OPEN COURSES BA5OPT22 (A)

BRAND MANAGEMENT

MODULE I Product- Meaning and Definition, Types of product. Brand- Meaning and Definition,
Importance of Branding, Process of Branding, Circular Process, Types of Brands.

BRANDING

Market buying simply a machine but an equipment that

helps him in washing clothes.
The term market- originates from the
Latin word Marcatus- which means a place where It also needs to be noted that the term product
business is conducted. refers to anything that can be offered to a market
for attention, acquisition, or use.
According to Perreault and McCarthy, market is a
group of potential customers with similar needs According to Kotler and Armstrong, a product is
or wants who are willing to exchange something “anything that can be offered to a market for
of value with sellers offering various goods attention, acquisition, use or consumption
and/or services to satisfy those needs or wants. thatmight satisfy a need or want.”. They
further added that product is more than just
The American Marketing Association, the official tangible objects, but also include service
organization for academic and professional (intangible). In a broader sense, however, it not
marketers, defines marketing as: Marketing is the only includes physical objects and services but
process of planning and executing the conception, also the supporting services like brand name,
pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, packaging accessories, installation, after sales
goods and services to create exchanges that service etc.
satisfy individual and organizational objectives.
According to William J. Stanton “Product is a set
So the marketing manager concentrates on four of tangible and intangible attributes including
major decision areas while planning the packaging, colour, price, manufacturer’s prestige,
marketing activities, namely, (i) Products, (ii) retailer’s prestige and manufacturer’s and
Price, (iii) Place (Distribution) And (iv) retailer’s services which buyer may accept as
Promotion. These 4 ‘P’s are called as elements offering satisfaction of wants and services”.
of marketing and together they constitute the
Marketing Mix. All these are inter-related Jerome McCarthy says that “A product is more
because a decision in one area affects decisions in than just a physical product with its related
other areas. functional and aesthetic features. It includes
accessories, installation, instructions on use, the
package, perhaps a brand name, which fulfils
PRODUCT some psychological needs and the assurances that
service facilities will be available to meet the
Product refers to the goods and services offered customer needs after the purchase”.
by the organisation for sale. Here the marketers
have to recognise that consumers are not simply Product Classification
interested in the physical features of a product but Product can be broadly classified on the basis of
a set of tangible and intangible attributes that (1) use, (2) durability, and (3) tangibility.
satisfy their wants. For example, when a
consumer buys a washing machine he is not

NSS College Rajakumari

 goods people generally put special efforts to
buy them. They are ready to buy these goods
at prices at which they are offered and also put
in extra time to locate the seller to make the
purchase. In fact, prior to making a trip to buy
the product he/she will collect complete
information about the various brands.
Examples of speciality goods are cameras, TV
sets, new automobiles etc.

(B) Industrial Goods: Goods meant for

1. Based on use, the product can be classified consumption or use as inputs in production of
as: (a) Consumer Goods; and (b) Industrial other products or provision of some service are
Goods. termed as ‘industrial goods’. These are meant for
non-personal and commercial use and include (i)
(A) Consumer goods: Goods meant for personal raw materials, (ii) machinery, (iii) components,
consumption by the households or ultimate and (iv) operating supplies (such as oil, stationery
consumers are called consumer goods. This etc).
includes items like groceries, clothes etc.
2. Based on Durability, the products can be
Based on consumers’ buying behaviour the classified as : (a)Durable Goods; and(b)Non-
consumer goods can be further classified as : (i) durable Goods.
Convenience Goods; (ii) Shopping Goods; and
(iii) Speciality Goods. (a) Durable Goods : Durable goods are
products which are used for a long period i.e.,
(i) Convenience Goods : Convenience goods for months or years together. Examples of
are bought frequently without much planning such goods are refrigerator, car, washing
or shopping effort and are also consumed machine etc. Such goods generally require
quickly. Buying decision in case of these more of personal selling efforts and have high
goods does not involve much preplanning. profit margins. In case of these goods, seller’s
Such goods are usually sold at convenient reputation and presale and after-sale service
retail outlets. are important determinants of purchase
(ii) Shopping Goods: These are goods which decision.
are purchased less frequently and are used (b) Non-durable Goods: Non-durable goods
very slowly like clothes, shoes, household are products that are normally consumed in
appliances. In case of these goods, consumers one go or last for a few uses. Examples of
make choice of a product considering its such products are soap, salt, pickles, sauce etc.
suitability, price, style, quality and products of These items are consumed quickly and we
competitors and substitutes, if any. In other purchase these goods more often. Such items
words, the consumers usually spend a are generally made available by the producer
considerable amount of time and effort to through large number of convenient retail
finalise their purchase decision as they lack outlets. Profit margins on such items are
complete information prior to their shopping usually kept low and heavy advertising is done
trip. It may be noted that shopping goods to attract people towards their trial and use.
involve much more expenses than
convenience goods. 3. Based on tangibility, the products can be
classified as: (a) Tangible Goods; and (b)
(iii) Speciality Goods : Because of some Intangible Goods.
special characteristics of certain categories of

NSS College Rajakumari

(a) Tangible Goods : Most goods, whether these Coca-Cola brand name is perhaps the most
are consumer goods or industrial goods and valued asset of Coca Cola Corporation.
whether these are durable or non-durable, fall in
this category as they have a physical form, that Brand name helps a consumer in instant
can be touched and seen. Thus, all items like recall, and this serves an important function for
groceries, cars, raw-materials, machinery etc. fall differentiating competing products of similar
in the category of tangible goods. nature. A legally protected brand name is called a
trademark.
(b) Intangible Goods : Intangible goods refer to
services provided to the consumers. Services are Importance of branding
essentially intangible activities which provide Consumers perceive a brand as an
want or need satisfaction. Medical treatment, intrinsic part of the product and branding can add
postal, banking and insurance services etc., all value to the product. For example most
fall in this category. consumers would perceive iphone by Apple as a
BRANDING high quality, expensive mobile phone, but the
same product presented in an unmarked body
The word “brand” can refer to a company case may be viewed as lower in quality even
name, a product name, or a unique identifier such though the quality and performance are identical.
as a logo or trademark. A brand in short is an
identifier of the seller or the maker. It helps in The importance of branding can be gauged from
differentiating a company’s products and services the fact that today hardly anything goes
from those of its competitors. A brand name unbranded. Even common man’s salt is packaged
consists of words, letters and/or numbers that can in branded containers. Branding is not a waste of
be vocalized. resources but it helps the buyers in many ways
as follows:
Branding means giving a name to the
product by which it could become known and 1. A brand generally denotes uniform quality.
familiar among the public. Philip Kotler and Gary 2. Brand names help consumers in identifying
Amstrong defines a brand as a "name, term, sign the products and therefore it makes shopping
symbol (or a combination of these) that identifies
easier.
the maker or seller of the product". American
Marketing Association (AMA) describes a 3. Competition among brands can, over a
brand as a “name, word, mark, symbol, device period of time, lead to quality improvements.
or a combination thereof, used to identify
4. Brand informs the buyer about product
goods or services of one seller and to
differentiate them from those of competitors”. quality because a buyer who repeatedly buys
There are two aspects of this definition. Firstly, it the same brand knows that he will get the
focuses on ‘What’, of the brand. Secondly, it
same features, benefits, and quality each time
emphasizes on what the brand ‘does’.
he buys.
The marketers use a brand name because 5. Purchasing a socially visible brand can give
it plays an important role for them. It identifies
the product or service. Secondly, brands help in psychological satisfaction to the buyer.
communication. For instance, the brand ‘Fair and
Lovely’ communicates what the product does.
Branding is also advantageous to the seller
Finally, a brand becomes an asset or property,
as follows:
which only the owner has the right to use if brand
property is legally protected. All the registered 1. Branding helps in product identification.
2. It differentiate product offering from
names are the valuable assets of the owners.
competitors
NSS College Rajakumari
3. If brand loyalty can be developed through 3). A Brand name should be simple and
successful promotion, the firm will be able to easy to pronounce and remember. The aim
make use of monopolistic power. should be to have short names that are easy to
4. Brand names become basis on which the
read and understand. Consumers have finite
product’s special qualities can be advertised.
5. The seller’s brand name and trademark mental capacities and find it easier to encode
provide legal protection for unique product short words in memory. This is the reason why
features that otherwise might be copied by names with four or five syllables or more are
competitors. usually used, Example Lux, Surf etc
6. Brand help the seller in segmenting the
market. For example, mobile phones 4). The brand name should be legally
manufactured by Samsung is available with protectable. To help protect the brand against
different brand names for different income imitators, a search should be undertaken to
classes. identify whether the brand name is available and,
7. A good brand helps in building the
if so, whether it is capable of being legally
corporate image.
8. Moreover at the time of mergers and registered.
acquisitions, huge amount of money is paid to
5) The name or symbol should show / suggest
the sellers for their reputed brand names.
the name of the Producer Eg. AMUL.
Branding has also become important to the
society, because, 6) The brand name selected must not be
1. From a macro-standpoint, a brand's role in general but specific. It must be such that it is not
easily copied by others. For example both Gluco
improving and maintaining product quality can
and Glucose ( brand names of biscuit) look same.
be considered as positive.
2. Brands also help in better dissemination 7)  Adding a visual element like symbol or
of product knowledge; better knowledge can image to your brand name could help customers
contribute to more scientific and rational decision to identify the brand easily.
making. 8) The brand name should also support the
positioning objectives for the brand, e.g.
Crown Paints or Royal Emulsion from Asian
Selecting a Brand Name paints.
(Attributes of a brand name )
9) Beware of creating new words. Marketers
Finding an appropriate name for a new developing new word for their brand have to
anticipate significant promotional budgets to
product is a difficult task. The following points
clarify what their invented word means. For
should be taken into account in selecting a brand example the successfully invented names of
name. Kodak, Esso and Xerox Succeeded because of
significant communication resources.
1). The brand name should be meaningful
Names that communicate consumer benefits 10) Develop names that allow flexibility.
facilitate consumers’ interpretations of brands. It The hope of any marketer is for brand success
should also reflect directly or indirectly some and eventually a widening portfolio, of
supporting brands to better satisfy the target
aspect of the product, viz. benefit, function, etc.
market. Over time more experienced consumers
For example, the name `BURNOL' immediately seek a widening array of benefits so, if possible,
connotes that the product has to do something the name should allow the brand to adapt to
with bums. changing market needs. For example, with the
recognition of the reliability of Caterpillar
2). A Brand should be distinctive, especially Tractors, the company wished to diversify further
if the product requires such distinction, e.g., a into the earthmoving equipment market, but the
name like `CHANCELLOR' for a cigarette shows word ‘Tractor’ blocked diversification. By
ideas of status, power and opulent life style. dropping this word, Caterpillar was better able to
diversify.
NSS College Rajakumari
 11) Develop names, which are group of products. By having clearly defined
internationally valid, It is essential to establish marketing objectives, brand managers are then
during the naming process what geographical able to consider how each of their brands needs to
coverage the brand will assume. When a name is
contribute towards satisfying the overall
intended for only one nation or one culture, the
cultural associations linked to it are immediately marketing objectives.
evident. Whenever the brand name spans
different languages and cultures, it becomes more
difficult to forecast customers’ responses. For 2. The Brand Audit. The internal and external
instance, the Spanish coffee Bonka has different
forces that influence the brand need to be
implications in the UK market from those
intended in Spain. identified, such as company resources, threats from
substitutes, economic conditions, and so on. This
audit should help identify a few of the criteria that
the name must satisfy. For example, if the brand
audit showed that the mobile phone manufactured
Process of branding by a Co has a superior battery, then the name
should suggest something about ’battery long life’.
Branding is a systematic process for the
development of a brand name that will increase a 3. Brand Objective. The next step in branding
product's chances of success. Selecting a brand process is to clearly state individual brand
name is one of the most important product objective. This will help the marketer to identify
decisions a seller makes. Following are the seven criteria for the name to meet. For example, if the
steps followed in the selection of brand name. primary market for a bicycle is 10-15 year old
boys, and if the secondary market is fathers who
makes payment, the primary target’s need may be
for style and comfort, the secondary market may
be more concerned about purchase cost. The
primary need for the brand name would be to
communicate style and comfort, with a
suggestion about price.

4. Brand Strategy Alternatives. In the next

step, the marketer should identify what broad
strategies are available in order to satisfy the
brand objectives. Issues here would include:

• Manufacturer’s brand or distributor’s brand?

• Specialist or niche brand?

• Value-added or low-price positioning?

Let us now consider each of these steps in turn.
5. Specify the Brand Name criteria. The
1. Marketing Objective. The first step in
marketer should be able to list the criteria that the
developing a brand name is understanding the
brand name must satisfy. They might also’ wish
marketing objectives that the brand must
to be learn from other companies’ experiences
contribute towards. Selecting a brand name
w/hat appears to work best with brand names. For
begins with a careful review of the product and
example
its benefits, the target market and proposed
marketing strategies. Clearly stated, quantified  Whether it is Distinctive ?
targets must be available for each segment  Simple and easy to pronounce
showing the level of sales expected from each  Show the name of the producer or not

NSS College Rajakumari

  General or Specific. for internal purposes. The brand does not play
 Whether it Should support the positioning any role from the customer’s point of view.
objectives 2. Formula Brand: Formula means a set
 Flexibility etc
procedure. A brand which comes in the
formula category simply implies that a
6. Generate Brand Name Alternatives- With a particular procedure has been used to make
clear brief about the challenges that the new the product.
brand name must overcome, the marketer can 3. Know-how Brand: Know-how is an expertise
now work with others to stimulate idea, for that a firm develops in a specialized area of
possible brand names. Some of the methods that activity. Example: Fiat has know-how in
might be used to generate names would be: • engines. Amul has developed expertise in milk
Brainstorming • Group Discussions • In-company processing.
competitions amongst employees • Computer 4. Interest Brand: A brand may be defined by
generated names etc. its centre of interest. It may reflect its core
spirit. Example: Gillette brand maintains its
7. Screen and Select The Brand Name. By focus on men’s grooming in all its brands.
scoring each name against the criteria for brand 5. Service brands: Services are products that
name effectiveness, an objective method for people buy sight-unseen. People buy services
judging each option can be employed. Each name purely based on their trust that the person or
can be scored in terms of how well it matches business they‘re buying from will deliver as
each of the criteria and, by aggregating each promised.
name’s score, a value order will result. By 6. Personal brand – Otherwise known as
following this scheme, the marketer is able to individual brand. It is the brand a person
select a name, which should satisfy the builds around themselves, normally to enhance
company’s marketing objectives. their career opportunities. 
Some of the guideline to be found there includes: 7. The brand name of a product owned by the
• producer or distributor which is marketed
nationally is the National Brand. And
 The brand name should be meaningful International Brand is the name on a
 A Brand should be distinctive particular product that is known and used in
 A Brand name should be simple and easy more than one country:
to pronounce and remember 8. Regional brands, as the name imply are
 The brand name should be legally typically sold only in one area.
protectable 9. Store, or private label brands are, as the
 Develop names, which are internationally name suggests, brands that are owned by retail
valid etc. store chains. Typically, store brands sell at
lower prices than do national brands.
Types of Brands

Brand name is the name given to the products in 10. Co-branding involves firms using two or
order to identify them. There are lots of choices more brands together to maximize appeal to
for brand name. consumers. Sometimes, this strategy may help
one brand at the expense of the other.
1. The Product Brand: It is a situation where 11. Manufacturer Brands: These are developed
there is very little difference between the and owned by the producers, who are usually
brand and the product. Brand is a close involved with distribution, promotion and
approximation of the product. Passively, the pricing decisions for the brands. For example,
brand is used to identity the product, maybe Apple computers.

NSS College Rajakumari

12. Dealer Brands: These are brands initiated and
owned by wholesalers or retailers.
13. Generic Brands: It indicates only the product
category and do not includes the company
name or other identifying terms.
14. Family Brands: A single brand name for the
whole line closely related items. For example,
Amul for milk products.
15. Individual Brands: Each product has a
special brand name such as surf etc.
16. Licensed Brands: Licensing means renting or
leasing of an intangible asset. It is a process of
creating and managing contracts between the
owner of a brand and a company or individual
who wants to use the brand in association with
a product, for an agreed period of time, within
an agreed territory. For example, P&G
licensed its camay brand of soap in India to
Godrej for a few years.
17. Umbrella Branding and Individual
Branding

Under umbrella branding all the products get

the same brand name. This is also called family
branding. Godrej, Vidoecon and L&T follow this
kind of policy. One basic advantage of using the
Family brand is that it reduces the costs of product
launching and promotional expenditure
substantially. The firm has to promote only one
brand, which, if successful, would be able to sell
the entire product line.

Under the individual branding each product is

given a different name. For example, Hindustan
Lever sells its products under different brand
names like Rin, Surf, Lux, etc. Importance of
branding.

18. Company trade name combined with

individual Product Names . Some manufactures
tie their company name to an individual brand
name for each product, e.g. Kellogg’s Rice
Krispies, Kallog’s Raissin Bron and Kallog’s
Corn Flakes etc

NSS College Rajakumari

NSS College Rajakumari