In a 2002 article titled "Switzerland: A Brand Name That Sells" Rudolf Pauli outlines for the readers of UBS OUTLOOK, the importance of the Swiss brand. The next few postings will provide excerpts from this insightful article.
"For potential buyers, subjective assessment plays a crucial role in deciding which product or service to choose. But how does a customer form a personal judgment of the quality or value of a tie on display in an airport duty-free shop? Apart from surroundings, mood, the need for a particular item and a variety of other factors, brand, corporate and country image have an important role to play. Customers who have only limited information about one of the three aspects of the image will rely more on other ingrained perceptions. They may be familiar with the brand but not with the company, and may know very little about the country the tie comes from. As a result, they may be obliged to rely largely on the basis of the brand image they already have in their minds. This is where the “Made in” label comes in, helping customers who may know little or nothing about the brand and the company that produces it. This in turn gives rise to the so called halo effect, where the customer’s assessment of various factors – chief amongst them product quality – is colored and influenced by the values linked to the country image. Thus the image purchasers have in their minds of a country affects the marketability of a brand.” (Primary Source: “Switzerland: A Brand Name That Sells” by Rudolf Pauli for UBS OUTLOOK, 2002)
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