Brand Obsolesce

Brand is a valuable intangible asset of an entity. It takes a large p of time to build up a brand. Reliability and permanence of a brand depends directly upon goodwill and performance of an entity. There may be slight variations in its value in monetary terms but marketing tools such as advertisements and word-of-mouth publicity can help in regaining its status. There is no particular reason for a brand to be obsolete once it’s built up in its entirety. A brand can only be successful if its owner company possesses some goodwill in the market.

A company’s goodwill depends upon factors like its past performance, integrity, objectivity and ethical values. These factors are mostly regulated by frameworks which possess legitimate power and it becomes a responsibility of a company to respond to the requirements of such frameworks. If a company succeeds in complying with the standards and other regulations, its goodwill becomes stable. Once a company’s goodwill is established, it keeps growing with the passage of time. A quite familiar example might be of a very successful brand, Coca Cola.

This brand has been around since 1944 and it’s getting more and more successful by the minute. There have been slight variations in its value, but such variations did not hamper its growth. A brand needs to be acclimatized with the changing behavioral patterns of the market. The brand stewards are accomplished detectives, constantly searching for what works, and what works against, the cause (Lynn B. Upshaw, p. 42). One factor which may pose threat to the existence of a brand is its competitor.

In case of Coca Cola, Pepsi has been its rival since inception. This scenario leads to ‘Brand War’ which should be handled sensitively while constructing long-run policies of a company. Advertisement is the most effective tool for faming or defaming a brand, this tool should be used to handle such situations. A company should adjust its marketing policies in a proactive way. Pro-active policies help a company prepare for any expected or unexpected attack on its brand, before it actually happens.

Everyone agreed brands were a good thing, but no one thought much about measuring the value of a brand as a stand-alone asset (Hill & Lederer, p. 61). Brands should be quantified and valued on a regular basis. This assessment highlights any impairment in its value or any change in market trends. Continuous assessment of the value of a brand helps a company decide whether any modifications are needed in its marketing policies and what steps should be taken to regain the value of a brand, in case it has been impaired.

Organizations need to develop internal alignment with their brand amongst internal stakeholders and resources, and build strong external alignment with external stakeholders, consumers and partners (Thomas, 2010). Managing brands has always been a challenge for a company. Either it is a newly created brand or it has been in existence for ages, it needs regular acclimatization based on feedback from the external as well as internal environment of a company.

If a brand is evaluated on a regular basis and proactive steps are taken to save its value, there is no reason left for a brand to be obsolete. References Hill, S. and Lederer, C. (2001). The infinite asset: managing brands to build new value. First Edition. Harvard Business Press. Thomas, G. M. (2010). Managing brand performance: Aligning positioning, execution and experience. Journal of Brand Management, 17, 465-471. Accessed on August 19, 2010 from <http://www. palgrave-journals. com/bm/journal/v17/n7/full/bm201011a. html> Upshaw, L. (1995). Building Brand Identity, John Wiley and Sons.