Economics has always acknowledged the deflections of human or customer behaviour from what should be accepted as normal or natural. It is most commonly found in the trends of acquiring, what is known as luxury goods. Usual studies have come to come to conclusions that demand should be inversely proportional to it price of the commodity. Simply put, as the price of the good rises, its demand starts falling. However, diversion from this has been the result of the Bandwagon effect and the Veblen effect.
More and more people are succumbing to this form of buying where higher the price of the commodity, the more desirable it becomes. The basis of this statement has been built over a long period of time where advertisers and marketeers have chosen whether or not make their products niche or massy. Niche products are always wrapped in a garb of high social status. Therefore, nowadays when everyone is trying to go up the social ladder and hence get socially more accepted and influential, the Bandwagon Theory is more relevant than ever.
With trends changing every day, brands merging, companies shutting down due to low business during the lockdown, some brands names have outshone despite the situation. This has worked out because of years of brand building and safe-keeping of the brand loyalty.
As a Brand Manager, I have to first determine my target audience. Considering the research, most people are inclined towards high-end brands pertaining to their lofting social standing, I will also like to keep my branding in a way that more people loom up to the brand name. The brand messaging should stand out from its competitors. If I have a company that sells tea, it should be unique in some way. Since tea was a Chinese invention, we can emphasize on its authenticity by showing its history, give it a very grand look and feel. From the packaging to its taste and its message, all should be in a way that the consumers can look up to it. The availability of the tea has to be reduced; its price should be at par with the best quality tea in the market. Now, we cannot randomly afford to place a brand on a pedestal and not offer anything in return. There has to honest effort behind creating that aura around the product and the company name, the product has to be made out of top-quality ingredients, the company should not be involved any controversy that could spoil the prominence or influence. A customer base is also reliant on word of mouth, so once a defective product is sold under the name of the brand, covering up the dent becomes difficult. As a brand manager, one has to look into everything that goes out and comes of the company.
If we look at any high-end brand, for example, Gucci, Versace, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, and more, they do not have frequent displays of their brand. At this point, they have created a name for themselves and no number of commercials can help popularize it anymore, only lessen its standards. Similarly, a new brand to reach such heights will need considerable time, a pre-existing company or brand can launch a different line of productor sub brand that will have a niche customer base because the others already have a preceding reputation.
To conclude it all, a brand has to make the decision of their target audience and take steps depending on that. Once target audience is figured and the best quality product is set to sold, it is mandatory to boil down the message from and image of the brand. The research has already been carried out, so the need of the hour can be somewhat be deciphered. Acting upon it is the only thing that will help creating strong base.
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