Brand is name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of Reviews These intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from Reviews those of competitors.
Understanding Brand Brand According to the experts - According to Keegan et. Al (1996: 318), the brand is:
Brand is a complex bundle of images and experiences in the customer's mind that communicates a promise about the benefits of a particular product manufactured by a particular company.
So it can be concluded that brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design of a product or service or a combination of a whole intended to identify the goods and services of a person or group of sellers and to differentiate from competitors' products. Brand image and experience also left the minds of consumers about the benefits of products manufactured from the company.
According to Kotler (2005: 82), the brand is a promise sellers to consistently provide the look, certain benefits and services to the buyers. The best brands deliver quality, but the brand is more than just a symbol.
While the brand definition put forward by the American Marketing Association in the book The Power of Brand, Freddy Rangkuti (2002: 2) is: "a name, term, symbol or design or a combination of these things. The purpose of branding is to identify products or services produced so different from the products or services produced by competitors.
The best brands will provide quality assurance. However the provision or brand name on a product handaknya not only a symbol, because the brand has six levels of understanding:
Product Attributes: Brand reminiscent of certain attributes, such as quality, prestige, resale value, design and others. For example, Mercedes stating something expensive, products made with good, well-designed, durable, high prestigious, high resale value, fast and others. The company can provide one or more of these attributes or to advertise its products.
Benefits: Brand is not just a series of attributes. Customers do not give attributes, but they buy benefits. Given attributes to develop into functional or emotional benefits.
Value: Brand also said something about the value of the manufacturer. For example, Mercedes claimed the products are high-performance, secure, prestigious, and others. Thus manufacturers Mercedes also received high marks in the public eye. Thus, manufacturers must be able to know which group of car buyers looking niai-this value.
Cultural: The brand also represents a particular culture. For example, Mercedes reflects the German culture organized, consistent, high level of seriousness, efficient, and high quality.
Personality: The brand also reflects a certain personality. Often a particular product using the well-known personalities to boost or sustain brand her products.
User: Brand indicate the type of consumers who buy or use the product. Plumpness users are the ones who appreciate the value of the culture and personality of the product. Eg Mercedes generally diasosikan with the rich, the top managers, and so on.
When a company treats just a brand name, the company did not see their true purpose. With six levels of understanding of the above brands, companies must determine which level will set the brand identity. A mistake of promoting only one brand attributes. First, consumers are not so interested in the attributes of the brand compared to the benefits of the brand. Secondly, a competitor can easily imitate these attributes. Third, the current attributes will gradually decline means, to the detriment of the brand attached to these attributes.
Brand definition is very important, both for consumers and producers. From the consumer side, the brand makes it easy to purchase. If there is no brand, consumers should evaluate all the products that do not have the brand every time they make a purchase. They also help convince consumers that they will receive a consistent quality when they buy the product. From the producer side, the brand can be promoted. Brand can easily be known when considered or placed in a display.
In addition, the brand makes it easy to identify a product, a brand can make consumers sure will get the same quality if they buy again. It means brands can help consumers to not be mistaken in choosing the desired products to consumers, ie to quality and price. Brand reduce the difference in price, because consumers will easily compare the price of a product with different brands and ultimately for producers to increase achievement. Because the brand is one of the factors considered in memandingkan similar products.
Kotler (2005: 90) argues that the brand has a role viewed from the standpoint of the manufacturer, where the brand has a role and purpose as follows:
Brand ease the seller to process orders and track when an error occurs. In addition, it is also easier for manufacturers untul find if there are complaints from consumers.
Brand providing the opportunity for sellers to attract customers who are loyal and profitable. Brand loyalty provides protection against the manufacturer of the competitors as well as greater control in planning their marketing program.
Brands and trade marks manufacturers provide legal protection of the display unique products, which without it would be imitated by competitors.
Brand helps the seller to segment the market.
A good brand helps the company's image. By bringing the company name, brand helps advertise the quality and size of the company.
According to a senior official, et al (2001: 4) brand association are:
Reflecting a brand image to a certain impression in relation to habits, lifestyle, benefits, product attributes, geography, prices, competitors, and others.
Understanding brand association proposed by Aaker (1996: 106) in the book The Power of Brand, Freddy Rangkuti (2002: 43) is "all matters relating to the memory of the brand". The association will be an important factor, if the brand manufacturers have similar in terms of attributes with other brands or if the company is an important thing to be seen. A brand will be stronger when based on a wealth of experience to communicate. Various associations are remembered consumers can be assembled to form the image of the brand or the brand image in the minds of consumers. Simply put, the notion of brand image is a set of brand associations that formed the minds of consumers. Consumers are accustomed to using a particular brand tends to have the consistency of the brand image or it is also called the personality of the brand (brand personality).
Here are some examples where created brand association:
"These brands are manufactured by companies that I believe." As an illustration, if people hear about a brand, such as Lux beauty soap, then they will immediately associate it with Unilever or when they hear So Klin, they will remember about Wings. Requirement that manufacturers can remember is that manufacturers must often advertised and should make consumers believe the products are made.
"I am amazed at the Company brand X." Here consumers said association as a result of his admiration for the brand or the program of the brand.
"I would be proud to do business with the company brand X," or I am proud to use the company brand X. "For example, consumers are proud, if the product uses a Mercedes Benz or BMW.
Brand image is the customer perception of a brand that reflects on a series of associations linked by the customers concerned with a particular brand name in its memory. In his article published in the journal of consumer marketing proposed by Del Rio, Vazquez, and Iglesias (2001) analyzed the association of the brand is based on the functions and benefits that consumers associate with a particular brand. The third is a marketing expert to measure the function and benefits of brand associations (brand association) through six main dimensions of the book Marketing Scales, Tjiptono, et al (2004: 239-242), namely:
A promise which is an obligation on manufacturers of products to consumers, where consumers will be compensated if it is the product can not function as expected.
2 Personal Identification
Is all the knowledge possessed by consumers and all conclusions made consumers about the objects, attributes and benefits of the product.
3. Social Identification
Consumer behavior is affected due to factors such as families, small groups, and the role and social status of consumers.
Each of the products that carry the status reflects the awards given by the community, so often consumers choose products that show their status in society.
5. Willingness Receive Brand Expansion
Communities receive new products offered by the company using the old brand contained in its parent brand.
6. Willingness to Recommend Brands
Citizens are willing to show the product brand, is consumed to others.
Brand association is not relevant for all brands, and the measurement of irrelevant can cause incorrect interpretation. Measurement of brand association is also less sensitive because it is difficult to change the company's image.
The elements of brand association are:
1. Orientation on Society / Community (Society / Community Orientation)
Good organization can be proven through many things such as environmentally sensitive, mensposori charity, treat workers / employees with decent. Brand Association is indispensable in developing a community-oriented associations / societies, of course heighten customer loyalty. Although it is very difficult to express the magnitude of loyalty. Environmental care program is another way to be a good company, as the packaging or composition that can be recycled making it environmentally friendly, the impression that the company cares about the environment will be more difficult to imitate, it is more visible and believable.
2. Perceived Quality (Perceived Quality)
Perception of quality is almost always widened consideration at every consumer choice. Quality can be communicated directly with the demonstration or argument that a superior product attributes owned competitors. Many companies are committed to the quality or want to be "the best". Brand Association be a good means of communicating umtuk's trustworthy quality further help develop loyalty.
Innovation may be the key brand associations for Japanese companies. Innovation is also important for western companies, particularly competition in product class where technology and innovation to be important to consumers, such as Oral B toothbrush classified or categorized as an Intel microprocessor. Innovation could also be a suggestion to make brand products look more modern and up to date.
4. Attention to Customers (Concern for customers)
Many companies have always put the consumer in the first place as a core value. Some companies see the brand concept of "friendship" as an element of the company's brand identity. This implies that the brand will give desired by consumers, such as honesty, caring, trustworthy, and respect.
5. The existence and success
Doing business with a company that has the resources to support the product and a long history of doing business can provide a sense of security. Success, as indicated by sales or sales growth, it also creates a sense of confidence for consumers who have chosen the brand.
6. Local vs. Global
a. Being Local
One option is to create a differentiation strategy of the brand perceived as a local brand of local companies. Local becomes particularly effective when global competitor marketing programs desensitized or inconsistent (or even contradictory) to local tastes. Serious attempt to apply locally can also produce a better understanding of the local needs and habits.
b. Become global
Another option is to become a global identity. A global brand signals a long life, a resource for brand investment, and commitment to the future of the brand. A global company will be considered more advanced in technology, which is able to invest in R & D and bring progress in a country where competing brands. A global brand also has prestige because he is able to compete successfully in different markets.
Furthermore, if consumers think that certain brands are physically different from competing brands, the brand image will be attached continuously so as to form a loyalty to a particular brand, which is called brand loyalty (brand loyalty).
Brand association can create a value for the company and the customer, because he can help the process of preparing information to distinguish one brand from another.
Understanding Brand Brand
There are five advantages of brand associations, namely:
Help to organize information. The associations found in a brand, can help summarize a collection of facts and specifications that can be easily recognized by customers.
The difference is an association can provide a very important foundation for business differentiation. Brand associations can play a very important role in maembedakan one brand from another brand.
Reasons to buy, in general, brand association is very helpful to consumers in making the decision to buy the product or not.
The creation of a positive attitude or feeling, brand association can stimulate positive feelings, which in turn will have a positive impact on the product concerned.
The cornerstone for the expansion, brand association can produce the foundation for an expansion of the brand, by creating a sense of fit between a brand and a new product.