owned by Ford and MG by the Chinese company Nanjing Automotive.
Ford recently also exercised its right to purchase the Rover brand name
rather than let either Shanghai Automotive or Nanjing Automotive gain
access to the brand name. Ford obviously felt that the Rover brand still
had value in the market and decided not to let that potential value fall
into a competitor’s hands. The aquisition of the Rover brand also pro-
tected the value of the Land Rover brand which Ford had previously
bought from previous owners of the Rover group.
● Globalisation: In order to create global brands, companies have also
rationalised domestic brands in particular markets. Mars changed the
name of Marathon chocolate bars in the UK to the Snickers brand
name in order to create a consistent brand image internationally.
● Weak brand management: Brands also falter through mediocre market-
ing, uncompetitive production costs or poor quality. It is an ignomini-
ous end for what should be the key asset of any organisation.
■ Summary
Targeting aims to align an organisation’s assets and competencies to
attractive market segments. Once these market segments have been iden-
tified an organisation has to decide how it will position its product in the
market, relative to the competition. One key aspect of this positioning
process is branding.
An organisation’s assets and competencies can be used to create new
products and services, to unlock the potential in market segments that are
not currently served, either by the company in question, or by companies
in general. Product development and innovation are critical issues to any
organisation and they are discussed in detail in Chapter 6.
■ References
Aaker, D., Managing Brand Equity, Free Press, New York, 1991.
Aaker, D., Strategic Market Management, 4th edn, Wiley, New York, 1995.
Buckley, A., The Essence of Services Marketing, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead,
1993.
Brown, L. and McDonald, M., Competitive Marketing Strategy for Europe, Kogan
Page, London, 1994.
Davidson, H., Even More Offensive Marketing, Penguin Books, London, 1997.
Hooley, G. H., Saunders, J. A. and Piercy, N. F., Marketing Strategy and Competitive
Positioning, 2nd edn, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1998.
Jobber, D., Principles and Practice of Marketing, McGraw Hill, Maidenhead, 1995.
Kapferer, J., Strategic Brand Management, 2nd edn, Kogan Page, London, 1997.
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J. and Wong, V., Principles of Marketing: The
European Edition, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1996.
Murphy, J. M., Branding: A Key Marketing Tool, 2nd edn, MacMillan, New York,
1991.
Targeting, positioning and brand strategy 209