Morphing A Brand

Strategic Marketing Individual Assignment

Bibekananda Panda
Roll – U109179
Table of Contents
What is brand morphing?......................................................................................................................3
Types of Morphing................................................................................................................................4
Ad Standardisation V/s Adaptation.......................................................................................................4
Examples...........................................................................................................................................4
 Honda Accord -..............................................................................................................................4
 Kraft Cheese –................................................................................................................................5
 Mars Energy Bar –..........................................................................................................................5
 Actimel Probiotic Yoghurt –...........................................................................................................5
 YAHOO-..........................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................5

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What is brand morphing?

A brand is a thought in the consumer’s mind space and hence an amorphous

concept. Branding is a science that is evolving so fast that it cannot be managed by
techniques of yester years. Customers are human beings and hence are not static
entities. Their needs and demands change with age, region etc. Actually they morph all
the time. As the customer’s mind is ever changing brands cannot afford to remain static.
Previously branding was all about consistency. 1 Brands were spending millions to
communicate to the customers across all regions and segments about their unique
selling proposition. But, now brand appeal has to be inconsistent but in sync with the
customers. This is what is explained by Harish Bijoor as Amoebic branding2 – changing
brand offering with the change in the mind and mood of the consumer. Just as a amoeba
changes its shape according to its environment, brands will have to constantly innovate
and match the changing demands of the customers.

Brand morphing is the way by which brand meanings change across different
groups of customers as facilitated by efforts by the marketers to create, accommodate &
reinforce diverse cultural meanings across international markets. The ability to morph a
brand solely rests on the ability of the marketer to understand plurality and cultural
diversity. Branding was all about exclusivity but it is slowly evolving to be inclusive.
Because if the brand remains exclusive, it excludes a lot people from it.

Noise is an inevitable part of brand communication which ultimately results in

the gap between what is communicated by the marketers and what is perceived by the
audience depending on their personal background , social conditions & different frames
of reference. Hence this poses a threat as well as an opportunity for brand managers.
The brand managers must understand the various potential meanings of the advertising
messages. As many brands are present internationally the effect of various cultures is
more prominent now days. Segmenting the market into nonoverlapping customer
segments is increasingly becoming difficult in the light of fast brand as well as category
switching by customers with the change in consumption context.

Hence in this fast and dynamic environment most of the conventional ideas of
segmentation and positioning will not be able to handle polysemy. Ad agencies
customize the ads in foreign markets to break through the emotional barrier. For
example – Tang drinks are marketed in US and other countries as a product of

1
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V7S-4T4HJGC-
1&_user=8248731&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2009&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort
=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1624617853&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000073894&_version=1
&_urlVersion=0&_userid=8248731&md5=7ac397947bcda631eaa4b70c93f8e990&searchtype=a

2
www.superbrands.com/lkc1/presentation/harish_bijoor-notes.pdf

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convenience whereas in Bangladesh it is marketed as an integral part of any
communication.

Types of Morphing

Morphing is actually done at various levels by the marketers.

1- Modifying the ad copy, slogans and execution to match consumers in various

markets but the ads are in line with its global positioning. This can be called a
customized uniformity.
2- In this level the brand positioning is completely changed. When the cultural
differences are so significant that the initial positioning has very less chance
appealing to customers.
3- This is the most extreme form in which cultural meanings are brought from the
home country of the brand and implanted in a foreign country. This is actually
the reverse way in which the brand was initially intended to be for a local market
and gradually becoming standardised. For example Whitman’s chocolates when
entered Australia they used their American ad copy which used to describe their
heritage of chocolate making. They kept on airing the ad in Australia where no
one has previously heard of it. But, gradually it transformed to becoming a brand
that is closely interrelated with the local Australian heritage.

Ad Standardisation V/s Adaptation

Ad standardisation has a lot of cost implications for a brand. If the same ad can
be shown in different countries and regions then it saves the cost of creating new ads.
But, significant cultural changes inhibit this and pose serious challenges in front of the
marketers. Even if diesel brand want show the same ads depicting the sensual content
in Middle East, it will not be able to do so as the censor board will rate the ads to be
vulgar and hence not suitable for public viewing. Similarly, Japanese language is very
peculiar in that if Japanese companies will try to just translate their ads in other
languages, it will have a very funny meaning. To create relevance for consumers and
creating an emotional connect practitioners many times modify the ad campaigns for
local markets. In the international arena, cultural differences bestow a changing
character on brands as commercial messages and products travel across different
countries or social spaces in society (Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995). 3

Examples

 Honda Accord -
3
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/product-positioning/531271-1.html

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 Honda Accord is positioned as a mass market product for families In US &
other countries and it competes mostly against Toyota Camry. But in Australia it
is positioned as a more prestigious and luxury product and it competes against
lower end Mercedes and BMW. The primary reasons for this is that in most
countries Japanese cars are mostly present whereas in Australia Japanese cars
are rare and hence this exclusivity.

 Kraft Cheese –
Kraft cream cheese is marketed all over the world as a product that is
very indulging and gives heavenly experience. The angel of heaven is shown as a
consumer in the ads to indicate heaven. But while marketing this in Middle East a
strange problem was found out. In Muslim theology there is no concept of an
angel. So the ads were tailored to include a heavenly setting in which earthly
people and not angels.

 Mars Energy Bar –

This energy bar is marketed as a convenient food that can be eaten on the
go and it gives lot of energy. But marketing it in France was a challenge as eating
in social places is unacceptable and not considered refined in the culture of
France. Hence, in France this was marketed as a luxurious food product.

 Actimel Probiotic Yoghurt –

Actimel sells in most of the European countries. But, though it is the

largest selling yoghurt brand in UK, its customer penetration is very low.
Actually in all the countries Actimel is marketed as a product that improves
immune system due to the lactobacillus bacteria present in it. But, UK does not
have a yogurt culture and hence these natural benefits do not excite them.

 YAHOO-

Yahoo when launched promoted itself as a good search engine. But,

gradually it changed its offering to become a content provider and finally
becoming a portal providing complete service from shopping to email to
entertainment. To match the changing consumer need it gradually modified to
become build a ‘cool’ image and spent a lot of money in ads to project this.
Recently, when it saw a reduction in the yahoo messenger usage, it modified it to
provide nice games in it.

Conclusion
At present brands exist in a very dynamic and ever changing environment. Hence
the only way they will be able to survive today and exist till tomorrow is when they

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adopt and embrace the customers rather than excluding them. In the present era the
only thing that is permanent is change and nothing else.

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