RES 60102 Branding and Brand Management

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Answer:

Branding and brand management have been used in the hotel industry for many years Due to ongoing factors such as globalization and technology, there has been huge competition in this field. In the last decades, many hotel companies have realized the importance of differentiating themselves from the competitors by presenting a product or a service that is conspicuous to their guests (Banerjee, 2007).  Hotel companies have developed new and different product brands as a way of increasing customer satisfaction and gaining their trust. Therefore brand management is a very crucial factor in the hotel industry in order to be competitive. This study will, thus, explain the complexity of brand management by defining a brand, branding, brand equity, and brand management. The study will also evaluate the importance of brand management to customers and the organization (Chang & Ma, 2015).

Definitions

Brand equality

Brand equity can be defined as the value added to a product after branding. Brand equity tries to compare the results of a product when it is branded and when it is presented to the customers without a brand name. Brand equity gives the importance of providing a product with a brand name to distinguish it from other products in the market (Bowden, 2009).

Importance of brand management to the consumers and the company

One of the most critical trends in customer demand is the increasing demand for late hotel bookings and shorter holidays. People are now travelling to new places every day on the weekends and holidays. Therefore, for hotels which aim to accommodate many of these people, keeping a record of their guest’s behavior is very crucial. Recently, customers’ demands and expectations are very high than never before. For hotel guests, enjoying is not just enjoying anymore but it is more of personal value gained from a service.  People have high demands for extremely high-quality services and at the same time, they expect the price they pay to be favorable. In this case, hotels have been forced to come up with new products and brands to accommodate these changes in customer demands (Jenifer, Divya & Suganya, 2011). For instance, the Rosewood hotel operates suites, spas, and other amenities using the same brand name to cater for their guests in Asia and other countries where they operate.

Benefits to the Customers

Customers benefit from brand management in that it is easier for them to decide on which hotel they want to be accommodated in during holidays and other functions. Branding assists the clients with the relevant information they require concerning the services offered by a hotel. Naturally, people tend to buy products or acquire services from a company based on their experience (Walton, 2010). For instance, a person who travelled to Asia and was accommodated at Rosewood hotel severally must have adequate information about the quality services offered by the hotel. If the person was served well, most likely, he/she would seek accommodation in the same hotel the next time they visit there. As earlier mentioned, a brand is a mark of quality and clients have confidence choosing services from a particular hotel may be from previous experience or available information presented to them. To a consumer, product brand is a significant risk reducer especially if there is a specific price, type and it is relevant to the client (Bowden, 2009).

Benefits to the hotels

Literature Review

A case of Rosewood Hotels

Evolution of Brand Management

Branding is a practice that has been around for a long time. However, the practice has been undergoing changes from time to time due to changes that have been experienced in the world. Some of ancient Greece, Indian, Chinese, and Roman, artifacts, carvings and pottery dating back to 1300 B.C have brand marks on them. This section explains the historical evolution of the subject under discussion through a brief evaluation of six eras it has evolved. Different approaches were used in each period to manage brands depending on the changes experienced at that particular time and other factors (Quester & Fleck, 2010). 

Manufacturer-orientation era

The period after the 1960s, customers had to come up with ways of overcoming the challenges that were significantly affecting their profitability.  This period was marked by economic recession and advanced technology and this two increased competition like never before. The market was now concerned more concerned with buyers than sellers since supply exceeded demand and the market was saturated (Veloutsou & Guzman, 2017). Manufacturers had to change their ways of doing business because customers had more choices in the market and could compare a variety of products and choose what met their expectations. Brand management started to be used as a dynamic customer based experience where marketing methods such as pricing, distribution, and research were included in the business planning (Sicard, 2013).

Image-orientation era

Identity-orientation era

Another significant discovery about brand management was made in the early 1990s where there was a belief that brand possessed human characteristics. The previous periods saw the loss of customer trust to a significant extent and so managers came up with an idea of developing a unique brand personality that was similar to human beings as a way of reestablishing customer trust (Sicard, 2013). Globalization and advanced technology had reached the peak during this time and this meant that competition was at the highest level. From this time henceforth, brand identity and consistency became the basis of brand management and it is being used up to date (Banerjee, 2007)

Components of a brand

There are several components of a brand where a organization can chose from. These include corporate culture including the everyday norms, regulations, and behavior within the company. Since the brand involves everything to do with the company, the culture in the company has to reflect on the brand being promoted (Baumgarth, Kaluza & Lohrisch, 2016). Employees are the first point of contact with a customer, they bear the reputation of the company with them. A customer is looking to book a room interact with the employees first. In other words, they are bearing and promoting the brand of the hotel, at least at that moment.

Communications- The aim for many companies today is integrate the market with communication so that every part of the company (including its message) is in tune with the brand. The leadership is also responsible to control and promote the brand through their actions. It means that the CEO and top leadership of a company should at all-time promote the brand of a company in their actions and decisions. All they do has to be in line with the brand of the company/////. Reputation is also a vital aspect as it is easy to confuse reputation and brand; they are close but not the same thing. Reputation is the result of branding. The reputation can be positive or negative depending on the success or lack thereof, of the brand. Reputation signifies that there is a discussion about the company. Therefore, it can be used to evaluate the performance of a brand.

• Awareness-This is the size of the market that are conscious of the existence of the brand. There are two types of awareness: spontaneous (quantifies the number of people who will mention the name of a company if asked to name brands in particular industry) and prompted (people who will recognize the brand is shown within a list).
• Brand architecture- This is how a company organizes and identifies its brands within its portfolio. There are three main types of brand architecture:  endorsed- where all the other sub-brands are related to the main brand through endorsement by the company, monolithic- all the products bear the company name and freestanding- where the company acts just a holding company and each product are targeted just on its good brands.
• Brand association- The information a client has about the company. The information here is based on customer feedback and must always keep the brand position.
• Brand Equity- This refers to the differentiating sum qualities of a brand gotten from stakeholders that motivates commitment and demand for the brand. This increases the value of the brand
• Brand commitment/ loyalty- It is the motivation that will persuade a customer to return to their brand. It shows how much a brand is protected from its competitors.
• Brand earnings- There are share capitals that can be followed back to brands alone.
• Brand Extension. This is the process of going through the brand portfolio to ensure that all products with the brand occur in particular similarity like name, visual identity and ensuring the right positioning for the right consumer market. This is known in industrial terms as brand harmonizing.

• Brand identity. This is the outward characteristics of the brand, the name and how it looks. It is arguably the most important part of the brand since it is the customer's means of recognizing a brand and learning to differentiate it from other brands.
• Brand image- This is the client's response to the brand. For most clients, this is usually involved in an up close and personal view of the product. From how it looks to its price to how well it satisfied their needs. For the less informed, this process is reliant upon uninformed opinions and beliefs.
• Brand licensing- The permission offered to the brand owner to acquire and use the brand of a different film. A small royalty is agreed in this circumstance.

History of Brands Management

            Some of the companies with the most recognizable brands are Nokia and Google. They managed to score highly in a study conducted by Interbrand. The question then becomes how they managed to stay that high. One of the components of a traditional branding strategy is company age. Older companies that have gained footing with time are well branded and trusted by customers. That is true for the most part but some of the hotels in Asia are not that old, so what about them? This paves the way for the next factor, the information age. Society has switched to an era of information and the internet where anything is readily accessible if you want it hard enough (Hanna & Rowley,2013). News travels fast. And companies are able to use this information when branding their products.

Theories: Holistic vs. Traditional Approach.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, Branding has come a very long way, and the major driver has been changed. Communications is a good agent for sustaining long-term equity. As mentioned earlier, its major function is not to create a short-term profit but to make a significant impression on the consumer that it stays for a long time. This creates arrest space for companies for it makes customers support the brand. The biggest audience for branding are shareholders (who wants to know how they will keep making money), stakeholder and potential investors, for them, a good brand pays for longer.

The share price of a firm is determined in the market; the market has shareholders, consumers, and investors. A good example of the benefits of branding is Apple. It has developed such a brand that the share price has always steadily increased. Their secret is communication. The hotel business is booming in Asia; the market is very big. Several other international hotel chains are entering the market, meaning, more competition for the customer base. This is where branding comes in, ensures a knowable identity for the new and existing hotel in the entire market. It is an identity that ensures the correct value, quality, functional and emotional benefits and motivation in the product's name. This is the essence of brand management. Pairing client expectation and the sum knowledge of the firm and the produce. Making a commitment and staying true to that commitment is the secret to brand success. As previously mentioned communication is the key to internal branding harmony.

References

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Han, S., Nguyen, B., & Lee, T. (2015). Consumer-based chain restaurant brand equity, brand reputation, and brand trust. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 50, 84-93. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.06.010

Junghyun, K., & Eun Ah, Y. (2016). The Holistic Brand Experience Of Branded Mobile Applications Affects Brand Loyalty. Social Behavior & Personality: An   International Journal, 44(1), 77-87.

Kwun, D. (2012). Brand Management in the Hospitality Industry. Journal Of Tourism & Hospitality, 01(01). doi: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000e104

Quinton, S. (2013). The community brand paradigm: A response to brand management's dilemma inthe digital era. Journal Of Marketing Management, 29(7-8), 912-932.doi:10.1080/0267257X.2012.729072

Rosewood Hotels and Resorts: Branding to Increase Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value. (2018). 

Veloutsou, C., & Guzman, F. (2017). The evolution of brand management thinking over the last 25 years as recorded in the Journal of Product and Brand Management. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 26(1), 2-12. doi: 10.1108/jpbm-01-2017-1398

Walton, T. (2010). Identifying the Creative Frontiers in Consumer Products and Branding. Design Management Review, 16(2), 6-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1948-7169.2005.tb00186.x