Innovative approaches to brand value and consumer perception: The Eataly case

This study centres on an analysis of the brand in all its forms.The main purpose is to verify the importance of having a strong and consistent brand with a corporate image and, consequently, the consumer's recognition of the brand.These assessments are then considered in relation to a specific sector, namely the food sector, in which the brand holds particular connotations both from an economic point of view and in relation to the consumer's perception.These questions are examined through the concrete analysis of a highly successful Italian company, Eataly.Eataly is the subject of a case study that is based firstly on the knowledge gained in the first part of this study, but which adds to the question as a whole.It focuses mainly on the consumers and their purchasing behaviour to determine whether, and to what extent, the brand actually is capable of manipulating market choices. INTRODUCTIONOver the past forty years companies have been investing heavily in branding with the aim of improving the image and value of their brand.Branding means that a product or service has been given an organization"s mark (Keller 2003).The American Marketing Association (1960) defines a brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from competitors."In other words, whenever a new name, logo, symbol or package design is produced, a brand is built (Kapferer 1992).However, a brand comprises more than these material brand elements, such as brand name and design.Markers of a product without history are empty (Holt et al. 2004).According to Keller, a brand has to create awareness, reputation and esteem in the market.The essential core of branding is that consumers with the same needs perceive differences among brands in a product category.These distinctions may be related to the product performance of the brand or linked to what the brand represents from the emotional angle (Keller 2003).After Kapferer (1992), brands are a direct implication of the strategy of market segmentation and product differentiation.It needs plenty of skills and resources as well as a corporate long term contribution to build a strong brand (Kapferer 1992).Once built, the latter can be seen as a strategic asset and a company"s primary source of competitive advantage that facilitates the firm to create an identity for its brand in the market and develop a clientele (Aaker 1996).Generating a clear value proposition involving tangible (functional) benefits in terms of product attributes and intangible (symbolic) benefits that represent the brand values, establishes a relationship between the brand and the customer that helps them to choose products more easily (Aaker 1996).