Summary strategic Brand Management
Chapter 1: Brands and brand management
What is a brand?
Brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to
identfy them.
A brand: a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combinaton of them,
intended to identfy the goods and services of one seller or group sellers and to
diferentate them from those of competton.
Brand elements: the diferent components of a brand that identfy and
diferentate forms.
Product: anything we can ofer to a market for atenton, acquisiton, use, or
consumpton that might satsfy a need or want.
This includes a broad scope of defnitons. A product may be a physical good
like cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile; a service such as an airline bank, or
insurance company; a retail outlet like a department store, specialty store or
supermarket; a person such as a politcal fgure, entertainer, or professional
athlete; an organizaton like non-proft or arts group; a place including a city,
state or country or even an idea like a politcal or social cause.
A product has 5 levels of meaning
1. The core beneft level: the fundamental need or want that consumers
satsfy by consuming the product or service
2. The generic product level: a basic version of the product containing only
those atributes or characteristcs absolutely necessary for its functoning
but with no distnguishing features. This is basically a stripped-down, no
frills version of the product that adequately performs the product
functon.
3. The expected product level: a set of atributes or characteristcs that
buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product.
4. The augmented product level: includes additonal product atributes,
benefts, or related services that distnguish the product from
compettors.
5. The potental product level: all the augmentatons and transformatons
that a product might ultmately undergo in the future.
, Most competton takes place at the product augmentaton level, because
most frms can successfully build satsfactory products at the expected
product level.
Competton is not focussed on what companies produce in their factories
but between what they add to their factory output in the form of packaging,
services, advertsing, customer advice, fnancing, delivery arrangements.
Warehousing, and other things that people value. Advantage can also be
created with product performances.
Strong brands carry a number of diferent types of associatons and
marketers must account for all of them in making marketng decisions.
There are many types of associatons and a lot of diferent means to create
them.
By creatng perceived diferences among products through branding and by
developing a loyal consumer franchise, marketers create value that can
translate to fnancial profts for the frm.
Why do brands mater?
- To consumers
Brands provide important functons.
1. Identfy source or maker of product
2. Assign responsibility to a partcular distributor
3. Shows which brands satsfy their need and which do not
4. Lower search costs for products both internal and external
There are 3 categories qua products and their associated atributes or benefts:
1. Search goods: like grocery produce, consumers can evaluate product
atributes like sturdiness, size, colour, and style
2. Experience goods like automobile tres, consumers cannot assess
product atributes like durability, service quality, safety and ease of
handling
3. Credence goods: like insurance coverage, consumers may rarely learn
product atributes.
Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions, consumers can perceive 6
types of risks:
1. Functonal risk: the product does not perform up to expectatons
,2. Physical risk: the product poses a threat to the physical well-being or
health of the user or others.
3. Financial risk: the product is not worth the price paid
4. Social risk: the product afects the mental well-being of the user
5. Time risk: The failure of the products results in an opportunity cost of
fnding another satsfactory product.
6. Psychological risk: the product afects the mental well-being of the user
Brands take on unique, personal meanings to consumers that facilitate their
day-to-day actvites and enrich their lives.
- To Firms
Brands serve an identfcaton purpose, to simplify product handling or
tracing. The also help to organize inventory and accountng records, ofer
legal protecton intellectual property) for unique features or aspects of the
product.
- The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks
- The manufacturing processes can be protected through patents
- The packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs
Can anything be branded?
A brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. It is a
perceptual entty rooted in reality and refects the perceptons and
idiosyncrasies of consumers.
To brand a product you need to:
- Label the product: who and how can you identfy it
- Provide meaning: what it can do for you, why it’s special and diferent
The key to branding is that consumers perceive diferences among brands
in a product category. Marketers can beneft from branding whenever
consumers are in a choice situaton.
Physical goods
Physical goods are what are traditonally associated with brands and include
many of the best known and highly regarded consumer products like
Nescafe and Sony.
, - Business-to-business products
Business-to-business branding creates a positve image and reputaton for
the company as a whole.
- Retailers and distributors
Brands can generate consumer interest, patronage and loyalty in a store as
consumers learn to expect certain brands and products.
A lot of retailers/distributors have store brands or private labels.
- Online product and Services
It is critcal to create unique aspects of the brand on some dimension that is
important to consumers, such as convenience, price, or variety. And
perform satsfactorily in other areas, like customer service, credibility and
personality.
By ofering unique features and services to consumers, the best online
brands are able to avoid extensive advertsing or lavish marketng
campaigns, relying more on word-of-mouth and publicity.
- People and organizatons
Branding evolves around public approval and acceptance and all beneft
from conveying a strong and desirable image.
One key for a successful branding career in almost any area is that co-
workers, superiors or even important people outside your company or
organizaton know who you are and recognize your skills, talents, attude
etc. By building up a reputaton in a business context you are essentally
creatng your own brand.
- Sports, arts and entertainment
They build awareness, image and loyalty, these sports franchises are able to
meet tcket sales targets regardless of what their team’s actual
performance might turn out to be.
Brand symbols and logos in partcular have become an important fnancial
contributor to professional sports through licensing agreements.
Branding in this sector is also a good example of experience goods.
What are the strongest brands?
The world’s strongest brands have been segment leaders for several decades,
because the evolved with tme.
Chapter 1: Brands and brand management
What is a brand?
Brands are the means by which owners of livestock mark their animals to
identfy them.
A brand: a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combinaton of them,
intended to identfy the goods and services of one seller or group sellers and to
diferentate them from those of competton.
Brand elements: the diferent components of a brand that identfy and
diferentate forms.
Product: anything we can ofer to a market for atenton, acquisiton, use, or
consumpton that might satsfy a need or want.
This includes a broad scope of defnitons. A product may be a physical good
like cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile; a service such as an airline bank, or
insurance company; a retail outlet like a department store, specialty store or
supermarket; a person such as a politcal fgure, entertainer, or professional
athlete; an organizaton like non-proft or arts group; a place including a city,
state or country or even an idea like a politcal or social cause.
A product has 5 levels of meaning
1. The core beneft level: the fundamental need or want that consumers
satsfy by consuming the product or service
2. The generic product level: a basic version of the product containing only
those atributes or characteristcs absolutely necessary for its functoning
but with no distnguishing features. This is basically a stripped-down, no
frills version of the product that adequately performs the product
functon.
3. The expected product level: a set of atributes or characteristcs that
buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product.
4. The augmented product level: includes additonal product atributes,
benefts, or related services that distnguish the product from
compettors.
5. The potental product level: all the augmentatons and transformatons
that a product might ultmately undergo in the future.
, Most competton takes place at the product augmentaton level, because
most frms can successfully build satsfactory products at the expected
product level.
Competton is not focussed on what companies produce in their factories
but between what they add to their factory output in the form of packaging,
services, advertsing, customer advice, fnancing, delivery arrangements.
Warehousing, and other things that people value. Advantage can also be
created with product performances.
Strong brands carry a number of diferent types of associatons and
marketers must account for all of them in making marketng decisions.
There are many types of associatons and a lot of diferent means to create
them.
By creatng perceived diferences among products through branding and by
developing a loyal consumer franchise, marketers create value that can
translate to fnancial profts for the frm.
Why do brands mater?
- To consumers
Brands provide important functons.
1. Identfy source or maker of product
2. Assign responsibility to a partcular distributor
3. Shows which brands satsfy their need and which do not
4. Lower search costs for products both internal and external
There are 3 categories qua products and their associated atributes or benefts:
1. Search goods: like grocery produce, consumers can evaluate product
atributes like sturdiness, size, colour, and style
2. Experience goods like automobile tres, consumers cannot assess
product atributes like durability, service quality, safety and ease of
handling
3. Credence goods: like insurance coverage, consumers may rarely learn
product atributes.
Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions, consumers can perceive 6
types of risks:
1. Functonal risk: the product does not perform up to expectatons
,2. Physical risk: the product poses a threat to the physical well-being or
health of the user or others.
3. Financial risk: the product is not worth the price paid
4. Social risk: the product afects the mental well-being of the user
5. Time risk: The failure of the products results in an opportunity cost of
fnding another satsfactory product.
6. Psychological risk: the product afects the mental well-being of the user
Brands take on unique, personal meanings to consumers that facilitate their
day-to-day actvites and enrich their lives.
- To Firms
Brands serve an identfcaton purpose, to simplify product handling or
tracing. The also help to organize inventory and accountng records, ofer
legal protecton intellectual property) for unique features or aspects of the
product.
- The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks
- The manufacturing processes can be protected through patents
- The packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs
Can anything be branded?
A brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers. It is a
perceptual entty rooted in reality and refects the perceptons and
idiosyncrasies of consumers.
To brand a product you need to:
- Label the product: who and how can you identfy it
- Provide meaning: what it can do for you, why it’s special and diferent
The key to branding is that consumers perceive diferences among brands
in a product category. Marketers can beneft from branding whenever
consumers are in a choice situaton.
Physical goods
Physical goods are what are traditonally associated with brands and include
many of the best known and highly regarded consumer products like
Nescafe and Sony.
, - Business-to-business products
Business-to-business branding creates a positve image and reputaton for
the company as a whole.
- Retailers and distributors
Brands can generate consumer interest, patronage and loyalty in a store as
consumers learn to expect certain brands and products.
A lot of retailers/distributors have store brands or private labels.
- Online product and Services
It is critcal to create unique aspects of the brand on some dimension that is
important to consumers, such as convenience, price, or variety. And
perform satsfactorily in other areas, like customer service, credibility and
personality.
By ofering unique features and services to consumers, the best online
brands are able to avoid extensive advertsing or lavish marketng
campaigns, relying more on word-of-mouth and publicity.
- People and organizatons
Branding evolves around public approval and acceptance and all beneft
from conveying a strong and desirable image.
One key for a successful branding career in almost any area is that co-
workers, superiors or even important people outside your company or
organizaton know who you are and recognize your skills, talents, attude
etc. By building up a reputaton in a business context you are essentally
creatng your own brand.
- Sports, arts and entertainment
They build awareness, image and loyalty, these sports franchises are able to
meet tcket sales targets regardless of what their team’s actual
performance might turn out to be.
Brand symbols and logos in partcular have become an important fnancial
contributor to professional sports through licensing agreements.
Branding in this sector is also a good example of experience goods.
What are the strongest brands?
The world’s strongest brands have been segment leaders for several decades,
because the evolved with tme.
