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The concept of brand strategy
Symbolism and interpretation
Symbolism
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Various elements of the brand strategy, such as the role of emotion, brand equity and brand identity, are interdependent on each other. Change of one element results in changes in another, but the consistency of all can build a strong brand. Brands can be divided into two categories, functional brands and symbolic brands. Airbnb does not only provide a platform for hosts and guests to interact, it also has a grand mission and vision to build a more inclusive community. As a symbolic brand, the use of symbolism is of importance in strategy. A look on the symbolism of the brand Airbnb and its relation to consumer, corporate and society will be developed in the following paragraphs.
The term “symbolism” is related to different disciplines of
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Muniz and O 'Guinn (2001, p.412) first introduced brand community as “a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand”. Airbnb’s brand community is consisted of hosts and guests, where they leave feedback for their counterparts and share their Airbnb stories and experiences, be it good or bad, with their families or friends or post them on social platforms. Apart from some promotion materials curated by the brand, most of the contents on Airbnb are user-generated. They write stories, share them, comment on them and even promote the service. In Airbnb’s model, users are more engaged in the brand community. Far from merely making use of the community, they are growing it, making it robust, emotional and personal. These user-generated contents will build stronger and deeper brand-customer relationships (Van den, Bulte & Wuyts, 2007). Additionally, more interactions between users will emerge and gradually a sense of belonging and attachment will be strengthened, which means brand loyalty of those interacting users have risen to a new
People are often deceived by some famous brands, which they will buy as useless commodities to feel they are distinctive. People require brands to experience the feeling of being special. People spend their money to have something from famous brands, like a bag from Coach or Louis Vuitton which they think they need, yet all that is just people’s wants. Steve McKevitt claims that people give more thought on features or brands when they need to buy a product, “It might even be the case that you do need a phone to carry out your work and a car to get around in, but what brand it is and, to a large extent, what features it has are really just want” (McKevitt, 145), which that means people care about brands more than their needs. Having shoes from Louis Vuitton or shoes that cost $30 it is designed for the same use.
There is an undoubtedly enormous influence on the world by consumerism. Consumerism and capitalism shape the nation that we live in today. Everyone knows this because they see advertisements all day long on television, on the radio, on billboards and through hundreds of other mediums. Unfortunately, what the world is not exposed to is what goes on behind the marketing and the ultimate final sale. There is a dark side to capitalism created not only by shady merchants, but the worldwide multi-national companies as well. What both of these excerpts portray is the idea that there is more to the products we buy than we are told, or unfortunately, that we bother to ask about. Through the use of interviewing, traveling, and criticism, these authors do a fine job in analyzing the relationships between branding and marketing, and more importantly, between our modern day consumption habits and hidden production processes.
Love frequently entails several obstacles, and is not always as simplistic as it appears. This is a recurring theme in Romeo and Juliet, as the lovers go to great lengths for their relationship. They are not the only individuals involved, however, and many intervene in the situation. In effort to help their love, Friar Laurence creates a plan in hopes that the two will live happily together for the rest of their lives in Mantua. The Capulets, unaware of Juliet’s secret romance with Romeo Montague, attempt to arrange a marriage for her own benefit and believe that it will lead to her happiness. Both of these become obstacles in the way of Romeo and Juliet’s love and prove to be fatal, leading to the foreshadowed death of the couple. Although
In the New York Times article, The Oppressive Gospel of ‘Minimalism’, millennial Kyle Chayka expresses his disdain towards minimalism’s trend and increasing incorporation in everyday life, deeming it to be, “expensive and exclusively branded by and for the elite.” In other words, Chayka discerns minimalism to only appeal towards millennials who have the financial freedom to rely on instant purchases rather than stocking for emergencies. Nonetheless, his stance does not recognize that minimalism does not aim to throw away everything in possession, but rather concentrate value upon few items to gain clarity in its worth. Hence, minimalism techniques in marketing and product values do not aim to exclude those who can’t afford it, but instead aim for consumers to consider its value in a single product. Value does not stem from price alone, but rarity, material, artistic context, design, and underlying connotations factor into its worth. Therefore, these non-explicit components in minimalist items are not considered by critics such as Kyle Chayka, and are deemed unnecessarily high without any contemplation. Another criticism against minimalism’s use in marketing is that it doesn’t give enough information for audience’s to be on the same page with reality. The point of minimalism is that the lack of information gives audiences full control over their own interpretations, and administering it in advertisements strengthens consumers’ power. Rather than giving deliberate features of an item, a minimalist ad would highlight its strengths, but allow audiences to extract its importance, whether it be personal or objective. Additionally, minimalism is employed to extract a degree of materialism in product advertising, since readers have to extrapolate potential experiences from items rather than worry about the costs. According to sociologist Joel
In every given business, the name itself portrays different meanings. This serves as the reference point and sometimes the basis of customers on what to expect within the company. Since personality affects product image (Langmeyer & Shank, 1994), the presence of brand helps in the realization of this concept. Traditionally, brand is a symbolic manifestation of all the information connected with a company, product, or service (Nilson, 2003; Olin, 2003). A brand is typically composed of a name, logo, and other visual elements such as images, colors, and icons (Gillooley & Varley, 2001; Laforet & Saunders, 1994)). It is believed that a brand puts an impression to the consumer on what to expect to the product or service being offered (Mere, 1995). In other application, brand may be referred as trademark, which is legally appropriate term. The brand is the most powerful weapon in the market (LePla & Parker, 1999). Brands possess personality in which people associate their experience. Oftentimes, they are related to the core values the company executes.
This controversy is one of the reasons that share culture is so fascinating. Where is the balance between the benefit to the consumer and the loss of business to companies such as taxicabs, whose customers are being pulled toward other alternatives like Uber and Lyft? The pros and cons have been hotly debated, and even the legality of the sharing culture is in question. Airbnb home-owners are not subject to the room taxes hotels pay, which are a major source of revenue for cities like Los Angeles. Lyft and Uber were even issued a cease and desist order until their legality and licensing were established.
In Solomon’s words, “American dream encourages the desire to ‘arrive,’ to vault above the mass, it also fosters a desire to be popular, to ‘belong’.” (169) Advertiser whose “ads are aimed at a broader market” (169) are utilizing such kind of human mentality. For instance, Nike is a famous clothes brand to almost everybody. In its advertisement, there are always people in different genders, races and ages wearing Nike’s products running on streets, on riversides or in parks. Through its advertisement, Nike is trying to convey consumers that everyone is using Nike’s products, and you should be one of them. People want to fit in as part of most people, so they buy Nike’s products. Nike’s advertised products make people belong to it. If I were going to buy a new pair of shorts for running, I would consider of buying a pair of Nike shorts because it seems that so many people wear Nike shorts and I want to keep the same with them. People buy those advertised products to increase their senses of belonging, but they are losing their individuality at the same time. Despite many advertised products could decrease the individuality, some of them indeed make people more of
The hospitality industry in the United States is large, complex and intensely competitive. Within this industry is a segment comprised of hotels and motels, which will be the relevant sector for this marketing plan. To note, the hotel and motel industry in the United States had an estimated value of $137.5 billion as of the end of 2012 (MarketLine, 2012). The industry is forecasted to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2011 to 2016, to attain a value of $179.5 billion (MarketLine, 2012). In this industry, the most lucrative segment is leisure which has a market share of 71.1% (MarketLine, 2012). Sunshine Inn (fictional) is a small independent hotel that operates within the leisure segment of the hotel and motel industry in the United States. It is an adventure-themed hotel situated along the California-Nevada border in order to capture the tourist market for Lake Tahoe. Sunshine Inn has 30 bedrooms and 15 suites and offers specialty home-cooked type meals to guests for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It must be emphasized that the hotel and motel industry is one of the most fiercely competitive in the United States, and in fact, in the world (Johanson & Cho, 2009; Kosarkoska, 2010). Therefore, in order to compete with large hotel chains with five-star hotel rankings, Sunshine Inn will have to depend on strategic approaches, such as effectively targeting and positioning itself in the appropriate market, as well as developing a marketing plan that will promote the unique value propositions that only small, personalized hotels can provide: excellent customer service, customized adventure packages as well as a total customer experience that revolves around enjoyment, fun and discovery. As this marketing plan wi...
It has become impossible to avoid marketing and branding. Everywhere a consumer turns, they are being persuaded and influenced by all sorts of symbols, logos, slogans etc. These aspects of a brand create the culture we live in. “The effect, if not always the original intent, of advanced branding is to nudge the hosting culture into the background and make the brand the star. It is not to sponsor culture but to be the culture.” 30 no logo. Humanity has become one large sponsored event, making it impossible in order to escape.
Moreover, the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is considered the first international hotel brand in the world, as it began operations in the year 1946 (About InterContinental Hotels Group Brands, 2015). Over time the hotel group has evolved to encompass quality hotel rooms not only in North America, but in Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia-Pacific (IHG – InterContinental Hotels Group, 2015). In addition, they have acquired extended stay facilities and the Hualuxe Hotels & Resorts, which specifically “celebrates the essence of Chinese hospitality” (About InterContinental Hotels Group Brands, 2015). In my opinion, this shows that their target market has changed by expanding their scope of travel, which means they are traveling to farther and farther locations and require the familiar surroundings with equivalent product quality at the final destination. The InterContinental Hotels Group is in the fourth and final stage of the product life cycle, which is the decline stage (Editorial Board, 2014, p. 212). Indeed, the brands lengthy history indicates it has loyal customers, but its addition of innovations indicates the targeting of new customers for the organization, which are clear signs of a business in the decline stage of the product life cycle (Editorial Board, 2014, p.
Companies use a collection of brand equities to represent their products in the market (Voolnes, 2012). Brand equity refers to the commercial value that is derived from the perception of consumers on any given brand name of particular products in the market as opposed to the product itself. Ataman (2003) notes that the effect to the consumer is in the brand name and not the product itself. Companies use logos, trademarks and a collection of other symbols to present this information to the customers. The use of these symbols is meant to try and capture the customer mindset so that they can be thinking about the company products at all times through the items they possess at home (Estes, Gibbert, Guest, & Mazursk, 2012). This can well be explained by use of the customer-based brand equity model that brings together the requirements for a publicly renowned brand in the market.
bnb is core value is to be a host. The concept is or Airbnb is brilliant because it lets travelers experience the world through the people (the host). I have travelled independently and lived in hotels that an amazing experience, but when I used Airbnb my experience flourish to be being outstanding. It allowed me to learn the city through their people, meeting new people that turn into friends and it felt good to come home instead of feeling lonely when you return to a hotel room. I am absolutely love travelling, meeting new people, trying new food and learning something new everyday. My ultimate goal for me is to make a difference for a people and Airbnb is making difference. I am currently completing education HBA in a combined specialization
Nevertheless, one of the most important constants among all of us, regardless of our differences, is that, above all, we are buyers. We use or consume on a regular basis food, clothing, shelter, transportation, education, equipment, vacations, necessities, luxuries, services, and even ideas. As consumers, we play an essential role in the health of the economy; local, national and international. The purchase decision we make affect the requirement for basic raw materials, for transportation, for production, for banking; they affect the employment of employees and the growth of resources, the successfulness of some industries and the failure of others. In order to be successful in any business and specifically in today’s dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace, marketers need to know everything they can about consumers; what they are want, what they are think, how they are work, how they are spend their leisure time. They have to find out the personal and group influences that affect consumer decisions and how these decisions are made. In these days of ever-widening media choices, they need to not only identify their target audiences, but they have to know where and how to reach
Brand image is about how consumers perceive a product and the ability for the customers to be loyal to the brand irrespective of the threats from its competitors. Starbucks prides itself as the best coffee produce, and most consumers have been heard admitting that the company produces coffee that is quality and that makes users sometimes to consume even when they had not budgeted for it. Cleanliness seems to be another strategy that Starbucks uses to promote the image of its brands because customers can trust their products and knows that the company is keen enough in cleaning its environments and the utensils used for the preparation of coffee and other brands. Brand image is critical for measuring brand equity, and it is from this point of view that the company comes up with marketing and operational strategies to make it successful (Keller & Lehmann, 2006). Brand resonance is another important technique that should not be avoided because of its impact towards the study. The attachment that a consumer has to a product will help discover the relationship between a customer and a product. Identifying oneself with a product is only possible if the product is
People are buying the product which gives them prestige. Marketers have interest on consumer psychology and they are playing with every day by showing that their product will give prestige in the society. It’s true that the transparent societies now needs brands image. Marketers analyze the interest and needs of consumer than create the product according to the need of the society. Brand can attain the people attraction and the business can have the good reputation by giving satisfaction to consumer. If the brand gives satisfaction and function are according to the expectation of consumer than the brand gets good image on the mind of consumer. brand image is great weapon to use for the competitors it builds in years , at once the business gets brand image it has competitive edge from other brands in the market. When consumer rely on the brand the company can create the long term relation with the consumer, in other words (CRM) consumer relationship management. The brand image has effect on the choice of every individual there believe and attitude change their preferences. Brand image can be effected by price as price is an important part for consumer when they are making purchase decision if they find the value of brand is equal to the pricing they purchase that brand if not they refuse it. Similarly the image of brand can be effected by the attributes and features or