Many consumers products their basic feature, need attractive packing and a ‘brand name’.
Brand
Decision
Many consumers products their
basic feature, need attractive packing and a ‘brand name’. A brand is a symbol
or a mark that helps customers in instant recall, differentiating it thereby
roam the competing products of a similar nature. What is the brand? too often even
marketing professional don’t have an answer and to many have their ‘own’
answer. Which makes life very confusing! We’ve trawled though our resources to
find some of the best definitions: the dictionary of business and management
defines a brand Asia name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of
the seller(s) and to differentiate the from goods of competitors Signs and symbols are parts of
what a brand is, but to us this is a very incomplete definition. Walter Land or
one of the greats of the advertising industry, said: “ simply put, a brand is a
promise. By identifying and authenticating a products or service it delivers a
pledge f satisfaction and quality. In his book, ‘ building strong brand’ David
Aaker suggests the brand is a ‘mental box’ and gives s definition of brand
equity as : ‘a set of assets (or liabilities) linked to a brand’s name and
symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a product or
service. According to the American marketing association, “A brand name is a
part consisting of a word, letter, groups of words or letters to identify the
goods or services of a seller or a group of seller and to differentiate them
from those of the competitors.” David Ogilvy defined a brand are
not necessarily positive! Building from this idea of a ‘mental box’ a more
poetic definition might be : these are all great definitions, but we believe
the best is this : “a brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the
consumer. A brand is the most valuable real-state in the world, a corner of the
consumer’s mind” . Why is the best? Well, first of all it is easy to remember,
which is always useful! But it is also best because it works to remind us of
some key point:
1.This definition make it absolutely clear that a
brand is very different from a product’ or service. A brand is intangible and
exists in the mind of the consumer. This identification helps us
understand the idea of brand loyalty and the ‘loyalty ladder’. Different people
have different perceptions of a product or service, which places then at
different point of loyalty ladder. A brand mark is a symbol or a design used
for the purpose of identification. For example: Air India’s MAHARAJA. The legal
version of a brand mark is the ‘trade mark’ e.g., Ashok Masala and Good Health
Atta. A brand is given legal protection
from being used by others because it is capable of exclusive approbation. A
brand distinguishes a product or service from similar offerings on the basis of
names are: LUX, LIRIL, REXONA, EVITA, PROTEX, HAMAM AND LE SANSI in case of
toilet soaps; SUR, ARIEL, and NIRMA in case of detergents and NIVEA, FEM, OIL
OF OLEY, CHARMIS AND VASELINE in case of vanishing creams. Building
Brands in the new economy –Heidi and Don Schultz urge companies to: 1. Clarify the corporation’s basic values and build
the corporate brand. 2. Use brand managers to carry out the tactical work. 3. Develop a more comprehensive brand-building plan. 4. Define the brand’s basic essence to be delivered
wherever it is sold. 5. Use the brand-value proposition
as the key driver of the company’s strategy, operations, services, and product
development. 6. Measure their brand-building
effectiveness, not by the old measures of awareness, recognition, and recall,
but by a more comprehensive set of measures including customer-perceived value,
customer satisfaction, customer share of wallet, customer retention, and
customer advocacy
Brand preference
Aaker’s
five levels of customer attitude: 1. The customer will change brands, especially for price reasons. No brand
2. loyalty.
3. Customer
is satisfied. No reason to change brands.
4. Customer is satisfied and would incur cost by changing brand.
5. Customer
values the brand and sees it as a friend.
6. Customer
is devoted to the brand.
Branding Decision: To Brand or Not to Brand?
An
Overview of Branding Decisions

Brands provide a strong
competitive advantage to the companies owning them and hence they are
increasingly becoming important tradable assets. In 1993, Coca-Cola paid about Rs.175 crore to buy Thums-up, Limca, Citra
and Gold Spot brands. In 1994 Godrej soaps paid Rs.12 crore to acquire the
Rs.67 crore translectra. In 1995, Smithkline Beecham paid Rs.42 crore to acquire the Crocin brand
from Duphar Interfan. In 1997, Knoll Pharma sold Coldarin and Burnol for Rs.34
crore Ranbaxy paid Rs.80 crore to Gufic Labs for Mox, Zole Excel and Suprimox.
In 1997, Hindustan Lever paid Rs.110 crore for Lakme’s basket of brands and
only Rs.29 crore for Lakme’s two plants.In 1999, Marico industries bought parachute and Suffola brands from
Bombay oil industries for Rs.30 crore. The Gramophone company of India acquired
Sangeetha, a leading audio producer of classical and devotional songs in the
South. Acquiring a brand is a better, superior option over purchasing the
entire operations of the company owing them for 3 months. The buyer buys only the brand name. The brand name could be used to sell
anything, which comes under the established brand personality. For example, the
Burnol brand name could be used to sell an antiseptic like Dettol. Buying a
brand provides a ready-made market. Apparently, Ranbaxy bought Mox because its
own brand in the name family, Amoxycillin was not doing too well. Buying a
brand saves a lot of brand building time and cost. Drug companies are known to
recoup the cost of acquiring a brand in less than four years.
Tags : MARKETING MANAGEMENT - Brand Decision
Last 30 days 947 views