Discuss how branding adds value with reference to the cases namely 3M, Essay

Discuss how branding adds value with reference to the cases namely 3M, Singapore Airiness, AMEX, Club Med, Haagen Daaz - Essay Example concepts were adopted by its management in order to innovate, reorient, strategically position and redefine its then existing strategic branding techniques. An articulate strategy of brand value creation along with a customer loyalty management approach was adopted in the 1980’s in response to competitors’ threat to its core business, viz. the American Express card. Indeed almost 900,000 federal employees use the American Express card to settle bills to the tune of $250 billion annually though the company has had to do everything under its power to avoid being pushed into the red. The 1980’s were marked by stiffer competition from its parallel rivals like the Visa card, MasterCard and so on. In fact while the total expenditure on credit cards increased from a mere $250 billion in 1985 to $1,000 billion in 1993, the market share of American Express was either stagnant or actually falling. It was around this time that the management of the company realized the relative significance of a strategic shift in its brand management and value creation approaches. Coupled with a mammoth advertising campaign, the company sought convincingly to introduce innovation, value for money, smartness and classlessness as the new dynamic concepts in a customer-oriented promotion campaign. This strategic shift in company’s brand equity policy approach worked to such an extent that soon its rivals began to copy some of its fundamental principles (Neal & Strauss, 2008). The loyalty management program of American Express was probably the best strategic tactic that paid handsome dividends later on. Unlike its rivals, American Express began to innovate with both adverting and loyalty management. For instance its â€Å"Quality People† advertising slogan appealed to people across class and social barriers because it focused on the dynamic value proposition. Every individual person who had some success in their business or profession was chosen to underline and drive home the message