Paper presentation on,

Brand Preference
Lalit S. Badgujar (Roll No.04)
 Brand Preference
People begin to develop preferences at a very early age. Within any product category, most
consumers have a group of brands that comprise their preference set. These are the four or five
upmarket brands the consumer will consider when making a purchase. When building preference,
the goal is to first get on the consumer’s preference sets, and then to move up the set’s hierarchy to
become the brand consumers prefer the most – their upmarket brand. Gaining and maintaining
consumer preference is a battle that is never really won.

Definitions of brand preference are as follows:-

o Selective demand for a company's brand rather than a product; the degree to which
consumers prefer one brand over another

o The percentage of people who claim that a particular brand is their first choice.

In every product category, consumers have more choices, more information and higher
expectations than ever before. To move consumers from trial to preference, brands need to deliver
on their value proposition, as well as dislodge someone else from the consumer's existing
preference set.

Preference is a scale, and brands move up, down and even off that scale with and without a
vigilant brand management strategy. Pricing, promotional deals and product availability all have
tremendous impact on the position of our brand in the consumer’s preference set. If all things are
equal, the best defence is to make us more relevant to consumers than the competition. The brands
potential can only be fulfilled by continually reinforcing its perceived quality, upmarket identity
and relevance to the consumer. The same branding activities that drive awareness also drive
preference. And, while awareness alone will not sustain preference, it will improve the brand’s
potential for building and maintaining preference.

With a great story and a large enough investment, awareness can be attained rather quickly. It
takes time, however, and constant revaluation to build brand preference. Aristotle professed, “We
are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” Attaining and sustaining
preference is an important step on the road to gaining brand loyalty. The ability to generate more
revenue, gain greater market share and beat off the competition is the reward given by consumer
toward particular brand.

Brand preference is the Selective demand for a company's brand rather than a product; the
degree to which consumers prefer one brand over another. In an attempt to build brand preference
advertising, the advertising must persuade a target audience to consider the advantages of a brand,
often by building its reputation as a long-established and trusted name in the industry. If the
advertising is successful, the target customer will choose the particular brand over other brands in
any category.
 Basic communications model for development of brand preference
To better understand the process of brand preference, let's first look at a basic communications
model. The five components of this model are sender, medium, filter, receiver, and feedback. On a
daily basis, we are exposed to messages (sender/medium) via our radio, television, billboards,
Internet, mail, and word-of-mouth. Although these messages are pervasive, we continually screen
out (perceptual screen) or ignore content that has little or no relevance to us. All messages are coded
patterns and sensations – colours, sounds, odours, shapes, etc. Those messages deemed recognizable,
or a basis for a relationship, are decoded and stored in our memory (filter/screen). A successful
convergence between sender and receiver will result in some type of response to a brand's
compelling message (feedback).

Stored experiences in our long-term memory are connected through a series of nodes and
networks. An example could be all the associations you might have with the word Starbucks—
including coffee, rich aroma, relaxing, sofa, earth tones, etc. As presented by Shultz and Barnes,
"This node and connection process, called spreading activation, makes every person
different” (Strategic Brand Communications Campaigns, 1999). Since we all have different
experiences, connections, and relationships, this supports a theory that the consumer, not the
organization, owns the brand.

Consumer prefer particular brand because they find it easier to interpret what benefits brand
offers feel more confident of it and get more satisfaction from using it and get more satisfaction
from using it. Because of such consumer preference, the brand can charge a higher price,
command more loyalty, and run more efficient marketing programmes (e.g. it can spend more
retailer incentive and it cost less to launch brand extension) .The brand preference therefore
command a higher asset value.
 Brand Preference choice criteria
There are six criteria choose brand preference. The first three element categorised as “Brand
building” in terms of how brand preference can be built up. And last three elements are known as
“defensive” because it preserved in the face of different opportunity or different brands available
in market.

 Memorable: - How easily particular brand are recalled? How easily recognised? Is this true
at both purchased and consumption.

 Meaningful:-To what extent particular brand prefer in corresponding category? Does it

suggest something about a product ingredient or the type of person who might use the
brand?

E.g. fair and lovely cream, close-up toothpaste

 Likeability:-How aesthetically appealing do customer finds the brand element? Is it

inherently likeable visually, verbally and in other ways? Concrete brand name such as
Scorpio, Splender

 Transferable: Can the brand element be used to introduce in new product in the same or
different categories? To what extent does the brand add to brand equity across geographical
boundaries and market segments?

 Adaptable:-How adaptable and updatable is the brand element? E.g. Lifebuoy, the largest
selling soap brand all over world.

 Protectible:-How legally protectible is the brand element? How comparatively protectable?

Can it easily copy? It is important that names that becomes synonymous with product
categories. Such as Xerox, Fibreglass.

Conclusion

In order to understand the psychology of brand preference, I undertook this journey by

examining a basic communications model and the process of receiving/filtering messages.
Several truisms concerning how a brand is positioned in the marketplace revealed the
challenges with marketing to the human mind. Finally, I conclude that the essence of brand
preference is connected through our five senses. The culmination of this information may help
any organization facing brand loyalty issues with their constituents and provide resources to
uncover core issues.