Managing brands for the long run: effective brand reinforcement and revitalization strategies

Article Abstract:

Effective brand management requires taking a long-term view of marketing decisions. Managing brands for the long run involves reinforcing brands or, if necessary, revitalizing brands. Reinforcing brands involves ensuring innovation on product design, manufacturing, and merchandising and ensuring relevance in user and usage imagery. Another critical consideration in reinforcing brands is the consistency of the marketing support that the brand receives, both in terms of the amount and nature of that support. Revitalizing a brand, on the other hand, requires either that lost sources of brand equity are recaptured ("a back to basics" approach) or that new sources of brand equity are identified and established. Two general approaches are possible: expanding the depth and/or breadth of brand awareness by improving brand recall and recognition of consumers during purchase or consumption settings; and improving the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations making up the brand image (either in terms of existing or new brand associations). (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Product Development, Methods, Product management, Brand name products, Brand names

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Strategies for managing suppliers of professional services

Article Abstract:

Professional services - advertising, financial services, legal services, management consulting, and others - are critical inputs and major corporate expenditures. Yet managers of suppliers of professional services lack a concrete management framework for enhancing value and controlling costs. This article provides a practical framework, based on extensive research, that incorporates four generic strategies for managing suppliers of professional services. These strategies can increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve quality, and strengthen bargaining power. While sole-source strategies often make sense for managing industrial parts suppliers, multiple-source strategies maximize the value of professional services. Corporate managers who resist offers for one-stop shopping and cross-selling - who instead develop credible internal alternatives, link pay and performance, and increase monitoring and auditing - can significantly enhance the value of professional services. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Services, not elsewhere classified, Models, Reports, Management research, Services industry, Service industries, Professional corporations

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Managing the effects of layoffs on survivors

Article Abstract:

The productivity and morale of employees who survive layoffs are likely to have a major impact on the future performance of the corporation. The most important factors that affect survivors' reactions are: the fairness of the layoff and how it was handled; and changes within the organization that often accompany layoffs, such as job insecurity, career prospects, quantity and quality of new job responsibilities, and information about the reactions of one's fellow survivors. This article offers a series of steps that managers can take before, during, and after the layoffs to maximize the productivity and morale of survivors. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Research, Human resource management, Layoffs, Employee dismissals, Employment terminations, Employment at will, Downsizing (Management)

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