I’m friends with Louie the Fly, not Mortein : conceptualising the new brand relationships on social media [Reprint]

Social media offers many opportunities for building brand relationships. One method of fostering relationships is to create a social media presence for the company spokes-character. Anecdotal evidence suggests that such a strategy can be very effective, though empirical research is needed. This paper reviews what is known and highlights a concern, based on analysis of the case of Louie the Fly and Mortein, that consumers may interact with characters as if they were separate to their parent brand. Hence positive associations with the character may not translate into positive brand outcomes. Following discussion, a model is proposed for testing.

Destination Brand Performance Measurement Over Time

With increasing investments being made in brand development by destination marketing organisations (DMO) since the 1990s, including rebranding and repositioning, more research is necessary to enhance understanding of how to effectively monitor destination brand performance over time. This chapter summarises key findings from a study of brand performance of a competitive set of destinations, in their most important market, between 2003 and 2012. Brand performance was measured from the perspective of consumer perceptions, based on the concept of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE). The results indicated almost no change in perceptions of the five destinations over the 10-year period. Due to the commonality of challenges faced by DMOs worldwide, it is suggested the CBBE hierarchy provides destination marketers with a practical tool for evaluating brand performance over time; in terms of measures of effectiveness of past marketing communications, as well as indicators of future performance.

Experiential brand deployment : improving tourism brand evaluations

This article examines the use of an experiential branding process to help leisure resort businesses evaluate their brand. We integrate experiential marketing and the quality function development approach in combination to help understand the brand from the perspectives of both the consumer and firm, to help resort service businesses build their experience-oriented competitive brands. The value of this study is that it provides a real-world brand framework, especially those resorts with limited resources. Much is spoken about the influence of the brand and why it is important, but little is known about decisions related to developing a brand, especially for firms that have limited resources such as resort tourism operators. Tourism operators tend to be small-to-medium enterprises that do not necessarily have the capacity to do everything suggested. Therefore, we explore how firms assess the critical elements of their brand by using an integrated approach. For example, the study finds that, first, by using the quality function development method resorts can identify the most critical brand elements, and second, we identify the associated strengths of each brand element and confirm the identified resort’s critical brand elements for investment. Results show the potential strategies to create a more holistic set of experiences.

Spinning a sustainable yarn : environmental sustainability and brand story in the Australian fashion industry

In the Australian fashion industry, few fashion brands have intervened in the design of their products or the systems around their product to tackle environmental pollution and waste. Instead, support of charities (whether social or environmental) has become conflated with sustainability in the eyes of the public. Thus it is difficult to assess with any accuracy fashion brands’ response to sustainability. This article aims to address this through proposing a categorization system to structure the various interventions that a company may make. This system is applied to two case studies, analysing campaigns that respond to environmental sustainability by two established Australian brands, Country Road and Billabong. The case studies demonstrate how the interventions employed by a company, at least in the Australian context, are carefully developed to align with their brand story, revealing the interplay between the intangible aspects of a brand’s positioning and the tangible, measurable impacts of their garments.

A comparison of the performance of a brand of broad-band and several brands of narrow-band bat detectors in two different habitat types.

The use of bat detectors to monitor bat activity is common. Although several papers have compared the performance of different brands, none have dealt with the effect of different habitats nor have they compared narrow- and broad-band detectors. In this study the performance of four brands of ultrasonic bat detector, including three narrowband and one broad-band model, were compared for their ability to detect a 40 kHz continuous sound of variable amplitude along 100 metre transects. Transects were laid out in two contrasting bat habitat types: grassland and forest. Results showed that the different brands of detector differed in their ability to detect the source in terms of maximum and minimum detectable distance of the source. The rate of sound degradation with distance as measured by each brand was also different. Significant differences were also found in the performance of different brands in open grassland versus deep forest. No significant differences were found within any brand of detector. Though not as sensitive as narrow-band detectors, broad-band models hold an advantage in their ability to identify species where several species are found sympatrically.

The trustworthy brand : effects of conclusion explicitness and persuasion awareness on consumer judgments

Two studies examine how a consumer’s awareness of marketing tactics influences the effectiveness of conclusion explicitness advertising (implicit, open-ended or explicit, closed-ended conclusions). Study 1 shows that persuasion awareness and conclusion explicitness influence brand evaluations. Persuasion aware consumers prefer implicit conclusions in comparative advertising that allow them to decide which brand is superior, rather than explicit conclusions which state the superior brand. Persuasion unaware consumers show no difference for conclusion explicitness. Brand trust mediates the results. Study 2 demonstrates the robustness of these effects. Research contributions include persuasion awareness as a moderator of conclusion explicitness effects and the role of trust as a mediator. For managers, results show how implicit conclusions can improve the brand evaluations of persuasion aware consumers.

SBS’s First Contact is the real ‘festering sore’ of the nation

The SBS/Blackfella Films production First Contact – that takes six non-Indigenous people and immerses them into Aboriginal Australia for the first time – captured the nation’s attention this week amassing a television audience nearing 1 million viewers, while the program’s Twitter hashtag #FirstContactSBS trended worldwide. Over the three episodes, we saw the participants get their “first contact” with Aboriginal Australia as they were welcomed into the homes of Aboriginal people in the city and in the bush...

Examining the role of wine brand love on brand loyalty: A multi-country comparison

This study develops and tests a model through a multi-country study that considers consumer wine knowledge and wine experience, wine brand trust and wine brand satisfaction as antecedents of wine brand love, and wine brand loyalty as a consequence of wine brand love. Data were collected in five wine-producing countries (Australia, Chile, France, Mexico and Portugal) with a final sample of 3462 completed surveys. Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling and the findings confirm the importance of brand love as both a mediator and direct influence on brand loyalty for wine consumers. Furthermore, brand satisfaction was positively and significantly related to brand love. In addition, wine experience, rather than wine knowledge, positively influenced brand trust and satisfaction. Finally, results also identify differences between countries thereby providing insights into how companies should focus their marketing strategies internationally.

Electronic games: Can they create value for the moderate drinking brand?

Purpose This paper aims to understand how experiential value can generate awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty to the moderate drinking brand. Electronic games are increasingly used by social marketers in an attempt to support target audiences uptake of social behaviours. However, little is known of the value this creates for target audiences and its impact on the uptake of a social behaviour brand. Design/methodology/approach A survey of male adolescents (n = 137) was conducted to test proposed relationships between experiential value and consumer-based brand equity dimensions. The research tested the game “Don’t Turn a Night Out into a Nightmare” that was developed by the Australian Federal Government as part of a social marketing campaign. Data were analysed using linear regression and MANCOVA. Findings The findings indicate that there are significant relationships between consumer-based brand equity dimensions for the social behaviour brand of moderate drinking, indicating relevance of a commercial marketing theory for social marketing. Furthermore, findings show that different combinations of experiential value dimensions have an impact on different components of consumer-based brand equity. These findings indicate that when social marketers are developing electronic games, they must create different combinations of value in game play to achieve awareness, positive image, high perceived quality and, ultimately, loyalty to a behaviour. Practical implications Social marketers seeking to use electronic games to influence the uptake of behaviour brands such as moderate drinking must provide a more complete value package. Originality/value This paper is the first to examine how experiential value can influence the creation of brand equity for a social behaviour brand.

Destination brand performance measurement over time: Tracking consumer perceptions of a competitive set of destinations over a 10 year period

There has been a paucity of research published in relation to the temporal aspect of destination image change over time. Given increasing investments in destination branding, research is needed to enhance understanding of how to monitor destination brand performance, of which destination image is the core construct, over time. This article reports the results of four studies tracking brand performance of a competitive set of five destinations, between 2003 and 2012. Results indicate minimal changes in perceptions held of the five destinations of interest over the 10 years, supporting the assertion of Gartner (1986) and Gartner and Hunt (1987) that destination image change will only occur slowly over time. While undertaken in Australia, the research approach provides DMOs in other parts of the world with a practical tool for evaluating brand performance over time; in terms of measures of effectiveness of past marketing communications, and indicators of future performance.

Conceptualizing and measuring brand relationship quality

Many consumer markets are now characterized by a high degree of market saturation and an increasing level of competition, in particular from retailer brands. Furthermore, consumers face an ever increasing level of product variety. For instance, about 30,000 new products in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market have been launched in Germany in a single year representing about 600 products per week. The increasing number of consumer brands thus has led to a form of “brand inflation” in FMCG markets. In addition, the role of consumers in the marketplace has changed as well. Consumers are more price sensitive, they have higher expectations with regard to product quality and customer service, and they rely rather on word-of-mouth communication than on traditional advertising. In addition, it appears that consumers have become more critical with regard to the perception of brands. High levels of price competition have led to a decreasing level of brand awareness and increased switching intentions of brands. As a consequence, the role of customer loyalty has become an increasingly important topic for businesses in consumer markets.

The valley of the dolls: Brand protection and artistic parody

In the case of Mattel Inc v Walking Mountain Productions, the toy doll manufacturer Mattel sought to prohibit a Utah photographer called Thomas Forsythe from producing and selling a series of 78 photographs entitled "Food Chain Barbie". The work had strong social and political overtones. The artist said that he chose to parody Barbie in his photographs because he wanted to challenge the beauty myth and the objectification of women. He observed: "Barbie is the most enduring of those products that feed on the insecurities of our beauty and perfection-obsessed consumer culture." The company Mattel argued that the photographs infringed its copyrights, trade marks, and trade dress. It was concerned that the artistic works would erode the brand of Barbie by wrongfully sexualising its blonde paragon of womanhood. However, Lew J of the Central District Court of California granted summary judgment for the photographer. The Court of Appeals upheld this verdict. Pregerson J held that the use of the manufacturer's copyrighted doll in parodic photographs constituted a fair use of copyright works. His Honour held that the use of manufacturer's "Barbie" mark and trade dress did not amount to trade mark infringement or dilution. This article provides a case commentary upon the Court of Appeals decision in Mattel Inc v Walking Mountain Productions, and its wider ramifications for the treatment of artistic parody under copyright law and trade mark law. It contends that the decision highlights the need for reform in Australian jurisprudence and legislation in respect of artistic parody.

No logo: Brand bullies, trade mark law, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a sweeping trade agreement, spanning the Pacific Rim, and covering an array of topics, including intellectual property. There has been much analysis of the recently leaked intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by WikiLeaks. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief, observed “The selective secrecy surrounding the TPP negotiations, which has let in a few cashed-up megacorps but excluded everyone else, reveals a telling fear of public scrutiny. By publishing this text we allow the public to engage in issues that will have such a fundamental impact on their lives.” Critical attention has focused upon the lack of transparency surrounding the agreement, copyright law and the digital economy; patent law, pharmaceutical drugs, and data protection; and the criminal procedures and penalties for trade secrets. The topic of trade mark law and related rights, such as internet domain names and geographical indications, deserves greater analysis.

Investigating how customer insights inform strategy leading to brand differentiation in the retail sector

Using qualitative research with case studies of firms in the Australian retail sector, this thesis explores the link between brand differentiation, customer insights, and strategy development to deliver a unique customer experience. The research focus is how brand expression is driven by customer insights. Findings indicate that customer experience is made tangible by the strategic design and alignment of the brand's expression and is crucial to retail success. A significant practical outcome is the development of the Brand Differentiated Model. Created as a tool to potentially assist retailers develop brands from the 'inside out' and confront future disruptions.