Question

Identify a fading brand. What suggestions can you offer to revitalize its brand equity? Try to apply the different approaches suggested in this chapter. Which strategies would seem to work best? When should a brand reinvent itself? What are some strategies for creating excitement about products in the mature stage of the product life cycle? Is there a danger of a brand losing its identity in the mature stage of the product life cycle?

Answer 1

Black berry is one of the very reputed brand at a time but now it has lose its value and if they don’t reshape their branding model or business they will disappear soon form the market. Blackberry was once known for its qwerty keypads and I pads but after the touch screen phones has arrived they have slowly lose their markets and now it is the position that hardly anyone wanted to buy such phones. The brand can revitalize again only if they work on innovation and try to develop their products with improved technology. In phones, Blackberry is trying to come up again with products like KeyOne smartphone through effective marketing strategies like street smart marketing, celebrity endorsements,etc. however more focused approach towards product design and technology needs to be done. The best strategy is to work on the internal environment like Hiring of innovative employees, technology upgradation, more product lines, focused strategy, etc.

It is very hard for a brand to revitalize itself when it has achieved the maturity stage. For blackberry, it is also difficult but constant working and confidence can only let a brand win. Blackberry’s CEO Mahieu has strong confidence on Blackberry that in the next 3-4 years will again get its place back. With the launch of KeyOne which is regarded as the major competitor to Samsung should focus on more such good products to have a comeback to the consumer market. Brands generally have this fear of losing its identity in the maturity stage, but it has been seen cases of several brands which has shown huge recovery and even get very successful after the maturity stage because of its strategies and innovative steps. Therefore, it is advisable for Blackberry to come up with focus and distinctive strategy to again build the confidence of customers in the brand.