NEW DATE. Originally scheduled for October 18th, this event will finally take place on January 30th.
ESADE Alumni’s latest talk in the Refresher Programme series was “I want this brand! How to build desirable brands and remain a market leader, by Oriol Iglesias (Lic&MBA 98 / PhD 06), associate professor in ESADE’s marketing management department.
Having a desirable brand is the secret to differentiating oneself from the competition. This is the main concept of the book ¡Quiero este marca! by Oriol Iglesias and Nicholas Ind. The idea arose from several market surveys for which they held a series of workshops in Nuremberg, Paris, London, New York and Barcelona with more than 800 different types of brands and 30 interviews of influential people, such as Adidas CEO and Ferran Adrià.
On the basis of the results obtained, they evaluated how brand value is created. It requires, on the one hand, brand pressure leverage based on investment to achieve market penetration, adspend and price promotions to become a market leader. On the other hand, brand desire leverage must be used to connect emotionally with users and give them a sense of belonging. “In this way, a company that manages to use both forms of leverage equally can achieve steady, sustainable growth, said Iglesias.
The professor explained that a desirable brand originates in the sources of desire: social identity, relevant meanings, authenticity, sensuality and surprise. Iglesias explained that the first thing to do is to create a group of loyal customers to interact with and make contact with their lifestyle. In this way, on the basis of the company’s history and identity and also by keeping one’s promises, trust and reliability can be achieved. “In other words, real, meaningful value can be created. The famous red leather Hermès handbag, for example, is one of the most sought after bags on the market because Grace Kelly used it – which is why it is called the Kelly bag. A story more than one hundred years old that endows an object with meaning and personality. In addition, the company uses fine materials and occasionally launches limited editions. All this makes the Hermès handbag a desired brand. There is a two-year waiting list for potential buyers and it costs €3,000, said the speaker.
The creation of a desirable brand is based on five pillars: customer experience, storytelling, in-house corporate culture, co-creation and principles. “Having very solid principles enables us to grow with a greater focus on values, said Iglesias. This makes it necessary to sell off lines of business that do not tally with such values and cause a lack of credibility, and invest in lines of business that offer opportunities.
Storybuilding entails building a brand narrative on the basis of personalisation, simplicity and immediacy. One example is Asics which analyses its customers’ tread to find the most suitable shoe.
As for co-creation, Iglesias explained that the company must open up and seek the cooperation of other partners. The management must foster principles such as opening up to external influences and clients in order to become more innovative, whilst respecting the company’s identity. One must also try to forge links with the community and, at the same time, create surprises. One danger is when the brand is watered down and loses its identity. It is, therefore, important to ensure a continuity of values within this approach. Iglesias wound up his talk by saying, “We must keep track of what happens outside if we want to remain relevant and innovative.
ESADE Alumni invites you to ''I want this brand! How to create desirable brands able to remain market leaders'', a talk in the Refresher Programme series by professor Oriol Iglesias (Lic&MBA 98 / PhD 06), associate professor, Department of Marketing, ESADE.
When we want a brand we become staunch supporters of it, we tend to become repeat buyers, we are willing to pay a premium and even hope to work with it on creating new products or services. But how can a brand remain desirable in the long term?
In recent years, Professor Oriol Iglesias has been conducting research, in conjunction with his co-author Professor Nicholas Ind, into the importance of desire for consumers and the crucial factors for creating a desirable brand. During their research they tracked more than 1,200 brands in 45 categories of products and services, carried out more than 10,000 consumer questionnaires and interviewed some 30 senior international executives, including the global marketing managers of Coca-Cola and Porsche, and the CEOs of Adidas and Bang & Olufsen.
In this talk, Professor Iglesias will explain the importance of desire in building a competitive leadership position and will also outline the six main factors in building desirable brands, drawing upon some of the many examples and case studies to be found in his new book by the same name as this refresher programme talk.
Oriol Iglesias
Oriol Iglesias is full professor in ESADE’s Marketing Management Department. Also member of the Executive Committee of the European Marketing Academy, the Scientific Committee of the Special Group in Brand, Identity and Corporate Reputation at the Academy of Marketing (United Kingdom), the editorial board of the Journal of Brand Management (USA) and the Scientific Committee of the Global Brand Conference. He was Director in ESADE’s Marketing Management Departmenthe and of the ESADE Brand Institute. He has worked on courses and consulting programs for Telefónica, Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Sara Lee, Carlson Wagonlit, Orange, Bassat Ogilvy, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Dade Behring, to name but a few. From 2000 to 2007 he was a partner and director of Wakaa Networks, a consultancy specialised in marketing. In parallel he has also been a partner and director of El Terrat Online, the online division of the TV, theatre and entertainment production company El Terrat. Previously he was the senior consultant and then sub-director of ATI-Markefin (consultancy in the realm of service marketing). He started work in the marketing department at Xerox.
Each member may bring a maximum of one guest.
See you there!
How to get to ESADE:
Public transport: Bus (22, 64, 78, 63 and 75), Metro (L3 Maria Cristina) and FGC (L6 Reina Elisenda).
Car: NEW municipal parking B: SM in c / Marqués de Mulhacen, 51.
For further information:
esadealumni@esade.edu
Language: Spanish
