DURACELL AND ITS LONGER-LASTING LOOKS

DEVELOPING A BRAND IDENTITY THAT LASTS

I. Discuss these questions.

1. Think of two brands that have a memorable name, logo and design.

? What makes them work for you?

? What image and message do they communicate to their customers?

2. What are the advantages of having a strong brand name, logo and design?

II. Read the article and choose the best option to complete each statement.

1. For continued success, it is / isn't enough to focus marketing on creating a strong brand.

2. Duracell has achieved / is still working towards its objective of becoming the top brand for batteries.

3. The main message the brand wants to convey to consumers is that it will last a long time / is well designed.

4. The Duracell image and message has changed a lot / stayed the some over many years.

5. The brand has / hasn't succeeded in becoming well known all over the world.

6. Duracell's, name, design and message highlight the product's attractive appearance / benefits for consumers.

DURACELL AND ITS LONGER-LASTING LOOKS

A. Launching a product is one thing; keeping the product ahead of the competition is the next big challenge. As technology allows manufacturers to match their competitors' latest ideas ever faster, creating a powerful brand and effectively managing it over time is essential to ensure a lasting competitive advantage.

B. To be a business success, an idea needs not only to be better than its competitors', it needs to be seen to be better. And it needs to be protected

from competition by communicating its strengths and points of difference

through visual pointers such as logo, design and packaging.

C. In the case of Duracell, now part of the Gillette Company, innovative branding has helped it maintain its position as the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance alkaline batteries for the best part of 40 years.

D. The brand was developed in the US in 1963, when its then parent company, PR Mallory, wanted to introduce a new battery and challenge the dominance of Eveready, the former market leader. PR Mallory used brand consultants Lippincott to create a brand identity for the new battery, and in 1964, Duracell was launched. The battery soon overtook Eveready to become

the world's biggest-selling alkaline battery brand - a position the business

still maintains in the face of the recent and rapid rise of supermarkets' cheaper, own-label products.

E. Lippincott's advertising brief in 1963 was to create a new brand that would help Mallory become market leader and that would also be strong enough to carry new product lines. The solution was to position the product as an energy source and to do this by focusing on the battery's major consumer benefit - its longer life. This inspired the Duracell name, so which was created to communicate the concept of endurance, and the product's distinctive black, white and copper design.

F. The key elements of the Duracell brand identity are the distinctive name and logo, the colour scheme and the brand's positioning as the most enduring alkaline batteries on the market. These three elements provided a platform for future growth as the company extended into related products such as lithium, silver-oxide and zinc-air batteries, as well as lighting products such as torches. It was also powerful enough to turn Duracell into a globally recognised consumer brand. Since its introduction in 1964, the brand identity has been the inspiration for advertising for the brand.

G. Duracell offers a number of lessons for brands today. The first is the importance of thinking beyond the product itself. Focusing on the product's benefits rather than the product itself gave Duracell a much stronger position in the international marketplace. The second is the power of a strong brand name. Finally, the so design solution created a new 'visual' language that became synonymous with the idea of an enduring source of energy.

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 1293