In the growth of the whole process of a successful brand, the relationship of brand and product usually go through two stages, one is binding, the other is untying. Binding means brand and product deeply connect with each other and then grow together. The brand position and its distinct personality are established during this period. Untying means brand is separated with the specific product before, which means the brand needs some new products to support the brand’s later development
In the stage of establishing a brand, brand and products should be tied together, in order to avoid the brand being empty. First of all, brand serves for the products. If all the products of all companies sell good, no one wants to establish a brand of course. Brand, born to serve for the product, is the weapon for the competition in the business world and it makes significant contribution to specific products to hit the market. As a result, brand and product are supposed to connect with each other closely.
Since the brands serve for their own products, brands can only say something good for their own products and do something meaningful to support the product. In other words, brands and specific products should stick together and bring into great correspondence with each other, which means their spirit and substance can’t be different from each other. The stories that the brand performs are experienced by the customers when they buy the products, because the product is a conduit to tel the stories of the brand (Heding Tilde et al. 2008).For instance, Wahaha Food Limited, a famous food company in China, started its business with foods and beverage especially for children. Its first brand positioning and image’s development was firmly around the demands of the kids and their parents. Thanks to its fullness and easy-going brand image which is the favorite of the kids and the best friend of the parents, Wahaha makes great progress. But after this, it created an omnipotent brand image, which includes mineral water, tea drinks, snacks, porridge and so on, then its brand image started to be big but empty, which leads this brand become failure. To establish a brand, it is supposed to sow a seed in the customers’ mind, and then water it and fertilize it, and it will become a towering tree.
Establishing a brand makes the products much more competitive than before, which is the most fundamental and essential function for the products. Products embody the brand’s shared desirable and distinct idea, so the more this idea is shared by a lot of people, the more powerful the brand will be (J. Noel 2008). Because the power of the product itself is not enough, the products need some spiritual, mental and social value or information to make them more competitive. Brand must be attached to the product, helping it walk into the customers’ life. Brand is the soul of the products while product is the carrier of the brand. Product with its own brand is just like a whole person, who has he or her own body as well as the spirit world attached to the body. Brand is not a ghost, which can exist independently without a body. Brand can only walk into customers’ life and deeply rooted in their minds through their own products.
At the beginning of brand establishment, the power of the brand is very weak, so the products always lead the brand to grow, and then the brand would make great contribution to the products. Brand grows with the help of the products and the interactions with the customers, so the concept of the brand should be reflected in a way which the customers can perceive through the products. For example, Haier’s reliable brand image is built up through its high-quality freezer. As for cars, Volvo’s brand image is safe to be consistent, so its safety system is designed meticulously.
When the brand develops to a certain stage, it should be separated with the specific products to make room for the development of the enterprises, which is called untying. In the fierce market competition and the market conditions under the ever-changing consumer demand, develop new products is the fundamental way out for the enterprises to survive and develop. When the brand stays in the customers’ mind, if the enterprise wants to develop through the old brand moving towards diversification and leads the new products to hit the market through the power of the brand, the brand should be separated with the old product appropriately. On the one hand, enterprise let the original brand lead the new products to hit the market. On the other hand, the brand should be given new connotation, making it much richer and more meaningful to fit the new situation. Every product has its own lifecycle. Chances will be found in the phases of the lifecycle to increase the speed of developing new ideas and then create new products to make more profits (John 2015). New products will lead to new customers of course, so new products help the enterprise to make more profits. Besides, the old customers won’t feel bored with this brand.
Taking all these factors into consideration, it’s clearly that a successful brand should be connected with specific product first, and then when the brand become well-known, it should develop new products to make the enterprise more competitive and make more profits. New products take an important role in a brand’s development.
Reference
Kapferer, J.N., 2008. The New Strategic Brand Management : Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term. England: Kogan Page, p.10
Stark, J., 2015. Product Lifecycle Management : Volume 1: 21st Century Paradigm for Product Realisation. 3rd ed. Germany: Springer International Publishing, p.100.
Tilde, H., 2008. Brand Management : Research, Theory and Practice. 1st ed. England: Taylor and Francis, p.238.
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