Children and Teens are easy to Brainwash?

If you had a chance to expose a brand since you were little or younger (teens), you have higher chance to be loyal to the brand unless you hadn't had a bad experience with it.
What do you think? Please think about yourself if you are the person who has a loyal brand?
Let's say, kids were taken to MacDonald often by their parent to get a toy, Happy set, had great time with their family, or grown up in the house surrounded by Sony products. They may be loyal to the brand, aren't they?
Should company go for targeting and doing marketing on children or teens who can easily influenced by external factors in order to create a strong brand in the long term? Isn't that going to be a strong competitive advantage because kind of the nostalgia?

Company has to develop a brand attachment which a passion and emotional involvement of the consumers with the branded products.
What products can stir such deep emotions in people and how to stir them?
I don't know.... because I don't have any particular brand that I am going crazy or being very loyal. In my opinion, unlike in the past, there are so many products and substitutes now, so it seems getting more and more difficult to create a strong brand. I still believe it takes very long time to create a brand, not within short period.

What do you think?

Activision Blizzard

Firm Information

Activision Blizzard is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. The company is the result of a merger between Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007 in a deal worth USD $18.8 billion.

The game publisher’s portfolio includes popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Diablo, Guitar Hero, Starcraft, Tony Hawk, Warcraft and World of Warcraft.

Competitive Advantage and Strengths

The two major advantages Activision Blizzard holds over its competitors are the size and diversity of the corporation. The fact that Activision Blizzard sells products across several consoles and in various genres allows it to compete with gaming behemoth, Electronic Arts. In fact, since the company’s inception in 2007, Activision Blizzard has become the world’s largest and most profitable pure-play video game publisher. The company’s diversity is a critical advantage because it allows for expansion and cross-selling opportunities across various platforms.

Activision Blizzard’s portfolio of games usually attracts more hardcore gamers than casual gamers. This is a decisive advantage in an economic downturn because Activision Blizzard’s sales are not as affected when there is a decrease in consumer spending. When potential customers have limited disposable income, they need to be assured of the quality of what they are purchasing. The Activision Blizzard brand is often strong enough to convince a repeat customer of the quality of a new game.

UNIQLO HeatTech - Technology Advantage

UNIQLO is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer, and retailer. Apart from the brand image of 'reasonable price casual wear for every ages' or 'Japanese H&M', UNIQLO developed an idea to combine technology with cloth. They came up with the cloth technology called "Heat Tech" which is a lightweight high-tech fabric actually creates heat to warm you up. This technology innovation became one of a competitive advantage for UNIQLO.

Here is a UNIQLO HeatTech CM 2008

Brand advantage - healthy Nintendo

A brand image that says something positive about the customer who buys the brand is a powerful competitive advantage. The messages should be tailored to appeal to that specific group as to make them identify with the brand. You could say that "you are what you eat". But in case of brands, you are what your followers say you are.

Nintendo wants consumers to think of it as the healthy life styles choice.

In recent years, Nintendo has rebranded itself a gaming system that is family friendly and accessible to all, steering clear of the gamer-coach-potato stereotype. Games such as Wii Sports, and Wii fitness introduced metrics to help players improve their exercise habits, with great success. With the soon to be introduced pedometer for 3DS, Nintendo hopes to again promote active lifestyles choices and exercise.

"Walking with the pedometer will reward its mobile users with “Game Coins” that can be used to purchase bonus content for participating 3DS titles." In other words, the more you walk, the more you will get rewards.

Not only is the pedometer strategy a great way to promote healthy living, but it will ensure that owners of the 3DS are likely to bring their gaming system everywhere they go.

In this way Nintendo has branded itself as a healthy choice, giving it a brand advantage in the mind of heath conscious consumers.

http://www.gamesradar.com/3ds/nintendo-3ds/news/3ds-will-use-built-in-pedometer-to-reward-players-for-staying-in-shape/a-201101108651281017/g-20100616102754448006

Empowering brand awareness through social media

I am just sharing a very useful article I read about brand awareness written
By Kukil Bora, SiliconIndia

Monday, 24 January 2011, 17:25 Hrs

Bangalore: The days are gone when the newspapers paired with a cup of tea in the morning were the only source of information about any kind of newly launched product or brand. Even the days of television doing the same job are fading away. There are too many distribution channels today, and hence increase in choice, coupled with a decrease in time has brought in tough time for creating brand loyalty and awareness. No doubt that everyone is fighting for consumers' attention, but those consumers are not paying attention. What is the way out then? Here comes the role of new media aka Internet, that provides the popular platform of social media.

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Social media has enormous potential as a weapon to create awareness about a particular brand and get more customers. Now-a-days, finding the right combination of services is very important to expose your brand and your finding will come to an end when you'll approach social media. Even for those companies that can't afford large marketing and advertising budgets, social media can be an useful choice as most of the social media marketing 'tools' are free to use and can provide the same amount of marketing exposure whether you are just starting out or are a giant conglomerate.

Companies like Sony and Dell have experienced direct increase in sales through social media. In February last year, Sony announced that through Twitter they had earned an extra $1.6 million in sales. Later in June, Dell made the announcement that their presence on Twitter accounted for $3 million dollars increase in sales. Somebody may question, "It's all about biggies that already have a brand reputation, what about smaller ones?" Here is the answer - in 2009, a small shoe making company in Canada named John Fluevog Boots & Shoes reported a 40 percent increase in sales, after it started social media marketing the same year.

Creating awareness about a brand through social media is an excellent way to get in touch with your consumer base. It makes your customers feel comfortable and empowered, knowing that your company cares about their input. In social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, people can give you positive reviews, recommend your product and tweet about your company. These social media platforms allow your company's name and brand to be viewed by a significant amount of people. Hence, a continuous use of social media over time creates brand awareness and thus helps to increase sales.

According to a recent Nielson report, in the past year, there was a rise of 43 percent in social network usage. With this rise of social networking, coupled with the growing dominance of mobile computing, it has become extremely easy for people to seek advice online whenever and wherever they choose. These online inputs like conversations, reviews and articles have huge influence on consumers' purchasing decisions. Social media is also a great way to expose your brand to new customers as well.

The effect social media can have on brand awareness is critical in the future of small businesses marketing strategy. The potential for more efficient marketing techniques through online phenomenon such as social networking is only just being tapped. There are a lot of opportunities for opt-in advertising such as e-mail marketing and social networking visibility, and they will increase over time for sure. Remember, by increasing your visibility through social media, you are making it easier for customers to access your company's information, and thereby making your brand well-known.

To go the original link you can follow the following url
www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Empowering_brand_awareness_through_social_media_-nid-77879.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

My Coke

Here is a little story about me and my favorite brand – Coke.
I grew up with Pepsi. Unlike Pepsi, which was sold in every grocery store in the Soviet Union since 70’s, Coke has not come to Russia until late 80’s. My best friend was a son of a local Pepsi bottler executive, so I learned to love Pepsi through a peer pressure. No matter what, Pepsi still tastes somehow more familiar and close to a heart.
I do not remember then I tried Pepsi for a first time, but vividly remember the magical moment in November of 1993 when my friends and I run out from our counselor on a school trip to Moscow and bought our first Cokes. It tasted less sweet than Pepsi, but felt more like a breeze of freedom. (The fact that we just had our first McDonalds probably contributed to that feeling, too:)
I moved to Minnesota, one of rare Pepsi strongholds in the US in 2001, and stopped drinking pop around 2004.
Call me brainwashed, but this summer really changed my perception about the brand management and the Coca-Cola Company products. When I chose the place for internship, I picked Coke based on the brand recognition and was coming aboard a little skeptical about the company business model and hated soft drinks category overall.
Everything changed just in two or three weeks. To give you a little feeling on what a day at Coke looked like, every person coming to work in the morning saw this commercial on the multiple screens (From June to July, then it was switched for World Cup promotions):



Leaving home we were greeted by a security guard wishing everybody good evening or a wonderful weekend. It felt like employees really enjoyed working for the company and had pride in their brand, the most valuable in the world. I never saw so many genuinely happy people at work. I guess it was a perfect example that a strong brand is coming from a strong organization and a strong corporate culture.
I reintroduced myself to soft drinks and now crave Coca-Cola every now and then. It is hard to express it, but there was something magical about the company. Even that I chose not to pursue a career with Coke for now, I still feel something very close to a heart when I see the brand. (And I have to admit, it is hard not to see it on a daily basis).

Brand Personality

When you think of a brand, what kind of personality comes in your mind?

Lenovo VS Dell

I love Lenovo but I hate Dell.

I love Lenovo. Why? Because one of my best friends who is expert about PC suggested me to buy one.

I hate Dell. Why? Because another of my best friends who owned Dell laptop lost that laptop.

When it comes to the moment I need to select one to buy, I kinda ignore dell because "it's easy to be lost" and prefer Lenovo because a friend of mine suggest it.

This is TOTALLY EMOTION and NOT REASONABLE at all. lol

Beginning from that, while I'm using Lenovo, I keep finding more and more reason why I like it. On the other hand, I've still never owned a dell one, but I hate it already. Can dell easily changes my perception?

I hate Starbucks, but I have to drink it.. I love Kaldi's, but I can rarely find it

Yes, as I said in the title.

I hate Starbucks. I don't like the taste of any Starbucks coffee at all and the price is too high. However, Starbucks is the only coffee shop appeared in front of me everywhere, every time I need coffee and I have no other choices.

I love Kaldi's coffee. I love its taste and the price is very reasonable compared to the quality.However, I usually hardly find Kaldi's shop, especially at the time I need coffee. And sometimes when I asked people around if there's a Kaldi's coffee, the answers were always like;

"I don't know Kaldi's but if you want coffee, there is a Starbucks over there."

I realized that 'location' and 'availability' are also important factors driven a strength of brand. Somehow it's rather important than brand royalty, especially when apply to food and drink kind of products.

Brands I Love/Hate

A brand I hate is Apple. While I was in class thinking about this post, I realized my disdain for Apple isn't all for the reasons I thought. I always said I hate Apple because 1) Apple products are ridiculously over-priced & 2) Apple is not as innovative as people would like to believe it is. I could go into detail about why I say this, but we can save that for another time.

What I realized in class is that I don't like Apple because of a lot of Apple customers. I say “a lot” because I don't hate all Apple customers. If you want more detail, we can discuss it another time. On a more positive note:

As far as a brand I love . . . I may have to return once I figure it out. (I was hoping I'd figure it out in the past few days) I like Samsung because my computer monitor in my home apartment is a Samsung. I think that is because it went with the first computer I assembled and I have a close connection with that. I also like Honda because when I think of Honda, I think reliability. Honda is the first car that comes to mind when someone says he/she is thinking about buying a new car.

I like a lot of brands, but am unsure of what my favorite is.

-Q. Thomas

Language is No Barrier

I don't read much kanji, so I never knew the name of this product until I searched it a few days ago - Kameda's Kaki no Tane. It's a Japanese rice cracker and peanut snack. When I tried it the first time a few years ago, I instantly loved it and would usually keep a small stash in my room. I like the taste, and the way it is packaged in small quantities. It's a tasty and convenient snack.

It took me years to figure out how to call it, but whenever i see that red and orange package with the tiny cartoon, I know I found my snack.

Energizer Bunny vs Duracell Bunny

The Pink bunny is the Mascot/Marketing icon of Duracell! Energizer's pink toy bunny is a parody of the preexistent Duracell bunny!

Check out the link below:

http://idasusanti.multiply.com/journal/item/2/Energizer_Bunny_vs_Duracell_Bunny

What is Brand?

My curiosity of Brand Concept has finally ended with the following definition. I hope you will also find this very helpful.

Now we are (finally) ready to define brand:

Brand is?

is the emotions that are tied to a product or company. These emotions are
communicated in stories, emphasizing values and beliefs, as well as the personality of the
product or company.

Brand is a Noun

In the simplest terms it is often a noun that the holds a specific place in the mind of
the audience. For example; Volvo’s brand is “safety.” If a person hears the words safe
automobile, “Volvo” appears in his mind. People can tell you stories about how safety
means at Volvo.

Brand is a Vessel of Meaning
Brands also carry values and beliefs, and are able to communicate complex nuances
of differences. They are symbols of the individual. The brand becomes a part of the
consumer’s life – something that enables the person to be what they want to be, do what
they want to do.

Brand is Personal
Another aspect of brand is that it is personal: Brand becomes like a person, there are
feelings, stories, associated with it. People can talk about it, identify with it, and even
dislike it, because it is a personal relationship with the consumer. A good brand is not “I

like that,” but rather “I’m like that,” or “I can be like that.”

Best Brands Involve the Audience
The consumer becomes a partner in the marketing by providing input regarding the
experience, and by acting as an advocate to others, retelling the brand story in their own
terms, enhancing it along the way. A good brand is like a good friend. You trust it. You
value it. You are proud of it and you often introduce it to your friends.

Brands are Experience
A brand carries an implied promise of the consumer experience. This is evaluated by
the consumer within the context of his or her actual experience. The experience is then
communicated in stories to others. If a consumer is satisfied with this experience, then
he or she will continue to rely on it for the experience regardless of inherent technical
and engineering qualities of the product itself. Superior experience is more important
the technical characteristics of quality. Just like, Harley Davidson is not the world’s fastest or
most reliable motorcycle. However, to a specific group of consumers it offers the world’s
greatest motorcycle experience.

Starbucks

Here's the story of Starbucks' new logo!

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/05/Starbucks-New-Logo-Black-Eye.aspx

Starbucks Corp. says the symbol in its logo is a mythological "siren" figure!

The Groupon Japan Brand

What will this do to the Groupon Brand in Japan? Can Piku use this in any way?

Copy Brand

This is to prove that brand can't not be built in one day, even you have a similar brand name to the super big brand one. But why these copy brands still exist?




What about this one, will you buy one?

Brands in our everyday life

In relation to the discussion we had in the last class regarding association of a brand with a product I have found very interesting picture. Looking on that picture and logos of brands we can understand what product was meant and what was happening...

The 15 Most Hated Companies in America

No matter how strong or powerful the brand is, it is unavoidable to face with both people who love and hate the brand.

The Atlantic Monthly published a list of the 15 Most Hated Companies in America with some explanation of reasons. This should be a useful source of information for brand manager to learn and identify the problem occurring with their brands.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/the-15-most-hated-companies-in-america/68873/

Check it out, whether your favorite brands are on the list.

Logorama

Attached is the trailer for the last year Academy Award winner for the Best Animated Short Film. It explores how much our life is interconnected with brands from an artistic perspective.

"Logorama presents us with an over-marketed world built only from logos and real trademarks that are destroyed by a series of natural disasters (beginning with a hurricane, cyclone, tidal wave...). Logotypes are used to describe an alarming universe (similar to the one that we are living in) with all the graphic signs that accompany us everyday in our lives. This over-organized universe is violently transformed by the cataclysm becoming fantastic and absurd. It shows the victory of the creative against the rational, where nature and human fantasy triumph. "
H5 group, which created the movie.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/7079/h5-logorama.html

The full version is also available in iTunes store and youtube.

Test Post

What is the job of Brand Manager

The important job of Brand Manager is to link up between what company wants toward the brand and customers' experience in order to make customers to purchase its products or services and also create customers' loyalty.

Google Online Marketing Challenge

I've tried to include our Brand Management class projects in Google's Online Marketing Challenge . Hopefully we will be approved, and you will be able to see the real-time results of your Branding efforts.

Welcome to Brand Management 2011 Class Blog

Hello Brand Managers,
Welcome to the 2011 Class Blog for Brand Management. Here please post your comments/ideas related to our discussions in class. Do you have extra insights? Feedback or comments? Please post them in this forum to add an extra dimension to our discussions.