Pepsi
Product and corporate brands have widely been accepted as assets that are valuable to organizations (Blankson et al. 2014, p.165). This is because stronger brands gain more financial value if they are traded in acquisition and mergers markets. However, brand management has not been efficiently adopted to safeguard and create brand equity and brand positioning. Brand management has to play a significant function in safeguarding brand positioning and equity through adopting a mindset of brand orientation. Therefore, the importance of brand management will be illustrated through elaborating on brand equity and brand positioning in the context of Pepsi Company.
Brand Positioning
Heinberg et al. (2017, p.3) describe brand positioning as the process of designing the image of a company so that it can occupy a valued or distinct position in the minds of the target customers. Furthermore, they add that brand positioning elaborates on the elements of a brand and how unique it is from its competitors (Heinberg et al. 2017, p.3). Therefore, brand positioning focuses on explaining why the customers should use or purchase the brand’s services or products. In this case, Pepsi has attempted to position its product to consumers using catchy advertisement slogans and developing their brand personality to become associated to adventure. The goal of Pepsi is to attract specific consumers to purchase their product by associating the brand with young people that are daring, outgoing and energetic.
When it comes to brand management, the identity approach has become more popular due to its complex and powerful concept that has the potential to strengthen the competitive power (Blankson et al. 2014, p.164). This approach is similar to brand positioning because both ideologies focus on attaining loyal and active customers. The identity approach implies that a brand has to express a coherent and unified identity both externally and internally using behavioral as well as visual identity of a corporation to build a brand (Blankson et al. 2014, p.164). Many companies including Pepsi currently build and manage their identity so that they can ensure the brand expresses specific values and capabilities of the company (Singh et al. 2014, p.146). Pepsi’s brand positioning strategies have been influenced by their market segmentation which focuses on the younger generation.
Singh et al. (2014, p.150) pointed out the Strategic Tactic and Associative Network (STAN) model and emphasized on the significance of brand associations when it comes to brand positioning strategies. The STAN model differentiates strategic positioning from tactical positioning; tactical positioning is short term while strategic positioning is long term (Singh et al. 2014, p.151). Pepsi has embraced strategic positioning by focusing on the young consumers throughout their campaigns; many of their advertisements have targeted youth that love fun, adventure and sports. This strategy has managed to capture the loyalty of most of their target customers and still appeals to emerging markets. For instance, Pepsi launched ‘The Pepsi Challenge’ campaign to show that more people preferred Pepsi rather than CocaCola (their main competitors). The campaign managed to assert the fact that Pepsi was not just appealing to young people but to other age groups as well.
According to the Pepsi website, the changing sentiments and demands of its youthful target market have triggered it to instill changes in its brand positioning strategies. This is evident by the continuous changes in its logo, advertisement messages, taglines, and their mode of communicating messages (Heinberg et al. 2017, p.8). Singh et al. (2014, p.152) believe that brand positioning directs the marketing strategy by elaborating on details of a brand, its uniqueness and how similar it is to the competitive brands. This means that positioning is a base for increasing and developing the perceptions and knowledge of the consumers.
Designing Marketing Campaigns to Build Brand Equity
Westberg & Pope (2014, p.421) indicate that the Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) approach entails aspects that assist in building a stronger brand by shaping the customers perceptions about a product. Therefore, a brand has to develop and associate with appropriate experiences so that the consumers can have positive beliefs, feelings, perceptions and opinions about it. Pepsi ensures that its marketing campaigns relate with the target audience through engaging their interests and executing the appropriate advertising strategy that includes up-to-date promos that appeals to their audience. The company has made its marketing campaigns more interesting through using creative elements like celebrities, music, sports and so on. These holistic, thoughtful, and innovative marketing campaigns have managed to position Pepsi as the youthful brand.
Strong brand equity guarantees more purchases from the consumers, customer loyalty, competitive advantage and access to a new market segment (Šerić et al. 2014, p.146). Pepsi has attained brand equity through constantly revitalizing and reinforcing the brand through advertising and this has influenced the perception of the consumer by differentiating the product from others. According to Zavattaro et al. (2015, p.13), brand equity focuses on the customer’s perception of a product and their thoughts on a brand. When creating marketing campaigns, the company may face challenges when it comes to ensuring that the consumers acquire the desired experiences with services or products. The marketing campaigns have to possess desired feelings, thoughts, images, perceptions, opinions, beliefs and so on so that they can be successfully linked to a brand. A well-constructed marketing campaign can offer essential associations to the brand.
The CBBE model shows that in order to gain brand equity one has to acknowledge the target customers by researching the market in order to attain a better understanding on how the customers perceive the brand (Westberg & Pope 2014, p.423). Furthermore, a company needs to explore the different needs and relationships that varying market segments have with the brand. Pepsi has currently focused on a single market segment which means that they have failed to explore how they can attract the rest of the market. They have to implement strategic positioning so that they can achieve sustainable growth; this can be achieved if they build stronger brand stature and vitality.
Šerić et al. (2014, p.150) found that brand equity has a positive effect on a brand when it comes to pricing and the value of the advantages that are received. According to the Pepsi website, the company has managed to attain more consumers by reassuring the consumers on the quality product and maintaining their loyalty. This is an important step because it has guaranteed the success of the brand and expanded the market despite tough competition from their main competitors. This shows that effective brand management needs proactive strategies that are designed to maintain brand equity despite the limiting factors (Zavattaro et al. 2015, p.17).
Selecting Brand Elements to Build Brand Equity
It is important to understand brand equity especially from the perspective of the customer (Buil et al. 2013, p.117). The main aim of marketing is usually to increase the sale which means it is essential to create knowledge structures for a brand so that the consumers may effectively respond to the brand’s marketing activities. Brand elements have to be inherently attention seeking and facilitate recognition or recall (Severi & Ling 2013, p.125). According to the Washington Post, Pepsi launched ‘The Pepsi Challenge’ campaign to show that more people preferred Pepsi rather than CocaCola (their main competitors). The campaign managed to assert the fact that Pepsi was not just appealing to young people but to other age groups as well. It also aimed at surpassing their main competitors and acquiring a wider market share.
Brand awareness is one of the elements of brand equity and it enables customers to identify a brand from various product categories and help them to make purchase decisions (Huang & Sarigöllü 2014, p.118). Brand awareness re-asserts the strength of a brand especially to the target customers along a specific continuum. Pepsi as a brand has done this many times by changing the phase of their product and re-inventing itself through catchy slogans and creative advertisements. The company has made its advertising campaigns more interesting through using creative elements like celebrities, music, sports and so on. These holistic, thoughtful, and innovative marketing campaigns have managed to position Pepsi as the youthful brand (Severi & Ling 2013, p.125).
Brand positioning and creating brand equity are successful strategies when it comes to differentiating the product from competing brands (Blankson et al. 2014, p.165). Brand equity is consists of brand awareness, improved perceived quality, and the brand associations that can be created only on a long-term basis through effective marketing investments. Furthermore, product quality, distribution presence and perceived value are antecedents that build strong brand equity (Singh et al. 2014, p.146). Brand positioning and brand equity are important to brand management because they ensure that customer loyalty is maintained and the strength of a brand is upheld. However, brand management has not been efficiently adopted to safeguard and create brand equity and brand positioning. Brand management has to play a significant function in safeguarding brand positioning and equity through adopting a mindset of brand orientation. Therefore, the importance of brand management has been illustrated through elaborating on brand equity and brand positioning in the context of Pepsi Company.

References
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Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. InFashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132). Springer New York.
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