Communicative and creative approaches in the formation of the competitive brand

The main function of modern marketing is the formation of such a relationship with customers that brings profit to a company and increases its competitiveness. Companies whose activities are not only aimed at maximizing profits but also to create value, to provide shareholders and employees are much greater wealth: an increase of its value, competitiveness, the future growth and the need of the product on the market. The company’s shareholder value is a reflection of effective marketing strategies aimed at the use of market opportunities and comparative advantages of both material intangible assetstoday [6]. The main intangible asset of the company is a brand that gives businesses additional benefits by:

• 1)    increase the profitability:

• •    price increases when customers trust the quality and attributes of the brand;

• •    increase sales are made for sale in the average market price but with the involvement of brand attributes to get more sales volume and market share;

• •    savings in the distribution of products through a network outlets;

• 2)    increase the brand value over time:

• • acceleration of cash flow when focused investment in brand development can increase shareholder value by generating cash flows faster than it was before;

• 3)    Risk reduction:

• •    resistance to attacks from competitors’ strong brands is increasing;

• •    inability to copy the strong brands while the products are easy to copy;

• •    brand attributes can create significant barriers to entry to competitors in the industry, thereby reducing the vulnerability of cash flow [2; 4].

What is a brand? Brand is an idea, a bright memorable image, and the system functional, emotional and expressive promises to target consumers through the marketing mix that are unique, meaningful, and difficult to imitate butwhich better meet their needs. Brands have the registration date. From that moment on, they become the property of the company. The brand is not born but created and this is his fundamental difference from the brand which only allows the user to identify the product in a number of others like him. Visibility, consumer confidence, contrast, supplemented associations turn brand into a brand. Differentiation is the result of the brand concept, a unique set of attributes constituting the value proposition[3].

To gain market share, brand must meet the following requirements:

• •    be embodied in goods, services and points of sale;

• •    be taken by people at the contact points;

• •    have a well-established system of communication;

• •    have a valid distribution system [8].

Brand name has the power to influence the market. This force increases the number of people who know about it, confident in it. The more people share the concept the stronger the brand and this differs from the trade mark [9].

For the founders of the company brand presence says about the possibilities of obtaining additional profits. Work in the company that owns well-known brands enhances motivation and pride of employees for their involvement in the brand which is a unique long-term competitive advantage, its creation requires investment, while at the same time, it pays off, as the brand is a long-term asset of the company. The main differences between strong brands are a clear identification of the generic purpose, individual characteristics, a set of values, and qualityof particular brand goods [7].

If we consider the Russian market at the present time, many brands are created by existing analogue and foreign products have only one competitive advantage. It is price. Compare the similar trademarks which simultaneously appeared in the Russian market: some had a clear strategy to build the brand while others competed mainly on price. To create a brand, you need to develop the concept of the brand which is the basis for all subsequent marketing mix [10].

The main task in the development of the concept of brand is to find a key idea which expresses the aspirations and expectations of the brand, which will be demanded by the target consumer audience. For the enterprise, it is important to pay attention to how you can better meet functional and emotional needs of the target audience. This requires constant monitoring of consumer preferences, trends, analyze unrealized consumer expectations as profits and to a greater extent the prospects for growth of the company related to the appreciation of the “hidden” waiting for their turn to consumer needs [1]. In markets where consumers are completely satisfied with your products, new standard products compete mainly on price.

An important set of works in the formation of the concept of the brand is to correctly identify the most valuable in terms of the needs of customers, to evaluate the structure of the market, its trends, and actions of key competitors to offer a product with a new added value. The most appropriate tool to identify “hidden” needs and unrealized expectations is a qualitative research. The main methods of data collection in qualitative research are group discussions (focus groups) and indepth interviews, provide information on:

• •    perception of the product categories of consumers, analysis of consumer preferences and settings;

• •    development of the category in retrospect and prospect, the opinion of the consumer;

• •    emotional and rational understanding of motivation in the category, the main incentives and barriers of product applications, determining the hierarchy of needs, typical situations of using products: frequency, volume, practices, methods, sharing and so on;

• •    segmentation of consumer categories, as well as buying behavior in them: the practice of consumption, factors of choice of means in the categories related to places to shop;

• •    assessing the overall customer satisfaction with the situation in the market, analysis of the perception of key players / brands and regard them [8].

The next step is checking the possible concepts for viability. This process consists of several stages.

• •    Phase study. It is linked to offer different scenarios for the brand concept. Defining the brand platform requires a cyclical manner with numerous exceptions and adjustments.

• •    Testing Phase. It is the time when the scripts are improved or eliminated. This requires the consumer study to assess safety and emotional withdrawal for each scenario. At this stage, there is a check of ideas and formulations. First, you can use the method of focus groups to get the data, and then conduct quantitative studies to verify the views of consumers identified in the qualitative research, and give a quantitative assessment.

• •    Strategic Assessment. It is implemented in the form of comparisons of the scenarios, based on certain criteria, followed by the economic evaluation of potential sales and revenue [3].

Once the concept is defined, it begins to develop brand positioning. Based on the fact that the brand should be a source of value, its positioning and the perception of consumers are the most important factors in creating real value.

Brand positioning means emphasizing the special characteristics that distinguish it from the competition and make it attractive to buyers. Underlying this analytic process is based on four questions:

• 1)    What does a brand exist for? The issue is linked with the promise that gives the brand, and benefits consumers;

• 2)    Who needs a brand? This issue is due to the aim of the company;

• 3)    What does a consumption situationof a brand name exist for? The issue is related to a situation where the goods will be consumed;

• 4)    Whodoesa branddirectedagainst? In today's environment, this question determines the main competitors [4].

Positioning is a very important concept. It recalls that consumers make choices on the basis of comparison, and is a two-step process:

• •    indicates which categories the brand should be associated and compared;

• •    identifies significant differences of the brand and its existing reason in comparison with other products and brands in the same category.

The purpose of positioning is to identify and provide the consumer with a serious reason for the purchase of a product that gives a real or perceived advantage. Positioning focused on the competition shows the best way to attack the market share taken by competitors, may change over time, as some companies are growing, expanding the field of competition.

The development of the key positioning ideas should focus on four factors:

• 1.    Relevance or demand. Strong brands establish a relationship with customers, meeting their needs and emotional needs.

• 2.    Differentiation. Strong brands added value of the company, ensuring that

• 3.    Trust. Ensure customer loyalty can only be on the condition that the brand is truthful and fulfills the promise.

• 4.    Flexibility. The success of the brand is not only its constant demand in a changing environment, but also the ability to market innovations. A strong brand is a step ahead of the competition [5].

it is opposed to the competition.

Thus, the first step in the formation of the brand positioningidea is indicators of its relevance and differentiation occurring during the study consuming needs, market conditions and the dynamics of the competitive environment. It is complemented by the information on the reliability and flexibility of the brand. So, it explores the idea in detail from the viewpoint of priorities, resources and goals of the organization.

When you select a reason for the positioning of the new brand a company should have a complete picture of the market, to know the current position of competing brands, especially those that are direct competitors, select the criterion for positioning and arguments to substantiate it, to see if it really has the potential personality which is necessary for the achievement of the selected position in the consumers’minds.