For marketing perspective - Nov. 4<\/p>\n
Brand personality is key element in selling expensive cars<\/p>\n
Agus W. Soehadi
\nContributor
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Though not exactly crowding the streets of Jakarta or several
\nother major cities in Indonesia, a number of luxury cars, such as
\nJaguar, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Ferrari, are often found to be
\ncruising the city.<\/p>\n
This indicates that a demand for these extremely expensive
\ncars exists. Although the country's economic situation is yet to
\nrecover, the sales number of luxury items, including cars, has
\ngrown over the past few years.<\/p>\n
The buyers of these enviable items are but a fraction of the
\npopulation, the super-rich and the VVIPs. With little thought to
\nthe opinions of those who cannot afford such expensive items,
\nthey make the purchases with the notion that they have every
\nright to do so. Plus, all the expensive cars, some costing as
\nmuch as Rp 7 billion (about US$823,500) , suit their requirement
\nto "expose" or emanate their image and lifestyle.<\/p>\n
At first impression, based on the premium prices, the luxury
\ncar segment may seem attractive. However, to enter this segment
\nand survive there is far more difficult in comparison with lesser
\npriced cars. Among the difficulties encountered by marketers is
\nto communicate the right brand personality of their product and
\nmake it stick in the consumers' minds.<\/p>\n
Brand personality is undoubtedly one of the key elements in
\nmarketing luxurious cars successfully. Here, it is a combination
\nof both the personality of the product as well as the targeted
\ncustomer. In fact it is a kind of a positive symbiotic
\nrelationship. Hence, the endorsers -- celebrities, like artists,
\nsportsmen and so forth -- used for advertisements have to exude
\nthe appropriate brand personality to further strengthen it in the
\nminds of the customers. Ferrari cars, for example, uses the world
\nfamous racer Michael Schumacher. Obviously, his numerous
\nvictories contribute immensely to the car's image.<\/p>\n
Creating a product's personality, or brand personality, is
\nvery much akin to developing a relationship with someone very
\nclose, your friend, wife, children and so on. The emotional links
\nproduced by a brand through its tangible features and intangible
\nor abstract image is similar to ones that occur in the above
\nintimate relationships. This way the consumer has great empathy
\nfor the brand and thus remains loyal for a long time.<\/p>\n
The first step in deciding upon the right personality of a
\nbrand is for the marketer to hit on the brand's appropriate
\ncharacter. This process is similar to categorizing the brand
\nwithin qualities that sound like positive human qualities:
\ndependability, trustworthiness, friendliness, caring, fun-loving,
\nhelpful, sexy, rebellious, easy-going and so on. The process
\nincludes focusing on the target segment, identifying their needs
\nand desires and finally matching the brand personality with the
\ntarget profile.<\/p>\n
Step number two is building the right brand positioning for
\nthe targeted segment. For example, when a marketer decides that
\ntheir product is masculine, powerful and fast, then they should
\nrealize that they have narrowed down their potential customers.
\nOf course, while their decision will make their product appealing
\nto "machos" or "racers", they have knowingly not targeted those
\nwho prefer to "play it safe" or to be more precise, drive at
\nsafer speeds.<\/p>\n
The third step, which is no less important, is constant post
\nassessment or evaluation of brand performance. Take for example
\nthe results of a survey on two major banks in the country. The
\nquestion in the survey went something like this: "If the bank was
\na person, how will you describe their character?" The answers
\nfrom the respondents boiled down to a very conclusive image of
\neach bank. Bank A was thought to be sophisticated, arrogant,
\nefficient, self-centered, distant and disinterested. Bank B,
\nmeanwhile, was seen as being easy-going, modest, helpful, caring,
\napproachable and interested. To the question: "Which person
\n(meaning bank) will you choose to be your friend?" came the
\nexpected answer. More than 90 percent of the respondents
\npreferred Bank B.<\/p>\n
A valuable lesson from all this, especially the continuous
\nevaluation of a brand's personality, is that this special
\ncombination of the concrete and intangible aspects of a brand
\nmust completely fulfill the requirements of targeted customers.<\/p>\n
From the chosen and well-maintained brand personality all
\nsorts of communications paraphernalia are then born in one
\npositive synergy, such as the endorser and message theme,
\nincluding logo, slogan, jingle and so on. Indeed, it also
\nincludes the careful selection of the fitting advertising agency
\nwho can translate the marketer's vision for communications.<\/p>\n
The correct implementation of brand personality is even more
\ncrucial for extremely expensive items, like luxury cars. --
\nThe writer is chairman of the marketing faculty at Prasetiya
\nMulya Business School<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/for-marketing-perspective-nov-4-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}