Introduction of Brand Loyalty
When a customer thinks of a product category he or is familiar with (like soaps, toothpaste, cigarettes, coffee, tea-especially non-durables) he/she can spontaneously remember a few brand names. These consumers have been conditioned by brand loyalty.
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When customers are satisfied with any product or service, they tend to buy the same brand product or service the next time also and they become loyal to that brand product or service. Most consumer products succeed in the market based on this loyalty.
Brand loyalty has been cashed in by marketers who create successful brand extensions.
What is Brand Loyalty?
Brand loyalty means retaining existing customers continuously. Brand loyalty can be defined in terms of consumer behavior or consumer attitudes. The frequency of purchase is a behavioral indication. Attitude towards a brand is an attitudinal indication.
The customers who are satisfied with a particular brand product Brand loyalty means to retain the existing customers continuously. Brand loyalty can be defined in terms of consumer behavior or consumer attitudes. The frequency of purchase is a behavioral indication.
Attitude towards a brand is an attitudinal indication. Customers who are satisfied with a particular brand product
Behavioral Mechanism and Brand Loyalty
An individual is motivated by some form of drive. These drives could be hunger, the need for prestige, the need for affiliation, the need for power, etc. There are also stimuli from the outside marketing world.
An individual with a specific drive is constantly on the lookout for a cue from the external marketing world which would satisfy him. When he finds an appropriate ‘cue’, he responds by buying a product.
A consumer who needs a quick and tasty lunch may prefer a brand of fast food. When he finds the food to be satisfying on several counts he starts a period, and his response to the need results in brand loyalty.
Marketers may be interested in finding out the various aspects by which the consumer responds. For instance, in the product category of credit cards, there may be consumers wanting ‘value for money’ which could be used as a cue in positioning inputs.
Drives from an individual may be of different kinds in varying degrees. Some of the drives which may be associated with most product categories are classified as follows.
Types of Drives
- Hedonistic: These are sensual drives. Consumers buy these products because of the internal gratification they derive from their use of these products. The feel, taste, smell, or usage provides consumers with a pleasurable experience.
The products like soaps, cigarettes, shaving products, coffee, tea, shampoo, etc. are associated with these kinds of drives.
- Economy: This drive has the ‘value for money’ orientation. It has the scope in almost all product categories depending on the target market. Ariel’s Super soaker, Bajaj’s FE economy model, and economy sizes in soft drinks and toothpaste are examples of this type of drive.
Brand Audit
The company can make strategic positioning decisions, by learning what consumers know about brands. So the marketers should first conduct a brand audit to profile consumers’ knowledge about their brands.
What is Brand Audit?
A brand audit is a comprehensive examination of a brand in terms of its sources of brand equity. In accounting, an audit involves a systematic inspection of accounting records involving analyses, tests, and confirmations. The accounting audit assesses the financial health of the firm.
Similarly, a marketing audit has been defined as a “comprehensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a company’s marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities with a view of determining problem areas and opportunities.
A brand audit is a more external, consumer-focused exercise that involves a series of procedures to assess the health of the brand, uncover its sources of brand equity, and suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity.
Steps in Brand Audit
A brand audit consists of two steps: the brand inventory and the brand exploratory.
- Brand Inventory: The purpose of the brand inventory is to provide a current, comprehensive profile of how all the products and services require that all associated brand elements be identified as well as the supporting marketing program.
In other words, it is necessary to catalog the following for each product or service sold: the names, logos, symbols, characters, packaging, slogans, or other trademarks used; and the inherent product attributes or characteristics of the brand and the pricing, communications, distribution policies and any other relevant marketing activity related to the brand.
This information should be summarized in both visual and verbal form.
- Brand Exploratory: The second step of the brand audit is to provide detailed information as to what consumers think of the brand utilizing the brand exploratory, particularly in terms of brand awareness and the strength, favourability, and uniqueness of brand associations.
Brand exploratory is a research activity directed at understanding what consumers think and feel about the brand and its corresponding product category to identify sources of brand equity.
Brand Management Topics
