Introduction
Ireland is a country on the continent of Europe and is roughly 275 km2 in size. The country is a leader in both tourist and investment climate. Due to the worldwide economic collapse, the country has experienced economic uncertainty and poor tourist numbers during the past six years. Through branding and rebranding of its tourism products, the nation must be rescued from the aforementioned issue.
Ireland's overall business climate is influenced by external elements including demographic, technological, economic, environmental, and government factors. However, internal elements like as planning, diversification, and rivalry are crucial for the brand management of this first-world nation. Consequently, the purpose of this reflective article is to classify the efficacy of establishing and implementing brand strategies in Ireland.
The article specifically examines brand architecture, brand hierarchy, brand strategy design, global brand strategy, and establishing worldwide customer-based brand equity in brand management of Ireland as a product. These factors are discussed in the numerous brand slogans and logos used to promote Ireland on local and international markets. The above analysis deals on the Irish tourism business in general.
Brand and Product Management in the Tourism Industry of Ireland
Prior to implementing blueprint projections, a marketing plan is necessary. In truth, this approach operates on the margins of educated decision making following exhaustive research on the viability and sustainability of a new or changed product (Rossiter & Bellman, 2005, p.56). A proper marketing plan should incorporate entry strategy, comparative advantage, and market segmentation in order to achieve desired margins in sales and total revenues generated, as there is almost always a strong competitor or competitors that may be difficult to pass due to consumer perceptions and household names (Shimp, 2007, p.13).
Due to economic collapse, Ireland's tourism industry has witnessed declines during the past five years. In order to successfully restore the profitability and secrecy of its tourism business, the industry had to rebrand as a recovery plan (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012). Among the branding and rebranding tactics utilized are brand architecture, brand hierarchy, brand strategy design, global brand strategy, and the development of global customer-based brand equity.
Elements of Brand and Product Management within the Irish Tourism Sector
Brand Strategy Planning
The tourism industry has maintained extraordinary and consistent growth. Private and governmental sectors of the economy viewed the tourism industry as a self-sufficient sector with a mixed perspective. With this in mind, insufficient effort was made to make an essential provision for its extension and progress, particularly following crises (Belch & Belch, 2009, p.76). Against such a background and in view of its positive expansion and future development, there was a need for a crisis management guiding principle, necessitating the construction of a brand strategy.
As part of positioning and restoring confidence following the economic collapse, this strategy focuses on management programs such as integrity, post-crisis policies, media participation, and destination planning. Among the prominent design strategies were the online promotion of the Ireland destination brand, the hiring of global brand ambassadors, and the international promotion of the tourism locations in the eastern United States that were negatively affected by the meltdown.
By 2010, a properly defined brand strategy for product management of Ireland as an ideal tourism destination contributed to the success and longevity of the industry's confidence restoration. Afin d'accroître la crédibilité et de maintenir la professionnalité, la conception de la marque s'est dotée de mécanismes et de caractéristiques qui flawlessment enabled a symbiotic (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012).
This brand design incorporated brand knowledge, brand awareness, a penetration strategy, the dissemination of information to the target audience, and the restoration of confidence. The brand strategy was titled "Welcome to Ireland" and consisted of three levels of brand hierarchy, namely, desired brand awareness established by cheap travel prices, various tourism packages, and straightforward presentation. These layers were blended to create a basic logo of a sandy beach set against unspoiled nature. Below this logo comes the tagline "Welcome to the Island of Ireland, a tourist destination."
To attract potential customers who are visitors, the brand design strategy focuses on tourism services and ideal sites, such as the eastern gorges and sandy beaches with scattered sand dunes. This program ensured that proper information was accurately reflected, in addition to saving time, which is of vital importance to various tourist classes. This application's value component is capable of recording historical data that has been inputted into the computer system regarding visitor attendance and response to service quality and cost. Moreover, the branding of tourism as a product generated direct return on investment (Belch & Belch, 2009, p.76). In reality, stakeholders in the Irish tourism industry have been given the option to adapt the application to their data system and fully manage the flow of information regarding tourist turnover. This is depicted in the diagram that follows.
Customer-Based Global Brand Equity
Frequently, emerging organizations want internationally accessible information flow and dimensional communication solutions. Regardless of the size and geographic location of activities, brand equity has become an integral component of business operations on all fronts and the requirement for optimal performance. Brand equity is an indispensable instrument for marketing, customer service, and communication inside and beyond the industry, client relationships, and market segmentation.
Small, medium, and large business organizations across the globe have embraced the importance of designing a brand equity from which all its activities are centralized and managed by a single administrative system or by multiple administrative systems, depending on the sustainability and cost factor. There are various brand models, ranging from simple to complicated, for multinational corporations seeking to carve out a niche in a competitive market.
This was made feasible by the technology revolution and technologies targeted at revamping efficiency, decreasing redundancy, and adopting systematic product orientations. Additionally, brand equity is a crucial component of corporate organization.
Tourism management is a vital application that may be in high demand in the hotel industry. The application offers to combine the previous data entering applications with the sensory and tailored application, which can greatly manage record keeping and facilitate retrieval (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012). There is usually a well-organized hierarchy of the workforce, from management with administrative tasks to service-providing workers, in order to make the sector more efficient.
The organization's constitution empowers managers to act as prefects and provide leadership options after consulting with one another. In addition, these leadership consultants are hand-picked from the professional job market and are regarded to have the necessary and pertinent experience in managing group interactions. To influence group behavior, managers must possess the ideal leadership qualities they have acquired over years of experience. Management develops, tests, and implements firm policies in accordance with predetermined objectives (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003). In order to manage the tourism culture of Ireland, food and unusual restaurants are branded with logos that convey tranquility and ease.
The projection of a marketing plan's viability and success are dependent on an analysis of the surrounding environment. This section examines the market in terms of the social, economic, technological, and other aspects that impact the business environment. Due to the market's stability and economic liberalization policies, the fundamentals of political operation in Ireland have limited impact on commercial operations.
Irlande is a democratic country with few cultural and religious strains. In fact, this tranquil group constitutes the backbone of the target market for local tourism products. This factor promotes efficient corporate operations and the forecastability of future market trends (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012). With the full backing of the political class to the business community, the overall growth and development of the marketing network is anticipated, since current economic policies are geared toward diversification and fostering business prospects for investors (Belch & Belch, 2009, p.95).
In addition, Irish commercial law includes provisions for trademark rights and patents that limit fraudulent opportunities in order to protect a business from fraudsters and copyright violators. This is a guarantee of protection against unlawful trading, notwithstanding the lengthy and costly registration procedure. On the long run, this favorable political atmosphere is anticipated to facilitate market penetration and segmentation. As households reduce their budgets in reaction to the current economic collapse, however, food expenditures have decreased.
Brand Structure
Every industry frequently believes it has the responsibility to improve its position regardless of the circumstances. Consequently, maintaining a positive image among all stakeholders is crucial for the tourism business in Ireland, especially following the devastation of the Great Recession. Consequently, this industry's mud mapping strategy incorporates a sustainable communication model and promotes awe-inspiring endeavors to its clients, whose involvement in an enormous variety of courses, services, and image is based on the service quality.
The initial phase entailed executing exceptional rewards and discount experiences through the most prestigious cruise brands that offer a variety of living standards and resources. The psychological impacts were thereby mitigated. Reflectively, Uncles, Dowling, and Hammond (2003) opined that "from workers' contribution and turn-over donation, services projects to hard cash as well as contribution and inventive charity, the industry can strive to affect diversity on a national and international scale" (p. 44).
When successfully implemented, this technique delivers a remarkable experience for clients interested in Irish cuisine, unique delicacies, and jungle adventures. In addition, upgraded and well-built communities within the sector are required to provide financial, psychological, monetary, and ethical support to clients. By utilizing the expertise of a public relations expert, the crisis was changed into an exciting journey towards restoration (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012).
Moreover, the brand hierarchy of Ireland's public relations included security and health considerations for its consumers, tourists, employees, and all other individuals functioning on behalf of the firm. Thus, efforts were "focused on the 'human aspect,' providing aid for unemployed tourist workers,'saving jobs, re-launching small tourism-related enterprises, and regaining the visitor flow that sustains these economies' (Tourism Ireland Brand Site 2012).
Unquestionably, by adhering to all legal and regulatory standards pertaining to health, environment, and safety precautions incorporated in social responsibility events, Ireland was entrusted with the duty of watching and performing the same on a daily basis in order to maintain a favorable image (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003). Following is a summary of the brand hierarchy as it appears in the Irish tourism business as a product.
Brand Infrastructure
The brand architecture should consider the technology proficiency and lifestyle of the target audience. The majority of the Irish people is technologically literate and has accepted new modern lifestyles. From transportation to communication, their lifestyle is based on technology. Since the branding of the tourism industry as a product is dependent on technology, it is vital to compile estimation figures on the subject.
According to research, despite its population, Ireland has a fairly high proportion of people with literary and basic technology abilities. Specifically, this incidence is higher among youths and young families, the target market, creating a lucrative business opportunity. Additionally, Ireland has improved physical infrastructures, such as a well-maintained land transport network, which facilitates market accessibility and significantly reduces transportation-related overhead expenses (Belch & Belch, 2009, p.76).
A correctly modeled penetration strategy should cause minimum market and company disruptions. Consequently, it is essential to establish means and strategies for reaching the potential market. To do this, the Irish tourist industry has segmented and differentiated the Irish market using consumer-based market segmentation techniques (Uncles, Dowling, & Hammond 2003). Uniqueness has been incorporated into the design of this product's healthy food presentation.
This group frequently spends a great deal of money on synthetic products that can be substituted for the natural cuisine supplied in Ireland's exotic resorts. As a result, as part of the product architecture, it is essential to recognize complete population patterns spanning streets, hotels, motels, colleges, and other food outlets.
The tourist sector in Ireland is separated into three distinct segments: consumers, small and medium enterprises, and institutions. This sector encompasses modest food establishments, hotels, motels, and retail companies around the central coast and beyond. Due to the volume of delivery for this market, quality is occasionally compromised. The Ireland tourism management committee plans to provide more affordable holiday packages to this market, promising greater variety, reduced prices, and improved health through the introduction of inexpensive, all-natural cuisines. As a result, this market segment is impacted by competitive pricing, the energy conservation equation, and health value for optimal benefits at a competitive price as fundamental features of product architecture (Dawes, 2003, p.9).
Several schools, residences, colleges, hospitals, and other institutions in the tourist cities of Ireland provide local tourism exchange programs. These institutions are deliberately positioned and uniformly dispersed throughout Ireland's accessible market. Almost one hundred percent of the people in these institutions are consumers of tourism-related goods such as exotic food, ornaments, and cuisines. With a well drafted partnership and memorandum of understanding, the Ireland tourism board can have influence on this market, as its competitors lack this characteristic (Richard, 2004, p.65). Additionally, the product's competitive pricing will help its viability in a market that is extremely differentiated (Castleberry & Ehrenberg1990, p.18).
In the oversaturated market for food goods in Ireland, product positioning is closely related to short- and long-term success, particularly for new products. To achieve the desired results, positioning ensures that the new product stands out from the competition (Gelder 2005, p.23).
Ireland's tourism products are positioned as the first of their kind on the market. As the sole participant in tourist regulation, this body is capable of monitoring private operations that exceed acceptable limits. Once this is accomplished, the distribution channel will focus on quality upkeep to support its reputation as the market leader (Keller 2003). In the process, our clients will develop a pleasant and lasting impression of the organization.
In addition, frequent customer demand studies have been conducted to enhance consumer happiness and wishes and to grow into new market territories (Keller 2003). In the process, the most competitive pricing and the customers' ability and willingness to pay were prioritized. The affordability of tourism items has attracted the appropriate audience, which consists of locals, in order to carve out a niche. This is depicted in the diagram that follows.
Global Brand Management
In order to diversify its market operations, Ireland's tourism board has developed various variants of the same product with varying hues, sizes, and packaging (Harrison & St. John, 2010, p.68). This established an environment of internal competition and prevented other competitors from entering this broad market (Keranen & Salminen 2012. p. 416). These sub-products were differentiated