Editorial

Citation

Leventhal, R.C. (2006), "Editorial", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jpbm.2006.09615caa.001

Editorial

Brand power. What would a company do not only attain this position, but maintain it as well? This is an ongoing struggle that many companies face today, with no clear-cut vision as to how to achieve this goal. There are those marketers who seek to obtain a competitive advantage by trying to obtain brand equity; then there are those marketers who strive to create brand alliances. Why not use brand/line extensions? What about a brand that can obtain global recognition? Such are the situations that many companies face in the ever-changing global marketplace.

Munthree, Bick and Abratt have developed guidelines and a framework for using upscale line extensions in brand revitalization strategies. The three steps include a brand portfolio, a core brand strategy and then finally a line extesnion strategy that deals with specifics around the extension.

Reffue and Crittenden present a defined methodology that allows a company to develop and build a portfolio of products. The authors approach may assist a company to better understand both the strategic and tactical issues related to [their] competitors and channel members. They present a case study to portray how such an implementation may take place.

James, Lyman and Foreman identify and test some strategic elements that consumers use when evaluating brand alliances. Overall consumer reactions to and their beliefs and attitudes about various fictitious brand alliances are explored. The authors stress that marketers need to be mindful of the importance of the role of brand personality on the formation of strong similarity between brands in an alliance. Concentrate on brands that match on both the functional and emotional levels in order to help achieve success.

Leek and Kun identify the sources of confusion in the Chinese personal computer market and the confusion reduction strategies used. The authors identified technical complexity as the major source of confusion. Word of mouth is the most common source of information used to reduce such confusion due to its credibility and reliability.

Judson, Schoenbachler, Gordon, Ridnour and Weilbaker examine the role of the salesperson in the new product/service development process. The authors explored the extent to which salespeople are involved in the product development process, the outcomes of such involvement, barriers to successful use of salespeople to gather information, and identification of variables affecting the role of salespeople in the product/services development process.

In this issue you will also find articles on pricing strategy and practice as a regular feature. Please be certain to read these articles as well.

Richard C. Leventhal