IDENTITY , POSITIONING , BRAND IMAGE AND BRAND EQUITY COMPARISON : A VISION ABOUT QUALITY IN BRAND MANAGEMENT

Marketing management implies the understanding of the relationships between market and consumption, as well as the concepts related to the maximization of a company’s results. This article sought to understand the relationships between brand identity, positioning, brand image and brand equity. We conducted a qualitative-quantitative research to describe the existing connections between these definitions, and the conceptual and operational gaps that arise from their management. The results present some analyses of these gaps.


INTRODUCTION
According to Kotler and Keller (2006, p. 337), the bargaining power of buyers grows as they focus on some issues: when the product represents a significant portion of the buyer's cost; when the product is undifferentiated; when the costs of switching vendors are low; when buyers are price sensitive due to low profit margins; or when previous stages can integrate the supply chain. For Isoraite (2016), several variables are growing and gaining importance with digital tools. Thus, it is necessary to study the relationship between marketing variables. Kotler (2011) states that "to have low prices is not enough to build a feasible business, you need to add quality and services for the customer to feel that he is buying based on value". Thus, it is not sufficient just to do marketing activities, it is necessary to investigate if the market uses and appreciates these actions, so that they can bring results, because it is increasingly difficult to keep loyalty strategies in the retail sector.
A high level of consumer's loyalty is based on the performance perceived through his complete satisfaction. Customers' satisfaction becomes a leading retail marketing goal (KOTLER; KELLER, 2006, p. 165).
Loyalty is a big competitive differential, because loyal customers give preference to a brand, are less sensitive to price and pay less attention to competitors (AAKER, 1998). Therefore, we defined the following research question: What are the main variables that affect the quality of brand management? To do this, we studied the main concepts related to brand management, such as identity, positioning, brand image and brand equity, through the tools used in the retail market to assess the loyalty of consumers. In parallel, we sought to identify which of these tools are efficient and effective for brand management, and how to improve their quality. http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236

THEORETICAL
In this section we address the following topics: brands, marketing mix, identity, positioning, image and brand equity, according to the texts and authors found in the literature research.

Brand
According to Aaker (1998, p. 7) "a brand is a distinct name and/or a symbol that aims to identify a seller's goods or services and differentiate these goods and services from its competitors". But for Tomiya (2010, p. 26), logo, name, packing, communication and design are consequences of a branding strategy in the organizational culture, in the objectives, in the articulation of positioning and in the brand's differential. The challenge of brand definition is to develop a deep set of meanings for it. If the company treats a brand just as a name, it fails in not giving it importance (KOTLER; 2011, p. 394).
The process of brand management is used to develop awareness and extend customer's loyalty (WHEELER, 2012, p. 16). Corrêa (2009, p. 310) states that building a brand in the consumer's mind goes through three stages: the creation of a unique concept that differentiates the brand from competitors (differentiation), the reason transmitted by the brand for the consumer to prefer it (relevance), the emotional relationship between the brand and the consumer (esteem).
Brands have three main functions: navigation, which helps consumers to choose the brand among various options; security, through brand communication on the quality of the product or service, thus passing safety to the customer in his decision making; and the engagement that brands provide through images and languages, in order to lead the customer to identify with the brand (WHEELER, 2012, p. 12). Wheeler (2012, p. 58) states that brand identity is a strategic tool and an asset that provides quality reporting, increased recognition and competitive differences.

Brand Identity
For Kotler (2011, p. 262) identity comprises the forms adopted by a company to identify itself or to position its product. http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 A strong brand should have a clear and valuable identity; if it doesn't, this may imply that the brand needs to be changed or extended. Identity represents what the organization wants its brand to mean (AAKER; JOACHIMSTHALER, 2000, p. 49).

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To combine the two large brand dimensions (external audience -tangible, and internal audience -intangible), it is necessary to develop a prism. These dimensions must be described for each brand, in order to make clear the brand identity and the main external perceptions regarding it (TOMIYA, 2010, p. 52).
For Wheeler (2012, p. 21) brand identity helps to differentiate it from the competitors, in building awareness and strengths of an organization, in building brand value, through increased awareness, recognition and loyalty from customers, which contributes -to the firm's success. To be effective, brand identity should focus on clients, differentiate the brand from competitors and represent what the organization can do over time (AAKER; JOACHIMSTHALER, 2000, p. 50).

Brand Positioning
Positioning was developed by Al Ries and Jack Trout in 1981, who defined it as the basis for enterprises to build their brands and customer relationships.
Positioning addresses the mix of price, product, promotion/advertising and place, called the marketing mix g. Through these strategies, companies determine their position in the consumer's mind, considering its competitors, and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses (WHEELER, 2012, p. 24).
According to Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000, p. 51), brand positioning is part of the brand identity and value proposition that will be actively transmitted to the target audience. Positioning is what the brand wants to be for its consumers (CORRÊA, 2009, p. 313).

Brand Image
According to Cooper (2003), a concept is a set of generally accepted meanings and characteristics associated with certain facts, objects, conditions, situations and behaviors. Concepts are frequent and of general use, having been developed over time through shared use. Yet a construct is an image or idea invented specifically for a particular research and/or for developing theory.
Constructs combine the simplest concepts, especially when the idea or image that we want to build is not directly subject to observation.
Brand image is defined as the perception of the brand reflected in the consumer memory associations (KELLER, 1993).

Brand Equity
Srivastava and Shocker (1991) define brand equity, based on the client, as a set of associations and behaviors of customers, distributors and the parent company of a brand, which allows for higher sales volume and higher margins than would be possible without the brand name, in addition to a stronger competitive advantage and differential.
To understand brand knowledge and how it relates to brand equity, based on the client, we need to understand the basic notions of the memories principles.
Brand equity, based on the client, is defined as different effects, brand awareness acts, on the consumer response to the marketing mix, or to the marketing activities of the company (KELLER, 1993).
In defining brand equity based on the client, attributed to memory, we must reflect on its mediating position between the action of marketing and profits, and also understand its character of cognitive reservoir. That is, a set of associations and behaviors of customers and distributors of a brand that allow a distributor to get higher sales and margins than would be possible without the brand (RIJSMAN, 1995).

Research type
The article was built through an exploratory-descriptive study. Malhotra (2004, p. 100)  The methodology and database follow the work of Rodrigues, Menegazzo and Chaves (2014), whose contribution was unprecedented regarding the relations between identity, positioning, image and brand equity, mentioned in the next items.
This contribution refers to the phenomenological method, and the concepts acquired by the present author after many years of work with brands, both academic and commercial.

Methods
The method used in this work consists of three parts: first, a case study with supermarket managers; second, a field survey using questionnaires; third, an indepth and phenomenological analysis of the relationships between identity, positioning, image and brand equity. This article developed a qualitative case study together with a quantitative descriptive research in order to study the retail tools used to get customers' loyalty, and to analyze if these tools are being efficient and effective (HAIR et al., 2005). To achieve the objectives, we conducted a comparative analysis of the case study (indoors) and the descriptive research (external environment). That is, there was a qualitative-quantitative and phenomenological basis for the paper. In this section we discuss the results of the in-depth interview with the supermarket managers and the data analysis resulting from the descriptive survey of consumers. Initially we present the diagnosis on the vision of the supermarket retail brand (RODRIGUES et al., 2014).

Case Study
"When one of the goals is to achieve qualitative assessments in order to build theories, case study research is indicated" (MARTINS; THEÓPHILO, 2009, p. 62). http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 We conducted this research by studying the brand, in which the strategies referring to price, product, place and promotion were analyzed, in order to outline the strategies and competitive advantages used to gain and keep customers' loyalty.

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These variables were chosen because when the 4 P's are related to the company (internal), they are directly based on the 4 C's of consumer (external), which makes this tool efficient and effective, achieving consumer's satisfaction without overly increasing internal costs (KOTLER; ARMSTRONG, 2007). The achieved result provided the analysis of brand positioning before its consumers.
When seeking different ways to investigate one point, seeks to triangulation.
This triangulation is used to maximize the credibility of the qualitative study,) stated that triangulation is a procedure that stands out to maximize credibility.
Was held with the manager marks an in-depth interview, this type of interview allows dealing with complex issues that could hardly be properly investigated through questionnaires, exploring them in depth. Then he drew up a roadmap with only a few questions to guide the interview. (Writing Qualitative ANNEX B). Alves-Mazzotti and Gewandsznajder (2001, p.169) consider documents "any written record that can be used as a source of information." The document analysis will be used to check and complete the data obtained by other techniques.). We conducted unstructured observation in four stores of the brand, to confirm the data collected, as unstructured observations are free, without a way to preset registration). Content analysis raised was based on the idea by Alves-Mazzotti and Gewandsznajder (2001) who claim that the content needs to be organized and understood through an ongoing process to identify relationships and dimensions, with the goal of uncovering meanings.

Case Study Analysis
In these interviews we did not find indications of the use of the marketing mix as a positioning tool. The manager uses the brand with great importance, the tools proposed by Kotler and Armstrong together with constant research of the market.
According to the manager of brand loyalty, conquest is by conducting satisfaction survey, where the employee himself is trained to listen to customer complaints; search door to door; customer service, which measures the satisfaction of the purchase accomplished through the aftermarket. For the manager of the brand http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 "loyalty keeps us credible. You lose the customer from the moment he loses confidence in the location he frequents. Cleanliness, validity, quality, variety, service are small aspects of trust. No customer retention without trust".

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The retail brand has four units located in four main regions (RODRIGUES, et al., 2014).
For Brand, promotion is one of the most important aspects, the manager stating that invests "close to 1% of sales, more than 100 thousand month of advertising, is a major cost today". Some of the tools used by retailers brand is tabloid, radio, TV, social campaigns, promotion of products according to seasonality, outdoor, city events, internet. "We are who makes more marketing" (RODRIGUES; MENEGAZZO; CHAVES, 2014).
The manager of brand claims that "price is credibility, trust, and the fight to have uniformity, not to have large bumps market". The retail sector separates two classes of products as priced: perishables and groceries, the price of groceries is the same in any supermarket. For the Brand "price is perishable trust, price is not groceries. The concept of price is the customer's mind. Since price is value added, is the brand's status, yet ... "Relating price and the supplier have the following brand positioning: when all the lower price and not have to take more margin comes into contact with the supplier to take advantage" (RODRIGUES; MENEGAZZO; CHAVES, 2014).
The brand performs extensive work in the aftermarket, where checks -with customers "is missing some product in your shopping allowed to buy any branded item, and why not buy this product", from the responses register the missing product and the information is passed along to the Manager, aiming to leave not miss the items mentioned. There are also a major concern with products manufactured within the establishment, especially with regard to quality and hygiene, using the same tools mentioned (RODRIGUES; MENEGAZZO; CHAVES, 2014).

Descriptive Research
We conducted the survey through questionnaires based on the variables of the 4P's of the marketing mix that can influence loyalty: price, product, place, promotion, and three questions related to the level of loyalty for the brand, having to verify whether the tools used by the brand are being efficient and effective in the process of loyalty. The result of the descriptive survey revealed the image of the brand in the importance of the variables that influence loyalty.

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One objective of descriptive research is to obtain a quantitative result thus applied the questionnaire because they "are used to collect quantitative data from a large number of people in a quick and convenient way". (HAIR et al., 2005, p 157).
For the validation of the factor analysis that allows synthesizing the volume of information collected on variables in a significantly smaller number of variables and factors. (HAIR e. al., 2005). The reliability analysis is needed to estimate what is the reliability of the measurements and average statistics made on the sample.
(Quantitative Questionnaire Appendix B). These data were tabulated in Excel and statistically analyzed with the aid of the software Statistic Package for Social Science (SPSS), enabling the application of quantitative analysis. Rey (1993), states that the concept of regression in statistics is related to positive or negative that the dependent variable suffers when there is a one-unit increase in the independent variable. We used the Multiple Regression, which according to Hair et al. (2005) is the most realistic. Loyalty was used as the dependent variable, and the marketing mix as independent variables in multiple regression, it is possible to insert independent variables of the same type in the equation and estimate a single dependent variable. ).
Was analyzed by regression analysis of randomness that comes from two or more variables, or external factors that may influence the concealment of some functional relationships. (REY, 1993); multicollinearity by analysis that provides more accurate estimators of regression coefficients. (WERKEMA; AGUIAR, 1996); through the analysis of normality, which involves the verification of hypotheses and development of confidence intervals and also heteroscedasticity which analyzes the level of discrepancy between the independent variables. (BUSSAB, 1998). place Gujarati Alpha Conbrach's are measures of reliability. These range from 0 to 1. The closer to 1, the degree of reliability is attributed. Being 0.60 and 0.70 limits for acceptable values, ie, they are the minimum acceptable for a variable to be below those numbers they are not acceptable to the Alpha's Conbrach (HAIR et al., 2005, p. 90). http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 Factor for Hair et al. (2005, p. 90) consists of a linear combination of the original variables, namely the case of pools variable factor in explaining or summing the set of 'n' variables in a single factor "x".

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Correlation to assess whether there is a relationship between the behavior of two or more variables and the extent to which this interaction occurs. A positive correlation (0 <r <1) indicates that the two variables tend to increase or decrease simultaneously. A negative correlation coefficient (-1 <r <0) when said variable value tends to increase the other tends to decrease, and vice versa. The value "1" or "-1" indicates a perfect linear relationship. The value "0" indicates no linear relationship between the variables. (HAIR et.al, 2005, method 313).

Descriptive Research Analysis
For the analysis of the variables the type of Likert scale was used, according to Bell (2008)  The questions, NL1, NL2, NL3 (variable level of loyalty) are classified as good, with this result we obtain a set of questions that measure levels Loyalty consistently. P01, PO2, PO3 (variable products) make up a group that issues can be classified as moderate, this result can also conclude that PO1, PO2, PO3 measure product consistently.
Have questions formed by PA1, PA2, PA3 (group variable place), PAO1, http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 classified as low intensity of association, and up as a result groups that do not consistently measure the variables place, promotion and price.

Preliminaries Regression
We conducted a pre-test in Excel with fifteen questionnaires to conduct an analysis of collection time, understanding of the issues, quantity demand and consistency issues for better collection.

Regression Variables Pure
After the tab in the Excel program, held an average with issues of fairness variable (LE) over issues of fairness level (NL), in order to obtain only one dependent variable named LE (overal). In the following was carried out with a regression LE dependent variable and PAO1, PaO2 PAO3, PE1, PE2, PE3, PE4, PO1, PO2, PO3, PA1, PA2, PA3, independent variables, yielding the following equation: Based on this result it was found that these variables influence the fairness in 42.6. But this value is a relationship that is mild to social science. It found the need to perform a correlation of these pure variables, obtaining the result of the individual influence of each variable to the loyalty, where he managed the variable that explains the most and the least variable that explains the fairness, performing the http://www. ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 analysis of the pure variables, ie, LE1, LE2, LE3, PE1, PE2, PE3, PE4, PA1, PA2, PA3, PO1, PO2, PO3, PAO1, PAO2, PAO3, NL1, NL2, NL3.

Complete Regression fairness factor.
In search of a better explanation for the research problem we used the analysis tool dimension reduction SPSS software to transform variables on factors, transforming LE1, LE2, LE3, NL1, NL2, NL3 issues only loyalty factor. To obtain a more accurate result than the average performed in Excel. Thus originated the following regression equation:  Thus originated the following regression equation: http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236  After traveling for several features and analysis, one can arrive at the result that the place factors, price, product and promotion influence the loyalty factor in 60.7, this being a result that represents a relationship of intense and fully acceptable to social science.

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Aiming to enhance data analysis, there was an individual detailing the influence of each factor in relation to the loyalty factor by analyzing the correlation of factors. This analysis was based on the idea, mentioned by Hair et.al (2005), where the correlation between loyalty and place and promotion are classified as mild, almost imperceptible, may be concluded that the plaza and promoting factors are practically insignificant in the construct of the loyalty factor. http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 Looking at the price and loyalty and product afforded a moderate correlation, this analysis price and product are the factors that correlate with the loyalty factor.

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Thus it is concluded that price and product are the factors that most influence the construct of loyalty.

RESULTS ANALYSIS
In previous chapter discusses the results of the in-depth interview with the owner and the data analysis descriptive survey of consumers. Initially we present the diagnosis of vision of the retail supermarket brand (RODRIGUES; MENEGAZZO; CHAVES, 2014). In the analysis of sequence data to descriptive research with consumers is presented. Now we will be presented the phenomenological vision of problematization. The main result of this article is to present a phenomenological view about brand management.

Main contribuition
According to the proposal problematic, it can be stated that you get the expected results to achieve the proposed objectives, for which the brand positioning (internal environment) to variable product (variety) is the tool that most influences the loyalty of its consumers. Also found that for the brand image (external environment) the product factor is the most efficient and effective tool used by the brand.
For positioning the second tool that most influences the loyalty of its consumers is the promotion variable for the image that variable is no longer as relevant, is the third most important tool in the construct of loyalty.
Have a variable price for the brand image is the second most important tool to form loyalty. But for brand positioning this variable is not considered a relevant tool in the construct of loyalty from its consumers process for the brand if only price she would not have the image. Importantly, innovation and usefulness of the methodology and research methods of this study. A source of analysis and cross between the internal and external environments, presented the relationship between positioning and brand image.
The main contribution of this article refers to the process of analyzing the quality of brand management. The model presented in this article aims to describe and understand the measurement of quality in brand management, through a comparison between the internal and external environments of the company. http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 Internally search is the conceptual definitions of identity and brand positioning. In the external environment seeks to conceptual definition ns of image and value of corporate brand.

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The comparison between the internal and external environments presents the measurement of the quality of brand management. That is, if there is consistency between internal actions and external response of the brand it is assumed that there is quality management. Thus, in reviewing the publication prepared by the last author The main gaps in the management of the brand quality can be found in the conceptual model. These gaps are described in the gaps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. They are: Gap1: difference in the managers' interpretation of the expectations of the brand's consumers.
Gap 2: brand identity is being understood by managers in their positioning and translated in marketing (marketing mix) consistent; Gap3: the market understood the company's marketing activities and absorbing the placement proposed by the company; http://www.ijmp.jor.br v. 8, n. 4, October -December 2017ISSN: 2236 Gap4: brand communication transfers a value proposition superior to its competitors that is actually delivered in quality.

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Gap 5: the company's image translates into brand value compared to its competitors.
Thus, we seek to understand the management of the company's brand quality. What is needed is a better and more thorough analysis to validate the assessment framework of the quality of brand management.

FUTURE STUDIES PROPOSAL
It is suggested to readers and researchers with some proposals for future studies based on this article, such as studying which the most relevant variables in consumer loyalty in retail process from other regions. Study which the most relevant variables in consumer loyalty in trade in various economic activities process. Extend the same methodology to wholesale companies. In addition to replicating the method presented here, in various companies according to variables of importance to marketing.