Influence of Brand Equity on Market Performance at CIC Asset Management Ltd

Abstract

Brand equity is a critical factor in how consumers make purchase decisions. In today’s world consumers are surrounded by brands, with most of the products and services they consume coming with a promise and marked by a name. Brands and branding are at the core of marketing and they form an essential element in how consumers relate and perceive companies. Brands are more than names, symbols, taglines, and colors, but encompass everything that would help a consumer connect with products or services provided by a company including people. The study's major objective was to establish the relationship between brand equity and market performance of CIC Asset Management and to determine its brand equity determinant. This study uses resource-based theory and brand equity theory. The study adopted an interview of the Managing Director, General Manager and Head of Business development to collect data. Content analysis was used to analyze data. The study established that brand awareness is one of the ways in which the organization protects its market share and ensure success through meeting customers’ expectations. It was also established that brand association helped the firm to form strong positive connections with the customer and market itself. This helps the customers to easily identify CIC’s products offering from its competitors. The study revealed that perceived quality is a continuous process applied through branding and loyalty programs that deliver value both to the customer and the organization. The study found that brand equity initiatives help in improving market performance of the organization and recommends that CIC maps out the most effective brand equity determinants and invests in them for enhanced market performance.