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International Marketing Matters


Branding for international success


Ceris Burns, international marketing specialist for the cleaning industry, takes a look at the importance and application of branding to aid success in overseas markets.


Why is branding important?


Ultimately brands are created to avoid the commoditisation of products and services which leads to purchasing decisions being made on price alone. The buyer expects to pay a premium for a number of perceived benefits from a recognised supplier or brand. Brands can lend a sense of authority to the purchasing decision and in some cases a particular product or service might even be specified by a company as it has been placed on their preferred supplier list. In this case branding helps lock out the competition.


International branding


Branding is the most visible of a company’s activities and this is even more the case when applied on an international scale. Branding allows customers to identify products and services across multiple markets which will guarantee their satisfaction as they provide specific benefits. These benefits might be based upon performance, price, quality or image. For the company, brands provide a point of differentiation from their competitor’s products and are also a way of adding value to the company. There is potential for the company to add value through one or more ways such as: premium pricing - brands allow higher prices to be charged compared with non-branded products; higher volumes - branded products can generate higher volumes if they are positioned at standard rather than premium price levels; lower costs - higher volumes lead to cost reduction from economies of scale which improves competitiveness; and improved use of assets - high sales levels should lead to the optimum use of assets such as equipment and supply and distribution channels.


Brand components and strategies


A brand can be made up of tangible (for example ‘product reliability’) and intangible (the purchaser experiences a specific feeling as a result, eg prudent decision making or professionalism) benefits. In business to business environments, decision making tends to be more rational and as such branding is created around product or service attributes such as specification and performance. A brand builds confidence with customers in situations where it might be difficult for them to assess the differences between competitor products. In international markets, due to different cultures, customer expectations and market development, the appeal of a branding approach may be more appropriate for a similar product. For example, in some cultures product or service attributes will be more important while in others aspirational branding may appeal. Another challenge for companies wishing to market their products overseas is to gauge to what extent the intangible benefits of branded products and services vary between countries, cultures and individuals.


When wishing to promote a brand overseas the first decision has to be which type of branding to adopt. There are several types of branding and these include: umbrella branding - one brand which supports several products; product branding - each product has a unique brand; line branding - a number of complementary products share the same concept; range branding - similar to line branding but includes a broader range of product concepts; sourcing branding - products are double branded with a corporate or range name and a product name; and private branding - products are supplied to a third party for sale under their own brand name. In recent times, in part due to the economic climate, there has been an increase in private branding because private brands are perceived as being value for money. Whichever strategy you decide to take, your choice is likely to be based upon whether the benefits of a shared identity outweigh the importance of differentiation between individual product brands.


Positioning


Positioning is related to brand strategy and implementation and is concerned with how a product or service is to be differentiated from the competition. In the case of international marketing it should be remembered that perceptions of certain aspects of a product’s positioning may vary across countries. It is also necessary to establish in the customer’s eyes exactly what the product stands for and how it differs from existing and future competition by creating an identity which clearly represents the value of the product. Differentiation could be based upon price, quality, product or service attributes, specific applications or even direct comparison with a competitor.


For more information about international branding or positioning contact Ceris Burns: ceris@cbimarketing.com.


July 2011 C&M7 Selden confirms major investment in clean energy


Selden Research has made a £250,000 investment in solar energy to help power its Buxton factory with pollution- free electricity. Selden is believed to be the first profes- sional cleaning sector manu- facturer to make large-scale use of on-site solar energy. The clean electricity installation, covering almost 1500 square metres of roof space above Selden’s factory, offices and warehouse, is one of the largest in the north of England. Green electricity generated by sunlight is sufficient to power filling lines for all pouch refills used in Selden’s new So System hand care dispensers - enabling zero carbon production of pouch refills for So System foaming soaps, skin cleansers and skin sanitisers. Super-concentrate pouch refills for Selden’s new controlled-dose IQ dispenser system, designed for large site


Andrew


Bingham MP, left, with Mark Woodhead, sales director of Selden.


innovation in both our manufacturing techniques and in our products


cleaning and to be launched later this summer, will also run on a zero carbon line. “As an industry whose products ensure everyone can live and work in a clean environment, our use of on- site clean energy to help make them is a natural step,” said Selden sales director Mark Woodhead. “We hope others will follow our lead.” More than 165 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved every year thanks to the clean electricity generated by the new solar panels which use the latest thin-film technology


and high-tech photovoltaic cells to operate in weak daylight and rain as well as strong sunshine. “Selden’s ongoing


commitment to innovation and the environment has been a key part of our success in recent years,” continued Woodhead. “We believe continuing to invest like this, even through the hard times, will pay dividends in terms of demonstrating consistent brand values as the economy recovers. Environmental protection remains a key issue for all of us. Through


themselves, Selden has made major contributions in recent years. For example, our solar energy outlay follows on from the £1 million investment we made in bulk raw ingredient storage tanks to minimise levels of in-bound raw material transportation and associated packaging while our new concentrate product lines require far less packaging and far fewer outward delivery journeys. In addition, we’ve reduced production waste by reclaiming and reprocessing chemicals from tank washings. The small amount of washings content that can’t be reclaimed is broken down in our bio- reactor which uses natural processes to biodegrade the residue into water and air.” www.selden.co.uk


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