The factors considered so far have generally been developments from an
accountancy perspective. However there is a range of other significant
factors marketers perceive to be crucial in terms of judging the brands
potential value.
● Superior products and services: Brands that offer the consumer superior
products and/or services than competitors create greater value. Brands
that are perceived to deliver clear benefits to the consumer such as
quality, style or cheapness present the company with a clear asset in
the market.
● Country of origin: The identity of the country of origin can either attach
or deduct value from a brand. Association with Scotland is seen as
attaching value to fresh food products in countries such as France.
Association with Britain, however, has been deemed to have a nega-
tive image by consumers in certain market sectors such as telecommu-
nications. This resulted in organisations such as British Telecom
re-branding themselves as BT as a way of distancing themselves from
their country of origin and appearing more international. Conversely,
in the clothing market in the USA association with Britain is seen as
positive much to the benefit of brands such as Barbour (jackets, etc.)
and Church’s shoes.
● Market domination: The brand’s ability to gain extensive coverage in the
market, a dominant position in the distribution channels and the abil-
ity to command good shelf positions are all assets of considerable
value. Most of these attributes accompany brand leadership and
merely add to the potential that market position gives a brand. There
is some limited evidence however that affluent customers are now
moving away from the major brands as a way of standing out from the
crowd. In Japan there has even been the development of a retail cloth-
ing store, Seibu, successfully selling high quality clothing that carry no
branded labels.■ Strategic brand management
Successful brand development is reliant on far more than creating a strong
image through the marketing communication mix. This is the area of
which the consumer will be most aware but the less visible elements are
crucial ingredients in creating a strong brand (see Figure 9.10). Factors
such as providing product quality, continuous product development and
high levels of service are potential components of a successful brand yet
are not as visible as elements of the communications mix. Significantly
marketing communication skills are generally co-ordinated by agencies
outside the organisation, whilst the other components of successful brand
development have traditionally been reliant on the company’s internal
assets and competencies. However, a number of alternative approaches to
the structure and ownership of crucial elements of brand development
and delivery have emerged over the last 30 years. Organisations now are198 Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control