctors, scientists, or they may simply use connotations of professionalism such as actors wearing a white  laboratory coat to connote scientific or research knowledge.

Everybody has seen at least once the TV commercials in which a dentist was advising the viewers to use Colgate or the doctor recommending Anitra for keeping the hygiene of the bathroom.

A different route to endorsements is using a common image of two companies recognized as experts in their fields. This often occurs between hardware and software manufacturers, as both gain the benefit from cost saving on marketing campaigns. They do not have to worry about cannibalizing each other’ s market share as they are complementary products. For example soft powder companies often collaborate with a particular washing machine manufacturer in order to get mutual sustaining. The psychological benefit gained by the consumer that a particular detergent was made for a particular washing machine is very convincing.

b. Enjoyment of the five senses

Psychological brand pleasure can be gained by offering the consumer a feeling of total enjoyment. This can be achieved by stimulating the five senses and is very helpful when talking about services. Using the appeal to all the human senses helps to creating a unforgettable brand experience.

People have a very strong sense recognition and recall different types of sensations most of the times; campaigns try to exploit this kind of human potential. Engineers working in the Honda campaign have invested in the leather smell that reinforces consumer perception of quality. Consumer electronic companies have also started adding  subtle fragrances to their plastic moldings, trying to develop a company-specific brand fragrance that the consumer will recognize and appreciate.

In the car industry sound has always been associated with the perception of performance. It is known that the Mazda MX-5 engineers listened to classic English sports cars before tuning their new engine. Sound, which is created and defined, must be distinguished from noise, which is not a wanted accessory for a product. Schweppes has built its brand personality around the refreshing fizz of opening a bottle of its carbonated drink. It has literally defined itself as the fizz company; all other drinks companies are then usually defined against this in consumer perceptions.

Visual images are usually the starting point for branding: color in particular can have an enormous impact on consumer perceptions. Color psychology can be at times effectively used to revitalize the traits of a brand personality. When the measures taken match very well the consumer expectations the post –purchase  satisfaction is the highest.

Language and text can also play an important role in developing and fulfilling consumer expectations. The tone of the language is as crucial as the message  it is transmitted.

Taste is used naturally mainly in food and drink branding. Developing a distinctive McDonald’s essence to all its food and drinks is a priority in markets that have strong competition of apparently identical products. Companies producing cola beverages made blind taste tests which very often lead to unclear conclusions. It is a real challenge for cola companies to brand tastes. There is also little consumer awareness of a definitive and usable scale to classify different tastes. However, once a consumer  finds a brand taste that he or she enjoys, the consumer loyalty develops on solid ground.

The physical evidence of a brand can also help define its personality. The thickness and texture of a corporate brochure suggests quality most of the times.

The physical design of a branded product can have a significant impact on consumer perceptions of the contents, performance and reliability of a product and the brand.

3.2.3. Sociological Brand Pleasure

Sociological brand pleasure is derived from the satisfaction that customers get from group association  and recognition, as it is part of human nature to form groups and sub-groups. The use of brands has particularly helped groups to define membership and their social territory. Branded clothes, for instance, are clearly used to include yourself in a specific social group, or else, they can exclude you from that group.

What your clothes say about one person has been transformed into the philosophy “you  are what you wear”; the group members interact with each other on the basis that they have something in common. Wearing visibly branded clothes offers a recognizable  statement of values that can be understood easily by others.

However sociological brand pleasure changes as it depends on fashion and trends which change quite often. This type of brand pleasure is based on understanding a group’s identity and has the purpose of  satisfying the need of socialization. It is extremely shallow to suggest that a badge can define one’s character, but many research studies have shown that most people relate to such symbolism.  

Sociological brand pleasure is very important for consumers as an expression of status. Consumers can communicate real or identities to which they aspire towards the members of their group.

Sociological brand displeasure relates to the exclusion of people from a specific group  because of the brands they use or do not use.

Potential sociological pleasures: friendship; group identity forming; belonging; love. The potential sociological displeasures are: loneliness; isolation; fear; anonymity.

Examples from the fashion and car industries

Fashion brands generally rely on group identity characteristics and therefore offer sociological brand pleasure. The Ralph Lauren Polo brand has been particularly successful in defining a specific niche group of customers, offering a brand experience that is casual , yet classic. It has developed a total brand experience implying equally the product, retail, customer service and advertising materials.

Figure 4 The Polo Logo

Source: www.polo.com

The Polo brand draws on themes that imply feelings of nostalgia most of the times. They also suggest a form of upper class lifestyle intended to be very inspiring.  The Polo name and logo suggest a  leisure activity of the upper classes, but it is presented as being available to a wider audience.

Using such explicit branding as a logo on the outside of a polo shirt indicates its strong social function in forming brand personality. The brand logo is there to be recognized by fellow consumers or friends. It is a badge of membership to Ralph Lauren’s aristocratic club. This form of membership has increasingly been used in the fashion industry to capture and retain target groups. Consumers wearing heavily branded clothes are publicly affirming their commitment to that brand.

Members can easily recognize each other on the street and accept that they are more likely to have similar values than those not wearing the same brand. The sociological value gained from belonging to a chosen group is strong, so branded clothes have become a distinctive device for consumer groups. Equally, the sociological discomfort from being visibly excluded from a group is strong. For example, not having the correct brand of training shoe can be embarrassing for teenagers and adults alike. While this is not necessarily a good thing, evidently it generates a huge aspirational market for such brands.

The danger for sociological pleasure brands is that they may become not trendy. When they are trendy they can enjoy huge sales and success; when they have become old or established they can be easily overtaken by newer, trendier brands. Many companies in the fashion industry try to avoid this by developing diffusion ranges This allows the same company to sell almost the same clothes under a different brand that is fresher than the previous one. For example, you can buy blue jeans from Ralph Lauren Polo Brand, Chaps Brand, Double RL brand and the Polo Jeans co brand, All are parts of the Ralph Lauren company, but offer small distinctive differences in the consumer’s perceptions.

The car industry also uses forms of sociological branding to develop distinctive brand personalities. Owing a Mercedes or Porsche, for example, says more about who you are than how you drive. They are classic status symbols that gain most of their value in the public context. The development of the sociological brand pleasure that owners gain is crucial to their success. The car brand Lexus has similar performance, feature or qualities to the Mercedes. But it cannot achieve the public or sociological status the Mercedes enjoys. Lexus still positions the brand personality based on the psychological gratification of actual driving and value. This underestimates the need for exclusivity and status as a visible and tangible benefit, as derived by Mercedes owners.

The Skoda brand of car suffered from the sociological brand displeasure associated with its car brand, at least in the UK.

Figure 5 The Skoda Logo

Source:

 Customers were reluctant to buy and be seen in a car with such a negative social brand personality. However, in a recent J D power car survey the Skoda has performed brilliantly in cognitive tests. It is a ell-built, well-featured and good-value car. But the biggest task for the brand was to develop its sociological personality, not its psychological personality. Only then would customer acceptance be high enough for new customers to try out the Skoda experience and be proud to be seen in its cars.

3.2.4.Cultural brand pleasure

Cultural brand pleasure works on the holistic ambience and position of a brand. Brands that maximize the use of cultural value are often the spiritual leaders in a business category; their brand name has become the category name. Examples of these are Hoover, the Post-it note and Aspirin. These  brands have become a verb or a noun in common usage, e.g.” To Hoover the room”, or “ I need an aspirin” Consumers talk about these brands in place of a specific brand that they actually own or desire. Brands that can achieve this kind of cult status enjoy the rewards of a formidable  world of mouth marketing campaign.

Potential cultural pleasures and displeasures:

Pleasure:

-icons

-intellectual category leaders

-spiritual category leaders

-cult identity status

Displeasure:

- lack of charisma

- followers

- spectators

- ambiguity

Idea in practice, including examples from the television and  airline industries

Cultural brand pleasure is often highest among the founders of a product or service category. They have often invented the technology or have been crucial in implementing it in a new form in marketplace. The 3 M company, for example, invented and developed the Post –it note. Competitors have since introduced similar versions but everyone still asks for and refers to simply Post-it notes, as a generic term.

Cultural pleasure brands are often the spiritual or intellectual category leaders. For example, Rolex did not invent the wristwatch, but it has become an icon for the ultimate watch. Its use of higher cultural values such as associations with the 007 James Bond identity and the use of space age technology help establish the brand personality.

The Barbour jacket has achieved a high form of cultural brand pleasure in its brand identity, Customers ask for a Barbour weatherproof , event actually buy an alternative brand. In this sense Barbour has become the icon for the category. When customers do buy the cultural pleasure brand, the depth of loyalty for the brand is likely to be highest.

Brands can also become the intellectual leader of a category by developing the cultural pleasure of their brand identity. To gain cultural leadership brands need to define their position as the most innovative in developing the category as whole. This requires more than any single product improvement, and can best be achieved over time. The chain of continuous improvement helps establish the brand as the one that has all the ideas. The consumer translates this as a brand interested in the long –term future of him or her as consumer and the category itself.

Tesco has continuously shown the lead in developing the highly competitive supermarket business. It was the early provider of loyalty cards for customers, at a time when most retailers thought they would be just a passing fad. Tesco has built up a strong loyalty system that gathers information and reorganizes product rangers based on that  information.. It has also introduced clothing ranges to its stores and is the process of developing in-store takeaway convenience food outlets for pizzas and curries. It is the combination of high equality service and the process of continuos innovation that leads consumers to respect Tesco as the category leader, rather than any specific price or food offers.

The UK football team Manchester United has successfully become a cultural brand personality. The team’s football performance is excellent, but it is Manchester United’s ability to develop as a brand business that is particularly significant. It was one the first football clubs to float on the stock market, and has been the most financially successfully while many others have failed. Manchester United has a strong merchandising approach that covers a large range of goods. It has decided to take its broadcasting future into its own hands by launching its own TV channel, MUTV, which coincides with the pay-per-view digital era. The TV channel helps build up a total brand experience by matching the games with merchandising interviews and in-depth analysis. It is also the first help to build the brand personality of Manchester united as one of the cultural brands of the past 10 years. Brands that develop the category as Manchester united has will always be seen as strong because they offer cultural pleasure to the consumer through their leadership.

Brands may express cultural displeasure and are more open to risks of customers change than those with a strong cultural dimension. These brands can be seen as followers, as they usually lack ideas or innovation. These brands must concentrate on offering superior prices or service to overcome the glow of the culturally appealing brands. For example, Pepsi Cola has always struggled to compete wit Coca Cola in the soft drinks market, even though in taste test Pepsi Cola is at least as popular as Coca-Cola. This is because Pepsi Cola lacks the essential cultural pleasure that drinkers perceive when they buy and drink ’ the real thing, Coca-Cola’.

This form of intelligent leadership requires an organization to be agile and confident. Brands that are slow or uncertain of their own future are unlikely to offer customers strong cultural value. In today’s increasingly competitive global markets that agility is being tested to the limits. Brands that can offer the customers a strong leadership value are more likely to remain competitive.

 

Ehrenberg, A.S.C. (1998), Repeated Buying, Charles Griffin.

        

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