Branding in emerging markets

Citation

Omar, M. and Ensor, J. (2011), "Branding in emerging markets", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 29 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/mip.2011.02029caa.001

Branding in emerging markets

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Volume 29, Issue 3

Emerging markets are becoming a much less homogenous group. At the same time, these markets display complicated characteristics that require organisations to develop sophisticated marketing responses. It is timely then in this special issue of Marketing Intelligence of Planning, to consider how marketing practice, particularly in the area of branding, is developing to address the changing and progressively challenging nature of these increasingly important markets.

With a comparative study, the article “Brand loyalty in emerging markets” by Tho Nguyen, Nigel Barrett and Kenneth Miller opens this edition of the journal. This study of two South East Asian countries examines the impact of perceived quality, brand awareness, advertising attitudes and distribution intensity on brand loyalty in Thailand and Vietnam. The implications for marketing practice drawn from this research suggest that international brands should design loyalty programmes that take into consideration the significant differences that may be found between emerging markets even those that are relatively near neighbours.

The paper “Sourcing or selling – the value flame at the base of the pyramid” by Robert Williams, Maktoba Omar and John Ensor builds upon the concept of the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market identifying it as an area offering opportunities. The paper employs the BOP alongside the concept of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) and suggests that multinational companies should not only see emerging markets as areas which offer opportunities in which to source products and services but also as markets into which they can sell their product or service portfolio.

“Branding at the base of the pyramid: a Zimbabwean perspective” by Tendai Chikweche and Richard Fletcher is the first of three articles that have an African focus. Whilst the previous paper looked at the opportunities offered at the BOP this paper examines the importance of branding as a purchase driver as well as investigating organisations’ marketing practice in a BOP market. The study provides insights into the importance of brands to purchase decisions within Zimbabwe and suggests alternative approaches that practitioners can implement which may be effective in this market. In particular, it highlights the need to align marketing activities to social networks.

The second of the papers associated with Africa is “Brands and service-quality perception” by Robert Hinson, Nana Owusu-Frimpong and Julius Dasah. This study examines the reformed banking sector in Ghana and the perceptions of undergraduate students who are an attractive market segment for future business. The research focuses on the service quality dispositions of bank brands in Ghana. The paper highlights the need for banks to address service knowledge as this is an area of weakness and is likely to undermine their efforts to provide value propositions to their customers. The paper also suggests that international banks performance gained a higher rating than their rival local bank brands.

“Re-branding Africa” by Collins Osei and Ayantunji Gbadamosi is a conceptual paper that explores current perceptions of Africa and suggests approaches to how it could be re-branded to attract both local and international investment. The paper outlines how Africa, as a brand, is currently associated with poverty, under development, corruption and other negative perceptions. There are however several areas offering more positive associations, such as, agriculture, tourism, sports and current successful foreign direct investments. The paper suggests that there is a significant prospect for African countries to position themselves as relevant business partners by emphasising the extensive business opportunities available in sectors of the global economy with which the continent is associated in a positive rather than negative manner.

In an associated area the paper “A brand for all the nations: the development of the world heritage brand in emerging markets” by Jason Ryan and Sari Silvanto study the use by developing nations of the World Heritage program to develop their tourism sectors. The paper puts forward the contention that World Heritage Site (WHS) designation has become a brand that is perceived to underwrite the importance and authenticity of sites of natural and cultural significance. It suggests that in emerging markets, which have limited access to brands which have global awareness in the tourism sector, a WHS designation can assist in marketing their cultural/natural heritage to a global tourism industry.

The final paper explores a similar strategy of associating with an established brand however in this research it is to establish whether this approach can legitimate and promote the profile of artists from emerging markets. “The brand-wagon: emerging art markets and the Venice biennale” by Victoria, Rodner, Maktoba Omar and Elaine Thomson suggests that linkage with a brand such as the Venice biennale can help an artist to attain success but only if the individual’s identity is emphasised. Groups of artists who promoted themselves collectively or on the basis of their nationality were less successful. The paper suggests that emerging nations exhibiting at such branded events should emphasize the individual identities of their artists rather than under a collective theme.

Maktoba Omar, John EnsorGuest Editors