BRAND

MANAGEMENT

 A Brand Is A Term Used To Identify Its

Products by a special name or symbol.
The continued use of brands to the
present times in business has been
largely due to:
(i). Growth In Competition.
(ii). Growth
Of
National
And
Local
Advertising.
(iii). Growth Of Packaging And
(iv). The Development Of Consumer Brand
Consciousness.

 Definition
A brand is a name, term, symbol, or design,
or a combination of them which is intended
to identify the goods or services of one seller
or group of sellers and to differentiate them
from those of the competitors. -American
Marketing Association
A brand name consists of words, letters
and/or members which may be vocalized;
and refers to products. Ambassador, Padmini,
Tata, Tcs are examples of brand names.
Brand names should not be confused with
trade names, where brand refers to product,
trade name refers to company.
The name of the firm is its trade name. The
brand name can come from its trade name.

BENEFITS OF BRANDING
Branding provides benefits to buyers and sellers
TO BUYER:
A strong brand creates a sense of security
among consumers.
A strong brand boosts new product awareness
and credibility.
Help buyers identify the product that they
like/dislike.
Helps reduce the time needed for purchase.
Helps buyers evaluate quality of products
especially if unable to judge a products
characteristics.
Helps reduce buyers perceived risk of purchase.
Buyer may derive a psychological reward from
owning the brand, IE Rolex or Mercedes.

 TO SELLER:
A strong brand can help the human resources
department attract top talent.
A strong brand can help a company secure
investments.
A strong brand helps salespeople close deals
with business partners and customers.
Differentiate
product
offering
from
competitors
Helps segment market by creating tailored
images, IE Contact lenses
Brand identifies the companys products
making
repeat
purchases
easier
for
customers.
Reduce price comparisons

 Brand helps firm introduce a new product

that carries the name of one or more of
its existing products...half as much as
using a new brand, lower co. designs,
advertising and promotional cost.
Easier cooperation with intermediaries
with well known brands
Facilitates promotional efforts.
Helps foster brand loyalty helping to
stabilize market share.
Firms may be able to charge a premium
for the brand.
A strong brand can shelter a company
from a public relations disaster.

 BRAND POSITIONING
Brand positioning refers to
target consumers reason to buy
your brand in preference to others.
It is ensures that all brand activity
has a common aim; is guided,
directed and delivered by the
brands benefits/reasons to buy;
and it focuses at all points of
contact with the consumer.

 Brand positioning must make sure that:

Is it unique/distinctive vs. competitors?
Is it significant and encouraging to the niche
market?
Is it appropriate to all major geographic markets
and businesses?
Is the proposition validated with unique,
appropriate and original products?
Is it sustainable - can it be delivered constantly
across all points of contact with
the
consumer?
Is it helpful for organization to achieve its financial
goals?
Is it able to support and boost up the organization?

 Brand Positioning can be defined as an

activity of creating a brand offer in such a
manner that it occupies a distinctive place
and value in the target customers mind.
For instance-Kotak Mahindra positions
itself in the customers mind as one
entity- Kotak - which can provide
customized and one-stop solution for all
their financial services needs.
It has an unaided top of mind recall. It
intends to stay with the proposition of
Think Investments, Think Kotak.
The positioning you choose for your brand
will be influenced by the competitive
stance you want to adopt.

 Brand Positioning is the key of marketing

strategy. It involves identifying and
determining points of similarity and
difference to ascertain the right brand
identity and to create a proper brand
image.
It explains the brand details, the
uniqueness of brand and its similarity with
the competitive brands, as well as the
reasons for buying and using that specific
brand.
Positioning is the base for developing and
increasing the required knowledge and
perceptions of the customers.
It is the single feature that sets your
service apart from your competitors.

 There are various positioning errors,

such as1. Under positioning- This is a scenario
in which the customers have a blurred
and unclear idea of the brand.
2. Over positioning- This is a scenario in
which the customers have too limited a
awareness of the brand.
3. Confused positioning- This is a
scenario in which the customers have a
confused opinion of the brand.
4. Double Positioning- This is a scenario
in which customers do not accept the
claims of a brand.

 FACTORS
INFLUENCING
BRAND
POSITIONING
Lets take a look at the 5 main factors that
go into defining a brand position.
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.?).

 EFFECTIVE BRAND POSITIONING

Positioning a brand in the consumer's
mind is critical to brand success. In age
sameness, a brand must advertise a variety
of product or brand features and benefits, by
drawing attention to them and promoting
their value to the consumer.
The act of developing certain brand
characteristics and promoting them is one of
the few ways a brand can be differentiated.
Since most products or brands have a variety
of features, such as speed, accuracy, size,
functionality, cost, style, specs, and more,
each of these can be emphasized if they are
truly critical to a segment of the consumer
market.

 If you want your brand to be known for a subset

of the potential features and benefits it offers,
then you are fixing or positioning the product
brand in consumer's minds as being about those
attributes.
You position a brand in order to establish your
product as a superior choice to competitors.
Also many of your competitors will position their
products and brands the same way you intend
to.
That's when brand credibility comes into play. If
you can communicate your brand positioning
better, then consumer's will view yours as the
most attractive or most credible.
The credibility factor might only be delivered via
the style of your brand communications.

 BRAND EQUITY
Brand Equity is defined as the values
and impressions, both long-lasting and
fleeting, which affect consumers choice
of brand to purchase. These values and
impressions are created by their:
Prior experience with the brand
New experiences with the brand
(including innovations, line extensions,
new channels and new forms):
Reception of and reaction to the brands
communications.

Consumers receive the brands message

through
Planned and paid efforts in:
Advertising
Promotions
Packaging
Public relations
Sponsorships
Partnerships

Unpaid and unplanned channels such

as:
Word-of-mouth
Third party endorsements

The consumers' relationship with the brand is

established by these brand experiences (prior and
new) and communications.
This means that Brand Equity is built (or diminished) in
essentially every touch point where the consumer
interacts or experiences the
brand.
Example:
brands Porsche
or
Aston

with strong equities

Adidas
Boeing
Cadburys or Hersheys
Dell computers
Jet Blue or Easy Jet
Manchester United
Michelin

Martin
Pringles potato chips
Sony
The New York Times or
The Economist
Virgin
Volvo

 Importance
of
Brand
Equity
1.Brand
Equity
creates
shareholder value
2.Brand Equity Building creates
competitive advantage
3.Brand Equity management
creates
business
growth
opportunities.

a) Brand Equity creates shareholder value

Building Brand Equity establishes a bond with
consumers and drives the desired consumer
behavior.
Identifying, rationalizing, and taking steps to
repay the Brand Promise can ensure that the
brand
is
emotionally
connected
with
consumers, which establishes loyalty and
commitment.
Brands with high loyalty and commitment
levels can command a premium price.
High brand equity therefore drives higher,
faster, more profitable and less risky cash
flows for the business.

Examples of Brands with strong Brand

Equity:
Pantene - Healthy Hair
Dove - Restoring Femininity
Heinz Ketchup (2001+) - Fun, family and
entertainment
Volvo - Ability to protect loved ones
Nike - Self realization through athletic
activity
These brands have created long-term,
consumer-preferred
franchises
that
deliver reliable streams of revenue and
profit to their brand owners.

b) Brand Equity Building creates

competitive advantage
Few
brands
manage
their
equity
consistently and at every consumer touch
point.
Their Brand Equity will be linked to
marketplace and financial performance
indicators.
Developing a process to consistently
measure, plan and develop Brand Equity
is the true path to building strong brands
and a sustainable competitive advantage.

c) Brand Equity management creates

business growth opportunities
The process of defining a Brand Vision (the
second phase of the Brand Equity Process)
requires an in-depth consumer understanding.
The vision reveals the opportunities for the
brand, both within the current business
category and in new business categories.
Example
Doves enhanced self-image through skin care
equity enabled them to extend from soap into
moisturizer and other beauty care categories
(where growth and margins are higher).
Virgin's Good deal for consumers equity
enabled them to extend to categories as
diverse as insurance, phones, airlines, and even
wedding dresses.

 HOW
DO
YOU
DEVELOP
BRAND
EQUITY?
1.Brand Promise
2.Category-specific
Equities
3.General Equities

 1. Brand Promise
The
highest
level,
differentiating,
emotional
consumer benefit that the brand
stands for (or intends to stand
for) in the minds of consumers.
It is derived from the Hierarchy
of Needs developed for each
Consumer Domain.

2. Category-specific Equities:
A specific set of performance or expectations
that contribute to the categorys success.
For example, in the oral care category, these
could include cavity prevention and tooth
whitening benefits.
These are essential functional benefits that a
winning oral care brand will need to deliver.
In addition, the benefit of say oral centered
self confidence is also an important emotional
benefit that the brand will need to deliver.
Category specific equities are required
qualifications that must be earned and
maintained before the brand can own its Brand
Promise.

3. General Equities:
Differentiation
Relevance
Appreciation (likeability, trust, leadership,
innovation)
Knowledge
Value
Quality (product satisfaction)
By measuring General Equities you can
benchmark the brand with others in any
product category and compare it to other
brands.

 STEPS TO CREATING BRAND EQUITY

1. Define your positioning.
This is the one thing your company
stands for in the minds of your
customers.
You need to clarify your positioning in the
market among your competitors.
One is the important word here.
You must define your brand position with
just one element.
Ask yourself and your employees, what is
the one thing that makes you different
and better than the competition?

2. Let everyone know your story

and bring it to life.
Position
statements
are
often
internal statements that need to be
made external.
The way to do that is by telling a
story.
Document your best corporate
stories, which are likely to come
from the founder, that best reflect
your positioning statement.

3.
Build
the
brand
before
the
transaction.
Before the customer gets to the cash
register, or even to the store, start branding.
The easiest way to do this is to give
something away that has your branding on
it.
It doesnt have to be something big; it could
be a free notepad at the door or even an
email coupon for a free item in customers
email inboxes.
As long as the coupon has your logo and
elements of your brand on it, it counts
toward building your brand equity.

4. Measure efforts.
You can simply ask customers when they come
into your store what they think of your brand, or
you can do some research on your own.
You can send out surveys to customers and
prospects in the area or you can check the social
media conversations going on about your brand.
Consumers are quite active on forums, blogs
and chats, especially when they are unhappy
about a product or service, so check out what
people are saying about you online.
Vendor-rating Web sites are great places to start.
By implementing these steps, the road to
building brand equity will be a lot smoother and
a lot shorter.
And the great thing about these steps is that
you can get started on that road today

 CUSTOMER EQUITY
The fundamental asset underlying brand equity is
customer equity.
Customer
equitythe
value
of
the
customer
relationship that the brand create.
A powerful brand represents profitable loyal customers.
In deciding the value of a company, it is important to
know of how much value its customer base is in terms
of future revenues.
The greater the customer equity (CE), the more future
revenue in the lifetime of its clients; this means that a
company with a higher customer equity can get more
money from its customers on average than another
company that is identical in all other characteristics.
As a result a company with higher customer equity is
more valuable than one without it.

 DRIVERS OF CUSTOMER EQUITY:

Value equity: What the customer
assesses the value of the product or
service provided by the company to be;
Brand equity: What the customer
assesses the value of the brand is,
above its objective value;
Retention equity: The tendency of
the customer to stick with the brand
even when it is priced higher than an
otherwise equal product;

 BRAND IMAGE
Brand image may be called the set of emotional &
sensory inputs a consumer associates with a particular
brand or service in the episodic memory system.
Therefore Brand Image is defined as consumer
perception of the brand and is measured as the brand
associations held in consumer memory.
Brand association is the information node linked to the
brand node in the memory and contains meaning of the
brand for the consumer.
These associations are attributes, benefits & attitudes
and may come in all forms and may reflect
characteristics other product or aspects independent of
the product itself.
E.g. thinking Apple computers, what comes to mind, the
associations of user friendly, creative, innovative & used
at many places.

 Brand image can be reinforced by brand

communications
such
as
packaging,
advertising, promotion, customer service,
word-of-mouth and other aspects of the
brand experience.
Brand images are usually evoked by asking
consumers the first words/images that come
to their mind when a certain brand is
mentioned (sometimes called "top of mind").
When responses are highly variable, nonforthcoming,
or
refer
to
non-image
attributes such as cost, it is an indicator of a
weak brand image.

Brand Identity

Brand Image

Brand identity develops Brand image is perceived by the

from the source or the receiver or the consumer.
company.

Brand message is tied Brand message is untied by the

together in terms of brand consumer in the form of brand
identity.
image.

The general meaning of The general meaning of brand

brand identity is who you image is How market perceives
really are?
you?

Its nature
substance
strategic.

Brand identity symbolizes Brand

image
symbolizes
firms reality.
perception of consumers

is that it is Its nature is that it is appearance

oriented
or oriented or tactical.

Brand
identity Brand
represents your represents
desire.
view

It is enduring.

Identity
ahead.

Identity is active.

1
0

It signifies where It signifies what you have

you want to be.
got.

1
1

It is total promise It is total consumers

that
a
company perception
about
the
makes
to brand.
consumers.

is

image
others

It is superficial.

looking Image is looking back.

Image is passive.