BRAND MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Branding is not just about the perfect name, it’s about organizing and running

the business. Just like mega companies Pepsi, Ford, and FedEx, some small

businesses have discovered that developing brand names is a great way to

run a business. Branding or brand management can simplify what you do.

And in the process you may be able to get better results at less cost. For

example Ben & Jerry’s, Snapple etc, by using brand management, those

small businesses became household words. The power of brands has long

been recognized unsurprisingly considering the way that they can be used -

but only recently has any attempt been made to quantify the value of brands.

Recent thinking says that the value of a brand is a major asset, and

accordingly it should be recorded as such on a company’s balance sheet.

While quantifying something as intangible as a brand is a formidable task,

doing so will help to prove the effectiveness and value of marketing. (Ryder,

1999, Pg. 182)

Today the word brand is commonly understood in its commercial sense, but

its Norse roots betray the original meaning - to mark something as your own.

Adding a badge or logo to show ownership or origin remains some people’s

understanding of the branding process today. A huge number of businesses

invest in a corporate logo for their reception, stationery, products, etc., without

really understanding the wider function of branding. Having a clearly

recognized, appropriate and distinctive logo is important - visual recognition is

a key factor in consumer choice - but the brand should be something that a

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company lives and breathes. The logo should act as visual evidence of the

brand. For instance, if you manufacture outdoor, all-terrain equipment, your

brand values are likely to be tough, rugged, strong, etc. A picture of a flower

with your name in a fine serif typescript is not the logical choice for conveying

those brand values. (David D’alessandro, 2001, Pg. 141)

Consumers do not, though, relate to a logo on an emotional level - which they

should do with a brand. As recognizable as Coca-Cola’s ‘Always’ device is,

when people buy the product what they are buying into is the ideals of

freedom that are entwined with the product to give it values. By associating

emotions and values with a product, you begin to sell because of wider factors

than just functionality, and your customers buy into your brand. (Ryder, 1999,

Pg. 193)

The following report will be discussing about the brand management

strategies that were adopted by Samsung Fridge, which is one of the biggest

brands within the Sultanate of Oman.

About the Product

Samsung Fridge is one of the biggest brands within the Omani market. This

brand is recognized all over the Middle East because of its quality. This

product is serving the customers for many years. The history of Samsung

and refrigerators stretches back to over 10 years. In 1993 Samsung

developed the best refrigerators of its era.

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Identification of Target Market and Target Audience

Target market and target audience is considered as the market and the

audience that are been targeted by the company. A target market is a group

of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and

ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the first element to

a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix variables of

product, place (distribution), promotion and prices are the two elements of a

marketing mix strategy that determine the success of a product in the

marketplace.

The first step to choosing an advertising method (or variety of methods) is to

determine the target audience. Different age groups, political points of view,

genders, and ethnicities will respond to the same advertisements in different

ways. Where does the target audience live? Where do they go to school or

work? How much are they willing to spend for the service or product?

Answering all of these questions and more will help to determine not only the

tone of the advertising but also the type. (Ryder, 1999, Pg. 206)

The targeted market for Samsung Fridge will be the resident of Oman

including the local nationals, foreigners, and expatriates including Indian,

Pakistani etc. The market will be the major cities of Oman like Muscat, Nizwa,

Salalah, Sur, Sohar etc where majority of the population resides.

SWOT analysis:

Strength: The main strength point of Samsung Fridge is that they have

unique system of marketing system within the company. The main success of

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the company is only the employees and staff because this company recruits

candidates who are well educated and have got mass experience in the

relevant fields so that the jobs that are given to them should be done

accurately and with good quality.

Weakness: Samsung Fridge is a reputed company in the Sultanate. Apart

from being reputed and well established it has some of the weaker sections,

not many but there are a few which they need to avoid and get through with

those weaker sections. The company does not advertise about the services

and products in the newspapers and Internet. The company does not have

any commercial contacts international nor they have any franchises

internationally and hence establishing a brand in the new international market

is the biggest weakness.

Opportunities: Samsung Fridge is the key company in the Sultanate, which

offers a very bright future to the nation with it unlimited job opportunities to the

locals. The company highly recommends Omanization within the company

and employs a lot of Omani people. This company mostly concentrates in

helping the nation to reduce the unemployment level and hence opens wide

job opportunities to the young Omani nationals. The company should

advertise and market the product more so that it can reach more number of

customers and get lot of business. After achieving great success locally, the

company now has the brightest opportunity to expand its roots internationally

so that the company can earn more profits.

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Threats: Every business has threats and difficulties. The company that

overcomes succeeds in the business. Samsung Fridge, In spite of being a

good company it has several threats in terms of competitors. Every company

that is reputed in the business world has threats with regards to the

competitors. The major threat is that there is lot of competition from its similar

companies which pose severe threat and thus it makes difficult for the

company to set strategies. The other threat is the cost of marketing

campaigns, which is very expensive as the price of everything goes on hike.

Internationally there could be many other similar companies and brands,

which maybe well settled in the international market and competing with them

and dominating the market could be the biggest threat.

Brand Equity

Brand equity refers to the value of a brand. Brand equity is based on the

extent to which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived

quality and strong product associations. Brand equity also includes other

“intangible” assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships.

Strong brands are managed by organisations characterized by their strong

internal brand cultures. A strong brand culture is determined by the internal

attitudes towards branding, management behaviour and practices of an

organisation. These combined efforts are crucial to build and maintain strong

brand equity through competitive advantages from branding. (Arnold, 1992,

Pg. 207)

The most prominent person to lead these efforts is the CEO and the senior

management team. Strong brand equity provides the benefits like facilitates a

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more predictable income stream. Increases cash flow by increasing market

share, reducing promotional costs, and allowing premium pricing. Brand

equity is an asset that can be sold or leased. However, brand equity is not

always positive in value. Some brands acquire a bad reputation that results in

negative brand equity. Negative brand equity can be measured by surveys in

which consumers indicate that a discount is needed to purchase the brand

over a generic product. (Arnold, 1992, Pg. 211)

Samsung Fridge has the highest brand awareness within the Sultanate and

no other brands can take the place of Samsung Fridge.

Brand valuation

Most of the companies have been successful in building and maintaining their

brands because brands are the main sources of their success in the markets.

Following are some of the strategies that Samsung Fridge has to follow in

order to be more successful within the market:

The development of a branding strategy must begin with identifying the

brand’s (the business’) core values. These are qualities, which Samsung

Fridge deems most important. For instance, Samsung Fridge may identify its

core values to include: honesty, integrity, excellent communication, and client

satisfaction. Though these values are usually never revealed to the public,

they are evident in every aspect of the organizations’ business routine, from

customer service, to direct marketing, to website design, to teleconferences,

to the treatment of its employees and strategic partners. This conveys a

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consistent perception to the target audience in every medium of

communication that is used.

Samsung Fridge should not consider these values lightly for these values

represent the “creed” for the business and become the cornerstone for

developing the brand’s proposition and though the brand’s proposition may

change from time to time, the brand’s core values should never change.

(Chernatony and McDonald, 2000, Pg. 155)

Samsung fridge should have strong branding strategies so that it can compete

with its competitors like Philips, Sony, Toshiba etc who are competing within

the market.

Branding Strategies adopted by Samsung Fridge

Following are some of the successful brand building strategies that Samsung

Fridge has to follow in order to be more successful within Oman and

internationally.

Building a brand takes commitment, focus, and three to five years of

complimentary programs. It is not just an advertising program. It is a

company-wide effort that unifies everyone's energies, toward the same

common objective.

Samsung Fridge follows these strategies: Who are we? Who are our

customers? What do they expect from us?  The quality of upfront thinking, will

directly affect the quality of the output.

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Samsung Fridge, a house of several brands, or is the company a branded

house with sub-brands? What does the company do? Provide a service,

promote a cause, build a product, or create a lifestyle? Whatever it is, the

statement of who they are should differentiate themselves from their

competitors.

This is one of the most difficult aspects of the process. Are they the people

who buy Samsung Fridge products now, and how many of them are there? Or

the customer someone who aspires to the brand and what it stands for, and

wants to be included?

Samsung Fridge definition going to be exclusive, or inclusive to show the

potential of where they are going and whom they want to reach?

Samsung Fridge’s analysis of the customer understands the trends in the

marketplace, the motivation behind the buying process, the unmet needs of

the customer, and the subtle differences in the segmentation. Another

important aspect in creating a brand statement for Samsung Fridge is they

understand the competitor's brand, if it has one. What is its image, what does

it stand for? Every company or competitor has strengths and weaknesses.

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of each

competitor for Samsung Fridge indicates what its strategies are. Taking the

time, being disciplined, and involving the team with bring surprising results.

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Internal SWOT analysis for Samsung Fridge opened eyes. But, really

understanding their existing brand image, traditions, heritage, and above all,

the company values, will help not only craft a brand statement, but will also

help the company discover the potential and what the capabilities are to reach

the target audience. (D’alessandro, 2001, Pg. 155)

CONCLUSION

Branding is the blend of art and science that manages associations between a

brand and memories in the mind of the brand’s audience. It involves focusing

resources on selected tangible and intangible attributes to differentiate the

brand in an attractive, meaningful and compelling way for the targeted

audience. The brand name can give companies the models, such as the one

just described, have also been developed by commercial organization.

Branding is very important for any company. The concept of branding goes far

beyond a catchy label or logo-it encompasses all aspects of business and

how a company presents itself to customers, prospective employees and the

circles it operates in. that brands have gradually been moving up the

corporate agenda and today play a major role in the life of most successful

companies. The financial role of brands has increasingly been recognized

and accounting standards have been introduced that begin to recognize their

growing importance and reflect the value that brand and other intangibles add

to the bottom line. In the above report there was a discussion about the brand

management and have selected Samsung Fridge as the topic of discussion to

shown the concept of branding.

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References

 Arnold D, (1992), “The Handbook of Brand Management”, Oxford,

London

 Chernatony and McDonald, (2000) “Certain Powerful Brands”, Oxford,

London

 David D’alessandro, (2001), “Brand Warfare”, McGraw Hill, New York.

 Rodney D. Ryder, (1999), “Brands Trademarks and Advertising”, Lexis

Nexis Butterworths.

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