Research Topics: Brand Labeling Examples

BRAND AUDIT IN NIVEA FOR MEN AQUA COOL

Brand audit in Nivea for men Aqua cool   There is a wide market for Nivea for men products but there can be several factors affecting stability of the market standing of the products for example Nivea Aqua Cool as the competition in the market is tough and a lot of marketing issues will need to be faced upon and integrate better and desirable product branding allowing aspects to work well with promotion, distribution and positioning approaches. Nivea for men market is quite stable in the market from where men just like women plays a lot of attention to their hygiene and grooming and that men of today are quite more vain in terms of beauty than women with emergence of men oriented beauty products men of today considers using effective and quality acclaimed products, Nivea to be specific.   Ideally, Nivea is an established name in high quality skin and beauty care products. It is part of a range of brands produced and sold by      indeed a global company specializing in skin and beauty care. There was the launching of Nivea Aqua Cool as part quality products range offering comprehensive selection of products aimed for servicing the men population. The market can be developed by creating good brand potential, better equity and introducing it into the market as marketing, promotions as well as distribution plays a vital role determining the brand power of Nivea Aqua Cool in a direct centered approach. The product arrives at the point of sale linking to effective distribution strategy to use, the Nivea Aqua Cool are being sold in several grocery, retail outlets found in established stores and supermarkets or well known beauty shops. Nivea make products directly available to their target market, for instance online selling of the product as to have convenience on the part of the customers. The distribution channels ensure widest reach of its products to its target market. The main channels for the product are retail outlets where consumers expect to find hygiene and grooming care, use also of central distribution point in the UK arriving from European production plants using contract vehicles for efficiency for onward delivery to retail stores.  Promotion is how the business tells customers that products are available and persuades them to buy. There were events or trade fairs help to launch Aqua Cool into greater men audience. Thus, direct mail can reach a large number of people but is not easy to target specific consumers cost-effectively. Aside, public relations, the product does communicate with stakeholders, through, for example, newspaper press release, sponsorship and or participation in charity events. Nivea chooses promotional strategies that reflect the lifestyle of its audience and the range of media available. It realizes that a ‘one way’ message, using TV or the press, is not as effective as talking directly to its target group of consumers, core part of the strategy is the use of product samples. These allow customers to touch, feel, smell and try the products. Nivea are using the power of innovative media as part of market success, grow awareness amongst the men audience.   Nivea Aqua Cool Objectives should be systematic, realistic, accountable and measurable as well as target market driven as it can assume the building of certain effective product market mix in understanding a wider market stature, as the brand uses market research to target core brand segmentation as it will identify groups of people with the same characteristics such as age as well as lifestyle. Aqua cool product will have to integrate strong brand packaging to reach brand success and peak bringing the desired product close to its target consumers, regardless of their location as well as the ample need to understand the men group of possibly 18 years and above allowing various innovation ways due to branding power of Aqua Cool and design the material for men skin and beauty care needs and the strengthening of several trust and appeal of Nivea for men brands. The business is consumer-led and the branding focus has helped the Nivea product to grow well in the market. Aqua Cool is amiably optimizing its position in the market, it entail that the product might incur new formula, new design, new packaging and some needed ways. Further, there is essential value for Nivea Aqua Cool to balance some advertising platform for product launching into the global market.   Brand Vision strikes at the center purpose of the product existence, why the product evolved in time as there implies to rational and emotional benefits from where Nivea for men have improved the Aqua Cool product to make it more effective and more hygienic friendly in men. The product can bring in a level of physical awareness in body hygiene and grooming, allowing men to resort to positive levels of confidence and trust in their selves.  The boosting of communication and conversation towards women, esp. in public places and will help the men to always have good feeling towards cleanliness of the external body mechanisms and that there are chances to avoid bad emotions, resolving insecurities and sense of aloofness towards other men whom they think are much more masculine than themselves and that it refreshes the rational mind to always think and decide the right way and will be confident enough in building human relationships, be it intimate or friendly manner making strong appeal to several women.   Brand positioning moves Nivea Aqua Cool into the increasing customer centered options; brand position strategy of the product explores some possible antecedents of effective brand positioning within the business nature it can be that the brand positioning will immediately increase product demand or not, as the Nivea team had better positioning idea that consumers liked. There have a name and packaging design that are effectively made as there fitted with the rest of the NIVEA Deodorant brand positioning and some important range. Thus, the Nivea Aqua Cool will be adding sense of touch into masculine elegance as well as sophistication in the Nivea brand’s personality, the product is more appealing and unique to fresh, and trendy driven male customers and the sample brand positioning map can relate to Nivea Aqua Cool’s quality and price domains that will assume low or high assimilation of such brand valuation in the market (see, the map below for visualization of Aqua Cool’s brand positioning pathways.   What are Perceptual Maps?                                                                                  QUALITY                                     High                                         Low Rigorous production of Nivea Aqua Cool Less/limited production of Nivea Aqua Cool High Price – Steady Demand Low Price – Less Demand   PR                                                        PRICE         Reference:     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

BRAND AUDIT IN NIVEA FOR MEN AQUA COOL

Brand audit in Nivea for men Aqua cool There is a wide market for Nivea for men products but there can be several factors affecting st...

Using examples to illustrate your essay, examine the different types of branding methods used by marketers for their products

Introduction Marketing is the process by which a product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to consumers. In large corporations the principal marketing functions precede the manufacture of a product. They involve market research and product development, design, and testing. Marketing concentrates primarily on the buyers, or consumers. After determining the customers’ needs and desires, marketers develop strategies that are designed to educate customers about a product’s most important features, persuade them to buy it, and then to enhance their satisfaction with the purchase. Where marketing once stopped with the sale, today businesses believe that it is more profitable to sell to existing customers than to new ones. As a result, marketing now also involves finding ways to turn one-time purchasers into lifelong customers. Marketing includes planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the decision-making regarding product lines, pricing, promotion, and servicing. In most of these areas marketing has overall authority; in others, as in product-line development, its function is primarily advisory.   In addition, the marketing department of a business firm is responsible for the physical distribution of the products, determining the channels of distribution that will be used, and supervising the profitable flow of goods from the factory or warehouse (1967). Marketing is about satisfying customer wants and needs and in the course of doing so facilitating the achievement of an organization’s objectives. By paying attention to customer wants and needs, organizations are more likely to achieve their objectives in the marketplace. Of course, organizations have to compete with each other and so also have to satisfy customers’ wants and needs at least as well as their competitors. Fortunately, organizations can do this in different ways (2000).   Marketing Management is the process of planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling marketing activities in order to facilitate and expedite exchanges efficiently and efficiently. Planning involves assessment of opportunities and resources at hand, development of marketing objectives and of a specific marketing strategy; and the development of plans for implementation and control. Organizing involves making an internal structure for the marketing unit. Implementing involves making sure that there is an effective communication within the marketing unit and marketing activities are well coordinated so that exchanges can occur. Controlling involves establishing performance standards, evaluating actual performance by comparing performances with standards already set, and reducing the difference between desired and actual performance ( 2002).   To assist marketing management in getting a handle on the changing times and the changes affecting their core products and services, there is a need for market research information gathered internally as well as information gained from market research forms. Market research information should assist marketing management in anticipating what customers want before they are aware of their needs for products and services. As such, market research information over time can be assessed in terms of what has and is happening and what probably will happen to customers’ needs for goods and services tomorrow. This broad-based approach to market research will give corporate management some insight into knowledge about the company’s core products and services and where the company should be heading (1999).  The paper will discuss about a background of Coca Cola. The paper will also discuss about brand positioning, brand name and selection, brand sponsorship and brand development. Through the different information acquired a conclusion shall be made.   Coca Cola The coca cola company is a beverage company and the world leader in soft drink sales. Coca-Cola produces and distributes several brands in the United States and internationally. The company also produces and markets many fruit juices and other non-soda beverages. The Coca-Cola Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola’s soft drinks include its flagship product Coca-Cola which is popularly known as Coke, Diet Coke, Tab, Sprite, Fanta, Fresca, Mello Yello, and Barq’s root beer. The company’s non-soda beverages include Minute Maid fruit juices, PowerAde sports drinks, and Nestea iced tea drinks ( 1993).  In 1986 The Coca-Cola Company consolidated all of its non-franchised U.S. bottling operations as Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. The new company began acquiring independent bottling companies, a venture that grew into the world’s largest bottler of soft drinks by 1988. While Coca-Cola Enterprises distributes over half of all Coca-Cola products in the United States, small franchise businesses continue to bottle, can, and distribute the company’s drinks worldwide. In 1987 the Coca-Cola Company was listed in the prestigious Dow Jones Industrial Averages index of stock market performance. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products occupied nine of the top ten spots in the U.S. soft drink market. Worldwide, Coca-Cola ranked first in soft drink sales, and the company earned almost 80 percent of its profits from international sales (1993).   Branding Branding reaches beyond immediate commercial objectives and touches the soul. Branding is not about getting a company’s prospect to choose them over the competition; it’s about getting their prospect to see them as the only solution. Large sums of money are invested each year in order to create and maintain the awareness of and the preference for a brand. Powerful brands command unwavering consumer loyalty and provide strong competitive advantage in the marketplace. The wealth of an organization is, to a not insignificant extent, judged by the strength of its brands whether it is in consumer or business-to-business markets, with brands that have either a high product or a high services component. The immediate association with a brand tends to be a product name. However, treating a brand only as a name misses the main point of branding. The brand is a complex symbol and can be applied to specific products, whole corporations or even countries. Brands vary in the marketplace according to the level of consumer awareness and loyalty ( 2002).   Strong brands can command consumer loyalty, which means that a sufficient number of consumers will demand these brands in preference to unbranded substitutes, even if the latter are offered with comparable quality and at lower prices. Such brands are said to have consumer franchise providing the companies who own them with competitive advantage and insulation over their competitors’ promotional strategies. A brand can deliver up to four levels of meaning. This includes Attributes. Wherein a powerful brand will be able to conjure certain product attributes in the minds of the consumer. Another level of meaning is Benefits. Wherein customers do not buy product attributes; they buy benefits. In order to have strong brands, companies have to translate attributes into functional and emotional benefit. Moreover a level of meaning is values. A brand also conveys something of the buyer’s values. The skill of the brand marketer would lie in matching the values of the targeted group of buyers with the brand benefits. Lastly a level of meaning is personality. Wherein a brand also projects a certain personality. This association is often used by motivation researchers when asking, if this brand were a person, what personality trait would it have? The consumers might visualize the brand as having a certain personality with which they might want to be associated (2002). The most lasting and sustainable meanings of the brand are its core values and personality. Some brands are largely unknown to most consumers except for those closely involved with them. Others enjoy a higher degree of consumer brand awareness, whereas brands which are consistently chosen over their competitors are said to have brand preference. The most powerful brands can command a high degree of brand loyalty. Such a brand has high brand equity (2002). Coca cola has one of the most well known brands of soft drink. When one hears about refreshments coke would come into mind. People would have no second guess on what soft drink to choose since they have full trust and need for the company’s product.   Brand Positioning Never before have customers had so many brand choices. Ironically, the difference between competitive brands is often intangible. What does it take to break out of the pack with the brand and set it apart from the competition and, most importantly, place it first in the minds of customers? Creative advertising and package design are the most visible manifestations of each brand’s attempt to be seen as uniquely wonderful, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. Skillful brand positioning is the base. Properly communicated by effective advertising, as well as the entire marketing program, and fulfilled by the product or service itself, it is the right positioning that builds brand loyalty and delivers exceptional profits. The profit premium that a brand earns in excess of its commodity value is the expression of brand value in financial terms. At its simplest, the net present value of the difference between the brand’s future profit stream and that of an equivalent commodity’s is the prize marketers seek. It is this brand asset value that they are charged to develop and build or, at least, maintain. Brand stewardship are far from empty words. Brands are a business’s crown jewels, but unlike those in the tower of London, they are put to work, and put at risk, every day (2000).   Brand positioning is communicated through packaging and advertising and promotion, but the most important element is the product or service itself. In positioning the product to consumers, marketers, too, have a choice.  The first was differentiation, competing on the basis of value added to consumer’s quality, service, and differentiation so consumers would pay a premium to cover higher costs. The second was cost based, wherein offering products or services are at the lowest cost. Quality of product or service isn’t unimportant, but the focus is on costs (2000). Brand positioning generally requires in-depth understanding of the consumer’s decision-making process. Means-end theory through laddering provides a useful tool to fully explore the consumer’s psyche in terms of brand choice criteria. But laddering, like any tool, relies on the craftspeople who use it. (2001). Brand positioning is a process of emphasizing the brand’s distinctive and motivating attributes in the light of competition. Positioning refers both to the product segment the brand belongs to and how it differs specifically from other brands in the segment. Positioning is becoming the universal strategic preoccupation of entire organizations and the concern of top management ( 2000). Coca cola makes sure that in all advertising methods it uses; people will realize that the company’s product has distinct characteristics that add to the reasons why people buy its products.  Coca cola makes sure it has a unique product that will make clients purchase their products. This is done by adding a distinctive taste of their products.   Brand Name and Selection A brand name is the concentration of aesthetic, visual and verbal styling of the commodity into one named character. The brand name goes with uniform styling and a company image. Companies want people to associate their brand name with the whole functional type as the product. For example, in Germany, United Fruit used a campaign that stated people should forget the word banana and remember Chiquita. Companies would like it if people forgot their generic words and only remembered brand names, as is already the case for names like Kleenex for paper handkerchiefs. Consumers forget pre-industrial technology, and use brand names. People do not remember how to make soap, or shoes. That is left to industry, and industry delivers under a brand name.   People are willing to pay more for a brand name they recognize with a reputation and advertising through national media than for a brand name that has no such reputation and media exposure, since a widely advertised brand name gives the idea that the product is respectable and reliable. People cannot see into the package, and so the picture substitutes for checking inside the package to see the quality of the product. They look at a brand-name can of peas and think of the green giant they saw on television who only picked the best peas to go into this very can. This makes them feel safe. They feel sure that inside this can will be good tasting peas ( 1996).     The brand name has invested in it a national image, and its name and logo are copyrighted so that no one else may use it. The brand name becomes part of a company’s capital assets. It is not unusual for one company to spend much money to buy a brand name from another successful company. Brand names appropriate and privatize words that would otherwise be in common usage, and make them into someone’s exclusive property. The brand name and logo are a way of packaging a product with the values and reputation of the company that made it. The same brand name might appear on a whole series of different products all produced by the same company, so that when people intend to buy a product they look for a brand name they recognize (1996).  Associated with a brand name is the image. The brand-name image is the total impression, the look of the objects, services, and facilities of some enterprise.   The image for a company might include the logo, the type of lines carried, the decorations of facilities, the advertisements used, employee uniforms, or the general design of goods. Often advertisements are there for image ( 1996). Coca Cola made sure that the brand name chosen was easy to remember. They believed that the brand name can make or break the company. Coke as a brand name gave the company success in its industry. Coke was well known all over the world. When people wants to buy beverages. They would rather say coke than soft drink.   Brand Sponsorship Sponsorship has been defined as advertising, as public relations, and as sales promotions. Indeed, certain types of sponsorship are closely related to public relations, because they mainly support the image of the company as a whole towards a variety of stakeholders. A company that sponsors a soccer team and invites suppliers, customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders to watch the game, has in fact integrated its sponsorship project into its PR effort. A brand of soft drinks that sponsors a concert, and uses this opportunity to sample its new brand of juice, has incorporated its sales promotion into its sponsorship efforts. But no doubt the nature and the objectives of marketing-related sponsorship are closer to advertising than to any other marketing communications instrument. The main objectives of sponsorship are similar to those of advertising, i.e. to build brand awareness for new and existing products in the short and the long run, to build and improve the brand or company image, and to reinforce brand familiarity and use (2004).   Although sponsorship, just like advertising, can be used to serve short-term goals, like product trial and market penetration, its main strength lies in the long-term support of brand awareness and brand image, and other Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) tools are needed to stimulate buying behavior in the short run ( 2004). However, compared to advertising, sponsorship has a number of distinct characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. Sponsorship can benefit from the strong association with an event, a good cause, or a television program. Therefore it is a potentially more powerful image builder than advertising, and it can effectively link the brand to a particular market segment. By showing a brand in a high involvement and experiential sponsored context instead of stressing the product characteristics and performance, the impact of the brand communication can be much stronger and much more convincing. The target audience is also exposed to the brand indirectly through a third party. This can lead to a greater believability of the brand and its claims ( 2004).   Sponsorship is also capable of transcending national and cultural boundaries, for instance by using an internationally known and liked tennis player. Sponsorship is sometimes qualified as a cheap alternative to advertising. This can certainly be the case in terms of the cost of creation and exposure. On the other hand, sponsorship is never going to work if it is not supplemented with and reinforced by other marketing communications efforts. All sponsorship activity requires a marketing support budget that is at least three or four times as large before it can have an impact. Sponsorship is less flexible than advertising, because it is often less suited to show products, or give information about product characteristics and product usage. There are also some risks that are incurred. A sponsored athlete that behaves badly, or a theatre play that is not a success, may have a negative impact on the sponsor of the event. Some events are overly sponsored, and as a result of this sponsorship clutter and excessive commercialization, individual sponsorship may become less effective. Finally, the effectiveness of sponsorship is very difficult to evaluate (2004).   Sponsorship has been one means used by Western companies for putting their brand names in the public eye. When it first entered Asia, Cartier had an edge through sponsoring major cultural promotions. In Hong Kong, for example, it used highly prized concerts and ballet performances to get across the message of Cartier as an exclusive product, available only to the elite. Another group that found sponsorship a useful way to communicate was the tobacco companies. Following the prohibition of cigarette advertising on TV and radio, sponsorship, first of major sporting events and later of the arts and social foundations, became a major tool in promoting their brands. In Asia, where advertising regulations, tax conditions and other factors proved unfavorable, sponsorship became crucial in the long term image building of a brand, providing national media publicity, access to influential people and promoting a positive image. Therefore the US companies built their brands largely through sponsorship; a Marlboro Soccer League, a Marlboro Music Hour, a Kent Billiards contest and a Salem tennis tournament. Cross-border media such as the Internet and satellite TV opened up further opportunities. For example, Star TV, which by 2000 had 300 million viewers in Asia, aired 1,237 hours of tobacco sponsored commercials in a one-year period (2003).   Brand Development From the perspective of brand name development, the  and the  are the paradigms. In fact, both dailies were the only two newspapers in Interbrand’s yearly ranking of the 100 overall most powerful brand names. Both dailies considerably intensified their internationalization strategy starting in 1992. By the end of the decade, their global battle was newsworthy for magazines and newspapers all over the world. If, in the past, both newspapers had become strong in some markets and paid less attention to others, now direct competition spreads to all the geographical areas of the planet. The  flings itself into the conquest of the European market, while the disembarks in the United States with an aggressive publishing and marketing proposal. In some places, like in the German market, the struggle leads the London newspaper to launch a German edition,  Deutschland, while the Wall Street daily reinforces its alliance with that market’s leader, .   They even find scopes for the two newspapers to collaborate, as in the case of the joint launching of a new economic daily, Vedomosti, in Moscow. Competing in most markets and collaborating in a few applying a competition strategy, increasingly common in this and other Business sectors, both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times were brand names with a truly global information proposal in the 1990s. Their publishing companies developed the mentioned brand names, in response to the growing competition from the new media, parallel to the implementation of geographic expansion and corporate diversification strategies (2002). The different branding methods help companies in their bid to gain supremacy in their industry. Coca Cola uses some of these methods as it goes on day to day business transaction. These methods gave Coca Cola a bigger chance to prove that its products are different and it should be the products that people buy.   Conclusion Branding is not about getting a company’s prospect to choose them over the competition; it’s about getting their prospect to see them as the only solution. Strong brands can command consumer loyalty, which means that a sufficient number of consumers will demand these brands in preference to unbranded substitutes, even if the latter are offered with comparable quality and at lower prices. Coca cola has one of the most well known brands of soft drink. When one hears about refreshments coke would come into mind. People would have no second guess on what soft drink to choose since they have full trust and need for the company’s product. Coca Cola uses some of these methods as it goes on day to day business transaction. These methods gave Coca Cola a bigger chance to prove that its products are different and it should be the products that people buy.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Using examples to illustrate your essay, examine the different types of branding methods used by marketers for their products

Introduction Marketing is the process by which a product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to consumers...

MARKETING

Abstract   The increasing use of internet and database marketing in relation to relationship marketing is prevalent.  The role of e-commerce plays a very large role indeed in achieving customer retention and customer loyalty by providing customers with long-term satisfaction from the marketers in a convenient way for the customers to indulge.   The shift from traditional marketing to relationship marketing provides an alternative to further increase companies’ profits and in developing better rapport and deeper relationship with customers.   Keywords: customer retention, customer relationship management, relationship marketing, customer loyalty                         Introduction   Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that evokes an emphasis in building longer term relationships with customers other than my mere individual transactions. The focus of relationship marketing is to attract and promote customer retention based on trust, commitment and sharing of information in exchange for customer’s loyalty.  Further, relationship marketing facilitates the efforts of companies in the identification, maintenance of a network of individual consumers and the continuing initiative to strengthen the network.  According to Morgan and Hunt (1994), relationship marketing as a retailer-customer approach that refers to all marketing activities directed toward developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges with customers. The evolution of relationship marketing can be traced back to a passage by (1980) in which he observes: “What is surprising is that researchers and businessmen have concentrated far more on how to attract customers to products and services than on how to retain customers”.  Relationship marketing begins its roots in the industrial and business to business markets where long-term contracts have flourished for many years. According to  (1983), relationship marketing can be applied: when there are alternatives to choose from; when the customer makes the selection decision; and when there is an ongoing and periodic desire for the product or service.  A point of argument should be made here such that the application of relationship marketing should not only be limited or to be consider as an alternative because in order to gain profits, the principle that could underlie in the application of relationship marketing is to attract customers to the products and services at the same time to take care of these customers and treat them as assets that could be a very potent resource tantamount in the expansion of the business.  If its application is limited to the three factors stated above, there would be limitations in customer retention, thus, unable to get customers loyalty.  The continuing efforts to improve relationship marketing enable companies to cater to the different people who have a diversity of preferences. In fact, according to  (1991) claims that relationship marketing has the potential to forge a new synthesis between quality management, customer service management, and marketing.  Moreover means, that quality management, customer service management and marketing should be considered as a whole inseparable entity in the business. However, development in the use of database marketing principles is required to support the foundation for effective relationship marketing.  The key element lies in a flexible and customized sales and marketing database created by tools such as an information system that in turn allows immediate access for marketing information.  A marketing database serves as a strategic weapon in building strategic sustainable relationships with customers amidst the fierce competition in the marketing world.  For example, Burger King uses a database to push brand loyalty while its customers are still in analog mobile phones. Database marketing is the use of databases of customers that able the generation of personalized communication in order to promote products and services.  It emphasizes the use of techniques to develop and assess customer behavior.  Database marketers are heavy users of data warehouses where data and customer information can be kept.  The communications in which it can be generated if unwanted by the addressee may be described as junk mail or spam. The internet and management information system has been the major technology enablers that make relationship management more strategic.  The internet allows businesses to get low cost interactions with customers and can save time.  The management information system on the other hand, allows businesses to generate a single view of customers across all the functional areas in the business.  Both of these systems together allowed for customized communication for their costumers.  Internet marketing from the name itself is the use of the Internet to advertise and sell goods and services that includes the pay per click advertising, banner ads, e-mail marketing and the like.  Internet marketing comprises information management, public relations, customer service, and sales in its broader scope.  It offers benefits to the company such as the availability of information where customers learn have a detail of the products and services being offered.  Internet marketing can help in the expansion of the company from a local market to both national and global marketplaces. Customer relationship management in its narrow definition involves managing detailed information about individual customers in order to maximize costumer’s loyalty through carefully managing customer touch points.  Recently, however, customer relationship management takes its broader meaning which denotes as the overall process of building and maintaining customer relationships profitably by delivering customized and personalized customer value and satisfaction.    Effective customer relationship management in order to be use strategically requires the intelligent application of technology. The effectiveness of customer relationship management is how to use customer’s information valuably to create an ongoing relationship with the customer.  Aside from the intelligent application of technology, customer service management requires that an organizational views customer’s relationship with meaning before being able to learn about customer’s needs and wants deeper and how is it best to satisfy and sustain the costumer at the same time helping the organization meet its objectives. The task of creating and delivering superior customer value should complement with the effective relationship management relationship with the customers. Customer relationship management should be of utmost understanding of what the customer’s worth value to the company that is termed as customer’s equity.  As there is an improvement in the delivering of superior customers value, an improvement in the customer’s equity.  Customer’s equity is perhaps the company’s most valuable asset, continuous improvement in the customers value that it has been giving to its customers.  The determinants in which the company invest to its customers, is the company’s customer equity.  The company should continue to give guaranteed superior service quality and customer service. According to (1990), the increased profitability associated with customer retention efforts occurs because the cost of acquisition occur only at the beginning of a relationship, so the longer the relationship, the lower the amortized cost; account maintenance costs decline as a percentage of total costs (or as a percentage of revenue); long-term customers tend to be less inclined to switch, and also tend to be less price sensitive resulting in stable unit sales volume and increases in sales volume are some of the factors that connotes profitability associated with customer retention.  Undoubtedly, customer retention entails an increased profitability.  Especially now with the emerging e-commerce innovations which serves as a role of a catalyst in the effectiveness of relationship marketing.   Assessment   Shiseido is a company that did not start in a make up products industry but was able to earn its reputation in the make up products industry and is considered to be a top product manufacturer in the business.  There secret lies in the good effective marketing strategy they are using.  Shiseido once has been a limited partnership but became a stock company in Japan and since then it took its course in expanding their markets not only in Japan but in the global market as well.  Currently, Shiseido has sixty-five (65) countries from across the globe with its biggest sales in the European market.  Recently, Shiseido have aggressively expanded to China as their key overseas market.  The reason behind its continuing success is the use of good effective relationship marketing which seeks to identify the touch points of its customers.    As part of the corporate mission of Shiseido, their mission focuses on customer relationship management strategies and in relationship marketing that aims in its dedication in making the realization of beauty come true for its customers.  The integration of their marketing organization is achieved by the marketing, research and development department and the merchandising who works together in knowing the wants of the customers, analysing consumer needs and the market trend as well.   The use of internet and database marketing coincides to what is collectively considered as e-commerce.  With the very highly competitive global market, Shiseido in order to be competent must come up with new innovative means in addressing the need for new marketing strategy and the solution lies in the use of internet and database marketing.  Both new marketing strategy will surely keep Shiseido be at pace with the rival make up companies and with the rest of the make up industry that also spends huge bucks of money in the advertisement, promotions and in the research and design department.    Internet marketing will become a very valuable tool in providing convenience to the Shiseido customers since the customers themselves also is keeping at pace with the face-paced life in this modern world.  The need to find a place for parking and possibly be caught up in traffic would not be a concern anymore because the customers can purchase Shiseido right in a click of a mouse.  Not only that it provides customers with convenience, it can give product information about Shiseido products highlighting the difference of every Shiseido products from the other products available in the market and so as online without the hassle of undergoing persuasion from a sales person.  Database marketing, same as internet marketing, can monitor the customer’s needs and wants that enable Shiseido to better assess and be up-to-date with the changing trends within the external environment that comprises the society.  With the increasing use of both internet and database marketing, it speeds up the establishing of more than a customer relationship with customers.  It fosters valuable importance on the part of the customers that they are being treated as valuable to the company and making the customers feel they are of importance and that they matter.  The establishment of more than a customer relationship increases the likelihood of customer retention and customer loyalty.  Relationship marketing strategies is an alternative means in marketing that provides companies with the opportunity to maximize their profits and reduce its costs.  Compare with the traditional marketing which focuses only on the recruitment of single sale and little attention to customer service, relationship marketing focuses on customer retention and place a value on customer service. The implementation of internet and database marketing must also be in line with the aim of customer retention and customer loyalty.  Customer loyalty occurs when the buying motivations are high and the premise of commitment, preference and repeat purchase are present.  According to(1935), there are four levels of loyalty base on four components: cognitive, affective, conative and action.  The cognitive, affective and conative aspect is what comprises the traditional definition of behavior.  Shiseido should focus and give emphasis on these aspects in such that it is very helpful to get customers be drawn to your products.  Let us note that the customers behavior have an effect in the earning of customer loyalty.  Shiseido may thoroughly study the factors in which that affects customers’ behavior so that they will be given a clue to what the customer demands.  It is focusing on the emotional aspect of an individual would be the key in earning customer loyalty making Shiseido products more than a product for the customer making the customer develops an emotional attachment to it.       The role of e-commerce in the customer retention and customer loyalty is that it enables relationship marketer’s to customize the services Shiseido offers in a likeable demeanor.  For example, the friendly voice or manner of speaking of a relationship marketer can convince consumers to purchase Shiseido’s products.          Further, the aspect of Shiseido’s loyalty programs can also be improvised such that it would only not be limited to the chosen few.  The Shiseido’s customers will not be highly motivated if the loyalty program can only be available for the chosen few.  Internet and database marketing can better put emphasis on this aspect since it can be a medium of creating an awareness of the customer’s part and keep them up to date as well in what they can reap when they stay a loyal customer to Shiseido.  For example, they can introduce rewards point every time they purchase a Shiseido product.  The amount of reward points would be high when the customer purchases a Shiseido product that does not do well in the market. By doing so, it can perhaps generate an increase in the sales of products.  further developed the importance of building customer commitment in his 1996 book The Loyalty Effect. He focused on the cost of customer defection and set the stage for the problem by claiming.  Using examples from financial service companies, advertising agencies, and manufacturing firms,  claimed that even small improvements in customer retention can as much as double company profits.   point hold true because the costs of serving long-term costumers is less since these customers have been committed already to the products, the need to advertise the products to the customer is not that important anymore and the products the customers have been committed to has been instil in their minds as something that had worked for them.  The more they will be resistant to shift in trying and buying other product.  Naturally, customers will always choose the one that works for them.             Conclusion and Recommendations               The internet and database management is now considered a necessity of every company engaging in the global market.  To be able to reach out for a bigger market they have to reach their customers via the internet since customers are also now very technology driven.  The absence of venturing into new effective means of marketing may drive away customers to shifting with new products because the company itself does not keep itself at pace with the customers.  Thus, the probability of customer retention is less likely to happen.  Customer retention proved to be inevitable in every relationship marketing aspect.  From the customer retention engulfs the development of customer loyalty that comes from constantly refining the information available on specific customers that includes customer preferences, buying habits and patterns, product usage, and other data pertinent to individual customers. Effective customer relationship combined with internet and database marketing spells increased profitability in Shiseido.  Some advantages of customer relationship and internet and database strategy are first, the relationship can create a committed customer. A loyal and committed customer is more than repeat purchaser but is likely to have developed an emotional attachment with the products.  A committed customer is likely to be a source of word-of-mouth referrals and are resistant to accept and shift to new brand label.  Second, it can provide a point of leverage to realize economies of scope and further gain understanding customer’s changing trends. Third it has a potential to minimize costs.   Over all Shiseido show a good marketing effectiveness especially in the customer relationship management and relationship marketing aspect. The need for internet and database marketing proved to be a valuable asset if incorporated more in the marketing strategy.  The need for advertisement should not be too costly for Shiseido since it had already earned its reputation in the market.  Shiseido’s main concern now is how to stay competent in the market amidst the heavy rivals they are facing.  Also there is a need for Shiseido to allocate more money in the research and design department rather than in the advertisement because consumers’ trend tends to be moody and welcomes products which are new and very innovative to them.  The imperative need of redefining their products is of apparent importance in order to constantly differentiate their products from the rest of the make up products.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MARKETING

Abstract The increasing use of internet and database marketing in relation to relationship marketing is prevalent. The role of e-comm...

MARKETING

Abstract   The increasing use of internet and database marketing in relation to relationship marketing is prevalent.  The role of e-commerce plays a very large role indeed in achieving customer retention and customer loyalty by providing customers with long-term satisfaction from the marketers in a convenient way for the customers to indulge.   The shift from traditional marketing to relationship marketing provides an alternative to further increase companies’ profits and in developing better rapport and deeper relationship with customers.                         Introduction   Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that evokes an emphasis in building longer term relationships with customers other than my mere individual transactions. The focus of relationship marketing is to attract and promote customer retention based on trust, commitment and sharing of information in exchange for customer’s loyalty.  Further, relationship marketing facilitates the efforts of companies in the identification, maintenance of a network of individual consumers and the continuing initiative to strengthen the network.  According to(1994), relationship marketing as a retailer-customer approach that refers to all marketing activities directed toward developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges with customers. The evolution of relationship marketing can be traced back to a passage by  ( 1980) in which he observes: “What is surprising is that researchers and businessmen have concentrated far more on how to attract customers to products and services than on how to retain customers”.  Relationship marketing begins its roots in the industrial and business to business markets where long-term contracts have flourished for many years. According to  (1983), relationship marketing can be applied: when there are alternatives to choose from; when the customer makes the selection decision; and when there is an ongoing and periodic desire for the product or service.  A point of argument should be made here such that the application of relationship marketing should not only be limited or to be consider as an alternative because in order to gain profits, the principle that could underlie in the application of relationship marketing is to attract customers to the products and services at the same time to take care of these customers and treat them as assets that could be a very potent resource tantamount in the expansion of the business.  If its application is limited to the three factors stated above, there would be limitations in customer retention, thus, unable to get customers loyalty.  The continuing efforts to improve relationship marketing enable companies to cater to the different people who have a diversity of preferences. In fact, according to  (1991) claims that relationship marketing has the potential to forge a new synthesis between quality management, customer service management, and marketing.  Moreover means, that quality management, customer service management and marketing should be considered as a whole inseparable entity in the business. However, development in the use of database marketing principles is required to support the foundation for effective relationship marketing.  The key element lies in a flexible and customized sales and marketing database created by tools such as an information system that in turn allows immediate access for marketing information.  A marketing database serves as a strategic weapon in building strategic sustainable relationships with customers amidst the fierce competition in the marketing world.  For example, Burger King uses a database to push brand loyalty while its customers are still in analog mobile phones. The internet and management information system has been the major technology enablers that make relationship management more strategic.  The internet allows businesses to get low cost interactions with customers and can save time.  The management information system on the other hand, allows businesses to generate a single view of customers across all the functional areas in the business.  Both of these systems together allowed for customized communication for their costumers.  Customer relationship management in its narrow definition involves managing detailed information about individual customers in order to maximize costumer’s loyalty through carefully managing customer touch points.  Recently, however, customer relationship management takes its broader meaning which denotes as the overall process of building and maintaining customer relationships profitably by delivering customized and personalized customer value and satisfaction.  Effective customer relationship management in order to be use strategically requires the intelligent application of technology. The effectiveness of customer relationship management is how to use customer’s information valuably to create an ongoing relationship with the customer.  Aside from the intelligent application of technology, customer service management requires that an organizational views customer’s relationship with meaning before being able to learn about customer’s needs and wants deeper and how is it best to satisfy and sustain the costumer at the same time helping the organization meet its objectives. According to  (1990), the increased profitability associated with customer retention efforts occurs because the cost of acquisition occur only at the beginning of a relationship, so the longer the relationship, the lower the amortized cost; account maintenance costs decline as a percentage of total costs (or as a percentage of revenue); long-term customers tend to be less inclined to switch, and also tend to be less price sensitive resulting in stable unit sales volume and increases in sales volume are some of the factors that connotes profitability associated with customer retention.  Undoubtedly, customer retention entails an increased profitability.  Especially now with the emerging e-commerce innovations which serves as a role of a catalyst in the effectiveness of relationship marketing. Assessment   Shiseido is a company that did not start in a make up products industry but was able to earn its reputation in the make up products industry and is considered to be a top product manufacturer in the business.  There secret lies in the good effective marketing strategy they are using.  Shiseido once has been a limited partnership but became a stock company in Japan and since then it took its course in expanding their markets not only in Japan but in the global market as well.  Currently, Shiseido has sixty-five (65) countries from across the globe with its biggest sales in the European market.  Recently, Shiseido have aggressively expanded to China as their key overseas market.  The reason behind its continuing success is the use of good effective relationship marketing which seeks to identify the touch points of its customers.    As part of the corporate mission of Shiseido, their mission focuses on customer relationship management strategies and in relationship marketing that aims in its dedication in making the realization of beauty come true for its customers.  The integration of their marketing organization is achieved by the marketing, research and development department and the merchandising who works together in knowing the wants of the customers, analysing consumer needs and the market trend as well.   The use of internet and database marketing coincides to what is collectively considered as e-commerce.  With the very highly competitive global market, Shiseido in order to be competent must come up with new innovative means in addressing the need for new marketing strategy and the solution lies in the use of internet and database marketing.  Both new marketing strategy will surely keep Shiseido be at pace with the rival make up companies and with the rest of the make up industry that also spends huge bucks of money in the advertisement, promotions and in the research and design department.    Internet marketing will become a very valuable tool in providing convenience to the Shiseido customers since the customers themselves also is keeping at pace with the face-paced life in this modern world.  The need to find a place for parking and possibly be caught up in traffic would not be a concern anymore because the customers can purchase Shiseido right in a click of a mouse.  Not only that it provides customers with convenience, it can give product information about Shiseido products highlighting the difference of every Shiseido products from the other products available in the market and so as online without the hassle of undergoing persuasion from a sales person.  Database marketing, same as internet marketing, can monitor the customer’s needs and wants that enable Shiseido to better assess and be up-to-date with the changing trends within the external environment that comprises the society.  With the increasing use of both internet and database marketing, it speeds up the establishing of more than a customer relationship with customers.  It fosters valuable importance on the part of the customers that they are being treated as valuable to the company and making the customers feel they are of importance and that they matter.  The establishment of more than a customer relationship increases the likelihood of customer retention and customer loyalty.  Relationship marketing strategies is an alternative means in marketing that provides companies with the opportunity to maximize their profits and reduce its costs.  Compare with the traditional marketing which focuses only on the recruitment of single sale and little attention to customer service, relationship marketing focuses on customer retention and place a value on customer service. The implementation of internet and database marketing must also be in line with the aim of customer retention and customer loyalty.  Customer loyalty occurs when the buying motivations are high and the premise of commitment, preference and repeat purchase are present.  According to Oliver (1935), there are four levels of loyalty base on four components: cognitive, affective, conative and action.  The cognitive, affective and conative aspect is what comprises the traditional definition of behavior.  Shiseido should focus and give emphasis on these aspects in such that it is very helpful to get customers be drawn to your products.  Let us note that the customers behavior have an effect in the earning of customer loyalty.  Shiseido may thoroughly study the factors in which that affects customers’ behavior so that they will be given a clue to what the customer demands.  It is focusing on the emotional aspect of an individual would be the key in earning customer loyalty making Shiseido products more than a product for the customer making the customer develops an emotional attachment to it.       The role of e-commerce in the customer retention and customer loyalty is that it enables relationship marketer’s to customize the services Shiseido offers in a likeable demeanor.  For example, the friendly voice or manner of speaking of a relationship marketer can convince consumers to purchase Shiseido’s products.          Further, the aspect of Shiseido’s loyalty programs can also be improvised such that it would only not be limited to the chosen few.  The Shiseido’s customers will not be highly motivated if the loyalty program can only be available for the chosen few.  Internet and database marketing can better put emphasis on this aspect since it can be a medium of creating an awareness of the customer’s part and keep them up to date as well in what they can reap when they stay a loyal customer to Shiseido.  For example, they can introduce rewards point every time they purchase a Shiseido product.  The amount of reward points would be high when the customer purchases a Shiseido product that does not do well in the market. By doing so, it can perhaps generate an increase in the sales of products. further developed the importance of building customer commitment in his 1996 book The Loyalty Effect. He focused on the cost of customer defection and set the stage for the problem by claiming.  Using examples from financial service companies, advertising agencies, and manufacturing firms,  claimed that even small improvements in customer retention can as much as double company profits.   point hold true because the costs of serving long-term costumers is less since these customers have been committed already to the products, the need to advertise the products to the customer is not that important anymore and the products the customers have been committed to has been instil in their minds as something that had worked for them.  The more they will be resistant to shift in trying and buying other product.  Naturally, customers will always choose the one that works for them.   Conclusion and Recommendations               The internet and database management is now considered a necessity of every company engaging in the global market.  To be able to reach out for a bigger market they have to reach their customers via the internet since customers are also now very technology driven.  The absence of venturing into new effective means of marketing may drive away customers to shifting with new products because the company itself does not keep itself at pace with the customers.  Thus, the probability of customer retention is less likely to happen.  Customer retention proved to be inevitable in every relationship marketing aspect.  From the customer retention engulfs the development of customer loyalty that comes from constantly refining the information available on specific customers that includes customer preferences, buying habits and patterns, product usage, and other data pertinent to individual customers. Effective customer relationship combined with internet and database marketing spells increased profitability in Shiseido.  Some advantages of customer relationship and internet and database strategy are first, the relationship can create a committed customer. A loyal and committed customer is more than repeat purchaser but is likely to have developed an emotional attachment with the products.  A committed customer is likely to be a source of word-of-mouth referrals and are resistant to accept and shift to new brand label.  Second, it can provide a point of leverage to realize economies of scope and further gain understanding customer’s changing trends. Third it has a potential to minimize costs.   Over all Shiseido show a good marketing effectiveness especially in the customer relationship management and relationship marketing aspect. The need for internet and database marketing proved to be a valuable asset if incorporated more in the marketing strategy.  The need for advertisement should not be too costly for Shiseido since it had already earned its reputation in the market.  Shiseido’s main concern now is how to stay competent in the market amidst the heavy rivals they are facing.  Also there is a need for Shiseido to allocate more money in the research and design department rather than in the advertisement because consumers’ trend tends to be moody and welcomes products which are new and very innovative to them.  The imperative need of redefining their products is of apparent importance in order to constantly differentiate their products from the rest of the make up products.           Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MARKETING

Abstract The increasing use of internet and database marketing in relation to relationship marketing is prevalent. The role of e-comm...

Trademark Law

Trademark Law   Introduction               Trade mark means branding of products and services or providing signs distinguishing a particular good or service from similar commodities. A trade mark takes different forms covering a name, slogan or a graphic image. In other jurisdictions protection is also extended to three dimensional shapes, sound and smell.[1] Due to the sheer number of good and services in the market, trademark statutes were established to regulate the branding behaviour among competitors in the market by allowing the owner of a mark to develop and maintain this brand.[2]   Trade mark ownership in Australia is based on national laws harmonised with international agreements dating back to 1891 together with registration under the National Trade Marks Office or any equivalent registry depending upon jurisdiction requirements. Recognition and protection of mark ownership is limited to jurisdiction. This means that a mark registered with a particular jurisdiction and under a particular category can be registered by other individuals or firms in another jurisdiction or for another category. Ownership of a mark is not absolute but jurisdiction based. However, once there was an infringement of mark ownership in the same registration jurisdiction and in the same category, the registered owner has the right to take legal action against the infringement.[3]   Protection of mark ownership through registration in Australia lasts for ten years subject to renewal for another ten years subject to the payment of registration fees and satisfaction of basic conditions for the use of the mark. A registered trademark, having the nature of property, can be traded, used as security for loan, or made to embellish the firm’s balance sheet.[4]   Trade mark constitutes an intangible investment, which is easily imitated or copied by a firm’s competitors. Without trademark legislation it would be difficult to prevent free-riders using the mark without contributing to its development leading to losses for the mark owner in terms of the non-recoverability of the cost of investment appropriated by another person. Apart from the prevention of free-riding, the regulation of trademark ownership also works for the interest of society to ensure the propagation of ideas to the rest of society. This is achieved through the requirement of patent disclosures, limited duration of patent protection, and restricted copyright protection for expression but not for ideas.[5]    Trade mark registration process in Australia commences with an application with the appropriate registry in order to determine whether the mark subject to registration has already been registered and used under a particular class or unavailable. This will be determined through the registry database. If it is determined that the mark is available for registration, the registrant submits the application for registration to IP Australia. The application should contain the corporate information and details of the good or service with which the mark is associated. All applications are checked with the database and provisions on statutory exclusions. If the application is accepted, this will be published. In case of the lack of opposition to the application, ownership is recognized commencing from the date of filing of the application.[6]           Tests Applied for the Registration of Colour Trademarks               Section 17 of Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) defines a registrable trade mark as “a sign used, or intended to be used, to distinguish goods or services dealt with or provided in the course of trade by a person from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person”. Examples of permissible marks are covered by the provision defining sign in section 6 of the Trade Marks Act, which are: 1) letter; 2) label; 3) word; 4) ticket; 5) name; 6) aspect of packaging; 7) signature; 8) shape; 9) numeral; 10) colour; 11) device; 12) sound; 13) brand; 14) scent; and 15) heading. The list is inclusive and open to other conceivable signs and even to moving image or holograms[7].               In relation to colour trademarks, registration involves the application for the registration of a colour or combination of colours associated with a product or service. Several tests are available for the registration of colour trademarks. First test for the registration of colour trade marks is that the colour or combination of colours falls under the definition of sign may be registered as a trade mark. Colour trademarks may consist of labels or ticket integrated with other signs, colours applied to commodities, colours comprising aspects of packaging. Apart from compliance with the definition of sign, the colour or combination of colours should be used as a distinguishing mark for the goods or services offered by the applicant.[8]                   Second test in registering colour trade marks is with regard to goods. Registration of colour trade marks associated to good is acceptable if the application provides clear and concise depiction and pictorial representation of the mark. The application should show the manner that colour subject of registration is applied to the good or its packaging. However, in some instances, colour trade mark registration may be permitted despite lack of compliance with the abovementioned requirement where the colour is shown as the representation itself. An example is the application made by Orange Personal Communications Services Limited for the registration of the colour orange associated with the services of the company which was accepted under Australian trade mark number 820452.[9]               Third test in the registration of trade marks covers services. Similar to the registration of colour trade marks associated with products, the application should also contain a description of how the colour is integrated with the service offered by the applicant. Examples of colours integrated with services are colour designs of the façade of the business address, building and fixtures.[10]                  Fourth test in the registration of colour trade marks is the distinction of the colour being associated with the service. The applicant is required to pass colour and colour scheme samples to the trade mark registry. This may be based on a popular colour matching system but this is not mandatory as long the applicant is able to produce a sample of the colour scheme or combination together with the application.               Fifth test in the registration of colour trade marks is the distinctiveness of the colour scheme or combination. In Philmac Pty Ltd v Registrar of Trade Marks[11] provided the circumstances where certain colours and colour schemes can be adapted as distinguishing marks, these are 1) colour chosen does not serve a utilitarian purpose and does not produce particular physical or chemical effects such as heat absorption or light reflection; 2) colour does not have an ornamental purpose and does not denote any recognized meaning such as danger or environmentalism; 3) colour does not have an economic purpose and it does not constitute the naturally occurring state of the colour because otherwise competitors would have to pay additional expenses to avoid infringement suits; and 4) the colour trade mark is not being registered in association with commodities in a market using colour as a competitive edge otherwise competitors would use the colour in a similar fashion.                  The concurrent case of In Luk Lamellen and Kupplung Beteiligungs KG[12] provided that the criteria mentioned in the previous case is applicable to both goods and packaging. However, by analogy the criteria may also be made to apply to services as long as the components of the criteria are satisfied.                           The sixth test in the registration of colour trade marks is the level of distinctiveness to be proven for the application to become acceptable to the trade marks office. According to the case of Philmac Pty Ltd v Registrar of Trade Marks[13], the Trade Marks Act 1995 does not differentiate between traditional and non-conventional trade marks. This implies that in theory, colour trademarks may be considered inherently distinctive and subject to registration even without the establishment of distinctiveness through actual use. The rationale for this is that saying that a colour can never be adapted to distinguish the applicant’s goods defeats the provision of the act allowing colour as trade mark.                   However, in practice the registrar is likely to make an objection to applications for the registration of colour trademarks especially if it is for a single colour. This is likely based on the reason that the execution of the single colour may not be able to support the provision of a distinguishable mark for the applicant’s good or service relative to other traders. In this instance, the applicant may have to provide evidence that the colour trade mark has attained de facto distinctiveness through use of the mark. There are instances that more evidence apart from actual use of the mark is needed to prove colour trade mark and product association as shown in the case of Re Application by Cadbury Ltd[14]. The colour trade mark should function as a trade mark by distinguishing the applicant’s products with the commodities of its competitors. In some instances, even proof of use of a single-colour trade mark for six years may comprise sufficient proof of mark distinction through actual use.               The seventh test for the registration of colour trade marks is the extent of the need for keeping the mark exclusive to the use of the applicant. Under the Trade Marks Act 1995, a single colour is allowable as a trade mark so that a colour can be made as a distinguishing mark for a good and even by analogy to a service. This is based on the issue raised by the colour depletion theory, which provides that the registration of a single-colour trade mark has the effect of monopolising the different shades of that colour because the shades would be classified as similar to the colour registered. This has the effect of limiting the colour trade marks available for other applicants. This theory was rejected in the case of Re Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation[15] rejected the theory because this is inconsistent with the legislative provision that a single-colour trade mark is capable of being registered as a mark. In the Philmac case, the colour depletion argument explained that if there is competitive need to keep colours available, it would not be unreasonable to prevent the monopoly of the colour and vice versa. This means that the general rule is that a single colour trade mark is acceptable for registration. However, single-colour applications may be denied in certain instances that excludes the colour depletion theory.                 The eighth test in the registration of colour trade mark covers the assessment of the distinctiveness of the mark subject of the application. In determining the distinctiveness of the colour trade mark being registered, Multix Pty Ltd[16] provides that making a colour trade mark distinguishable is difficult since the use of a mark by the producer of a product, particularly if used successfully, would spur competitors to use the same colour or colour scheme. The Multix case involved two applications for the registration of colour trade mark covering aluminium foil (class 6) and domestic aluminium utensils (class 21). Trade marks being registered were described as follows, the first application is trying to register the colour red as predominant background in the product packaging while the second application is also trying to register red as the predominant background while using white as the colour for the writing on the product packaging. In this case, the objection to the applications was upheld. The objection revolved around the fact that the colour and colour scheme being registered comprise a scheme that other traders would also likely want to use for as their mark. This makes the colour scheme undistinguishable.   In the similar case of Re application by Notetry Ltd[17], it was also determined that the colour scheme being registered is yellow and silver associated with cleaning apparatus (class 7) such as vacuum cleaners and carpet shampoos was a scheme that competitors would likely use in their marks. These cases imply that the visual manner that a mark was used in association with a product has a great impact on the distinctiveness of the mark. A common concept is likely not to be accepted while a less common execution would have a bigger chance of being accepted. Other means of achieving distinction are by having a high level of precision in defining the colour scheme, defining the extent and location of the colour scheme relative to the good or service; the usage of the colour together with a word mark so that the word mark may support the distinctiveness of the colour trade mark; the variety and combination of colours in the trademark so that less colours and less complicated colour schemes would have lesser chance for registration; and the colour itself since primary colours have lesser contributions to distinctiveness relative to complex colours and combinations.    Colour Depletion Theory               Colour depletion theory states that only a few colours easily discernible with ease exists so that in case these colours have already been used and appropriated in a particular market, other people or firms seeking entry in the market are deprived of a fair competitive field[18]. In the earlier case of Re Owens-Coming Fiberglass Corporation[19], colour depletion theory was explained as capturing a situation where due to the premise that there are a limited number of easily discernible colours, the registration of one shade of a colour as a trademark in a market would have the effect of monopolising every shade of that colour. This situation has the effect of limiting the colours that individuals and business firms could use and register as colour trade mark in a particular market or class of products due to the monopolisation of colours.      Applicability of the Colour Depletion Theory in Australia               The colour depletion theory has been rejected in Australia as a valid principle governing trade mark use and registration because the approach has been found to be inconsistent with the established legislative presumption that colour can be registered as a trade mark. In Australia, the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) provides for the registration of colour as a trade mark. To make the application and registration of colour trade marks possible in application, section 17 of the stature defines a trade mark and section 6 of the same legislation provides for the trade marks that can be registered with IP Australia including colours and colour schemes. Apart from this several tests or requirements have arisen in order to provide for guidelines in the registration of colour trade marks and the resolution of issues in applications for the registration of single colours and colour schemes. These legal provisions together with the court decisions such as in the Luk Lamellen case in 2003, Philmac case in 2002 and Cadbury case also in 2002 support the registration of colour as trademark whether the application covers a single colour or a colour scheme subject only to the application of the tests to determine capability for registration and compliance with registration requirements.                    This implies that the colour depletion theory is not applicable in Australia because the idea that the limited number of colour that can be registered as trade mark makes monopolisation of colour probable preventing other individuals and business firms from using and registering a colour trade mark already being used and registered by another individual or business firm is inconsistent with the legal provision allowing the registration of colour as trade mark. Due to the inconsistency, the colour depletion theory has been rejected in Australia. In order to address the issues raised by the theory particularly the registration of similar colours and colour schemes, decisions in the recent cases mentioned above have identified distinctiveness as the primary criteria for considering applications for the registration of colour trade marks. Applicants should be able to show that the manner of using a single colour or a colour scheme by the firm as a trade mark has a certain level of distinctiveness that would support the approval of the application. Distinctiveness then means that more complex or unique colour schemes have a higher probability of being approved for registration as trade mark relative to the application for single colours or generic colour schemes as trade marks.   Comparative Legal Analysis of Trade Mark Law               Comparison of the trade mark law of the United States, the European Union, Australia and United Arab Emirates is discussed by looking at three areas, which are: 1) the registrability or eligibility for registration of colours and colour schemes as trade marks; 2) the tests and requirements in the registration of colour trade marks; and 3) the applicability of the colour depletion theory.   Registrability of Colour Trade Marks               In the United States, registrability of colours and colour schemes as trade mark is provided by Title 37, Part 2, Section 52, Subpart b(1) of the Code of Federal Regulations 2003. The provision allows the registration of single colours and colour combinations or schemes associated with goods or services. In the case of single colours associated with goods or services, the applicant seeking trade mark registration should be able to show the mark in the form of colour, provide the name of the colour sought to be registered, include a clear and concise description of the placement of colour on the mark, and submit an assertion containing the claim that the colour subject for registration is a significant and defining feature of the trade mark. One example is the single colour registered as U.S. Reg. No. 2256226 covers the colour orange described as Pantone 165C based on the Pantone Matching System for designating colours and their various shades to support colour trade mark distinction.                In the case of the European Union, trade mark law comprises a supranational law that takes the place of national laws of the various member states. Trade mark law in the European Union is somewhat similar to the US system. Like in the United States, the applicant of a mark has the option of applying for national protection or registration in a single member country or applies for EU-wide protection. However, the difference in the case of the European Union is the existence of difficulties in the harmonisation of trade mark law in conjunction with international and national laws. Several international and union legislations cover trade mark registration, which are: 1) Paris Convention; 2) Madrid Agreement; 3) TRIPS Agreement; 4) EC Harmonization Directive; and 5) EC Regulation. In the European Union, the harmonisation of these various statutes is made through the policy that trade marks is regulated internationally  but the determination of the marks that may be subject to registration falls under the jurisdiction of national authorities. Thus, in terms of registrability, colour and colour combinations are recognised as trade marks in the European Union but the implementation of statutory protection differs between the US and the EU in terms of the dynamics of applicable laws.               Specifically, with regard to the protection of colours as trade marks, the registration of colour combinations offers fewer problems relative to single colours. Combination colours are definitely subject to registration but it is only in the case of single colours that the issue of registrability becomes an issue. Under Article 6 of the Paris Convention, provides that marks without distinctive features cannot be subject to registration but the legislation does not provide a description or a list of the marks that can be registered. This means that under the Paris Convention, while protection is given to the registration of trade marks, it does not explicitly address the case of the registration of single colours. By looking at the supplementary TRIPS Agreement, particularly article 15, marks used to identify goods are subject to trade mark registration. Examples of marks subject to registration are colour combinations but no mention is made of single colours.               This means that it is up to the member states to determine whether a single colour will be allowed registration based on the context of the application. However, EU member states are not entirely devoid of guide in resolving single colour registrations. In the Libertel Groep v Benelux-Merkenbureau[20], the Netherlands SC sought the decision of the European Court of Justice in determining whether single colours may constitute a trade mark and what are the circumstances under which single colours may be subject to protection. According to the decision of the ECJ, single colours may be subject to registration provided there is compliance with these three conditions: 1) the colour trade mark should comprise a sign or that it is used in a particular context of association with a product or service; 2) colour trade mark should be graphically presented by providing a sample of the colour and a definite description of the colour during application; and 3) the colour mark should serve the purpose of distinguishing the goods or service relative to other similar goods or services.               On one hand, in the case of the United States, the test used in determining the registrability of single colours is the ability of the applicant to prove that the colour subject of registration is distinctive by showing that the mark is primarily comprised of the colour, providing a clear description of the use of the colour as mark, and the submission of an assertion claiming that the colour makes up the defining characteristic of the trade mark. On the other hand, in the case of the European Union, the registrability of single colours is determined by the criteria set out by the ECJ decision in the Libertel case, that the colour is a sign, its is graphically presented, and its distinguishes the good or service associated with it. In both jurisdictions, colour schemes or colour combinations are definitely registrable.               In the case of Australia, colour trade mark registrability is provided by the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth). Under the list of permissible marks, colour is considered part of the marks allowed to be registered as trade mark. Decisions in court cases and the rules set forth by IP Australia provide for the registration of both single and combination colours associated with either or both goods and services. The Philmac case not only supports the registrability of colour trade marks but also provides for the manner of determining whether an application should be accepted.               Looking towards the commercial centre in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates has recognises trademark and has enacted its own trade mark law. Among the list of registrable marks are language terms, names, signatures, letters, numbers, drawings, symbols, addresses, hallmarks, stamps, pictures, vignettes, notices, packages, combination of the mentioned marks, and sound accompanying a mark[21]. There is also an enumeration of marks that cannot be registered[22]. Neither the list of registrable marks nor non-registrable marks mention colour as a trade mark. In this sense, the provision of the UAE trade mark law indicates non-recognition for colour as trade mark in itself. However, United Arab Emirates is a member of the international community and the World Trade Organization (WTO) so that the state is bound to comply with the agreements which it has signed and ratified such as the Paris Agreement and the supplemental TRIPS Agreement together with the Trademark Law Treaty. Although, the TRIPS Agreement allows combination of colours as registrable trademark, the Paris Convention and the Trademark Law Treaty allows states to specify their criteria for registrability. In this sense, it is up to the United Arab Emirates to decide whether to allow the registration of single and combination colours when application for these marks arise.               Australia trade mark law is similar to the legislation applied in the United States and the European Union in terms of the registrability of colour as trade mark and the requirements for registration. A stark difference in the trade mark law of the three jurisdictions is that the European Union faces problems in the harmonisation of international law, EU directives and national law particularly in the consideration of applications for single colour. In the case of UAE, the trade mark law provides a list of registrable and non-registrable marks but it does not explicitly disallow the registration of colours as trade marks.      Test for Registrability               In relation to the test of registrability in the United States, Qualitex Co. v Jacobson Products Co. Inc.[23]provides that colour marks cannot be considered as inherently distinctive. As a result of this decision, the succeeding case of In re Ferris Corp.[24] provides the requirements that applicants should comply with in order to secure the approval of their application. Applicants seeking registration for a colour trade mark associated with a good or service has to overcome the requirement of demonstrating secondary meaning. Concurrently, according to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the burden of proving the acquisition of distinctiveness of the colour or colour scheme used and subject of registration is greater for colour marks because of the assumption that colour is inherently non-distinctive. The non-distinctiveness of colour emanates from the rationale that consumers do not practice the association of a particular colour to a certain product or manufacturer but instead recognise more the totality of the packaging trade dress of products.               In the Qualitex case, the scope of protection for the registration of colour trade marks was expanded so that applications for the registration of single colours or colour schemes are allowed provided that the applicant is able to prove the existence of secondary meaning by proving the distinctiveness of the colour or colour scheme subject of registration and the lack of functionality of the colour or colour scheme making it common or generic and not qualified for registration for use by a single business firm.               With regard to the test of registrability in the case of the European Union, the 2003 Libertel case dealing with trade mark registration of the orange as the colour trade mark associated with telecommunications equipment and services held that the context of the use of the colour determines the constitution of the colour as a sign making it registrable. In this case, the ECJ applied the Sieckmann test, which provides that colour sample does not in itself assure trade mark registration in a similar way that verbal description does not necessarily make up a graphic representation. However, the description of a colour using an internationally accepted colour identification code may be accepted as a valid graphic representation. In relation to the test of distinctiveness, the court held that this is determined based on the use of the mark as badge of origin in the industry and market together with public perception. Also, in instances where registration would impede the availability of colours for the competing firms, companies the application may be denied registration.               This ruling was refined in the case Heidelberger Bauchemie GmbH[25]. In this case the court provided that colours and colour schemes subject of trade mark registration claimed in the application as having no contours, of a shade or shades described in words with reference to a given colour sample and specified according to an internationally recognised colour code may be approved for trade mark registration. In deciding the case, the ECJ made use of a two-pronged test, which provides that 1) colours should represent a sign in the manner that these are used and 2) the application for trade mark registration should have a systematic arrangement that strongly associates the colours with goods and services in a uniform manner.                     The test of registrability in the United States and the European Union are similar because both determine the qualification of an application for colour trade mark registration based on the context of usage, particularly the manner that the colour is used in a distinctive manner. The difference is on the focus of the tests. In the United States, the test focuses on the lack functionality while in the European Union, the tests focus on the utilisation of colour as a sign.               In the case of Australia, there are several tests for registrability, some of which are similar to the requirements in the United States and the European Union. The tests can be summarised into four requirements. First test is that the utilisation of the colour as a mark should make the colour constitutive of a sign. This is similar to the requirement being focused by the European Union trade mark law. Second test is the need for a clear description of the colour in order to clearly set the colour as uniquely used by the business firm. This is similar to the requirement subject of the focus of the US trade mark law. Third is the applicant’s showing of proof of the distinctiveness of colour usage. This test is also present in the US and EU trade mark law application. Fourth is the test for making the colour free from trade mark registration. In the United States, the test used is functionality while in the EU the test is the number of registrations for a single colour or colour combination in a market or product class. In the case of Australia, the test of registrability is whether allowing the registration of a colour or colour scheme as trade mark would create an unfair ground for competition within the market. The case of UAE differs because since colour as a trade mark is not explicitly allowed or disallowed. However, in case colour is allowed to be registered as a trademark, the primary test for registrability is still distinctiveness similar to the other jurisdictions as provided in the UAE trade mark law[26].      Applicability of the Colour Depletion Theory               Prior to the Qualitex case, NutraSweet Co. v Stadt Corp.[27] provides that colour and colour schemes were not protected as trade marks because the general rule then is that colour cannot be monopolised in order to distinguish products or services. This rule is supported by the colour depletion theory that there are only a limited number of colours that can be subject to easy differentiation or distinction so that allowing the registration of colours would result to the monopolisation of colours by a few individuals or business firms in a particular market defeating fair competition. With the decision in the Qualitex case, the colour depletion theory was abandoned so that the general rule became the legality of registering colours and colour schemes.               However, even if the colour depletion theory was abandoned in the United States, the theory still emerges during the registration process when the functionality analysis is applied. In the case of In re Howard S. Leight and Associates Inc.[28], reddish-orange shade for safety earplugs subject to registration was found to be functional since the bright colour helps in monitoring the compliance of employees with health and safety practices. This means that the colours of this sort have limited distinction due to their functionality indicating difficulty in registration. In Re Orange Commc’n Inc.[29] also provided that orange and yellow for use in telephone booths were found to be functional because registration limits the ability of other firms to compete in the market.               In the case of the European Union, some principles of the colour depletion theory were recognized but the European Court of Justice still upheld the registrability of colours in instances where the context of use of colours as trade mark is distinctive. In the Libertel case, the court recognized that colours possess only a semblance of inherent capacity for conveying specific information. This means that even if colours are used to advertise and sell products, the use of colours is without particular messages. However, the court also provided that in some circumstances, colour can be used to distinguish goods and services relative to competing products. This means that colours may be used to signify badge of origin by fulfilling requirements of trade mark registrability. The determination of whether a colour should be kept free for trade depends upon the number of registrations for a colour or colour scheme.               Apart from this, the ECJ also recognises that there are only a limited number of colours available since the public is able to only recognise only a number of colours. However, the court also provided that average consumers are not able to distinguish goods and services based on colour. This means that even if there are a limited number of colours, the limited number of trade mark registrations for the colour will not exhaust the entire colour range. This implies that the restriction of colour registration would also depend upon the volume of applications for a colour within a given market, industry or product class. The need to free a colour from trade mark registration also depends upon this.                 In the case of the United States, it has abandoned the colour depletion theory but the theory emerges only in considering the functionality test in the consideration of colour trade mark applications while in the case of the European Union, the colour depletion theory was also abandoned but some of related principles are recognised as assumptions in the application of the tests for registrability.               Australia has rejected the colour depletion theory because this is inconsistent with the legal provision explicitly allowing the registration of colour as trade mark. In order to address the issue of limited colours, case decisions have provided for requirements to be complied with by applicants in order to ensure that there would be no monopoly of colour as trade mark or the registration would not result to unfair conditions among competitors.             The United States, European Union and Australia have abandoned the colour depletion theory. However, the theory arises in the application of their trade mark laws in different ways. In the United States, the colour depletion theory arises in the case of the consideration of colour trade mark applications in using the functionality test. In the European Union, some of the principles related to the theory have been used as assumptions in supporting the registrability of single colour trade marks. In the case of Australia, limited available colours set forth under the colour depletion theory was used as basis in establishing the requirement that the colour and its use should not be common or generalised so that there is no longer distinctiveness. While the US, EU and Australia find the colour depletion theory of use to the development of their trade mark laws, in the UAE, the colour depletion theory has yet to become a significant part of the development of its trade mark legislation.   Conclusion               Trade mark in the different jurisdictions serves an important legislative function, that of ensuring differentiation of competing or similar products and services by protecting the distinctive manner that business firms have used marks to associate with commodities through registration. In this way, business firms are able to have another means of channelling the extent of competition in the market.               Colour is one of the trade marks that business firms may use in distinguishing their products and services. Colour as a mark has been recognised by international law through the Paris Convention and the supplemental TRIPS agreement, by the European Union through its directives, and by the national laws of several jurisdictions such as the United States and Australia.               On one hand, despite the enshrinement of colour trade mark registration in legislations, its application offers similar and differing issues in the various jurisdictions. In considering the case of the US, EU and Australia, all have statutes supporting the registration of both single colours and colour combinations subject only to the requirements that applicant need to comply with in the various jurisdictions. In relation to tests for registrability, the common requirement in all jurisdictions is the distinctiveness of the utilisation of the colour associated with a good or service. In terms of the colour depletion theory, this has been similarly abandoned in the three jurisdictions with the difference present only in the manner that the theory influenced trade law application.               On the other hand, there are also jurisdictions where colour as a trade mark is deemed not registrable while other jurisdictions have kept the registration of colours as trade mark subject to future determination such as the United Arab Emirates.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Trademark Law

Trademark Law Introduction Trade mark means branding of products and services or providing signs distinguishing a par...