Breathing,Life,Into,Brands,102 business, insurance Breathing Life Into Brands

Small offices have unique needs, and thatincludes document shredding. Designed with the smaller business inmind, the Dahle 20314 is a cross-cut shredder that offers Level 3security and brings you into compliance with federal regulations. The As we all know to live in this world we have to perform some activity by which we can earn money. There are many activities by which we can earn money and meet the standards to live in this society. And from one of them is franchise.  Franc

1024x768 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}Anygiven retail chain or online store also develops its own ‘brand image’that can improve or deteriorate based on the overall shopping experience andmerchandise lines.  For example, in theearly years of online sales there were a number of absolutely livid Webshoppers whose purchases didn’t arrive in time for Christmas – those storebrands certainly suffered!   Now that time has healed the wounds and theretailers involved managed to revamp their systems and rebuild their serviceand delivery image, online sales continues to reach record numbers.   But rather than looking at it as a single company or brandthat is losing value, I would argue that when one brand is slipping more oftenthan not another is gaining.  An exampleof that would be the wireless handset industry – while Motorola lost its placeas a leader, BlackBerry held its own and now even new players such as Dell andGoogle are entering the market.  Youmight say the technology-driven cellular business bears little resemblance toyour specific retail sector, but the lesson is that there is a constant need tobuild and refresh a brand and not remain static.  While the phrase ‘death of brands’ has beenused, to die could imply a sudden and specific event.  Perhaps viewing a brand more in the context ofa relationship might be a better way to look at it – usually a series of thingshappens over a period of time that gradually erode or ‘tarnish’ one’s feelings.  Although your company might not devote as much specificattention to image as some of the big names do, each of your customers has adefinite impression of your ‘brand’ in terms of how they think and feel whenthey consider shopping at your store.  The value of your image continues to evolve (forbetter OR worse) over time, as do those of your competitors.  My key point is don’t take the relationship for granted!  If each and every aspect of your retailenvironment is not enhancing your customers’ image of your store, then you maybe giving them reason to consider shopping elsewhere. The current economy may lead some consumers to shop smarterand consider brand substitutes, but at the same time that doesn’t mean thatevery single shopper’s buying habits have changed completely or gone down-scale.  In fact, some consumers are actually takingthis as an opportunity to compensate for reduced consumption in certain areasby improving the quality of what they do purchase and prepare for thefuture!  This in turn may offer newopportunities for retailers who are better at observing and taking advantage ofshifting consumer habits, and who can then retain those customers over the longrun.   Even iconic store brands such as Wal-Mart are finding itnecessary to rethink and redesign their retail environment in an effort toprovide a more pleasant shopping experience and attract/retain customers, evenafter the absence of competitors such as K-Mart.  Wal-Mart’s ability to drastically lower shelfheights without reducing the number of SKUs was possible largely due to their already-existingsystems and well-honed supply chain.  Thereduced inventory without stock-outs helps improve their numbers and servesto reinforce their ‘low price leader’ brand!  Every item in a store may have had as many as adozen or more system and point of sale system interactions if you look acrossall functions from merchandise planning to ordering, stocking, and final sale,and every one of these point of sale systems works in tandem to support the store’sstrategy and brand image. The retail information system, (POS) itself has moved beyondbasic operational efficiency and become a critical tool to support rapid andaccurate merchandising decisions and the best possible consumer experience,both in-store and online.  Although asmaller chain may not have the economies of volume purchasing, almost everyother customer service feature or competitive advantage that the biggestcompanies have can now be matched or bettered by newer mid-tier POS systemsthat cost only a fraction of what the top-tier POS systems do.  So while planning your strategy and companybrand image, you should take into account the need to support your directionwith the tools and infrastructure that will allow you to compete on an equalfooting!