Analyzing Effectiveness Of Branding Strategy Using Keller And Aaker's Brand Equity Model For Tesco

1.Examination of the effectiveness of current branding strategy of Tesco by using

.Keller and Aaker’s brand equity model

2.Discussion of Svend Hollensen’s Glocal theory in the context of international marketing strategy of Tesco and comparison of standardization and adoption model to the international marketing mix 

Tesco's Global Branding Strategy

(1) Tesco is a leading retail organization in UK. It operates in the global retail industry with huge number of customers. They sell their own product under the brand name Tesco. This is the first retail sector, which used the computerized selling technique to enhance the customer experience regarding their product. This organization focuses on the customer relationship management through using new branding strategy. At present, the competition in the retail industry is too high and there is a continuous threat of substitute product that is facing by different retailers in UK. In order to deal with this huge competition, Tesco has focused on global branding strategy.

Tesco is the first organization that has taken a step for establishing global branding strategy. They have taken this branding strategy for their ice-cream products and pet food products (Campaignlive.co.uk 2018). They want to expand these products in the global market. For this reason, they have taken global branding strategy. Tesco focuses on integrated branding for their brand promotion from marketing to CRM and CRM to in-store. Customer relationship management is their main focus, which can be fulfilled by using global branding strategy. Tesco has hired BBH advertising agency, which is a global advertising agency to explore their brand image. This agency is associated with the campaign and digital advertisement. Tesco focuses on the advertising campaign to manage the CRM through branding strategy. Their global branding strategy includes digital marketing and enhancement of the customer experience by customizing the advertisement.

 In order to develop the branding strategy digitalization in the advertisement, process is crucial for any organization (Washburn et al. 2015). Brand recognition, brand identity, brand positioning, brand personality and brand affinity are the major components of a global branding strategy. Tesco has taken global branding strategy for its brand Tesco Cornish Ice-cream (Tesco.com 2018). In order to promote this brand in the global market, brand reorganization is important for Tesco.

They have used the specific tagline Cornish Ice-cream, which helps the consumer to recognize this ice-cream product through its name. Next element of the global branding strategy is the brand identity. Tesco focused on social media advertising and enhancing the number of staffs in their every store to solve the query of the customers. They have opened a new checkout for their customers in the store where more than one person will be present to fulfill their query. Therefore, through the social media advertisement, they are able to improve their brand identity for Tesco Cornish Ice-cream.

Components of Global Branding Strategy: Brand Recognition, Brand Identity, Brand Positioning, Brand Personality, Brand Affinity

Brand positioning can be defined by the value proposition and identifying the target market (Washburn et al. 2015). Tesco’s Cornish ice-cream has high nutritional value thus it is healthy for the children. Their main target audience is teenagers and children for this particular brand. By delivering the product value Tesco will be able to strengthen their brand positioning in the global market.

Brand personality focuses on the emotions and attributes that are associated with a particular brand. Tesco has created a brand style guide for their brand Tesco Cornish ice-cream. This style guide includes voice, typography option, usage standards, and voice. Brand affinity is the most vital component of global branding strategy. Tesco needs to find out their customers and make a connection with them by showing the product value. This can be done by managing the customer relationship. For this reason, Tesco uses digital advertisement to improve their brand image among the customer domain.

Effectiveness of the branding strategy can be analyzed by using Keller brand equity model. Keller brand equity model is considered as the customer based brand equity model. This model allows an organization to carry out strategic brand management. Brand identity, brand meaning, brand meaning and brand resonance are the major four components of this model (Keller 2016). For Tesco, it is necessary for all customers to identify their brand from which they want to purchase the product. For this purpose, Tesco has used a unique name for their ice-cream product that is Tesco Cornish Ice-cream. This unique name helps the consumer to identify this brand and their product. This unique name allows the customer to classify the product of Tesco brand. 

Brand meaning is the second component of this model. It is important for Tesco to reveal their brand meaning towards the customers. Global branding strategy of Tesco leads them to express their brand meaning in the global consumer domain. Global branding strategy includes value proposition and identification of the target market. Through the value proposition, Tesco will be able to ensure their customers that their new product will meet their needs. Cornish ice-cream has high nutritional value, which is healthy for the children. In the recent years, people focuses on the healthy food products for their children and it is a current need of the market (San Martín et al. 2018). Hence, by using global branding strategy Tesco will be able to reveal the value of their new brand, which also meets the demand of the target market. By following this component of Keller model Tesco will be able to show a direct result of their product performance. This global branding strategy of Tesco meets the expectation of the customers by following Keller brand equity model.

The Keller Brand Equity Model

Brand response is another vital component of Keller brand equity model. Brand response focuses on the customer response as well as behavior towards a brand (Gómez et al. 2015). Customer response is categorized into judgment and feeling. However, customers judge a brand based on its quality. Therefore, customer measures the credibility of a product. Apart from this customer also focuses on the relevancy and superiority of the product. Tesco's global branding strategy includes brand affinity. In order to increase the brand affinity, Tesco gives their concern towards the products quality and superiority of their brand.

They offer high-quality food product with high nutritional value. This enables the customers to show positive response towards the brand by maximizing their attraction for the brand. On the other hand, global branding strategy helps Tesco to make their brand superior in the customer domain as their ice-cream product is healthy and unique among the other ice-cream products in the global market.

In order to increase the brand affinity, Tesco makes their product relevant to the customer demand. They make a combination of taste and health through providing ice-cream product (Tesco.com 2018). Global branding strategy helps this organization to develop their product based on the demand of international market. They are not limited to the home country and are able to meet the demand of current market through their global branding strategy.

Brand resonance is the most crucial component of Keller brand equity model. Brand resonance highlights the deep bonding of the customers with a bond (Gómez et al. 2015). Global branding strategy aims to improve the brand image through managing the customer relationship. Therefore, it also facilitates the brand affinity. Global branding strategy influences Tesco to make an effective communication with their global customers. This is done by using digital advertising through social media advertising.

Social media is an effective platform to connect a brand with the global market (Huang et al. 2015). By using social media campaign Tesco is able to review the feedbacks of the customers regarding their brand as well as product, which helps them to understand the exact trend and demand of the current market. As a result, they offer a product based on the current market need, which enhances customer loyalty and builds trust regarding their brand among the customer domain. This strengthens the CRM process in the context of Tesco by creating a strong bonding with their customers.

Brand Identity and Brand Meaning

Aaker’s brand equity model highlights the brand value of an organization. This model has four elements. The first element focuses on the brand as a product or perceived quality. This element includes product attributes, value and scope of the product (Tanveer, and Lodhi 2016). However, Tesco’s global branding strategy focuses on the product quality as the major purpose of this strategy is to improve the brand image in the global consumer domain. Therefore, they have used global branding strategy for Tesco Cornish ice-cream, which has high nutritional value. As a result, this product has a high scope to meet the needs of the current market.

Brand as organization or brand loyalty is the second component of this model. Brand loyalty refers to the addiction of people towards a brand. This contains local and global activities and organizational attributes. Global branding strategy for Cornish ice-cream is effective as it is made based on the demand of both local and national market. Brand as a person or brand association is the third element of Aaker’s model. Brand association is triggered by a particular brand and it is associated with the emotion of the customers with a brand. Hence, Tesco’s global branding strategy also supports this component as this strategy includes brand personality, which focuses on the emotion of the consumer towards the brand.

The most vital component of this model is use brand as a symbol. Or brand awareness. Brand awareness is a process to create a brand image among the consumers. This component also meets the principle of global branding strategy as good CRM is a major aspect of global branding strategy (Çifci et al. 2016). In order to use a brand as a symbol visual imagery is required. By using social media campaign Tesco is able to deliver the visual imagery of their product in the global market.

Digital advertisement is a basic component of the global branding strategy to manage customer relationship. Hence, Tesco's global branding strategy has a close relation with Keller and Aaker's brand equity model. Therefore, this branding strategy is helpful to improve the brand image of Tesco Cornish Ice-cream as well as the brand image of entire Tesco in the international market. Apart from this the other proprietary is the last element of this model, which focuses on the intellectual property rights of brand.

Brand Response and Brand Resonance

(2) Tesco has taken global branding strategy to expand their business in the international market. Their main target is to be global and leads their brand image to the international market. In the recent years “going global” is the main objective of every organization (Schlegelmilch 2016). Tesco is following this parameter to get a good position in the international retail industry. They have adapted joint venture or JV marketing technique as their international marketing strategy. They focus on making a joint venture with the local firms while entering a foreign country. Tesco is used this international strategy to become a market leader in the foreign country.

Svend Hollensden's Glocal theory is an effective theory of global marketing. This theory highlights the principles of global marketing. In the recent years, marketers follow the internet to get an easy entry in a foreign market. Svend Hollensen theory suggests capturing the all latest trends to make a business global (Hollensen and Møller 2017). This glocal theory highlights five components. The first components allow the organization to make a decision regarding the place where they want to internationalize. The second component is the identification of the market where an organization wants to establish their business. Third step of this theory includes market entry strategy and fourth stage includes designing of global marketing program. The fifth stage is to implement the global program. 

In the context of Tesco, their first step is to select the country where they want to introduce their brand through Tesco Cornish-ice-cream. After selecting the country they need to identify the markets where they want to penetrate. In this situation, their joint venture strategy will be helpful as it will allow them to make a partnership business with the local firms of the foreign country. Partnership business is a beneficial international strategy that allows the business organization to get local assistance for their foreign investment (Yasmeen and Viswanathan 2017).

Joint venture international strategy will be helpful for Tesco to deliver their brand information in a new market. However, for every organization, it is important to get local assistance while entering a foreign market. Hence, by using joint venture international strategy Tesco will be able to select proper market that will be effective for their brand and product.

The next step of Hollensen's theory is the market entry strategy. In the context of Tesco, their joint venture strategy is a good international strategy and it also helps this organization to get techniques from the local firms about how to enter in a market. However, the local firms have more ideas about the market. Hence, partnership working will enable Tesco to get an easy entry in the foreign market. In order to capture a market, it is crucial for an organization to carry out a market analysis to understand the current trend of the market (Harris 2015). Joint venture helps Tesco to collect market data from the local firms and to understand the need of the current market.

Conclusion

Therefore, Tesco needs to design their global marketing program. This can be done properly by partnership working. However, partnership working helps Tesco to get assistance from the local firms. As a result, they will be able to design their global marketing plan by taking help from the local partners. After that implementation of the global marketing program needs to be made successfully. This will be done by taking financial assistance from the partners in the context of Tesco.

Standardization and adaption model are two important models of global marketing strategy. Modern business has a great opportunity to maximize their revenue by introducing their business in the global market (Fang et al. 2016). Standardization is a cost-saving strategy while adaption model is a customer orientation strategy. By using standardization model Tesco will be able to gain competitive advantages by cutting the cost. On the other hand, adaption model will allow Tesco to establish a customer-oriented business in the global market.

In order to expense the business globally and to gain competitive advantages, cost reduction is necessary. Standardization is helpful to cut the cost and to compete in the international market. However, implementation of JV strategy is helpful to cut the investment cost as partnership working boosts the funding and reduce the operating cost.

On the other hand, adaption strategy allows the organization to offer product and service based on the customer's demand (Kraus et al. 2016). It can be said both standardization and adaption model have similar importance in international marketing, however, adaption model is quite more effective in comparison to standardization model. In order to get an entry in the global market, it is crucial for Tesco to develop a customer-oriented business, which can be done by following adaption model. Joint venture international marketing strategy is helpful to establish a customer-oriented business as the local partners will reveal the current market demands towards the foreign investors (Schlegelmilch 2016). This makes an easy way for Tesco to satisfy their target audience in a foreign market.

Standardization and adaption model has a great impact on the international marketing mix. Marketing mix includes product, place, price, and promotion (Kraus et al. 2016). Application of standardization model will help Tesco to cut the price, which attracts the customers in a foreign country. Standardization involves in generating same price, same range of product, same promotional and location strategy in the context of Tesco Cornish Ice-cream. Standardization includes cost-cutting process thus by using it Tesco will be able to cut the cost of their product innovation, pricing, advertisement and delivery location. Standardization focuses on the industrial type of product as industrial products have the same and are purchased for same reason all over the world. Therefore, standardization model allows Tesco to use promotional strategy that is effective for every country and low budget. For their Tesco, Cornish Ice-cream needs social media advertising for its promotion as it is used by every user and it is a low-cost advertisement.  

On the other hand, adaption model focuses on the changing aspect of product, price, place, and promotion based on the customer demand of a country (Pitt et al. 2015). For Tesco, they need to understand the behavior of the customers towards the food products where they want to introduce their brand. Based on the customer attitude they will develop their product feature. Therefore, they need to identify the social lifestyle as well as the income level of the consumer on a particular country as based on which they have to set their product price. Next, they need to detect the media that is effective to deliver the product message in particular location. For this reason, they can use social media marketing as social media is used by every customer in the recent years. Such promotional strategy is customer oriented and applicable to any country (Harris 2015). After that, they have to choose the delivery location or location for the product promotion where people mostly gather. Hence, to implement each element of adaption model needs joint venture strategy of Tesco. Such strategy will enable this organization to gather data from the local firms regarding the current demand of the customers in a particular country.  

Branding is a method of creating an image and unique name of a product in customer domain. Branding is carried out by an advertising campaign with a specific theme (Dinnie 2015). Business organization focuses on branding to retain their loyal customers and cover a large number of new customers. Branding is a vital principle of marketing. In order to create a good image of the product, business organization develops a new branding strategy. This study deals with the branding strategy of Tesco. However, Tesco focuses on campaign strategy for their brand promotion. They aim to establish a global branding to enhance their product sell and to improve their product image. Keller branding model and glocal theory will be used in this study to discuss the branding strategy of Tesco.

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