Does a brand have to be consistent?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610420910972800 |
| Pages | 284-291 |
| Date | 17 July 2009 |
| Published date | 17 July 2009 |
| Author | Steve Charters |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
Does a brand have to be consistent?
Steve Charters
Reims Management School, Reims, France
Abstract
Purpose – This conceptual paper seeks to examine the issue of whether or not a brand needs to be consistent. Whilst this assumption often seems to
be made within the marketing literature, it has not previously been examined.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the example of wine to explore the consumer’s desire for consistency. The paper is not based on a
specific research project, but rather reflects the findings of a number of projects, and of an engagement with commentators on wine over a number of
years.
Findings – The paper suggests that rather than wine invariably being the same it is necessary for it to offer a regular standard of quality within varying
external constraints, and that consumers may actually search out such inconsistency.By extension, it is argued that this is relevant for other goods, such
as a foods and fashions, and aesthetic and ludic products.
Practical implications – It may be relevant for managers to build inconsistency into product design in some cases to give consumers the chance of
involvement in brand co-creation.
Originality/value – The paper examines an aspect of brands (consistency) not previously considered, and moves on the current debate about
consumer participation in the development of brand meaning.
Keywords Brands, Quality, Wines
Paper type Conceptual paper
An executive summary for managers and executive
readers can be found at the end of this article.
1. Introduction
It tends to be a given in much contemporary academic
discussion about brand management that a brand will be
consistent – that the product attributes will not vary. Thus the
assumption of total quality management (TQM) (Reeves and
Bednar, 1994) is that the consumer will receive precisely the
same benefit whenever they consume a product. This
assumption has also influenced approaches to the
management of services (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990), and
it is now suggested that marketing communications, as much
as production, should be imbued with the TQM ethos
(Haynes et al., 1999). Indeed, it has been claimed that “a side
effect of market globalisation is product similarity where
brand differentiation is crucial to survival for companies”
(Matthiesen and Phau, 2005, p. 325). As Askegaard (2006)
has noted, the academic focus on branding has concentrated
on a standardisation versus adaptation debate rather than any
broader attempt at interpretation. The purpose of this paper
is to discuss whether or not that apparent assumption – that
brands should be consistent in order to sustain consumer
loyalty – is valid. The paper focuses on the consumption and
branding of wine, and specifically “high-quality” wine, to
exemplify the issues surrounding the discussion, but as will be
seen, it is claimed that the argument has relevance to food,
fashion and tourism brands, as well as to many products with
a substantial aesthetic dimension, such as musical performers
or dramatic companies. It may also have relevance to luxury
goods, which can have a focus on being crafted rather than
mass-produced (Beverland, 2005a; Kapferer, 2006).
The paper is not the direct result of a single empirical study.
Rather it is conceptual, resulting from reflection not only on
the literature surrounding the nature of brands, but also on a
series of studies and analyses undertaken by the author over a
number of years (Charters , 2004, 2006; Charters and
Pettigrew, 2006, 2007, 2008). It is also the result of a close
reading of and immersion in many contemporary texts on
wine written by wine critics in a number of Anglophone
countries. As a result, there is no section of the paper covering
in detail the methodology utilised (and readers are referred to
the papers noted above for detailed methodological
information). Rather, one section covers the context of the
nature of brands. This is then followed by an analysis of the
presentation and consumption of quality wine focusing on the
importance of consistency in the process. The conclusion
then pulls the various themes together.
2. Context
2.1. The nature of brands
The American Marketing Association defined a brand in the
early 1960s as:
A name, term, sign symbol or design, or a combination of these, intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors.
This definition has been used by a number of texts on
marketing, such as McCarthy and Perreault (1987) or, in a
modified form, as in the case of Kotler and his associates (e.g.
Kotler et al., 1994). Nevertheless, the focus on the producer
and on marking the product, rather than the consumer, has
drawn some criticism (Aaker, 1991). Brands can now be seen
alternatively as a reflection of a consumer’s core values (Sheth
et al., 1991), a “personality” (Aaker, 1991) or as a means of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
18/4 (2009) 284–291
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/10610420910972800]
284
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