Q4. Discuss the importance of branding and packaging in product decision making process?

Product branding and packaging decisions are very important decisions as in the present age of globalization, a large
number of brands of various products are available to the consumer to choose and select from.
Definition of Branding
According to American Marketing Association - Brand is A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that
identifies one sellers good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A
brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred
term is trade name.
According to Philip Kotler - Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them, intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors
Branding is a sellers promise to deliver a specific set of features, benefits and services
consistent to the buyers.
Meaning of Branding
Branding is a process of creating a unique name and image for a product in the mind of consumer, mainly through
advertising campaigns. A brand is a name, term, symbol, design or combination of these elements, used to identify a
product, a family of products, or all products of an organization.
Branding is an important component of product planning process and an important and powerful tool for marketing and
selling products.
Elements of Branding
Brand includes various elements like - brand names, trade names, brand marks, trademarks, and trade characters. The
combinations of these elements form a firm's corporate symbol or name.
Brand Name - It is also called Product Brand. It can be a word, a group of words, letters, or numbers to represent
a product or service. For example - Pepsi, iPhone 5, and etc.
Trade Name - It is also called Corporate Brand. It identifies and promotes a company or a division of a particular
corporation. For example - Dell, Nike, Google, and etc.
Brand Mark - It is a unique symbol, colouring, lettering, or other design element. It is visually recognisable, not
necessary to be pronounced. For example - Apple's apple, or Coca-cola's cursive typeface.
Trade Mark - It is a word, name, symbol, or combination of these elements. Trade mark is legally protected by
government. For example - NBC colourful peacock, or McDonald's golden arches. No other organization can use
these symbols.
Trade Characters - Animal, people, animated characters, objects, and the like that are used to advertise a product
or service, that come to be associated with that product or service. For example - Keebler Elves for Keebler
cookies
Kinds of Brands: The brands of the following kinds.
1. National Brands

3. Blanket Brands

2. Individual Brands

4. Multiple Brands

5. Private Brands

1. National Brand-: A national brand is a manufacturers brand. A successful national brand builds not only the
image of the product, it builds also the image of the company. A successful national brand is a great help to a
company in introducing new products in future. A disadvantage of the national brand is that if one product fails, it
also badly affects the other products of the company. Besides this, creating a national brand is expensive.
2. Individual Brand-: An individual brand means that each product of a company has an individual brand name. It
has the advantage of highlighting the benefits of the individual product. It has the further advantage that if an
individual brand flops, it does not hurt the other products. Individual brand is however an expensive proposition.
Hindustan Lever, HMT etc., have been following this method of giving different names to each of their products.
3. Blanket Brand-: A blanket brand is one brand which covers all the products of a company. It is usually the
companys or the manufacturers family name. This practice is also called family branding or umbrella branding. It
has the same advantages as well as the disadvantages of a national brand.
4. Multiple Brand-: A multiple brand gives different names to the same product having only minor differences. The
idea is to appeal to different segments of the market and have a larger market share. But the customers often see it
as a trick, not a fair play, and they lose faith in the company.
5. Private Brand-: Sometimes, mainly for reasons of cost-saving, the manufacturer hands over the responsibility of
branding to the distributor. A private brand is, in fact, the distributors brand. It can be highly successful. The
manufacturer, however, cannot get all the benefits which accrue from it.
6. Trademarks-: Popular brands are many times imitated. A trademark is a legal right of a firm to protect a brand
name or brand mark by getting their brands registered at the patent office. It confers the proprietor a statutory right
to exclusive use of that mark or name. It is meant to safeguard against ditto imitation.
6. IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING IN PRODUCT DECISION MAKING PROCESS
a) Enhances Product Recognition - Brands provide multiple sensory stimuli to enhance customer recognition. For
example, a brand can be visually recognizable from its packaging, logo, shape, etc. It can also be recognizable via
sound, such as hearing the name on a radio advertisement or talking with someone who mentions the product.
b) Helps Build Brand Loyalty - Customers who are frequent and enthusiastic purchasers of a particular brand are
likely to become Brand Loyal. Cultivating brand loyalty among customers is the ultimate reward for successful
marketers since these customers are far less likely to be enticed to switch to other brands compared to non-loyal
customers.
c) Helps With Product Positioning - Well-developed and promoted brands make product positioning efforts more
effective. The result is that upon exposure to a brand (e.g., hearing it, seeing it) customers conjure up mental
images or feelings of the benefits they receive from using that brand. The reverse is even better. When customers
associate benefits with a particular brand, the brand may have attained a significant competitive advantage. In these
situations the customer who recognizes he needs a solution to a problem (e.g., needs to bleach clothes) may
automatically think of one brand that offers the solution to the problem (e.g., Clorox). This benefit = brand
association provides a significant advantage for the brand that the customer associates with the benefit sought.
d) Aids in Introduction of New Products - Firms that establish a successful brand can extend the brand by adding
new products under the same family brand. Such branding may allow companies to introduce new products more
easily since the brand is already recognized within the market.

e) Builds Brand Equity - Strong brands can lead to financial advantages through the concept of Brand Equity in
which the brand itself becomes valuable. Such gains can be realized through the out-right sale of a brand or
through licensing arrangements.

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7. BRANDING STRATEGIES IN PRODUCT DECISION

8. There are various branding strategies on which marketing organizations rely to meet sales and marketing
objectives. Some of these strategies are as following:Brand Extension - According to this strategy, an existing brand name is used to promote a new or an improved
product in an organizations product line. Marketing organizations uses this strategy to minimize the cost of
launching a new product and the risk of failure of new product. There is risk of brand diluting if a product line is
over extended.
Brand Licensing - According to this strategy, some organizations allow other organizations to use their brand
name, trade name, or trade character. Such authorization is a legal licensing agreement for which the licensing
organization receives royalty in return for the authorization. Organizations follow this strategy to increase revenue
sources, enhance organization image, and sell more of their core products.
Mixed Branding - This strategy is used by some manufacturers and retailers to sell products. A manufacturer of a
national brand can make a product for sale under another company's brand. Like this a business can maintain brand
loyalty through its national brand and increase its product mix through private brands. It can increase its profits by
selling private brands without affecting the reputation and sales of its national brand.
Co-Branding - According to this strategy one or more brands are combined in the manufacture of a product or in
the delivery of a service to capitalize on other companies' products and services to reach new customers and
increase sales for both companies' brands.
9. Packaging
10. Packaging plays a vital role in terms of protection, storage and hygienic handling of a product and it plays a
key role in the marketing mix. Packaging is often regarded as the most important form of advertising at the
most critical point of all in the purchasing journey: the point of purchase.
11. Packaging includes the activities of designing and producing the container for a product.
12. IMPORTANCE OF PACKAGING

1. To protect a product from damage or contamination by micro-organisms and air, moisture and
toxins. -: The product must be protected against being dropped, crushed, and the vibration it suffers
during transport. Delicate products such as fruits need to be protected by a rigid package such as a
laminated container. The product most also be protected against the climate including high temperatures,
humidity, light and gases in the air. It must also be protected against micro-organisms, chemicals, soil and
insects.
2. To keep the product together, to contain it (i.e. So that it does not spill). -: Some shapes cannot be
easily packaged, for example, certain vegetables. However, there are methods of getting around this
problem. Suppliers of canned vegetables such as carrots have developed a particular type of plant that
yields carrots that are straight and smaller than the normal variety. These fit into cans. Some products
such as fruit juices and sausages need to be contained in packages that hold them together and are sealed
to prevent spillage and loss.
3. To identify the product. -: Packaging is the main way products are advertised and identified. To the manufacturer
the package clearly identifies the product inside and it is usually the package that the customer recognizes when
shopping. Advertising is very important when a manufacturer launches a new or existing product. The package,

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through its colour scheme or logo, is what is normally identified by the customer.
The package will also contain important information including ingredients and sell by date.
Protection during Transport and Ease of Transport.-: A package should be designed to make it easy to
transport, move and lift. A regular shaped package (such as a cuboid) can be stacked without too much space
between each package being wasted. This means that more packages can be transported in a container of a lorry.
Unusually shaped packages can lead to space being wasted and this can be costly if thousands of the same package
are been transported.
Stacking and Storage-: In supermarkets and shops it must be possible to stack packages so that space is not
wasted on the shelves. Lost space on shelves is looked up on a lost opportunity to sell to a customer. Also, the
package must be designed in such a way that all the important information can be seen by a potential buyer,
especially the product name. The next time you visit the supermarket look carefully at the shape of the packages.
They are usually the same rectangular / cuboid shape. It is the selection of colours and shades that determine
whether the product inside is regarded as a quality, sophisticated or cheap item. Often packages are stacked on top
and alongside each other to reduce wasted space. The shape and form of the package determines how efficiently
they can be stacked or stored.
Printed Information.-: Information that is useful to consumers and companies such as Supermarkets, is printed on
packaging. This includes, ingredients, sell by dates, price, special offers, manufacturers address, contact
information, product title, barcode and more. The bar code is extremely useful to the shop selling the product.
When the barcode is scanned, the computer system automatically determines if the product needs reordering. Also,
the price of the product appears at the till.
13. PACKAGING STRATEGIES IN PRODUCT DECISION
To manage the packaging of a product, executives must make the following strategic decisions.
Packaging the product line: A company must decide whether to develop a family resemblance when packaging
related products. Family packaging uses either highly similar packages for all products or packages with a common
and clearly noticeable feature. When new products are added to line recognition and images associated with
established products extend to the new ones.
Multiple Packaging: It is a practice of placing several units of the same product in one container. Candy bar,
towels, beer, cricket balls are packaged in the multiple units.
Changing the package: A firm may need to correct a poor feature in an existing package. It may want to take the
advantage of a new development as the container made up of lamination of papers, plastic and aluminium foil.
However, this farm of packaging might be slowed because it is not biodegradable.
15. Facing rising cost, many producers feel the need to increase the prices. However, they fear consumer
resistance.
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