Professor Mohamed Zairi

Achieving Brand Dominance Professor Mohamed Zairi

The Question of Brand Dominance In a modern business context the power of competitiveness is no longer based on predictable business models that fulfil the basic needs and requirements of customers. Indeed the power of brand impact on the ability of businesses to position themselves and compete globally has become extremely evident. This is due to the fact that businesses are faced with more and more challenges to compete through attempting to fulfil the needs and requirements of their customers and where commoditisation has become the norm. Not only are customer needs changing on a regular basis and creating higher expectations and more demanding features and requirements but also the global implications of having to deal with different segments and different populations of customers. Whilst traditionally marketers are expected to create value that can translate into financial products for their companies by creating perceived differences in their products and services through a focus on branding and developing customer loyalty, it is now more evident that competitiveness is assessed through intangible assets as opposed to the traditional physical assets. The power of branding is found to be a strategy pursued by most businesses not only through their value but also through their increasing place in the lives of consumers. This is because a brand is a total sum of impressions associated with a particular provider of products and services. It is also the case that if the impressions created with consumers and customers are overwhelmingly good, former will and desire to create a close affiliation with their preferred brand and this is how the brand will endure and become the most important aspect of any particular company. Companies such as Sony, Samsung and Nokia spend an enormous amount of money to get their brands permanently etched in the minds of their customers and consumers because they have realised that what reverberates in the minds of their customers and what triggers their choices is their close affiliation and loyalty to the brand.