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Consumer Loyalty Is Driven By ‘Trust’

Consumer Loyalty Is Driven By ‘Trust’
Consumer Loyalty Is Driven By ‘#Trust’ One of my most favorite things to say is that people hire brands that they know, like, and trust. Think about it. How do you feel about your insurance man, or the guy who sold you your last car? In all of our lives, there is a salesman that we feel connected to, or a brand that is familiar to us. Making a purchase isn’t just something that we do, it is something that we experience. Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name  When it comes to business and sales, we start to look at things from a different perspective. How do we get our customers to know, like, and trust us? In a recent report, Havas Media ranked the world’s most meaningful brands. Topping the list were companies like IKEA, Google, #Nestle, Danone, Leroy-Merlin, Samsung, Microsoft, Sony, and Unilever. Major brands to be sure, but what is it exactly that makes them so meaningful? Which brands ranked the highest? Ikea Google Nestle Danone Leroy-Merlin Samsung Microsoft Sony Unilever Bimbo Garrett Moon 90% of Americans more likely to trust brands that back #social causes If your brand doesn’t support social causes, it’s missing out on a huge audience. Consumers don’t just like when companies incorporate social good into their business models — they’ve come to expect it, whether it’s through #corporate social responsibility (CSR), cause marketing or “good” content. In fact, 90% of Americans say they’re more likely to trust and stay loyal to companies that actively try to make a difference. #Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It  Studies also show that 88% of consumers would buy a product with a social or environmental benefit, and a surprising 84% would tell friends and family about a company’s CSR efforts. Brands can tap into this consumer base through original content and social media. After all, 64% of millennials use social media to address companies about social and environmental issues, and 36% of consumers say they mainly share content to promote the causes they care about. But your company needs to be genuine. Don’t underestimate your consumers’ intelligence by simply jumping on this bandwagon. “Causewashing” is a serious issue, and odds are your consumers will smell it a mile away. Matt Petronzio Google Beats Apple Apple is out, Google is in. Google has usurped Apple—leader for three years in a row—on the 2014 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking, out today. It has grown 40 percent since last year and has a #brand value of $159 billion. So why and how did Google bump Apple? “It’s a story about two hugely #successful technology companies,” said Oscar Yuan, VP at Millward Brown Optimor. “Apple’s been known for earth-shattering, category-creating, revolutionary products. And I would say just recently Apple’s innovations have been more evolutionary than revolutionary. I think that may have played a little bit in the drop from first to second,” he said. “Google has been doing just the opposite—they’ve been organizing the world’s information and putting it at your fingertips. Even to things as aggressive as GoogleX—they are making WiFi available globally by putting satellites tied to balloons over the earth. [That kind of innovation] does enormous things for the brand—it’s seen as a making-dreams-come-true-type company, and that certainly helps their brand value,” Yuan said. Jennifer Rooney Related Posts: CSR How to Build Brand Value of Businesses? Does Your Company Have What it Takes to be a...
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Making It to B-School of Your Choice

Making It to B-School of Your Choice
Making It to B-School of Your Choice Without having the right knowledge, right from preparing for competitive exams through filling out applications and landing on the right business school, might prove to be a tough journey. This article focuses on throwing some light on the pre-requisites and procedures involved in applying for B-Schools… In Case you have admits from multiple business schools, what will be the criteria of selection?  Teaching methodology  Approach  Reputation or Brand value Specializations on offer Location Please understand that every business school has its own strength and it is up to you to go for the one that best suits your needs and budget. Now let us look at some of the pre-requisites needed for admission into B-Schools. Academics: 1. Undergraduate or Graduate GPA (Graded Point Average) 2. Academic Excellence 3. GMAT score Work Experience: You level of performance at work speaks for you during your admission. Business schools love to know about your career advancement, leadership qualities, various positions handled and the ability to handle a group. Goals: Try to chart out a list of goals which are in line with what the school has to offer in order to facilitate your position in the job market after the course. Extracurricular activities: Those qualities that you have developed and specialized over a period of time will distinguish you from the rest of the pool and give you an edge. Say, if you are an extempore speaker, you stand a chance to impress your interviewers in GD (group discussion). GMAT Preparation:  You need a systemized study plan and practice  Aim for a high GMAT score to secure your admission  Get yourself enrolled in a reputed coaching center Filling out Applications: You should take some professional help when it comes to strengthening your resume and create poignant #essays to catch the attention of admission committees. Social media has its say to help you find a professional coach and having a fruitful conversation. Interview stage: This by far is an achievement in itself, especially if you are planning to go abroad. Call for an interview implies that the admission committee is impressed with your profile and keen to know more about you. You should research on interview experiences of past students and seek feedback from a trusted friend or a professional coach. A wait list may come as a rude shock but you need not lose hope. Try to follow the instructions stated by the school and go for additional recommendations if they encourage you to update them with changes in your profile. Handling Rejects: Connect with the associated person in the admission office to know the reason for rejection. Work on those weak areas and revise your plan. Gear up to beat the competition and never lose hope. Connecting with an Overseas Educational Consultant: This will help you in knowing the procedures pertaining to each institution of your choice. You would have heard of SOP – Statement of Purpose which is the key to getting admission or visa even if your academic averages are below par. A consultant comes into picture when you have zero knowledge about international application process, visa application, SOP, passport clearance, visa medicals and so on… AK CONSULTANTS – THE CAREER DESIGNERS It might be a little overwhelming if you don’t have a supporting hand because there will be lot of application filling and email transactions back and forth. The author Shyama Shankar is an expert academic content writer on business and management. Being a HR specialist, She likes to supplement information on job interviews, compensation, entrepreneurship and motivation to the readers. The following infographic gives you a clear idea on the...
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What is Stability Strategy

What is Stability Strategy
Stability Strategy in Management  The Concept: A stable strategy arises out of a basic perception by the management that the firm should concentrate on using its present resources for developing its competitive strength in particular market areas. In simple words, stability strategy refers to the company’s policy of continuing the same business and with the same objectives.     When a product is well accepted and has a brand value in the market, the company would want to expand its market base in that particular product segment to win over its competitors. For example, ‘Old Cinthol’ from Godrej, continues to be the trusted choice of most customers and one of the top most brands in soaps. Especially in rural areas, people prefer Cinthol which comes in different sizes in lieu of customer preference.     Panneer Soda manufactured by Kalimark, a soft drink available only in southern parts of Tamilnadu is again a long-standing brand preferred by customers belonging to middle class and lower middle class. This indigenous brand is a direct competitor for coke and pepsi, the soft drink giants in the industry. The same applies to “BOVONTO” again a kalimark product whose growth terrorised giants in the likes of COKE and PEPSI. It is said that some of the multi-national companies tried to crush this small but indigenous and successful company by buying all the glass bottles used for bottling the drink from small retailers. All done by paying high price for old bottles and breaking them so that those bottles were not available for the kalimark manufacturers. Putting up a brave fight, Kalimark has introduced pet bottles (plastic containers) and for managing the dearth of containers they have erected a bottling plant also. Recently Kalimark group has reinvented itself with modern technology for production. The shape of Bovonto pet bottle was redesigned and production was increased. Related Posts: TURNAROUND STRATEGY STRATEGY EVALUATION TACTICS OR STRATEGY The Need for Stability Strategy: It continues to serve the customers in the same product or service, market and functional sectors. Its main strategic decisions  focus on incremental improvement of functional performance.’ The focus is on maintaining and developing competitive advantages consistent with the present resources and market requirements. Say, if your business is doing well and you are able to factorize the economies of scale with a fairly decent profit, you would not want to go for expansion in the immediate future; instead you would go for, Sustenance Competitor management and Market share Maintenance Man has an inbuilt fear of change and only very few take that extra step to rage forward by being risk-aversive. Stability strategy suits medium-sized growing firms which have to first get well established in the market and wait for the right time to invest and divest. Companies do not go beyond what they are presently doing; they serve the same market with the present products using the existing technology. The essence of stability strategy is, therefore, not doing anything but sustaining a moderate growth in line with the existing trends. Advantages of Stability Strategy: The firm is successfully run and the objectives are achieved and there is satisfactory performance. Therefore, the management may want to continue with the same activities. A stability strategy is less risky. Unless the conditions are really bad, a firm need not take any additional risks. The management doesn’t foresee any change in the environment or opportunity in the market or any threat. When pursuing this strategy, there is no disruption in routine work. The down side of this strategy may be “setting of boredom” where you tend to do routine stuff, but the brighter side is the continuous positive response...
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