Driving brand performance

Driving brand performance

Bambang Bhakti, Marketing trainer, Jakarta

Today's challenge among marketing professionals
is to promote superior shareholder value though becoming a
leading profitable growth company in any product/service
category.

This is only possible if the respective brand gains customer
or consumer satisfaction that results in brand loyalty; purchase
loyalty and attitudinal loyalty are linking variables in the
chain of effects from brand trust and brand effect to brand
performance.

Purchase-loyal consumers may be willing to pay more for a
brand because they perceive some unique value in the brand that
no alternative can provide.

Price premium as a source of brand profit, therefore, is
obtained. This uniqueness, on the other hand, may derive from
greater trust in the reliability of a brand or from a more
favorable effect when customers or consumers use the brand.

When loyal consumers repeatedly purchase the brand, the market
share position is strengthened. Furthermore, because of affective
factors, loyal consumers may use more of the brand, that is, may
like using the brand or identity with its image. As a result of
greater customer or consumer loyalty, superior brand performance
outcomes such as greater market share and a premium price are
obvious.

The key terms here are purchase loyalty and attitudinal
loyalty that drive brand performance. Strategically, purchase
loyalty is driven by the unique value of the brand, while
attitudinal loyalty is driven by greater trust in brand
reliability and/or various affective factors.

These rational and emotional factors become the fundamental
frameworks in marketing program development, both in thematic and
schematic activities.

Entertainment, in the eyes of a marketing professional, has a
key role as an image-building vehicle to foster brand trust and
brand effect to serve as key determinants of brand loyalty or
brand commitment.

By definition, entertainment is a creative event to create
attention and create a positive feeling among a specific
audience. It has, however, a certain aura of image either being
entertainment for the general public or a specific segment of the
audience, or being entertainment for a high-quality or economy
entertainment performance.

From this entertainment matrix positioning, 'Joged at RCTI,
for example, is positioned in the quadrant of public general
audience with economy performance as opposed to Ananda Sukarlan,
Piano Resital, which is positioned in the quadrant of a specific
audience with a high-quality performance.

The Krisdayanti Show, on the other hand, is perceived to be in
the quadrant of public general audience with a high-quality
performance whilst Ketoprak Humor is positioned as for specific
audience with economy quality performance.

Depending on the brand communication objectives, an
entertainment program is selected. One brand may consistently
associate it with its brand positioning such as Gebyar BCA,
Telkomania, A Mild Music Programs being in the quadrant similar
to Krisdayanti Show, with high-quality performance.

The President of Djarum with Aning Katamsi, Pall Mall Wet
Party and Yamaha with Piano Resital are in the quadrant specific
segment audience with high-quality performance.

Contrary to this principle, Bank Mandiri seems to have been
linking its brand positioning to various entertainment programs,
which may dilute its brand image.

At one time, 'Bank Mandiri' can be seen through RCTI's Who
Wants to be Millionaire, while it is also seen at another event,
Tembang Kenangan and also associated with Indonesia Football
League.

Who Wants to be Millionaire seems appropriate for promoting a
positive image around the brand of Bank Mandiri. Tembang Kenangan
is very good entertainment. However, it is segmented for a mature
and "recreational" audience, while Indonesia Football League is
very popular, but perceived as low-quality performance, ruined by
the bonek (penniless football hooligans) image.

If we contrast the different approaches of BCA and Bank
Mandiri, from the perspective of purchase loyalty and attitudinal
loyalty, their brand trust are still being challenged. BCA is
still in the image transition from Salim Group to IBRA and soon
to "new" investors. Whilst this issue is only known by elite
groups of government, investors and politicians, BCA continues to
improve its brand image by focusing on improving customer
services through innovative technologies, and is seen as friendly
to most audiences.

In the case of Bank Mandiri, being a relatively new brand, its
key issues are brand awareness, brand trials, and brand
preference. A solid brand trust will have to be developed into a
new image in order to build purchase loyalty and attitudinal
loyalty.

Therefore, in addition to service or technology improvement
programs, a single focus image development with high repetitive
penetration into the customer's mind is needed.

Who Wants to be Millionaire is a good move, but "moving the
brand around" with embang Kenangan and Liga Sepak Bola will only
help them increase brand awareness, without directing the brand
image to the desired position.

Brands that make customers or consumers happy or joyful or
affectionate should prompt greater purchase and attitudinal
loyalty. People may not purchase the brands they "love" for their
high price and so forth.

In this respect, linking the brand with appropriate
entertainment programs should, therefore, promote purchase
loyalty and attitudinal loyalty as long as it is done
consistently with its brand objectives.

The McKids entertainment program on RCTI, screened late in the
afternoon every Saturday appeals to the purchase and attitudinal
loyalty of kids towards McDonalds products.

The key word here is appropriateness. An entertainment program
may be good but not necessarily appropriate to link to a certain
brand.

But not many brands capitalize on the power of the
entertainment industry. This is understandable because not every
entertainment program is designed to link the brand and its
targeted customers or consumers. Many entertainment programs
designed as "canned" or "off-the-peg", as if good for any brands,
however, do not consider the needs of a specific brand mission.

Designing an entertainment program for a specific brand
mission on the other hand, requires unique talent and motivation
amongst brand owners, especially top management.

If the top executive of the company does not have an
appreciation of entertainment and sees it as one of the strong,
powerful media to communicate the brand, then a "traditional"
approach toward brand communication is an obvious choice.

As this article was being written, the board of executives and
management team of BCA were attending a spectacular Gebyar BCA
aired by Indosiar directly from Hilton Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali.

It was a program designed for the audience by the BCA
management team with their partners in the media and
entertainment business.