The Marketing Mix: Products and Brands
A brand is simply a product but other dimensions are added to make it different from other products which are specifically designed to satisfy the same purpose (Kerin & Regan 2008). Any product can be branded in such a way that it attracts a particular group of customers. Advertising this brand name is also of very much importance. Porsche used this idea of branding to attract many customers and made the company to expand.
Porsche have brand image and core values which can best be described as sporty, good tradition and greater performance. The brand is prestigious, premium, luxurious with high level of awareness hence obtaining several loyal customers. Porsche and the management team successfully created a brand value in which they convinced the customers that there exist differences among brands in a product (Fournier, 1998).Porsche has a very unique brand personality which has made him compete effectively in the already crowded market. It has almost everything that a person might need in a product. These include: brand name which is powerful, their logo is recognizable, good price, high level of advertisement and loyalty (Kerin & Regan, 2008). This has made the predictability and security of demand to consumers easier. Barrier to entry into the market has also helped Porsche because it has high percentage of competition. Loyalty in this industry makes the customers to pay better prices for the products.
The reason why Porsche did not expand its brand image despite the favorable market conditions started when the new cayenne was being produced. There were several challenges in the production, launch and advertisement of this particular product. There were many people who were opposing the new Porsche products and they were not ready to accept the new brand from Porsche. Negative comments with very offensive contents came from traditional customers. This was a great blow back to Porsche mostly in terms of progress. However, Porsche later on did a very powerful advertisement and campaign for Cayenne which lead to higher profits (Fournier, 1998).The product was sold to people who were already aware of the comfort and reliability of the brand. This product was full of hybrid technology and in its category, Cayenne was the leader.
There are several lessons which can be learned in promoting any brand/product. No situation is permanent and products keeps on streaming in the markets as time goes by. Consumers look for products which can satisfy their needs and comfort. For one to remain relevant in the market for a long time, products must be changed either by introducing a new brand or improving on the already existing one (Rouffignac, 2010). Porsche managed to introduce new products such as Cayenne in order to remain relevant in the ever changing market.
Rebranding can also be done to make an old product new. This will attract more customers and retain them for a longer period. Advertisement is also a very important tool while promoting a product. It makes a brand to have high level of awareness hence more sales.
Conclusion
All in all, brand/product has close relationship with the consumers. Porsche managed to convince people who were already adamant to buy Cayenne through proper branding and advertisement. Among the four elements of marketing mix, brand/product is crucial since the customers are interested on what they want to buy (Rouffignac, 2010). Product might be expensive but it is of the quality that a customer wants, it will be automatically sold.
References
Cooper, L. (2010). Customer relations: The secret to a good customer relationship. Marketing Week. (October): 24-26.
Fournier S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 24: 4 (March).
Kerin, R. A., & Regan, R. (2008). Marketing mix decisions: new perspectives and practices. Chicago, Ill.: American Marketing Association.
Rouffignac, P. (2010). Packaging in the marketing mix. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
