Provide a brand analysis report on Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3.

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Branding

A brand is a product or service whose dimensions differentiate it from other products or

services designed to satisfy the same needs (Kotler & Keller, 2015). The American

Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as "a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or

a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group

of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors" (AMA, 2017). Brands

identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers—either individuals or

organizations—to assign responsibility for its performance to a particular manufacturer or

distributor (Kotler & Keller, 2015).

Branding is a basic marketing decision in which a company uses a name, logo, symbol,

decision, phrase, or a combination of these to identify its products and services and

differentiate them from those of the competition. A brand name is any design, word,

sound, color, or shape, or combination of these that differentiates the company’s products

and services. Brand names may be spoken such as Aflac, or unspoken, such as Apple’s

logo. A trade name is a legal commercial name under which a company conducts its

business, like PepsiCo (Kerin & Hatley, 2017, p. 303).

A trademark shows that a company has legally registered is trade name or brand name,

and that it has its exclusive use, thus preventing other companies from using it. Good

trademarks such as Cartier, Armani, or Gucci help sell these companies’ products.

Counterfeit products, therefore, become an issue, as they basically steal sales from original

company, and tarnish its reputation (and brands) by purveying poor quality products (Kerin

& Hatley, 2017, p. 303).

Brands typically serve three main functions for the customer (Johansson, 2009), though

the application of these roles varies based on whether they relate to a hedonic or

utilitarian product:

a guide to evaluating the product or service

an icon, with emotional impact that affirms affinity and self-perception

Learning Topic

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a social statement, offering recognition among peers (conspicuous consumption)

Why are brands important? Imitative targeting of new product development makes

product differentiation difficult to sustain. Consumers learn that quality and features are

comparable across competitors, and the end result is that the only sustainable competitive

advantage is in the brand (Johansson, 2009).

We have seen how important brands are, and how they can be a company’s most precious

asset. However, marketing can also render a brand name generic (i.e., it becomes a

household name for any equivalent product). Consider Google, Aspirin, Kleenex, and

Band-Aid. Is this a good or bad thing? How can the company that owns the brand

differentiate its product in its marketing message? For example, does Johnson & Johnson

need to reestablish Band-Aid as the brand, and not the product? A point to ponder!

Resources

Consumer Response to Brand Placement in Movies: Investigating the Brand-

Event Fit (http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=bth&AN=116278128&site=eds-live&scope=site)

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility and Image on Brand Equity

(http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?

url=http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=bth&AN=119315980&site=eds-live&scope=site)

References

AMA (2017). Brand. Retrieved from

https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B

Johansson, J. (2009). Global marketing (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Kerin, R. & Hartley, S. (2017). Marketing (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2015). Marketing management (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Pearson.

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