LITERATURE REVIEW

Branding started during the Middle Ages when crafts guilds (similar to labour unions)
and merchants ’ guilds formed to control the quantities and quality of production. Each
producer had to mark his goods so output could be cut back when necessary -meaning
poor quality which might reflect unfavourably on other guild products and discourage
future trade could be traced back to gutty producer (Bowersox, &Copper, 1992). Early
trademarks were also a protection to the buyer, who could then know the source of the
product. Recently brands have been used mainly for identification (William D, 2000).
Virtually all products introduced today have brand names. Most brand names are also
registered as trademarks.

CONCEPT OF BRANDING
Brands are marketed by restaurants and are definite assets and often provide a
restaurant in new product development, with a very solid start in positioning their
product (Judy A et al, 1999). Your brand will already say a lot about you e.g. high quality,
low price or involved technology, durability or whatever. This is a definite advantage if
you are introducing a new product that needs the image of your current brands (and can
meet it with its own performance) therefore the brands you own or other property, what
the brands you own stand for in the minds of the customer, are assets that should be
considered when you are making your asset listing before preparing the guidelines for
your new product development work (Judy A, et al, 1999).Name of a product is valuable
detail. Success of a product is determined primarily by the worth of that product in
relation to those it competes with. Known products are considered more trustworthy.

CULTURE
Culture is, in the words of that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society. Alternatively, in a contemporary variant, 'Culture is defined as a
social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses, and material expressions, which,
over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in
common.

BRAND
Today the primary capital of many businesses is their brands. Former decades the value
of a company was measured in terms of its real estate, then tangible assets, plants and
equipments. However it has recently been recognized that company’s real value lies
outside business itself, in the minds of potential buyers or consumers. “A brand is both,
tangible and intangible, practical and symbolic, visible and invisible under conditions
that are economically viable for the company”( Kapferer, 1986). Brands are built up by
persistent difference ever the long run. They can not be reduced just to a symbol on a
product or a mere graphic and cosmetic exercise. A brand is the signature on a constantly
renewed, creative process which yields various products. Products are introduced, they
live and disappear, but brands endure. The consistency of this creative action is what
gives a brand its meaning, its content, and its characters’: creating a brand requires time
and identity. The American Marketing Association defines the term ‘Brand’ as “A name,
term, symbol or design, or a combination of them, which is intended to signify the
goods or services of one
seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.” More
importantly, a brand promises relevant differentiated benefits. Everything an organization
does, should be focused on enhancing delivery against its brand’s promise. Combining a
few different definitions, a brand is the name and symbols that identify.

BRAND IDENTITY
A Brand identity comprises a unique set of functional and mental associations the
brand aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand
should ideally stand for in the minds of customers, and imply a potential promise to
customers (Aaker, 1996 and Keller 1993). It is important to keep in mind that the brand
identity refers to the strategic goal for a brand while the brand image is what currently
resides in the minds of consumers.These different definitions of identity emphasize the
idea that identity signifies the understanding of being oneself, seeking ones aim, being
distinguished form others and being able to resist and withstand time alterations.
According to J. Kapferer, brand identity could be defined by answering the following
questions:
• What is the aim and individual vision of a brand?
• What makes a brand distinguished?
• How can satisfaction be achieved?
• What is brand equity?
• What are brand competence, validity and legitimacy?
• What are the features of its recognition?

ADVERTISING
Advertising is the most visible form of marketing. It is paid public presentation and
promotion of ideas, goods, or services by a sponsor (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004),
intended to bring a product to the attention of consumers through a variety of media
channels such as broadcast and cable television, radio, print, billboards, the Internet,
or personal contact (Boone and Kurtz, 1998). Marketers recognize its value by itself, and
also view it as contributing to the success of other strategies by (1) building brand
awareness and brand loyalty among potential consumers, and (2) creating perceived value
by persuading consumers that they are getting more than the product itself (e.g., social
esteem, peer respect).

YOUTH AND CULTURAL BRANDING

Children and youth under the age of 19 years comprise more than a fourth of the U.S.
population. From 1990–2003, this population increased by 14 percent (U.S. Census Bureau,
2001, 2004). Ethnic minorities represent attractive targets for food and beverage marketers
due to their size, growth, and purchasing power (Williams, 2005a). Marketers segment
target audiences by age, gender, and race/ethnicity to build brand awareness and brand
loyalty early in life that will be sustained into adulthood. African American consumers
have been targeted by both mainstream and African American-owned marketers, often
using very different marketing styles (Williams and Tharp, 2001). Food and beverage
companies market to African American family preferences. An analysis of 2004 Nielsen
Monitor-Plus data of food and beverage advertising that appeared in African American
media showed significant spending by food and beverage companies for high-calorie and
low-nutrient foods and beverages.

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
A brand differentiates a product in several forms and it can be broadly divided into two
categories- the tangibles (rational), and the intangibles (emotional and symbolic).
Either way, while the product performs its basic functions, the brand contributes to the
differentiation of a product (Keller, 2003). These dimensions distinguish a brand from its
unbranded commodity counterpart and give it equity, which is the sum total of consumers’
perceptions and feelings about the product’s attributes and how they perform, about the
brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand
(Achenaum, 1993). A strong brand provides consumers multiple access points towards
the brand, by attracting them through both functional and emotional attributes (Keller,
2003). Emotional attachment to brands has attracted recent research attention (e.g.
Thomson et al., 2005). Researchers have long considered attitudes to be insufficient
predictors of brand commitment (e.g. loyalty), and suggest that true loyalty requires the
customer to form an emotional bond with the brand.

MY PERCEPTION
Perception is the way that individuals select, organize, and interpret data to create a
meaning or themselves. Customers usually view goods based on their perception since
they do not buy the goods. Thus, a brand can be seen as a prejudice (Arnold, 1992 referred
to in Natalie Ann Ryan, 2002). Consumers initially have feelings towards a brand before
they even consume it (Buttle and Burton 2002 referred to in Natalie Ann Ryan, 2002). The
perception of the brand image is very important, since consumers analyze the personality
of a brand, and then creates meaning out of the brand message.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE BRAND IMAGE OF A RESTAURANT

Image refers to how a corporation is perceived. It is a generally accepted image of what
a company stands for. Marketing experts use public relations and other forms of
promotion to suggest a mental picture to the public . Typically, a corporate image is
designed to be appealing to the public, so that the company can spark an interest among
consumers, create share of mind, generate brand equity, and thus facilitate product sales.
A corporation's image is not solely created by the company: Other contributors to a
company's image could include news media, journalists, labor unions, environmental
organizations, and other NGOs. Restaurants are not the only form of organization that
creates these types of images. Also it is defined as the quality that consumers associate
with a specific brand, expressed in terms of human behavior and desires, but that also
relate to price, quality, and situational use of the brand. For example: A brand such as
The Marriot will conjure up a strong public image because of its image is not inherent in
the brand name but is created through advertising. Brand image is therefore the
psychological aspect; a symbolic construct created within the minds of people and
consists of all the information and product or service.
THE MAIN ATTRACTING POINT OF THE RESTAURANT
Customers were also asked what attracted them to the restaurants the first time they
chose to dine in it. Apparently, 49% of the customers were first attracted to the
restaurants, by the service quality (labelled as 2), meaning, if the Nairobi clientele was
not daring they would not take the risk and so, the restaurants would be having no
customers, because the name of the restaurant should be an eye candy. Only 17%
(labelled 1) of the customers were attracted to the restaurant of choice by the brand name
concluding that the restaurants have not been branded in a way the name sells the
product.

CONCLUSION
A brand name is a highly loaded variable in the factor of branding, and is found to be
the most important element affecting a restaurant’s performance. From the findings, a
restaurant should aim most of its advertising efforts at enhancing customer awareness so
that customers at least consider that brand in the suggested set of alternatives. The results
of this study implied that restaurants should strongly consider quality brand names that
meet the discussed characteristics when attempting to establish good brand image.

SUBMITTED BY : RUSSO JOSSY

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