Brand Management Facilitation: A System Dynamics Approach for Decision Makers

摘要

A well-managed brand represents a major asset for many consumer product companies. Whether it is Coke or Kleenex, consumers are willing to pay a premium price for established brands because of the perception of quality and the life style that the brand conveys. Building and sustaining a brand is an expensive, complex, and challenging task for a brand manager. While there are existing models and processes for this purpose, most are based on mental models, as well as the tacit knowledge that successful brand managers have acquired through experience and practice. While tacit knowledge is extremely difficult to elicit, making it explicit in a system dynamics model could dramatically improve the brand management decision-making process. It would permit the testing of the complex mix of assumptions that underlie brand strategy and provide decision makers with the ability to explore various scenarios, policies, and decisions. The paper presents a system dynamics model of the brand management process for fast-moving consumer goods. It makes explicit the normal mental models of brand managers and combines the dynamic forces of markets into the decision-making process. The paper concludes with a demonstration of a brand policy implementation and its effects on a brand.