Chapter 1
Brands & Brand Management
Chapter Objectives
1. Define “brand,” state how brand differs from a product, and explain
what brand equity is.
2. Summarize why brands are important.
3. Explain how branding applies to virtually everything.
4. Describe the main branding challenges and opportunities.
5. Identify the steps in the strategic brand management process.
Overview
This chapter sets up the rationale for the book. Because brands are so
valuable to the firms that manufacture them and the consumers who
purchase them, and because the marketplace has become increasingly
complex and competitive, brand management is more important and
challenging now than it ever has been. Brand managers face a
seemingly unlimited number of options and opportunities with respect
to product, price, place, and promotion strategies. But they also face
increased risk as they strive to deal with sea changes in the marketing
environment, including the rise of private labels, media
fragmentation, pressure for short-term results, shifting consumer
preferences, and technological advancements that level the product
feature playing field, to name just a few.
,Despite these pressures, many brands continue to grow and flourish,
as evidenced by the global successes of such mega-names as Nike,
Disney, Mercedes, and others. Moreover, even categories that
heretofore had been thought of as consisting of mundane commodity
products now contain brands, including Campbell’s mushrooms, Blue
Rhino propane gas, and Perdue chickens.
Chapter 1 also indicates that by focusing specifically on brands, this book
enables students to gain valuable knowledge, broader perspectives, and
more strategic insights than in a more general marketing text. The chapter
introduces the concept of a brand as an identifiable and differentiated good
or service. Brands offer tangible and intangible benefits to the companies
who manufacture them, the retailers who sell them, and the consumers who
buy them. Examples of strong brands given in the text include not only
products and services, but also people, places, and sports, art, and
entertainment industries. The chapter describes some of the past and
present challenges faced by brands (such as those noted above), and states
that the purpose of the book is to set forth principles, models and
frameworks that will help guide managers through these challenges as they
plan and execute brand strategies.
The chapter details the three main factors that contribute to brand equity:
the initial choices for the brand elements or identities making up the brand;
the way the brand is integrated into the supporting marketing program; and
the associations indirectly transferred to the brand by linking the brand to
some other entity (e.g., the company, country of origin, channel of
distribution, or another brand). Several strategic imperatives for effective
brand equity management are introduced in the chapter.
In this chapter, the strategic brand management process is described.
The strategic brand management process involves four main steps:
identifying and establishing brand positioning and values, planning
and implementing brand marketing programs, measuring and
interpreting brand performance, and growing and sustaining brand
equity.
,Brand Focus 1.0 discusses the history of branding. It traces the
development of brands from marks of identification on stone age
pottery to national manufacturer brands in the Industrial Revolution
to mass marketed brands.
Science of Branding
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 1-1
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS BRANDING
Due to the complexity and high risk involved in business-to-business
purchase decisions, branding plays an important role in B2B markets.
Six specific guidelines are defined for marketers of B2B brands:
Ensure the entire organization understands and supports
branding and brand management—Employees at all levels and
in all departments must have a complete, up-to-date
understanding of the vision for the brand and their role in
supporting it. A particularly crucial area is the sales force,
where personal selling is often the profit driver of a business-to-
business organization.
Adopt a corporate branding strategy if possible and create a
well-defined brand hierarchy—Because of the breadth and
complexity of the product or service mix, companies selling
business-to-business are more likely to emphasize corporate
brands. Ideally, they will also create straightforward sub-brands
that combine the corporate brand name with descriptive
product modifiers.
Frame value perceptions—Framing occurs when customers are
given a perspective or point of view that allows the brand to
“put its best foot forward.” Framing can be as simple as making
sure customers realize all the benefits or cost savings offered by
the brand, or becoming more active in shaping how customers
view the economics of purchasing, owning, using and disposing
, of the brand in a different way. Framing requires understanding
how customers currently think of brands and choose among
products and services, and then determining how they should
ideally think and choose.
Link relevant non-product-related brand associations—Brand
imagery might relate to the size or type of firm is considered
relevant. Imagery may also be a function of the other
organizations to which the firm sells.
Find relevant emotional associations for the brand—Emotional
associations related to a sense of security, social or peer
approval, and self-respect can also be linked to the brand and
serve as key sources of brand equity.
Segment customers carefully both within and across companies
—In a business-to-business setting, different customer segments
may exist both within and across organizations. Within
organizations, different people may assume the various roles in
the purchase decision process: Initiator, user, influencer,
decider, approver, buyer and gatekeeper. Across organizations,
businesses can vary according to industry and company size,
technologies used and other capabilities, purchasing policies,
and even risk and loyalty profiles. Brand building must take
these different segmentation perspectives in mind in building
tailored marketing programs.
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 1-2
UNDERSTANDING HIGH-TECH BRANDING
Marketers operating in technologically intensive markets face a
number of unique challenges. Ten guidelines that managers for high-
tech companies can use to improve their company’s brand strategy:
It is important to have a brand strategy that provides a roadmap
for the future—Technology companies too often rely on the
faulty assumption that the best product based on the best
technology will sell itself.
Brands & Brand Management
Chapter Objectives
1. Define “brand,” state how brand differs from a product, and explain
what brand equity is.
2. Summarize why brands are important.
3. Explain how branding applies to virtually everything.
4. Describe the main branding challenges and opportunities.
5. Identify the steps in the strategic brand management process.
Overview
This chapter sets up the rationale for the book. Because brands are so
valuable to the firms that manufacture them and the consumers who
purchase them, and because the marketplace has become increasingly
complex and competitive, brand management is more important and
challenging now than it ever has been. Brand managers face a
seemingly unlimited number of options and opportunities with respect
to product, price, place, and promotion strategies. But they also face
increased risk as they strive to deal with sea changes in the marketing
environment, including the rise of private labels, media
fragmentation, pressure for short-term results, shifting consumer
preferences, and technological advancements that level the product
feature playing field, to name just a few.
,Despite these pressures, many brands continue to grow and flourish,
as evidenced by the global successes of such mega-names as Nike,
Disney, Mercedes, and others. Moreover, even categories that
heretofore had been thought of as consisting of mundane commodity
products now contain brands, including Campbell’s mushrooms, Blue
Rhino propane gas, and Perdue chickens.
Chapter 1 also indicates that by focusing specifically on brands, this book
enables students to gain valuable knowledge, broader perspectives, and
more strategic insights than in a more general marketing text. The chapter
introduces the concept of a brand as an identifiable and differentiated good
or service. Brands offer tangible and intangible benefits to the companies
who manufacture them, the retailers who sell them, and the consumers who
buy them. Examples of strong brands given in the text include not only
products and services, but also people, places, and sports, art, and
entertainment industries. The chapter describes some of the past and
present challenges faced by brands (such as those noted above), and states
that the purpose of the book is to set forth principles, models and
frameworks that will help guide managers through these challenges as they
plan and execute brand strategies.
The chapter details the three main factors that contribute to brand equity:
the initial choices for the brand elements or identities making up the brand;
the way the brand is integrated into the supporting marketing program; and
the associations indirectly transferred to the brand by linking the brand to
some other entity (e.g., the company, country of origin, channel of
distribution, or another brand). Several strategic imperatives for effective
brand equity management are introduced in the chapter.
In this chapter, the strategic brand management process is described.
The strategic brand management process involves four main steps:
identifying and establishing brand positioning and values, planning
and implementing brand marketing programs, measuring and
interpreting brand performance, and growing and sustaining brand
equity.
,Brand Focus 1.0 discusses the history of branding. It traces the
development of brands from marks of identification on stone age
pottery to national manufacturer brands in the Industrial Revolution
to mass marketed brands.
Science of Branding
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 1-1
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS BRANDING
Due to the complexity and high risk involved in business-to-business
purchase decisions, branding plays an important role in B2B markets.
Six specific guidelines are defined for marketers of B2B brands:
Ensure the entire organization understands and supports
branding and brand management—Employees at all levels and
in all departments must have a complete, up-to-date
understanding of the vision for the brand and their role in
supporting it. A particularly crucial area is the sales force,
where personal selling is often the profit driver of a business-to-
business organization.
Adopt a corporate branding strategy if possible and create a
well-defined brand hierarchy—Because of the breadth and
complexity of the product or service mix, companies selling
business-to-business are more likely to emphasize corporate
brands. Ideally, they will also create straightforward sub-brands
that combine the corporate brand name with descriptive
product modifiers.
Frame value perceptions—Framing occurs when customers are
given a perspective or point of view that allows the brand to
“put its best foot forward.” Framing can be as simple as making
sure customers realize all the benefits or cost savings offered by
the brand, or becoming more active in shaping how customers
view the economics of purchasing, owning, using and disposing
, of the brand in a different way. Framing requires understanding
how customers currently think of brands and choose among
products and services, and then determining how they should
ideally think and choose.
Link relevant non-product-related brand associations—Brand
imagery might relate to the size or type of firm is considered
relevant. Imagery may also be a function of the other
organizations to which the firm sells.
Find relevant emotional associations for the brand—Emotional
associations related to a sense of security, social or peer
approval, and self-respect can also be linked to the brand and
serve as key sources of brand equity.
Segment customers carefully both within and across companies
—In a business-to-business setting, different customer segments
may exist both within and across organizations. Within
organizations, different people may assume the various roles in
the purchase decision process: Initiator, user, influencer,
decider, approver, buyer and gatekeeper. Across organizations,
businesses can vary according to industry and company size,
technologies used and other capabilities, purchasing policies,
and even risk and loyalty profiles. Brand building must take
these different segmentation perspectives in mind in building
tailored marketing programs.
THE SCIENCE OF BRANDING 1-2
UNDERSTANDING HIGH-TECH BRANDING
Marketers operating in technologically intensive markets face a
number of unique challenges. Ten guidelines that managers for high-
tech companies can use to improve their company’s brand strategy:
It is important to have a brand strategy that provides a roadmap
for the future—Technology companies too often rely on the
faulty assumption that the best product based on the best
technology will sell itself.
