品牌化的战略意义【外文翻译】.doc

本科毕业论文（设计）外文翻译原文：Strategic implications of brandingMany companies have forgotten the fundamental purpose of their brands. A great deal of attention is devoted to the marketing activity itself, which involves designers, graphic artists, packaging and advertising agencies.This activity thus becomes an end in itself, receiving most of the attention. In so doing, we forget that it is just a means. Branding is seen as the exclusive prerogative of the marketing and communications staff. This undervalues the role played by the other parts of the company in ensuring a successful branding policy and business growth.Yet the marketing phase, which we now consider indispensable, is the terminal phase of a process that involves the company^ resources and all of its functions, focusing them on one strategic intent: creating adiflerence.Only by mobilising all of its internal sources of added value can a company set itself apart from its competitors・What does branding really mean?Branding means much more than just giving a brand name and signalling to the outside world that such a product or service has been stamped with the mark and imprint of an organisation. It requires a corporate long-term involvement, a high level of resources and skills・Branding consists in transforming the product categoryBrands are a direct consequence of the strategy of market segmentation and product diffcrcntiation. As companies seek to better fulfil the expectations of specific customers, they concentrate on providing the latter, consistently and repeatedly, with the ideal combination of attributes-both tangible and intangible, functional and hedonistic,visible and invisible-under viable economic conditions for their businesses. Companies want to stamp their mark on different sectors and set their imprint on their products. It is no wonder that the word brand also refers to the act of burning a mark into the flesh of an animal as a means to claim ownership of it. The first task in brand analysis is to define precisely all that the brand injects into the product (or service) and how the brand transforms it:■ What attributes materialise?■ What advantages are created?■ What benefits emerge?■ What ideals does it represent?This deep meaning of the brand concept is often forgotten or wilfully omitted. That is why certain distributors are often heard saying as a criticism of many a manufacturers brand whose added value lies only its name 一 Tor us, the brand is secondary, there is no need to put something on the product/ Hence, the brand is reduced to package surface and label. Branding, though, is not about being on top of something, but within something. The product or service thus enriched must stand out well if it is to be spotted by the potential buyer and if the company wants to reap the benefits of its strategy before being copied by others.Furthermore, the fact that a delabelled item is worth more than a generic product confirms this understanding of branding. According to the "brand is just a superficial label" theory, the delabelled product supposedly becomes worthless when it no longer carries a brand name, unless it continues to bear the brand within. In passing, the brand has intrinsically altered it: hence the value of Lacostes without Lacoste?Adidaseswithout "Adidas\They are worth more than imitations because the brand, though invisible, still prevails. Conversely, the brand on counterfeits, though visible, is in effect absent. This is why counterfeits are sold so cheaply.Some brands have succeeded in proving with their slogans that they know and understand what their fundamental task is: to transform the product category. A brand not only acts on the market, it organises the market, driven by a vision, a calling and a clear idea of what the category should become. Too many brands wish only to identify fully with the product category, thereby expecting to control it. In fact they often end up disappearing within it: Polaroid,Xerox, Caddy, Scotch, Kleenex have thus become generic terms.According to the objective the brand sets itself; transforming the category implies endowing the product with its own separate identity. In concrete terms, that means that the brand is weak when the product is "transparent". Talking about "Greek olive oil, first cold pressing" for example, makes the product transparent, almost entirely defined and epitomised by those sole attributes, yet there are dozens of brands capable of marketing that type of oil. Going from bulk to packaging is also symptomatic of this phenomenon. The weakness of fresh vacuum-packed food brands is partially due to the fact that their packaging, though designed to reassure the buyer such as with sauerkraut in film-wrapped containers-only recreates transparency・ Significantly, Findus and PEggs or Hoses do not just show their products, they show them off. This is the structural cause of Essilor?s brand weakness, as perceived by the customers. They。