Introduction
A brand refers to the entire experience customers have with the company and this refers to how they perceive the company products, how they will respond to changes in product features, introduction of new products, what the company says and delivers, its believes on what it can deliver to customers and above all the company personality as perceived by customers (Underhil 2000).
Branding also determines how customers’ rate a company with regard to other companies and how they receive and talk to its employees whenever they need assistance or when they are making purchases.
Every company has to stand out amid many competitors who have similar or even more sophisticated products than its products and services (Upshaw 1995). Evidence on how stiff competition is can be seen on the daily commercials appearing on television transmissions, radio, daily newspapers and even internet websites and through product promotions.
UK Juicers started operations as a small entity producing juice and selling as a retail outlet to customers within the neighborhood.
Management came to realize that customers were buying less of its juice products and on the other hand, they kept inquiring where the company had bought its juice blenders. The dwindling sales made management to strategize on re-branding and that called for a SWOT analysis.
UK Juicers’ Brand Strategy
UK juicers is out to compete effectively against its competitors by offering the best services, in the customers’ eyes the company ensures reliability and quality. To begin with, the company has offered its customers a range of products to choose from in every category.
The categories available include Fruit and vegetable juicers, Citrus juicers, Wheatgrass juicers, blenders, food dryers, rebounders among others.
This list has products of very high quality in terms of performance and which do not breakdown so easily. Customers always want those products they are guaranteed will perform beyond their expectations and this is what UK Juicers is offering.
There is a 14-day money back guarantee in case the product does not serve its purpose effectively, this shows customers that products from this store are genuine and they will always make referrals to friends who could need similar produces.
The company ensures its products are always in stock, there is free delivery within UK which is made within the following day of making the purchase (Aaker 1991).
Branding gains
According to Cross (2000), Companies are always fighting for customers and they make many offers to customers on a daily basis with hopes that customer will buy their products.
UK Juicers is not exceptional since the company offers customers a full package, which includes a dedicated line for customer care issues and an after sales service given free for six months and thereafter the company charges some fee for all servicing done.
The company relies mostly on online sales and there is has guaranteed a secure purchase system where customers will not lose their vital information to hackers and fraudsters. In case of repairs, the customer pays for purchase of the broken parts but fixing is done free of charge.
From the services customers receive, the customers enjoy the sales gains but the company on the other hand is the ultimate beneficiary with a large clientele who give it a massive stock movement every month.
These are some of the measures any company interested in creating a long-term customer relationship must do so that customers will know that the company is not ripping them off.
When a company starts selling products and customer numbers increase just like in the case of UK Juicers, that means the company has a brand and what is remaining is to know exactly the extent of that brand, how to grow it and leave a lasting impression (Bettman, 1979).
The brand experience from customers can be seen from the way they interact with employees and the frequency of their visits.
Building your brand
Aaker (1995) notes that, to build a good brand, the company must carry out a SWOT analysis where management will analyze the company strengths and weaknesses. The major strength of UK Juicers is keeping its word to customers and this is the beginning point of building a good brand.
The company has taken care of weaknesses of branding like having inadequate stocks, selling items at varying price ranges and selling defective products. To build a good brand, one has to analyze opportunities and threats within the operating environment.
Threats to UK Juicers include physical retail stores like supermarkets of which have a limited clientele since they rely on customers who come to buy but are preferred by some customers because of the safety aspect associated with seeing the actual item one is purchasing.
The company has checked the threat of losing customers to competitors by selling high quality products, educating customers how to use them and that is why this company introduced and sells so much through its online trading platform since with this platform, consumers can buy items from everywhere, and they expect the company to carry out delivery within UK.
UK juicers has over the years has been trying carry out business differently from how its competitors do by seeking ways which effectively help to augment the power of its brand strategy to consumers. This has worked well by many customers giving feedback showing they have good feelings for the company products and services and wish it continued to extend the same services forever.
To be able to have such an influence a company must know the strength of its brand vis-à -vis competitors’ and work smartly to outdo competitors in the hearts and minds of consumers. UK Juicers not only promises availability of products but also they are genuine, they serve the correct purpose and customers are educated on the services expected from items they wish to buy.
This will enable customers to buy the correct item that perfectly serves the reasons they need it. This brand strategy is very enticing, compelling and so attractive that the customer may not think of going anywhere else when he needs an item that UK Juicers has in stock.
In fact, some customers do ask for referrals in case they fail to find an item they need to buy but UK Juicers does not stock. Once you have a working brand strategy, enforce it throughout the company organizations and any other outlet stores where the company sales from.
This is perfected by UK Juicers by not only waiting for customers to come to the stores for their purchases and services but also the company works out deliveries and servicing is done in some select retail outlets affiliated to UK Juicers.
The brand is everything
According to Azmi (2007), “a brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off-strategy” (p.16). He says that a brand is your most valuable product, employee and should be communicated through the best possible award winning advertisements since a bad advert can really kill an otherwise good brand (Walsh, 2002).
UK Juicers has perfected on this by first ensuring that it displays the products the company sells on its website and all the relevant documentation is available. This will assist customers to differentiate the various items in terms of service delivery and choose the best according to their needs.
The next step is to deliver as per the pledges the company makes to customers without fail or giving conflicting information from its various outlets.
The brand is conveyed through written information and what can be heard and seen as a commercial advert, it is therefore interpreted through personal feelings and emotions, and this depends on tastes and preferences of each person.
This means that you have no control at all over your brand, what you do is to help direct it positively so that it will create a good perception among customers. For instance, UK Juicers buys products directly from manufactures, analyzes each item to ensure that it is not defective and therefore the company guarantees quality.
The company goes as far as subcontracting professionals to educate clients on some selected complicated items, which require careful use, or else they could be damaged due to improper application.
Successful branding
A good branding strategy begins by understanding your products well, the driving forces for success and any challenges anticipated to push sales. All employees must understand company policies and principles, make sure all brand details are correct and honest or else the company will find it hard to convince customers to buy its products.
Branding begins with guaranteeing quality and effective communication with clients (Azmi 2007). UK Juicers began by providing all the relevant information about its products online and offers excellent customer care services, which gives customers relevant information about various products so they can choose the best alternative. This leads to customer satisfaction and increases brand integrity.
All employees must know and understand the company values since it is from employees those values will be transferred to all those who interact with them.
The employees must consistently stick to the values accurately as is the case with UK Juicers where all employees know what is good for the customers and the company passes on these advantages to customers through the services it offers (Hair et al. 2003).
Research and brand strategy
The main goal of any company is to do a comprehensive research and come up with products, which will help satisfy consumer needs. A company with disgruntled customers has a bleak future and could be in the process of losing out customers to competitors.
Good research will enable a company to have a winning brand strategy. This begins with an analysis of company products as per BCG model where the company analyzes products and classifies them to be either stars, cash cows, problem child or dogs (Kotler 1997).
UK Juicers has done research on its products and it has classified them accordingly. Most of its product lies within the category of stars and they drive the company revenue, the company carries out advertising on these products continuously with an aim of increasing sales and consumer awareness.
This has really boosted the brand awareness and royalty, consumers enjoy the company products and services, and this is a winning strategy that has the support of the entire company. The company does not stock defective products or slow moving items that will affect the brand royalty since the company policy is to sell quality items that customers prefer.
Your target customers and brand success
Brand success begins with knowing your target customers and their preferences, their needs and desires and the product specifications that will satisfy those requirements. To be able to satisfy fully those requirements, management must carry out a comprehensive data collection exercise that will help sell products that fully meet the customer needs.
A proper classification of customers in terms of age, income, level of education and culture will enable the company to supply the correct products to the correct market segment; this will ensure that products are only sent to the correct market segment (Schroeder 2005).
The main advantage of segmentation is that it helps a company to maximize revenue from the different segments by offering specialized products for each customer segment.
Brand promise
The brand preposition arises from a comprehensive branding research and usually states and explains to customers the reasons for buying our products and services. For UK Juicers, the brand promise, which the company has articulated to customers, is the promise on reliability and efficiency resulting from use of company products and services.
This enables customers to appreciate the brand promise, which must be well explained in a way customers will get to appreciate just as UK Juicers has done on its website, where there is a promise of reliability and efficiency as well as customer service and a dedicated line for customers to make calls in case they need assistance.
If the customers do not perceive the brand promise well, both new and existing customers will turn out to competitor products and services. That is why it is imperative to over-deliver just as UK Juicers does in that the customer comfort is always first.
A good SWOT analysis demands that you do not use same tactics like your competitor just because the same has worked perfectly well with your competitor, and the same appears, as it will work with your company.
That is your threat but to counter it, look for a better opportunity that happens to be a weakness on your competitor to counter that threat (Harvard Business Press 1999).
This strategy has worked well with UK Juicers by countering competitors indirectly and in a smart way through relying on delighted customers to help the company to grow.
Bad brand strategy makes some company management to announce that they are the best service provides or best provides of some equipment, which is a broad and non-directional brand strategy. UK juicers is specific in its promises to customers and those promises are easy to memories by customers and this is what a good brand promise is.
Brand strategy: customer’s first, money later
According to Harvard Business Press (1999), it is always necessary to make sure that your customers are emotionally attached to your products and services, since this is the creation of the desire to buy UK Juicers products by the mere mention of the company name.
Such constructive emotions are built slowly through good branding between the company and the customer and arises though mutual understanding and trust. A good brand promise has the following values;
- Well known by all business employees and constantly practiced
- Should be consistently passed across on all advertisement content
- Should be repeatedly worked out
- Easy to adapt by all employees
- Repeated continuously at the company and to the customers
- Should create a lasting attachment with customers
- Should be relevant to the current market needs
- Should be in line with brand values
This notion of having customers first is ideal for a company just like UK Juicers, which values customers and will do what is necessary for customer safety and appreciation.
Conclusion
Branding is the beginning point of the company’s success and to have a good brand, it is necessary that a company should carry out comprehensive research to determine winning brand strategies in the market but specifically with respect to the industry the company is operating in.
The customer is always right and the company should strive to make good this phrase by ensuring it has products, which serve the purpose to which the customer is buying them. This therefore means that the company needs to fully understand its strengths and weaknesses capitalize on the strengths and look for ways of managing and making the weaknesses become strengths.
The company also must exploit opportunities within the operating environment as this is what will help customers identify with its brand and this can be done by offering exceptional services and durable products which create an impression to customers. A proper analysis of environmental threats will also help in brand positioning (Berger et al. 2006).
Appendix: A graph showing juice consumption
Source: (Beverage Digest Company 2011)
Reference List
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