Брендинг - это деятельность по созданию долгосрочного предпочтения к товару, основанная на совместном усиленном действии на потребителя товарного знака, упаковки, рекламных обращений, материалов сейлз промоушн и других элементов рекламы, объединенных определенной идеей и однотипным оформлением, выделяющих товар среди конкурентов и создающих его образ. Брендинг широко распространен в промышленно развитых странах, но практически не применяется в отечественной рекламной практике. Брендинг - это обоснованная маркетинговыми исследованиями совместная творческая работа рекламодателя, реализующей организации и рекламного агентства по созданию и широкомасштабному (использующему разнообразные виды, средства, формы и методы рекламы) внедрению в сознание потребителя персонализированного бренд-имиджа - образа замаркированного определенным товарным знаком товара или семейства товаров. Создатели бренд-имиджа учитывают физические свойства продукта, чувства, которые он вызывает у потребителя, и апеллируют не только к сознанию, но и к эмоциям, воздействуя на подсознание. Если товару на рынке сопутствует успех, высокая репутация, то всегда найдутся подобные ему товары, повторяющие его пользующийся популярностью образ. Поэтому брендинг - постоянно развивающаяся деятельность, отсекающая конкурентов.
В частности, он позволяет:
- поддерживать запланированный объем продаж на конкретном рынке и реализовывать на нем долговременную программу по созданию и закреплению в сознании потребителей образа товара или товарного семейства;
- обеспечить увеличение прибыльности в результате расширения ассортимента товаров и знаний об их общих уникальных качествах, внедряемых с помощью коллективного образа;
- отразить в рекламных материалах и кампаниях культуру страны, региона, города и т.д., где изготовлен товар, учесть запросы потребителей, для которых он предназначен, а также особенности территории, где он продается;
- использовать три весьма важных для обращения к рекламной аудитории фактора - исторические корни, реалии сегодняшнего дня и прогнозы на перспективу.
Вместе с тем эффективная реализация брендинга - дело отнюдь не простое. Ее результативность зависит не только от профессиональных знаний и предпринимательской культуры рекламодателя и рекламного агентства, с которым он сотрудничает, но и от их умения работать с интеллектуальной собственностью, товарными знаками, дизайном, текстами.
Unit 4 The market environment
Text 1 The micro and macro environment
Learnmarketing.net provides information for marketing students. Its website says the following about the micro environment:
The following factors have a direct impact on the company and its stakeholders: consumers, employees, shareholders and suppliers. The company has an influence over these factors.
| consumers | A company must understand consumer needsand meet them. |
| competitors | You must differentiate your brand from your competitors'. |
| employees | Employing the right people and keeping them motivated is essential. Training and developmentplay a key role in the service sector. |
| media | Positive or adverse (negative) media attention can seriously affect an organization. Consumer programmes on TV and consumer magazines that people read have a powerful effect on the marketplace. |
| shareholders | It is important to satisfy shareholders' needswithout harming the brand in the long term. |
| suppliers | Changes in the price or quality of raw materials - for example wood, or metals - will affect the marketing mix. Good relations with suppliers will make business easier. |
A STEP analysis (also known as a PEST analysis) looks at sociological, technological, economic and political factors in the market environment on a macro level - often looking at a particular country or region.
PEST Analysis is an analysis of the external macro-environment that affects all firms. Such external factors are usually beyond the firm's control and sometimes present themselves as threats. For this reason, some say that "pest" is an appropriate term for these factors. However, changes in the external environment also create new opportunities and the letters sometimes are rearranged to construct the more optimistic term of STEP analysis. Many macro-environmental factors are country-specific and a PEST analysis will need to be performed for all countries of interest.
Political Analysis
— Political stability
— Risk of military invasion
— Risk of nationalization
— Legal framework for contract enforcement
— Intellectual property protection
— Trade regulations & tariffs
— Favored trading partners
— Anti-trust laws
— Pricing regulations
— Taxation system — tax rates and incentives
— Wage legislation — minimum wage and overtime
— Work week
— Mandatory employee benefits
— Industrial safety regulations
— Product labeling requirements
Economic Analysis
— Type of economic system in countries of operation
— Government intervention in the free market
— Comparative advantages of host country
— Exchange rates and stability of host country currency
— Efficiency of financial markets
— Infrastructure quality
— Skill level of workforce
—Labor costs
—Business cycle stage (e.g. prosperity, recession, recovery)
— Economic growth rate
— Disposable income
— Unemployment rate
— Inflation rate
— Interest rates
Social Analysis
— Demographics
— Class structure
— Education
— Culture (gender roles, etc.)
— Entrepreneurial spirit
— Attitudes (health, environmental consciousness, etc.)
— Leisure interests
Technological Analysis
— Recent technological developments
— Technology's impact on product offering
— Impact on cost structure
— Impact on value chain structure
— Rate of technological diffusion
The number of macro-environmental factors is virtually unlimited. In practice, the firm must prioritize and monitor those factors that influence the industry. Even so, it may be difficult to forecast future trends with an acceptable level of accuracy. In this regard, the firm may turn to scenario planning techniques to deal with high level of uncertainty in important macro-environmental variables.
This is a STEP analysis for an online supermarket in Britain.
SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Dominant religions: Mainly Christian, with significant minorities in some regions. Special diets in some areas. Leisure activities: Watching TV, cooking, socializing. Gender roles: Now that younger men shop as much as women, we need to target both sexes equally. Birth rates: Birth rates are continuing to decline, with fewer babies born every year. Average life expectancy: This is increasing so we should think about products for older customers.
Attitudes to foreign products: Consumers like to experiment with foreign food and drink. Opinions on environmental issues: We should use only recyclable packaging and hybrid-fuel delivery vans.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
Innovation and technological advances: Production: New product lines and product types are continually coming onto the market. Offer: We now offer a new service - ordering by mobile phone. Distribution: Online ordering has changed the way supermarkets operate. We no longer need actual shops. Communication with consumers: Broadband internet connections make it possible to include more product photos on our site. We could even think about adding video.
ECONOMIC FACTORS The economic forecast is good: Interest rates: stable at 5%. Unemployment rate: less than 9% of people are out of work
GDP (Gross Domestic Product): growing steadily
POLITICAL FACTORS
Political stability: Very good. Consumers feel relaxed about the political situation and ready to use consumer credit.New tax / business legislation: No changes to the law for our business sector in the near future. International trade agreements: We can import products from the EU without paying extra import duties.
4.1 Decide whether the following market environment characteristics are micro factors or macro factors.
1 High unemployment in a region reduces spending on leisure activities. 2 The internet has opened up new distribution and marketing channels. 3 Good relations between a supplier and a company mean that goods are always delivered on time.
4 Legislation in European countries is restricting the right to smoke in public places.
5 Positive reports in the national press about a brand.
6 The staff for the telephone hotline of an internet bank are trained to be polite and friendly.
7 During the FIFA World Cup, more snack food is consumed in front of the TV set.
4.2 Complete the action plans (1-6) and then match them with the micro factors (a-f).
1 Convince shareholders that the best way to….. their needs in the long term is to invest in research and development.
2 Carry out market research to better ….. needs and desires.
3 Prepare a press release for a ….. magazine about the launch of a new product.
4 Build and maintain good ….. by always paying on time.
5 Do a SWOT analysis to assess how to ….. your brand from your competitors.
6 Implement a training and ….. plan to motivate and keep good members.
a competitors с employees e shareholders
b consumers d media f suppliers
4.3 Complete the STEP analysis of France.
France is a member of the European Union and as such has trade (1)...... with the other members. It has one of the worst unemployment (2)….. in Europe and the government is keen to bring this down.
France has one of the highest (3)…… rates in Europe (1.9 children per woman) anda large proportion of French mothers go back to work, reflecting changes in (4)…… roles. Men are almost as likely as women to do the shopping for the familyand take care of the children.
The dominant (5)…… is Catholicism, but there is a large Muslim community. The religious beliefs do not significantly affect the marketplace, except at Christmas and Easter time when the demand for Christmas trees and chocolate increases dramatically.
Internetpenetration is high: most households own a computer and have high speed internet access. This has opened up new channels of (6)….. and there are now several internet grocery stores.
Nearly all teenagers own a mobile phone and they are increasingly using SMS messages tо keep in touch with their peers. Marketing campaigns are beginning to exploit this line of (7)…… by sending SMS messages to their audience.
4.4 Prepare a STEP analysis for the country or region you live in.