Branding

Management > Global Marketing Management > Lectures > Independent Research > Branding

Branding (2001)

Naomi Klein argues in her book, "No Logo" that brands represent "a fascist state where we all salute the logo and have little opportunity for criticism because our newspapers, television stations, Internet servers, streets and retail spaces are all controlled by multinational corporate interests". We cannot escape advertising and brands.

The author argues that brands have their good points. For example, brands are based on the trust of customers. Thus successful brands are dependent upon trust and consistent quality. In developing countries, brands bring competition, from which customers gain.

"Brands only have value where consumers have choice"

Brands are the tools that firms use to retain customer loyalty. This often needs lots of investment, which pushes up price and barriers to entry. However, this is always temporary, as consumer tastes change.

Quality of service still counts (for example, Amazon.com).

Many customers purchase brands because it sells to them a lifestyle or a set of ideas, so companies exploit people's emotional needs, using tactics such as creating a story around a product (like Hagen Daaz). Although these strategies have been criticised, people from all periods have aspired to "acquire a social cachet"

A brand is easily destroyed, as any hint of scandal or bad press can crush sales and permanently damage the brand image. Globalisation in this "green" age means that firms actually have to work harder to live up to their claims that they are ethical in their business practices, as more people are aware of them.