D2C09 Identifying The Product/Brand To Be Marketed

Question 1

Stages of product life cycle

Answer 1

• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity or stabilisation
• Decline

Question 2

Marketing strategy for each phase of the prod life cycle

Answer 2

Introduction

• Focus on getting product into market,
• Gain recognition and reputation
• Distribution limited to a few carefully selected channels to begin with

Growth

• Aim at broader target market,
• Encourage strong growth
• Increasingly widely distributed

Stabilization

• Highlight the difference between the product and other competing products

Decline

• Extend life cycle Improving product
• Update packaging,
• Reduce price to make it more competitive
• Seek new markets

Question 3

Give the definition of branding, and describe its purpose

Answer 3

• CIM: the set of physical attributes of a product or service, together with the beliefs and expectations surrounding it
  
  • a unique combination which the name or the logo of the product or service should evoke in the mind of the audience

Purpose

• Seeks to move a product away from being a commodity
• so that consumers want to buy that product even if it costs more than the minimum possible price E.g. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc - Cloudy Bay compared with others
  *

Question 4

To be successful a brand must create a positive image in a consumer’s mind. Describe methods used to do this.

Answer 4

Substance

• Consistently deliver same level of quality and style E.g., Champagne NV

Consumer trust

• (Due to consistency) trust a brand to always give them what they want
  
  • E.g. supermarket own-brand wine- low-involvement consumers

Consumer engagement

• Consumer have a relationship with brand (ask for it by name)
• They feel the brand’s marketing strategy is aimed directly at them
• Changes need to be made very carefully

Brand story & what it covers

• Successful brands have a “story”
• Producer history - creates authenticity - link to place/time/product
• Where grapes grown (rocky/misty/special name? /resident animals?)
• How wine made - any philosophy or process
• Story behind name, label, bottle design
• Price, where wine is sold and how sold
• What other people say about the wine

Price premium

• many good brands command higher price
• Consumers view high price as a guarantee of quality

Longevity

• products associated with a long existence in the mkt (good ex in Champagne)

Strong brand name

• Is easy to to remember/ pronounce
• Translates well - e.g. of “mist” in German.
• May need to be adjusted for market (Lafite = La Fei in CN)
• Good to have reference to iconic geog feature
• Must be protected by trademark - beware China’s award to first ap,plicant, not first user
• Strength measured by? Brand equity is abstract concept, however many companies have consultants establish a value and they include this value on their balance sheet.

Brand Position

• Where a brand sits within a market and the indicators of that: value, standard, premium, super-premium
• Often linked to retail price
• Should be set at launch - can often be lowered to remain competitive, but seldom raised (except with significant work)!!
• Inexp end of market not a bad area - if that is be design. opport. for high vol….
• Some co’s have brands at various positions in the market (ladder….)

Private label brands

• found in various retail segments, benefit directly to the retailer (Sainsbury Tase the Difference)

Ladder Brands

• Give customers rungs to help them trade up to higher price / quality /expression of the brand
• 3 rungs:
  
  • Accessible (least expensive bought most often)
  • Stretch (affordable for special occasions)
  • Aspiring (most prestigous)
    
    • will be too expensive for the consumer but casts its “super-prem” glow over the entire ladder
  • ​​​This does not work for low-inv cons - they may recog. Accessible/Stretch but will not even know that Aspiration exists
  • Worst case scenario the entire ladder may be judged by the cheapest wine, result - higher levels just considered over-priced.

Soft Brand

• the cue that triggers choice of one product broadly over another, e.g. country of origin / GI or region / style / variety
  
  • e.g. Australian / Burgundy/ “oaky chardonnay”
• controversial - many dispute this as branding, others use it actively
• GI’s often set up to create a regional identity and actually promote wine (“Napa” / “Marlborough” )
  
  • example “Pouilly-Fume AOC” more likely to be remembered than a small producer’s name

Luxury Brands

• Similar to “fine wine” or “investment wine” - no definition
• Tend to be super-premium priced wines -few can afford
• Bordeaux Premier Cru Classe; Screaming Eagle
• Promote idea of scarcity: perceived
• Promote other assets such as fruit quality, vineyard, winemaking, rich heritage etc
• Promote the idea of luxury: sponsorship of exclusive and luxury events,
• Positioning in the most upmarket retailers / wine lists of fine dining restaurants

Question 5

Name some examples of where ladder brands work well and what wines might be featured in these brands.

Explain when and why ladder branding does not work.

Answer 5

Ladder branding can be well illustrated with certain champagne houses:

Accessible: Pol Roger non-vintage

Stretch : Pol Roger vintage

Aspirational : Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill

And then for Burgundy also one can illustrate this concept:

Accessible : Bourgogne Rouge,

Stretch : Gevrey-Chambertin

Aspirational : Le Chambertin Grand Cru

Ladder Branding does not work:

Low-involvement consumers

• Few will buy even the accessible range,
• They are unlikely to be aware that the aspirational wine exists
• WCS entire ladder is judged baded on accessible sample and the other tiers are simply considered overpriced.

Question 6

What are the worlds leading brands in 2017, and how is their status judged?

Answer 6

• Top 10, “Wine Intelligence”consumer user data from 21 markets.
• criteria: awareness / purchase / connection (or affinity)
• sales value was not used
  
  • Barefoot (USA)
  • Casillero del Diablo (Chile)
  • Carlo Rossi (USA)
  • Frontera (Chile)
  • Gallo family Vineyards (USA)
  • Gato Negro (Chile)
  • Jacobs Creek (Australia)
  • J P Chenet (France)
  • Mouton Cadet (France)
  • Yellow tail (Australia)

Question 7

List biggest champagne brands in 2016

Answer 7

• Moët &Chandon
• Veuve Clicquot
• Nicolas Feuillatte G.H.
• Mumm
• Laurent Perrier
• Taittinger
• Pommery
• Piper-Heidsieck
• Landon
• Canard-Duchene