Loyalty\' Three Aspects of Concept: Brand Experiences,

¶ … Loyalty'

"Three aspects of Concept: Brand Experiences, Brand Image and Customer Satisfaction.

I must discuss and give examples of how each brand inspires loyalty. Name a few brands.

The seven brands that inspire the most loyalty, according to business website ("Main Street") are the following:

Dunkin Donuts

Facebook

Cheerios

Apple computers

Sam Adams

The Yankees

Each of these fits the definition of brand experiences as conceptualized by Brakus et al. (2009) as something which consists of sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses. Each of these factors too is evoked by certain aspects of the brand's packaging such as environment, communication, and overall stimuli. Brand experience, therefore, according to Brakus et al. (2009) is synonymous to brand image which essentially consists of four dimensions: sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral. When each of these four concrete dimensions is fulfilled, customer loyalty is the end result since the customer has been satisfied in all sensory and evaluative dynamics.

Some of the 7 brands mentioned are easy to measure against these measurements. Some, such as Ford, for instance, are more arguable and may need other conditions. Apple computers, however, is a clear hit. Its aesthetic design and simple-to-use form, as well as unswerving utility produce satisfied consumers. It meets all dimensions of sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral. Dunkin Donuts portrays similar value wooing consumers with service, quality, and variety. One of the researchers releasing the report in fact attributes this to Dunkin Donuts loyal customers: "Today, value matters more than ever to consumers, and in terms of service and quality and variety, Dunkin' has been able to meet consumers' very high expectations in a tough marketplace," ("main Street," p.1).

Cheerios seems to have the most brand value of any cereal -- even more currently than Kellogg's.

One expert credited Cheerios' continued popularity among consumers to its message control. Cheerios continues to market itself as a product that's good for children and family, pushing its proven health benefits.

These messages resonate with consumers precisely due to the fact that they satisfy sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral factors.

At least one of these 7 brands relies on Country of Origin (COR) to heighten its appeal. COR refers to the fact where some brands are deliberately associated with certain countries so that the image of the country becomes associated with the brand. For instance, Germany has a certain reputation for efficiency and quality. Knowing that consumers may be more attracted to products that are associated to Germany by German name (for instance), some companies exploit that using image to craft their product. Other CORs include Japan and China, each of which has attractive associations too (Bilkey & Erik Nes, 1982). In this example, we have the Sam Adams beer which markets itself as brewed in Boston promoting associations of scholarliness, old time worldliness, American values, and, possibly, sports and culture.

The Country of Origin concept also has links to the idea of product being linked to a celebrity, for instance Nikes using Michael Johnson as celebrity to sell their footwear. The product thus becomes linked with the celebrity and induces more people to buy it. We have two examples of this occurrence in the 7 most popular brands where Ford certainly reminds us of one of America's most celebrated ornery individuals, (who was also extremely wealthy besides and had a reputation for conscientiousness and drive for quality), whilst the profile of the Yankees, according to "Main Street" stronger than that of any competitive team "is undoubtedly a result of their long and storied franchise history" (p.2). It is this association that evokes brand experience which leads to customer expectations and satisfaction. Culminating frequently in loyalty.

Each of these 7 brands has been packaged with its own identity but inevitably each evokes its own image or experience. The core difference between brand identity and brand image / experience is that the first is formed by the company whereas brand image is perception of the brand by consumer. The company tries to give the brand a certain message, e.g. tries to make Dunkin Donuts attractive to people by connecting it with a certain image. However, the image differs in that particular viewers may dissociate message from brand and not be affected by their advertisement. In a similar way, the company tries to makes their brand identity as telling consumer "who you really are"; but consumer may see it as company telling them who company thinks they are (or who they should be). The brand identity therefore is tactical and conducts research in attempting to predict consumers' tendencies, characteristics, and preferences. It looks ahead. Brand image, on the other hand, is subjective, particular (rather than general), and looks back (to subjective experience) in forming one's opinion about the brand (MSG; online).

Brand identity is active; the company invests enormous expense, thought, time, and effort into creating its brand. Image, on the other hand, is passive. It is the consumer's experience with the brand or his experience with image associations of brand.