Role of Brands and Brand Communities

Question: Discuss about the Role of Brands and Brand Communities. Answer: Introduction The brand symbol forms the basis of a brand community. People's demand for the consumer goods and services affect their productivity making companies produce more to meet this demand. However, for the products to sell well in the market, intensive marketing campaigns on the companies products is required. The social-cultural compositions of the market significantly affect the marketing department and analysts of a company regarding what strategies to employ in reaching the market effectively. Different communities have developed strong loyalty and devotion to certain products, and this has created the basic of social interactions. The following essay explains the role of brands and brand communities, and clearly analysing the implications for brand managers. The Role of Brands and Brand Communities Brands and brand communities provide the society with transformative cultures and experiences with complex behaviours, attitudes, norms, and beliefs. The marketing department of a company should understand the social, cultural expectations of the community members surrounding their business (Greg Northcote, 2014). This is because, while some of the brand communities maintain loyalty to the consumption of a companies products, other communities do not brand their loyalty in an absolute sense. When marketing managers understand communities perspectives and expectations well, this results in making sound decisions regarding what products to produce and offer to the market appropriately. Brand communities form the basis under which the subsequent development and sustainability of the community are established. The implication of this aspect to the managers is that brand community may be of no importance in social dynamics that surround the community. A company's marketing plan should be adequately designed through the involvement of all the marketing staff in decisions making (Hatch, and Schultz, 2008). Practical understanding of the marketing mix may enable the marketing personnel generate the right products, affordable prices, and ensure timeliness in the delivery of the consumer goods in different communities. By this doing, the community is made a valuable asset in the sustainability and development of a company in its key market base. Brand communities create an acceptance of mainstream ideology over which it is differentiated from subcultures of consumption in the market. Every community has a different preference over a particular product; managers should, therefore, be sure of the social constructs of people that determine their demands, tastes, and preferences before supplying a given commodity to such a construct (Holt, 2006). Some communities show resistance to certain products something which necessitates the marketing managers to be aggressive in the commercialization strategies. The marketing team needs to be enthusiastic while creating media adverts as an alternative to entering new markets. Brand communities are established by the manner in which the society people exhibit self-awareness as well as understanding the relationship between the commercial sector and the community. The business environment is made up of conscious, materialistic, and fanatic members whose actions interrupt the marketing strategies of a company (Rosenbaum, 2013). For example, a motorcycle company advertising its vehicles in a market composed of people opposed to radio and television marketing creates a challenge in the selling of such products. Therefore, the marketing managers should advertise these types of vehicles through the newspapers or the internet so that the customers may be able to analyse which vehicles suit their preferences. Brand communities employ shared cultural markers defining a uniform affiliation for the oneness that builds around a particular brand. The brand communities establish different comparisons of products something that creates a challenge to the responsible managers of a company. For example, the market may be unclear regarding what product among two competing products of the firm id demanded most at a particular time (Prado vs. Marcedez Benz, Ferrari vs. Porsche, and Samsung vs. Apple). As a manager, one should seek to understand the myths and sentiments that the market has over a particular product (Leigh, Peters, and Shelton, 2006). After knowing this, it would be very easy for the marketing team to know what communication language to use in convincing people otherwise regarding a particular commodity. The moment the brand of consumer product ceases to thrive in the market, so the community stops to be. The firm branding of a product preceded the community's experience, and this establishes a secondary effect to the target market (Davidson, Mcneill, and Ferguson, 2007). As a manager, one should come up with policies of firmly positioning himself in the market and such strategies include; offering those consumer products that conform to the community's beliefs, improving the quality and quantity of the commodity, and educating the community on the use of the outputs. The manner by which companies diversifies their products and services is primarily determined by the type of community constructs within the market. Where there are greater chances of failure, most companies are reluctant in diversifying their brands. The marketing manager together with the team in a company should clearly understand the limit of brand power by not expanding its activities to those operations beyond their brand power (Cova, and White, 2010). The managers should cast a significant measure of doubt over its essential status when it comes to brand community. For example, football clubs managers prefer using one formation that suits its players, and that is entirely different from the opponents, this maintains a high fun base for the teams. The brand community dynamics elevates the role of marketing teams as the agents in the maintenance of the company's brand in a manner that is distinguishable from any other community (Pongsakornrungslip, and Schroeder, 2011). Where the brand community is not well understood by the community, there is a weak relationship between the company and the clients. Different dynamics of communities creates a challenge to the success of business in a particular market segment. To thrive in the market, the marketing team should employ sociologist who can advise them in understanding how different communities operate (Cova, Kozinets, and Shankar, 2007). The brand community helps managers in deciding what brand component should be incorporated into a whole range of the companies product sheets. Conclusion Strong brand establishes a unique dynamic in brand communities which distance the community from the aspect of production to the logic of consumption. Distinct brand formation to a companies products creates the basis of the success of a business in the marketing environment. 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