A Brand Community From Subcultures Of Consumption Like Harley Davidson Motorcycle Enthusiasts

A brand is what can either attract people to you or make people avoid you; people would identify you by the brand you portray. One can communicate their brand through actions and words. “It is essential to understand that wherever we are, in whatever we do, we are all building our brand”.

The definition of a brand has evolved over the years, giving it a variety of meanings. Williams (2000) defines it as ’a combination of names, slogans, logos, product design, packaging, advertising and marketing that together give particular products or services a physical, recognisable form’. Another definition describes a brand as ’a form of ’crystallised knowledge’ (Arvidsson 2005 p. 7). Brands can also use as a strategy to differentiate themselves from competitors, to potentially encourage the consumer to recognise and purchase their goods. Hart and Murphy (1998) points out that ’people have used brands and marks to distinguish products since the earliest times, dating back to 2000 BC’. According to research owners of cattle, slaves, timber and crockery would burn or brand they produce using markings or symbols, using a hot rod iron. The term branding originates from the Old Norse “Brand”, which means to burn (Kurtuldu, 2008).

A brand is a portfolio of qualities associated with a name, which in turn invokes certain images to individuals and hold values beyond the benefits of a product (Iacobucci, 2018). Brand association occurs when customers make a cognitive or emotional association with a particular brand. For instance, when a customer sees a certain color, symbol, logo, or name they automatically can make a connection to a particular brand. Brands start with a name that conveys information, suggest their benefits, or can even be named after their founders (Iacobucci, 2018). In the marketing perspective marketers can control the brand which they are marketing by using catching logos, colors, slogans, or even the products shape and appearance. In marketing a marketer can control the message they are trying to convey but cannot really have control over an individual’s association with that particular brand. Once a customer has an association with a particular brand they may favor the brand based on a past experience or even that individual’s sense of style or they may dislike a brand because of an association they

A brand is utilized by a company to differentiate its products from others in the market. Some techniques for accomplishing this are through the use of distinguishing

According to Holt (2004), a brand can be defined as a term, name or a design that distinguishes product or service of one manufacturer from others. Brands are normally utilized in advertising, business and marketing. In accounting terms, brand is an intangible asset which is present within every organization. It is most valuable asset that is outlined in the balance sheet of a company. Brands owners need to effectively manage their brands in order to enhance shareholder value. Brand valuation is an important technique that associates money with a brand. Effective branding often results into high sales volumes of a particular product. A customer who prefers a brand is more likely to choose other products which are offered by the same brand. Brand can be stated as a personality that facilitates identification of a company, product or service. It even encompasses relation with other constituents like customers, partners, investors, staff, etc. Individuals distinguish psychological aspect of a brand from experimental

Lederer and Hill’s Brand Portfolio Molecule analyzes an organization’s brand in a multidimensional view. Every organization should have a brand portfolio which categorizes how the organization identifies its goods and services in order to distinguish their product offerings from the competitors (Fortenberry, 2010, p. 76).

Manras (Brand and its Importance, 2011) defines brand as a sign, symbol, name, term or design or a mixture of them, which is designed to recognize the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from the competitors. Do not stop at tangible aspects, a brand also implies emotional one, such as personality, value, attitude and a story behind the brand.

A brand is an organisation, product or service which has created an emotional connection with their consumers in order for them to favour their brand over their competitors. It is incredibly important for brands to keep up their image and one little thing could change the global perception of a business. It takes a lot to maintain a brand image that has been built up over a long period of time and even more to regain it if that reputation is lost. Brands are created through various different aspects such as their visuals, tone of voice, advertising, actions and reputation. The combination of these will leave their consumers with long lasting emotions and perceptions of a particular brand and will effect whether they support a business or not and whether they would favour or avoid it. When a brand looses their image it can cost a lot of money and time to rebrand to prevent complete failure of the product or service.

2.More resources should be spent on the Posse Rides to meet the rising expectations of participants.

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”. However, as Keller highlights, a brand is also “something that has actually created a certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence, and so on in the marketplace”. Therefore, a brand is an identity created to differentiate itself from the competitors and to be remembered in consumer’s mind.

Since an increasing number of people focus on brand names instead of product, brands become important elements for customers to choose products (Carroll, 2008). When customers trust the brand, the benefits for the manufactures are generated. In the first place, brands can be used by products as the tool to identify and differentiate themselves from various products. Secondly, brands are helpful for companies to build a competitive advantage (Bick, 2009). Therefore, organisations take more attention to branding.

More specifically, theorists argue that a corporate brand should be closely aligned with the identity of the organization. Corporate brand communications may include symbolism and conventional communications such as advertising and PR. However, corporate branding also involves multiple stakeholders interacting with numerous staff in multiple departments across an organization it provides external stakeholders with information about the identity of the organization and if this information is not consistent with the advertised

Brand Community plays an important role too. As stated in the case study, Brand Communities eliminates the role of company’s marketing team and various agents. This might not be correct every time because even if the customer is not in the brand community then too he can get knowledge of brand through various kinds of marketing techniques such as advertisements. Brands are more important as compared to the Brand Communities. Brand Communities are secondary while the Brands are primary. The reason is, it is the Brand through which customer will be able to recognize a particular product and buy it. After buying that product if the customer is satisfied with it, he/she will be willing to buy that product again. It is then, when the customer will become a part of that particular Brand Community. For example, if we consider Apple, people are first attracted towards it due to its innovative thinking, its brand name and due to the designs of their products. But after they buy their products, for example iPhone, they are willing to buy iPhone every time when its new version is released. So, they will become the part of their Brand

The article, “When totems beget clans: The brand symbol as the defining marker of brand communities” by Greg Stratton and Jeremy Northcote discussed the differences of brand community with other type of communities. The next important thing is brand symbol which leads the reputation of brand community is not including just in totemic fashion and it raise the number of consumers. It also shows the brands and branded products’ market with new social trends. It is claimed that there are some precise features which set boundaries for a brand community to make it apart from other community structures and it has also a unique set of dynamics. The authors of totem beget clan paper discussed in it, about brand community’s expansion, characteristics, implications and marketing strategies. They explained it with some other writers’ views (Muniz O’Guinn (2001), Anthony Cohen (1985), O’Reilly (2012), Carlson (2008), Cova and Pace (2006), Burgh Govan (2007), Schau (2009), Holt (2004-2006)) and a number of examples such as Apple, BMW and Harley Davidson motorcycles which clearly defines all the views. In conclusion, they raise its importance and overlap it with other social figurations.

Marketing Management, 14e (Kotler/Keller) Chapter 9 Creating Brand Equity 1) The first step in the strategic brand management process is ________. A) measuring consumer brand loyalty B) identifying and establishing brand positioning C) planning and implementing brand marketing D) measuring and interpreting brand performance E) growing and sustaining brand value Answer: B Page Ref: 241 Objective: 1 AACSB: Analytic skills Difficulty: Easy 2) The American Marketing Association defines a ________ as "a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors." A) copyright B) trademark C) slogan D) brand E)