Questions on a Framework for Marketing Management - Paper Example

Explain customer perceived value.

The customer perceived value is an important marketing and branding concept that involves a customer taking a product that has the most anticipated benefits. It refers to total tangible and intangible benefits a product offers to the customers relative to the cost to be paid by the customer. To understand customers and way of response to the messages and advertisement, marketing research is critical to learning how to influence the customers. The messages delivered should be to improve the value perception of the customers through a combination of elements such as quality, services, and prices (Kotler & Keller, 2015). Customers value perception increases with quality and services rendered, but the costs reduce. The value proposition is done through lowering prices to increase value or continuous branding through advertisement. The determinant of customer perceived value include benefits such as product, service, personal and image benefits against costs such as monetary, time, energy, and psychic cost. The goal of any brand is to relate to the clients to create the desired sense of value.

Explain the total customer satisfaction.

The total customer satisfaction is a measure of how a customer's judgment of a product concerning performance is met or surpassed. It refers to meeting every need of every customer. It does not only involve satisfaction with the product but also customer support is given, competence, billing and other elements of support provided to the customer. The measure of customers' satisfaction is vital because it indicates what needs to be improved and how to manage a business. It also shows customers loyalty and is a way of identifying unhappy customers. Satisfied customers are a sure way of maintaining business and also increasing revenue. Brands should strive to have happy and delighted customers through exceeding their expectations (Keller & Kotler, 2015).

What valuable functions can brands perform for a firm?

A brand can be a name, sign, design or a combination of them that is used to identify a product and differentiate it from its competitors. A brand is the first thing that we look in a product. It is useful both to consumers and the firms.

Firms

A brand provides economic value to an organization through tangible and intangible assets. Corporate value of a good brand increase over the years with brands accounts increasing the shareholder value. For example Red Cross as a brand in the Non-governmental sector attracts a considerable amount in donations and voluntary. A brand attracts skilled employees who want to make a difference, partners, and audience creating a financial impact on a company. A brand also gives a competitive advantage to a firm in terms of audience, funding, and partnership to promote strategic areas and initiatives. Branding helps in recognition, with people tending to do business with companies they are familiar. Brands act as a stable asset that ensures continuity even when products fail, acquisition and mergers, technological changes and inconsistencies within an organization. A brand also gives legal protection to a company through having patent rights to manufacturing and copyrights and propriety rights to packaging and labeling. Branding simplifies handling of products during production and transportation. It shows who owns the commodity and reduces instances of loss and even theft (Kotler & Keller, 2012),

Consumers

Brands have a prominent role to customers. They set and fulfill expectations to customers through the performance of a product, quality, consistency, and provision of unique values. Consumers expect features of products, design, and style to suit them. Branding is also used by consumers to differentiate products from its competitors in the market. It, therefore, simplifies the decision making required to choose a product. Branding is a way of identifying with customers and connecting with them emotionally through different slogans and what it entails them spending the money. Admired brands that offer solutions to clients help them feel secure, safe and empowered. It secures market and even generates referrals. If people like a brand for example what they wear or eat, they will recommend it to their family, colleagues, and friends (Kotler & Keller, 2012).

Given that the power of a brand resides in the minds of consumers and how it changes their response to marketing, there are two basic approaches to measuring brand equity. Briefly, describe each of these approaches.

Brand equity is a term that refers to the commercial value a brand name hold for a company or a product ( American Marketing Association (Chicago, IL), 2000). The high the perception a customer has for a product the high the brand equity. It determines critical issues such as sale, market share and the pricing of such commodity. There are two approaches to measuring brand equity are the indirect approach and the direct approach.

Indirect Approach

The indirect approach accesses the brand equity by tracking the customer knowledge on a product. This approach is used to indicate what causes difference in response from the customer depending on the knowledge they have. Measuring of brand equity includes measuring of brand awareness and image that a consumer has. Brand awareness is measured by testing the recalling and recognition of a product. This can be done by use of aided or unaided memory measures such as ease or remembering a product or brand, response with details of the performance of a product, use of actual brand or a different version of the brand. Use of questionnaires with "what, why, when, where and how" type of question can give a clear picture of what the consumer knows about a product. Other techniques can involve sentence completion or unstructured answering within a focus group or individual and brand personality descriptors.

Direct Approach

It assesses the result of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of a product or a company. It uses focus groups where one group responds to impact of an element of marketing attributed to a brand while the other group answers to the same marketing attribute of a different, degraded or anonymous product. Approaches such as blind test' are used where general knowledge of a product regarding description, consumption, and experience should be gathered. Such test shows how knowledge affects consumer expectation, perception and preferences. Other methods such as conjoint analysis are used to determine the effect of a brand name. It determines how price, products, features of a product and channel of communication used affect preference and choosing of a brand (Keller & Kotler, 2015).

Incorporating the concepts discussed in this assignment, answer the following: How does a loyal brand community support the positioning and branding of a small business? Provide an example to support your explanation.

Customer loyalty is key to supporting the position and branding of a small business. Small businesses should ensure that their customers' keep coming back. A good relationship can be maintained through ensuring market consistency. Long-term strategies should be used and cultivated. Proper communication channels and messages ensure loyal customers have information on new products, updates, and promotions (Kotler & Keller, 2015). For example, use of social Medias such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with clients is an effective way of communication. Though these Medias brands get to know customers interest, challenges, and ideas and can respond accordingly. Messages communicated to customers should also be of high quality to catch people's attention. The messages should offer solutions and improve people's lives. The product should also have high product advantage than the competitors. Due to limited resources, small businesses should be creative and ensure their products are unique to create a loyal community. Their focus should be one or two products and ensure a point of differentiation for these products. For instance, Subway restaurants are known to offer health and great tasting sandwiches over other restaurants such as KFC, McDonald's and Burger King. The small businesses should also maximize excellent and fast customers service to customers and even encourage product trials where possible. Small brands should focus on more targeted customer engagement and for instances have reward programs to give to consistent customers. Loyal customers to a brand are an assured way of positioning and branding small businesses in the markets. Small brands can also use secondary association; for example, a mom store can associate itself with a minivan such as Honda Odyssey since most parents prefer van over other car models since they are comfortable and have space.

Therefore it is essential to have a loyal and vibrant brand community among prospective and consistent customers. Happy customers spread the news about a product to other people which creates new markets and ensures competitive advantages for other firms.

References

American Marketing Association (Chicago, IL). (2000). Marketing management. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). A framework for marketing management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Tumminelli, P. (2014). Car design Asia: Myths, brands, people.

Keller, K L. Kotler, P. 2012. Marketing Management 14 Edition Textbook Kokemuller, Neil. 2015. Chron.com. What Is Customer Perceived Value?

Keller, K., Kotler, P., (2012) Marketing Management: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Pearson.

Keller, K., & Kotler, P. (2015). Marketing Management. Pearson Higher Ed USA

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