5C's(forces) analysis of a brand.

Strategic Brand Management (5 C Model) : The strategic planning for a brand starts with an understanding of an organizations business strategy. The business strategy is usually aimed at achieving particular consumer behavior. Only if consumers actually purchase, use goods (more often), pay a higher price or donate (more) will the objectives of a business strategy be met. These objectives may include a larger market share, increased returns, higher margins and increased shareholder value. Brands are designed to persuade consumers to exhibit the behavior that will make these objectives come true for the organization. Thus, the influence of business strategy upon brand strategy is direct and compelling. In order to formulate an effective strategy we propose the use of the five forces analysis of the brand. These are the five forces which are constantly acting upon the brand and shr inking its value. The success or failure of a brand will depend on the organizations response to each of these potential threats.

5 Cs analysis of a brand Competition Company Consumers Complements/Collaborators Culture/Context

First Force - COMPETITION: Brands face the threat of competition on a continuous basis. New products are being launched more frequently, each luring consumers away from the brand. In order to counter this threat, companies have to be innovating and evolving the underlying product represented by the brand and at the same time be boringly consistent about the value or promise that the brand is supposed to deliver. The bottomline is to deliver the promise or value represented by the brand better than anybody else. For example, a soap brand that promises freshness, should at all times communicate and deliver freshness. But the means by which that freshness is delivered can be changed over time through new formulations, new ingredients, new fragrance, new packaging etc. But the core value that the brand promises should never be changed or diluted. Substitutes are brands or products that do not provide the same value or promise that the concerned brand offers but something substantially different. Yet, these can act as substitutes that can erode the brands value. These disruptive brands have the potential to make any brand irrelevant.

The first step in countering this threat is to identify them. The following signals can help companies identify these substitutes. First and foremost, the company has to find out through standard techniques whether the brand value or market share for its own brand/product is dwindling or whether internal growth targets are not met. If yes, then the second question is whether this is in fact due to a competitor. A simple check on the competitor brands will provide that information. The next step is to look at what the potential/existing consumer is doing without the brand to solve his problem. This can be done through a market research survey. This step usually reveals the details of the substitute. The question of why we do not recommend the third step directly is irrelevant because of increasing costs involved with each step. Once the substitute is known, the decision of whether to dilute, extend or launch a new brand to counter this threat has to be considered by the company. This requires careful analysis and is beyond the scope of this paper, but to start with the following questions should be answered by the company. Does the substitute solve the consumers problem in a better way? Does it provide better value? Does its value proposition make mine irrelevant? What will happen if I position my brand to emulate his model? What will happen if I dont? What is the consumers perception of the substitu te? What is the best strategy for me to create a similar perception? Second Force - COMPANY: One of the main threats for brands especially successful ones does not come from outside but from inside i.e. from the company which owns the brand. Some of the greatest brand failures such as New Coke, Harley Davidson perfume, R.J Reynolds smokeless cigarettes, Fiat Palio, HM Ambassador etc. have been because this force more than any other force that we discuss. There are several reasons for the company to act a s a threat to its

own brand, the most important being the compelling need to satisfy short term financial goals. A simple idea to overcome this is to have long term brand commitments like a brand vision and mission. Any action that pushes the brand towards this medium term mission and long term vision should be undertaken and every other idea dismissed. Internal auditing of such decisions, 360 degree feedback mechanisms etc. can be employed to ensure compliance. Having such commitments clarifies internally what the brand stands for and helps the employees better understand and communicate the brand value outside. If possible, employees must experience the brand as a customer during training. It is important to communicate internally that every employee is part of what we call the brandosphere. This consists of the brand at the core, the other sister brands and company brand as the shell and every employee, partner, associate etc forming the outer covering. Every time the customer comes in contact with any o f the entities within the brandosphere, he forms an impression about the brand. The deeper is the contact within the brandosphere, the stronger is the impression created. Third Force - CONSUMERS Peter Drucker said, "The purpose of business is to find a cu stomer." Theodore Levitt elaborated that "the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer". However, today business is moving towards what Jason Jennings and Laurence Houghton said, "The purpose of business is to find, keep and grow the right cust omer." In fact, consumers are the sole reason for a brands existence. So how can these consumers be a threat? This is because of the declining loyalty of customers and their fast changing preferences. The "habit-driven" consumer, who was the bedrock of many "iconic, heritage" brands, might soon be an extinct segment. The first and foremost step for companies to find, create and retain consumers is to listen to them. Since a brand is based on perceived value and the only perception that matters is the cus tomer's and

the potential customer's, then the starting point is to find out what is of value to these people. This can be done by moving from existing CRM solutions that companies use wherein the company gets a 360 degree view of the customer to a model called Customer Experience Management (CEM) which is a customers 360 degree view of the company. The CEM system can be used to attain a complete perspective of the consumer. Once the company has an in-depth knowledge of the customers preferences, it can begin to work backward and focus on delivering the top priorities of the consumer. The bottom line being customer satisfaction and loyalty as these are, and will be, the drivers of long-term sustainable brand value. Fourth Force - COMPLEMENTS Brand complements are support brands that keep the consumer from switching from the brand. The presence of these acts as a barrier for potential new entrants into the brands value zone. These complements help in creating new customer experiences, thus satisfying the specific needs of individual customer groups without affecting the main brands core values. Examples for what we call brand complements are Fanta and Sprite for Coca Cola, the innumerable support software products for MS Windows etc. Fifth Force - CULTURE Culture or environment in which the brand exists is an important force that acts on the brand. The value conveyed by the brand was conceived in a certain cultural setting and this we say should not be changed. But, the cultural setting keeps changing all the time. The challenge for a brand is to maintain relevance in this changing environment. The key to success in this environment is to move the brand along with the consumer. Although the core value represented by the brand will not change, the way in which it reaches the consumer will have to change according to changing consumer culture. This includes the packaging, the brand communication delivery pipeline

(media), the PR activities of the company including its Corporate Social Responsibility activities etc.