BRAND CRISES
Introduction
The concept of a brand pyramid is based on three main elements which go hand in hand to promote the overall brand image. These elements are; customers attitude, customer satisfaction, and brand reputation. Firms which seek to have a strong brand identity must, therefore, strategize on the management of these vital elements of branding. The three elements are interrelated in that they affect each other and the success of one facet is related to the other. These elements are explained below in details.
Attitudes
Customer attitude is based on the expectation due to his/her needs and the anticipated brand performance. Customer attitude can be created through a range of factors surrounding the customers. These factors include; past experience- a positive or a negative attitude can be formed due to the customers’ experience with a brand. When the product or service performance satisfied the client, they will tend to have a positive attitude towards the brand (Mitchell, Mark, Jolley, Janina 2012). Poor brand performance, however, will lead to the creation of a negative attitude towards the brand which will make the customers to distance themselves from the brand in the future. Social factors can also affect an individual attitude towards a brand. Some social norms may discourage or encourage association with a certain brand.
A brand which has been associated with the unethical practice, for instance, may face rejection from the host society. Due to this, customers will not like to be associated with it, those that associate with it might be termed as social rebels. In such situations, therefore, a brand will suffer from negative attitude from its consumers. H&M brand, for instance, was involved in a racist act during their advertisement. The racism behavior received strong criticism from the locals and thus forming a negative attitude about the brand. Another factor which can affect consumers attitude towards a brand is learning (Leedy & Paul 2015). When the consumers gain more knowledge about product benefits, hazards or even unethical behavior they tend to make decisions based on the knowledge acquired. consumers will have a positive attitude towards a brand which is associated with more benefits and have a negative attitude towards a brand which has been proofed to expose its clients to hazards. D&G brand, for instance, was engaged in an advertisement which undermined the Chinese culture, due to this the brand suffered brand image damage. An organization wishing to effectively manage their brand crises must focus their attention into ensuring the consumers have the right attitude towards the brand.
Customers satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is the fulfillment of customers need by a brand. Customer satisfaction occurs when the goods and services provided by an organization meets or surpasses customers expectations prior to the consumption of the products or service (Lee, Tsao, & Chang, 2015 p 680). Customer satisfaction, however, is not brought about by a single event in the service delivery to the customer but it created by a series of events and procedures in the service delivery process. customer satisfaction is based on various aspects such as; esteem, brand trust, and feeling towards the brand. The customer esteem determines the brand which they ought to associate with to maintain their individual esteem. The brand esteem is brought about the quality of the product, brand value as well as the brands competitive advantage. Brands with high quality will have high performance and thus they are at a better position to influence customer satisfaction. Brands of low quality have low esteem associated with them and thus it will be difficult for the brand to meet customers need and therefore they will command low customer satisfaction (Eskildsen, Kristensen & Steensen, 2007 p. 233).
Another concept which promotes customer satisfaction is trust towards the brand. A brand earns trust among its customers based on the way it undertakes its operations.
The ability of a brand to earn trust among its customers improves its capacity to influence customer satisfaction. Zara brand, for instance, failed in its advertisement on its trousers by using thin models. Due to this, the customers lost trust with the brand on delivering what they were promising. The consumers’ trust towards a brand shapes their expectations towards the brand performance. low trust towards a brand makes the customers expect less from the brand but when consumers have high trust in a given brand the consumers’ expectations will be high.
Another factor influencing customer satisfaction is customers feelings towards the brand. The feelings towards a brand determine what the customers can expect. H&M for instances engaged in a racist act during its advertisement. The behavior shaped the South Africans feelings towards the brand and their expectations towards the brand was racist discrimination.
Reputation
Brand reputation is the opinion that the consumers have about a brand. The organization’s reputation is based on its culture and overall organization behavior. A positive reputation creates a good brand positioning in the consumers’ mind. The reputation also creates a strong brand image which promotes brand performance (Dutta & Pullig, 2011 p1281). Strong brand positioning increases the consumers’ expectations from the brand thus promoting the brand performance. D&G, for instance, had a strong brand reputation before their brand image was destroyed by the wrong advertisement which showed disrespect to the Chinese people. Due to this, their reputation was destroyed which cost them a fortune as they had to cancel a show which they had heavily invested in. An organizations reputation can be affected by various factors which are; past experience, organization communication, business conduct, and media coverage.
The past experience with a brand affects the brands positioning in the mind of the consumers. Bad past experience with the brand ruins the brand’s reputation thus affecting the overall organization performance. H&M enjoyed a favorable reputation before the racist behavior affected their reputation. The current reputation of H&M however, suffers from the behavior with many potential customers avoiding the brand due to their past racist behavior. Previous loyal customers also might avoid association with the brand in the near future.
Business communication is another factor which affects brand reputation. Organization communication ensures that all the stakeholders are aware of the organization policies concerning reputation management. D&G for instance argued that their social media platform had been hacked and that what led to the release of the inappropriate messages. Through proper business communication, such information leakages would have been informed.
Social media is also a platform which has acquired high influence in reputation management for many organizations. Failure to effectively manage the social media exposes the organizations to hacking which may lead to reputation damage. The media also is an avenue through which many organizations receive feedback from their consumers. effective use of the media, therefore, will enable the organization to manage its reputation.
References
Dutta, S., & Pullig, C. (2011). The effectiveness of corporate responses to brand crises: The role of crisis type and response strategies. Journal of Business Research, 64(12), 1281-1287.
Eskildsen, J., Kristensen, K., & Steensen, E. (2007). Market structure, market strategy, and customer satisfaction. The Theories and Practices Of Organization Excellence: New Perspectives, 233.
Lee, C. Y., Tsao, C. H., & Chang, W. C. (2015). The relationship between attitude toward using and customer satisfaction with mobile application services: an empirical study from the life insurance industry. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 28(5), 680-697.
Leedy, Paul D. (2015) Practical research: planning and design 11th ed
Mitchell, Mark L.; Jolley, Janina M. (2012) Research design explained 8th ed Wadsworth Cengage Learning.