Introduction
The emergence of industrialization, brought about many products seeking to satisfy the same consumer needs and this brought about competition (Klaus, 2002). As such, Many marketing gurus have come up with different research findings on different marketing strategies. This essay discusses the Aaker’s brand relationship strategy model for Coca-cola company. It also discusses the PCDL model for brand building for Coca-cola.
The company
Coca-cola is the world’s leading soft drink distributor courtesy of its vigorous efforts to promote its product as a house hold brand.
This has ensured that it remains a market leader in its industry and though it faces numerous challenges both from the remote and internal environment, it has managed to wade off the challenges and remains an all time favorite among many soft drink consumers. Ensuing is a discussion of the Aaker’s model of brand architecture as used by Coca-cola company to foster its brand positioning among the consumers.
Aaker’s brand relationship strategy model
David A. Aaker is a professor of marketing at the university of California. His scholarly work in marketing research brought about the Aaker’s brand relationship strategy model (Knapp, 2000). Dr. Aaker posits that in order for a brand to undergo successful management, the marketers must first develop the brand identity. This entails dividing the product into two distinct element i.e. core and extended brand identity (Cant, 2006).
According to Dr. Aaker, a brand can be divided into four associations. These perspectives are important in brand identity strategy. Prof. Aaker posits that the brand ought to be viewed as a product, and organization, a person, and a symbol (Lusser, 2010).
These perspectives offer a more detailed brand identity that ultimately connect with consumers at various levels of need and also help in expanding the identity of a brand through extending the brand identity (Upshaw, 1995).
An integration of all these models in developing a product’s identity is crucial in determining the uptake of the product by the target consumers and the ability of the product to command loyalty among the consumers (Keaveney, 1995).
Coca-cola Company has successfully employed this four-fold brand identity perspective and out of this, it has managed to catapult the various brands it produces to become the most consumed beverage globally.
Brand as a product
This is the core aspect of any brand. It serves the primary role linking the brand to the consumers. Its main components are scope of the product, quality of the product, the users, and the uses of the product. The product perspective is one that seeks to indicate that the most attribute of a brand is its ability to meet the expected needs of the consumers (Lusser, 2010).
In order to do this, the brand ought to have the attributes which are feasible and desirable. These attributes also seek to provide the consumer with the functional benefits it purports to provide (Onkvisit & Shaw, 2004). Coca cola promotes a famous soft drink called coke.
The company has successfully built coke in such as manner that the product does not only create a value proposition, but also offers extra like features through offering more than the customer can expect (Lamb, Joseph, & Carl, 2012). The brand connects with the consumer needs for that particular class and also acts as a recall for the brand whenever there is need for such a product.
Brand as an organization
According to Aaker, a brand needs to bear attributes that link it to the organizational attributes and the organizational working environment. This perspective may be on local or global platform. It helps build the brand as a stable offering to the consumers.
Coca-cola has also promoted its brand as an organization. This is a strategy perspective that seeks to create a strong brand positioning not for the particular product but for the organization as a whole. In so doing, the company is able to win the approval of many people through activities such as innovation, quality, and other valuable attributes for the company such as the environmental conservation etc (Park & Macinnis, 1986).
This is so because it has been found out that an attribute towards organization can be stronger than that of a single product. Organizational attributes are therefore, important in defending the products against any stiff competitions from market peers and also seek to build a strong consumer base which has focus on brand loyalty (Wicker, 2011).
The company through its vigorous research and development, innovation and environmental conservation activities has been able to match this perspective and has in effect, steered the Coca-cola Company as a force to reckon with.
Brand as a person
This is a perspective that seeks to present a brand that has more strength than the product attributes (Swaminathan, 2001). In promoting this, the brand is able to connect with the consumers at a deeper level than just the one of satisfying the consumer needs.
It seeks to create a brand that will connect with the consumers who would want to identify with the brand, help in relaying the message to the consumer that the product has benefits and therefore foster the product attribute (Laming, 2004).
Coca-cola has done this in an aggressive marketing drive that seeks to establish the company and its product a household name. It is estimated that at least one billion people consume a coca-cola company product once a day. This has been achieved even though the company’s products are largely impulse products.
The brand as a symbol
This is an attribute that is mostly thought as a runner up to the former ones. However, brand as a symbol seeks to provide such attributes as visual imagery, heritage and the use of metaphorical attributes (Cant, 2006). The importance of this brand attribute is that it acts as a communication tool to the consumers.
It also provides metaphorical symbols that resonate with the heritage of the company and ultimately connecting to the consumers on the basis of imagery. This attributes is important since it helps a product attain a brand visibility thus, acting as a push factor in the market.
Coca-cola has paid keen attention to this and has managed to create great symbolism around the brand. The famous advertisement tag line which read “live in the coke side of life” sought to impress upon the consumers that the brand has a lifestyle that the consumers connect with.
In so doing, the brands have been elevated to a status where they are presented to have power and command some level of control among the consumers. According to Aaker, a successful brand therefore, ought to incorporate the above named attributes in order to ensure that they become a success in the competition arena and also remain string among the consumers’ needs.
The PCDL model: A conceptual model for building brands
This is a model that was developed in order to help brand building in markets which operate in competitive environments. This model, same as the Aaker’s brand architecture model, has four elements. The difference though is that it is concerned with brand building.
These four model attributes are positioning, message, equity, and performance. These attributes also seek to ensure that the presence of the brand is felt among the consumers and that the brand strength is also established through its performance and leveraging attribute.
Brand positioning
This is an attribute that cannot be over emphasized. It simply means sending out the message to the potential consumers about the product attributes. The main aim of this is to create a good perception in the minds of the brand consumers and in so doing the consumers form a good opinion about the product (Verhoef, 2003). In turn, the brand is able to have a competitively more attractive position than the peers.
Coca-cola has managed to position its brand in a manner that the consumers prefer it to the competitors. This has in effect, enhanced the brand loyalty and consequently allowed the brand to enjoy a brand presence and an unprecedented preference among many consumers of soft drinks.
Communicating the brand message
Brand communication is an aspect that seeks to supplement brand positioning. This is because the consumers need to be informed of the brand and the product they are adopting (Swaminathan, 2001). The most commonly used way of brand communication is advertising. Through advertising, the consumers get to understand the core product of the brand and are able to interact with the product attributes.
The advertisement has to be creative enough though, since they need to capture the imaginative and the subconscious of the consumer (Assael, 2001). Advertisement also seeks to differentiate the product from the competitors. Through advertising, Coca-cola has managed to communicate the value proposition of its flagship product; coke, and this has propelled the brand to high ends among the consumers’ preferences.
Delivering the brand performance
This is an attribute that seeks customer satisfaction, customer delight, customer care and, product performance. In order to achieve this, companies are required to keep tab on their products’ performance against the competition more so when operating in stiff competition environments (DeciI & Ryan, 1985).
Answering these simple questions might come in handy in ensuring that the product remains among the favorites. It also helps in raising a red flag whenever the brand performance against the competitors is dwindling.
Coca-cola company has carried numerous market studies in order to ensure that the customers continue to enjoy an unrivaled satisfaction from the consumption of their products. This has enabled the company to maintain its products as top brand over a long period of time.
Leveraging the brand equity
This is a strategy that seeks to link the brand to another entity. This is a strategy that is mainly used in order to seek a new set of association. It is common with companies that have brands which are consumed alongside related products (Onkvisit & Shaw, 2004).
This strategy, however is not commonly used by Coca-cola since the company manufactures, distributes, and markets it own product. In addition, the Coca-cola products can be consumed solely hence no need for brand association.
Conclusion
It has been clearly seen that that brand building strategies are critical in ensuring the success of a brand. Marketing therefore plays an important role in ensuring that all these strategies are implemented and that the best marketing strategy is executed.
Out of the two models presented; the Aaker’s brand building model and the PCDL model, the most effective model that provides a more useful representation of the organization’s brand architecture is the Aaker’s model.
This is because the Aaker’s model is a carefully crafted strategy that involves not only the brand but also an organization. It also gives a holistic approach to the brand positioning. Therefore, Aaker’s model is more preferable than the PCDL model.
References
Assael, H. (2001). Consumer Behavior and Marketing Action. Boston: Thomson Learning.
Cant, M. C. (2006). Marketing Management. Capetown: Juta.
DeciI, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-determination in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum.
Keaveney, S. M. (1995). Customer Switching Behavior in Service Industries: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Marketing, 35 (2), 71-82.
Klaus, S. (2002). Inclusive Branding. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Knapp, D. (2000). The Brand Mindset. New York: McGraw Hill.
Lamb, C. W., Joseph, F. H., & Carl, D. M. (2012). Essential of Marketing. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Laming, D. R. (2004). Understanding human motivation what makes people tick? Malden: Blackwell Publishers.
Lusser, R. N. (2010). Leasership: Theory, application, and skill dvelopment. Sydney: Cengage Learning.
Onkvisit, S., & Shaw, J. J. (2004). International Marketing Analysis and strategy 4th Ed. New York: Routledge.
Park, C., & Macinnis, D. (1986). Strategic brand concept-image management. Journal of marketing, 42 (3), 135-45.
Swaminathan, V. (2001). The impact of brand extension introduction on choice. Journal of marketing, 56 (5), 1-15.
Upshaw, L. (1995). Building Brand Identity. New York: John Wiley.
Verhoef, C. (2003). Understanding the Effect of Customer Relationship Management Efforts on Customer Retention and Customer Share Development. Journal of Marketing, 24 (7), 30-45.
Wicker, D. (2011). Motivation: an interactive guide. 2009: Authorhouse.