1 What is positioning & how does it benefit a brand?
Positioning is the perception of a brand in the mind of the
Target & reflects its essence in terms of its functional and non-functional benefits
. “7Up” was projected as the “un-cola” positioned .
Two simple words crystallised things in the consumers’ minds. HUL’s soap Lux is positioned as the “Beauty soap” of female film stars Dettol is the antiseptic
for minor nicks and cuts. BMW car is positioned for high ends
”.For similar types of products,,we use it as a tool.
Products or services are 'mapped' together on a ' Positioning maps '. This allows them to be compared and contrasted in relation to each other.
enables them to distinguish their own products from
rival’s product .We draw out it & decide on a label for each axis. They could be price (variable one) and quality (variable two) or comfort (variable one) and price (variable two). The individual products are then mapped out next to each other. Any gaps could be regarded as possible areas for new products.
As per Trout & Al Ries,we should ask ourselves
6 questions to create Positioning Strategy
2 Discuss the importance of injecting emotions into advertisements. Give suitable
examples.
Emotions in advertising is noticed as long as ad
we believe some advertisers show importance of
emotions in advertising . This importance of emotions is primarily due to their ability to attract the attention of customers.
Some researchers are of the opinion that the study of the importance and role of emotions on advertising, how emotional responses to advertising influence consumer behaviour, and what causes ads to evoke certain emotions is just in its beginning stages (T. J. Olney, M. B. Holbrook, Rajeev Batra, E. Kempf and Deborah McInnis). The following observations about emotional content in advertising must be taken only as speculative and not conclusive
Usage of emotions such as joy, warmth or even disgust depicted in ads increases their attention grabbing and sustaining ability. Attention is a critical factor in the perception process and ad messages triggering emotional reactions are more likely to capture attention than neutral ad messages.
Emotions generate an aggravated state of physiological arousal and consumers become more alert and active when aroused..
Ads that trigger positive emotions such as warmth by portraying love, family or friendship etc., enhance liking of the ad itself. Ad liking is viewed as important in developing liking for the advertised product.Emotion generating advertisements are more likely to be remembered than neutral ads. Some researchers believe that exposure to ads evoking positive emotions may increase brand preference through classical conditioning (see Chapter 6 for explanation of classical conditioning theory. Several ads show elements of this theory such as repeated pairings of the unconditioned response (positive emotions) with the conditioned stimulus (brand name). This may produce the positive affect when the brand name is mentioned (for example, ads of Coke and Pepsi are always associated with positive emotions).
3 What is brand equity & how does it benefit the company?
Brand equity is the value premium that a company realizes from a product with a recognizable name as compared to its generic equivalent. Companies can create brand equity for their products by making them memorable, easily recognizable and superior in quality and reliability. Mass marketing campaigns can also help to create brand equity. If consumers are willing to pay more for a generic product than for a branded one, however, the brand is said to have negative brand equity. This might happen if a company had a major
Product recall caused a widely publicized environmental disaster.
The additional money that consumers are willing to spend to buy Coca Cola rather than the store brand of soda is an example of brand equity.
One situation when brand equity is important is when a company wants to expand its
Product line. If the brand's equity is positive, the company can increase the likelihood that customers will buy its new product by associating the new product with an existing, successful brand. For example, if Campbell's releases a new soup, it would likely keep it under the same brand name, rather than inventing a new brand. The positive associations customers already have with Campbell's would make the new product more enticing than if the soup had an unfamiliar brand name.
4 Discuss 3 component model of Attitudes.
What is the relevance of this model to
advertising objectives?
As per attitude model, attitudes has 3 components:
Cognitive component
Consumers’ beliefs about an attitude-object are the attributes they ascribe to it. These beliefs result from an individual’s cognitions or knowledge and perceptions obtained by experience with the attitude object and allied information. For most attitude objects, consumers have a number of beliefs and that a specific behaviour will result in a specific outcome. For example, an individual may believe that ThumsUp:
1. Is popular with younger consumers.
2. Is moderately sweet.
3. Contains a lot of caffeine.
4. Is competitively priced.
5. Is marketed by a large company.
The total configuration of beliefs about ThumsUp represents the cognitive component of attitude about this brand of soft drink. It is important to realise that beliefs need not be correct or true. They just need to exist. Figure 7.2 depicts the components of attitudes and manifestations.
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Affective component
Consumers’ feelings and emotional reactions to an object represent the affective component of an attitude. This relates to consumer’s overall evaluation of the attitude object. Consumer beliefs about a brand’s attributes are multidimensional, but the feeling component is only one-dimensional. The consumer who says, “I like ThumsUp” or “ThumsUp is no good,” is expressing the results of an affective evaluation. The evaluation can either be ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ ‘favourable’ or ‘unfavourable.’ Emotionally charged evaluations can also be expressed as happiness, elation, sadness, shame or anger, etc.
Conative component
Behavioural (conative) component is the likelihood or tendency of an individual to respond in a certain manner towards an attitude object. For example, a series of decisions to purchase or not to purchase a Canon inkjet printer or recommend it to friends would reflect the behavioural component of an attitude. In the context of consumer research and marketing, conative component is treated as intention to buy
b)These are relevant as such influence consumers’ behaviour. However, marketers are generally unable to directly cause consumers to purchase, use or recommend their products. Consumers will often listen to sales people, attend to other promotional messages, or examine product packages and in this manner marketers indirectly influence their behaviour by providing information, music or other stimuli that influence belief or feeling about the product or service, if the three attitude components are indeed consistent with each other.
5 Discuss the nature of family decision making.
When two or more family members are directly or indirectly involved in the decision-making process, it is called family decision-making. Such family decisions differ from individual decisions in many ways. For example,
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consider the purchase of a bicycle for a child, some of the relevant aspects to think about can be: who recognises the need for bicycle? How is a brand selected?
Some family purchases are inherently emotional and affect the relationships between family members. The decision to buy a new dress or a bicycle for the child is more than simply a routine purchase. It often might be an expression of love and commitment to the child. The decision to buy a new stereo system or television set has emotional meaning to others in the family. See figure
6 Write short notes on:
a) Approaches to ascertain consumer’s needs
b) Store image
a) Purchase decision-making process begins when a buyer becomes aware of an unsatisfied need or problem. Problem recognition is a critical stage in consumer decision-making process because without it, there is no deliberate search for information. Among consumers, there are two types of problem recognition approaches.
In actual state types, the consumer recognises that they have a problem when a product does not perform properly (e.g. a watch fails to work).
In desired state type, the consumer has the desire to own something new; this may activate the decision process.
It is important to appreciate that it is actually the consumer’s perception of the actual state or desired state that stimulates problem recognition and not some “objective” reality. Also, the relative importance is a critical concept in several purchase decisions because almost all consumers have budgetary or time constraints. The consumer faces different kinds of problems that stimulate problem recognition and stimulate purchase decisions:
Routine problems are those where the difference between existing and preferred states is expected to be felt (known) and would call for immediate solution. For instance, convenience goods of everyday use are associated with this category of problem recognition.
Emergency problems are those that are unexpected and necessarily need immediate solutions. For example, a consumer injured in an accident would need a quick solution to reach a hospital’s emergency room. Other examples are problems like electric appliances breaking down, cooking gas needing refill, etc.
Planning problems are those that are expected but do not require immediate solution. For example, servicing of automobiles or buying a new vehicle in exchange for disposing an old vehicle.
Evolving problems are those that are unplanned or unexpected but do not require immediate solution. For example, breakdown of products not used on a daily basis that need repair but not immediately.
b) Retail outlet refers to a store or shop where products or services can be bought by consumers. Consumer shopping habits and purchase characteristics such as convenience products, researched products or replenishment products consumers decide upon the outlet. Store characteristics such as store image, retailer brands, retail advertising, store location and size, in-store influences etc.,also affect choice of outlet.
Consumers' selection of outlet is important to managers of retail establishments also. As pero J. J. Stoltman, J. W. Gentry, K. A. Anglin and A. C. Burns, a consumer can follow three basic sequences when making a purchase decision:
Brand first, outlet second.
Outlet first, brand second, and
Brand and outlet at the same time (as depicted in Table 14.1).