1MODULE -7
Brand Imitations:
Meaning of Brand Imitation, Kinds of imitations, Factors affecting
Brand Imitation, Imitation Vs Later market entry, First movers
advantages, Free rider effects, Benefits for later entrants,
Imitation Strategies.
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
Meaning of imitation
Meaning of imitation
Brand imitation “By similar cues to believe that two brands are
interchangeable”.
It means action or product of imitating & to imitate means to
follow as a pattern, model or sample, to produce likeness of.
It means to copy the name, term, sign, symbol, or design or a
combination of them.
The copying can be 100% or of some parts only.
In simple words to copy or be like.
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
Brand Imitations
Imitating the look of an existing successful brands is a common
occurrence in today’s crowded marketplace. A negative experience
with an imitators bran increases the evaluation of the original
brand whereas a positive experience with the imitator have the
opposite effect and there is a decrease in the evaluation of the
original brand.
There are two situations where the original manufacturer can be
hurt.
First the consumer may be dissatisfied with the brand purchased and
attributed their dissatisfaction to the original brand but not the
imitator as they have not realized which brand was consumed.
Second the consumer may be satisfied with the imitator brand,
becomes aware that it is not the original brand, and switch brand
preference in favor of the imitator.
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
kinds of imitation
Counterfeits or products pirates: counterfeits are copies that
carry the same brand name or trademarks as the original. They are
an attempt to rob the innovator of due profits. Counterfeits are
strictly illegal. They trade on the protected brand name or
trademark of an established seller. Arrow
Knock offs or clones: clones are often legal products in their own
right. The absence or expiration of patents, copyrights and
trademarks makes many of them legal. But often there is a dispute
which the courts must resolve, typically clones sell the same basic
product as the innovator but at a lower price and without the
prestigious brand name. IBM PC Clones
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
3. Design copies or trade cress: design copies trade on the style ,
design or fashion of a competitors popular product. where fashion
or design is the most important part of the product design copic
mimic (copy, take off) clones .
4. Creative adaptations / adopter: it is the most innovative kind
of copy they take an existing product and either improve upon it or
adapt it to a new arena of competition.
Creative adaptations of existing product often more in tune with
the innovation process than the glorified notion of the
breakthrough invention.
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
1. Consumer factors :
Little knowledge of authentic (dependable, reliable ) brands:
Unavailability of top brands:
Imitation implies copying, where the imitator consciously mimics
the pioneers product.
Later market entry implies only that the firm has entered the
market after the pioneer often with an innovative product of its
own.
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
First mover advantages: many authors speak glowingly of the
benefits of pioneering pioneers they claim, are the beneficiaries
of numerous first-mover advantages which are unavailable to later
entrants. The most important are:
Image & Reputation:
Brand loyalty:
Technological leadership
Access to distribution
Switching costs as a barrier to entry:
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STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
Free Rider Effects:
Critics contend that the benefits of pioneering have been grossly
oversold. While in theory first-mover advantage appear to be strong
and immutable, in practice they prove to be weak and vulnerable to
the actions of crafty later entrants.
Support for free-rider effect: it constructing actual case
histories of sequential market entry is a more realistic approach
then that employed by supporters of it…
Benefits for later entrants:
Lower R & D expenditure
An opportunity gain share with heavy promotion
Lower costs of educating consumers
An opportunity to benefit form market changes
To use Shared experience
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Lower cost equal lower prices
Timing entry to match market growth
A two step imitation process: Innovation, superior product, much
later entrant with much lower prices
Sell a superior product
Market power
Most effective where advertising and distribution are key.
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Assessing the brand imitation
Good quality imitation are a boon, they can be defined as adding
value by producing goods of equal value of lower prices and or
producing goods with additional functional attribute that enhance
the performance of the original product, which is readily perceived
by the consumer, with this interpretation economic efficiency is
promoted by greater customer utility through lower cost, better
value or a better product.
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