BRAND Management

What is a brand?

A name, a term

A symbol, a sign

A name, term, sign, symbol or any other feature that

identifies one sellers product or service as distinct from
those of other sellers -The American Marketing Association

Brand can be
Logo

shortcut to remind
Colours
Shape
Letter
Images
Tunes
Phrases
Celebraties

Functions of Branding

Helps in Identification and gives distinctiveness to

the product
Indirectly denotes quality and standard
Eliminates Imitation
Ensures legal right to the product (Trademark,
patents, copyrights)
Helps in advertising and packaging
Helps in price differentiation of the product

Characteristics of a Strong
Brand
Brand

name should describe its nature

Easy to remember and pronounce
Act as a stimulating trigger to customers
Brand portfolio and hierarchy should make
sense
Brand should properly positioned
Brand should be consistent
Brand should be given continuous support
and monitoring

Scope of Branding

To teach the customers the following:-

1. Who the product- name, other

elements
2. What the product does
3. Why the consumers should buy

Brand relationships
FIRM

INTERACTIONS CUSTOMERS

Brand image
Brand identity
in the mind of customers
framed by marketers
Brand relationships
Branding process
Brand
the actual image of the
firm in customers minds
A new definition based on Brand relationships: Brand is created in
continuously developing brand relationships where the customer
forms a differentiating image of a product or service based on all
kinds of brand contacts that the customer is exposed to.

Brand Identity
Brand Identity is what the
owner wants to communicate
to its potential costumers.

BRAND IMAGE
A unique set of associations in the
minds of customers concerning
what a brand stands for and the
implied promises the brand
makes.

The importance of image

Image communicates expectations
Image
is
a
filter
influencing
perceptions of the performance of the
firm
Image is a function of expectations
and experiences
Image has
employees

an

internal

impact

on

Image and Identity

Receiving

Sending

Media

Brand identity

Signals
transmitted

Brand image

Competition
And Noise

Contd..
BRAND

IMAGE is a unique set of

associations in the minds of customers
concerning what a brand stands for and
the implied promises the brand makes.
BRAND IDENTITY is the strategic goal
for the unique set of associations that a
brand
should
stand
for.
These
associations also imply a potential
promise to customers.
PERCEPTION GAP.

Brand Hierarchy
Brand Hierarchy is how an organization
organizes the various named entities within its
portfolio, and how they relate to each other.
The four general types of Hierarchy are:
1. Master brand : Maruti Suzuki
2. Brand/sub brand : Maruti
3. Endorsed brand : Maruti Esteem
4. Separate (stand-alone or independent)
brands: LXi/ SXi

Top 10 Global Brands*

* http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.as

Brand Positioning
Brand

Positioning

Positioning is how a product appears in

relation to other products in the market
Brand positioning is all about identifying
the optimal location in our customers
minds for our Brand vis--vis with our
competitors
Proper positioning makes it easier to
facilitate understanding of our Brand

Developing a Positioning
Strategy
Positioning

is not what you do with a

product but what you do in the mind of
the prospects.
Positioning requires determining the
frame of reference by identifying
Target market
Competition
POPs and PODS

Category membership
Starting

point in brand positioning is to

determine Category Membership.
Category membership is product or set of
products with a brand competes and which
functions as close substitutes
Three main ways to determine category
membership: Announcing category benefit
Comparing to exemplars
Relying on the product descriptors

Target Market
Consumer Aggregates
Current users
Potential users
Competitive users
Consumer Segments
Behavioral
Dem/psych/geo

Points of Difference & Parity

Difference
Strong, favorable, unique
Attribute or benefit
Parity
Shared with other brands
Important for brand extensions

POPS
Point

of Parity (POP)
Two Types
Category : attributes that are required
to include your product as a member
of that category.
Competitive: POPs that negate your
competitor's PODs
POPs should be good enough but
PODs should be superior

Choosing the differentiating

strategy
Product

differentiation
Personal differentiation
Channel differentiation
Image differentiation

Choosing the pops and pods

Relevance
Distinctiveness
Believability
Feasibility
Communicability
Sustainability

Proper Positioning
Clarifies

what the Brand is all about

How it is both unique and similar to
competitive brands
Why customers should purchase and
use the Brand

5 Factors of Brand Positioning

1. Brand Attributes : What the brand delivers through features and
benefits to consumers.
2. Consumer Expectations : What consumers expect to receive
from the
brand.
3. Competitor attributes: What the other brands in the market
offer
through features and benefits to consumers.
4. Price : An easily quantifiable factor Your prices vs. your
competitors
prices.
5. Consumer perceptions: The perceived quality and value of your
brand
in consumers minds (i.e., does your brand
offer the cheap solution, the good value for the
money
solution, the high-end, high-price tag
solution, etc.?).

The Process of Positioning

Generally, the product positioning process involves:
Defining

the market in which the product or

brand will compete (who the relevant buyers are)
Identifying the attributes (also called dimensions)
that define the product 'space'
Collecting information from a sample of
customers about their perceptions of each
product on the relevant attributes

Positioning- Toothpaste
Four main segments:

Flavor and product

appearance

Brightness of teeth

Decay Prevention

Flavor, Brightness

Price Positioning

Decay Prevention

Low Price

Brand Equity
Brand

Equity is the value of a brand built up

over a period of time. It is composed of four
components namely Image, Perception,
Awareness and Loyalty.
David Aaker defines brand equity as: A set of
assets and liabilities linked to a brand's name
and symbol that adds to or subtracts from the
value provided by a product or service to a
firm and/or that firm's customers
Brand Equity is an asset that can be sold or
leased

 BE

is an important intagible assets

that has psycological and financial
value to the firm.

Measuring Brand Equity

Brand Audit It is a consumer focused exercise that

involves a series of procedures to assess the health
of a brand, uncover sources of brand equity,
suggest ways to leverage that equity.
Is current brand equity satisfactory
What brand associations needs to be strengthened
What brand opportunity exist
What potential challenges exist from the brand
equity.
As a result strategic analysis to develop a new
marketing program to maximize long term brand
equity

Steps of Brand Audit

Brand Inventory:- Provides a current comprehensive

profile of how all the product and services sold by a
company are marketed and branded.
Marketers helps in assesing and finding the
consistency od diff product and services sharing the
same brand name.
Brand Exploratory:- It is a research activity
conducted to understand what consumers think and
feel .Surveys,questionnaire,interviewhelps in
generate ideas , insights,
Techniques are used as projective
technique,vizualizationword association test.

Brand Tracking
Collect

information from consumers on a

regular basis time to time
Helps in providing information how their
marketing programs and brands are
performinh
Tracking studies are a means of
understanding where, how much, and in what
ways brand values is been created.
Helps in facilitating day to day decision
making.

Brand Valuation
It

is the total financial worth of the

brand.
Premium charged*no of units sold.

Managing Brand Equity

Brand

Reinforcement consistently convey the

meaning of the brand to customers

What the core brand represents, benefits supplied,

which needs it satisfies
How brand makes those product/service superior and
which strong favorable unique brand association
should exist in the mind of customer
Requires new product introduction
Requires consistency of marketing support (new
offerings, new promotions)
Example- Nivea from skin crme to skin care and
personal care products.
Early 70s brand still a leader-coke
kodak,hienz,wrigleys

Brand Revitalization

Brand Revitalization
Go back to basics of
consumer needs and
wants finding gaps in
market or at the other
end of spectrum go for
reinvention (Intel).
Revitalization finds
elements of both of the
above, to refresh existing
sources or find new
sources of brand equity
e.g. Lifebuoy

Reasons of Brand
Revitalization

A new competitor may have taken over the category

and the company is struggling to generate revenues
from the current product (colgate-closeup)
A new variant has to be launched in order to regain
market share.
The whole product or service category may be
declining, and a brand could be one of many brands
that could use revitalization
Revitalization may be needed in order to
communicate category leadership, as well as
develop an energized new visual identity system
Brand may no longer meet the consumers needs or
desires, where in the consumer has shifted to a
different platform.

Revitalization may just be a need increase market

share as the brand image may be becoming less
relevant to people.
It may be time to re-position the product or
rejuvenation may be a spike in promotion activity.
The brand has lost its unique point of differentiation
and thus looking to revitalize the product or brand
with a new image.
The target market for the brand has aged, and the
brand hasnt managed to renew its positioning in the
minds of the next generation of consumers as was the
case with.(lalita ji surf)
Consumers needs have shifted from price to value

Examples
Mountain

Dew introduced in 1969

(yahoo mountain)
1990- Do the Dudes (young males)
2000- Do the dew

Brand Crisis
Critical

of planning is planning for worst

Smart company have effective
corporate crisis management policy.
Careful preparation and well managed
Crisis management program ensures
corporate credibility and trustworthiness
Example Frozen pizza, packaged Milk

Brand Equity Models

Brand

Asset valuator

Aakers

Model

Brandz
Brand

Rssonance

Aakers model

Viewed BE as a 5 categories of asstes and liabilities

linke to a brand that adds and subtract to the value
Brand loyalty
Brand awareness
Percieved quality
Brand association
Other proprietory assets such as trademark patents
and channel relationship.
Imp concept in building BE is Brand Identity who
had 4 prospectives
Brand as product, brand as organization, brand as
person,brand as symbol

Factors influencing Brand

Equity

Positive or Negative Brand

Equity

Brand Extension
Brand

extension or brand stretching is

a marketing strategy in which a firm
marketing a product with a welldeveloped image uses the same brand
name in a different product category.
The new product is called a spin-off.
Organizations use this strategy to
increase and leverage brand equity

Benefits of Extension
Price

premium that a brand commands over a

generic product
Reduce risk perceived by customers
Increase the probability of distribution and trial
Increase efficiency of promotional expenditures
Reduce costs of introductory programs
Avoid cost of developing a new brand
Create opportunities to extend into more
distant product categories
Build equity

Line Extension Strategy

When

a brand is used to brand a new

product that targets a new market
segment within a product category
currently served by the parent brand.

Examples:

Coca-Cola diet
Colgate for Kids

Line Strategy
Horizontal:

the brand extends to new

varieties of the product. E.g.
pineapple, strawberry, Mango.

Vertical:

the brand extends up or down

in terms of product quality. E.g., Base
& premium

Brand Category Extension

Strategy
Effort

to use a successful brand name

to introduce a new product into a
different product category.
Examples:

Nike MP4 player

Colgate toothbrush
Lilliput- Kids Shoes

Important Factors for Extending

Brands
POSITIONING

MARKET
Information
Characteristic and
N Competitors

CONSUMERS
Knowledge
Risk Aversion

Success of Brand
Extensions

EXTENSION
Fit

Choice Shares
Sales
Evaluation
Perceived Risk
Profit
Market Share
BRAND/FIRM
Brand Strength

Disadvantages of Brand
Extensions
Can

fail and hurt parent brand image

Can succeed but diminish
identification with any one category
Can dilute brand meaning
Can forgo the chance to develop a new
brand
Can damage company credibility

What is brand personality?

Brand

Personality is a set of human

characteristics associated with a
brand

Personality
Gender,

is how the brand behaves

age, socio-economic class,

psychographic, emotional
characteristics

Some Examples
Marlboro

is masculine while Virginia

Slims is feminine

IBM

is older while Apple is younger

India

Today is old-fashioned while

Outlook is trendier

Coke

is conforming while Pepsi is

irreverent

About Brand Personality

Brand

Personality, like human personality, is

both distinctive and enduring
Both are built over a period of time

Refers

to the outcome of all the consumers

experiences with the brand

In

other words, the brands personality is the

weighted average of previous impressions

In

consumers mind, these impressions

merge to form an overall concept of what to
expect from brand

Some More
Brand

Personality is eagerly searched by

brand strategists and researchers

Differences

in responses by different
consumers provide useful insights

For

example, users of a product will

perceive a brand different from non-users

Why use brand personality

Enriches understanding
Helps gain an in-depth understanding of
consumer perceptions of and attitudes
towards the brand
Can

provide more insight than is gained by

asking about attribute perceptions

For

ex., Microsoft, IBM etc.,

Why Use brand personality

Contributes to a differentiating identity
Can differentiate brands especially where
brands are similar in product attributes

In fact, it can define not only the brand but

the product class context and experience

Mercedes

Vs BMW; Clinic Plus Vs Pantene

Why use
Guides the communication effort
Communicates the brand identity with
richness and texture
If

the brand is specified only in terms

of attribute associations, very little
meaningful guidance is provided
Is Nike shoes or sports, performance and
attitude?

Why use
Creates brand equity
Builds long-term brand equity
Differentiates

the brand and makes it

distinct from other competitive offerings

Serves

as a powerful relationship device

Sponsorships
Activities

such as events sponsored by

the brand will influence its personality

Ponds

sponsoring Feminas Miss

India contest
MRF Formula-1 racing championship

Age
How

long a brand has been on the

market can affect its personality

New

entrants like Apple, Outlook etc.,

tend to have younger brand
personalities than IBM, India Today
etc.,

Symbol
A

symbol can be a powerful influence on

brand personality since it can be
controlled and can have extremely strong
associations

Some

examples

Apples bitten apple

Nikes swoosh
MetLifes Peanuts character

To Sum Up

A brand personality can help a brand in several

ways:
It can provide a vehicle for customers to express their own
identity
A brand personality metaphor helps suggests the kind of
relationship that customer has with brand
Brand personalities serve to represent and cue functional
benefits and product attributes well

Importantly, brand personality is often a

sustainable point of differentiation
Sustainable because it is very difficult to copy a personality

Brand Creation
Brand

creation is about answering:-

What to launch?
Where to launch?
When to launch?
How to launch?
For whom to launch?
Brand creation is striking a sync between:
Brand pricing-Brand distribution-Brand
quality-Brand Image-Brand benifits

Some More.
Brand

creation is the birth of a brand

It is not only naming or symbolically
tagging but goes beyond that
Headed towards fulfilling all promises
and top class services.
Brand creation is an expensive and
tricky affair

Examples
Nike

- tick mark (always right)

Wipro spent Rs 35 crore for new logo
(applying thaught)
Videocon

Brand Customer Relationship

Brand

are essentially the collective

perceptions of an organizations key
constituents(customer,supplier,inverst
or,employee etc..)
Defined more by deeds than by words
Brand is how your customer
experience what you do.

Steps to build strong customer

Relationship

Clearly articulate your brand identity

Establish a customer value proposition
A Strong Vision Regarding Service that is Clearly
Communicated
Constant Service Talk
Customer Friendly Systems
A Balance Between Technology and the Personal
Touch
Do the optimal customer experience and create a
holistic brand experience
Cultivate relationship and treat them carefully by
listening what are u told , learn from it and respond

Devising a Branding strategy

Can

develop new brand element for

new product
Can apply some of its brand element
Can use a combination of new and
existing brand elements.

Branding Strategy
New Products

Brand extension use established brand name to launch a new product

Sub-brand combine a new brand with an existing brand (Adobe Acrobat
software,Toyata camary automobiles,american express bluecards)
Parent brand existing brand gives birth to a brand extension (Procter $
Gamble)
Family brand parent brand associated with multiple brand extensions
e.g. Kelloggs, Heinz, DelMonte)
Line extension use of a parent brand to brand a new product, targeting
anew market segment served by the parent (e.g. new flavors)
Category extension (brand stretching use of a parent brand to enter a
different product category from that served by the parent (Yamaha
---motorbikes to pianos, sports equipment)
Brand line all products sold under a particular brand (Heinz 57)
Brand mix set of all brands offered to buyers (P & G has 71 brands)
Branded variants specific brand lines supplied to particular retailers or
channels (e.g. Guinness Stout, Guinness Extra Stout)

Financial aspects of Brand

In the past, marketing was often said to be

unaccountable. Not any more. Today, marketers are
required to show how their expenditure is delivering
a return, by contributing to brand and business
success. And there are clear benefits in putting a
value on the brand plan. First, it allows for return on
investment calculations to be based on a truly long
term perspective, not just on outcome within one
fiscal year. And second, it enables testing of
investment hypotheses for example, to find out
what happens if expenditure is reduced within a
framework both marketing and finance can
understand.

Branding in Different Sectors

Industrial

Sector

Company Name Branding

Often,

especially in the industrial sector, it is just

the company's name which is promoted (leading
to one of the most powerful statements of
"branding"; the saying, before the company's
downgrading, "No one ever got fired for buying
IBM").

In

this case a very strong brand name (or

company name) is made the vehicle for a range
of products (for example,Reliance and hilty)

Financial Sector
Branding

in financial services has its own

characteristics, the crucial element being
consumer trust, after all the institutions are
handling your money. For this reason in
most cases the brand and the institutions
name are one and the same.
Core brand values

Recognition/awareness
Trust/reliability
Value/price
Service
Availability/distribution
Product

range
Innovation
Professional expertise

Service Sector

The 4-M approach centers on the 4 basic elements that a service

provider must manage for branding services effectively. In a
nutshell the 4-M approach involves
Managing Egos- People always react negatively when they perceive
a threat. Also, research has shown that more than the physical threat;
it is threat to one's sense of self-one's ego that elicits the most
negative response. Thus managing egos is important in maintaining
healthy and positive relationships with the company's customers-both
internal as well as the external. Only if the internal customers
(employees) feel safe and do not perceive any threat to their egos,
will they provide superior service to the external customers.
Managing Perceptions- Brands are not static but are continuously
evolving and changing with changing customer perceptions. Thus, a
brand is not simply the promise of said quality but is in fact a
manifestation of consumer perceptions of that promise- whether they
see it as useful or not, truthful or not, consistent or not etc. Thus,
managing perceptions of both internal and external customers is
crucial in branding services.

Contd.
Managing Attitudes- What people think about you matters! In any
service, people are the walking billboards of the company. As primary
service providers they interact with customers directly to deliver the
service. What they think about the company is invariably reflected in
the service they deliver. Thus, managing their opinions is critical in
branding services. Also, each satisfied customer can direct another
ten prospects towards your service. This word-of mouth publicity
which is unique to the service industry can only be leveraged if your
customers think highly of you as a service provider.
Managing Awareness- Goods have the advantage of ocular
presence and physical existence. This tangibility helps consumers to
first experience the product through the various senses, build a
perception about the same and then decide to buy or not. However, in
the case of services, the intangibility of the service causes the
customer to buy the product and then decide whether it appealed to
their senses or not. Branding services therefore becomes extremely
tricky since there are very few ways of creating brand awareness and
conveying the brand promise to the customers. Nevertheless,
managing service awareness, though challenging can be achieved
using physical evidence and media. Physical evidence refers to the
material touch and feel factors that accompany the service and these
are important in conveying the brand promise to the customers.
Media on the other hand, is extremely useful in branding services by
creating brand awareness.

Consumer Sector

Sound: Here i would like to quote an example by Martin

Lindstorm of Coke. According to him, whenever a user
open the website of Coca Cola - a sound of Fizz while
opening Coke should be there. With that as these days
people go to hypermarkets and buy in bulk, so they
spend lot of time there. SO the experience out there is
important. And the right music there can really help.
Also these big FMCG giants occupy one section for
their respective projects. So they can utilize the space.

Sight: There are different dimensions here. First is the

packaging which is normally said the 5th P of
marketing. You know after HLL getting a tough
competion from Regional players in India, because of
packaging, started focusing a lot in this area. Looks
definately matter. Other thing is retail displays/
merchandising. If the products are placed at the eye
level, there is a high chance of consumers to but them
in basket.

Contd..

Smell: As mentioned in point 1, with music, aroma of

different products according to the company or the
product categories can also be introduced. Then in case
of Agarbattis, soaps, toothpaste as Puru mentioned,
smell plays a major role. Also count deos and perfumes
here.

Taste: It is more of a product attribute and is considered

to be a tangible. Obviously Nestle Maggi Noodles should
taste which will force buyers to refill their empty stock
next time they visit retail.

Touch: There are some products like classbooks like ITC's

Classmate for which the quality of the paper is very
important. This also involve an angle of touch.