10.4 Brand management or CRM? 159
10.4
ates, through its capacity to evoke authority, identification, and social
approval), as well as the functional aspects of performance. In addition we can
show how "value" is created for consumers by comparison with other offers,
and how this results in perceptions of "value appeal."
Therefore, by comparing the brand with other brands or "offers" it is pos-
sible to determine, quantitatively, how well we are doing in a competitive
context.
This is something that is particularly difficult to do at a microlevel. We
cannot simply choose to ask a randomly generated sample of customers what
they think of our brand as compared with these other brands (each with their
associated product, service, and pricing bundles). There will always be a role,
therefore, for independent survey research helping to position brands, or sub-
brands, within a competitive landscape. The research is diagnostic; it allows
changes in the basket of attributes (emotional and physical) of a brand to be
altered to ensure that the offer is optimized.
Brand management or C RM?
So far, then, there's nothing new. Qualitative and quantitative research has a
key part to play in helping us understand how our brand ticks and can con-
tribute to an understanding of how our brand creates value in the minds of our
customers. It can also place our brand in a competitive context. Isn't thisjust
good old-fashioned brand management and should be in the traditional
domain of brand management?
Well, no. For the reasons illustrated in Figure 10.1 it is my assertion that
by adopting highly customer-oriented processes throughout an organization,
processes that embrace traditional marketing processes, will be essential to
close the loop. What would traditionally have fallen into the domain of brand
management now allows us, as custodians of the customer experience, to
Figure 10.1
Brand
management versus
CRM.
Brand Management CRM
Su,vey chnques /jl
I Chapter 10
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