Appunti completi del corso di Strategy e marketing

BRANDING

Brand positioning

Brand positioning is a sub task of positioning aiming at even out the POP and win with POD, tasks:

1) Define competitive frame -> targeting and identify main competitors (the ones that the customer

compare in the buying process)

2) Defining points of parity POP and points of difference POD referring to competitors

Types of POP:

 Category POP -> associations and features perceived as necessary for a brand to be an alternative

within a category

 Competitive POP -> associations and features introduced to neutralize competitor’s POD

Types of POD:

 Upstream POD -> was the trend in the past

 Downstream POD -> firms links with customer base -> new trend today

A brand is a name, a term, a symbol, a design or a combination of these, that aims at identifying the

products or services of a company and differentiate them from competitors -> simplify individual decision

making. Buyers use criteria to position brands in their mind. Strong brands have higher profits avoiding

competition on price.

How to build a brand:

1) Target positioning -> we have to have clear to whom we aim to work with

2) Brand identity -> positioning, values and performances we want to deliver to our target market.

3) Brand design and further marketing leverages

4) Signals (integrated communication)

5) Brand image -> allow customer to build brand image in his mind and make this image consistent

with the intended brand identity is the main objective.

6) Brand equity -> how much volumes or margins with do thanks to the brand compared with the

same product without the brand? -> higher prices and margins, additional retail shelf space,

reduced customer switching, prevents erosion of market share.

Measuring brand equity, Multipliers:

 Program multiplier -> determines the marketing program’s ability to affect customer mind-set and

is a function of the quality of the program investment

 Customer multiplier -> determines the extent to which value created in the minds of customers

affects market performance

 Market multiplier -> determines the extent to which the value shown by the market performance

of a brand is manifested in shareholder value

Attitudinal metrics

 Awareness -> how familiar the customer is with the image of a brand

 Recall -> is the brand automatically remembered by the customer?

 Recognition -> if customer immediately recognises the brand and its attributes

 Brand image -> how the brand is perceived

Criteria for brand element:

 remember able -> short names

 meaningful -> is credible? suggest the position criteria?

 likable -> esthetical appealing

other 3 for the preservation of the brand in the long run

 transferable -> possible to transfer in other countries or to launch a new product with this brand

 adaptability -> am I able to adapt the brand element take into account market evolution

 protect ability -> can I legally protect the brand element? problem for folletto for example

Oss. Today the most important brands have networks and exploit data.

Oss. Brand attachment: customers’ strong emotional connection with a brand whereby consumers regard

the brand as a part of their self-concept. -> brand trust and loyalty, willingness to pay premium price and

positive word of mouth. Love brand: brand that is loved by consumers and manages to create emotional

bond with them. Brand portfolio

Big corporations may have more than 1 brand; the objective of brand portfolio management is for each

brand to maximize equity in combination with the other brands in the portfolio. Brand architecture: the

way different brands in a portfolio are related and differ from each other.

How to manage brand portfolio:

 decide the number of brands

 define each brand role into the portfolio -> why we invest in a brand and how much

 define relations among brands -> what type of synergies to max equity

types of brand relations:

 branded house -> single identity on all products -> need consistency over time and if a product is

bad influence all the others, require less resources

 sub brands -> a strong brand at a level under the master brand -> nike air jordan

 endorsed brands -> independent brand which is overtly endorsed by a master brand -> polo by

ralph lauren

 house of brands -> multiple strong brands -> no endorsement effect

the ideal portfolio -> football team metaphor -> each brand covers its own area without too much

overlapping. In the reality we find a lot of overlapping as brand portfolios are consequence of M&As.

MARKETING MIX: INTRODUCTION & PRODUCT LEVER

Operational marketing: translation of the marketing strategy into decisions about concept, price,

promotion and distribution of the products/services offered.

Marketing mix: set of marketing levers, the most famous model for marketing mix is the 4P model (new

7P):  product

 price

 place

 promotion

 process -> systems and processes affect the execution of the service -> companies need solid

procedures and policies customer oriented.

 People -> company employees are important especially when they deliver the service.

 physical evidence -> everything the customer sees when interacting with your business (physical

environment, design, packaging, branding …)

The rules of consistency of the marketing mix: to be effective a marketing mix must be designed and

implemented according to these principles:

 consistent with customer needs

 consistent with the objectives of competitive advantage

 consistent with the positioning objectives

 capable of an effort (marketing investment) appropriate to the objectives of market share

 equipped with a solid internal consistency among its components

 consistent with general corporate policies

marketing mix – product

product: object of the exchange, the scope is always to max the value exchanged, can be tangible or

intangible. An object is a product if addresses a specific market.

The product model: producer and user prospective, different prospective coming prof different cultures,

can be the reason for a product to mismatch expectations, a product model must be in continuous

evolution according to external context. Product concept: preliminary expectation of a

product.

The user sees the world in terms of expectations

and needs, the producer in terms of production

variables. The producer wants to transform

expectations into product features.

Product from a user prospective distinctive characteristics and related services:

 functional characteristics

 quality

 maintainability

 design

 brand

 packaging

 delivery terms

 guarantee terms

 technical assistance etc.

product form a producer prospective:

 operational characteristics -> technological-project translation of the functional characteristics

 engineering

 standardization -> internal and external

 cost structure -> opex and capex required

the 5 product levels (classification):

 core benefit -> fundamental service or benefit that a customer is seeking (drill a hole)

 basic product -> basic technical specifications of the product

 expected product -> set of minimal attributes looked for by the customer when buying the product

 augmented product -> features beyond customer’s expectations -> competitive differential in

developed countries

 potential product -> future ways for the product to satisfy customer needs

the product hierarchy

 items (SKU) -> Porsche cayenne S

 product type -> Porsche cayenne

 product line -> SUV

 product class -> product within the same product family with some coherence -> light truck chassis,

station wagons

 product family -> cars

 need family -> transportation

key elements for the product:

1) identify the voice of the customer

2) translate the voice into critical to quality characteristics (CTQs)

3) Rank the CTQs into 3 categories

 Dissatisfier -> cost of entry

 Satisfier -> competitive

 Delighter -> differentiator

4) Evaluate current performance

Product life cycle (Passing through each stage is not mandatory for each product.)

Introduction -> we spend to make customers aware, depends on brand

etc.

Growth -> demand superior of offer, profit grows -> 6-10% growth rate

Maturity -> longest, 3 sub-phases

Decline -> obsolescence

Service

Factors characterizing a service:

 Method of provision -> services with the same function can be offered and provided in different

ways

 Speed of provision -> influence the duration of the intervention

 Assurance of results -> tendency to go from provision logic to result logic, cannot be implemented

in sectors like medical care.

Characteristics of services:

 Intangibility -> not easy to have good customer evaluation

 Non-storability -> management policies are more relevant

 Simultaneous and contextual production and consumption -> training for increasing the quality

 Labour intensity

 Variability -> quality is subject to fluctuations -> labour intensity nature

 Higher difficulty in gaining customer loyalty and more difficult to evaluate compared to products.

Different levels of service:

 Tangible basic good

 Tangible goods and added-service (important for complex and differentiated products)

 Mixed tangible and intangible offering -> e.g. Restaurants, service and product are important at the

same level

 Service with some goods -> airlines providing beverages

 Pure service -> consultancy etc.

Components of a service product:

 Core product -> main component that supplies the desired experience

 Supplementary services -> augment the core product facilitating its use and enhancing its value

 Delivery processes -> processes to deliver both core and supplementary services.

Risk: probability that things go differently from what expected. From the point of view of the customer the

service purchase is highly risky. -> performance, financial and lost opportunity risks.

How to diminish risk perception:

 Trust -> brand

 Warranties -> management -> operational and organizational excellence

Useful elements for designing a customer-oriented process:

 Know the customer’s expectations

 Identify the expected result

 Engineer the process

 Make the process economical

 Measure customer satisfaction and results

 Improve the process

 Guarantee consistency and quality of service

Experience

Two people cannot have the same experience because comes from interaction between the event and the

individual’s state of mind. Experience is a result of interactions, not only the result of wha