Revitalize brands

BRANDS

“A BRAND IS FOREVER !- A FRAMEWORK FOR

REVITALIZING DECLINING AND DEAD BRANDS.”

A CASE STUDY ON

WHAT IS A BRAND ? WHY DO THEY DIE ? WHY SHOULDN’T THEY

DIE ? ARE THEY WORTH

REVIVING ? HOW ?

Objectives..

THE ‘‘DEATH’’ OF A BRAND IS A COMPLEX AND

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE .

WHY DO BRANDS DIE?

CAUSES :

1) Managerial actions2) Environmental factors3) Competitive actions

Even when environmental factors and competitive actions remain static, managerial actions can significantly impact brand health.

1) MANAGERIAL ACTIONS

Product quality. Price increases. Price cuts. Brand neglect . Inability to stay with the target market.

PRODUCT QUALITY.

When compromise in product quality for cost-cutting reasons is made ,

At some point, the brand will start to decline.


PRICE INCREASES.


If a company continues to raise prices without offeringa corresponding increase in benefits,Sooner or later consumers will start to abandon the brand.

However, Volkswagen was unable to control costs and had to keep raising prices, until it effectively drove itself out.

PRICE CUTS.


To maintain low prices, the company had to in turn use cheaper material. This move proved disastrous, and the brand’s image end up taking a major hit.

Conversely, when a company cuts prices in desperationto increase sales, it can also damage the brand.

BRAND NEGLECT .


This is well illustrated by Black & Decker’s handling of the popular DeWalt brand, which the company ignored until it virtually ceased to exist.

When a brand becomes popular, inaction creeps in.Even successful brands need constant nurturing.

‘‘managers get wrapped up in the inertia of a brand and begin to miss changes in the market’’

INABILITY TO STAY WITH THE TARGET MARKET


By shifting the focus mid-way to more promising audience, brands run the risk of alienating its core customer base.

St. John known for its signature knit and traditional styling faces a classic dilemma, whereby agingwith its target market will ultimately lead the brand to its grave.

2.ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORSThe industry is facing an increasing number of regulations and strong negative publicity.

R.J. Reynolds’ Camel, has been accused of using a cartoon character, Joe Camel, and other communication tactics to attract children.

This led to lawsuits against the company , and the subsequent negative publicity severely dented the brand’s image.

Polaroid which popularized instant photography, spiraled into decline and went bankrupt as the environment changed and digital imaging became popular.

Kodak, another leading photography brand, facedsimilar environmental changes.

3. COMPETITIVE ACTIONSToday, a brand faces relentless onslaught from its competitors.

Newer competitors are frequently nimble and are able to leverage novel technologies or marketing approaches to their advantage to challenge well established market leaders, which are often bound by their legacy.

Dell made a fundamental change to this pattern, however, by offering a direct-to-customer distribution system. This resulted in considerably lower markups for Dell

As a result of these innovative changes, Dell became the market leader, while its major competitors including Compaq suffered losses in market.

But at the end of the day….

A BRAND’S EQUITY IS OFTEN THE SINGLE MOST VALUABLE ASSET

FOR A COMPANY.

IS A BRAND WORTH

REVIVING ?

Reviving a brand is not just feasible ;it may very well be a more attractive strategy than launching a new brand.

The three steps help in assessing whether the brand is worth reviving entails examining:

1. BRAND EQUITY KNOWLEDGE 2. THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF THIS KNOWLEDGE3. CUSTOMER RESPONSE

But,SOME MAY JUST NOT BE WORTH THE EFFORT.

BRANDS THAT SUFFER FROM LOW AWARENESS AND A NEGATIVE IMAGE, RESULTING IN A LACK OF MOTIVATION FORCONSUMERS TO CHOOSE THAT BRAND.

IN SUCH A CASE, IT MAY BE BETTER TO KILL THE BRAND THAN TOINVEST IN IT.

So,Brands that can be revitalized are THOSE which :

COMMANDED A PREMIUM IN THE RECENT PAST.

HAD A SINGULAR FOCUS WITH A WELL-DEFINED DIFFERENTIATION.

• Reviving a brand is also a long-term initiative.

• Brands that commanded a premium had a singular focus with a well-defined differentiation.

• Research was the primary tool used to revive the DeWalt brand.

TAKE A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE

CAREFULLY REPOSITION THE BRAND, INVEST IN IT, AND

EDUCATE THE MARKET

• Differentiating from its competitors.• Avoid negative image.• Re-building the brand’s image.

• IN TODAY’S MARKET , BRANDS ARE REFERRED AS ‘‘GHOST BRANDS,’’

• GIVEN THE HIGH COST OF LAUNCHING NEW BRANDS, COMPANIES ARE INCREASINGLY LOOKING TO REVITALIZE DYING OR DEAD BRANDS IN THEIR PORTFOLIO.

• MANAGERS NEED TO CONSTANTLY WATCH FOR SIGNS OF BRAND DECLINE.

So ,take care and…

LET THE REVITALIZATION

BEGIN !

A Presentation by Sravya Tanmayee

SRAVYA TANMAYEE, IIITDM-kancheepuram

during an intern by

Prof. Sameer Mathur ,IIM Lucknow

Thank you !

Marketing

Revitalize brands