Research Methodology
The purpose of this task is to provide a brief overview about the brand details of the company Next Plc. and how they created and maintained it. Brand is an important aspect of the business which helps them to create a long lasting relationship with its stakeholders and initiate sales in the market as well. Brand recognition in the market helps the company gain advantage over competition as well. Branding of the company and its products is now considered as an important which helps the company to maintain sustainability in their business functions as well. The below mentioned task discusses about brand value, promises and position of the brand in the market. Further it talks about the visual communication created by the company Next Plc. and narrative of the company as well. Brand experience of the customer and synergy between brand message and consumer perception is also discussed. Lastly the task discusses about three stages of branding with the help of which a company can easily create an identified brand in the market.
The NEXT retails chain store company was launched in the year 1982. The company deals in fashion apparels, shoes and accessories. The company has now in total more than 500 stores in UK and around 200 store in other 40 countries worldwide. More details about the brand equity of the company are discussed below:
In order to fully satisfy the requirements of this task information is gathered from both primary and secondary source. There are two types of information present in the task qualitative and quantitative, qualitative includes the interpretive research and behavior of various approaches used in the organization. Primary sources such as surveys are implemented in order to attain accurate information and secondary sources such as papers given by different newspaper article are used in the report.
Branding now days has emerged as a marketing strategy which helps all the business to successfully implement their aim and objective in the target market. Branding is considered as a strategic approach which is driven and managed by the CEO along with the senior management of the company. Further the fact shall be noted that all brands have their different value depending upon the position of the company and the objectives and strategies of the company. Talking about the company Next Plc. it shall be noted that the company is high street retailer which aims in creating high fashion brand apparels in the market (Baumgarth, Kaluza, and Lohrisch 2016). So, the company’s marketing strategies are programmed in such a way so as to create a premium brand for the company. Apart from product quality the company has created the brand value in the market by providing efficient on sale services to the customer which gives them pleasant experience while shopping. Thus with the help of these activities the company attained global identification as well. The fact shall be noted that market leadership and profitability of a product of a company is realized through the brand value. If they brand value of the company is good then definitely the company would be achieving adequate profits in the market like in the case of NEXT Company (Reddy, Reddy, and Venkatesulu 2016).
Brand Value
Brand promises refers to the promise which the company on behalf of their product promises to the customer that what is to be delivered by them. Further the brand promise of the NEXT Plc. is that they commit to offer beautiful, excellent quality products that are properly made, functional and safe. Also these products are sourced responsibly and it provides better level of satisfaction to the customers than expected. This is the promise which the company makes to the customer present in the market (Laforet 2015). Further it shall be noted that there are various marketing strategies implemented by the organization so as to correctly apply the brand promise in the target market. Customer satisfaction is the most important aspect which initiates the authenticity of the brand promise in the external environment.
Brand positioning refers to the preference of the customers to buy the products of the company instead of other competitors present in the market. This process ensures that all the brand activities of the company have common aim and portrays the brand promise as well. Further relating it to the brand position of the company NEXT Plc. it was evaluated that the company has positioned itself in the premium market by applying correct the brand promise in the market (Fahim 2016).
Visual communication refers to the ways through which an organization verbally or nonverbally communicates to the audience on a whole. The organization builds some attributes in the branding process which communicates to the target market and helps them to analyze the type of product which the company serves in the market. Further visual communication of bran includes aspects like design element, typography, logos, images, trademark etc. These attributes creates identification of brand in the market. Also many people judge the product served by the company on the basis of logos and typography of the brand produced by the company (Ahmad, Musa, and Harun 2016). Further the visual communication of the company NEXT is discussed below:
- Symbol: A symbol helps the buyers to memorize the company and easily differentiate it in the market. If any company has creative logo and symbol of their company then the customers will easily identify them in the market, also such symbols will attract new customers to purchase their products in the market. The logo of NEXT is simple and elegant which attracts the customers in the market. The company did not aimed for including creativity in their symbol which made the symbol more clear and simple. This feature gives the customers a view of authenticity of the company (Renton, et al., 2015). Thus the below mentioned gives positivity o customer while purchasing the products of the company as it clearly displays the name of the company. Further it shall also be noted that symbol is an important part of brand equity of the company, considering to this aspect the company created a clear brand symbol. As this symbol is easy for the customers to memorize the brand name and differentiate the brad characteristics as well (Armstrong, et al., 2015).
- Logo: Logos are strong part which gains the attention of the customers present in the market. Also the logos represent the relationship of the brand with the symbols as well. Logo is a part of the visual representation attempted by an organization. Further it shall be noted that it is mandatory for every organization to create their product which shall be identified and shall not be similar to logo of any other organization. Similarly in the logos can create confusion in the mind of customer while purchasing and product in the market (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy, and Pervan 2015). Thus, the logo of NEXT Plc. mentioned above is simple and sorted as well, it does not matches to the logo of any other company. The image is not confusing thus, by loo at the logo the customer easily gets to know about the brand and they choose it. The logo NEXT gives a clear vision to the customer about their product and it has all qualities of a good logo as well. Like, it is simple, unique and distinguished, it can be memorized easily. Also the name of the company is short and sweet which the logo is also so people do not find it easy to differentiate the product of the company in the market. The logos, slogan, icon (visual representation image of company communicating with customers) form a part of the trademark of the company. All these part collectively represent the company in the market and helps in the process of branding as well (Wang, et. al., 2017).
NEXT Plc. is a design, manufacturer and distributer of clothing and home furnishing in the market. The company holds nearly 576 NEXT retail stores worldwide and is now working in almost 70 countries worldwide through both offline and online means. The retail of the company was launched in the year 1982 and on the initial level the company opens its store exclusively for women only and in later years then started expanding their business by supplying their products for men and kids as well. This was later followed by home furnishing as well. The NEXT directory was introduced in the 1988 with a handbook contain total 350 pages which displayed a blueprint of the catalogue retailing (Lee, O’Cass, and Sok 2014). This book included all the latest fashion apparel and furnishing offered by the company. Later in the year 1999, the company opens their services online as well. All the products which were present in the directory were now available online as well. So, people can easily purchase products from there as well. Further the company continued to improve itself in the areas of service where required (NEXT Plc 2018).
Brand Promises
Source: (https://www.investis.co.uk/~/media/Images/I/Investis-UK/content-images/our-work/next/devices.png?h=537&la=en&w=673)
So, starting it from the beginning and talking about the history of the company is shall be noted that the company NEXT Plc. was opened in the year 1864 by Hepworth & Son, Gentleman’s Tailors in England. Further Hepworth purchased the chain of Kendalls rainwear shops to open their own personalized brand for women called NEXT. Furthermore in the year the company 1982 the first women wear store and later it became to 70 by the end of year. NEXT menswear was launched in the year 1984 with 52 menswear stores. Continuing to it the company also opens a store in Edinburg which included all of their products that is menswear, women wear, shoes and a café (Abrahams 2016). In 1985, the company opened their home furnishing store and another store for all products in London. 1986 was an important year when the parent company changed its name from J Hepworth & Son changes its name to NEXT plc., and acquired Grattan Plc. as well. Next child wear was launched in the year 1987 (Sinclair, and Keller 2017). David Jones was appointed as the CEO of the company in the year 1988 and also the company launched their Next directory as well. Further the brand strategy of the company was launched in the year 1993 stating that One Brand; Two Ways of Shopping by combining the fashion apparel and home furnishing stores. Till the end of the year 1994 the company had crossed the limit of 300 stores in total 16 countries (NEXT Plc 2018). Later in the year 2012, the company celebrated its 30 years jubilee and continued to move ahead in the target market. So, it shall be understood that the company created a brand image in the target market by repeatedly making its mission for growth so as to achieve the vision of the organization. Further people identified this brand in the market because of its exclusive fashionable product and long term growth and presence in the industry. Now the products of the company sold because of their brand image along with product differentiation (NEXT Plc 2018).
Every brand provides an experience to the customer on the basis of which image of the company or the brand is maintained in the target market. It all depends on the rationale of the customers on the basis of which the image of the company depends, like if the customer receives a pleasant experience from the services of the company then the company will gain reputation in the target market. Thus, it shall be noted that it is very important for an organization to evaluate the brand experience which is received to the customers through the services of the company in order to initiate growth of the company in the target market (Thompson, and McLarney 2017).
Brand Positioning
Source: (https://theolympiareport.com/2017/11/11/michael-j-roney-acquires-405-shares-of-next-plc-nxt-stock.html)
Further talking about the company NEXT it shall be noted that the narrative explains that the company is continuously aiming for growth in the industry in which they are present and they are receiving it as well. So, the customers perceive a good experience from the products and services of the company. The aspects on the basis of which the experience depends are not just the quality of the products but there are many other factors as well (Olenski 2015). Like, the services provided on the time of sales, post sales services, ambience of the store, quality of the product, prices offered to the customers, availability of the product etc. Thus, these are the factors on basis of which the customers attains experience from the company and on the basis of this experience only the image of the company is maintained in the market. And it shall be noted that as the company has adequately target their customers and provided them services in the market due to which the satisfaction level of customers increased and they attained growth in the market. Growth is another way of showing that the customers are happy with the services of the company provided in the target market (MSG 2018).
Looking at the relationship between the brand and customer perception it shall be noted that satisfaction level of the customer is directly linked to the brand image of the company. If the customers are not satisfied with the activities of the company initiated in the market then the company cannot move ahead in the target market. Brand message refer to the quotation which the organization provides to the customers on a whole on the basis of which the customers builds their expectations from the products and services provided by the company (Kelley, Sheehan, and Jugenheimer 2015). So, if the brand message of the company state that they provide economical product to the customer are minimal rats then the customer will create a perception that these products are low-level product which does not highly satisfies the requirements of the customers. So, in this way the perception of the customer is directly linked to brand message (Flint, Signori, and Golicic 2016).
Source: (https://issuu.com/ruthmarlow01/docs/individual_report_-_issuu_report_in)
As discussed above the brand message of NEXT Plc. is that they aim to provide excellent products and maximize the satisfaction level of the customers, so the perception which the customer of the NEXT create by looking at the brand message of the company is that the believe that the company will provide premium quality high fashion products in the market. If the company stands up the brand message or brand promise which they provide to the customers in the market then the satisfaction and experience of customers automatically increases. But if the company does not stand up to the expectation or perception of the customers then the customers receives negative experience in the target market. Also many times the customer create a wrong perception by looking at the rand message of the company like in case of NEXT the customer perceives that it is a rich brand and deliver costly products; but the services of the company shows reality to the customers on the basis of which their perception for the company changes. Thus, it shall be noted that perception is the stimuli of the brand message.
Next Plc.’s Visual Communication
Many times the marketers are inspired with the activities of different organization present in the market. The process of marketing helps an organization to repeatedly increase the brand image in the market. The initial way through which brand image of the company was built in the market was providing quality products and services to the market. After attaining a number of customers in the market the company initiated to maintained loyalty with them. This can be regarded as the best quality of the company that they are loyal towards their customers and stakeholders as well (Weiss 2014). After this the company focused on the maintaining the trust of the customers in the market. Trust is build when the customer receives services according to their expectation. So, the management analyzed the market and their perception about the brand and expectations as well. Further on the basis of this analysis the management provided services to the customers in the target market which matched to the expectation level of the customers and gained their trust as well. Thus in this way the company managed to maintain a brand image in the target market (NEXT Plc 2018).
The company NEXT shall implement improvement in their brand by adequately justifying with the brand promise mentioned in the market. Interaction with the customers is also an important aspect which the brand shall use in order to improve their image in the market. Further social media platform is the best platform to showcase the activities of a brand so the marketers shall adequately place their brand and attain success. Lastly, the website of the company shall have properties to increase the satisfaction of the customers as well (Keller 2015).
Conclusion and Recommendation
Thus in the limelight of above mentioned events the fact that shall be noted is that branding is an important tool which helps an organization to maintain their image in the target market. In marketing, branding is an important tool which helps the company to increase the sales in the target market. Further the above mentioned task discusses about the importance of branding in an organization and the factors affecting and influencing the brand in the market. NEXT is having identified brand image in the target market which helps them maximize the satisfaction level of customer and create value as well.
Further it shall be recommended to the brand that they shall know their audience and its demand in the market in order to succeed by correctly positioning themselves. Social media platform shall also be used to interact with the customer and know their issues as well. Thus, in this way the brand can achieve ore success in the target market.
Brand Creation of Next Plc
References
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