Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Marketing Management - Essay Example It strengthens the retail distribution and it benefits the retailers in building strong store traffic and enhances the store image. However, over enthusiasm and wrong decisions can prove to be fatal to the brand and may fail to attract the customers. Brands are assets that are difficult to develop, maintain, and adapt. A brand goes beyond the name or a logo or a slogan. It is the customers’ perception of the stimulus when the brand is presented (Berry & Lampo, 2004). Brands are a manufacturer’s promise of quality to consumers. Brands function as insurance policies against the monetary and social/psychological losses facing the consumers when they purchase a product (DelVecchio, 2000). A brand is supposed to reduce risk and enhance the confidence of the consumer when he purchases a product. A consumer believes that when a company has undertaken to invest in a brand, the product would not be of inferior quality. Since they lack personal experience with the product, they go by the reputation of the brand name. It provides the customers with both observable and unobservable product attributes, reduces their anxiety and simplifies the shopping process (Srinivasan & Till, 2002). Brands names affect consumers’ perc eption about the product attributes in different ways. Brands reduce the perceived risks and the search cost for the consumers (Kayman & Arasli, 2007). When discussing about corporate brands, Aaker (2004), contends that brand plays the role of an endorser as in the case of Courtyard (by Marriott), MSN (by Microsoft), or Lion King (by Disney). The brand adds credibility to the products that reassures the buyer, especially when a new technology is involved. Corporate brands communicate the service quality as in the case of the Starwood brand which endorses several hotel chains – Westin, Sheraton, and St. Regis. In the hospitality industry brand owners can charge a premium price over rivals, they can maintain market share over rivals