1. Brand image affects purchase decisions.

Identify two brands you consider to hold a positive image and

explain why. Identify two brands that you believe should either change or rejuvenate their brand images,
and explain why. How can the change or rejuvenation be accomplished for each brand?

A brand is the word, term, or phrase featured as the name of a product, product line, or
company. Managing an organization’s brand image constitutes a critical element in the successful
maintenance of an integrated marketing communications plan. A corporation’s brand image reflects the
feelings consumers and businesses hold regarding the overall organization as well as its individual
products or product lines. A corporate or brand image expresses what the company and its products
stand for as well as how it is to be known in the marketplace.

When you hear a particular company name, you’ll immediately have an emotional
reaction if they’ve spent a lot of time and resources on cultivating their brand. Your reaction
could either be positive or negative based on past experiences with the company, recent
headlines about them and/or opinions of those within your social circle. Each of these factors
contributes to the overall image of the organization. Not surprisingly, people associate positive
feelings toward companies that have good reputations. The below are sample of brand that
have positive image:

1. Amazon

Online retailer Amazon (AMZN) held onto its spot as the country's best perceived brand in 2014,
thanks to its push into new services such as video streaming and its Fire tablet. The brand kept its No. 1
spot despite some well publicized misfires last year, including a battle with book publisher Hachette and
its authors, and its poorly received entry into the smartphone arena with the Fire phone.

But consumers overlooked those missteps partly because of Amazon's Prime membership, which
guarantees two-day shipping and a library of streaming media for $99 a year.

Amazon "has been at or near the top of the list for the last four or five years," Marzilli noted. "The way
consumers consume media is really shifting," a change that's benefiting Amazon.

2. Google

The name “Google” evokes a vision of a place where an endless number of items can be
found ,It's just part of our lives. It's always coming up in conversation and the company is creating new
products such as Google Glass, Google has "great positioning in a market that's still growing."

Reputations can be pretty fragile. Only one mistake can damage customers’ love and
trust they had for a brand. This is especially true when the issue affects the customers’ health
and safety. Companies need to find ways to remedy these problems soon after they occur so
they can restore the public’s trust. If their brand doesn’t recover from these mistakes, they risk
losing these customers forever.

Let’s look at below companies that had a negative brand image and how they overcame it.

1. Victoria's Secret: Ad Slogan

The American lingerie company Victoria’s Secret got heat in 2014 after the launch of a
campaign using the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body’.” This referred to its “Body” lingerie line, and the
slogan appeared on an image of Victoria’s Secret angels.
 These were ultrathin supermodels, implying that the “perfect body” was thin and
flawless. These are bodies that most of the female population cannot safely achieve. People
saw this as damaging to self-esteem and women’s health while promoting eating disorders and
unhealthy dieting.

Consumers posted backlash online, and over 30,000 people signed a petition for the
company to correct and apologize for the offensive ad. In response, Victoria’s Secret changed
the slogan to “A Body for Every Body,” even though the image remained the same. But people
still responded with positive comments that the company made this change and that it was a
step in the right direction.

2. Samsung: Galaxy Note 7

In 2016, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphones were catching fire and exploding due to a
battery malfunction. Sales were down by 15% because of the issue for Samsung users around
the world. One instance may have caused the burned home of a South Carolina family , but
thankfully no one was home at the time of the fire.
The company faced waves of negative comments because of the dangerous and threatening
problem. But Samsung bounced back through persistent efforts. The first step was to get rid of
all phones in circulation. The company recalled the Note 7, stopped sales and shipments,
refunded users, and provided exchanges for the phones. It turns out that the replacements
ended up having the same issue, so Samsung then recalled those, too.  

The company took full responsibility for their problem. A team of researchers tested
phones and batteries in every extreme condition so they could pinpoint the error. Once it did,
Samsung announced where things went wrong; the phone batteries were too big for their
casing, causing them to overheat. It also announced rolling out a quality assurance program
and other safety features.

Samsung focused on gaining back trust by reminding users why they should love the
brand. It changed its internal culture since it had a brand identity that “lacked warmth and
humanity.” The company developed its tagline “Do What You Can’t,” creating a common vision
for all its consumers.

This new campaign centered around the link between phones and content creators.
They brought on popular Youtuber, Casey Neistat, and debuted their new personality during an
Oscar’s commercial.

2 Define the four categories of brand names. Identify two brands for each category that are not mentioned
in the text. Explain why you believe each is a good example.

A brand name establishes the overall banner for operations. David Placek, president and founder
of Lexicon, Inc., said, “The brand name is really the cornerstone of a company’s relationship with its
customers. It sets an attitude and tone and is the first step toward a personality. Brand names can be
placed into four categories based on their actual, implied, or visionary meaning

 Overt names. Reveal what a company does

o Overt names include American Airlines, Maxwell House Coffee, and BMW Motorcycles
USA
o Consumers more readily recall the name
 .Implied names. Contain recognizable words or word parts that convey what a company does.
o Implied names include Travelocity, Lyft, Snapchat, FedEx, and Home Depot
o It implies the type of good or service offered.
 Conceptual names. Capture the essence of what a company offers
o Conceptual names, such as Google, Twitter, and Krispy Kreme, take a different
approach. The name “Google” evokes a vision of a place where an endless number of
items can be found, and “Krispy Kreme” suggests confectionaries filled with tasty crème.
 Iconoclastic names. Represent something unique, different, and memorable.
o Yelp, Ikea, Expedia, Lexus, Samsung, Nabisco, and Reebok are examples of iconoclastic
names.