Today i wanted to look at a theme called 'Branding' as in now days branding has a bigger meaning as it was historically, a brand can be a company as well as a person or a country. Brand is not just a logo or a name it also represents a personality of a company, also how a company connects with their audience and how the company is being perceived and seen by the audience.
Recently on the news there was a scandal in between two Kylie's – Kylie Minogue and Kylie Jenner. These both were arguing about – who owns the 'Kylie' Trademark. After a legal battle Kylie Minogue, an Australian popstar and charity activist has won the case but despite to the arguments with Kylie Minogue, Kylie Jenner who is known as a TV star from 'Keeping up with the Kardashians' is still planning on producing cosmetic products under the brand 'Kylie'. Another funny case study - a South Korean fried chicken restaurant lost a case to a fashion brand Louis Vuitton as the court agreed that the name of the restaurant was too similar to the big fashion brand. The name was Louis Vuitton Dak, obviously similar and totally not in the same direction as the fashion brand. As well as the name, the logo was similar to the fashion brand and even the packaging had the famous imagery. The chicken restaurant was fined for 14,5 million dollars for non compliance, I think that was a good lesion not to 'copy-paste' a brands ID. By looking at the differences, companies still could invest in not common direction products or services for example an internationally known brand called TATA produces cars and lorries as well as mineral water and owns a hotel business.
Did you know that a well know British sandwich shop 'Pret a Manger' is owned by Mc Donald's big chain company? First of all the name of the sandwich shop does not sound British at all, the first thought that comes in mind is French. By looking at the dictionary it's meaning is 'ready to eat' which is an adaptation from French expression prêt à porter (ready to wear), the name was inspired by French delicatessen Rees. Secondly the brand values include freshness and quality but a lot of people know the reputation of Mc Donald's – unhealthy, cheap frozen food which is full of fats and bad ingredients. Pret A Manger is the opposite direction of Mc Donald's chain. Mc Donald's itself recently started a re-branding process, changing the look and values of the company, promoting themselves as a healthier brand and with modern looks. The healthiness is tied in the packaging - offering customers more organic, recycled packaging and even the design of the new restaurants has a more 'nature' kind of look tying in the greens with the yellows. Even few adverts which I have seen was Mc Donald's promoting their food as healthy because it is coming form natural British sources and they are starting to offer deli meals which are more expensive and more exclusive. In the big burger competition in now days Mc Donald's has to change their ways or their loyal customers could turn to other brands with better offers. It's good to see the changes already but they will need to work and invest a lot to improve their brand image.
My personal opinion about branding is to be creative. There is no need of copying others, the originality and the idea are the main things in business. Copying others will just cause trouble, lawsuits and money loss. As many would say 'any kind of reputation is good reputation' is not always true because for example Mc Donald's had to invest a lot of money just to change customers perceptions about their brand by trying to look more natural and more as a restaurant by even considering to improve table service.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed this post and at last - have great day!
Justine
Sources: 1. https://www.trademarknow.com/blog/9-nasty-trademark-infringement-cases-and-how-to-avoid-them
2.https://www.marketingweek.com/2015/11/04/how-mcdonalds-is-shifting-quality-perceptions-with-its-premium-burger-launch/
3. Book: Melissa Davis "The Fundimentals of Branding"
