沈阳理工大学学士学位论文
附 录A
1、英文原文
Branding
Consumers view a brand as an important part of a product, and branding can add value to a product. For example, most consumers would perceive a bottle of Opium perfume as a high-quality, expensive product. But the same perfume in an unmarked bottle would probably be viewed as lower in quality, even if the fragrance were identical.
Branding has become a central issue in product strategy. On the one hand, developing branded product requires a great deal of long-term marketing investment, especially for advertising, promotion and packaging. Manufacturers often find it easier and less expensive simply to make the product and let others do the brand building. Taiwanese manufacturers, for example, have taken this course. They make a large amount of the world's clothing, consumer electronics and computers, but these products are sold under non-Taiwanese brand names.
On the other hand, most manufacturers eventually learn that the power lies with the companies that control the brand names. For example, brand-name clothing, electronics and computer companies can replace their Taiwanese manufacturing sources with cheaper sources in Malaysia and elsewhere. The Taiwanese producers can do little to prevent the loss of sales to less expensive suppliers —consumers are loyal to the brands, not to the producers. In the past, Japanese and South Korean companies, however, have not made this mistake. They have spent heavily to build up brand names such as Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Hyundai, Gold star and Samsung for their products. Even when these companies can no longer afford to manufacture their products in their homelands, their brand names continue to command customer loyalty.
Powerful brand names have consumer franchise - that is, they command strong consumer loyalty. This means that a sufficient number of customers demand these brands and refuse substitutes, even if the substitutes are offered at somewhat lower prices. Companies that develop brands with a strong consumer franchise are insulated from competitors' promotional strategies. Thus it makes sense for a supplier to invest heavily to create strong national or even global recognition and preference for its brand name. What is a Brand?
Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers is their ability to create, maintai
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沈阳理工大学学士学位论文
n, protect, reinforce and enhance brands. A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or a combination of these, which is used to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Thus a brand identifies the maker or supplier of a product. Take a product such as a cola drink - any manufacturer can produce a cola drink, but only the Coca-Cola Company can produce Coke.
Branding is not a new phenomenon. In the last hundred years, however, its use has developed considerably. Legal systems recognize that brands are also property in a very real sense. Currently, over 160 countries have trademark laws allowing owners of brands to claim title in their brand names and logos through trademark registration.
But brands, unlike other forms of intellectual property, such as patents and copyrights, do not have expiration dates and their owners have exclusive rights to use their brand name for an unlimited period of\
A brand conveys a specific set of features, benefits and services to buyers. It is a mark, a tangible emblem, which says something about the product. The best brands, for example, often convey a warranty of quality. A brand can deliver up to four levels of meaning:
1. Attributes. A brand first brings to mind certain product attributes. For example, Mercedes suggests such attributes as 'well engineered', 'well built', 'durable', 'high prestige', 'fast', 'expensive' and 'high resale value'. The company may use one or more of these attributes in its advertising for the car. For years, Mercedes advertised 'Engineered like no other car in the world'. This provided a positioning platform for other attributes of the car.
2. Benefits. Customers do not buy attributes, they buy benefits. Therefore, attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits. For example, the attribute 'durable' could translate into the functional benefit, 'I won't have to buy a new car every few years.' The attribute 'expensive' might translate into the emotional benefit, 'The car makes me feel important and admired.' The attribute 'well built' might translate into the functional and emotional benefit, T am safe in the event of an accident.'
3. Values. A brand also says something about the buyers' values. Thus Mercedes buyers value high performance, safety and prestige. A brand marketer must identify the specific groups of car buyers whose values coincide with the
4. Personality. A brand also projects a personality. Motivation researchers sometimes ask, 'I
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沈阳理工大学学士学位论文
f this brand were a person, what kind of person would it be?' Consumers might visualize a Mercedes automobile as being a wealthy, middle-aged business executive. The brand will attract people whose actual or desired self-images match the brand's image.
All this suggests that a brand is a complex symbol. If a company treats a brand only as a name, it misses the point of branding. The challenge of branding is to develop a deep set of meanings or associations for the brand.
Given the four levels of a brand's meaning, marketers must decide the levels at which they will build the brand's identity. It would be a mistake to promote only the brand's attributes. Remember, buyers are interested not so much in brand attributes as in brand benefits. Moreover, competitors can easily copy attributes. Or the current attributes may later become less valuable to consumers, hurting a brand that is tied too strongly to specific attributes. Even promoting the brand on one or more of its benefits can be risky. Suppose Mercedes touts its main benefit as 'high performance'. If several competing brands emerge with as high or higher performance, or if car buyers begin placing less importance on performance as compared to other benefits, Mercedes will need the freedom to move into a new benefit positioning.
The most lasting and sustainable meanings of a brand are its core values and personality. They define the brand's essence. Thus Mercedes stands for 'high achievers and success'. The company must build its brand strategy around creating and protecting this brand personality. Although Mercedes has recently yielded to market pressures by introducing lower-price models, this might prove risky. Marketing less expensive models might dilute the personality that Mercedes has built up over the decades. Brand Equity
Brands vary in the amount of power and value they have in the marketplace. Some brands are largely unknown to most buyers. Other brands have a high degree of consumer brand awareness. Still others enjoy brand preference - buyers select them over the others. Finally, some brands command a high degree of brand loyalty. A top executive at II.J. Heinz proposes this test of brand loyalty: 'My aired test ... is whether a [consumer], intending to buy Heinz Ketchup in a store but finding it out of stock, will walk out of the store to buy it elsewhere or switch to an alternative product.'
A powerful brand has high brand equity. Brands have higher brand equity to the extent that
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沈阳理工大学学士学位论文
they have higher brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality, strong brand associations and other assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships. A brand with strong brand equity is a valuable asset. In fact, it can even be bought or sold for a price. Many companies base their growth strategies on acquiring and building rich brand portfolio! For example, Grand Metropolitan acquired various Pillsbury brands, including Green Giant vegetables. Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Burger King Restaurants. Switzerland's Nestle\, Carnation (US), Stouffer (US), Buitoni-Perugina (Italy) and Perrier (France), making it the world's largest food company controlling many desirable 'brands'.
Measuring the actual equity of a brand name is difficult. Because it is so hard to measure, companies usually do not list brand equity on their balance sheets. Still, they pay handsomely for it. For example, Nestle paid ￡2.5 billion to buy Row tree, six times its reported asset value. And when Grand Metropolitan bought Ileublein, it added 1800 million to its assets to reflect the value of Smirnoff and other names. According to one estimate, the brand equity of Marlboro is The world's top brands include such superpowers as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Campbell, Disney, Kodak, Sony and Mercedes-Ben/. High brand equity provides a company with many competitive advantages. Because a powerful brand enjoys a high level of consumer brand awareness and loyalty, the company will incur lower marketing costs relative to revenues. Because consumers expect stores to carry the brand, the company has more leverage in bargaining with retailers. And because the brand name carries high credibility, the company can more easily launch brand extensions. Above all, a powerful brand offers the company some defiance against fierce price competition. Marketers need to manage their brands carefully in order to preserve brand equity. They must develop strategies that effectively maintain or improve brand awareness, perceived brand quality and usefulness, and positive brand associations over time. This requires continuous R & D investment to provide a constant flow of improved and innovative products to satisfy customers' changing needs, skilful advertising and excellent trade and consumer service. Some companies, such as Colgate-Palmolived Canada Dry, appoint 'brand equity managers' to guard their brands' images, associations and quality. They work to prevent brand managers from over-promoting brands in order to produce short-term profits at the expense of long-term brand equit 35 沈阳理工大学学士学位论文 y. Some analysts’ sec brands as the most enduring asset of a company, outlasting the company's specific products and facilities. Yet, behind every powerful brand stands a set of loyal customers. Therefore, the basic asset underlying brand equity is customer equity. This suggests that marketing strategy should focus on extending loyal customer lifetime -value, with brand management serving as an essential marketing tool. Branding poses challenging decisions to the marketer. The key branding decisions include the fellows： 36