Brand Orientation - Essay 1 Flashcards
Business orientation
Has received significant attention given its importance in guiding organisations towards success.
Brands
Are acknowledged to be more than marketing & advertising activities whereby its behaviours & decision making can enhance the full potential of the brand (Carabi, 2017)
2 strategic approaches within business orientation
Market & Brand orientation are 2 distinct strategic approaches utilised by organisations to guide decision making & approaches
market orientation
focuses on the needs & wants of consumers, thus conducting market research to take the outside to perspective & take it back into the organisation to address the identified market gap (Urde, 1999)
benefits of market orientation
market environment focus - can understand the demands of consumers & monitor the performance of competitors, allowing strengths & weakness to be identified to try & gain competitive advantage
By being proactive in identifying areas for innovation, allows organisations to be at the forefront of the industry due to their contributions.
Market Orientation Plus
It is considered that brand orientation adds an additional layer of sophistication to market orientation, where both identify the importance for their to demand for the product
Brand Orientation
The organisation drives with what they want to be known for, thus finding a product or service that allows them to achieve this goal (Urde, 1999). It encompassed the core values of the organisation that are considered the active ingredient in decision making. This consideration & implementation into marketing activities maximise engagement, meaning & value to employees & consumers (Carabi, 2017)
Key Drivers of Brand Orientation
Ability to command a premium price - Example of Apple - demonstrates a reflection of how consumers value the brand & are willing to pay a high price for its superior quality. As leader within the smartphone market, they have built up their reputation for quality & innovation therefore have build up a base of brand loyal consumers as well as aspirational consumers who look to be associated with the brand.
Integration of markets (Urde, 1999) - Example of McDonald’s - are able to utilise their model framework as they globalise however have had to adapt their offerings to suit differing cultures & their respective norms. Allows them to benefit from economies of scale within marketing & distribution.
Challenges associated with Brand orientation
Brand orientation requires organisational support, including from the CEO (Boso et al, 2016)
- people have different roles within organisation & often disregard marketing & its relevance to growth - individuals may not buy into it which will penetrate throughout the organisation
- brand building is a long term thing which can be difficult to devote organisations away from short term sales activations given its quick access to cash, however these can have damaging effects on the business in the long term
importance of internal brand building
brand orientation goes beyond its external marketing activities - internal brand building is crucial to raise employees sense of belongingness & confidence to endorse the firm across all levels of the organisation.
Brand pride - aids success as employees buy into the brands true meaning & purpose which results in brand proud employees who look to share their pride & help customers stay customers as brand pride is contagious (Silverman, 2016) - emphasises the importance for CEO to implement the brand vision throughout the organisation
conclusion
critical for brands to develop strategies to overcome the barriers presented to be able to benefit from the financial & competitive advantage associated with brand orientation.
- this approach facilitates differentiation within a saturated market which is critical for brand survival & development over a long term period.
- importance of internal brand building
- although products can be easily copied, brands are unique identities to be leveraged as a survival strategy
