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Hub You - Managing the Corporate Brand - a Reputation Perspective
Benefits of a Lean Office: Is It for You? erred to another product via the brand name.Lean is no longer the propriety process and quality management mantra for manufacturing units. The success of Lean management in manufacturing units was bound to percolate to non-manufacturing processes sooner or later. Needless to add, success stories about Lean Office abound with many organizations proactively adapting this technique to cut down wastage (also referred to as muda) of time and material and developing processes which are closely knit to give the maximum output. Though Lean processes have been around for quite some time along with other quality processes such as Six Sigma, the interest in Lean Office has been recent due to the increase in the services sector through out the globe.Benefits of a Lean Office are very easy to gather. However, if you are still not convinced about the benefits of this quality management system, which has shown huge improvements in offices across the world, here are some outlined benefits which can convince you in that direction.Improves efficiency:The implementation of lean office processes just does not improve the efficiency of the office marginally, it improves it by as much as 90% in some cases! Such a huge improvement by reviewing the processes and making suitable changes and implementing a revised process is the outcome of the process For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name Taking Stock: Time to Re-examine your Goals Adored, respected and coveted by customers and organisations alike, corporate brands represent one of the most fascinating phenomena of the business environment in the 21st century. Their importance is unquestionable. Brands, in their various forms, are integral to our everyday existence. This is particularly the case at the organisational level where the concept of the corporate brand now enjoys wide currency in business parlance. There is an increasing realisation that corporate brands serve as a powerful navigational tool to a variety of stakeholders for a lot of purposes, including employment, investment and, most importantly, consumer buying behaviour.At the beginning of the year good intentions run rampant. We are all setting objectives, putting together resolutions, creating goals, and determining that we are, for sure, going to do something better or bigger this year. Well, how’s it going? Have you taken stock of where you are at against those goals?I’ve noticed a trend when it comes to goal setting. This is what it looks like:*Beginning of the year starts out strong. Goals are set and pacts are made to reach those goals.*Over the course of the next month or two the business shifts focus and you are off and running in a completely different direction.*A few more months go by and you settle into the same routine you’ve been in for the past few years.*Two more months go by so fast you don’t even notice they’ve past.*The end of the year rolls around and you realize you are in the same spot you were this time last year, but…...this year is going to be different. You know why? You’re starting to read this article. If you continue reading you’re guaranteed to grow your awareness of how important it is to review your goals and objectives on a regular basis.There’s a Harvard study that brings the point home:Harvard did a study of their own graduates’ Corporate branding has been defined by Van Riel (2001, p. 12) as: “a systematically planned and implemented process of creating and maintaining a favourable reputation of the company with its constituent elements, by sending signals to stakeholders using the corporate brand.” Creating a coherent perception of a company in the minds of its various stakeholders is a major challenge faced by many companies. Particularly in large multinational corporations speaking with one voice is a challenging task. Especially when grown through extensive merger and acquisition activities, large companies often comprise multiple subsidiaries and subsequently multiple brands and cultures. Managing the signals these diverse corporate subsets send out to their stakeholders is often impeded by various aspects such as historic turf wars between divisions, cultural and language differences, deficient management structures and unclear responsibilities, or simply by spatial separation. Furthermore, incoherence in messages and difficulties in coordination are often fostered by communication representatives’ narrow focus on their particular stakeholder groups. For example, investor relations representatives only have a small community of investors in mind. Those responsible for a certain product brand focus on their particular customer base and the internal communicators primarily see their recipients, the employees. Such thinking in a box and acting in narrow realms of stakeholder groups often leads to the communication of messages that might be suitable for each individual stakeholder group, yet all in all the picture drawn of the company as a whole is blurred or even contradictory. This article asserts that a stronger integration of the different internal units responsible for stakeholder relations is needed in order to foster more coherencies in messaging and to eventually generate a coherent corporate brand image and favourable corporate reputation. The management process of creating and maintaining a coherent corporate brand image in the minds of each individual stakeholder which is the basis for a favourable overall corporate reputation shall be labelled corporate branding. The importance of corporate brands has been ignored in the literature for a very long time. It was only during the 1990’s when branding and communications consultants went on to assess what is called as a ‘corporate brand’ (King, 1991). Writers about a few decades ago always focused on the importance of a ‘company brand’ rather than a ‘corporate brand’. However, there is an overarching explanation as to why there has been a growth in the importance of studying a ‘corporate’ rather than a ‘company’ brand. Some of the early academic work in the area of corporate brands reached a broadly similar set of beliefs. The importance of staff in corporate brand building was emphasised, as was culture. The role of the chief executive as brand manager was also stressed. Balmer (1995) also said that the new millennium would witness increased importance being assigned to the corporate brand. It can also be found in academic literature that marketing scholars have largely ignored the challenges presented by corporate brand management. The reasons for this short sightedness can be seen in a lot of branding and marketing textbooks, which though acknowledge the importance of corporate brands but fail to highlight the following attributes: * corporate brands have a wider scope and management as compared to product brands; * corporate brands have multi-stakeholders rather than customer orientation and * the traditional marketing framework is not sufficient when one is studying a brand at a corporate level Most of us today fail to understand the difference between what is and what is not a corporate brand. Brands such as McDonalds, British Airways, Vodafone, Virgin and Manchester United are examples of organisations with clear corporate brands. However, in the case of Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Diageo, it is more the product brands that have a clear recognition as compared to the corporate brand. In such cases organisations face a lot of difficulties in building their corporate brand because of their stronger focus on building their product brand portfolio. A corporate brand may be viewed as a contract in that the company needs to articulate its accord with its key stakeholders by demonstrating, unceasingly and over time that it has kept true to its corporate branding pledge. As such, the brand name and/or logo play an important part in creating awareness and recognition but also as ‘signs’ of assurance. However, a number of authorities have cautioned against seeing branding as a one-way process that affects the image of those engaged in some form of branding partnership such as customers and employees. This is because these groups also have a key role in defining a brand’s image (Johansson and Hirano, 1999). The relationship of corporate reputation to the success of a brand Corporate Reputation has never been considered so important than it is today. In the recent years it is not just the markets which have nose dived in the corporate world but it is the corporations themselves. Scandals such as that of Enron and WorldCom have seriously hampered the trust among stakeholder groups and widespread public scepticism about company ethics. If we look at the case of Andersen, the major reason why the company ceases to exist is because of the negative reputation that built up over a short period of time. Since the mid-1980s senior managers have recognised the strategic necessity of building and sustaining a favourable corporate reputation to create corporate competitive advantage. This recognition has been reflected by a wealth of academic publications that have highlighted the value of a favourable corporate reputation as a means of enhancing an organisation’s financial value, influencing intention to buy, acting as a mechanism for assuring product/ service quality, influencing customer and employee loyalty, and offering inimitability to the organisation. Authors over the years have also recognised that an organisation’s corporate reputation is affected by the actions of every business unit, department and employee that comes into contact with another stakeholder. Reputation is a concept more generally known to us as how an organisation lives up to the expectations of its stakeholders. A firm with a good overall reputation owns a valuable asset ‘goodwill’: brand names, corporate logos and customer loyalty. Brands in general are used by the consumers as a symbolic meaning in their recognition and decision making process. Often brands develop a ‘personality’ of their own that has an effect on whether users decide the product’s image is consistent with their needs. With this ‘personality’ often goes a reputation as well. Brand names can often be repositories for a firm’s reputation: high quality performance on one product can often be transferred to another product via the brand name. For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name Business Customs and Protocol in Brazil Those responsible for a certain product brand focus on their particular customer base and the internal communicators primarily see their recipients, the employees. Such thinking in a box and acting in narrow realms of stakeholder groups often leads to the communication of messages that might be suitable for each individual stakeholder group, yet all in all the picture drawn of the company as a whole is blurred or even contradictory.Brazilians seek long term relationships. Though profits are very important, it is almost always a secondary issue after personal relationships. A foreign company which enters the Brazilian market with such intentions, and which always stresses that they are there to establish long-lasting relations, has tremendous competitive advantage.Brazilians have a very strong culture of importing and exporting. Over time, they have developed a sense that there is a whole world out there, which they are willing to reach through both imports and exports. The idea of taking and giving is very strong.Business MeetingsIn a meeting, shake hands with and greet each person individually; never walk in and acknowledge everyone all at once. If you know the order of status then shake hands from highest to lowest.Always be on time for an appointment but expect to wait. They're always 10-15 minutes late. Be patient with business-related delays. Expect many interruptions [during meetings], especially at the higher levels.They are very interested in physical contact. In a meeting they might touch your arm or pat you on the back. You don't have to initiate physical contact but be aware that it might happen.Business ProtocolYou might be invited to a meal in a business contact's home. This article asserts that a stronger integration of the different internal units responsible for stakeholder relations is needed in order to foster more coherencies in messaging and to eventually generate a coherent corporate brand image and favourable corporate reputation. The management process of creating and maintaining a coherent corporate brand image in the minds of each individual stakeholder which is the basis for a favourable overall corporate reputation shall be labelled corporate branding. The importance of corporate brands has been ignored in the literature for a very long time. It was only during the 1990’s when branding and communications consultants went on to assess what is called as a ‘corporate brand’ (King, 1991). Writers about a few decades ago always focused on the importance of a ‘company brand’ rather than a ‘corporate brand’. However, there is an overarching explanation as to why there has been a growth in the importance of studying a ‘corporate’ rather than a ‘company’ brand. Some of the early academic work in the area of corporate brands reached a broadly similar set of beliefs. The importance of staff in corporate brand building was emphasised, as was culture. The role of the chief executive as brand manager was also stressed. Balmer (1995) also said that the new millennium would witness increased importance being assigned to the corporate brand. It can also be found in academic literature that marketing scholars have largely ignored the challenges presented by corporate brand management. The reasons for this short sightedness can be seen in a lot of branding and marketing textbooks, which though acknowledge the importance of corporate brands but fail to highlight the following attributes: * corporate brands have a wider scope and management as compared to product brands; * corporate brands have multi-stakeholders rather than customer orientation and * the traditional marketing framework is not sufficient when one is studying a brand at a corporate level Most of us today fail to understand the difference between what is and what is not a corporate brand. Brands such as McDonalds, British Airways, Vodafone, Virgin and Manchester United are examples of organisations with clear corporate brands. However, in the case of Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Diageo, it is more the product brands that have a clear recognition as compared to the corporate brand. In such cases organisations face a lot of difficulties in building their corporate brand because of their stronger focus on building their product brand portfolio. A corporate brand may be viewed as a contract in that the company needs to articulate its accord with its key stakeholders by demonstrating, unceasingly and over time that it has kept true to its corporate branding pledge. As such, the brand name and/or logo play an important part in creating awareness and recognition but also as ‘signs’ of assurance. However, a number of authorities have cautioned against seeing branding as a one-way process that affects the image of those engaged in some form of branding partnership such as customers and employees. This is because these groups also have a key role in defining a brand’s image (Johansson and Hirano, 1999). The relationship of corporate reputation to the success of a brand Corporate Reputation has never been considered so important than it is today. In the recent years it is not just the markets which have nose dived in the corporate world but it is the corporations themselves. Scandals such as that of Enron and WorldCom have seriously hampered the trust among stakeholder groups and widespread public scepticism about company ethics. If we look at the case of Andersen, the major reason why the company ceases to exist is because of the negative reputation that built up over a short period of time. Since the mid-1980s senior managers have recognised the strategic necessity of building and sustaining a favourable corporate reputation to create corporate competitive advantage. This recognition has been reflected by a wealth of academic publications that have highlighted the value of a favourable corporate reputation as a means of enhancing an organisation’s financial value, influencing intention to buy, acting as a mechanism for assuring product/ service quality, influencing customer and employee loyalty, and offering inimitability to the organisation. Authors over the years have also recognised that an organisation’s corporate reputation is affected by the actions of every business unit, department and employee that comes into contact with another stakeholder. Reputation is a concept more generally known to us as how an organisation lives up to the expectations of its stakeholders. A firm with a good overall reputation owns a valuable asset ‘goodwill’: brand names, corporate logos and customer loyalty. Brands in general are used by the consumers as a symbolic meaning in their recognition and decision making process. Often brands develop a ‘personality’ of their own that has an effect on whether users decide the product’s image is consistent with their needs. With this ‘personality’ often goes a reputation as well. Brand names can often be repositories for a firm’s reputation: high quality performance on one product can often be transferred to another product via the brand name. For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name Vibration Isolators he challenges presented by corporate brand management.Vibration isolators, as the name suggests, are components that prevent an object from touching or affecting another object. They are important devices designed to decrease the effects and consequences of shock and vibration. A well-made vibrator isolator system usually has two parts: a spring that is aimed to support the load and a damping element to disperse input energy.An isolator usually allows one object to vibrate without passing on the energy of the said vibration to another object. It is usually used to keep machines and other objects attuned and prepared against the dangers that may be caused by vibration. Vibration isolation is usually accomplished by employing equipment like a felt or rubber pad or cork or by utilizing coil springs.A vibration isolator works as a mechanical filter, and its efficiency typically changes with frequency or the amount of swings per unit time. Additionally, the effectiveness of vibration isolation is also reliant on the isolation system's natural frequency, or the frequency at which the system will vibrate. The inflexibility of the isolation system and the mass that's sustained by the system are responsible for it.Vibration isolators are employed to dampen as well as to relocate shaking so that the object where they are attached continues to be The reasons for this short sightedness can be seen in a lot of branding and marketing textbooks, which though acknowledge the importance of corporate brands but fail to highlight the following attributes: * corporate brands have a wider scope and management as compared to product brands; * corporate brands have multi-stakeholders rather than customer orientation and * the traditional marketing framework is not sufficient when one is studying a brand at a corporate level Most of us today fail to understand the difference between what is and what is not a corporate brand. Brands such as McDonalds, British Airways, Vodafone, Virgin and Manchester United are examples of organisations with clear corporate brands. However, in the case of Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Diageo, it is more the product brands that have a clear recognition as compared to the corporate brand. In such cases organisations face a lot of difficulties in building their corporate brand because of their stronger focus on building their product brand portfolio. A corporate brand may be viewed as a contract in that the company needs to articulate its accord with its key stakeholders by demonstrating, unceasingly and over time that it has kept true to its corporate branding pledge. As such, the brand name and/or logo play an important part in creating awareness and recognition but also as ‘signs’ of assurance. However, a number of authorities have cautioned against seeing branding as a one-way process that affects the image of those engaged in some form of branding partnership such as customers and employees. This is because these groups also have a key role in defining a brand’s image (Johansson and Hirano, 1999). The relationship of corporate reputation to the success of a brand Corporate Reputation has never been considered so important than it is today. In the recent years it is not just the markets which have nose dived in the corporate world but it is the corporations themselves. Scandals such as that of Enron and WorldCom have seriously hampered the trust among stakeholder groups and widespread public scepticism about company ethics. If we look at the case of Andersen, the major reason why the company ceases to exist is because of the negative reputation that built up over a short period of time. Since the mid-1980s senior managers have recognised the strategic necessity of building and sustaining a favourable corporate reputation to create corporate competitive advantage. This recognition has been reflected by a wealth of academic publications that have highlighted the value of a favourable corporate reputation as a means of enhancing an organisation’s financial value, influencing intention to buy, acting as a mechanism for assuring product/ service quality, influencing customer and employee loyalty, and offering inimitability to the organisation. Authors over the years have also recognised that an organisation’s corporate reputation is affected by the actions of every business unit, department and employee that comes into contact with another stakeholder. Reputation is a concept more generally known to us as how an organisation lives up to the expectations of its stakeholders. A firm with a good overall reputation owns a valuable asset ‘goodwill’: brand names, corporate logos and customer loyalty. Brands in general are used by the consumers as a symbolic meaning in their recognition and decision making process. Often brands develop a ‘personality’ of their own that has an effect on whether users decide the product’s image is consistent with their needs. With this ‘personality’ often goes a reputation as well. Brand names can often be repositories for a firm’s reputation: high quality performance on one product can often be transferred to another product via the brand name. For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name A Closer Look at the Types of Brochure
Brochures are very common in the marketing world. In fact there are so many commercial printers that cater brochure printing for everyone. There are also different software tools available to help you make unique brochure designs. But for you to end up with the best brochure you need to be familiar with the various factors that affect its total marketing impact.Keep in mind that brochure printing should be done with great attention to detail. Everything should be taken into consideration. Brochures exist to help shoppers come up with a smart decision in buying products. For this reason, brochures should be created based on what you need. This is very important to be able to turn prospects into regular customers.Think about what type of brochure you need. There are several brochure types that you must take into account to arrive at the right type that will comply with your business. Specifically these refer to the following:1. Point-of-Sale Brochures. This type of brochures is the ones that you usually see at the bank. If you’re thinking on making a point-of-sale brochure, you should come up with an attention-grabbing headline and images as well. Remember this brochure is designed to draw the attention of the customers and persuade them to keep it.2. Leave-behindst is today. In the recent years it is not just the markets which have nose dived in the corporate world but it is the corporations themselves. Scandals such as that of Enron and WorldCom have seriously hampered the trust among stakeholder groups and widespread public scepticism about company ethics. If we look at the case of Andersen, the major reason why the company ceases to exist is because of the negative reputation that built up over a short period of time. Since the mid-1980s senior managers have recognised the strategic necessity of building and sustaining a favourable corporate reputation to create corporate competitive advantage. This recognition has been reflected by a wealth of academic publications that have highlighted the value of a favourable corporate reputation as a means of enhancing an organisation’s financial value, influencing intention to buy, acting as a mechanism for assuring product/ service quality, influencing customer and employee loyalty, and offering inimitability to the organisation. Authors over the years have also recognised that an organisation’s corporate reputation is affected by the actions of every business unit, department and employee that comes into contact with another stakeholder. Reputation is a concept more generally known to us as how an organisation lives up to the expectations of its stakeholders. A firm with a good overall reputation owns a valuable asset ‘goodwill’: brand names, corporate logos and customer loyalty. Brands in general are used by the consumers as a symbolic meaning in their recognition and decision making process. Often brands develop a ‘personality’ of their own that has an effect on whether users decide the product’s image is consistent with their needs. With this ‘personality’ often goes a reputation as well. Brand names can often be repositories for a firm’s reputation: high quality performance on one product can often be transferred to another product via the brand name. For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name A Cleaner Way To Make Money erred to another product via the brand name.Are you looking to supplement your income? Looking for a new way to make money? Want to start your own business? You can start earning money almost straight away with a cleaning job and gradually build your business until you have a team of contractors working for you pulling in profits.Cleaning houses is becoming a very lucrative occupation with very little cash outlay and is a great way to earn the extra cash you need whilst building your own business. More and more women are going back into the work force creating the need for cleaners to help them maintain their homes.One of the first things to do is, know your market. Find out what cleaning companies are charging the homeowner to clean by the hour, remembering that eventually you will have to pay your contractors yet still make money yourself. Many agencies charge an agency fee to the home owner, a small fee on top of the hourly rate. Working out how long each job would take you is a simple matter of cleaning your own home and timing each room. At the end, you will have a good idea. Once you have a pricing structure in place, the next thing to do is work out how you can acquire clients.If you are handy on a computer you can make your own flyers advertising your services, list the services you provide such as home and office cl For a firm expanding its product line, a well-known brand name can be advantageous in facilitating user acceptance of the new product because of its existing brand reputation. Family branding, that is a company placing the same brand name on all products in a product line, enjoys the distinct advantage of instant recognition, benefiting from the “halo effect” of the brand’s established reputation. This leveraging effect has led some firms to enter new fields under the same name – brand franchise extension. The advantages of such an approach are the facilitation of the adoption process and acceptance of new products, since users assume new products have the same quality level as existing ones; a minimal cost of branding to the manufacturer, extensive advertising for brand name awareness and preference will not be necessary; and user response will tend to be faster, thereby reducing the introduction stage in the product life cycle where profits are negative. In addition, another advantage often obtained is the greater ease in gaining distribution (particularly shelf space) due to its familiar name. While the reputation of the established brand name can facilitate the introduction of a new product, any problems with the new product can, conversely, affect the saleability of all items bearing the same name. If consistency in new product quality is not maintained, user dissatisfaction may result which may carry over to older, successful brands in the line. Family branding, therefore, places high demands on quality control because every single item is considered representative of the entire line. A lower quality item may hurt sales of the better quality products. Promotion of a better quality product may result in credibility gaps among potential buyers. A new product failure may well tarnish the reputation of sister products carrying the same brand name. One bad egg may well spoil the entire basket. Reputation is thus the assessment of the continuous sustainability over time of an attribute of an entity. This assessment is based on the entity’s willingness and ability to perform repeatedly an activity in a similar fashion. Reputation is an aggregate composite of all previous transactions over the life of the entity, a historical notion, and requires consistency of an entity’s actions over a prolonged time for its formation. A firm will lose its reputation if it repeatedly fails to fulfil its stated intentions. Having a good reputation also insures high quality firms will be larger and have more customers since fewer customers will depart from high quality firms in the long run and more will arrive because of word-of mouth activity from other customers. Thus, to become successful and hence profitable, brands must develop a positive reputation.
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