Selection of Countries Responsible for the Brand
Ireland is a country in Europe. The country is a leader in tourism and friendly investment atmosphere. Through the official government website, Ireland is marketed as a tourism destination brand at global level.
Italy is also located in Europe and it is equally a nation with a strong tourism destination brand through the official government website. Italy is marketed and branded as the centre for historical artifacts.
Thus, this reflective paper attempts to classify effectiveness of designing and implementing brand strategies in Ireland and Italy through a comparative analysis.
Specifically, the paper reviews the aspects of brand architecture, brand hierarchy, brand strategy, design, global brand strategy, and building global customer-based brand equity in brand management in Ireland and Italy as products.
The rationale for choosing the two countries is that they are located in the same region with similar tourism products. Besides, Italy and Ireland enjoy similar economic, social, and cultural aspects. In addition, the two countries explore similar ways of promoting their tourism sector as a part of the state brand.
Positioning Italy and Ireland as Tourism Destination Brands
Over the last half a decade, tourism industries in Ireland and Italy have experienced downswings due to the economic meltdown. As a recovery strategy, the industries had to re-brand in order to successfully restore profitability and confidentiality of its tourism industry (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2015).
The adopted brandings and re-branding strategies include brand architecture, brand hierarchy, brand strategy design, global brand strategy, and building global customer-based brand equity as discussed below.
Brand Strategy Design
Tourism industries in Ireland and Italy have kept on making extra special and reliable growth. All together, tourism was perceived with blended outlook by both private and public segments of the business as a self-sustaining sector.
Together with this in psyche, little endeavour was attempted to present an indispensable provision for its expansion and progress, especially after the crisis (Belch & Belch 2009, p. 76).
In opposition to such a background and in the vision of its optimistic expansion, in addition to future development, there was a necessity for a guiding principle for handling crisis, thus, the development of a brand strategy design.
Reflectively, this strategy is focused on tackling management programs such as integrity, post crisis policies, media involvement, and destination planning as a part of positioning and restoring confidence after the economic meltdown in Ireland and Italy.
The notable design strategy includes online marketing of brand destinations in Ireland and Italy, appointment of the global brand ambassadors, and international marketing of the eastern tourism destinations which were adversely affected by the meltdown (Jones 2010).
Properly designed brand strategy for product management of Ireland and Italy as ideal tourism destinations facilitated the success and sustainability in restoring confidence in the industries by the end of the year 2012.
The brand strategy was called ‘Welcome to Ireland’ in Ireland and ‘Italy, the land of dreams’ in Italy.
The brand strategies in the two countries existed on the levels of brand hierarchy, that is, the desired awareness created in the discounted rates of travelling, different tourism packages, and simple to understand presentation.
These levels were combined to create the simple logo of sandy beach in the back drop of virgin nature, expansive ancient amphitheatres, and cultural artifacts on the official tourism websites of Italy and Ireland.
In order to attract potential users who are tourists, the brand design strategies in Italy and Ireland narrow down to tourism services and ideal destinations such as the eastern gorges and dotted sandy beaches.
The value proportion of this application is capable of tracking past records which have been fed in the computer system on tourists turn out and response on service quality and affordability.
As a matter of fact, players in the tourism industry of Italy have been given the opportunity to customize the application to fit into their data system and fully control the flow of information on tourists’ turn over (Tourism Italia Brand Site 2015). This is summarized in the diagram below.
Global Customer-Based Brand Equity
Often, the emerging businesses demand information flow and dimensional communication systems that are globally accessible. Irrespective of the size and geographical area of operations, brand equity has become an essential part of business operations in Italy and Ireland.
Brand equity has an essential tool for marketing, customer services, and communication within and without an industry setting, relationship with clients, and market segmentation.
This has been made possible by the technological revolution and inventions aimed at remodelling efficiency, reducing redundancy, and embracing systematic orientations in the branding of Italy and Ireland as tourism destinations.
To enable the two brands to be more efficient in Italy and Ireland, there is always a well organized hierarchy of workforce from management with administrative roles in service providing workers.
Managers are empowered by the organization’s constitution to perform the role of prefects and offer leadership solutions upon consultation with one another (Tourism Italia Brand Site 2015).
Besides, these leadership consultants are well picked from the professional job market and are believed to posses the right and relevant experience in handling group interactions.
In managing the tourism culture of Ireland and Italy as products, the food and exotic restaurants are branded with friendly logos that suggest peace and comfort.
Brand Hierarchy
Every industry often perceives that it has conscientiousness to boost the position in which it operates despite any eventuality. Thus, keeping a positive image among all the stakeholders is essential in the Ireland tourism industry, especially after the devastating experience of the economic depression.
Reflectively, the mud mapping plan of brand Italy and brand Ireland incorporates sustainable communication model and promotes amazing endeavour to its customers, whose participation in an extensive diversity of courses and services since the perception of the industry is viewed in the service quality.
The first step is involved in carrying out excellent rewards and discount experiences through the finest recognized cruise brands that provide a diversity of various living-standards and resources. Through this, the psychological effects were minimised.
Reflectively, Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond (2003) viewed that “from workers’ contribution and turn-over donation, services projects to hard cash as well as contribution and inventive charity, the industry can endeavour to impact diversity, both nationwide and globally” (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003, p. 44).
When properly executed, this strategy creates an amazing delight among clients interested in the cuisine, exotic dishes, and jungle adventure of Ireland and Italy.
Besides, the construction of enhanced and well-built societies within the industry is necessary for monetary, psychological, compensation and ethical support to customers.
Moreover, the brand hierarchy in public relation of Ireland and Italy incorporated security and health factors of their customers, tourists, workers as well as all other persons operating on behalf of the business.
Thus, the efforts were “focused on the ‘human element’, developing assistance to unemployed tourism workers, ‘saving jobs, re-launching small tourism-related businesses and recovering the visitor flow that makes these economies work” (Hammond 2006, p. 45).
Definitely, by fully abiding by lawful and legislative requirements associated with health, environment, and safety measures incorporated in the social responsibility events, a positive image on issues, such as equivalent concern, gave the Ireland brand and Italy brand responsibility of observing and practicing the same on a daily basis (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003).
Basically, the brand hierarchy for the brand Italy and brand Ireland is summarised below.
Source: Self generated.
Brand Architecture
Brand architecture should review technological conversancy and lifestyle of the targeted customers. The majority of the Ireland and Italy population are technology conversant and have embraced new technologies. Their lifestyle revolves around technology from transport to communication.
Since branding tourism industry as a product is technology dependent, it is necessary to establish the estimate statistics on it.
The research proves that Ireland and Italy though populous, have a very high percentage in literary and basic technological skills. Specifically, this rate is higher in youths and young families who are the targeted consumers.
In addition, Ireland and Italy as tourism destination products are marketed as having better physical infrastructures as well as maintained land transport network to facilitate market accessibility and substantially reduce overhead costs associated with transportation (Belch & Belch 2009, p. 76).
Therefore, it is important to establish the means and ways to reach the potential market. To achieve this, the tourism industry in Ireland and Italy have segmented and differentiated market along with consumer-based market segmentation procedures (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003).
This product architecture has incorporated uniqueness in healthy food presentation. Therefore, it is important to appreciate comprehensive population patterns of the population across the streets, hotels, motels, collages, and other food outlets as a part of the product architecture (Yan, Myers, & Wang 2012).
Ireland and Italy brands are subdivided into three distinct segments: the consumer, small and medium business, and institutions segments. This market captures small food outlets, hotels, motels, and retail businesses across the regions of central coast and beyond.
The two countries have introduced cheaper tourism packages in travelling to these markets promising diversity in types, lower price, and health with the introduction of cheaper but natural cuisines.
Therefore, this segment is influenced by the competitive pricing, energy conservation equation, and health value for optimal benefits at a competitive price as key aspects of the product architecture (Dawes 2003, p. 9).
The tourism cities of Ireland and Italy have several schools, homes, colleges, hospitals among other institution with local tourism exchange programs. These institutions are strategically located and uniformly spread across the accessible markets for brand Italy and brand Ireland.
Nearly one hundred percent of people found in these institutions are consumers of tourism products such as exotic food, ornaments, and cuisines.
In the overcrowded market for food products in Ireland and Italy, product position is directly linked to the success in the short and long term especially for a new product. In order to achieve the desired goals, positioning ensures clear difference of the new product from the existing products (Gelder 2005, p. 23).
Comparison of Positioning Strategies
In order to diversify market operations, Ireland’s tourism board has created multiple products from the same product with different coloration, sizes, and packaging (Harrison & St. John 2010, p. 68).
As a result, this created an environment of own competition and blocked other competitors from encroaching into this expansive market (Keranen & Salminen 2012, p. 416). These sub-products were differentiated by features, prices, and the difference in quality.
As forecasted in the market research, this strategy was successful towards dominance as it offers a variety of options to consumers, while, at the same time, maximizing the benefits of economies of scale at local and international levels (Belch & Belch 2009, p. 45).
The high and the low end varieties successfully targeted high and low income earning consumers. With the high end and low end varieties in the market, little room is available for private competitors to create a third product based on quality (Parente 2006).
In Italy, tourism as a product targets every person irrespective of the economic status. In order to achieve this aim, demographic differentiations were based on income supported by strategic packaging and a series of relevant marketing campaigns.
Since Ireland’s tourism board has established itself in the market, they command a price premium (Hakala, Svensson, & Vincze 2012). As a result, the fair pricing mechanism has skewed the competitive advantage positively.
In addition, the board of tourism in Italy has recruited distribution agencies across the regions and well trained marketers for these products. Moreover, the board has allocated a semi-annual budget of three million dollars on advertisement and periodic promotions.
In order to remain relevant to the ever changing trends in the market, ten percent of projected revenues are pumped back into the research and product modification as dictated by demand and supply equations (Richard 2004).
Feedback: Recommendations
Technical Communication as a subject has also undergone a lot of metamorphosis due to the emerging technology (Shimp 2007).Since technology and communication models directly influence how businesses are conducted, business models have also taken the same complexity.
This aspect is underdeveloped in brand Italy and brand Ireland. Therefore, it is mandatory to carry out structural planning, especially in locating target market and actualising through execution of preset plans without having to physically interact with the target.
With proper planning, messaging, and market objectivity, comprehensive implementation is achievable at optimal level, especially when the same is appealing to the cognitive behaviour and perception (Sharp, Riebe, & Dawes 2002).
Through organised and well executed advertisement messages, the entire globe is within reach for brand Italy and brand Ireland.
The key advertising agencies in a post crisis management should concentrate on an accessible media (Shimp 2007).
Thus, the brand and product management plan should internalise the need for uniqueness in display, space, packaging, and prominence to easily woe the mind into concentrating on the services offered by brand Italy and brand Ireland.
As a matter of fact, in this sense, an advertisement might facilitate balancing of display and actual perception of a product with several alternatives that share the same physical presence (Olsen & Skallerud 2011).
Though the government is devoted to promoting governance practice and strategies in the tourism industry, the efforts should extend to investors and various stakeholders’ in a considerate and autonomous way.
In addition, sound standards of the governance are significant to acquire and maintain the shareholders’ expectation in managing brand Italy and brand Ireland.
In fact, governance policies are fundamentals in protecting dignity from other providers, the society in which the corporation serves, civic officials, and general client base (Rossiter & Bellman 2005).
Therefore, the government should be supportive in the provision of necessary information on Ireland and Italy tourism risk analysis. The risk analysis is essential for mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery planning.
In the process of creating a disaster program analysis, the industry should identify and characterize disasters, evaluate each on the frequency and magnitude scale, and estimate the overall risk as indicated in the government data as a precautionary strategy (Keller 2003).
Besides, the government has the ability to determine potential, direct, and indirect social and economic costs, effects, acceptable risk levels, and identifiy appropriate risk reduction opportunities for the two tourism brands (Winchester 2006).
In brand assortment, planning is critical, especially in a dynamic market controlled solely by customer preference and perception.
In sales forecasting, the two brands should assort their merchandise according to the lifestyle of each category of the targeted users of tourism products. Basically, the assortment adopted should be informed of the past volumes of sales and customer responses to periodic surveys of performance of brand Italy and brand Ireland.
Conclusion
Properly researched brand and product management plan determine the success and sustainability in penetrating a market with a product.
To increase credibility and maintain professionalism, product processes and features should flawlessly facilitate a healthy and a lifetime relationship between the company and its clients.
A properly designed brand and product management plan should be practical in presenting brand knowledge, awareness, penetration strategy, and passing information to target audience.
In achieving these objectives, the plan should map possible competition, positioning strategy, consumer and market analysis, and geographical region of operation.
Generally, these concepts are vital in forecasting and act as a guide towards actualising a brand management plan for brand Italy and brand Ireland. However, the plan should be flexible to market dynamics and embrace alterations where necessary.
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