What is a Brand?

Branding has been around for centuries The word Brand is derived from the old Norse word

brandr which means to burn

Owners of livestock mark their animals to identify them

AMA definition:
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design which

is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

What is a Brand?

Whenever a marketer creates a new name logo or symbol for a new product he/she has created a brand

Practicing managers, refer to brand as more than that defining a brand in terms of having actually created a certain amount of

Awareness Reputation Prominence and so on in the marketplace.

What is a Brand?
AMA Brand that identifies and distinguishes it from others The different components of a brand that identify and differentiate it can be called as brand elements. Like : name, logo, sign, symbol, term, design etc.

Marketers have many choices over the number and nature of the brand elements

Brand Vs Product
Product (Kotler): Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Five levels of a product
Core product level fundamental need/want Generic Product level basic version of the product Expected Product level attributes/ characteristics customers

normally expect. Augmented product level additional attributes, benefits related service that distinguishes from competitors. Potential Product level transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future.

Brand Vs Product
Harvard Ted Levitt

the new competition is not between what companies produce in their factories but between what they add to their factory output in the form of packaging, services, advertising, customer advice, financing, delivery arrangements, warehousing & other things that people value
BRAND IS A PRODUCT BUT ONE THAT ADDS OTHER

DIMENSIONS THAT DIFFERENTIATE IT IN SOME WAY FORM OTHER PRODUCTS DESIGNED TO SATISFY THE SAME NEED

Why do Brands matter?

- Why are brands important? - What functions/roles they perform/play that make them so valuable to marketers? - Value to two parties : Consumers and Firms
For Consumers Identification of source of product Assignment of responsibility to product maker Risk reducer- functional, physical, Financial, Social, Psychological, Time Search cost reducer Promise, bond or pact with maker of product Symbolic device consumers project their self-image. Signal of quality search goods, experience goods, credence goods

Why do Brands matter?

For Manufacturer Meaning of Identification to simplify handling or tracing Means of legally protecting unique features Signal of quality level to satisfied customers Means of endowing products with unique associations Source of competitive advantage Source of financial return

Can anything be Branded?

-How are brands created? -How do you brand a product? Firms create brand through their marketing programs and other activities. But ultimately, a brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is perceptual entity that is rooted in reality, but it is more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers.

Can anything be Branded?

To brand a product it is necessary to teach consumers: Who the product is ? name / label To provide the meaning what this product can do for you and why it is special? Branding involves creating mental structures and helping consumers organize their knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision making and in the process provides value to the firm.

Can anything be Branded?

Whenever and wherever consumers are deciding between alternatives, brands can play an important role.

Accordingly, marketers can benefit from branding whenever consumers are in a choice situation.

Can anything be Branded?

Physical goods

Services Retailers and distributors

Online products and services People and organization

Media channels Sports and Entertainment

Geographic Locations etc.

Virtually anything can be and has been branded.

Challenges to Brand builders

Savvy customers More complex brand families and portfolios Maturing markets Difficulty in differentiating Decreasing brand loyalty in many categories Growth of private labels Increasing trade power Fragmenting media coverage Eroding traditional media effectiveness Emerging new communication options Increasing promotional expenditures Decreasing advertising expenditures Short term performance orientation Increasing job turnover

The Brand Equity Concept

One of the most popular and potentially important marketing concepts to arise in the 1980s was the concept of brand equity. Good or bad news No common viewpoint how brand equity should be conceptualized and measured. Resulting in confusion and frustration.
Fundamentally, branding is about endowing products and services with the power of brand equity.

Branding is about creating differences.

The Brand Equity Concept

Some basic principles of branding & brand equity: Differences in outcomes arise from the added value endowed to a product as result of past marketing activity for the brand. This value can be created for a brand in many different ways Brand equity provides a common denominator for interpreting marketing strategies and assessing the value of a brand. There are many different ways in which the value of a brand can be manifested or exploited to benefit the firm.

Strategic Brand Management

Strategic brand management involves the design and implementation of marketing programs and activities to build, measure, and manage brand equity.
The strategic brand management process is defined as involving four main steps: 1) Identifying and establishing brand positioning and values
2) Planning and implementing brand marketing programs 3) Measuring and interpreting brand performance 4) Growing and sustaining brand equity

Strategic Brand Management Process

STEPS 1. Identify and establish brand positioning 2. Plan and Implement brand marketing programs 3. Measure and Interpret Brand performance KEY CONCEPTS
Mental maps, competitive frame of reference, core brand values, brand mantra

Mixing and matching of brand elements like names, logos, symbols, characters, Integrating brand activities, leverage of secondary associations Brand Value chain, brand auditscomprehensive examination of a brandhealth, sources of equity, brand equity management system Brand product matrix, brand portfolio and hierarchies, brand expansion strategies, brand reinforcement and revitalization

4. Grow and Sustain Brand Equity

Identifying and Establishing Brand Positioning & Values

What the brand is to represent and How it should be positioned with respect to competitors?

Brand Positioning (Kotler) : Act of designing the companys offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customers mind.

Competitive Brand Positioning is all about creating brand superiority in the minds of consumers.
Positioning often involves a specification of the appropriate core brand values and brand mantra.

Identifying and Establishing Brand Positioning & Values

Core brand values are those set of abstract associations (attributes & benefits) that characterize a brand.

Brand Mantra also known as a brand essence or core brand promise

A brand mantra is a short three- to five-word expression of the most important aspects of a brand and its core brand values. Core brand values and Brand mantra are thus an articulation of the heart and soul of the brand.

Identifying and Establishing Brand Positioning & Values

A brand audit also helps in determining and evaluating a brands positioning.

A brand audit is a comprehensive examination of a brand, involving activities to assess the health of the brand, uncover its sources of equity and suggest ways to improve and leverage the equity.

2. Planning and Implementing Brand Marketing Programs

Building brand requires creating a brand that consumers are

sufficiently aware of and with which they have strong, favourable and unique brand associations.

In general, this knowledge-building process will depend on

three factors: 1. Initial choices for the brand elements or identities making up the brand 2. The marketing activities and supporting marketing program and the manner by which the brand is integrated into them 3. Other associations indirectly transferred to the brand by linking it to some other entity (e.g. the company, country of origin, channel of distribution, or another brand)

2. Planning and Implementing Brand Marketing Programs

Leveraging and Interpreting Brand Performance Brand associations may themselves be linked to other entities that have their own associations, creating secondary brand association. Ex. Source factor like company, countries, channels of distribution, other brands (co-branding), characters, spokespeople (endorsements), sporting & cultural events, some other third party sources (awards, reviews)

3.Measuring and Interpreting Brand Performance

To understand the effects of brand marketing programs, it is important to measure and interpret brand performance.
A useful tool in this regard is the Brand Value Chain The brand value chain is a means to trace the value creation process for brands to better understand the financial impact of brand marketing expenditures and investments.

Measuring and Interpreting Brand Performance

A brand equity measurement system is a set

of research procedures that is designed to provide timely, accurate, and actionable information for marketers so that they can make the best possible tactical decisions in the short run and strategic decisions in the long-run. Implementing such a system involves two key steps:
Conducting tracking studies Implementing a brand equity management system

Growing and Sustaining Brand Equity

Maintaining and expanding brand equity is quite challenging.
Concerns with those activities that take broader and more diverse perspective of the brands equity understanding how branding strategies should reflect corporate concerns and be adjusted, if at all, over time and over geographic boundaries or market segments.

Managing brand equity involves managing brands within the context of other brands, as well as managing brands over multiple categories, over time and across multiple market segments.