Introduction
A brand strategy can be defined as a comprehensive method used to increase a brand’s recognition and likeability among current and future customers. The brand aspects, such as brand values, storytelling, brand identity, voice, and overall mood, are all included in a brand strategy (Defusco and Lambkin, 2017). Each component of a strong brand is individual and distinct. However, they all collaborate to develop a coherent and distinguishable brand identity. A brand strategy outlines a clear blueprint for everything from an organization’s fundamental operations to establishing its brand and developing a relatable corporate image for its target market.
A strong brand strategy helps define key elements of any business’s branding. Think of it as a launching pad for others who will collaborate with the brand in the future. Once the crucial components are identified, it becomes clearer how to build a strong brand (Schultz et al., 2020). The current branding strategy used by ECRHS emphasizes providing patients with high-quality medical care. The branding initiatives undertaken by the ECRHS have raised both the demand for the organization’s services and the satisfaction of its clients. The business has built a solid reputation for itself over the years in the marketplace and has expanded by acquiring other healthcare facilities as a result.
Customers often have opinions about a good or service offered that differ from those of the brand owners. A brand’s perception is influenced by how customers experience it, its effectiveness, and its track record, both on and off social media platforms. Brand perception serves as a high-level yardstick for evaluating a product or service’s visual appearance, benevolence, and emotional nature. These sentiments and thoughts manifest when a customer is acquainted with a particular brand, along with when the customer interacts, sees, or hears about what is being said about the brand and what it offers. The profitability of the business could be impacted by each of these elements.
Over the years, ECRHS has been faced with a few legal cases, complaints from patients about their needs not being met, and discontent among medical staff. The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic came as an unexpected surprise to every health facility around the world. As a result, many lives were lost as medical personnel all over tried their best to deal with the pandemic, which they eventually managed (Iyengar et al., 2020). Throughout all of these, ECRHS has managed to successfully maintain a positive brand reputation.
The business has successfully maintained its reputation as being dependable and offering excellent value for money by putting a strong emphasis on quality and customer satisfaction. The brand’s reputation or customer preference has not been negatively impacted by the acquisitions and purchase of other medical facilities. The branding strategy used by ECRHS has improved consumers’ bargaining position and flexibility. It is difficult to think of a quality more crucial to the success of a healthcare institution than trust. An organization’s brand’s success or failure depends on how many people it serves and how much they trust it. Along with its graphical brand identity, ECHRS’ verbal branding can do a lot to position it as a dependable, knowledgeable pioneer in the health sector.
The influence of branding strategies on consumer choice and bargaining power
The management of a company’s brand is a distinctive component of its marketing plan. Through the execution of an effective branding strategy, ECRHS will be able to foster a positive relationship with their intended market and boost the appeal of the organization’s services, and goods. ECRHS will require a strong branding strategy that will help to significantly increase its value. Customers need to be aware that ECRHS will remain the same healthcare facility that has been providing healthcare to society for years, even though they are working to improve the services they provide. The ECRHS must demonstrate that it is a non-profit, local institution that is competitive and completely distinct from its competitors.
Competitive Strategies: Impact
The primary threat to ECRHS’s market position is the emergence of new rivals. Clients from the ECRHS have successfully been drawn away by privately owned healthcare facilities. The company must contend with intensifying competition from other goods and services, including home care and online medical assistance. ECRH was not always the only healthcare facility, Banford Medical Center (BMC) was acquired by a giant publicly listed profit-oriented healthcare organization about a decade ago. Due to the shortcomings of ECRH, along with its management, the chief executive of BMC was adept at maximizing performance.
The concern that new rivals provide to existing industry heavyweights is referred to as the threat of newcomers. It is one of the factors that influences a sector’s competitive environment and contributes to determining its attractiveness. Other factors include rivalry among businesses, bargaining power for suppliers, and purchasing power. The ability of existing enterprises to turn a profit is significantly impacted by the threat of new entrants (Khan et al.,2022). When new rivals enter the marketplace and start providing similar services or products, a business’s position within the marketplace is compromised.
In this highly leveraged situation, suppliers now have greater bargaining power and might opt to forgo quality in pursuit of quantity in order to boost profitability (Ong et al., 2018). As a consequence, this negatively affects the target marketplace. Due to a decline in quality and a failure to meet customer requirements, it may lead to more refunds, customer dissatisfaction, or perhaps product abandonment altogether. A market restraint is the supplier’s bargaining power, but this strength is short-lived.
Within the healthcare sector, patients have significant bargaining power. Clients have a diverse variety of provider options, and switching suppliers is simple if they are dissatisfied with the treatment they are getting. Due to their strong negotiating position, patients have a significant influence on the fees that healthcare organizations may charge (Alzoubi et al., 2020). Since providers find it challenging to raise their rates, the considerable negotiating power of consumers has an influence on consumer preference within the healthcare sector. As a result, prices are under pressure to decline as practitioners are compelled to compete on pricing. ECRHS has recently been obliged to reduce its pricing in order to keep up with private healthcare facilities, which is a prime example of this strain.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the current marketing strategy of ECRHS emphasizes providing patients with high-quality medical care. The business has built a solid reputation for itself and has grown by acquiring other medical facilities. The current ECRHS competitors have a significant influence on consumer selection of their goods and services. Privately owned hospitals and clinics, along with alternative goods and services, are posing a greater threat to the organization. Prices are under pressure to decline because ECRHS finds it challenging to increase costs due to the strong negotiating power of clients.
References
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