MKT 301- Discussion 5

Running Head: BRANDING 1

BRANDING 3

Matthew McKay

Branding of a company or business is the difference of comparing yourself to other brands, what makes your business unique.  Establishing what makes your business unique is a very big key to making a business work.  Standing out and being able to take pride in your business is crucial and making all of your consumers extremely happy.  Drawing attention to a consumer and by marketing your product and service gabbing their eye and showing them why your number one compared to the competition.  This week the companies I would love to compare is Verizon vs T-mobile. 

Verizon is one of many cellular service providers but for some reason they are number one compared to all the competition.  If you ask why Verizon?  Because they are different, they provide grade A service around the world and you can make a phone call any where you go.  A lot fo other companies try to promote the same as Verizon but it’s never even close.  Verizon may be expensive, but well worth the dollar.  Verizon is the only cell phone company that provides 4 different unlimited plans out there, and companies like T-mobile only provide 2.  Verizon has a plan that fits every need for a consumer and even making sure they are ready for the future by adding a free true unlimited plan for 5G.  A lot of these companies do not even provide true 5G, Verizon was the first.  T-mobile is a company that programs the service to show 5G on a 4G phone which is false advertising and poor quality in service.  Verizon provides many additional features, such as Apple Music, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.  This company is giving you over $21 dollars a month in subscriptions for free on select plans, this doesn’t even explain how great of customer service they provide to you when you call and walk in to the store they make you feel wanted.   

T-mobile a very close competitor to Verizon, who takes a lot of business but a lot of people do not read the define print.  T-mobile has to be one of the greatest marketers I have ever seen, stealing a lot of business across the board. T-mobile does provide some excellent service and features by giving Apple Music, and Netflix the number one video streaming app in the world, but they also have many down falls compared to Verizon. T-mobile cannot even come close to the quality of Service that Verizon provides and also tries to mooch off of Verizons towers but cannot even compete because Verizon takes priority because they pay top dollar.  T-mobile does not provide grade A service and they typically only work in large city areas and that’s it.  You can only use a phone indoor on a wifi which is not what you should be paying for, and their plan disclosures are very misleading.  When marketing a product and especially between Cell companies you should really want to sell your service just like Verizon promotes.  You want honesty and trust, integrity is Verizons core value of their company and is extremely crucial to being successful in business.

Kalee Wade

Branding is defined as, "a marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol or design that is easily identifiable as belonging to the company. This helps to identify a product and distinguish it from other products and services." (Smithson, E. 2015)  We all have had experiences with certain brands of food, drinks, computers, cars, clothing, etc. that are either good or bad.  When we see a logo or hear a jingle from that brand it can bring back pleasant or unpleasant memories and will either lead us to purchase again or avoid.  Chick-Fil-A is a brand that brings joy to myself and my family for several reasons.  We live in a small, rural community and restaurant choices are limited.  When we travel we try to schedule it around a meal so that we can go through the drive-thru and enjoy.  We enjoy Chick-Fil-A because their service is usually quick, the staff is friendly, the food is delicious, they are closed on Sundays and holidays, and they stand behind the same values that we believe.  It seems that we are not alone, "The chicken chain rose to the No. 1 spot among fast-food chains in MBLM's 2019 Brand Intimacy study. The marketing agency analyzes people's emotional bonds with brands, surveying 6,200 people in the US, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates." (Taylor, K. 2019)  The quality of the chicken sandwich or the chicken nuggets is always top notch and you receive the same great experience at each restaurant.  A consumer can tell the culture behind the brand is a priority from the top.  It is easy to recognize the Chick-Fil-A logo and marketing because they often use a cow holding a sign saying "Eat Mor Chicken".  This clever advertisement originated in Texas in 1995 on a billboard and it has been seen by millions of individuals on everything imaginable such as water towers, drink cups, shirts, t.v., etc.  They have even started a special day for customers who can earn a free chicken sandwich if they dress up like a cow.  

In the small town in which we live we have a few fast food chains that are considered competitors of Chick-Fil-A.  The one that we often visit the most is McDonald's because it is convenient, cheap, and we really enjoy their french fries and sweet tea.  The enjoyment we receive after going through the drive thru is not nearly as good as if we visited our favorite chicken fast food chain.  The service is usually slow, the staff is not friendly, our order is usually wrong and their ice cream machine is always broken.  Unfortunately, we feel this way about all of their franchises whether we have had an experience with it or not.  For example, we were traveling to Orlando several weeks ago to visit family and it was near lunchtime.  We checked the signs at each exit to decide which one we would choose.  We kept hoping there was a Chick-Fil-A because we knew our experience would be great and the food would be delicious and we were not in the mood to deal with a bad experience at McDonald's.  We finally performed a Google search to find the nearest restaurant and were even willing to go a few miles out of the way in order to get what we wanted.  

It is important for a company to ensure that their branding sets them apart from the competitors and it should be one that makes a last impression on the customers.  It should be easily recognizable to the customer and allows for increased business.