Brand Creation Offensive & Defensive Competitive Advantage

Brand Creation Offensive & Defensive Competitive AdvantageBy: Mohamed MousaBrand &Competitive Advantage Definition A Brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products, services, or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and usually marketed. A brand name is the name of the distinctive product, service, or concept. Branding is the process of creating and disseminating the brand name. Branding can be applied to the entire corporate identity as well as to individual product and service names.A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices.Brand EquityBrand equity is the brand assets which are linked to a brands name & symbol that add to particular product or serviceThere are four dimensions of brand equity:Brand AwarenessDo consumers know the brandHow does awareness affect their perception about the brandPerceived QualityWhat do consumers think of qualityBrand AssociationsWhat are consumers associations with the brandImagery, product attributes, brand personality, symbolsBrand LoyaltyThe heart of any brand!!

Brand IdentityIdentifying brand identity elements that differentiate and create customer-brand relationships is one of the first steps towards establishing a set of brand equity measures.Brand Identity: a vision of how that brand should be perceived by its target audience. Brand Identity represents what the organization wants the brand to stand for.

Brand Identity Value Proposition Relationship

Brand is a Competitive Advantage

Branding is not just advertising, nor is it simply a catchy name for a company or product. The most important value in a brand is the value that it holds for actual customers, This value is very difficult and expensive to build - and fragile and easy to destroy.

Brands are valuable simply because they cause customers to be inclined to purchase your product rather than someone else's.

Consumer Perceptions of brands and slogans.

Brand is a Competitive Advantage

A strong brand will project an image of a large and established business to your potential customers. People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.

A strong brand projects an image of quality in your business, many people see the brand as a part of a product or service that helps to show its quality and valueBrand is a Competitive AdvantageA strong brand creates an image of an established business that has been around for long enough to become well known. A branded business is more likely to be seen as experienced in their products or services, and will generally be seen as more reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded business..

The main benefit of branding is that customers are much more likely to remember your business. A strong brand name and logo/image helps to keep your company image in the mind of your potential customers.

The Road to Branding Success

Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core of any branding strategy. If theyre not clear, get a good grip on them first. Is the brand about honesty or integrity? Quality? How about excellent communication and customer satisfaction?

With values set, a brand proposition is ready to be established. Objective and comprehensive branding research are the keys here. At a minimum, both must be done to establish clarity on the brands strengths and weaknesses, the target audience and the competition. If possible, branding research should also be done on the brands industry, its history, the status of the market and possibilities for future expansion.

The most objective way to evaluate your brand is to measure the outcomes that occur with and without the use of your brand.Brand Sales = (Cost + Margin) * Volume

Offensive and Defensive StrategiesUsed to build new or stronger market position and/or create competitive advantageUsed to protect competitive advantage (rarely used to create advantage)Offensive StrategiesDefensive Strategies

Types of Offensive Strategies1. Initiatives to match or exceed competitor strengths2. Initiatives to capitalize on competitor weaknesses3. Simultaneous initiatives on many fronts4. End-run offensives5. Guerrilla offensives6. Preemptive strikesAttacking Competitor StrengthsWhittle away at a rivals competitive advantageGain market share by out-matching strengths of weaker rivalsUse principles of surprise and hit-and-run to attack in locations and at times where conditions are most favorable to initiatorGuerrilla OffensesPreemptive StrikesInvolves moving first to secure an advantageous position that rivals are foreclosed or discouraged from duplicating!Attacking Competitor WeaknessesUtilize company strengths to exploit a rivals weaknessesWeaknesses to AttackCustomers that a rival is least equipped to serveRivals providing sub-par customer serviceRivals with weaker marketing skills Geographic regions where rival is weakMarket segments a rival is neglectingLaunching SimultaneousOffensives on Many FrontsA challenger with superior resources can overpower weaker rivals by out-competing them across-the-board long enough to become a market leader!Launch several major initiatives :- Throw rivals off-balance- Splinter their attention- Force them to use substantial resources to defend their position.End-Run OffensivesManeuver around strong competitorsCapture unoccupied or less contested marketsChange rules of competition in aggressors favor

Choosing Rivals to Attack

Four types of firms can be the target of a fresh offensiveVulnerable market leadersRunner-up firms with weaknesseswhere challenger is strongStruggling rivals on verge of going underSmall local or regional firms with limited capabilitiesUsing Offensive Strategy to Achieve Competitive AdvantageStrategic offensives offering strongest basis for competitive advantage entailAn important core competenceA unique competitive capabilityMuch-improved performance featuresAn innovative new productTechnological superiorityA cost advantage in manufacturing or distributionSome type of differentiation advantage

Defensive StrategyLessen risk of being attackedBlunt impact of any attack that occursInfluence challengers to aim attacks at other rivalsApproachesBlock avenues open to challengersSignal challengers vigorous retaliation is likely

Conclusion : Creating A brand is always offensive competitive advantage when all brand and offensive strategy characteristics are found and matched on the brand .DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND

Dockers is a brand of khaki garments from Levi Strauss & Co. Levi Strauss & Co., then specialized in denim, introduced the Dockers brand in 1986. Dockers became a leading brand of business casual clothing for men led by Bob Siegel. In 1987, Dockers introduced a women's line. In 1993 the Dockers brand was introduced into Europe under the leadership of Joe Middleton.Dockers makes khaki pants and leather walletsDockers had the characteristics of a brand :- Brand equity dimension were found on Dockers , form my point of view Dockers got this from levis sub-branding.Brand Awareness: People already now levis well.Perceived Quality: Made from Cotton Concept of levis made strong position for Dockers.- Brand identity was target casual clothes for American male teenagerwas now 25-49 .Brand is valuable - Levi's Dockers casual pants was a Consumers respond to the product design, which utilized the comfort and casual feel of cotton. - Dockers to made it a billion-dollar brand by 1993. - The Dockers brand achieved record sales growth in 1998 and Fortune magazine estimated in 1999 that 75 percent of American men owned a pair of Dockers

DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions

DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions

Creating Dockers brand was offensive Strategy to Achieve Competitive Advantage.Levis is a brand recognizable in the whole wide world. There is no person who wouldnt be able to associate correctly the Name with the product. LS&Co has managed to create something timeless, just like their classical 501 blue jeans.New brand strategy to offer products for every life style, which turned to be a fiasco. Not only it didnt bring expected results, what is more, this to big diversification caused drops in sales. It was so decided to come back to the core product and its image. To strengthen the Levis position on a market, their launched a new campaign which emphasizes emotional connection between jeans and theirs owner. To wear 501 it is to be yourself they said.Company also took the advantage of changes that started to appear according to the dress code at work place.

From my point of view creating Dockers brand was End-Run Offensives strategy Which Captured unoccupied or less contested markets on casual pants, And matched the Change rules of competition which resulted from generation old change and Changed circumstances .

DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND Conclusions