Article Link: How Important Is Brand Perception?
Yesterday, I got a chance to read an article written by Lina Ko on Canadian Marketing Blog site. It is an article that talks about the importance of brand perception; however, it makes me to think beyond that, so I did some research and learned some interesting facts.
“Brand Perception” is identified as the second course of development of the Brand equity of a brand. (Brand equity is a concept first brought up by David. A. Aaker, a consultant and author on the field of marketing, particularly in the area of brand strategy.) This shows that not all well-known brands are good brands regarding their products/services (ex. McDonald’s), but people are more willing to learn more about those brands that have good brand perception regardless of their products/services (ex. Apple). So, to answer the question “how important is brand perception”, I think “Brand Perception” is very important to a brand, and in fact, it’s essential.
Now back to the article. In the first paragraph, Lina quoted her realtor’s words “I’m sure you haven’t heard of the name (Tim Hortons), but apparently it’s like a Dunkin Donuts…” What her realtor said shows many Canadians don’t have enough confidence in our own brands. When reading the second paragraph, I saw a list of Canada’s successful global brands, and to be honest, I only recognized one of them, and thought the other ones to be American brands. I called few of my friends, and the result I got shows that ironically, Canadians don’t recognize own brands, but have confidence in foreign (especially American) brands. However, conversely, Americans have confidence in their brands. They are too confident and sometimes even mistakenly think some famous foreign brands are also American, as Lina wrote in the third paragraph “Lululemon is everywhere in Florida, but I’m not sure whether any American consumer know that’s Canadian.
How do brands like Apple got so famous? “That’s because Apple has focused not only on product innovation, but primarily on being ahead of consumers and anticipating their needs.” Comparing to Apple, Lululemon is well known but not famous, and I think it’s because that it’s not enough to just fulfill yoga lovers’ needs as Lululemon marketed itself mainly on yoga clothing and products. Although it has and is developing many other types of products, these products are not well marketed. Lululemon is still known as, especially to someone who is not from Vancouver, a yoga place. Also, Lululemon, from what I have heard, is focusing on creating this local community atmosphere, which I think it’s better to be built after increasing its brand perception.