báo cáo thực tập giữa khóa BUILDING BRAND IN FASHION INDUSTRY IN VIETNAM

Research structure Chapter 1: Theoretical framework of brand and branding Chapter 2: Current situation of building brand in fashion industry in Viet NamChapter 3: Recommendations to buil

Hai Ninh, who has helped me throughout the implementation of this internshipreport with the enormous support and enthusiasm Without his guidance andpersistent help, this study would not have been possible.

I would especially want to thank our very proficient correspondents

for taking the time to answer all of questions and doing so with a pleasure

In addition, a profound thank to Faculty of Economics and InternationalBusiness, Foreign Trade University for all of what I have been receiving during thetime I have been studying here Every knowledge and skills that I have been able toacquire here would be a great leverage for every success in my career path that Imay accomplish in the future

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter 1 Theoretical framework of brand and branding 4

1.1 Overview of brand 4

1.1.1 Definitions of brand 4

1.1.2 Advantages of a strong brand 5

1.1.3 Brand dimensions 6

1.2. Building a strong brand 10

1.2.1 Understanding branding 10

1.2.2 Branding decisions 12

1.2.3 Brand building theories 18

1.2.4 Building brand in fashion industry 21

1.3 Summary of theoretical framework 24

LIST OF REFERENCES 25

Figure 1.2: Individual Product Decisions 11

Figure 1.3: Major brand strategy decisions 12

Figure 1.4: The Anatomy of a brand 14

Figure 1.5: Brand Development Strategies 17

Figure 1.6: BrandDynamics Pyramid 18

Figure 1.7: Brand Resonance Model 20

1 Rationale

Fashion has been part of society for a long time and has been indispensable

to anyone at any age If clothing is necessary to cover our bodies, protect us fromthe elements or to provide warmth, fashion refers to the generally accepted styles ofclothing and accessories for a particular society or culture People use fashion as ameans of self-expression, to show status, to communicate and to distinguishthemselves from others or to identify with a particular social group

Further, the fashion industry is a highly competitive market space withfashion trends are always changing makes the fashion industry a risky andunpredictable market place for producers Although being a highly creative businesswith the design and artistic values in the centre, the need to build a strong brand inthis competitive industry is one of the greatest importance If made right, effectivebrand can enhance and bring out the creativity of the designer to the market andcreate a successful fashion company More importantly, a powerful brand can create

a number of loyalty customers which will help increase the revenue, reduce costsand protect company from copy of its competitors

Viet Nam recently is an emerging economy with population over 90 milionwhich is truly a potential market for fashion companies, especially with the textileprocessing industry which takes account for significant proportion However,Vietnamese fashion companies have not still had strong place in domestic marketand had very low profit margin One of the biggest causes is their brands is notstrong enough to compete with many famous brands in the world aslo with largeamount of low quality products made from China in mass-retailing Meanwhile,brand value can makes up to 70% of the price Thus, building an effective brand isthe solution which is not only suitable for the moment but also for long-termdevelopment orientation

in the fashion business How to make the major decisions of the branding strategyand make them go inline with the brand identity and profile is often very difficult.How then, are companies working with their brands to make them successful andstrong?.

fashion industry?

 Qualitative research approach

5.2 Data collection

5.2.1 Secondary Data collection

The theoretical data found in the frame of references are mostly conductedthrough secondary data that is collected from sources such as books andarticles from different databases

5.2.2 Primary Data collection

In-depth interview

All of the collected primary data is conducted through interview which is agood way of gathering primary data and will help to fulfil the purpose ofthesis

6 Research structure

Chapter 1: Theoretical framework of brand and branding

Chapter 2: Current situation of building brand in fashion industry in Viet NamChapter 3: Recommendations to build strong brand in fashion industry in Viet Nam

Chapter 1 Theoretical framework of brand and branding

1.1 Overview of brand

1.1.1 Definitions of brand

The word brand is from German ‘brand’, ‘to burn with a hot iron’ (Hornby,

2005, p.134) This unique mark enabled farmers to recognize their own cattle andbuyers to distinguish the cattle of certain farmers from others, possibly inferior ones

However, the definition of brand has changed dramatically over the course oftime Brand, nowadays, does not only denote the ownership of a product or service,but also is a guarantee of quality, a meaningful symbol with stories to tell ratherthan just a way to distinguish from competitors, an asset to the organization itbelongs to, helping to protect from illegal activities such as imitation, copying anduse without copyright

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines the term ‘Brand’ as:

“A name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them, which is intended to signify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.”

This definition includes many traditional elements of brand such as the factorsrelated to visual identity and clear external elements associated to companies andbrands

A different approach and definition is provided by Kaled K Hameide (2011)

“A successful brand has a strong identity (mentally and physically),

is innovative, consistent, competitively positioned and holds a matching positive image in the customer’s mind.”

stated that a brand is no longer comprised by just these elements mentioned by theAMA By his definition, brands are not only tangible representations of a product,service or company, but hold within them many intangible elements that are more

difficult to measure As one-respected marketer once said: “Products are created infactory, but brands are created in the mind”.

According to Kotler (2003), a brand is essentially a marketer’s promise todeliver a specific set of features, benefits and services consistently to the consumer

A brand is a combination of corporate behavior and values, the technicalfunctionality and quality of products and the intangible promise the company instills

in their products for customers Hence, everything an organization does, should befocused on enhancing delivery against its brand’s promise

1.1.2 Advantages of a strong brand

According to the Keller (2002), building strong brand is the objective ofevery organization regardless small or large

From a company perspective, brands can function as carriers of informationand symbols of certain life-style to attract consumers A strong brand providesnumerous benefits in terms of greater revenue and lower costs An effective brandwill demonstrate the value of product to the prospective purchasers or users in themarketplace One of the important causes is the brand loyalty, customer of loyal to aparticular brand never consider the price while purchasing it which off courseprovide the greater revenue along with the repeat purchase by consumers When anorganization has customer loyalty that means its brand has become a promise offuture satisfaction Besides, an enterprise owns a well-established brand usually hasbetter access to distribution channels, as well as providing a broad platform forproduct line extension, therefore, enables its owner to introduce innovative and newproduct offerings into the market with a better chance of success than otherwisewould have being possible without an established and reputable market presence

On the other hand, a strong brand can also create attributes that are difficult forcompetitors to copy, providing the legal protection to brand

From customer’s perspective, brands help consumers to identify specificproducts that they do and do not like, in turn, facilitate the purchase of items that

satisfy customer’s needs and reduces the time required to purchase the product.Once a brand is established, the brand name and trademark serve to remind andreinforce the beliefs that have been formed (Hoffman, 2003:261) Product selection

is also quite random without brands, because customers would have no assurancethat they were purchasing the product that preferred A good brand should thereforeattract attention, be memorable, help communicate the positioning of the productand distinguish the product from competing brands (Hoffman, 2003)

1.1.3 Brand dimensions

1.1.3.1 Brand Identity

The brand of product or service should be identifiable by its own uniqueattributes distinguishing it from competitors A powerful brand should have a richand clear brand identity Aaker (1996) has defined:

“Brand identity as a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers with the help of market communication”

Brand identity strongly related to customer perception and visual elements.Therefore, brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand andthe customer by generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional, orself-expressive benefits

Brand image, brand positioning and brand personality are parts of brandidentity

1.1.3.2 Brand Equity

The American Marketing Association (2007) defines brand equity as thevalue of a brand to the firm From consumer’s perspective, brand equity based onconsumer attitudes about positive brand attitudes and favorable consequences ofbrand use

Sheth, Mittal & Newman (1999) defines:

“Brand Equity as a set of asset and liabilities linked to brand, its name and symbol, which add to or subtract from the value provided

by a product or service to an organization and/or to that organization’s customer”

Smith (1991) also considers brand equity as the measurable financial value

in transactions, and this value is generated form company’s branding activities

Further, brand equity is a multidimensional construct, which consists ofbrand loyalty, customer based brand awareness, perceived quality and brandassociations

Figure 1.1: The sources of brand equity

Source: Adapted from Aaker (1999:173)

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness refers to the strength of a brand’s presence in theconsumer’s mind (Aaker, 1996) It is a measure of the percentage of the targetmarket that is aware of a brand name (Bovée et al., 1995:248)

When consumers talk about which brand they like, that implies people must beaware of the brand firstly As a source of brand equity, powerful brand awarenesscan provide important competitive advantages for the consumer decision-makingprocess, which are learning advantages, consideration advantages and choiceadvantages (Keller 2003) Marketers can create awareness among their targetaudience through repetitive advertising and publicity (Strydom et al., 2000).

Brand awareness is measured according to the different ways in whichconsumers remember a brand, which may include brand recognition, brand recall,top of the mind brand and dominant brand (Aaker, 1996)

that brand when given the brand as a cue It requires that consumers cancorrectly discriminate the brand as having been previously seen or heard

given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category or a purchase

or usage situation as a cue It requires consumers to correctly generate thebrand from memory when given a relevant cue

consumer confronts with the name of a product classification (Riezebos,2003)

customers can only provide the name of a single brand

Brand Association

A brand association is anything that directly or indirectly linked in theconsumer’s memory to a brand (Aaker, 1996) Brand association comprises of allbrand-related images, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes andbeliefs (Kotler and Keller, 2006) Keller (2003) also points out that brandassociations can be formed in mind through personal experiences, commercialpublicity, word of mouth and so on

Strong association can help strengthen brand, increase satisfaction with thecustomer experience (Aaker, 1991) The associations attached to a company and itsbrands can therefore be key enduring business assets.

Brand awareness and brand associations are found to be correlated (Atilgan

et al, 2005 and Pappu, 2005) Moreover, high levels of brand awareness positivelyaffect the formation of the product’s brand image (Ramos and Franco, 2005)

Brand Loyalty

A brand is both a physical and a perceptual entity The physical aspect of abrand can be found located in, say, retail outlets or in the delivery of a service Theperceptual aspect of a brand exists in a psychological space – in the consumer’smind (Palumbo & Herbig, 2000)

Brand loyalty refers to the level of commitment that customers feel towards agiven brand, as represented by their continuing purchase thereof (Bovée et al.,1995:247) It is a form of repeat purchasing behavior based on a conscious decision

to continue buying a product with a particular brand or trademark (Solomon &Stuart, 1997:348)., and forms the third brand equity asset

An existing base of loyal customers provides sustainable competitiveadvantages for company According to De Chernatony and Mc Donald (1992), theaim of branding is to facilitate the firm’ task of getting and maintaining a loyalcustomer base in a cost effective manner in order to achieve as high return oninvestment as possible Since existing customers are usually relatively easy to hold,

it reduces the marketing costs of doing business and represents a substantial entrybarrier to competitors A relatively large satisfied customer base provides an image

of a brand as an accepted, successful, enduring product that will include servicebackup and product improvements Moreover, Brand loyalty provides the time torespond to competitive moves

Perceived Quality

The last asset category of brand equity, as illustrated in figure 1.1, perceivedquality Perceived quality is the subjective customer’s perception of the overallquality or advantage of the product with respect to its proposed purpose (Zeithaml,1988), not simply the real or objective quality of the product

Part of a consumer’s image of a brand based on facts and experiences.However, another part of that image based on perceptions born out of a product’sreputation, media coverage and other indirect sources of information (Bovée et al.,1995:248) As classified by Zeithaml (1988), the concept of perceived qualityconsists of two aspects that are intrinsic attributes and extrinsic attributes Theintrinsic attributes refers to the physical features of a product such as shape, flavor,color or weight, and its effectiveness in satisfying consumer’s needs In contrast,extrinsic attributes are not related to the product from the physical view but via itsbrand name, price, packaging and production information In accordance with thisconcept, a low quality product can be perceived as high quality by the consumerconditions depending on the consumer’s expectation over the product

Marketers can create perceived quality, by firstly, having an understanding ofwhat quality means to customer segments; secondly, by having a supportive culture;and finally, having a quality improvement process that will enable an organization

to deliver quality products (Aaker, 1996)

1.2 Building a strong brand

1.2.1 Understanding branding

“A product is something made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by the customer A product can be copied by a competitor and quickly outdated; a successful brand is unique and timeless!”

Stephen King, WPP Group London Branding is a part of the marketing mix principle and is one of the mainaspects of marketing It is a strategic decision made by the company and is a part of

-the development and marketing of product and services Branding is a marketstrategy for creating, nurturing and fostering the continual development of relevantand appropriate brand value propositions It consists of the development andmaintenance of sets of product attributes and values which are coherent, appropriate,distinctive, protectable and appealing to customers.

Figure 1.2: Individual Product Decisions

Source: Armstrong & Kotler (2007): Marketing an introduction p.206

Nowadays, brands are prevalent in every aspect of human life: production andconsumption, food and clothing, personality and lifestyle, and from pop culture topolitics even However, branding assumes different features according to thespecific industry In industrial products or in the service sector the brand usuallyplays a role of identification, differentiation and guarantee mainly related to themore tangible aspects of the supply system Within the symbol intensive industries,offering prestige or luxury products, the brand expresses mainly intangible benefitsand attributes

Otherwise, when you only have a physical product you need to create a desirefor it through communication and brand building; but later on, it is necessary to goback to the product in order to maintain credibility Those firms that do not have astrong and distinguish product hardly can became a brand If during the ’80 brandpower and visibility were the key success factors, nowadays relevance, intimacy andcredibility are the new concepts in branding

Although branding has become one of the most principal aspects of businessstrategy, many marketing managers contend that it is about the management ofproduct image, when in fact it is not It has therefore been argued that (Holt, 2002)

 Branding is central to creating customer value, not just images

 Branding is a key tool for creating and maintaining competitive advantage

 Brand strategies must be incorporated into the marketing mix

Hence, defining a brand involves emphasizing its key benefits and attributes forconsumers To this end, marketers must recognize that a brand consists of more than

a bundle of tangible, functional attributes, its intangible, emotional benefits togetherwith its identity, frequently serve as the basis for long-term competitiondifferentiation and sustain loyalty (Aufreiter et al., 2003) Owing to this, for manyorganizations, brands have become the primary drivers of growth (Clifton &Simmons, 2003:27) and are therefore valuable commodities According toInterbrand (Best Global Brands, 2013), Coca-Cola, for example, is thirdly valuablebrand in the world, at US$79,213 million, with Google ranked second at US$93,291million (Anon, 2003b:1) raised 34% compared to 2012

1.2.2 Branding decisions

Every company strives to establish a brand as strong as possible, since itmakes doing business easier and smoother According to Kotler & Amstrong (2011),organizations need to make certain decisions about branding They present fourmajor decisions that the marketer has to take into consideration when wanting tocreate strong and powerful brand The various branding decisions are illustrated infigure 1.3

Figure 1.3: Major brand strategy decisions

Source: Armstrong & Kotler (2007): Marketing an introduction