The value of brands

Although branding is just one element in the marketing process, it helps create ‘top of the mind’ awareness of products and perceptions about the ‘values’ attributed to the products or to the reputation and capability of a service company. 

For successful enterprises, marketing is a company-wide, shared philosophy that places the needs and requirements of its consumer at the center of driving policy forward.  Much thought in marketing has evolved from business-to-consumer marketing where brand has a particularly high profile.  In business-to-business marketing we do not enjoy the huge advertising budgets that can be deployed by the ‘cola’ or ‘training shoe’ marketers generating brand-led demand through creating a desire for the perceived status their products confer on the consumer.  

So a different approach is needed that works at a level affordable to the typically much smaller, specialist companies in the global entertainment technology market. How customers perceive one supplier against another can be greatly influenced by brand and is why a premium price can be obtained because of the good feelings and confidence towards that brand. Brand is the identity that the company creates, the perception that its customers and competitors have of the company and importantly, the values that cause customers to purchase its products. 

Branding is a deep psychological penetration resulting from all aspects of a company's marketing strategy in creating an affinity for a product or service.  To be credible, a brand must reflect genuine values of an organization that buyers can identify as meeting their own aspirations and needs. Many brands have endured for years, because customers recognize consistency and continuity in the products that carry that brand name.  

This is extremely important for capital equipment plant where many consumers in the core of the market only purchase new technology every 15 to 20 years and will often stay with a particular brand despite more intriguing alternatives being available.   It is one of the primary duties of marketing to maintain and enhance the brand reputation.