The importance of

communications on
brand success
SAAD ANJUM
University of Hertfordshire

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Introduction
According to Kitchen (2005) brand is explained as „name, word, gesture, representation, model,
or a merger of these, intended to recognise the goods or services of one seller or bunch of sellers,
and to distinguish them from those of rivals. Furthermore, he stated that brand is a set of verbal
or visual signs, and as such it is a part of a product‟s tangible features. However, Kotler &
Keller (2009) goes further than the basic brand principles and explains the brand as a product
that adds either rational and physical dimensions or symbolic, emotional and intangible or
untouchable dimensions that differentiate it from other products designed to fulfil the same need.
Moreover Hankinson (2006) states that brands are built so that managers can illustrate their
ideas, and images and visuals can be seen by customers to identify the differences. It is essential
to identify that both managers and customers are participating in branding as an approach by
which all parties are able to distinguish among alike offerings and affiliate to specific qualities of
feelings and emotions with a particular brand.

According to Pelsmacker et al (2004) in order to build a successful brand the brand name
should be easy to pronounce in every language there are some examples in which brand became
unsuccessful because of its name therefore; no generic words should be used. Moreover
Pelsmacker et al (2004) states that, successful brands have to be different, it should be
innovated, brand should have some added value attached with it and it should have a long term
integrated communication support for the customers. In simple words we can explain successful
brand as a brand that customer has the reason to prefer that over competitors it should be
sustainable so that competitors cannot copy and it should have an outstanding reputation for
quality. Brands like Tesco, Coke-cola and IBM are successful because they have sustainable
advantages over their competitors and they are maintaining their quality that is the reason
consumers prefer to buy these products as compare to the competitor‟s products. Furthermore
Yeshin (2003) states that let's say if, for a time being we can expose away the brand marks of
Levi, Kellogg, Cadbury or Mercedes, so we are left with the only commodity product shorn of
all the brand worth enclosed to their names. All the investments made by the companies over the
time of years through marketing communication have been wasted. It is the function of the

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companies to use proper mean of a communication channel to create an image and value in the
minds of consumer who can immediately on disclosure to the brand name.

Importance of Communications on Brand

Success
In earlier days marketing communication was a simple task for managers, most of the
investments made on communication was done through four major channels that were
advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and public relation which were in earlier days
known as above the line or below the line, in this simple approach communication was
controlled by managers and marketers. However in Mid-1990s new technologies like Internet
and World Wide Web came into being, along with digitalization came a huge number of
secondary devices such as iPods, Blackberries, smart phones and now there are social media
networking websites like , Facebook, Twitter and so on and so forth. These new communication
tools give more freedom to customers to interact with each other and the marketers. Consumers
were no longer act just like receivers of messages sent by marketing agencies and companies
through conventional media forms: customers who previously used to receive messages suddenly
became active communicator (Patti & Schultz, 2009).
Philips & Don (2003) argue that marketing communication is the most important
communication tools develop in the latest twentieth century. Majority of the theories, approaches
and contribution related to marketing communication are however very recent. It is very obvious
that now more and more organisations and companies are focusing more towards
communications as their main source of competitive advantage in order to interact with their
target audiences. Furthermore Philips & Don (2003) states that, as firms are started to expand
into new regions and expanding their portfolio of brands under one corporate umbrella. These
brands work as dominant assets to the organisation and they need to be guarded, natured, and
developed into worldwide brands and in some case shifted into global brands. However to
consumer the actual brand equity they hold is the knowledge companies or organisations provide
them about the brand they buy or the brand they use and in some cases they reject in overall what
customers think about a product, the company, services that company are providing and their
relationship with the brand. Moreover it can be expressed that what formulates and assists brand

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loyalty in order for a brand to be successful in market, the answer is very straightforward it is
communication and customer experience what make an ordinary brand into a successful brand.
And, indeed, through communication companies can mainly provide the knowledge the customer
has with the brand over time. Quality, customer services can also come under communications as
well as availability, price and so on.

Moreover Fill (2009) proclaims that communication plays a essential role in the growth of
brands and the medium by which products become brands and then successful brands, that is in
what way customers can perceive how a product is different and comprehend what a brand
stands for and what its benefits are. The methods in which marketing communications are used
to create brands is decided intentionally by the role that the brand is expected to play in
achieving organisation's goals. Chernatony and Riley (1998) claims that there are a number of
ways that market communications can help us in order to develop a successful brand. For
example, through communications we can show buyers how to get new benefits from the
established brand that have been moved or extended to the new brand. Further it might be able to
clarify each individual‟s role within the organisation. Communication with the target audience is
executed to prompt buyers, and strengthen their perceptions in order to defend market share.

According to Ghodeswar (2008), brand should have its own unique vision so that brand should
be noticed by its target customers. Positioning of the brand plays a vital role in creating its own
brand identity and, creating a communication theme which allows companies to set the
communication objectives clear such as what sort of messages should be played, how to achieve
brand differentiation and the theme that appeals to their target audience. Communication in the
form of creative advertising implemented helps the brand to break the noise and established a
strong impact on their target market.Difficulties faced by organizations in formulating a brand
are how to make their brand more obvious, to be recalled, to change the impression of the
customer if its negative, strengthen attitude and to create deep customer relationship (Aaker and
Joachimsthaler, 2000). In order to formulate unique image in consumer mind major channels of
communications such as advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, sponsorships,
endorsements, public relations, the Internet and integrated brand communication are used.
Successful brands are produced by using a creative repetition of communication theme in
different types of media. Emotions are one of the tools and technique used by marketers in

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advertising that pleads to the mind and hearts of the target audience, results it creates an
emotional relationship with their customer.
According to Keller (2009) successful brands always aim to keep up with competitors by
designing points of equality in those areas where competitors are trying to find an advantage
while at the same time creating points of difference to achieve advantages over competitors in
some other areas. For companies in order to make their brand well-known and successful it is
very important to make long term integrated communication strategies focusing on the brand‟s
value to the target audience The point that companies are communicating to their customers
should be rigid with the value of that brand, personality of the brand and other identity measures
for the specific brand. Successful brand supports the company in positioning and developing its
communication message to have a larger impact on the customer purchase processes.

One of the examples we can take in chocolate industry can be Cadbury Dairy Milk choclate.
Cadbury business operates in 200 countries and has 25 factories all over the world. Cadbury
advertisements are full of feelings, emotions, fun, and enthusiasm which help the brand in
attracting its target audience. In this way, a strong relationship is established with brand because
of its choice (Holt et al, 2004). Furthermore Goodwin et al (2010) stated that, by 2007 Cadbury
dairy milk was facing low sales and were losing relevance to younger generation so they came
up with the solution and created a production house by the name of „Glass and a Half full‟, the
production house came up with campaign such as „Gorilla‟ , „Eyebrows‟ and „Trucks‟. Where
they communicate with the audience by show similar themes related to the colour of Cadbury
and all the characters in the advertisements were enjoying what they are doing. The new
campaign communicates with the audience correctly and it helps Cadbury dairy milk to
reposition from a manufacturer of chocolate to a producer of joy. The whole campaign delivered
a master payback 171% greater than previous campaigns, with „Gorilla‟ alone payback £4.88 for
every £1 spent. Furthermore Jobber (2010) illustrated that Cadbury uses different modes of
communication techniques, apart from aggressive viral marketing Cadbury also focus on mobile
marketing where a total of 65 million Cadbury chocolate bar including dairy milk carried a
promotion inviting customers to “text and win”. The prize was worth 1 million pounds including
chances to win widescreen television, PlayStations, DVD players and Palm Pilots, and almost 5
million text responses were received this highly successful campaign and a proper use of
communication help Cadbury to boost sale.

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However, Doyle (2010) states that it is not adequate, brands have to be effectively merged with
the firm‟s other tangible and intangible resources, which can be the base for its key business
procedure by concentrating exclusively on customer value proposition managers can over invest
in brands. At times conveying wrong mode of communication or entering into new market with a
same communication message can lead the brand to disaster; for example the famous soft-drink
brand Pepsi experiences a negative impact on its brand value when they enter into Chinese
market with the same slogan of “Pepsi gives you zest for life” which was a successful slogan in
English market, but in Chinese translation this slogan means “Pepsi brings your ancestors back
from the grave”. This can be a classic example of how same communication message can lead to
disastrous advertisements. The consequence can only be a decreasing share price and the
separation of the company‟s corporate strategy. Moreover Doyle (2010) states that there are
some companies who are mainly concentrating on Innovation or adding value instead, or long
term integrated communication out of all the drivers in order to maintain their sustainability in
the market whereas most of the companies are maintaining all the drivers to build a successful
brands.

There are always pros and corns of communicating about your brand through different channels,
according to Kitchen et al (2004) it is very hard to measure the effectiveness of marketing
communication, Schultz & Kitchen (1997) raised concern that many marketing activities cannot
be measured which are run in order to build a successful image of a brand, and the value of
communication effects and impacts are even more shaky. Therefore, measurability of the
message conveyed to customer is the main concern of marketing communication. According to
Branding News (2012) Adam & Eve‟s horror theme advertise for Phones 4u was the most
complaint advert of 2011 according to Advertising standard authority but escaped censorship by
the watchdogs. The communication message in the form of television advertisements run by
Phones 4u displaying ghost like a girl inspired by movie “The Ring," got around 700 complains
from the viewing audience who believes that the series of ads to be very unpleasant, unreliable
and were scheduled inappropriate. Another campaign ran by Phone 4u during Easter, showing a
poster of Jesus Christ celebrating “miraculous deals” was the most complained communication
message to be found in breach of the advertising code.

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As the technology is moving so rapidly and now companies are moving towards social media
networking websites, Word of mouth has gone truly to world of mouth as companies are moving
towards Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. It can give huge advantages to companies, but it‟s also
essential to have association at the local level from people who can really comprehend the
market variations and language. We live in an era of globalisation, so it is compulsory that we
understand our world.

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Conclusion

The initial aim of marketing communication is to influence the impression of value and
behaviour related to the particular brand. The evolvement and spreading of marketing
communication are closely connected, rapid technological changes and the globalisation of brand
insisted the marketers to modify their strategies with changing marketing and communications
facts. The behavioural change of consumers in the world of 21st century where customers are
demanding more from the companies, communication has to shift from tactics to strategy. In the
quickly changing and very aggressive world of the twenty-first century only strategically
oriented communications can assist the business to flourished and the brand to be successful
within the company‟s portfolio.

The different modes of communications are very important in building a brand and to move that
brand into a successful brand in the market. Advertising are used in most of the time to build a
strong brand. To help customer make associations with brands either a rational, information
approach can be used or emotional approach can be used in advertising in order to build image
and feelings towards the particular brand. However globalisation of marketing communication
can still be a main hurdle for marketers as cultural difference will always exists and it will be
hard for companies to differentiate their campaigns for different cultures.

Communication in this era is no longer a mode of message through media, but communication
plays a vital role in creating a successful brand and providing information to consumers
whenever they need and where ever they need to have that information. But again cultural
difference may occurs and it will determine what type of information consumer wants and how
they want to access that information.

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