SILENT COMPETITOR OF A BRAND

Brands have the potential to attach consumer feelings & emotions to their products which cause trust, loyalty & recognition in the minds of the consumers. Brands have the potential to create a loyal consumer base but can this loyalty be affected? Yes, it can be affected through the silent and very powerful competitor in the market.

Brands are associated with prestige and also with the trust that they develop over a period of time. There are many elements that contribute towards brand loyalty but at times even the rival brands would miss the race because sometimes the competition of a particular brand is with the brand itself which is counterfeited resulting into a major drop in the revenue model of the brands. Competing with rival brands in the market is quite manageable through various marketing strategies but the real competition is with the silent market player who at times is untraceable and unknown to the brands.

This silent market player is a major threat and competitor to the brands because its existence and reach is untraceable. This silent competitor of a brand is its counterfeit which looks very similar to the brand and can deceive the one’s who are not aware of how to differentiate between real and fake products in the market. The term counterfeit means that the exact imitation of the brand is sold in the market at a lesser price. At times the consumers may get confused because the counterfeits look exactly like the brand. Thus, this silent competitor i.e., the counterfeit is a major threat to the revenues of the brands. 

Brands can be understood as perceptions or expectations that the consumers develop over a period of time. This perception or expectation is majorly developed due to the marketing strategies and the public relations that are established through constant customer care and satisfaction. Brands have the potential to attach consumer feelings & emotions to their products which engender trust, loyalty & recognition in the minds of the consumers.

 

These are the 5 P’s that make brands a success:

It is very important for the brands to understand the psychology of the consumers. Knowing what one likes and what one dislikes is essential to have a strong consumer base. Taking feedback from the consumers and implementing the best suggestions shall improve one’s brand image and make it a success in the market.

The essential elements that build a good brand image are its quality, consumer satisfaction, customer loyalty, ingredients of the products, clarity of the brand and the aim and mission in accomplishing what is promised.

Brands that take feedback and suggestion from the consumers and implement them turn out to be successful because understanding the psychology of the consumers is an important factor for a brand to do well in the market. Also, complete representation without any concealment of the ingredients and transparent process of manufacturing the products is another major factor in building a good brand image. Genuine advertisements without any fake or false promotion also leads to a good brand image in the market.

Trust in the minds of the consumers is majorly developed by the ingredients, effects and quality of the product. Brands need to be consistent with their products and services so that the consumer needs are met at the right time. Brand image is not built within a day. It is the hard work and dedication by the team that leads to a product or a service getting recognition in the market. Branding is an emotional experience that impacts a consumer’s life!

One can rightly say that consumers understand brands when brands understand marketing! Marketing is a dynamic process which keeps changing with two T’s- Time and Trend. These are times where marketing has strategically implemented celebrity endorsement as celebrities create hype among their fan following.

 

Offers and discounts are surely a big success in countries with low socio-economic conditions but where the purchasing power is high such strategies are replaced with focus on the consumer needs and demands concerning the products rather than pricing strategies.

 

Brands are in a race where the weaknesses of the rival brands are monitored and through the consumer feedback which is so well incorporated in the data base that after collecting the contact details of the customers there is a constant follow-up done to keep the customer happy and updated about the new products that are launched in the market. Also, many a times we receive SMS’s or emails on various offers or discounts by the brands. These are some of the marketing strategies implemented by brands in-order to build a strong brand image in the market.  

Counterfeits are detrimental to brand equities. It is rightly said that precaution is better than cure. Just because products are available online, a consumer cannot blindly presume it to be authentic even though they are marketed on the renowned digital platforms. The battle against counterfeits is not solely of brands but of consumers as well. As consumers it is better to stay alert while making any online purchase because we are in times where there is ease and convenience while purchasing online but at the same time the risk of purchasing counterfeits is also very high.

 

Creating awareness about the counterfeits and the ability to differentiate between original and fake brands should be one of the main aims for the brands as well as the consumers. As a consumer one needs to be vigilant while purchasing products that are available online. Being vigilant is one of the good habits that can be inculcated by the online purchasers. Stay alert and aware while you do online shopping! 

As a consumer one needs to be vigilant while purchasing products that are available online. A vigilant consumer is the one who questions, analyses, doubts, inspects and on being satisfied in all the aspects would go in with the purchase. As a consumer you need to do your due diligence. Always be alert while forwarding links which may not seem to be genuine. Everything that has been forwarded to you may not be genuine.

 

It is only a vigilant consumer who can have a narrow escape from the clutches of the fake and fraud internet sites. This vigilance arises through due diligence. Trusting after verification is the key step towards being vigilant. Stay alert from messages, emails and calls that require your financial details. Always verify whether the sites that you are browsing are genuine or fake! 

Some of the factors to be considered while shopping online are as follows: 

• Prefer shopping only through authentic, verified and reliable sources and platforms.

• Avoid navigations from links that are posted on social media platforms without proper verification of the source.

• Browse through the review section and scrutinize the various reviews about the products, brands and the sites.

• Contact customer care executives or authentic websites to complaint about the fake sites. 

• Browse through various social media platforms to know about the true offers, discounts, promotion code etc.

• On any suspicion about the online platforms selling counterfeit brands immediately post a review and report the pages or channels that are proved to be selling such products.

• As on e-commerce platform there is no tangible experience of the product like one has in the stores and since the consumers have to be convinced through the visuals that are available on the screen, one can go in for a single product purchase instead of bulk purchasing and only on being satisfied about the quality of the product go in for further purchases gradually.  

• Keep yourself well acquainted with the packaging, logo, color, label etc. of the brand that you intend to purchase.