Branding

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Definition & Characteristics

 Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or

a combination of them intended to identify the
goods & services of one seller from those of
competitors.
 Thus it is a seller’s promise to deliver a specific
set of features, benefits & services
consistently to the buyers. The characteristics
of a good brand are:
1. Attributes – a brand brings with it certain
attributes; eg: expensive (Loreal), durable
(Ceat), etc.
2. Benefits – attributes are transformed into
functional benefits (wont have to buy another
tyre-Ceat) & emotional benefits (makes one
feel important-Loreal).
3. Values – brand conveys producer’s values-good
after sales service. 2
Characteristics & Reasons

 4. Culture – brand may represent certain

culture ,eg: Harley Davidson (ruggedness)
represents American culture.
 5. Personality – brand may represent a certain
personality, eg: Pulsar, SX4 (manly
personality).
 6. User – it suggests the consumer who buys &
uses the product, eg: a top executive is
expected to buy a Mercedes car & not a
teenager.
Reasons for branding:

1. Easy to identify goods & services.

2. Assure consumers that they will get consistent
quality.
3. Reduces pricing comparisons.
4. Increases customer loyalty. 3
 Reasons not to brand

 Two responsibilities come with branding:

1. Promoting the brand
2. Maintaining a consistent quality.
3. Companies do not brand when they are unwilling
or unable to assume these responsibilities.
Some products are not branded because they
cannot be differentiated from other firms’
products; eg: cotton, nails.
Brand Equity: how many customers in the last two

stages.; i.e. how many people will go to buy the

product in another retail if not available in one.


A w a re n e ss A cce p ta b ility Pre fe re n ce Lo ya lty

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Brand naming

 Strategies that can be followed:

1.Individual names-company’s name is
not ties with the product so if the
product fails the company’s image is
not hurt. Eg: Timex of Titan.
2.Blanket family names-no need to spend
heavily on advertising. Eg: Tata Indica
of Tata.
3.Separate family names-different names
for different product lines & not one
blanket name. Eg: HUL products.
4.Company name with individual product
name. Eg: Kellogg's corn flakes.
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Brand naming & strategies
Characteristics of a good name –


1. Suggest the product benefits- Duraguard cement of

Lafarge.
2. Suggest product qualities such as action-Fevi kwick.
3. Easy to pronounce-short names like Tide.
4. Distinctive-Kodak.
 Branding strategies :
1. Line extension – introducing additional items in the
same product category under the same brand
name with new flavour, form, package etc.eg:
lifebuoy total, surf excel blue.
2. Brand extension – using the existing brand name to
launch new products in other categories. Eg:
Yamaha musical instruments, Yamaha
automobiles. 6
Strategies
 3. Multibrands – introducing additional brands in
the same product category but not by the
same brand name to appeal to different
buying motives. Eg: Brooke Bond & Lipton both
are brands of HUL.
 4. New Brands – when a company launches new
products in a new category it may find that
none of its current brand names are suitable.
Then it comes up with a new brand name. Eg:
when HUL launched its water purifier it used
the name Pureit & not any of its previous
names.
 5. Cobrands – when two or more well known
brands are combined into an offer. Each brand
expects the other will strengthen the purchase
& help in reaching a new audience. Eg: Air
Deccan & Café Coffee Day have gone into
cobranding. Cafe Coffee Day has become the
single point vendor to supply a range of food
and beverages to the passengers on Air
Deccan flights. 7