Successful Branding
A critical examination of Customer Experience Management for Persona International
- Art: Diplomarbeit
- Autor: Antje Walliser
- Abgabedatum: Februar 2005
- Umfang: 102 Seiten
- Dateigröße: 689,7 KB
- Note: 1,5
- Institution / Hochschule: Hochschule Reutlingen - European School of Business Deutschland
- ISBN (eBook): 978-3-8324-9249-6
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ISBN (Paperback) :
978-3-8324-9249-6 P - ISBN (CD) :978-3-8324-9249-6 CD
- Sprache: Englisch
- Prämierung:
- Arbeit zitieren: Walliser, Antje Februar 2005: Successful Branding, Hamburg: Diplomica Verlag
- Schlagworte: Marketing, Marke, Markenwert, Brand, Smith and Wheeler
In den Warenkorb
98,00 €
Diplomarbeit von Antje Walliser
Abstract:
In a highly competitive business world, differentiation is an essential key to success for companies. Branding has been a long discussed method to create such a necessary competitive advantage, however an effective and smart branding approach is necessary to ensure success, as the quote of Richard Branson shows.
The American company Persona International, offering consulting tools and methodologies to their licensees, recognizes the importance of branding to stay ahead of competitors. Thus, it was decided to launch a branding initiative. The branding strategy Managing the Customer Experience by Smith and Wheeler was chosen by Persona, which is also sold in form of a tool designed by Shaun Smith, called “Customer Experience Management CEM”. The idea behind this theory is to establish and reinforce a brand by offering the customer an unforgettable experience with the product or service of the company.
Consequently, the brand promise is developed on basis of the customer expectations. As for Persona, two kinds of customers exist, one being their direct partners and the other being the clients of the partners, who are the end-users of the tools. It was decided that the branding initiative should be focused on the partners first, as they are mostly also aware of the needs and expectations of their clients.
However, the expectations of some end-users were to be explored by surveys to round up the view on the customer expectations. Is the Customer Experience Management (CEM) theory an optimized approach to branding or can any issues be identified which could be improved? How could any highlighted shortcomings be overcome? The following work examines these questions closer and analyzes them by means of literature and a critical examination in order to find responses and solutions for the posed questions. The link to the business world is established through the empirical testing of the brand development phase. Hereby a part of the CEM theory is applied and expert interviews and end-user surveys are conducted.
The aim of the critical evaluation of the branding strategy of Smith and Wheeler is to validate the branding approach and to find suggestions for possible improvements of the CEM theory and by testing one suggestion to facilitate the implementation of an optimized branding strategy for Persona.
Having set the aim of this thesis, the second chapter gives an introduction to branding in order to equip the reader with a basic understanding of the matter. It is described how multi-facetted branding can be defined and some historical background of branding is given. Thereafter, numerous benefits of branding are illustrated and finally, additional specific branding terms used in the thesis are explained.
Chapter 3 aims at a critical discussion of the Smith and Wheeler theory and to develop improvement suggestions of any shortcomings highlighted. Therefore different branding theories are introduced at first. The approaches differ in their focus during the brand development process and the brand implementation. The orientation can be on sources external of the organisation such as the customer or on internal sources such as the management and the employees. Smith and Wheeler represent such a rather external focus, Harris and De Chernatony propose an internal focus and Davis suggests a balanced internally and externally oriented approach. Subsequently, the three different approaches are compared concerning their views of brand development and the implementation process. On basis of the discussed theories, a critical examination of the Customer Experience Management theory is facilitated, supplemented by thoughts of the author.
The empirical part in chapter 4 puts the CEM approach in brand development into practice to validate it. In order to do so, the brand promise for Persona International, an American consulting tools and methodologies provider, is set up as Smith an Wheeler suggest based on their customers expectations. Research is conducted with the Persona licensees by means of interviews and with the licensee clients, the end-users of the tools by conducting surveys. To overcome one identified shortcoming of the theory, which is the necessity to align the brand promise with the company vision, mission and values is the task of the final empirical part. The suggested brand promise of Persona is tested against the Vision, Mission and Values of the company.
Chapter 5 summarizes the findings of the thesis in general and also regarding Persona International. Recommendations for further research and next action steps are given.
Zusammenfassung:
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit hat das Ziel, sich kritisch mit der Theorie Managing the Customer Experience von Smith und Wheeler auseinander zu setzen und diese empirisch zu prüfen.
Zunächst werden Branding-Theorien in Vergleich gestellt, die sich durch ihren unterschiedlichen Fokus innerhalb oder außerhalb der Organisation während der Markenentwicklung und Implementierung differenzieren. Smith und Wheeler schlagen dazu eine externe Orientierung während der Branderschaffung vor. Die Auswertung zeigt jedoch, dass ein zusätzlicher Fokus innerhalb der Organisation unentbehrlich ist.
Wie Harris und De Chernatony vorschlagen, sollten während der Markenentwicklung die Brand-Vision des Managements, sowie die Organisationskultur berücksichtigt werden. Dadurch kann die interne Annahme der Brand, Vermeidung von Widerstand und das Nutzen von internem Wissen erreicht werden.
Des Weiteren sind nach Davis die Vision, Mission und Werte des Unternehmens einzubeziehen. Fehlausrichtungen der Brand- und Firmenstrategie können negative Auswirkungen haben, wie zum Beispiel die Schwächung des strategischen Fokus. Nachdem der Markenentwicklungsprozess von Smith und Wheeler mittels Persona International empirisch getestet wurde, wird auf die identifizierten Schwachstellen der Theorie praktisch eingegangen.
Bei der Markenimplementierung empfehlen Smith und Wheeler das Schaffen einer unvergesslichen Erfahrung für den Kunden durch die Hilfe der Mitarbeiter. Dieser Ansatz wird als viel versprechend empfunden, da auf diese Weise starke Kundenloyalität erzielt werden kann, die wiederum ermöglicht, von allen Vorteilen einer starken Marke zu profitieren.
Table of Contents:
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS | VI | |
| LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES | VII | |
| ABSTRACT | VIII | |
| ZUSAMMENFASSUNG | IX | |
| 1. | INTRODUCTION | 1 |
| 1.1 | DEFINING THE TASK | 1 |
| 1.2 | THE AIM OF THE STUDY | 2 |
| 1.3 | THESIS OUTLINE | 2 |
| 2. | OUTLINE OF BRANDING | 4 |
| 2.1 | DEFINITION OF "BRANDING" | 4 |
| 2.2 | HISTORY OF BRANDING | 5 |
| 2.2 | THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING | 5 |
| 2.3 | DEFINITION OF FURTHER TERMS | 7 |
| 3. | DISCUSSION OF THEORIES ABOUT BRANDING | 8 |
| 3.1 | BRANDING WITH AN EXTERNAL FOCUS | 8 |
| 3.1.1 | The Trend towards Creating a Customer Experience | 8 |
| 3.1.2 | Introducing the Ideas of Smith and Wheeler | 9 |
| 3.1.3 | The Customer Experience Management Model | 13 |
| 3.2 | BRANDING WITH AN INTERNAL FOCUS | 16 |
| 3.2.1 | Developing an Internal Focus | 16 |
| 3.2.2 | Background of the Model by Harris and De Chernatony | 17 |
| 3.2.3 | The Brand Identity - Reputation Model | 18 |
| 3.3 | BRANDING WITH A BALANCED INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FOCUS | 20 |
| 3.3.1 | Introducing the Balanced Focus | 20 |
| 3.3.2 | Introducing the Underlying Ideas of Davis | 22 |
| 3.3.3 | The Brand Asset Management Model | 22 |
| 3.4 | COMPARISON OF THE THEORIES | 27 |
| 3.4.1 | Comparing the Focus during the Brand Development Process | 27 |
| 3.4.2 | Comparing the Focus when Implementing the Brand | 29 |
| 3.5 | CRITICAL EVALUATION OF CEM AND IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS | 30 |
| 3.5.1 | Suggested Focus when Developing the Brand | 30 |
| 3.5.2 | The Brand Promise and the Differentiation Strategy | 32 |
| 3.5.3 | Suggested Focus when Implementing the Brand | 33 |
| 3.5.4 | Illustrating the Balanced Approach | 34 |
| 4. | EMPIRICAL PART - PRACTICAL VALIDATION OF CEM | 35 |
| 4.1 | INTRODUCTION OF PERSONA INTERNATIONAL | 35 |
| 4.1.1 | The Company Persona International | 35 |
| 4.1.2 | The Products of Persona International | 37 |
| 4.1.3 | Vision, Mission and Values | 38 |
| 4.1.4 | Objectives of the Branding Initiative | 39 |
| 4.2 | METHODOLOGY OF PARTNER RESEARCH | 40 |
| 4.2.1 | Data collection | 40 |
| 4.2.2 | Sample Selection | 41 |
| 4.2.3 | Limitations | 41 |
| 4.2.4 | Data analysis | 42 |
| 4.3 | FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF THE RESEARCH WITH PARTNERS | 44 |
| 4.3.1 | Setting up and Evaluating the Expectation Map | 44 |
| 4.3.2 | The Brand Promise based on Partner Expectations | 49 |
| 4.4 | METHODOLOGY OF END-USER RESEARCH | 50 |
| 4.4.1 | Data Collection | 50 |
| 4.4.2 | Sample Selection | 51 |
| 4.4.3 | Limitations | 51 |
| 4.4.4 | Data Analysis | 52 |
| 4.5 | FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF THE END-USER RESEARCH | 54 |
| 4.5.1 | Findings of the End-user Research | 54 |
| 4.5.2 | Complementing the Brand Promise | 55 |
| 4.5.3 | Evaluating the Brand Promise | 55 |
| 4.6 | TESTING THE SHORTCOMINGS OF CEM | 56 |
| 4.6.1 | Employee Values and Assumptions | 56 |
| 4.6.2 | Alignment of Persona Vision, Mission, Values and Brand Promise | 57 |
| 5. | CONCLUSION | 60 |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 63 | |
| APPENDIX | 67 | |
| EIDESSTATTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG | 95 |
The following chapter puts the CEM approach in brand development into practice to validate it. This is done by setting up the brand promise for the company Persona International, which is subsequently introduced in detail. The brand promise is based on Persona’s customers expectations applying the process Smith and Wheeler suggest in the step Defining Customer Value of the CEM model76. Although the focus of this study and the Persona’s branding initiative is on the relationship with the partners, the expectations of the indirect customers i.e. endusers are also taken into account to ensure a comprehensive view on the expectations of all customer groups. In the end, the identified shortcomings of the CEM theory are referred to the business world of Persona. [...]
During the implementation process, Smith and Wheeler strongly emphasize the importance of employees, which shows an orientation internal of the organisation. In order, to enable employees to deliver the new brand promise, they have to be trained and get the tools at hand, which are needed to deliver the customer experience. New staff is recruited by skills necessary to deliver experience. However, there is also a strong external orientation, as the aim of the organization is to deliver the optimal experience to the customer. Harris and De Chernatony see the implementation of the brand as an evolving relationship between the customers and the brand, characterized by the brand personality values. As described before, the personality is affected from inside of the organization through the management brand vision and the organizational culture. Additionally, the brand communication takes partly place through employees. Therefore an internal focus can be recognized. The aim of branding according to Harris and De Chernatony is to establish a favourable brand reputation and to identify and narrow the gaps between the brand’s identity and its reputation. For Davis, implementing the brand is about positioning the brand in the mind of the customer, taking into account the internal brand vision and the external brand picture. Hereby it is emphasized that the employees bring the positioning alive. The brand mainly functions and is treated as an asset. [...]
This can be achieved through close contact with the customer by creating a customer culture, measuring and managing customer satisfaction and providing some unexpected extra service20. In accordance, Gregory and Sellers see the brand as a collective of perceptions of a company based on customer experience21 and Keller centres the brand experience and learning of the customer at the heart of brand equity22. This does not contradict Aaker, who considers brand loyalty to be at the heart of brand equity, as loyalty is created through positive experiences. Boston Consulting also recognized the trend towards a branded experience in order to deepen the relationship with the customers in 1997. Branding is considered to be about the total experience a customer has with the products or services23 hence all actions of the company have to be orchestrated to deliver such a highly differentiated and consistently positive experience24. Zeithaml explores this idea of a strong customer focus deeper and encourages to develop all strategies with an eye on the customer and to carry out all implementations understanding the impact they have on the customer25. [...]
In den Warenkorb
98,00 €
Link zur Arbeit:
http://www.diplom.de/ean/9783832492496
Arbeit zitieren:
Walliser, Antje Februar 2005: Successful Branding, Hamburg: Diplomica Verlag
Schlagworte:
Marketing, Marke, Markenwert, Brand, Smith and Wheeler
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