Better Product Branding: Possible Impovements

In order to stimulate a buyer’s response towards making a purchase, proper manipulation of the marketing mix is required. The following represents the four elements of the marketing mix: product, price, promotion, and place. Thus, as a General Manager of the restaurant business, product strategy is a major concern in relation to meeting the firm’s objective. In essence, the business has been experiencing difficulties in satisfying the customers’ needs because the firm is offering more for less. Consequently, through the market analysis performed in the various market segments, naming and branding pose a major risk in the sustainability of the restaurant operations; branding is not fully realized in the marketing plan, and it is clear that profits are reducing. In light of this, the following paragraphs explain how better product branding can enhance the Restaurant’s business operations in meeting the corporate objective. Since branding is what consumers, vendors, community, media, employees, and industry expectations, it is the most distinctive skill of professional marketers.

Marketers assert that “branding is the art and basis of marketing”. A brand is a term or a symbol that is used to identify the products of a firm and to distinguish them from those of competitors. It is important in the restaurant industry since much of the food products are purchased frequently, for instance, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, PF Chang’s, and Arby’s are some of the acknowledged brand names that act as trademarks of the manufactures of their respective products. The brand name is also viewed as a method of differentiation in global marketing.

According to Kotler, the benefits of branding for different markets can be experienced from various perspectives. To the restaurateurs: the brand name enables the company to process orders and track down problems easily, it provides lawful security of unique product features which can be imitated by a competitor, it offers a chance to attract a loyal and profitable set of customers and it enhances the companies corporate image. To the distributor: it makes the product easier to handle, helps in supplier identification, helps in holding production to a certain quality, and increases buyer preferences. To consumers: it helps them identify the product, for example, a brand name that tells something about food can be easily identified as a restaurant product, the brand name also help them identify quality differences and hence make proper buying decisions. To the media: brand name is seen as restaurant advertising, and thus improves the product differentiation and greater market share.

As a General Manager, there are various strategies to adopt in order to close the gap between what the restaurant owner promise and the execution of the promise. The brand name decisions include individual brand names for a single product, family brand, separate family names for all goods, and company trade names combined with individual product names. From the restaurant’s business perspective, the last option is much appropriate since the company name legitimizes it, and the individual name distinct the product.

Therefore, the desirable qualities of a good brand name include 1. it ought to imply something regarding the product’s benefits. 2. It should be simple to pronounce, identify and memorize. 3. It should be distinctive in its market position. And 4. It should avoid improper implications in other nations and languages. In essence, the brand name will leverage the restaurant marketing component into a unique selling proposition. From the above benefits, the business needs to adopt a new and better brand for the purpose of meeting the corporate objective.

References

Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management. Millennium Edition NY: Prentice Hall, 2003

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