Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Marketing - Essay Example With time the bank has been able to establish a good market position in Europe, US and Asia. The products and services offered by the bank range from fund management, stocks and annuities to mutual funds, asset management and health & life insurance schemes. The bank has built its portfolio based on tradition and acquisitions pursued over the years. UBS has successfully entrenched itself in the various business segments and its wide range of customer services are highly valued by the global clients (Thirkell-White, 2004). Strengths Umbrella brand strategy- It has been observed that ‘umbrella brands’ used by the firms, with multi-business operations, foster improved market penetration. An umbrella brand refers to the use of a common brand for various businesses. UBS has also adopted this concept of a single brand across all its businesses by abolishing the local brands in order to form a â€Å"global umbrella brand†. By leveraging the reputation and trust effects a ssociated with a strong brand image a firm can make use of various growth opportunities. To make use of the growth synergies that comes along with it, Swiss based bank UBS recently moved towards an ‘umbrella brand’. ... UBS officials viewed that the adoption of ‘one brand for all its businesses could convey the bank’s core values to the clients more effectively and consistently. The bank seems to be reaping the benefits of this umbrella brand. The brand value of UBS has increased from US$6.5 billion in 2004 to US$8.7 billion in 2006. Besides this the customers increasingly affirm to the key attributes of the bank like â€Å"UBS is a global power-house†; â€Å"UBS takes time to understand us† and â€Å"UBS has superior expertise† (Knoll, 2008, p.164). The strength of UBS is reflected from the rise in its brand value over the years. As per the survey conducted by Business Week in 2007 the bank’s brand value is nearly $9.8 billion and it ranks among the top forty most valuable brands in the world. The brand value of the bank enhanced significantly by nearly 13% in the year 2007. This is very important in making customer recall and leads to improved market penetr ation. UBS has an international clientele base. The global nature of its business operations creates additional value for its customers by integrating the expertise and resources of its various business segments. Competitive advantages of UBS- The strength of a business strategy is based on the competitive advantages that it enjoys as compared to the rival firms. According to Porter competitive advantage lies at the centre of the performance delivered by a firm in a competitive market scenario. This means that competitive advantages imply product differentiation, low costs etc (University of Northern Iowa, n.d.). The present business mix of UBS is a by-product of many years of development, acquisitions and internal growth. UBS has consistently worked towards