Brand

Building
Brand Building: Unit 1
Brand

A name, a term, a symbol or a design or a combination of these, that is intended to identify the
products or services of one business or group of businesses and to differentiate them from those
of competitors Examples:Volvo - Safety

Nike – Swoosh (Symbol) and tagline- Just do it

In other words brand is:

● The sum of the expectations that a customer or stakeholder has when purchasing a
product or dealing with an organization
● A product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other
products designed to satisfy the same need
● A brand is an expectation or a promise waiting to be fulfilled. Brands are shorthand for
trust
● The brand is a piece of real estate you occupy in a person’s mind, and the related
impressions it leaves behind
● Brand is a specific term and includes a name, symbol, sign, or design given to a product
for easy identification. It provides a distinct identity to a product.

Eg. of the Brand building -

● WATER + SUGAR+ FIZZ = Cost less than Rs 1. Let us write PEPSI on the Can, we pay
Rs 20.
● Take a piece of fabric and make pants with the oldest design + production. It cost Rs 100.
Put the name LEVIS on the pants. Cost Rs 3500. NO PROBLEM.
● Take a human being and break them down to the smallest components – atoms. Take that
stuff to the commodity market and try to sell it – you might get it. (Rs 100). INSTEAD,
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REASSEMBLE THE PERSON – CALL HIM TIGER WOODS AND ASK FOR
AN ANNUAL SALARY OF MORE THAN $80 000 000. ● Two of the Eighth wonders of
the WORLD

Monuments such as the Taj Mahal or Eiffel tower need no branding as they are one of a kind.
● What Do These Things Have In Common?

BRAND
❖ Branding Evolution

● Brands have been around for many years

● Italians were the first to use brands, in the form of watermarks on paper in the 1200s.
● In olden times the Greeks, the Romans, and people before them employed various ways
to promote their wares such as wines, pots or metals, etc.
● They had special messages inscribed on them informing details such as time, place,
address, etc.
● The Greeks also used their own criers to announce the arrival of Ships with particular
cargo.
● Tracing the etymology of the word ‘BRAND ‘ to its origin in the old Norse word
‘brandr’.
● It means to burn.
● In earlier times, farmers used to mark or draw a symbol on their animals to identify their
livestock from others – a process called Branding.
● Branding in the modern context has always been an important aspect of marketing.
● In the sixteenth-century whiskey distillers branded their names on KEGS or CASKS for
identification which also prevented cavern owners from substituting cheaper versions.
● In the mid-twentieth century, branding started getting its boost.
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● Production was craft-based, time-consuming, and localized, so automatically production
was slow.
● Industrialization dawned and slowly production was mass and homogenous.
● The same technology and same products.
● Consumer goods industries especially non–durables such as Detergents, soaps, coffees,
teas, chocolates, etc. were the first ones to be influenced by this phenomenon.
● This phenomenon made BRANDING compulsory for manufacturers. ● Uniformity is the
MOTHER OF BRANDING
❖ Some of the brands that are identified with their creator's names:

Rolls- Royce Waterman Fountain Pen (Henry

Royce and Charles Rolls)

Remington Typewriters Levis

(after Levis Strauss, the founder)

❖ Slowly names of produces began to get replaced by names of places, famous personalities,
and even animals.

Burma Teak Tommy Hilfiger Cobra etc.

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● The brands that dominated the American National advertising in 1890 were categorized
by a variety of Brand names used by marketers are
● PERSONAL NAMES OF INVESTOR

Bakers' COCOA
Edison
Phonograph

● SCIENTIFIC NAME BASED ON LATIN OR GREEK

Calligraphic typewriter Cuticura Soap

● PLACES

Columbia Bicycles Pittsburg Stogies

● ENGLISH SOUNDING OR STATUS

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Diamond Dyes
Gold Dust

● ARTIFICIAL NAMES

Kodak
Uneeda Biscuits

● It was done to strengthen the association between the product and the brand
so that it was easy to remember and distinguish the product from its same
category

So Brand is…
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● The sum of the expectations that a customer or stakeholder has when purchasing a
product or dealing with an organization.
● A product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other
products designed to satisfy the same need.
● A brand is an expectation or a promise waiting to be fulfilled. Brands are shorthand for
trust.

● A brand is a specific term and includes a name, symbol, sign, or design given to a product
for easy identification. It provides a distinct identity to a product.

● Definition of Brand - A name, a term, a symbol, or a design or a combination of these,

that is intended to identify the products or services of one business or group of businesses
and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

● A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to

identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them
from the competitors.
● Some brands that ruled once in India

Murphy Radio HMV Radio

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Premier Padmini Lambretta

● Often confusion exists around the concept of brand & products ● Are they the same or
different?
● The main essence of this debate is to increase marketing effectiveness.
● It could lead to faulty decision
● A product is anything that can be offered to the market to satisfy a want or need.
● The concept of the product is broad it could be anything like salt & pepper, toothpaste,
insurance, person, etc.
● According to Philip Kotler, well-regarded marketing academic, a product is anything that
can be offered to a market for Attention, Acquisition, Use, or Consumption that might
satisfy a need or want. Thus, a product may be

● physical good ( a cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile),

● service (an airline, bank, insurance company),
● retail store (a department store, specialty store, or supermarket),
● person (a political figure, entertainer, or professional athlete),
● organization (NGO, trade organization, or arts group),
● place (a city, state, or country), ● idea (a political or social cause).

Products on 3 levels -

● Kotler defines 3 levels to a product

● The core product level is the fundamental need or wants that consumers satisfy by
consuming the product or service. Generic product :
● It is very basic or rudimentary.
● It is the entry ticket to the marketing field
● e.g.: A pen that is just a writing instrument and nothing more
● The buyer may be expecting more i.e. he expects more than generic value.
THIS LEADS TO SECOND LEVEL

The Expected product :

● The product must satisfy the consumer's ‘minimal’ expectation. ● There are a set of
attributes that are expected.
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● The pen should be the right price, give smooth writing, and be leakproof ● At this level
the consumer angle the picture.
● This doesn’t lead to the scope of ending the expected product by the buyer. ● The product
can be improved by providing the consumer with more than expected ● Customers get
used as to what to expect because of industry practices.

Highest level of products :

● By offering more features, benefits, or services a marketer can augment the product e.g.,
by giving a lifelong guarantee on the pen’s mechanism by the pen manufacturer ● This is
the highest level of a product called the potential product level. ● It refers to the augment
that product might undergo in the future.
● Creating a brand is the ultimate aim of any marketing endeavor A brand is a complex

symbol that can convey up to six levels of meaning

Attributes:

● A brand brings to mind certain attributes. Mercedes suggests expensive, well-built,

wellengineered, durable, high-prestige automobiles. ● Can IKEA be an example of it?

Benefits :

● Attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits.

● The attribute “durable” could translate into the functional benefit of “won’t have to buy
another car for several years”.
● The attribute “expensive” translates into the emotional benefit
● “The car makes me feel important and admired.” ● Give an example that has all three
benefits. Values :

● The brand also says something about the producer’s values.

● Mercedes stands for high performance, safety, and prestige

Culture:

● The brand may represent a certain culture.

● The Mercedes represents German culture: organized, efficient, and high quality.

Personality:

● The brand can project a certain personality. Mercedes may suggest a no-nonsense boss
(person), a reigning lion (animal)-Royal, or an austere palace (object)- modest.
● A. Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful)
B. Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)
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C. Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)
D. Sophistication (Upper Class, Charming)
E. Ruggedness (Outdoorsy, tough)

User:
● The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product
● We would expect to see a 40-45-year-old top executive behind the wheel of a Mercedes,
not a 20-year-old secretary.

Extending our previous example:

Brand Product

Physical goods ● Physical good ( a cereal, tennis

● A branded product may be a racquet, or automobile)
physical good e.g., Kellogg’s
Corn Flakes cereal, Prince
tennis racquets, or Ford
Taurus automobile

Service ● An airline, bank, insurance

● King Fisher Airlines, Bank of company
Baroda, or National
Insurance

Retail Store
● Akbarallys department store, ● Department store, specialty

Body Shop specialty store, BIG Bazar store, or supermarket

Person ● ●
Narendra Modi, Amitabh A political figure, entertainer, or
Bachchan, or Michael professional athlete
Jordan, Sachin Tendulkar

Organization
● CRY, Khadi, Rolling stone ● A non-profit organization, trade
organization or arts group

Place
● Mumbai, Gujarat tourism, ● A city, state, or country
Australia

Idea
● Lokpal bill, Go Green ● A political or social cause
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❖ Difference between Brand & Product

It is important to contrast a brand and a product. According to Philip Kotler, well-regarded

marketing academic, a product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention,
acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Thus, a product may be a
physical good (e.g., a cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile), service (e.g., an airline, bank,
insurance company), retail store (e.g., a department store, specialty store, or supermarket), the
person (e.g., a political figure, entertainer, or professional athlete), organization (e.g., a nonprofit
organization, trade organization or arts group), place (e.g., a city, state, or country), or idea (e.g.,
a political or social cause).

Brand Product

● Term used to describe all goods, services,

and knowledge sold.
● A term, sign, symbol, or design or a
combination of them intended to
identify the products or services of
one’s business or group of businesses
and differentiate them from those of
competitors.

● Brands are bundles of functional ● Products are bundles of attributes

benefits, emotional benefits, and self- (features, functions, benefits, and uses)
expressive benefits. It is the sum of the and can be either tangible, as in the
expectations that a customer or case of physical goods, or intangible, as
stakeholder has when purchasing a in the case of those associated with
product or dealing with an service benefits, or can be a
organization. combination of the two

● Brand = “Mind Set” ● Product = Commodity

● ●
In essence, the brand is a piece of real A product is a produced item always
estate you occupy in a person’s mind, - possessing these characteristics:
and the related impressions it leaves - Tangibility
behind Attributes and Features

● ● A product can be outdated quickly

A brand if properly managed can be
timeless

●
A product which is distinct from others in ●
its category Something available to the consumer
undistinguished from others in the category
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● ●
The psychological response to a brand can The physiological response to a product is
be as important as the physiological important
response
❖ Summing Up -

● A brand is often taken to be the same as a product but it is not.

● A product is essential for a brand to exists but a brand is much more than a product.
● The essence of branding is to lift the product to a higher plane.
● It makes a product relevant and meaningful for the target customers .

❖ Importance of branding

One of the truths of modern business is that there is almost nothing that your competitors can't
duplicate in a matter of weeks or months.

If you have a great idea, you can be certain that somebody will copy it before long. And not only
will they follow your lead, but they may also be able to do a better job or sell the product or
service at a lower price. The question then becomes, "What competitive edge do I have to offer
that cannot be copied by anyone else?"

The answer? Your brand.

Creating a strong brand identity will build mind share — one of the strongest competitive
advantages imaginable.
As a result, customers will think of your business first when they think of your product category.
For example, when your child wants a hamburger, he will often say he wants to go to
McDonald’s. The reason behind these strong brand-product associations is that these companies
have built rock solid brand identities.

"A brand is the one thing that you can own that nobody can take away from you" Everything
else, they can steal. They can steal your trade secrets eventually; your patents will expire. Your
physical plant will wear out. Technology will change. But your brand can go on and live. It
creates a lasting value above and beyond all the other elements of your business." E.g., Xerox
still exists. They make printers, projectors, and scanners.

"The value of that brand is huge compared to those actual physical assets. “The importance and
value of branding becomes apparent when an entrepreneur wants to sell his or her company or
take it to Wall Street for a public offering or other infusion of capital.

It is often the brand that a business owner must sell in such cases

❖ Process of branding
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Branding goes beyond the execution of advertising and logos, touching practically every area of
the organization- from internal employee communications and operational facilities to
dealerships, the web as well as the product and services that are being sold.

Branding is about how your business motivates a consumer to make a purchase

There are many instances where brand names become so recognized that they become a generic
name for that type of product e.g. Colgate for toothpaste, Dettol for antiseptic or Cadbury for
Chocolates and many more

Power brands are successful because they create consumer enthusiasm. Use it to drive ongoing
purchase. The key to brand enthusiasm is far more than the product function.

It’s to build a connection with customers. Brands need vivid insight into what consumers’ care
about, beyond demographic facts and psychographic profiles — their concerns, values, and
emotional rewards

Consumers are human beings. They know brands, express about brands, think about brands, feel
about brands, com pare brands, choose brands, recommend brands, reject brands, buy brands,
and do not buy brands through a combination of

● Brand name ● Brand looks

● Brand associations
● Brand personality
● Brand attitude

All these are not just a matter of semantic, these are spe cific manageable concepts, born and
brought up in the minds and hearts of the consumers, linked to each other in many ways. These,
if
'added' to a product, lead to the creation of a brand. These form part of the suggested process of
Branding, and together lead to Brand Relationship, the output of the process of Branding
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BRAND

● BRAND RELATIONSHIP= BRAND IMAGE +

BRAND ATTITUDE
(self-expression of the brand)
● BRAND IMAGE = BRAND ASSOCIATION + BRAND PERSONALITY-
Dettol as antiseptic- and tough on germs and gentle on skin
● BRAND ASSOCIATION = BRAND LOOKS + BRAND ATTRIBUTES –
Woodland rugged brand.
● BRAND LOOKS = BRAND SYMBOL + BRAND NAME
● BRAND SYMBOL = BRAND CHARACTER + BRAND LOGO

PRODUCT / SERVICE

Brand Relationship is the ultimate achievement-need of branding. All other aspects (e.g. Brand
Positioning) might happen but if this does not happen, the job is not complete.

Brand Relationship happens if 'image' and 'attitude' for a brand exist. It is the resultant effect of
these two aspects of a brand.

Brand Attitude defines what the brand thinks about the consumer, as per the consumer. A brand
may have an 'attitude' on one or more aspects. Nike represents more than shoes, it signifies the
healthy, athletic, and independent lifestyle
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Brand Image includes two aspects of a brand—its associations and its personality. A brand may
have an image on one or more aspects.

Brand Associations include all that is linked up in memory about the brand. It could be specific
to attributes, features, benefits or looks of the brand. A brand may have a range of associations.
But the one association that stands out in memory and differentiates it becomes the 'position' of
the brand.

For a brand to have a brand relationship, it should have an 'image'. And for 'image' a brand
should have 'association'. If among its 'associations', a brand has a 'position' it is of great
advantage. However, if a brand does not have a 'brand position' it does not mean that it would not
have a brand image or brand relationship. In other words, 'brand position' is not a sufficient
condition for a brand relationship, but a 'highly desirable' condition.

Brand Looks, which have a role to play in forming reinforcing brand associations are facilitated
by two key properties of a brand—its name and its symbol. While the brand name is a necessary
condition for the existence of brand relationship, the same is not true for brand symbol.
However, if the latter exists it helps the process of brand relationship and reinforces it.

Brand symbol includes two visual signals of a brand—its character (e.g. Amul girl, Vodafone
ZOO ZOO) and its logo.

Necessary' aspects for the brand relationship to exist are:

● brand name
● brand associations
● brand attitude

'Highly desirable' aspects for the brand relationship to exist are (excluding the 'necessary'
aspects):

● brand position
● brand symbol
The model is a process. It has linked up steps. It is dynamic. It never ends. And it is all to do
about managing the minds of the people and aspects about a product, thus creating a brand
relationship, and defining a brand.

❖ Advantages & Limitation of Branding:

● Brand allows consumers to distinguish between different company offerings.
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● The brand helps to build loyalty for the product among the customers. Brand loyal
customers are a source of repeat sales. E.g. Amazon great Indian sale

● Brand – Loyal customers resists

the temptation to change the
brand and are
shielded against the
products of
competitors
● A brand enables a company to build a reputation of its products and creates am image in
the public mind
● It facilities the introduction to new products in the market

● Branding is necessary for the sales promotion and building a demand for the product in a
selective manner
● A brand distinguishes and differentiates a product from the goods of the competing
companies
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● Branding assists in the maintenance of a proper control over the price, quality, and other
features
● Brands distinguish and differentiate the goods of different manufacturers and this fact
enables the consumers to choose their products.
● Consumers use brands to express themselves in different ways. It helps consumers to
express their socio –psychological needs such as Social status, success, personality, etc.
● Brands help in increasing revenues and market shares for the organization

❖ Limitations of Branding
1. When a brand is known for something and it branches out for something else, the new
brand may get totally ignored e.g., the WWE is a pro wrestling organization. A few years
ago, they bought a football league. The media, sports fans, and the public didn’t allow it
to take off because the WWE brand is known for its staged violence, not competitive
sports. Sometimes a few exceptions like Kodak as pharmaceuticals are well accepted.

2. Like human beings have personality, every brand must have a personality. But like
human beings, every brand cannot have all qualities. So, to build a brand through
positioning, there will be areas which you cannot cover, or which will be rejected by a
segment of consumers e.g., cakes containing eggs will be rejected by vegetarians or
Cadbury’s cookies and cakes accepted by the target audience.
3. A brand is a promise to customers to fulfill the value proposition the brand offers. If the
brand fails even once, the brand building process must begin all over again. E.g., Colgate
ready meals failed in the market.
4. For a brand to succeed, consistency in its communication through its various channels is
important. This requires lots of time, money, and effort. Any inconsistency will result in
the brand losing its place in the market.
5. Once brand identity is established, you cannot change it often. Changes in LOGO,
Symbol, and name can lead to confusion among customers. Orange-to Hutch-to
Vodafone.
6. In areas where generic brands are predominately sold, brand building efforts on a
particular brand may not matter to the customers who are fully satisfied buying its generic
brand. For products where brand loyalty does not matter e.g., socks, sugar branding
doesn’t matter. ❖ Types of brands - National, Retail, Flanker, Distributor, Luxury,
Global brands

National brand:
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A national brand is the brand of a product manufactured and spread nationwide using a brand
name and owned by this company. It brings companies brand recognition, customer loyalty, and
high revenue. E.g., Nirma, Amul, and Parle

National brands are considered superior to private labels because they have brand recognition
and high revenue. National brands have the following advantages:

- a high level of customer loyalty.

- reduced marketing expenses because the brand already has wide recognition.
- a high level of visibility so consumers can recognize the brand on the shelves of stores. -
high customer trust.
- nationwide distribution - promotion on television.

People are more likely to repeat their purchases if they like the products Retail

branding:

Retail branding is a strategy based on the brand concept and which transfers it to a retail
company. A retailer's “products” are his stores that can be marketed in a similar way to a branded
good. A retail brand is then a group of the retailer's outlets which carry a unique name, symbol,
logo, or combination thereof. E.g., the retail brand is Shoppers stop, Big Bazzar, etc.,

Like the brands they sell, retailers have brand images that influence consumers and must be
carefully constructed and maintained. Academics have identified the following five dimensions
of a retailer’s brand image:

Access: The location of a store and the distance that consumers must travel to shop are basic
criteria in their store choice decisions. Access is a key component in consumers’ assessment of
total shopping costs and is especially important for retailers who wish to get a substantial share
of wallets from fill-in trips and small-basket shoppers. E.g., DMart gives an option of DMart
ready near the location of the customers and provides them a discount every day.

Atmosphere: Different elements of a retailer’s in-store environment, like color, music, and
crowding, can influence consumers’ perceptions of its atmosphere, whether they visit a store,
how much time they spend in it, and how much money they spend there. A pleasing in-store
atmosphere provides substantial hedonic utility to consumers and encourages them to visit more
often, stay longer, and buy more. E.g., Hamley’s keep the store updated always with different
toys, Shoppers Stop also keep the environment pleasant for consumers to shop.

Price and Promotion: A retailer’s price image is influenced by attributes like the average level
of prices, how much variation there is in prices over time, the frequency and depth of
promotions, and whether the retailer positions itself on a continuum between EDLP (everyday
low price) and HILO (high-low promotional) pricing. Consumers are more likely to develop a
favorable price image when retailers offer frequent discounts on many products than when they
offer less frequent, but steeper discounts. E.g., Big bazaar, Reliance store.
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Cross-Category Assortment: Consumers’ perception of the breadth of different products and
services offered by a retailer under one roof significantly influences store image. A broad
assortment can create customer value by offering convenience and ease of shopping. It is risky to
extend too far too soon but staying too tightly coupled to the current assortment and image may
unnecessarily limit the retailer’s range of experimentation. E.g., Tupperware keeps a range of
product categories in kitchen containers and storage. Shopper’s Stop gives apparels, footwear,
and fashion, and Home Stop (home furnishing) under one roof.

Within-Category Assortment: Consumers’ perceptions of the depth of a retailer’s assortment

within a product category are an important dimension of store image and a key driver of store
choice. As the perceived assortment of brands, flavors, and sizes increases, variety-seeking
consumers will perceive greater utility, consumers with uncertain future preferences will believe
they have more flexibility in their choices, and, in general, consumers are more likely to find the
item they desire. E.g., the Big bazaar keeps a variety of various flavors of fruit juices.

Flankers: Certain brands act as protective flanker or “fighter” brands. The purpose of flanker
brands typically is to create stronger points-of-parity with competitors’ brands so that more
important (and more profitable) flagship brands can retain their desired positioning. Many firms
are introducing discount brands as flankers, to better compete with store brands and private
labels and to protect their higher-priced brand companions. In Australia, Qantas launched Jetstar
airlines as a discount fighter brand to compete with the recently introduced low-priced Virgin
Blue airlines—which was meeting with much success—and to protect its flagship premium
Qantas brand. E.g., iPhone SE was introduced to attract consumers who are price sensitive.

In designing fighter brands, marketers walk a fine line. Fighters must not be so attractive that
they take sales away from their higher-priced comparison brands or referents. At the same time,
if they are connected to other brands in the portfolio in any way (say, through a common
branding strategy), they must not be designed so cheaply that they reflect poorly on these other
brands.
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Distributor brands: All private label merchandise is sold as a distributor brand. Brand name
used by a retail outlet. Generally referred to as ‘Own Label’ or private label goods that are
usually competitively priced and are intended to promote outlet loyalty, rather than brand loyalty.
Sometimes used to include brands marketed by a collection of retailers.
A distributor is an entity that buys noncompeting products or product lines and sells them direct
to end users or customers. Most distributors also provide a range of services such as technical
support, warranty, or service. Distributors are essential in helping reach markets manufacturers
could not otherwise target.
Luxury brands: Luxury brands are perhaps one of the purest examples of branding, because the
brand and its image are often key competitive advantages. Several characteristics define luxury
branding and suggest strategic and tactical guidelines. Maintaining a premium, prestige image
with luxury branding is crucial; controlling that image is thus a priority. Ideally, the image will
be designed to be globally relevant. Luxury branding often relies on an aspirational image that
benefits from a “trickle-down” effect to a broader audience via PR and word-of-mouth, but there
must be a good balance between accessibility and exclusivity. E.g., Taj Palace, BMW, and
Mercedes
Luxury is hard to define; it's expensive but not overpriced. It's high-quality and long-lasting, but
futuristic. It's aesthetically pleasing, but unique. It's not only rare, but also difficult to access. A
luxury brand is a complex platform that conveys messages about quality, lineage, status, and
taste. ... A luxury brand marketing strategy aims to create the highest brand value and pricing
power by leveraging multiple brand elements, such as heritage, country of origin, craftsmanship,
scarcity, and prestigious clients.

Global Branding: "International" has a smaller scope encompassing only two or more countries
while "global" has a much larger scope which includes the whole world. Although they are
sometimes used interchangeably, "global" means "all-encompassing and worldwide" while
"international" means "foreign or multinational." E.g., Coca-Cola is a great example of a brand
using international marketing efforts. Though a large corporation, Coca-Cola focuses on small
community programs and invests a lot of time and money in small-scale charity efforts.
BRAND ELEMENT

Brand elements, sometimes called brand identities, are those trademarkable devices that serve to
identify and differentiate the brand. The main ones are

- Brand names (CADBURYS, PEPSI …)

- URLs (Yahoo .com)
- Logos (Apple)
- Symbols (Nike Swoosh)
- Characters (Amul girl, ZOO ZOO)
- Spokespeople (STEVE JOBS, BABA RAMDEV)
- Slogans (ZINDAGI KE SATH BHI ZINDAGI KE BAAD BHI)
- Jingles, (BRITANNIA … TIN TIN TI DIN)
- Packages (COKE BOTTLE, PARACHUTE BODY LOTION)
- Signage (McDonald’s GOLDEN ARC “M”)
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The marketers should choose brand elements to enhance the brand awareness; facilitate the
formation of strong, favorable, and unique brand associations; or elicit positive brand judgments
and feelings. A brand element that gives a positive contribution to brand equity conveys or
implies certain valued associations or responses.

There are six criteria for brand elements (with more specific sub-choices for each, as

- Memorability -
- Meaningfulness - Marketer’s offensive strategy & build brand equity
- Likability
- Transferability -
- Adaptability - Defensive role in leveraging & maintaining brand equity
- Protectability -

1. MEMORABLE: Brand elements need to grab the consumers attention in order to

become memorable. To make a brand memorable, the marketer has to work on making
the brand recognizable and the consumer should be able to recall the brand when they
make a purchase for e.g., Cadbury (Chocolates) or Amul (Milk).
2. MEANIFULNESS: The marketers need to ensure that brand elements are descriptive
and should give general information about the function of the product or service. It should
also give specific information about the attributes and benefits of the brand. Secondly, the
brand elements also need to have persuasive meaning and suggest something about a
particular benefits and attributes of the brand in a particular category For E.g., Fair &
Lovely, Mother’s recipe – Lime pickle, etc.
3. Likability: Brand elements can be rich in imagery and inherently fun and interesting,
even if not always directly related to the product. A memorable, meaningful, and likable
set of brand elements offers many advantages because consumers often do not examine
much information in making product decisions for e.g., Royal Enfield; Scorpio, etc.
The above 3 criteria constitute the "Offensive Strategy" towards building brand equity

4. Transferability: Is the extent to which brand elements can add brand equity to new
products of the brand in the line-extensions. Another point, a marketer needs to keep in
mind is that the brand element should be able to add brand equity across geographical
boundaries and market segments. For example, brand names like “Apple”, and
“Blackberry” represent fruits the world over, thus as a brand name, it doesn't restrict
brands and product extensions.
5. Adaptability: Consumer opinions, values, and views keep changing over a period of
time. The more adaptable and flexible brand elements are the easier it is to keep up
changing and up to date from time to time to suit the consumer's liking and views. For
example, Coca Cola has been updating it's logo over the years to keep up with the latest
trends, fashions, and opinions. When Pepsi started marketing its products in China, it
translated the slogan “Pepsi Brings You Back to Life” literally. In Chinese, it really
meant, “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave. Dunkin also changed the
name and logo to cater to the different product categories.
20
6. Protectability: The final criteria in choosing a brand element are that it should be
protectable legally and competitively. Brand elements need to be chosen in such a way,
that they can be internationally protected legally, and legally registered with legal bodies.
Marketers need to voraciously defend their trademarks from unauthorized competitive
infringements. For e.g., Xerox, Paper boat, etc

The above 3 criteria constitute the "Defensive strategy" towards leveraging and maintaining
brand equity. The most ideal brand elements would be those which satisfy all the criteria. But it
is not possible have a brand element which would satisfy all the above criteria.

For example, if we choose a brand name which is most meaningful in a country or culture or a
market segment, it would be very difficult to make it transferable to other brand extensions and
to other cultures and market segments.

A variety of brand elements can be chosen that inherently enhance brand awareness or facilitate
the formation of strong, favorable, and unique brand associations.

- Brand names
- URLs
- Logos and symbols
- Characters
- Slogans
- Jingles
- Packaging
1. Brand Names: Like any brand element, brand names must be chosen with the six general
criteria of memorability, meaningfulness, likability, transferability, adaptability, and
protectability in mind.

Brand Naming Guidelines: Selecting a brand name for a new product is certainly an art and a
science Brand Awareness Brand names that are simple and easy to pronounce or spell, familiar
and meaningful, and different, distinctive, and unusual can obviously improve brand awareness
for e.g., Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Budweiser, etc.
Marketers can shorten longer names to make them easier to recall. For example, over the years
Chevrolet cars have also become known as “Chevy,” Budweiser beer has become “Bud,” and
Coca-Cola is also “Coke.”

Tactics / types of Brand elements:

A) Familiarity and Meaningfulness: The brand name should be familiar and meaningful so it
can tap into existing knowledge structures. It can be concrete or abstract in meaning. Because the
names of people, objects, birds, animals, and inanimate objects already exist in memory,
consumers must do less learning to understand their meanings as brand names. To help create
strong brand-category links and aid brand recall, the brand name may also suggest the product or
21
service category, for e.g., Nimbooz, D’Cold, Newsweek Brand elements that are highly
descriptive of the product category or its attribute and benefits can be quite restrictive, for
example, it may be difficult to introduce a soft drink extension for a brand called JuicyJuice!

B) Differentiated, Distinctive, and Unique: Although choosing a simple, easy-to-pronounce,

Familiar, and meaningful brand name can improve recall ability, to improve brand recognition,
on the other hand, brand names should be different, distinctive, and unusual. A brand name can
be distinctive because it is inherently unique, or because it is unique in the context of other
brands in the category.

Distinctive words may be seldom-used or atypical words for the product category, like Apple
computers; unusual combinations of real words Apple and Nike. A strong brand name now,
Apple is viewed as something that is rich in nutrients and flavor that can be translated
universally. The apple is also looked at as a symbol of love and forbidden temptations in Greek
Mythology.

2. URLs: URLs (uniform resource locators) specify locations of pages on the web and are
also commonly referred to as domain names. Anyone wishing to own a specific URL must
register and pay for the name A company can either sue the current owner of the URL for
copyright infringement, buy the name from the current owner, or register all conceivable
variations of its brand as domain names ahead of time.

Brand recall is critical for URLs because it increases the likelihood that consumers easily
remember the URL to get to the site Yahoo!, however, was able to create a memorable brand and
URL.
3. Logos and Symbols: Although the brand name typically is the central element of the
brand, visual elements also play a critical role in building brand equity and especially brand
awareness. Logos have a long history to indicate origin, ownership, or association.
It plays a critical role in building brand equity and especially brand awareness. Logos range from
corporate names or trademarks (word marks with text only) written in a distinctive form, to
entirely abstract designs that may be completely unrelated to the word mark, corporate name, or
corporate activities e.g., Nike Swoosh.

Examples of brands with strong word marks and no accompanying logo separate from the name
include Coca-Cola, Dunhill, and Kit Kat. Examples of abstract logos include the Mercedes star,
Rolex crown, and Olympic rings.

These non–word mark logos are also often called symbols.

Benefits: Logos and symbols are often easily recognized.

Logos have versatility: Because they are often nonverbal, logos transfer well across cultures and
over a range of product categories. Abstract logos offer advantages when the full brand name is
difficult to use for any reason e.g., LIC (Life insurance Corporation) logos can be easily adapted
over time to achieve a more contemporary look.
22
4. Characters:

A special type of brand symbol—one that takes on human or real-life characteristics Some are
animated like Pillsbury’s Poppin’ Fresh Doughboy, AMUL girl character, Air India Maharaja,
Tiger biscuit, Parle girl, Starbucks mermaid etc. there are live-action figures Ronald McDonald,
7up Fido dido, Onida devil and the Notable newcomers include Vodafone ZOO ZOO.

5. Slogans:

Slogans are short phrases that communicate descriptive or persuasive information about the
brand. Slogans are powerful branding devices because, like brand names, they are an extremely
efficient, shorthand means to build brand equity

Classic Slogans

• Amul: The taste of India

• Thumps Up: Taste the Thunder

• Surf: Daag Acche hain

• LIC: zindagi ke sath bhi zinagi ke baad bhi

• Red Fm: Bajathe rahoBenefits:
Helps to build brand awareness

Reinforces brand positioning

Strong relationship between brand and product category Differentiator

between competitors of the product category

6. Jingles:

Jingles are musical messages written around the brand. Typically composed by professional
songwriters, they often have enough catchy hooks and choruses to become almost permanently
registered in the minds of listeners— sometimes whether they want them to or not! Jingles are
perhaps most valuable in enhancing brand awareness. Some memorable ones

• Nirma – Washing powder Nirma

• Rasna – I love you Rasna

• Britannia – Ting Ting ting

• Complan – I am a Complan boy I am a Complan girl

23
7. Packaging:

Packaging is the activities of designing and producing containers or wrappers for a product. Like
other brand elements, packages have a long history. From the perspective of both the firm and
consumers, packaging must achieve a number of objectives:

– Identify the brand

– Convey descriptive and persuasive information

– Facilitate product transportation and protection – Assist at-home storage

– Aid product consumption

Often, one of the strongest associations, consumers have with a brand is inspired by the look of
its packaging. For example, if you ask the average consumer what comes to mind when he or she
thinks of Mountain dew a common response is a “Fluorescent green bottle” or paper boat with
unique paper coated packaging

The right packaging can create strong appeal on the store shelf and help products stand out from
the clutter, critical when you realize that the average supermarket shopper can be exposed to
20,000 or more products in a shopping visit that may last less than 30 minutes and include many
unplanned purchases. For these reasons, the packaging is a particularly cost-effective way to
build brand equity. It is sometimes called the “last five seconds of marketing” as well as
“permanent media” or “the last salesman. The beverage industry in general has been
characterized by several packaging innovations.
24
❖ Chapter 2 : Brand identity

To understand brand identity, understand this story of Virgin Atlantic Airways…

● In 1970, Richard Branson with a few friends founded Virgin Records as a small mail-
order company in London, England; a modest retail store on Oxford Street followed in
1971.
● The partners chose the name Virgin because of their youthfulness and lack of business
experience. Within thirteen years, however, the company grew into a chain of record
shops and the largest independent label in the United Kingdom,
● In February 1984, a young lawyer approached Richard Branson with a proposal to start a
new airline. Branson thought that his experience in the entertainment industry could add
significant value to an airline business.
● Because he personally found air travel boring and unpleasant, his idea was to make flying
fun, with an attractive value proposition: "To provide all classes of traveller with the
highest quality of travel at the lowest cost."
● Defying the odds (and vigorous attempts by British Airways to crush it), Virgin has
prospered. By 1997 it had served thirty million customers, exceeded $3.5 billion in
annual sales, and become the second airline (in passengers) in most of its markets and
routes.
● There are thousands of moments of truth in the airline business when the customer
experiences service quality first-hand. In this context, Virgin Atlantic has performed
extraordinarily well, as evidenced by the multiple quality awards it has received. ●
Virgin’s philosophy on innovation is simple: be first and dazzle customers. Virgin
pioneered sleeper seats in 1986 (British Airways followed nine years later with the cradle
seat), in-flight massages, child safety seats, individual video screens for business-class
passengers, and new service classes positioned above the normal coach and business-class
offerings of other airlines. In short, Virgin has pushed innovation like no other airline.
Three percent of revenues are allocated to new service quality innovations—nearly
double the spending of the average U.S. carrier.
● Virgin's airport lounges provide putting greens, masseurs, beauty therapists, and facilities
to shower, take a Jacuzzi, and nap. On some routes, the airline offers first-class
passengers a new tailor-made suit waiting at their destinations. Customers even have the
option of checking in at the airport via a convenient, McDonald’s- style drive- through
the window. The goal is to create memorable, fun, entertaining experiences.
● Compared to established brands like British Airways, Levi Strauss, Coca-Cola, Virgin
was considered as underdog, who cares, innovates and delivers attractive service to them
to enjoy and to create memories.
● The Virgin Group comprises later some 100 companies in 22 countries and includes a
discount airline (Virgin Express), financial services (Virgin Direct), a cosmetics retail
chain and direct sales operation (Virgin Vie), and several media companies (Virgin
Radio, Virgin TV), a rail service (Virgin Rail), soft drinks and other beverages (Virgin
Cola, Virgin Energy, Virgin Vodka), a line of casual clothing (Virgin Clothing, Virgin
Jeans), a new record label (V2 Records), and even a bridal store (Virgin Bride).
● Virgin logo is written in script and at an angle, the logo provides a contrast to the brands
that display their names in more conventional fonts and are portrayed symmetrically. The
25
script (reminiscent of Intel Inside) provides a sense that Branson might have written it,
and the rakish angle is a bit of a statement that Virgin is not just another big corporation.

Brand association: The feelings, beliefs, and knowledge that consumers (customers) have about
brands. A brand association is anything "linked" in memory to a brand. Thus, McDonald's could
be linked to a character such as Ronald McDonald, a consumer segment such as kids, a feeling
such as having fun a product characteristic such as service, and a symbol such as the Golden
Arches. These associWations might include product attributes, a celebrity spokesperson, or a
particular symbol.

❖ Brand identity

Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or
maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to
customers from the organization members.

Brand identity should help establish a relationship be tween the brand and the customer by
generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional, or self-expressive benefits.

Brand identity consists of twelve dimensions organized around four perspectives—the brand-
asproduct (product scope, product attributes, quality/value, uses, users, country of origin), brand-
asorganization (organizational attributes, local versus global), brand-as-person (brand
personality, brand-customer relationships), and brand-as-symbol (visual imagery/metaphors and
brand heritage).

● Brand identity structure

Brand identity consists of a core identity and an extended

identity. The core identity represents the timeless essence
of the brand
It contains brand association that is most likely to remain
constant as the brand travels to new markets and products

The core identity, which is the central to both the meaning

and
success of the brand, more resistant to change Includes elements that make the brand both unique
and valuable. McDonald’s - Value Offering, Quality, Service, Cleanliness; Nike -Trust,
Performance, Enhancing lives; Close up- Gel form, red color, fresh breath

It is all about values and what the brand would like to be in the future The

vision or core identity must be clear, exciting and memorable.

26
The core identity contains associations that are most likely to remain constant as the brand enters
new markets and products, than the elements of extended identity. The brand position and
communication strategies may change, and so may the extended identity but core identity
remains in its place.

The core identity is: Fundamental beliefs and values that are the main drivers of the brand
Competencies of the organizations behind the brand

What the organization stands for? If the values of the organization and the culture of the
organization is right, the brand can take care of itself. Core identity follows from the answers to
some introspective questions

● What is the soul of the brand?

● What are the fundamental beliefs and values that drive the brand?
● What are the competencies of the organization behind the brand? ● What does the
organization behind the brand stand for?

Sometimes, a slogan can capture at least a part of the core identity:

“Count on us “Maruti Suzuki

“More air, everywhere (Orient PSPO)

Even the core identity is, however, too multi-faceted for a single slogan.

The core identity does not possess enough detail to perform all the functions of a brand identity.

The extended identity Includes elements that provide texture and completeness Fills in the
picture, adding details that help portray what the brand stands for. The extended identity e.g.
McDonald’s Sub-brands, Logo, Characters, Convenience; Nike Personality, Logo, Slogan, sub-
brands, Endorsers; Close Up Mnemonic, Variants, Packaging.
The identity structure Core identity for a strong brand should be more resistant to change than
elements of extended identity. With-in a product class, a larger extended identity means a
stronger brand. One that is more memorable and interesting and connected to a consumer’s life.
27

Four Brand identity perspective

In order to ensure that brand equity has texture and depth a brand should be considered as :

● A product
● An organization
● A person
28
● A symbol

Every brand identity need not employ all these perspective

1. Brand as a Product :- Although one should avoid the product attribute fixation trap,
product relate associations will almost always be an important part of a brand identity and
will directly be related to brand choice decisions and use. A strong link to a product class
means the brand will always be recalled when the product class is cued for instance rental
cars – Zoom cars. Coffee- Nescafe.

The goal of linking a brand with a product class is not to gain a recall of product class when the
brand is mentioned e.g., rental cars – Zoom cars. It is more important to remember to recall the
brand when the product class is mentioned.

Attributes related to the purchase or use of the product can provide functional and emotional
benefits. It can create a value proposition by offering something extra. The problem arises when
attributes become the focus of identity efforts.

Association with quality

The quality element is important to consider separately. Value is closely related to quality, it
enriches the concept by adding the price dimension

Association with usage occasion

Some brands successfully attempt to own a particular use or application e.g., Nescafe has been
trying to establish itself as a morning beverage “the taste that gets you started”, Cadbury’s
celebration.

Association with users

A strong type –position can imply a value preposition and a brand personality. Nike by athletes,
Horlicks by children, women and mothers. McDonald by family. Link to country

This will add value and credibility (VODKA – Russian, Mercedes German, Swatch watches –
Swiss Made, Champagne France)

2. Brand as an Organization.

A brand in the marketplace is more than a plain product. Its origin, the company or the
organization that markets it could be designed as an important identity structure. Organization
attributes as innovation a drive for quality and concern for the environment.
Organization attributes are more enduring and more resistant to competitive claims than product
attributes. First it is much easier to copy a product than to duplicate the organization with unique
people values and programs.

3. Brand as a person.
29
A customer’s relationship with a brand may be based on its human like traits. Suggest a brand
identity that is richer and more interesting than product attributes. A brand can be perceived as
being upscale, competent, fun, active, casual format, youthful or intellectual.

A brand personality may help communicate a product attribute and this contribute to a functional
benefit. For e.g., MRF personality (promoted by MRF muscle man and formula race
sponsorship) consists rugged, strong, and sophisticated dimensions. These associations indirectly
suggest that MRF Tyres are strong, built to last and incorporate new technology

4. Brand as a symbol

A symbol stands for something. It can provide cohesion and structure to an identity and make it
easier to gain recognition and recall. Its presence can be a key ingredient of brand development
and its absence can be a handicap.

Symbols involving visual imagery can be memorable and powerful (McDonald’s Golden Arc,
Nike Swoosh)

A strong symbol can be the cornerstone of a brand strategy

Brand identity should help establish a relationship be tween the brand and the customer by
generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional or self-expressive benefits. ❖
Chapter 3 : Brand Positioning

Definition

*Brand positioning is how a product is perceived in the minds of customer

Kotler defines positioning as an “Act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a
distinctive place in the minds of target market and how it is distinguished from that of
competitors.

Ries & Trout defines “Positioning starts with the product. But positioning is not what you do to
the product. Positioning is what you do the mind of the prospects

The four components of brand positioning are:

1. Product class
2. Consumer segmentation
3. Consumer perception
4. Brand benefits & attributes
These four components of the positioning concept are so closely interwoven that they must be
taken together when we consider the positioning of a brand.

Positioning requires defining our desired or ideal brand knowledge structures and establishing
points-of-parity and points-of-difference to establish the right brand identity and brand image.
Unique, meaningful points-of-difference (PODs) provide a competitive advantage and the
“reason why” consumers should buy the brand. On the other hand, some brand associations can
30
be roughly as favorable as those of competing brands, so they function as points-of-parity (POPs)
in consumers’ minds—and negate potential points-of-difference for competitors. In other words,
these associations are designed to provide “no reason why not” for consumers to choose the
brand.
31

The essence of brand positioning is that the brand has a sustainable competitive advantage or
“unique selling proposition” that gives consumers a compelling reason why they should buy it.
Marketers can make this unique difference explicit through direct comparisons with competitors,
or they may highlight it implicitly. They may base it on performance-related or non-
performancerelated attributes or benefits.
Product class:
32
A product class or product market can be defined as the set of products and brands which are perceived
as substitutes to satisfy some specific consumer need

A brand manager must be ever aware that he may suddenly find himself face-to-face with an
infiltrator from across the historical border

For e.g., brands, like Haldiram and Bengali sweets comfortable position was suddenly
challenged by a brand from another product class altogether.

The first appearance of Cadbury's celebration “Kuch meeta Ho jaaye “came as a rude shock
being launched against synonymous with traditional mithai.

Pond's Cold Cream's comfortable position seems to have been suddenly challenged by a brand
from another product class altogether. Lakme's Winter Care Lotion ad said cold cream and
moisturizer in one"

Oberholser of Young and Rubicam calls this - the choice of product class - the first 'positioning'
decision of the advertising strategist.

Consumer Segmentation

This is the mantra that all marketers must live by: One-size-fits-all doesn’t fit, never did, and
never will. Most of us would be well versed in the theory and significance of consumer
segmentation.
A market is the set of all actual and potential buyers who have sufficient interest in, income for,
and access to a product. Market segmentation divides the market into distinct groups of
homogeneous consumers who have similar needs and consumer behavior, and who thus require
similar marketing mixes. Market segmentation requires making trade-offs between costs and
benefits. The more finely segmented the market, the more likely that the firm will be able to
implement marketing programs that meet the needs of consumers in any one segment. That
advantage, however, can be offset by the greater costs of reduced standardization. So, the other
segment is heterogeneous. They command customized products, also do have different needs.

What is the profile of the consumers whom our brand will serve and what are their needs?
One cannot think of 'positioning' a product or a brand except in relation to a particular target
segment.
33

Behavioral segmentation bases are often most valuable in understanding branding issues because
they have clearer strategic implications. For example, defining a benefit segment makes it clear
what should be the ideal point-of-difference or desired benefit with which to establish the
positioning. Take the toothpaste market. One research study uncovered four main segments:

1. The Sensory Segment: Seeking flavor and product appearance

2. The Sociable: Seeking brightness of teeth
3. The Worriers: Seeking decay prevention
4. The Independent Segment: Seeking low price

Leading brands-those with very large market shares-tend to position themselves across several
segments: for example, Horlicks, "the great nourisher" (about 75% market share- children,
women, athletes, biscuits). Other brands are focused more narrowly like ‘Complan’ which is the
"complete planned food for growing children".

Positioning is a theory that was born out of the intense competition let loose by a great
proliferation of brands

Target market and positioning strategies are like the two sides of a coin. They are inseparable;
each depends upon the other.

Perceptual Mapping

What perceptual mapping does is to represent consumer percep tions-in (usually) in

twodimensional space so that the brand manager can readily see where his own brand is
positioned in the mind of his prospect and in relation to other. The word ‘perceptual’ comes
from the word ‘perception’, which basically refers to the consumers’ understanding of the
competing products and their associated attributes. The most common presentation format for a
perceptual map is to use two determinant attributes as the X and Y axes of a graph, Perceptual
mapping help organization identify gaps in the market.
34
Before deciding to fill any gaps in the market firms need to ensure that there is likely to be a
demand for a product positioned in the gap

Example –

You will note that only two product attributes have been considered. In this case, they are ‘to
what extent does the consumer consider the product to be high/low in sugar’ and ‘to what extent
is a product considered high/low in caffeine’.

The simple combination of these two scores (probably obtained from a consumer survey) places
the product offering onto the map. For example, on this map, the 7-Up product offering is
perceived as having a moderate level of sugar and being relatively low in caffeine’.

Brand Attributes and Benefits

The physical existence of a brand is no assurance that it has a position in the target consumer's
mind.

To enter that coveted territory-the consumer's perceptual space and to secure a 'position' there, the
brand must satisfy his question:

“What's in it for me?”

It must offer a benefit which is of importance to him.

Brand associations may be either brand attributes or benefits. Brand attributes are those
descriptive features that characterize a product or service. Brand benefits are the personal value
and meaning that consumers attach to the product or service attributes. Consumers form beliefs
about brand attributes and benefits in different ways
Case study on brand positioning: ANTABAX Antabax is a Malaysian personal care brand that
offers a range of antibacterial products. Antabax first started with its three soap ranges: Shield,
Gentle, and Balance. But the challenge for Antabax is to convince customers that its products
belong in the “hygiene care” category, the same category as some of Antabax’s competitors:
Lifebuoy, Protex, and Dettol. Despite the brand’s longevity, the company fears that customers
still don’t see its products as sitting within the health and hygiene category. By dubbing them
“Halal health care products,” Antabax has reformulated and repackaged its personal care
35
products. The company is also working on new schemes which aim to increase customer
awareness. For instance, it has introduced a new brand ambassador, Malaysian singer Ziana Zain,
who is involved with the Antabax new range of product launches and roadshows. It has also
started an Antabax Facebook contest called “2012—My Attribution Year for Others,” and has
been promoting the Antabax family of products with a “hygiene” concept in schools. Today,
Antabax is the fastest growing brand within the bar and liquid medicated category.

Cornerstone of Brand positioning

Brand positioning helps a brand manager to strategize as to where he can locate a niche in the
market where the brand may be perceived by his target segment as unique and where it will hold
a competitive edge.

The market position of a brand shows where a specific brand is located. It shows the
relationship between two competitive brands

These strategies revolve around four strategic questions: (THESE POINTERS CAN ALSO
BE USED TO SOLVE CASE STUDY when asked to create brand positioning strategies)

1. Who am I?
2. What am I?
3. For whom am I?
4. Why me?

1. Who am I?

This question concerns the corporate credentials of the Brand. The prospect needs to think of the
brand in terms of its origin, family tree and stable from which it comes; the idea being that this
can give a brand competitive advantage

Positioning by corporate identity

Most of the durables use this positioning for e.g., ITC is a corporate brand and Sunfeast uses the
endorser’s name to introduce the new product range. E.g., Bingo, Aashirwaad, Vivel.

This can be a such a strong positioning element that companies who market each brand under a
different name, e.g., Liril, Lux, Rexona, Pears, Lifebuoy) Nevertheless introduce the corporate
credential as a by line: A quality product from Hindustan Lever.

Positioning by Brand endorsement

36
When a brand becomes successful the marketer can exploit their success as their strength when
they want to enter another product category. For e.g., Nirma washing powder gave the same
name to its detergent bar as its logical after the phenomenon success. Third entry –toilet soap
also bears the same name in this highly competitive market of toilet soaps, Nirma Salt, and
Nirma University as well. Godrej also uses its name when the brand enters different product
categories. Godrej soaps, locks, hair dye, concept furniture.
2. What am I?
● The positioning strategy here revolves around the question of product functional
capabilities.
A. Category related positioning
B. Benefit related
C. Positioning by usage and time
D. Price quality positioning

Category related

An important decision in differentiating strategy in an overcrowded market is to take the same

basic product and position it in another category, provided the attributes of the product to match
the consumer expectation.

This is referred as macro positioning or inter-set positioning

Example:

● Skimmed milk powder

● Reconstitute milk
● Whitener for tea or coffee
● Weight watcher

As per international trends can enter the breakfast food category and position your milk powder
as an instant breakfast

Benifit Position Brand

● Cosmetic: White, Bright teeth

● Pepsodent whitening

● Fresh Breath
● Close up

● Taste, Decay prevention

● Colgate Salt
37

● Sensitive teeth
● Sensodyne

● Gum care and therapeutic ● Colgate Total, Babool Neem, Meswak

Positioning by usage of Occasion and time

● Milkmaid dominated the desert usage

● Vicks VapoRub- Child’s cold a night
● Burnol- antiseptic ointment for burns
● Dettol antiseptic is for nicks and cuts
● If you have a good position for your brand sit on it, make it your domain
● Dettol soap relaunched in 1984 made a headway – 100% bath

Price- quality positioning

● PRICE- QUALITY LEVEL IS MOST SUITABLE FOR A GIVEN NEED

● Nirma, Tide or Rin for price-Quality positioning. On the contrary Pride of
cowspremium quality and premium price

For whom am I?

● Demographic - Age, income, sex, occupation, education sometimes geographic

location
● Behavioral for instance in terms of usage volume: heavy, medium, light users ●
Psychographic - personality, lifestyle, social class

Why me?

Unique attributes

Companies like Nestle, P&G, Nirma will not market a product unless they have endowed it with
some unique attributes. E.g., Pride of cows promises unique benefits of fresh packed organic
milk of cows that gives different experience to consumers.

When Tuborg beer launched in 2009 in India by introducing a unique pull-off cap, which lends
consumers freedom to enjoy their drink without having to look for a bottle opener. Tetra packed
milk, juices to keep it fresh for long time. Burger king with no frozen patty.

Positioning by competitors

● Comparison advertising
● Pepsi vs Coke
● Colgate v/s Pepsodent
● Apple v/s Samsung and Google

Positioning Strategies (FOR CASE STUDY SOLUTION THESE POINTERS CAN ALSO BE USED)
38
There are 7 positioning strategies
1. Positioning by Product
2. Positioning by Price/ Quality
3. Positioning by use or application
4. Positioning by product class
5. Positioning by product user
6. Positioning by Competitor
7. Positioning by cultural symbols

1. Positioning by Product Attributes and Benefits:

Associating a product with an attribute, a product feature, or a consumer feature.

Sometimes a product can be positioned in terms of two or more attributes simultaneously.

Generally, whenever a brand is launched, its positioned-on Product attributes. Consider the
example of Ariel that offers a specific benefit of cleaning even the dirtiest of clothes because of
the micro cleaning system in the product. Colgate offers benefits of preventing cavity and fresh
breath. Surf excel- dirt is good – Daag ache hain.

2. Positioning by Price/ Quality :

One way they do it is with ads that reflect the image of a high-quality brand where cost, while not
irrelevant, is considered secondary to the quality benefits derived from using the brand.

Premium brands positioned at the high end of the market use this approach to positioning.
Another way to use price/ quality characteristics for positioning is to focus on the quality or
value offered by the brand at a very competitive price. Lux soap gives better quality at low cost
and the wheel detergent or Rin soap which always focuses on the value addition and price- Rin
Bar @ Rs 5/-

3. Positioning by use or application :

Another way is to communicate a specific image or position for a brand is to associate it with a
specific use or application. Example: Vanish is positioned as stain remover- Think Pink forget
stains. Colgate pain out

4. Positioning by product class:

Often the competition for a product comes from outside the product class. The product is
positioned against others that, while not the same, provide the same class of benefits. Airlines
know that while they compete with other airlines, trains and buses are also viable alternatives.
Dove is positioned as a moisturizer, not a soap. Dettol soap is positioned as a germ killer
5. Positioning by product user :

Positioning a product by associating it with a user or group of users is yet another

approach. Dove, Sunsilk GOG.
39
6. Positioning by Competitor:

Competitors may be as important to positioning strategy as a firm’s own product or services.

This approach is like positioning by product class, although in this case the competition is within
the same product category. For e.g., Audi v/s BMW, Mercedes. Moov compares itself with
Iodex.

7. Positioning by cultural symbols

An additional positioning strategy where in the cultural symbols are used to differentiate the
brands. Examples would be Humara Bajaj, Tata Tea, Taj Hotel, Ronald McDonald, India gate
Basmati Rice, Air India, etc. Each of these symbols has successfully differentiated the product it
represents from competitors

Qualities of Brand positioning -

1. Relevance - Positions that do not focus on benefits that are important to people or reflect
the character of the product will fail. Often in their search for differentiation, marketers
seize upon some attribute in their product which is different but, is of little concern to
customers. This is a waste of time and money. Air India symbolizes graciousness and
high living is an example of a powerful position based on the service provided by Air
India. Lipton Green tea is relevant for weightwatchers.
2. Clarity - A position should be easy to communicate and quick to comprehend. Difficulty
in either suggests that a position is too fuzzy to be of value to the brand. Utterly-butterly
delicious AMUL established Amul butter over the years and still strongly holds the
dominant position in the market. Surf excel- daag ache hai.
3. Distinctiveness - People have few needs that are unfulfilled, and they have many choices
to fill the needs they have. If a brand's position lacks distinctiveness it will be forced to
compete on the bases of price or promotion; expensive strategies that will not build brand
equity in the long term. E.g., a Lot of brands are there to provide online services, but
Amazon stands distinct due to its prime delivery. Bose for noise cancellation headphones.
4. Coherence - Speak with one voice through all the elements of the marketing mix if you
wish to create a strong position If, for example, a brand that is positioned as premium
quality and price appears in an end-aisle "sale" display, its quality image will suffer. All
collaterals marketing and others should reflect and translate the brand's position into the
appropriate form for the media.
5. Commitment - Often people will get nervous when a strong position threatens to ignore
or even alienate some segment of the population as a price of clearly communicating to
the desired target. Once a position is adopted, it takes commitment to see it through, in
the face of criticism and pot shots.
6. Patience - Crest has dominated its market for over thirty years. When it was first
introduced positioned as a cavity fighter its share never rose above 13% for three years.
The ADA approval was the key to launching the brand to over 40% of the market. Had
P&G lost patience after two or three years, someone else would be enjoying the profits of
this powerful brand position.
7. Courage - It goes without saying that adopting a strong brand position requires bravery.
It is much easier to defend an appeal to everyone with a rather generic sales pitch. You
40
must believe that the position makes strategic sense for the brand and then stick to your
guns. e.g., Ferrari, Dyson

Adopting a strong position is not a passive act; rather it is a deliberate attempt to

influence events. It requires ignoring certain business targets in favor of others, and if
successful,
will yield growth in sales and profits and a consumer franchise who believe that your
brand has no adequate substitute, even if it costs more.
❖ Brand Personality -

To understand the concept…

● Imagine this orange as your brand

● And these other oranges as other

people’s brands.
● How do you get people to choose
your orange over those other lookalikes
crowding your space?
● For the brand owner there is a
distinct difference in the offer.
● But everything becomes a
commodity in the eyes of the consumer.
● And it is because they think it’s all
the same that it is necessary to make your brand
dynamically distinctly different and
unforgettable
41
How to make a brand to stand different in the competition?

To make all this really effective you need to wrap it all in a strong Brand Personality
● Brand personality reflects how people feel about your brand, rather than what they
think the brand is or does.
● It is the way a brand speaks and behaves.
● It means assigning human personality traits/ characteristics to a brand to achieve
differentiation.
● Is a unique collection of emotional triggers that people can connect with.

To effectively project, Brand Personality you need to

● Get a unique voice

● Find an interesting, unique, desirable and engaging way of sharing things with
people.
● Use emotion
● People connect with emotions so ooze emotions: be fun, funny, happy, serious,
surprising, bouncy, silly, formal, romantic, scary, clever, strong, mysterious
42

Create stories
The human brain is wired for storytelling – it is one of the most effective techniques for
capturing the hearts and minds of people.
Rope in some famous actor/ character - ●
Characters will do the trick.

● Characters come in all shapes and sizes so there’s bound to be one that will fit
your brand and add oodles of personality

Brand Personality -
43
Brand personality refers to the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. - Jennifer Aaker
(1997),.

Brand Personality provides an emotional identity for a brand and encourages consumers to
respond with feeling and emotions towards the brand. It is how the brand behaves Gender, age,
socioeconomic class, psychographic, emotional characteristics
E.g.,

● Limca representing freshness,

● Nike as the athlete in all of us,
● Maggi-2min noodles/ meri wali Maggi
● Lifebuoy, Marlboro is ‘masculine’ while ● Dove, Virginia Slims is ‘feminine’
● IBM is ‘older’ while Apple is ‘younger’ ● Thumbs up “ Ruggedness, Outdoor,
Masculine. ● Dove “ Sophistication, feminine , caring

The brand personality is how the brands show up and acts in front of the customers. It comprises
of tone, voice, associations, and all elements that make an individual unique and establish
identity.

The process of developing a brand personality requires the brand managers to get an intimate
understanding of the customers and draft a personality that evokes the ‘like, know, and trust’
factor. That is, developing a personality that –

1. Immediately attracts the target audience by evoking a feeling of comfort, familiarity, awe,
or respect.
2. Making the future target audience (people just outside the target audience periphery) like
the brand and appreciate and value the offerings.
3. Keep away the customers that the brand doesn’t want to attract.
44

Example -

● A company's brand personality elicits an emotional response in a specific consumer

segment, with the intention of inciting positive actions that benefit the firm.
● Dove, for example, chooses sincerity as its brand personality, to attract feminine
consumers. Luxury brands, such as Michael Kors and Chanel, aims for sophistication.
Their brand personality focuses on an upper-class, glamorous, and trendy lifestyle, which
attracts a high-spending consumer base.
45

❖ How to create brand personality ?

Product related characteristics -

● Just as the perceived personality of a person is affected by nearly

everything associated with that person - including his or her
neighborhood, friends, activities, clothes, and manner of interact ing - so
too is a brand personality.
● Product-related characteristics can be primary drivers of a brand
personality. Even the product class can affect the personality.
● A bank or insurance company, for example, will tend to assume a
"banker" personality (competent, serious, masculine,
older, and upper-class).
● An athletic shoe like Nike or Reebok might tend to be , outdoorsy, and
adventurous, as well as young and lively; whereas Woodland shoes represent ruggedness.
● Product attributes often affect the brand personality
● A high-priced brand such as Tiffany might be considered wealthy, stylish, and perhaps a
bit superior also preferred by celebrities.
● The brand personality can also reinforce and represent an attribute. For instance, if Tissot
is given a stylish, active personality; a customer will find it easier to remember and
believe that Tissot products have stylish and celebrity attributes.
Non - Product related Characterstics -

● Non-product-related characteristics that can also affect a brand personality include

advertising style, country of origin, company image, CEO identification, and celebrity
endorsers.
● A German brand like Audi might capture some perceived characteristics of German
people such as being precise, serious, and hard-working.
● The personality of a visible CEO such as Microsoft's Bill Gates can also transfer to the
brand, as can that of a celebrity endorser.
● Four other non-product-related brand personality drivers—user imagery, sponsorships,
age, and symbols.
Product& non-product related characteristics -
46

Product-related characteristics Non - product-related characteristics

● Product category ● User imagery

● Package ● Sponsorships
● Price ● Symbol
● Product Attributes ● Age
● Ad style
● Country of origin
● Company image
● CEO
● Celebrity endorsers
User Imagery -

● User imagery can be based on either typical users (people you see using the brand) or
idealized users (as portrayed in advertising and elsewhere).
● It describes who or what type of person, might use that product / brand. Somebody may
identify himself as Mercedes owner or Volvo driver.
● The TVC of Raymond’s,( playing with puppies) focuses on soft side of man (i.e., caring
and loving) and on subtle aspects of lifestyles of executives.
● Here the focus is on emotional aspects rather than on functional attributes). User imagery
can be a powerful driver of brand personality, in part because the user is already a person
and thus the difficulty of conceptualizing the brand personality is reduced.
● E.g., The upscale personality of Mercedes, Athlete for Reebok, Nike, BMW is driven by
old retired man, LIC by a family man.
● Sponsorships - Activities such as events sponsored by the brand will influence its
personality Pond’s sponsoring Femina’s ‘Miss India’ contest. Budweiser sponsoring the
aircraft in American sporting events, VIVO for sports events, Dream11,
● Age - How long a brand has been on the market can affect its personality New entrants
like Apple , Outlook etc., tend to have younger brand personalities than IBM , India
Today etc., Dettol is century old brand, Britania is over 150 yers old brand. BYJU;s,
VIVO, One plus are young.
47

●
Symbol - A symbol can be a powerful influence on brand personality since it can be
controlled and can have extremely strong associations Some examples…Apple’s bitten
apple, Nike’s swoosh, MetLife’s Peanuts character

BIG five. The Brand personality scale. -

● The Brand Personality Dimensions by Jennifer Aaker is a framework to

describe and measure the 'personality" of a brand in five core dimensions,
each divided into a set of facets.
● It is an easy-to-understand model to describe the profile of a brand using an
analogy with a human being.
● The dimensions of brand personality are defined by extending the
dimensions of human personality to the domain of brands
Brand Personality -
48

●
The five core dimensions and their facets are:

● Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)

Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)
● Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)
● Sophistication (upper class, charming)
● Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)

5 Dimensions -
49

●
Continue….

● To see how this model works, consider personality types of people with whom we
have relationships and the nature of those relationships
Down-to-earth, family oriented, genuine, old-fashioned (Sincerity). This might describe
brands like Hallmark, Kodak, and even Coke. The relationship might be similar to one
that exists with a well liked and respected member of the family.
● Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing (Excitement). In the soft drink category, Pepsi
fits this mold more than Coke. Especially on a weekend evening, it might be
enjoyable to have a friend who has these personality characteristics.

Examples -

● Brand Personality of Woodland: Woodland got the ruggedness, outdoorsy, and

ready for adventure personality through its products (hard boots – meant for
adventure) and smart marketing strategies. They also used the colour green, which
represents nature, to build a personality of being outdoorsy.
● Brand Personality of Harley Davidson: Harley Davidson has been a rebel from the
start. The promotional campaigns (naming motorcycles as mean machines), the logo,
and use of bright and dynamic colors have helped them build this personality.
50

The ways a brand personality can create brand equity are summa rized by the three
models shown below
51

The relationship basis model -

● Linking to associate with personality exhibited by the brand that drives to purchase. The
consumer wants to establish relationship with brand e.g., Eureka Forbes is taken as friend for
life or a responsible one who takes care of the family. Or weekend fun companion is coke.
● Some people may never aspire to have a certain personality trait but would like to have a
relationship with one who has that.
● A trustworthy, dependable, conservative personality might be seen boring but sought
nevertheless, from banks or financial products. E.g., investment into mutual funds
● The concept of a relationship between a brand and a person provides a different perspective
on how brand personality might work

The self-expression model -

● The premise of the self-expression model is that for certain groups of customers, some brands
become vehicles to express a part of their self-identity. These brands can add in the status and
prestige.
● Apple is perceived as friendly, unpretentious, bold and willing to go against the grain.
This is because Mac is easy-to-use and due to its symbol, advertising, user groups etc., ●
The use of Apple expresses a personal identity of being young and creative.
● iffany and Co. adds prestige.
● The brand as a badge
● A brand could serve as a consumer’s personal statement Cars, cosmetics, apparels lend
themselves to personality expression because their use occurs in a social context with
52

relatively high involvement. The brand becomes part of the self. The ultimate personality
expression occurs when a brand becomes an extension or an integral part of the self .
● The executive who wears Allen Solly on Friday feels semi-casual and waiting to welcoming
the weekend!
● The potential to create this oneness with some people can represent a significant opportunity
for a brand
53

Functional benefit representation model

● The previous two models provide contexts in which brand personality can be the basis for a
brand strategy and a link to the customer
● A brand personality can also play a more indirect role by being a vehicle for representing and
cueing functional benefits and brand attributes
● Marlboro’s personality of a macho, freedom-loving, adventurous person suggests that the
product is strong
● Harley Davidson’s personality of a rugged, macho, I-am-different-kind suggests that the
product is a powerful, liberating vehicle
● When a visual symbol or image exists that can create and cue personality… … the ability of
the personality to reinforce brand attributes will be greater. ● LIC is peace of mind for
securing life of family.
54

Chapter 2. Brand identity

To understand brand identity, understand this story of Virgin Atlantic Airways…

• In 1970, Richard Branson with few friends founded Virgin Records as a small
mail-order company in London, England; a modest retail store on Oxford Street
followed in 1971.
• The partners chose the name Virgin because of their youthfulness and lack of
business experience. Within thirteen years, however, the company grew into a
chain of record shops and the largest independent label in the United Kingdom,
• In February 1984, a young lawyer approached Richard Branson with a proposal to
start a new airline. Branson thought that his experience in the entertainment
industry could add significant value to an airline business.
• Because he personally found air travel boring and unpleasant, his idea was to
make flying fun, with an attractive value proposition: "To provide all classes of
traveller with the highest quality of travel at the lowest cost."
• Defying the odds (and vigorous attempts by British Airways to crush it), Virgin has
prospered. By 1997 it had served thirty million customers, exceeded $3.5 billion in
annual sales, and become the second airline (in passengers) in most of its markets
and routes.
• There are thousands of moments of truth in the airline business when the
customer experiences service quality first-hand. In this context Virgin Atlantic has
performed extraordinarily well, as evidenced by the multiple quality awards it has
received.
• Virgin s philosophy on innovation is simple: be first and dazzle customers. Virgin
pioneered sleeper seats in 1986 (British Airways followed nine years later with the
cradle seat), in-flight massages, child safety seats, individual video screens for
business-class passengers, and new service classes positioned above the normal
coach and business-class offerings of other airlines. In short, Virgin has pushed
innovation like no other airline. Three percent of revenues are allocated to new
service quality innovations—nearly double the spending of the average U.S.
carrier.
• Virgin's airport lounges provide putting greens, masseurs, beauty therapists, and
facilities to shower, take a Jacuzzi, and nap. On some routes, the airline offers
first-class passengers a new tailor-made suit waiting at their destinations.
Customers even have the option of checking in at the airport via a convenient,
McDonald’s- style drive- through window. The goal is to create memorable, fun,
entertaining experiences.
• Compared to established brands like British Airways, Levi Strauss, Coca-Cola,
Virgin was considered as underdog, who cares, innovates and delivers attractive
service to them to enjoy and to create memories.
55

• The Virgin Group comprises later some 100 companies in 22 countries and
includes a discount airline (Virgin Express), financial services (Virgin Direct), a
cosmetics retail chain and direct sales operation (Virgin Vie), several media
companies (Virgin Radio, Virgin TV), a rail service (Virgin Rail), soft drinks and
other beverages (Virgin Cola, Virgin Energy, Virgin Vodka), a line of casual clothing
(Virgin Clothing, Virgin Jeans), a new record label (V2 Records), and even a bridal
store (Virgin Bride).
• Virgin logo is written in script and at an angle, the logo provides a contrast to the
brands that display their names in more conventional fonts and are portrayed
symmetrically. The script (reminiscent of Intel Inside) provides a sense that
Branson might have written it, and the rakish angle is a bit of a statement that
Virgin is not just another big corporation.

Brand association: The feelings, beliefs, and knowledge that consumers (customers) have
about brands. A brand association is anything "linked" in memory to a brand. Thus, McDonald's
could be linked to a character such as Ronald McDonald, a consumer segment such as kids, a
feeling such as having fun a product characteristic such as service, a symbol such as the
Golden Arches. These associations might include product attributes, a celebrity spokesperson,
or a particular symbol.

Brand identity

Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to
create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a
promise to customers from the organization members.

Brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand and the customer by
generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional, or self-expressive benefits.

Brand identity consists of twelve dimensions organized around four perspectives—the

brand-as-product (product scope, product attributes, quality/value, uses, users, country
of origin), brand-as-organization (organizational attributes, local versus global), brandas-
person (brand personality, brand-customer relationships), and brand-as-symbol (visual
imagery/metaphors and brand heritage).

Brand identity structure

56

Brand identity consists of a core identity and an extended identity. The core
identity represents the timeless essence of the brand
It contains brand association that is most likely to remain constant as the brand
travels to new markets and products
The core identity, which is the central to both the meaning and success of the brand,
more resistant to change Includes elements that make the brand both unique and
valuable. McDonald’s - Value Offering, Quality, Service, Cleanliness; Nike -Trust,
Performance, Enhancing lives; Close up- Gel form, red color, fresh breath It is all
about values and what the brand would like to be in the future The vision or core
identity must be clear, exciting and memorable.
The core identity contains associations that are most likely to remain constant as the
brand enters new markets and products, than the elements of extended identity. The
brand position and communication strategies may change, so may the extended
identity but core identity remains in its place.
The core identity is: Fundamental beliefs and values that are the main drivers of the
brand Competencies of the organizations behind the brand
What the organization stands for? If the values of the organization and the culture of
the organization is right, the brand can take care of itself. Core identity follows
from the answers to some introspective questions ❖ What is the soul of the
brand?

❖ What are the fundamental beliefs and values that drive the brand?

❖ What are the competencies of the organization behind the brand?

❖ What does the organization behind the brand stand for?

Sometimes, a slogan can capture at least a part of the core identity:

“Count on us “Maruti Suzuki
“More air, everywhere (Orient PSPO)
Even the core identity is, however, too multi-faceted for a single slogan.
57

The core identity does not possess enough detail to perform all the functions of a
brand identity.
The extended identity Includes elements that provide texture and completeness Fills
in the picture, adding details that help portray what the brand stands for. The
extended identity e.g. McDonald’s Sub-brands, Logo, Characters, Convenience;
Nike Personality, Logo, Slogan, sub-brands, Endorsers; Close Up Mnemonic,
Variants, Packaging.
The identity structure Core identity for a strong brand should be more resistant to
change than elements of extended identity. With-in a product class, a larger
extended identity means a stronger brand. One that is more memorable and
interesting and connected to a consumer’s life.
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59

Four Brand identity perspective

In order to ensure that brand equity has texture and depth a brand should be considered as : A
product
An organization
A person
A symbol
Every brand identity need not employ all these perspective
A Product :- Although one should avoid the product attribute fixation trap, product relate
associations will almost always be important part of a brand identity and will directly be related
to brand choice decisions and use. A strong link to a product class means the brand will always
be recalled when the product class is cued for instance rental cars –Zoom cars. Coffee- Nescafe.
The goal of linking a brand with a product class is not to gain a recall of product class when the
brand is mentioned e.g. rental cars – Zoom cars. It is more important to remember to recall the
brand when the product class is mentioned.
Attributes related to the purchase or use of product can provide functional and emotional
benefits. It can create value proposition by offering something extra. The problem arises when
attributes become the focus of identity efforts. Association with quality
The quality element is important to consider separately. Value is closely related to quality, it
enriches the concept by adding the price dimension Association with usage occasion
Some brands successfully attempt to own a particular use or application e.g., Nescafe
has been trying to establish itself as a morning beverage “the taste that gets you
started”, Cadbury’s celebration.
Association with users
A strong type –position can imply a value preposition and a brand personality. Nike by
athletes, Horlicks by children, women and mothers. McDonald by family.
Link to country
This will add value and credibility (VODKA – Russian, Mercedes German, Swatch
watches – Swiss Made, Champagne France) 2) Brand as an Organization.
A brand in the marketplace is more than a plain product. Its origin, the company or the
organization that markets it could be designed as an important identity structure.
Organization attributes as innovation a drive for quality and concern for environment.
Organization attributes are more enduring and more resistant to competitive claims than
product attributes. First it is much easier to copy a product than to duplicate the
organization with unique people values and programs. 3) Brand as a person.
A customer’s relationship with a brand may be based on its human like traits. Suggest a
brand identity that is richer and more interesting than product attributes. A brand can be
perceived as being upscale, competent, fun, active, casual format, youthful or
intellectual. A brand personality may help communicate a product attribute and this
contribute to a functional benefit. For e.g., MRF personality (promoted by MRF muscle
man and formula race sponsorship) consists rugged, strong and sophisticated
60

dimensions. These associations indirectly suggest that MRF Tyres are strong, built to
last and incorporate new technology
4) Brand as a symbol
A symbol stands for something. It can provide cohesion and structure to an identity and
make it easier to gain recognition and recall. Its presence can be a key ingredient of
brand development and its absence can be a handicap.
Symbols involving visual imagery can be memorable and powerful (McDonald’s Golden
Arc, Nike Swoosh)
A strong symbol can be the cornerstone of a brand strategy

Brand identity traps

A brand identity provides a purpose and meaning of the brand.
Brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand and the
customer by generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional or
selfexpressive benefits.

These four traps represent approaches to creating an identity that are excessively
limiting or planned and that can lead to ineffective brand strategies. After these
brand identity traps have been analyzed, a broader identity concept will be developed, its scope and
structure discussed, and the value proposition and credibility that flow from it examined.
The Brand Image Trap
Brand Image is how customers and others perceive the brand. The knowledge of
brand image provides useful and even necessary background information when
developing a brand identity.
In the brand image trap, however, the patience (persistence), resources, or
expertise to go beyond the brand image. If this is not done, then brand image
becomes brand identity. Brand image trap lets the customer dictate what you are.
Brand image is usually passive and looks to the past; brand identity should be
active and look to the future.
Brand image can be tactical/ defensive; Brand identity should be strategic. Brand image
should reflect the brands enduring qualities. It represents the basic characteristics that
61

will persist over the time. Strategic intent involves a forward-looking dynamic
perspective it involves a willingness to consider creating changes. A brand identity is
to brand strategy what “strategic intent” is to a business strategy. Strategic intent involves an
obsession with winning, real innovation, stretching the current strategy, and a
forwardlooking, dynamic perspective; it is very different from accepting or even refining past
strategy. Similarly, a brand identity should not accept existing perceptions, but instead
should be willing to consider creating changes.
e.g., Apple is perceived as the most expensive brand. Apple should not let this image dictate
what they are. Apple should keep trying to make perceive their brand differently (values) to
consumers.
The Brand Position Trap
A brand position is the part of the brand identity and value preposition that is to be actively
communicate to the target audience and that demonstrates an advantage over competing
brands
There is a distinction between Brand Image , Brand identity and Brand positioning

BRAND IDENTITY BRAND POSITION

BRAND IMAGE
How the brand is now How strategists want the The part of the brand
perceived brand to be perceived identity and value
proposition to be
actively communicated
to a target audience

The Brand position trap occurs when the search for brand identity becomes a
search for brand positioning stimulated by a practical need to provide objectives to those
developing the communication programs. The goal then becomes an advertising tag line rather
than a brand identity.
The trap will prevent a full-fledged brand identity. Positioning trap focuses on product
attributes and there is no room for brand personality, organizational associations
or brand symbols. A brand position does not have texture and depth to guide brand
building effort which event to sponsor, what should be the store display. There is a need
for richer and more complete understanding of what the brand stands for. E.g., Apple’s
brand identity is imagination, design, and innovation. It is not just known by its products and its
attributes but for the innovation they bring in the market.
e.g., Apple products and iOS is not the only identity of the brand but more than that about how
emotional brand it is, and how innovative brand it is.
The External perspective trap-
To an advertiser a brand identity is something that gets customers to buy the product or
service because of how they perceive that brand. The orientation is entirely external.
The external perspective trap occurs when firms fail to realize the role that a
brand identity can play in an organization understands its basic values and
purpose.
62

Because an effective identity is in part on a disciplined effort to specify the strengths, values, and
vision of the brand, it can provide a vehicle to communicate internally what the brand is about. It
is hard to expect employees to make a vision happen if they do not understand and buy into
that vision.
It helps to answer the question “what does your organization stand for”
e.g., if Apple’s products are bought for only features and attributes and the
employees do not understand what the brand stands for, they would not be able
to bring the innovation in the market. Without brand identity Apple is nothing, not
even its products. Apple is expected to realize the values and purpose of their
existence and that can be built even amongst consumers.
The Product – Attribute Fixation-
This is the most common trap. In this case product attributes are focused on the
belief that consumers make purchase decision on attributes of a product. But a
brand is much more than a product. The failure to distinguish between a product
and a brand creates the product fixation trap. Based in part on the erroneous assumption
that those attributes are the only relevant bases for customer decisions and competitive dynamics,
Product – Attribute research
The product – attribute fixation trap is often caused by a reliance focusing on
attributes. Such research is popular due to various reasons:
• It is often effective, as attributes are important to purchase decision and user
experience

• It is relative, easy as customers are more comfortable talking about attributes

than about tangible benefits

• Managers are reassured those customers evaluate brands using logical model,
which means that their decision are easier to predict and understand.

The firms believe that they have extensive data in hand while the research conducted is
more restricted to a list of product attributes. This problem is particularly severe in the
world of IT, Industrial goods and durable goods where mangers are especially fond of
the rational customer model e.g., People buy an Apple not because of the product
attributes but they buys because of the upscale, high tech& innovative brand identity
that Apples restores with brand, in reality, however, the brand also delivers the feeling of buying
and using the best.

Continue…
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● The Energizer rabbit is an upbeat, undefeatable personality who never runs out of
energy Just as the battery it symbolizes runs longer than others.
● A brand personality that represents a functional benefit or attribute may be
relatively ineffective if it lacks a visual image established in the customer’s mind.
● A country or region of origin can add credibility to an identity It can generate a
strong personality that provides a quality cue and a key point of differentiation. ●
E.g. German made cars so precise and comes with no fault.

Creating Brand Personality -

● There are various ways of creating brand personality. One way is to match the
brand personality as closely as possible to that of the consumers or to a personality
that they like. The process will be:
1. Define the target audience
2. Find out what they need, want and like
3. Build a consumer personality profile
4. Create the product personality to match that profile
Levi Strauss - This type of approach is favored by companies such as Levi Strauss, who research
their target audience precisely. For Levis the result is a master-brand personality that is: original

● Masculine
● Sexy
● Youthful
● Rebellious
● Individual
● Free
● American

A related product brand personality (for a specific customer group) such as Levi's 501 jeans is:

● Romantic
● Sexually attractive
● Rebellious
● Physical prowess
● Resourceful
● Independent
● Likes being admired
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Both profiles appeal mostly to the emotional side of people's minds - to their feelings and
sensory function. This profiling approach aims to reinforce the self-concept of the
consumers and their aspirations. The approach is ideal for brands that adopt a market-
niche strategy, and can be extremely successful if a market segment has a high degree of global
homogeneity, as is the case with Levis.

User Imagery vs Brand Personality -

● User imagery can be based on either typical users (people you see using the brand)
or idealized users (as portrayed in advertising and elsewhere).
● User imagery can be a powerful driver of brand person ality, in part because the
user is already a person and thus the difficulty of conceptualizing the brand
personality is reduced ● It describes who or what type of person, might use that
product / brand.
● Somebody may identify himself as Mercedes owner or Volvo driver. ● The recent
TVC of Raymond’s,( playing with puppies) focuses on soft side of man (i.e., caring
and loving) and also on subtle aspects of lifestyles of executives.
● Here the focus is on emotional aspects rather than on functional attributes.
● User imagery also communicates about the lifestyle of the user.
● User imagery results in user-driven image which is transferred to the Brand.
● Brand personality needs to be updated with change in user imagery and information
so that the brand remains contemporary and relevant
● The Thumbs up, Marlboro, are classic examples for 'user imagery' contributing to
brand personality & success.
● In fact, some of the brands have become cult brands in which brand personally
played prominent role.

The Big 5 -

1. Down-to-earth, family oriented, genuine, old-fashioned (Sincerity). This might describe

brands like Hallmark, Kodak, and even Coke. The relationship might be like one that
exists with a well-liked and respected member of the family. Eg. SBI, Bata, Cadbury’s,
Tropicana, Medimix.
2. Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing (Excitement). In the soft drink category, Pepsi fits
this mold more than Coke. Especially on a weekend evening, it might be enjoyable to
have a friend who has these personality characteristics. Examples: Pepsi, Lakme, Sprite,
Mountain Dew.
3. Accomplished, influential, competent (Competence). Perhaps Hewlett-Packard, CNN and
the Wall Street Journal might fit this profile. Think of a relationship with a person whom
you respect for their accomplishments, such as a teacher, minister or business leader;
65

perhaps that is what a relationship between a business computer and its customer should
be like. Examples: IBM, HCL, Infosys, Microsoft
4. Pretentious, wealthy, condescending (Sophistication). For some, this would be BMW,
Mercedes, or Lexus (with gold trim) as opposed to the Mazda Miata or the VW Polo. The
relationship could be like one with a powerful boss or a rich relative.Examples:
Mercedes, L’Oreal, Apple, Tanishq
5. Athletic and outdoorsy (Ruggedness). Nike (versus LA Gear), Marlboro (versus Virginia
Slims), and Wells Fargo (versus Bank of America) are examples. When planning an
outing, a friend with outdoorsy interests would be welcome. Examples: Wrangler,
Reebok, Woodland, XUV 500.
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Brand positioning – Chapter 3

Syllabus:
● Definition
● Importance of Brand Positioning
● Perceptual Mapping
● Four components
● Positioning Strategy
● Cornerstone
______________________________________________________________________

Definition
*Brand positioning is how a product is perceived in the minds of customer
Kotler defines positioning as an “Act of designing the company’s offering and image
to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of target market and how it is
distinguished from that of competitors.
Ries & Trout defines “Positioning starts with the product. But positioning is not what you
do to the product. Positioning is what you do the mind of the prospects
The four components of brand positioning are:
1. Product class

2. Consumer segmentation

3. Consumer perception

4. Brand benefits & attributes

These four components of the positioning concept are so closely interwoven that they
must be taken together when we consider the positioning of a brand.
Positioning requires defining our desired or ideal brand knowledge structures and
establishing points-of-parity and points-of-difference to establish the right brand identity
and brand image. Unique, meaningful points-of-difference (PODs) provide a
competitive advantage and the “reason why” consumers should buy the brand.
On the other hand, some brand associations can be roughly as favorable as those
of competing brands, so they function as points-of-parity (POPs) in consumers’
minds—and negate potential points-of-difference for competitors. In other words,
these associations are designed to provide “no reason why not” for consumers
to choose the brand.
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The essence of brand positioning is that the brand has a sustainable competitive
advantage or “unique selling proposition” that gives consumers a compelling reason
why they should buy it. Marketers can make this unique difference explicit through direct
comparisons with competitors, or they may highlight it implicitly. They may base it on
performance-related or non-performance-related attributes or benefits.
Product class:
A product class or product market can be defined as the set of products and brands
which are perceived as substitutes to satisfy some specific consumer need A
brand manager must be ever aware that he may suddenly find himself face-to-face with
an infiltrator from across the historical border
For e.g., brands, like Haldiram and Bengali sweets comfortable position was
suddenly challenged by a brand from another product class altogether. The first
appearance of Cadbury's celebration “Kuch meeta Ho jaaye “came as a rude
shock being launched against synonymous with traditional mithai.
Pond's Cold Cream's comfortable position seems to have been suddenly challenged by
a brand from another product class altogether. Lakme's Winter Care Lotion ad said cold
cream and moisturizer in one"
Oberholser of Young and Rubicam calls this - the choice of product class - the first
'positioning' decision of the advertising strategist.
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Consumer Segmentation
This is the mantra that all marketers must live by: One-size-fits-all doesn’t fit, never did, and
never will. Most of us would be well versed in the theory and significance of consumer
segmentation.
A market is the set of all actual and potential buyers who have sufficient interest in,
income for, and access to a product. Market segmentation divides the market into
distinct groups of homogeneous consumers who have similar needs and consumer
behavior, and who thus require similar marketing mixes. Market segmentation requires
making trade-offs between costs and benefits. The more finely segmented the market,
the more likely that the firm will be able to implement marketing programs that meet the
needs of consumers in any one segment. That advantage, however, can be offset by
the greater costs of reduced standardization. So, the other segment is heterogeneous.
They command customized products, also do have different needs.
What is the profile of the consumers whom our brand will serve and what are their
needs?
One cannot think of 'positioning' a product or a brand except in relation to a particular
target segment.
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Behavioral segmentation bases are often most valuable in understanding branding

issues because they have clearer strategic implications. For example, defining a benefit
segment makes it clear what should be the ideal point-of-difference or desired benefit
with which to establish the positioning. Take the toothpaste market. One research study
uncovered four main segments:
1. The Sensory Segment: Seeking flavor and product appearance 2. The Sociable:
Seeking brightness of teeth 3. The Worriers: Seeking decay prevention 4. The
Independent Segment: Seeking low price
Leading brands-those with very large market shares-tend to position themselves across
several segments: for example, Horlicks, "the great nourisher" (about 75% market
share- children, women, athletes, biscuits). Other brands are focused more narrowly
like ‘Complan’ which is the "complete planned food for growing children".
Positioning is a theory that was born out of the intense competition let loose by a great
proliferation of brands
Target market and positioning strategies are like the two sides of a coin. They are
inseparable; each depends upon the other.
Perceptual Mapping
What perceptual mapping does is to represent consumer perceptions-in (usually)
two-dimensional space so that the brand manager can readily see where his own
brand is positioned in the mind of his prospect and in relation to other. The word
‘perceptual’ comes from the word ‘perception’, which basically refers to the consumers’
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understanding of the competing products and their associated attributes. The most
common presentation format for a perceptual map is to use two determinant attributes
as the X and Y axes of a graph,
Perceptual mapping help organization identify gaps in the market.
Before deciding to fill any gaps in the market firms need to ensure that there is likely to
be a demand for a product positioned in the gap
Example –

You will note that only two product attributes have been considered. In this case, they
are ‘to what extent does the consumer consider the product to be high/low in sugar’ and
‘to what extent is a product considered high/low in caffeine’.
The simple combination of these two scores (probably obtained from a consumer
survey) places the product offering onto the map. For example, on this map, the 7-Up
product offering is perceived as having a moderate level of sugar and being relatively
low in caffeine’.

Brand Attributes and Benefits

The physical existence of a brand is no assurance that it has a position in the target
consumer's mind.
To enter that coveted territory-the consumer's perceptual space and to secure a
'position' there, the brand must satisfy his question:
“What's in it for me?”
It must offer a benefit which is of importance to him.
Brand associations may be either brand attributes or benefits. Brand attributes are those
descriptive features that characterize a product or service. Brand benefits are the
personal value and meaning that consumers attach to the product or service attributes.
Consumers form beliefs about brand attributes and benefits in different ways.
Case study on brand positioning: ANTABAX Antabax is a Malaysian personal care
brand that offers a range of antibacterial products. Antabax first started with its three
soap ranges: Shield, Gentle, and Balance. But the challenge for Antabax is to convince
71

customers that its products belong in the “hygiene care” category, the same category as
some of Antabax’s competitors: Lifebuoy, Protex, and Dettol. Despite the brand’s
longevity, the company fears that customers still don’t see its products as sitting within
the health and hygiene category. By dubbing them “Halal health care products,”
Antabax has reformulated and repackaged its personal care products. The company is
also working on new schemes which aim to increase customer awareness. For
instance, it has introduced a new brand ambassador, Malaysian singer Ziana Zain, who
is involved with the Antabax new range product launches and roadshows. It has also
started an Antabax Facebook contest called “2012—My Attribution Year for Others,”
and has been promoting the Antabax family of products with a “hygiene” concept in
schools. Today, Antabax is the fastest growing brand within the bar and liquid
medicated category.

______________________________________________________________________
______

Cornerstone of Brand positioning

Brand positioning helps a brand manager to strategize as to where he can locate a
niche in the market where the brand may be perceived by his target segment as unique
and where it will hold a competitive edge.
The market position of a brand shows where a specific brand is located. It shows
the relationship between two competitive brands
These strategies revolve around four strategic questions: (THESE POINTERS CAN
ALSO BE USED TO SOLVE CASE STUDY) 1)
Who am I?
2) What am I?
3) For whom am I?
4) Why me?
1) Who am I?
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This question concerns the corporate credentials of the Brand. The prospect needs
to think of the brand in terms of its origin, family tree and stable from which it
comes;
the idea being that this can give a brand competitive advantage
Positioning by corporate identity
Most of the durables use this positioning for e.g., ITC is a corporate brand and Sunfeast uses
the endorser’s name to introduce the new product range. E.g., Bingo, Aashirwaad, Vivel.
This can be a such a strong positioning element that companies who market each
brand under a different name, e.g. Liril, Lux, Rexona, Pears, Lifebuoy) Nevertheless
introduce the corporate credential as a by line: A quality product from Hindustan Lever.
Positioning by Brand endorsement
When a brand becomes successful the marketer can exploit their success as their
strength when they want to enter another product category. For e.g., Nirma washing
powder gave the same name to its detergent bar as its logical after the phenomenon
success. Third entry –toilet soap also bears the same name in this highly competitive
market of toilet soaps, Nirma Salt and Nirma University as well. Godrej also uses its
name when the brand enters different product categories. Godrej soaps, locks, hair dye,
concept furniture.
2) What am I?
• The positioning strategy here revolves around the question of product functional
capabilities.

A. Category related positioning

B. Benefit related

C. Positioning by usage and time

D. Price quality positioning

Category related
An important decision in differentiating strategy in an overcrowded market is to take the
same basic product and position it in another category, provided the attributes of the
product to match the consumer expectation.
This is referred as macro positioning or inter-set positioning
Example: Skimmed milk powder
Reconstitute milk
Whitener for tea or coffee
Weight watcher
As per international trends can enter breakfast food category and position your
milk powder as an instant breakfast
Benefit related
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Benefit position Brand

● Cosmetic: White, Bright teeth ● Pepsodent whitening

● Fresh Breath ● Close up

● Taste, Decay prevention ● Colgate Salt

● Sensitive teeth ● Sensodyne

● Gum care and therapeutic ● Colgate Total, Babool Neem,

Meswak

Positioning by usage of Occasion and time

• Milkmaid dominated the desert usage

• Vicks VapoRub- Child’s cold a night

• Burnol- antiseptic ointment for burns

• Dettol antiseptic is for nicks and cuts

• If you have a good position for your brand sit on it make it your domain

• Dettol soap relaunched in 1984 made a headway – 100% bath

Price- quality positioning

• PRICE- QUALITY LEVEL IS MOST SUITABLE FOR A GIVEN NEED

• Nirma, Tide or Rin for price-Quality positioning. On the contrary Pride of

cows- premium quality and premium price

For whom am I?
Demographic Age, income, sex, occupation, education sometimes geographic location
Behavioral for instance in terms of usage volume: heavy, medium, light users
Psychographic - personality, lifestyle, social class

Why me?
Unique attributes
Companies like Nestle, P&G, Nirma will not market a product unless they have
endowed it with some unique attributes. E.g., Pride of cows promises unique benefits of
fresh packed organic milk of cows that gives different experience to consumers.
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When Tuborg beer launched in 2009 in India by introducing a unique pull-off cap,
which lends consumers freedom to enjoy their drink without having to look for a bottle
opener. Tetra packed milk, juices to keep it fresh for long time. Burger king with no
frozen patty.
Positioning by competitors
• Comparison advertising

• Pepsi vs Coke

• Colgate v/s Pepsodent

• Apple v/s Samsung and Google

Positioning Strategies (FOR CASE STUDY SOLUTION THESE POINTERS CAN

ALSO BE USED)
There are 7 positioning strategies
1. Positioning by Product
2. Positioning by Price/ Quality
3. Positioning by use or application
4. Positioning by product class
5. Positioning by product user
6. Positioning by Competitor
7. Positioning by cultural symbols

1. Positioning by Product Attributes and Benefits:

Associating a product with an attribute, a product feature, or a consumer feature.

Sometimes a product can be positioned in terms of two or more attributes simultaneously.
Generally, whenever a brand is launched, its positioned-on Product attributes.

Consider the example of Ariel that offers a specific benefit of cleaning even the dirtiest of clothes
because of the micro cleaning system in the product.

Colgate offers benefits of preventing cavity and fresh breath. Surf excel- dirt is good – Daag
ache hain.

2. Positioning by Price/ Quality

One way they do it is with ads that reflect the image of a high-quality brand where cost, while not
irrelevant, is considered secondary to the quality benefits derived from using the brand.
Premium brands positioned at the high end of the market use this approach to
positioning.
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Another way to use price/ quality characteristics for positioning is to focus on the quality or
value offered by the brand at a very competitive price.
Lux soap gives better quality at low cost and the wheel detergent or Rin soap which
always focuses on the value addition and price- Rin Bar @ Rs 5/-

3. Positioning by use or application

Another way is to communicate a specific image or position for a brand is to associate it with a
specific use or application. Example: Vanish is positioned as stain remover- Think Pink
forget stains. Colgate pain out

4. Positioning by product class

Often the competition for a product comes from outside the product class. The product is
positioned against others that, while not the same, provide the same class of benefits. Airlines
know that while they compete with other airlines, trains and buses are also viable alternatives.
Dove is positioned as a moisturizer, not a soap.
Dettol soap is positioned as a germ killer

5. Positioning by product user

Positioning a product by associating it with a user or group of users is yet another approach.
Dove, Sunsilk GOG.

6. Positioning by Competitor
Competitors may be as important to positioning strategy as a firm’s own product or services.
This approach is like positioning by product class, although in this case the competition is within
the same product category.
For e.g., Audi v/s BMW, Mercedes. Moov compares itself with Iodex.

7. Positioning by cultural symbols

An additional positioning strategy where in the cultural symbols are used to differentiate the
brands.
Examples would be Humara Bajaj, Tata Tea, Taj Hotel, Ronald McDonald, India gate
Basmati Rice, Air India etc.
Each of these symbols has successfully differentiated the product it represents from competitors

Qualities of Brand positioning

1. Relevance

Positions that do not focus on benefits that are important to people or reflect the
character of the product will fail. Often in their search for differentiation, marketers seize
upon some attribute in their product which is different but, is of little concern to
customers. This is a waste of time and money. Air India symbolizes graciousness
and high living is an example of a powerful position based on the service
provided by Air India. Lipton Green tea is relevant for weightwatchers.
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2.Clarity
A position should be easy to communicate and quick to comprehend. Difficulty in either
suggests that a position is too fuzzy to be of value to the brand. Utterly-butterly
delicious AMUL established Amul butter over the years and still strongly holds the
dominant position in the market. Surf excel- daag ache hai.
● 3. Distinctiveness

People have few needs that are unfulfilled, and they have many choices to fill the needs they
have. If a brand's position lacks distinctiveness it will be forced to compete on the bases of
price or promotion; expensive strategies that will not build brand equity in the long term . E.g.,
Lot of brands are there to provide online services, but Amazon stands distinct due to its prime
delivery. Bose for noise cancellation headphones.

4. Coherence
Speak with one voice through all the elements of the marketing mix if you wish to
create a strong position If, for example, a brand that is positioned as premium
quality and price appears in an end-aisle "sale" display, its quality image will suffer.
All collaterals marketing and others should reflect and translate the brand's position into the
appropriate form for the media.
5. Commitment
Often people will get nervous when a strong position threatens to ignore or even alienate some
segment of the population as a price of clearly communicating to the desired target. Once a
position is adopted, it takes commitment to see it through, in the face of criticism and pot
shots.

6. Patience
Crest has dominated its market for over thirty years. When it was first introduced positioned
as a cavity fighter its share never rose above 13% for three years. The ADA approval was
the key to launching the brand to over 40% of the market. Had P&G lost patience after two or
three years, someone else would be enjoying the profits of this powerful brand position.

7. Courage
It goes without saying that adopting a strong brand position requires bravery. It is much
easier to defend an appeal to everyone with a rather generic sales pitch. You must believe that
the position makes strategic sense for the brand and then stick to your guns. e.g., Ferrari,
Dyson
Adopting a strong position is not a passive act; rather it is a deliberate attempt to
influence events. It requires ignoring certain business targets in favor of others, and if
successful, will yield growth in sales and profits and a consumer franchise who believe
that your brand has no adequate substitute, even if it costs more.
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Brand Equity

Syllabus :

1. Definition
2. Step in creating Brand Equity.
3. Brand Awareness
4. Perceived Quality
5. Brand Association
6. Brand Loyalty
7. Other Brand Assets

David Aaker defines brand equity as “a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand,
its name and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service
to a firm and / or to that firm's customers”.

Most observers agree that brand equity consists of the marketing effects uniquely
attributable to a brand. That is, brand equity explains why different outcomes result from
the marketing of a branded product or service than if it were not branded. Differences in
outcomes arise from the “added value” endowed to a product because of past marketing
activity for the brand. This value can be created for a brand in many ways. Brand equity
provides a common denominator for interpreting marketing strategies and assessing the
value of a brand. There are many ways in which the value of a brand can be demonstrated
or exploited to benefit the firm (in terms of greater profits or lower costs or both).

Brand equity is grouped into 5 categories

The assets and liabilities on which brand equity is based will differ from context to context.
However, they can be usefully grouped into five categories:
1. Brand loyalty
2. Brand awareness
3. Perceived quality
4. Brand associations in addition to perceived quality
5. Other proprietary brand assets—patents, trademarks, channel relationships, etc.
78

Perceived
Brand Brand
quality
awarenes Associations
s
Other proprietary
Brand Brand assets
Loyalty

Brand Equity
Name
Symbol
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Providing Value To The Customer

Brand-equity assets generally add or subtract value for customers.

They can help them interpret, process, and store huge quantities of information about
products and brands. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it,
then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to
make a product decision. Based on what they already know about the brand—its quality,
product characteristics, and so forth—consumers can make assumptions and form
reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand.

They also can affect customers' confidence in the purchase decision (due to either past-use
experience or familiarity with the brand and its characteristics). Potentially, more important is
the fact that both perceived quality and brand associations can enhance customers'
satisfaction with the use experience. To the extent that consumers realize advantages and
benefits from purchasing the brand, and as long as they derive satisfaction from product
consumption, they are likely to continue to buy it.

Knowing that a piece of jewellery came from Tanishq can affect the experience of wearing
it: The user can feel different.

Providing Value To The Firm

As part of its role in adding value for the customer, brand equity has the potential to add
value for the firm by generating marginal cash flow in at least half a dozen ways.

First, it can enhance programs to attract new customers or recapture old ones.

A promotion, for example, which provides an incentive to try a new flavor or new use will be
more effective if the brand is familiar, and if there is no need to combat a consumer skeptical
of brand quality e.g., Kurkure puffcorn, new flavors of Lays.

Second, the last four brand equity dimensions can enhance brand loyalty.

The perceived quality, the associations, competitive advantage, and the awareness of brand
can provide reasons to buy and can affect use satisfaction

Third, brand equity will usually allow higher margins by permitting both premium
pricing and reduced reliance upon promotions

Fourth, brand equity can provide a platform for growth via brand-extensions Nestle’s
Maggi as we have seen, has been extended into several food products categories, creating
business areas that would have been much more expensive to enter without the Maggi
name. E.g., Maggi’s ketchup, and its flavors, Maggi’s instant noodles and flavors, masala-
emagic.

Fifth, brand equity can provide leverage in the distribution channel

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Like customers, the trade has less uncertainty dealing with a proven brand name that has
already achieved recognition and associations. A strong brand will have an edge in gaining
both shelf facings and cooperation in implementing marketing programs

Finally, brand equity assets provide a competitive advantage that often presents a real
barrier to competitors.

An association e g, Tide is the detergent for tough family laundry jobs may block an attribute
that is important for a given segment. For example, another brand would find it difficult to
compete with Tide for the "tough cleaning job" segment

Brand Awareness

People will often buy a familiar brand because they are comfortable with the
familiarity. Or there may be an assumption that a brand that is familiar is probably
reliable, in business to stay, and of reasonable quality.

A recognized brand will thus often be selected over an unknown brand.

Brand awareness is the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a

brand is a member of a certain product category It refers to the strength of a brand's
presence in the consumer's mind.

A link between product class and brand is involved.

For e.g., the use of a large balloon with the word Levi's on it may make the Levi’s
name more salient, but it will not necessarily help improve name awareness.

However, if the balloon is shaped to resemble a pair of Levi's 301 jeans, the link to
the product is provided, and the balloon's effectiveness at creating awareness
is enhanced.
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Brand Awareness may exist in three

levels

 Brand Recognition
 Brand Recall
 Top of the mind

Brand Awareness Pyramid (Draw

this diagram)

Dominant in the mind

(Colgate)
Top of the mind (Pepsodent )
Closeup)
Brand recall (Himalaya-
Sensodyne)
Brand Recognition (Miswak, Anchor,
Promise
Unaware of the brand
(CREST)

Brand Recognition
Brand recognition is at the bottom level of the awareness pyramid When a person can
confirm the experience, the brand is said to have been recognized.

Brand recognition is particularly important under low involvement buying situations especially
when the decision is taken in stores or at the time of purchasing.

In Brand recognition test the ability of the consumers to identify the brand element like
– brand name, packaging, brand symbol is high.

Brand Recall
A more rigorous test of brand awareness is brand recall. Recall related to the ability of the
customer or prospect to retrieve the brand from memory.

In case of recognition the respondent is exposed to brand elements (Symbol, Name, LOGO)
wither, disguised or undisguised. This makes recognition easier

Brand Recall may be tested into two forms:

 1) Aided Recall
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 2) Unaided Recall

Aided recall could be gauged by asking the respondent to mention the brands in a particular
product category (e.g., Name a few brands in detergent)
A measure of the number of people who express knowledge of a brand or product when
prompted (brand recognition).

The respondent may name some like Surf, Ariel, Tide, Nirma

These brands indicate a strong position in the mind.

The first recalled brand indicated the strongest position of the brand those recalled. It is Top of
the Mind awareness and dominant brand is where the consumer loyalty is proved despite
competitors in the market, where consumer and brand enjoy the attachment, engaged and
loyalty.

Which of the following bottled water brands have you heard of? (Select all that apply)

• Aquafina
• Dasani
• Kinley
• Bislery

Some brands may lie in the memory, yet may not be recalled

This suggests a weak position

Investigation often use aided recall tests to get a complete picture

For instance, the product attribute (Recall all brands of detergent with blue color)

A brand which could be recalled on without a variety of hints suggests greater brand strength.
For e.g., the brand Surf is recalled in most of the said situations as given below.

Unaided recall: A measure of the number of people who express knowledge of a

brand or product without prompting (brand recall).
What bottled water brands are you familiar with? (Please write your answers in
the box below)
What all brands’ names come to your mind when you think of detergents?
SURF, ARIEL, NIRMA
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Mention the detergent brand which in blue color (Product attributes)

SURF, RIN, HENKO, FENA

Mention the brands which are the soak and rinse type. (Usage form)
SURF EXCEL, ARIEL

Mention the detergent brands which are usually bought in larger quantity
(Quantity of Purchase) SURF, NIRMA, FENA, WHEEL

Mention the brands which are given to servants /maids for washing purposes
(usage situation) NIRMA, FENA, WHEEL

Mention the brands which are used for special garments such as silk, woolen,
special cotton (application) EZEE, Genteel, Surf Excel liquid wash
___________________________________________________________________
______

Perceived Quality

Perceived quality can be defined as the customer's perception of the overall quality or
superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to
alternatives

Perceived quality is an intangible, overall feeling about a brand. It is, first, a

perception by customers. It thus differs from several related concepts, such as Actual or
objective quality - the extent to which the product or service delivers superior service

Product-based quality - the nature and quantity of ingredients, features, or

services included
Manufacturing quality - conformance to specification, the "zero defect" goal
Satisfaction A customer can be satisfied because he or she had low expectations
about the performance level. High- perceived quality is not consistent with low
expectations.

Attitude - A positive attitude could be generated because a product of inferior quality is

very inexpensive. Conversely, a person could have a negative attitude toward a
highquality product that is overpriced.

Perceived quality is a brand association that is elevated to the status of a brand asset
for several reasons
Among all brand associations, only perceived quality has been shown to drive the
financial performance.
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Perceived quality is often a major (if not the principal) strategic thrust of a business.
Perceived quality is linked to and often drives other aspects of how a brand is
perceived.

Perceived quality is usually at the heart of what customers are buying, and in that
sense, it is a bottom-line measure of the impact of a brand identity

When perceived quality improves, so generally do other elements of customers'

perception of the brand.

Perceived quality will directly influence purchase decisions and brand loyalty,
especially when a buyer is not motivated or able to conduct a detailed analysis

Brand Association

A brand association is anything "linked" in memory to a brand.

Thus, McDonald's could be linked to a character such as Ronald McDonald, a
consumer segment such as kids, a feeling such as having fun, a product
characteristic such as service, a symbol such as the Golden Arches.
A brand image is a set of associations, usually organized in some meaningful way.

An association and an image both represent perceptions, which may or may not reflect objective
reality

A well-positioned brand will have a competitively attractive position supported by strong

associations.

"Cadillac is positioned as an upscale car competitive to Mercedes" could mean that

Cadillac is trying to be so perceived, and not necessarily that it has succeeded.

These associations might include product attributes, a celebrity spokesperson, or a particular

symbol.

Brand associations are driven by the brand identity - what the organization wants the brand
to stand for in the customer's mind.

A key to building strong brands, then, is to develop and implement a brand identity.

Brand Loyalty:
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Brand Loyalty Pyramid (Pl DRAW THE DIAGRAM OTHERWISE YOU WON’T GET MARKS)

The bottom level (Non -Loyal Buyer):

The bottom loyalty level is the non-loyal buyer who is completely indifferent to the
brandeach brand is perceived to be adequate and the brand name plays little role in the
purchase decision. Whatever is on sale or convenient is preferred. This buyer might be
termed a switcher

2nd level (No reason to change)

The second level includes buyers who are satisfied with the product or at least not
dissatisfied. These buyers might be termed habitual buyers. Such segments can be
vulnerable to competitors that can create a visible benefit to switching. However, they can be
difficult to reach since there is no reason for them to be on the lookout for alternatives.

3rd level – Satisfied buyer with switching cost: The third level consists of those who are
also satisfied and, in addition, have switching costs--costs in time, money, or performance
risk associated with switching. To attract these buyers, competitors need to overcome the
switching costs by offering an inducement to switch or by offering a benefit large enough to
compensate. This group might be called switching-cost loyal.

4th level – Likes the brand considers it as a friend

On the fourth level we find those that truly like the brand. Their preference may be based
upon an association such as a symbol, a set of use experiences, or a high perceived quality
Segments at this fourth level might be termed friends of the brand because there is an
emotional feeling attachment

5th level – Committed customers

The top level is of committed customers: They have a pride of discovering and / or being
users of a brand. The brand is very important to them either functionally or as an expression
of who they are.
Their confidence is such that they will recommend the brand to others.
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The value of the committed customer is not so much the business he or she generates but,
rather, the impact upon others and upon the market itself.

These five levels are stylized; they do not always appear in the pure form and others could
be conceptualized. For example, there will be customers who will appear to have some
combination of these levels i.e., buyers who like the brand and have switching costs. These
five levels do, however, provide a feeling for the variety of forms that loyalty can take and
how it impacts upon brand equity

_________________________________________________________________________
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Brand Equity Models

1. Brand Equity Ten
2. Y & R (Graveyard model)
3. Brand Asset Valuator (BAV)
4. Equi Trend
5. Inter brand

David Aaker defines brand equity as “a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a
brand, its name and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product
or service to a firm and / or to that firm's customers”. DO NOT FORGET THIS.

Brand equity refers to the added value that a brand name gives to a product beyond the functional
benefits provided. The brand name becomes an intangible asset if marketers are able to
create brand equity.
Examples: Successful, established brand names, such as Google, Gatorade, and Apple, have an equity
beyond functional value attached to their brand.

Brand equity TEN

The brand equity ten measures are grouped into five categories
The first four categories represent customer perceptions of the brand along the four
dimensions of brand equity— loyalty, perceived quality, associations and awareness.
The fifth includes two sets of market behavior measures that represent information
obtained from market-based information rather than directly from customers.
Loyalty Measures
1. Price Premium
2. Satisfaction/Loyalty
Perceived Quality/Leadership Measures
3. Perceived Quality
4. Leadership/popularity
Associations/Differentiation Measures
5. Perceived Value
6. Brand Personality
7. Organizational Associations
Awareness Measures
8. Brand Awareness Market Behavior Measures
9. Market Share
10. Market Prices and Distribution Coverage
Loyalty Measures
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1. Price Premium
A basic indicator of loyalty is the amount a customer will pay for the brand in
comparison with another brand offering similar or fewer benefits
For e.g A customer be willing to pay 15 percent more for Coke than for Pepsi.
This is called the price premium associated with the brand's loyalty, and it may be high
or low and positive or negative depending on the two brands involved in the
comparison.
For instance, a customer might be asked, "How much more would you pay to be able to
buy a Toyota Camry instead of a Honda Accord?"
One problem with the price premium is that it is defined only with respect to a
competitor or set of competitors
2. Customer Satisfaction /Loyalty
Satisfaction (or liking) is a direct measure of how willing customers are to stick to
a brand

A direct measure of satisfaction can be applied to existing customers, perhaps defined

as those who used the product or service in the last year.

Satisfaction is a powerful measure in service businesses (such as car rental

firms, hotels, or banks), where loyalty is often the cumulative result of the use
experiences

Another type of measure would be the level of loyalty in terms of the number of
brands, where customers would be asked if they felt loyal to one, two, three, or
more brands, or if they see all brands as pretty much the same.

An important limitation of satisfaction measures is that they do not really apply to

noncustomers

Thus, it is often necessary to develop a set of loyalty measures by loyalty segment.

Perceived Quality And Leadership Measures

3. Perceived Quality
Perceived quality is one of the key dimensions of brand equity. It is all about the
values with reference to quality, associated with the brand which the customer
retains in his mind. Perceived quality can be measured with scales such as the
following:
High quality versus inferior quality
Best in category versus worst in category
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Consistent quality versus inconsistent quality

Finest quality versus average quality versus inferior quality
Perceived quality may not be a key driver in some contexts

4. Leadership And Popularity

The leadership and popularity is about whether the brand is the market leader or not
and what is it positioning among competitors.
For example, Crest's strong position as the leading toothpaste is based on the brand's
long-standing endorsement by the American Dental Association.
When competitors such as Ann & Hammer introduced baking powder toothpaste and
innovative packaging, however, they made a real dent in Crest's customer base. Even
though the perceived quality of Crest may not have changed as a result, its brand
equity was damaged.
Leadership thus can be measured by scales that ask whether a brand is the following:
🞊 A category leader
🞊 Growing more popular
🞊 Respected for innovation
Associations/Differentiation Measures 5)
Perceived Value:
One role of brand identity is to create a value proposition. This is all about whether
the brand generates value or else it is vulnerable to competitors. Brand value thus
can be measured by the following:
Whether the brand proves good value for the money?
Whether there is a reason to buy this brand over others?

This measure, like others, will be sensitive to the brand set that is used as a frame of
reference by the customer

6) Brand Personality

Brand Personality is a set of human characteristics associated with a brand.

Personality is how the brand behaves
A brand personality will involve a set of specific dimensions unique to the brand.

For a Charlie fragrance, for example, an excitement dimension may be important,

while a cowboy personality may have no relevance.
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When considering brand personality across products, one option would be to measure a
personality spectrum such as the Big Five.

Not all brands are personality brands, of course.

There is a question as to whether brand personality and its measures will be

sensitive to changes in brand equity.

7. Organizational Associations

Another dimension of brand identity is – an organization which can also be driver of

differentiation e.g., TATA

To tap the brand-as-organization, scales such as these could be considered ☞

This brand is made by an organization I would trust.
☞ I admire the brand X organization.
☞ I would be proud (or pleased) to do business with the brand X organization.
Again, the brand-as-organization (organizational attributes, local versus global), like the
brand-as-person (brand personality, brand-customer relationships), is not relevant for all
brands, and an irrelevant measure can be misinterpreted.

Awareness Measures

8 Brand Awareness

This is to measure the presence of the brand in the minds of customers through
recall, recognition , top of the mind, familiarity etc.
Awareness can also affect perceptions and attitudes .

There are a variety of awareness levels, and the appropriate one to use will differ across
brands and product classes, making comparison difficult

Awareness can be measured on different levels including the following

⮞ Recognition ("Have you heard of the Maruti ‘Swift’?")
⮞ Recall ("What brands of cars can you recall?")
⮞ Graveyard statistic (recall level of those who recognize the brand)
⮞ Top of mind (the first-named brand in a recall task)
⮞ Brand dominance (the only brand recalled)
⮞ Brand familiarity (the brand is familiar)
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⮞ Brand knowledge or salience (you have an opinion about the brand)

There are a variety of awareness levels, and the appropriate one to use will differ across
brands and product classes, making comparison difficult

Market Behavior Measures

The first eight sets of Brand Equity Ten measures all require a customer survey that can
be expensive, inconvenient, time-consuming, and hard to implement and interpret.
9.Market Share

The study of market share through sales figures not only provides accuracy but
also reflects the brands standing in the minds of the customer .

When the brand has a relative advantage in the minds of customers, market share
should increase or at least not decrease.

In contrast, when competitors improve their brand equity, their share should respond. In
this sense, market share is a good summary measure of brand equity.

10. Market Price and Distribution coverage

This measure deals with the price cuts that can affect the market and give a wrong
picture about the market share of the brand which becomes popular only during a
price cut.

It also measures the distribution network is bad, one may assume the brand is not
performing well, when in reality it is poor distribution and non availability of the brand
which is causing the poor market share

Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) MODEL

Young & Rubicam (Y &R) a major global advertising agency, who measured brand
equity for 450 global brands and more than 8,000 local brands in twenty-four countries.

Each brand was examined using a thirty-two-item questionnaire that included, in

addition to a set of brand personality scales, four sets of measures

a. Differentiation - Measures how distinctive the brand is in the marketplace

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b. Relevance - Measures whether a brand has personal relevance for the

respondent. Is it meaningful to him or her? Is it personally appropriate?

c. Esteem - Measures whether a brand is held in high regard and considered the
best in its class. Closely related to perceived quality and the extent to which
the brand is growing in popularity.

d. Knowledge - A measure of understanding as to what a brand stands for.

Differentiation comes first in the Y &R model. Brand that stands apart from their
competitors, and that provides one basis for brand strength. If there is no point of
difference, a brand's value will be low. A loss in differentiation is usually the first sign
that a strong brand is fading
Differentiation leads.

Relevance comes next. Unless a brand is relevant to a significant segment, it will not
attract a large customer base. Ferrari and Lamborghini are very high in differentiation
but extremely low in relevance; few individuals seriously consider buying one because
these cars are impractical for daily use or are too expensive. There is a strong
association between relevance and household penetration (the percentage of
households that buy the brand).

Brand Strength = Differentiation X Relevance

Brand strength represents differentiation multiplied by relevance. The logic is that a
brand must have both characteristics in order to be strong.

Esteem and knowledge complete the hierarchy and combine to form the brand stature
construct . Esteem combines perceived quality with perception of a growth or decline in
popularity. Esteem is largely based on perceived quality. But there are brands for which
a decline or growth in popularity affects esteem.

Knowledge indicates that the customer not only is aware of the brand but also
understands what the brand stands for. The true understanding of the brand-is the
culmination of the brand building effort.

Some brands rank higher in esteem than in knowledge

Brand Stature = Esteem X Knowledge

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Conversely a brand may have high knowledge but low esteem. This means that more
people know what the brand stands for, but relatively few hold it in high regard.
news channel and MTV are rated higher in Knowledge than in esteem and the same is
true with alcohol and cigarette brands

Brands with this profile are usually losing penetration, or they are serving a market that
has a polarized opinion about the brand.

Power Grid: Brand strength vs Brand Stature

Brand strength

► Brand must possess both differentiation and Relevance to be strong .e.g Disney,
Britannia , Hallmark

Brand Stature

► This strategic indicator is a combination of Esteem and Knowledge and reflects current
Brand performance ( Vodafone ,Pepsi)
► Esteem increases before Knowledge for Chocolates , Soft drinks and other impulse –
purchase products.

(PL DRAW THIS DIAGRAM FOR EXAM )

The Power grid:

Sets the strength process by identifying the strength or weakness of a brand.

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On the vertical axis we plot the brand strength – its relevance and differentiation ,
while on the horizontal axis the brand stature – esteem and knowledge

Quadrant I : Weak brand that could not leverage their strengths

Quadrant II: Here the Brand managers have not been able to realize their the true
potential of the brand, The strategy should be to build the stature of the brand

Quadrant III: the challenge for the brand here would be to continue to be a leader

Quadrant IV: The last quadrant spells “ Danger for the brand as an indicator of eroding
potential. These brands have failed to maintain relevant differentiation ( their core
strength) , If unattended , their stature will also begin to fall. Unless taken to stimulate
the differentiation and relevance , these brand will lose esteem and could eventually
fade out

The value of a brand depreciates if there is no continuous value addition.

This is critical for the brand to be a source of competitive advantage.

The task of a marketer is to go beyond measuring and leveraging the value of the
brand and add perceptible value continuously
Graveyard model

The relevance of the Graveyard model with reference to Indian brands

Brand Recall: A brand (for e.g. HDFC Bank) is said to have recall if it comes to
consumers’ minds when its product class (for e.g. , banking companies ) is
mentioned

The relative power of recall versus recognition is shown in the figure below which shows the
“ GRAVEYARD MODEL”
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The graveyard model was developed by Young and Rubicam Europe under the
guidance of Jim Williams.
In this model, brands in a product class are plotted on a recognition v/s recall graph
The Graveyard Model For e.g., the recall and recognition of each of the brands in the
automobile category could be measured and these measurements could be used to
position each brand on the graph.
One finding consistent across dozens of product classes is that brands tend to follow
the curved line shown in the figure.
There are two exceptions, each of which reveals the importance of recall.
One exception is healthy niche brands, which fall below the line because they are
not known to a substantial group of consumers, and therefore have relatively low
overall recognition. The second exception is the graveyard, an area in the upper
left-hand corner populated by brands with high recognition but low recall. Being
in the graveyard can be deadly:
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Customers know about the brand, but it will not come to mind when considering a
purchase.
Breaking out of the graveyard can be hindered by high recognition, because there is
little reason for people to listen to a story (however new) about a familiar brand.
One point of the graveyard model is that high recognition is not necessarily the mark of
a strong brand-it is associated with weak ones as well
The dynamics of brands located in the upper-middle or upper-right part of the figure can
be important predictors of future brand health.
Movement toward the graveyard is associated with sliding sales and market share.
If, however, the brand is moving away from the graveyard, sales and market share can
be expected to increase.
Thus the graveyard model provides evidence that recall is as important as recognition

EQUITREND
EquiTrend, developed by Total Research, provides a nice contrast to the Y&R Brand Asset
Evaluator measures. EquiTrend is based on a small set of simple yet powerful questions.
EquiTrend is based on measures of three brand equity assets.
The first is salience, the percentage of respondents who have an opinion about
the brand.
The second, perceived quality, is at the heart of EquiTrend. It has been found to
be highly associated with brand liking trust, pride and willingness to recommend .
The third, user satisfaction, is the average quality rating a brand receives among
consumers who use the brand most often. It provides the look at the strength of
brands within their user base.
The three measures are combined into an EquiTrend brand equity score.
Analysis of the EquiTrend data has shown that perceived quality is associated with
premium price. A strong brand commands a price premium, and a price premium is an
important quality cue.
Perceived quality is also known to affect usage. An interesting observation from the
EquiTrend database is that there is nearly a straight-line relationship between the
proportion of consumers using a brand most often and the perceived quality rating of the
brand. When the perceived quality rating fell, so did the usage.
__________________________________________________________________
INTERBRAND
Interbrand, used a very different approach to identify the strongest brands in the world,
and included the business prospects of the brand and the brand’s market environment,
as well as consumer perceptions.
► Leadership. A brand that leads its market sector is more stable and powerful than
that of the second-third-and fourth place brands.
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► Stability. Long-lived brands with identities that have become part of the fabric of the
market are particularly powerful and valuable.
► Market Sales. Brands are more valuable when they are in markets with growing or
stable sales levels and a price structure in which successful firms can be profitable.
► International. Brands that are international are more valuable than national or
regional brands, in part because of economies of scale.
► Trend. The overall long-term of the brand in terms of scales can be expected to
reflect future prospects.
► Support. Brands that have received consistent investment and focused support are
regarded as stronger.
► Protection. The strength and breadth of a brand’s legal trademark protection is critical
to the brand’s strength.
The business-oriented (versus consumer-oriented) view of the Interbrand criteria is
useful in part because it is a step closer to putting a financial value on the brand.
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CONCEPT: LEVERAGING STRATEGIES

• A brand leveraging strategy uses the power of an existing brand name to support a
company's entry into a new, but related, product category or at times expanding product
category.
• When a variant is added to an existing brand it is called Line Extension. The parent brand
is used to brand a new product that targets a new market segment within a product
category currently served by the parent brand. A line extension often involves a different
flavor or ingredient variety, a different form or size, or a different application for the brand
e.g., Maggi Masala Noodles, Maggi Atta noodles, Maggi chicken Noodles etc.

a ls

Umbrella branding : An umbrella brand can be referred to as a brand when a group of products
possess the same brand name which is known as a family brand or an umbrella brand. Different
products having different images are put together under one major brand or parent brand and are
marketed by the firm.
Umbrella branding does not mean that the whole product portfolio of a firm will fall under one
brand name as company can go for different approaches of branding for different product lines.
A family brand, also called a range brand or umbrella brand, is used in more than one product
category but is not necessarily the name of the company or corporation. E.g., Tata uses different
name for different products
EXAMPLES: Amul is an example of umbrella brand. Amul Butter, Amul Cheese spreads,
Amul Milk, Amul ice creams, Amul ghee all fall under single brand name AMUL.
Godrej is another example of umbrella brand. Products like locks, steel cupboards, office
furniture, electronic typewriters, desktop printers, refrigerators, air conditioners etc. all come
under one parent name GODREJ
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• CONCEPT- A brand leveraging strategy uses the power of an existing brand to expand
the product class or to support a company’s entry into a new product category
• Brand leveraging is an important form of new product introduction because it provides
consumers with a sense of familiarity by carrying positive brand characteristics and
attitudes into a new product category.
• Instant recognition of the brand is established, and consumers with a favorable brand
opinion are likely to try a new product they perceive to have similar quality level and
attributes as their original favorite
• One recipe for strategic success is to create and leverage assets.
• With its awareness, perceived quality, associations and customer loyalty, a brand is
usually the most powerful asset that a firm owns.
• A strategic question, then, is how that brand can be leveraged to create larger and
stronger business entities.
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LINE EXTENTION-
When a variant is added to an existing brand it is called Line Extension.
The variant could be in terms of flavor, package size, color, form, nutritional content or special
additives which targets a sub-set of consumers
The objective is to satisfy different consumer needs or market segments by providing more
variety.
Eg:-Nestle Maggi is available in different flavors like masala, chicken, chinese, curry and Jain
noodles
Nestle has also launched Atta noodles and Cuppa Mania
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Advantages
• Expanding The User Base:
• Brand-loyal customers may view a brand as serving their particular, unique needs—a
basic flavor of Gatorade, for example, may appeal to them. However, customers without
these unique needs may feel that the brand is not for them. Thus, a strong brand may
foster loyalty, but in an exclusionary way.
• A line extension can overcome this obstacle by expanding the brand's appeal. For
example, Cheerios is seen as a health-oriented breakfast staple, but Honey Nut Kellogg's
reaches out to those who prefer pre-sweetened cereals. Several food manufacturers have
introduced low-fat versions of their products, thus breaking down a use barrier that exists
for many health-conscious consumers.
• A line can also be extended by adding a functional benefit to a product - for example,
a convertible version of a car, a squeeze bottle for ketchup or a conveniently located mini-
version of a fast-food restaurant. With these added functional benefits, the brand is in a
position to attract new customers. The result of an on-target line extension can be a new
but highly loyal segment that is resistant to competitive offerings.
• Providing Variety
• A line extension can also give loyal users a way to enjoy variety without switching
brands. For instance, And a Charcoal or clove version of Colgate gave consumers the
chance to try a new toothpaste craze without buying a new brand
• Energizing A Brand
• A line extension can energize a brand, making it more relevant, interesting, and visible. In
doing so it can create a basis for differentiation, make communication efforts more
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effective, and stimulate sales. Diet Coke helped to add youth, vitality, and visibility to
the Coke image. In general, line extensions—especially if they add products that appeal
to consumers—will create an energy that can substantially strengthen brand equity.
• Managing True Innovation
• Line extensions provide an explicit channel for product innovations that can be a
powerful vehicle for obtaining competitive advantage.
• Glade Air Fresheners began with aerosols and have since added solid forms (for
continuous freshening), clip-ons (for the car), and a variety of more cosmetic packages.
Without a line extension option, these innovations might not have been created.
• Blocking Or Inhibiting Competitors
• A line extension does not have to be a financial block-buster in order '" provide value for
the firm. Especially for leading brands, line extensions can be strategically worthwhile
even when they do not achieve high rates of return. Line extensions can block such
competitive moves. The seemingly endless line extensions of Tide , Surf excel, Cadbury’s
make more sense.
Limitation
• At times, a line extension in related product category can also fail due to poor experience.
• Colgate Palmolive failed in cosmetic product category.
• But it was a worthless experience for consumers, resulted reduction in brand loyalty.

BRAND EXTENSION
Existing Brand, New Product (Brand Extension)
Existing Brand, Existing Product (Line Extension)
When an existing brand name is used to introduce a new product in a different/ related product
category.
Brand extensions— that is, extending the brand into other product classes—are the ultimate way to
leverage
The high failure rate of new products is well documented. Markets analysts estimate that perhaps
only 2 out of 10 products will be successful .
Wipro which was originally into computers has extended into shampoo, powder, and soap.
Mars is no longer a famous bar only, but an ice-cream, chocolate drink and a slab of chocolate.
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Eg: Ponds => Talc, Cold Cream, Facewash, Moisturizing lotion, etc.
Eg: Horlicks=> Nutribar, Foodles, biscuits
Eg: Catch => Salt, Black Salt, Pepper, spices etc.
Eg: Kingfisher => Beer, Airlines, Mineral water, Training Academy
Eg: Dabur=> Amla Hair Oil, Chawyanprash, Pudin Hara
Note: Ponds Toothpaste was a failure. Dettol beauty soap was a failure too.

Types of Brand Extensions

• Image related extension
E.g.,: Britannia has an image of confectionary brand or food products brand and hence has
launched cakes, biscuits and breads. OR AMUL is known for milk products and hence has
launched butter, ghee, cheese, milk, etc.
• Un-related Extension: Extension to unrelated product category
E.g.,: Wills Cigarettes to Wills lifestyle apparels
• Complementary Product Extension
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E.g.,: Colgate Tooth paste and Colgate toothbrush

E.g.,: Eveready Battery and Eveready Torches
• Expertise related extension:
E.g.,: Suzuki venturing into 2 wheelers
Apple into Apple tv+
• Distinct feature related extension
E.g.,: Himani Navratna Hair Oil & Navratna Cool Talc
Amazon Prime video and prime music
• Class Exercise – Name a brand that has been extended and the type of extension
Amul brand extension
• Amul as a parent brand has extended into different product categories. It is an example of
brand extension as Amul has leveraged into milk, cheese, paneer etc.
• So, Amul is an umbrella brand/ family brand under which it is extended into different
product categories.
•
Brand extension- Major two strategy

• Range Brands
• A range brand is one that creates an identity that works across product classes. A range
brand is sometimes called a mega-brand.
• It is defined as a brand that is used in more than one product category but is not
necessarily the name of the company or corporation itself. Brand spread across a range of
product categories.
• E.g.,: Nestle uses Maggie as a range brand in instant food category

• HUL’s Knorr is range brand for soups, instant noodles

• Range / family brand is the second level in Brand Hierarchy.
• It is defined as a brand that is used in more than one product category but is not
necessarily the name of the company or corporation itself. Brand spread across a range of
product categories.
• For e.g., Corporate Brand is HUL
• Range brand is DOVE
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• Ad-Hoc Brand Extension

This kind of extension is used as a strategy for response to a short-term event. It is not planned
to last. Ad Hoc brands are generally built on internal goal-based strategy. They are based on
either monetary value or sentimental value that the company gains by introducing a new brand
extension. E.g., Diet Coke was launched as Ad-hoc brand.
E.g., Pepsi launched Pepsi Blue during Cricket World Cup 2003,Pepsi Gold during World Cup
2007, and Pepsi Atom during IPL 2013

LIMITATIONS
• At times, the brand cannot be stretched to unrelated categories E.g.,
Amul could not be stretched to Edible Oil
E.g., Britannia cannot be stretched to Shoes.
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This brings lot of limitations on brands to leverage into different or unrelated

product categories, one of the prime reason is the brand association. Consumers
associate with brand based on product category e.g., McDonalds is for fast food; it
would be difficult for consumers to associate it with clothing brand. Similar case
happened with Coca-Cola tried to come with clothing brand; it failed.
• Failure of brand to add value
E.g., Vanilla Coke failed in 2004
• Problem of fit
E.g., Ponds toothpaste was a failure
• Failure to carry association of parent brand
E.g., Lux Shampoo was a failure as Lux soap was strongly positioned as a beauty
soap whereas Lux Shampoo did not carry that association
• Creation of Undesirable associations
E.g., Reliance cell phones when launched had lot of hidden charges and negative
association was created.
• Effect of a brand crisis
E.g., Cadbury’s worm infestation incident had negative effect on all Cadbury’s
products
• Failure of new brand
If the new brand which is launched encounters adverse association with the
consumer the original parent brand’s image may also be diluted. E.g., Dettol skin
care
ADVANTAGES

• Improve brand image: One of the advantages of a well- known and

wellliked brand is that the customers can form `expectations over time
concerning its performance. e.g., Sony introduced personal computer `VAIO
with features like multimedia application
• Reduce Risk perceived by Customers: Extensions from well known
corporate brands such as GE, HP, Motorola etc. have reduced the risk as the
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customers are already aware of the brand and facilitate the adoption of
extension.
• Increase the probability of gaining distribution & trial Because of the
potentially increased consumer demand resulting from introducing as an
extension, it may be easier to convince retailers to stock and promote an
extension.
• Increase Efficiency of promotional expenditure- The introductory
campaign does not have to create awareness of both the brand and the new
product but instead can concentrate on only the new product itself. Reduce
cost of introductory and follow –up marketing programs
• In 1998 Jaguar introduced its first substantially improved automobile model
in 16 years, adopting new technology to improve reliability although still
retaining the classic Jaguar look. The resulting marketing program, which
included a lavish ad campaign, increased demand for all new Jaguars. Even
older Jaguars found the resale market value enhanced.
only print ad in the leading newspaper works for the brand Same is the case of
Mercedes-Benz. The old classic models are high in value. The
Advantages:
• Avoid cost of developing a new brand-Developing new brand elements is
an art and science. To conduct necessary consumer research, employing
highly skilled personnel to design high quality slogan, logo, brand names
etc. can be quite expensive and no assurance of success.
• Allow for packaging and labeling Efficiencies-Similar to virtual identical
packages and labels for extensions can result in lower production costs and
of co -ordinated properly more prominence in the retail store by creating a
billboard effect. e.g., Coca-Cola soft drink.
• Permit consumer Variety seeking By offering customers a portfolio of
brand variants within a product category, consumers who need a change due
to boredom, satiation or whatever – can switch to a different product without
leaving the brand family.
• Clarify brand meaning- Extensions can help clarifying the meaning of the
brand to consumers and can define the markets in which they compete. e.g.,
Colgate is for dental hygiene. Philips is best in electronics.
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• Enhance the parent brand image: One desirable outcome of successful

extension is that it may enhance the parent brand image by strengthening an
existing brand association, improving the favorability of an existing brand
association, adding a new brand association or a combination of these.
• E.g., Nike has expanded from running shoes to active wear, to other
accessories, equipment strengthening its association to peak performance
and sports in the process
• Bring new customer into the brand franchise and increase market
coverage: Line extension can benefit the parent brand by expanding market
coverage for e.g., by offering a product benefit whose lack may be therefore
prevented consumers from trying the brand e.g., Tide …. Liquid tide market
share from 27% TO 21 %.

c n and call

Concept
• Brand stretch (also known as vertical extension) is a proven way for
brands to grow by extending into new product or service areas. It is a
major potential growth avenue for any companies with strong brands.
• The potential for brand stretch depends on the brand positioning in
customers minds. E.g. Disney. From cartoons to theme parks to movies.
• Yet vertical extensions are also susceptible to many of the disadvantages
of brand extensions. A vertical extension to a new price point, whether
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higher or lower, can confuse or frustrate consumers who have learned

to expect a certain price range from a brand.

✓ Moving the brand up

• When the existing brand name is too much of a drag, the only feasible
alternative is likely to be the creations of a standalone brand.
• ZODIAC – one of the largest shirt companies in the world which
manufactures formal wear for men wanted to enter the evening wear
segment for men. Instead of retaining the existing brand name they
launched the club wear brand under the standalone brand called
“ZOD” to give it a new and fresh look.
• An alternative is to use a sub- brand for an existing brand to create an
upscale entry

• For example, Cadbury Dairy Milk launched its sub- brand SILK which
is smoother and silkier in taste and texture. The core identity of the
brand, is ‘like silk to touch and taste,” clearly confirms the strategy of
moving the brand up successfully. E.g., Parle Platina.
• Another strategy that a brand adopts for moving the brand up is by
introducing ‘limited edition’, special edition for example ‘ Mont Blanc
pens fall in the is category . For instance, its writer’s edition was based
on famous authors such as Charles Dickens , Oscar Wilde, etc.
• A key problem is whether a brand can be moved up . brands whose
identities are inconsistent with an upscale entry will find upward move
more difficult .For e.g., Nestle Maggi launched a new variant Maggi
macaroni in 1997 and it failed as it did not suit the taste buds of
customers.
• Damage to the core brand as consumers may feel that premium charged
to them was not justified
• Increase in volume may not justify the reduction in price
• Reduction in margins of trade channel partners.
• E.g., Dell Vostro, Dell Inspiron, Dell XPS
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✓ Moving the brand down

• Today's markets, from tires to clothes to computers, are becoming
increasingly value centered. More and more buyers are turning from
prestige and luxury to lower-cost brands that deliver acceptable quality
and features.
• To combat this trend (or to take advantage of it, if you prefer), firms are
offering lesser versions of their traditional brand product package
• Perhaps the most direct approach to moving a brand down is to lower its
price. However, a sharp price reduction can indicate to customers that—
as they may have begun to suspect—the brand really is not different from
any other brand and is therefore of average quality. E.g., Starbucks Via
• For e.g., Nokia moved their brand down by launching Nokia ASHA for the
labor / worker class, Not very high priced , it had the potential to affect
the minds of the target audience in a very positive way. Similarly, TATA
launched TATA Nano.
• Mercedes ‘A class’ and ‘B Class’ was moving the brand down was
successful, especially India where people are conscious of brand and price
as well.
• Samsung A series phones.

Advantages of stretching the brand vertically

• Offers a premium version of existing brand to quality conscious
consumers.
E.g., Nano Twist with loaded features, Alto K 10
E.g., Credit Card - Silver, Gold, Titanium, Signature
E.g., Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Silk
• Helps target value conscious consumers by trading down.
E.g., Stripped down version of Mr. Muscle and Evian water
E.g., Stripped down version of Original DVD without bonus content (show
pack)
• To counter competition during maturity stage of the brand when price is
the
only deciding factor in consumer’s purchase decision
• To expand market opportunities in other countries where per capita
income is low.
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Co-branding
• Co-Branding also called-Brand Bundling or Brand Alliance; is when two or
more existing brands are combined into a joint product or are marketed
together in some way.
• It can be termed as marketing partnership between two brands.
• The objective is to combine the strength of two brands , in order to
increase the premium consumers are willing to pay.
• It makes the co-branded product more resistant to copying.
• It combines the different perceived properties associated with these
brands to make a single product.
• Co-brand only if the company has same ethics, core values, and common
vision.
• Choose co-branding only with brands whose products are best-in-class
status.
• Co-brand if the partner and company’s brand share the same target
audience.
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Advantages
• Branded ingredients are often seen as a signal of quality.
• There is uniformity in quality of ingredient brand which helps maintain
consistency in quality of primary brand.
• Ingredient brands can become industry standards and consumers would
not buy a product that does not contain the ingredient brand.

Composite Branding
• The bundling of two brands to provide an enhanced customer benefit or
reduced cost.
• Composite co-branding refers to use of two or more renowned brand
names in a way that can collectively offer a distinct product/service that
could not be possible individually.
E.gs.,
Nokia/ Samsung/ Apple with Vodafone
Airtel with iPhone
Coca-Cola with McDonalds
Audi Cars with Bang & Olufsen Sound System.
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Composite co-branding of McDonalds and 20th Century studios

Advantages of Co-branding
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Disadvantages

Advantages of brand leveraging

• It increase advertising efficiencies

• It increases life cycle of a brand
• Minimises introductory expenses
• Minimises marketing & distribution expenses
• Encourages trial purchase
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• Satisfies variety seeking consumers

BRANDING STRATEGIES
▪ Multi Product Branding
▪ Multi Branding
▪ Mix Branding
▪ Brand Licensing
▪ Brand-Product Matrix
▪ Brand Hierarchy
▪ Generic branding
▪ Brand building blocks
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CONCEPT
Brand strategy is how, what , when, and to whom you plan on communicating your
product or service.
Having a clear and concise strategy leads to stronger overall brand equity-
how people feel or perceive your product, or how much they are willing to pay
for it.
e.g., Apple sell phones, laptops and other items because they are easy to use, fast
and with trusted technology, that people believe.
Unique branding is a reliable safety measure more and more companies chose to
go for.
WHY STRATEGY IS IMPORTANT?
▪ Strategy is important for the company which produces more than one product.
▪ E.g., Brand X manufactures Brand X laptop, Brand X mobiles, Brand X
music systems. If the quality goes down with the Brand X music system ,
the competitors will produce more strong brands that will result into the
drop of sales and the failure of the brand. This will affect the Brand X
and will results into failure of the brand.
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▪ So unique branding prevents from this damage. o When

someone says AMUL, what do you remember? o What if
AMUL wants to come up in different product? o What is
Brand architecture? o What is brand portfolio?

o Dana dana ek saman… identify the brand o

TCS, Docomo, Croma owned by ____.

➢ BRAND ARCHITECTURE
• The firm’s brand architecture provides general guidelines about its
branding strategy and which brand elements to apply across all the
different products sold by the firm.
• Two key concepts in defining brand architecture are brand portfolios and
the brand hierarchy.
• The brand portfolio includes all brands sold by a company in a product
category. We judge a brand portfolio by its ability to maximize brand
equity: Any one brand in the portfolio should not harm or decrease the
equity of the others.
• The brand hierarchy displays the number and nature of common and
distinctive brand components across the firm’s set of brands.

• The firm’s brand architecture strategy helps marketers determine which

products and services to introduce, and which brand names, logos,
symbols, and so forth to apply to new and existing products
• Brand architecture serves as the corporate roof under which a business
can protect and unify its brand portfolio. Fortune 500 companies, e.g., the
P&Gs, Krafts, and Coca-Cola of the world, utilize brand positioning
strategies to protect their numerous brands from external market forces,
as well as to unify brands in order to enhance consumer associations and
perceptions.
• The process of developing brand architecture is a strategic one, based on
identifying threats and creating strong corporate bonds amongst brands
that work to lessen the risk of brand failure. These risks can come from
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not only consumer preferences, but market fragmentation, competitors,

and the pressure to extend existing brand recognition across multiple
products.
• With threats like these in an ever-expanding and competitive global
marketplace, companies with weak brand infrastructures will struggle to
compete.
DIFFERENT PORTFOLIO STRATEGIES OFFER DIFFERENT
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AND MUST BE DECIDED UPON
BASED ON RELEVANT MARKET KNOWLEDGE AND COMPANY
BRANDING POLICIES.
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EXAMPLES
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CONCEPTS
▪ Branded House, which is when a parent brand rules the look and feel of
any sub-brands that fall under it. Google is a good example here. Puts
the focus on the main brand image, only small variations or descriptors
for sub-brands (e.g., different products or parts of the business).
▪ House of Brands. Unlike the branded House, here, each brand will have a
distinct personality. Just take Unilever, for instance.
▪ Endorsed brands. These are something of a middle ground between the
top two. They are visibly endorsed by the parent brand, but they still
have their distinct brand personality.
Sub-brands: Combined the main brand with strong sub-brands
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▪ Multi-Product Branding, also known as family branding, or corporate

branding is when a company uses one brand name for all its products
within a class. For example, the brand name Sony is used on most if not
all their products. Sony is the company or parent brand name, but you
will also see it on televisions, and on their PlayStation series.
▪ The benefits of Multi-product branding is brand equity return, lower promotion
costs, and growing brand awareness. These benefits come about through the
extensive use of your brand name over a wide array of product offerings.
▪ The idea is to take a brand name which has established itself in one
product class and apply that brand name to another product, in another
product class, expecting for the brand awareness to carry over.
However, there is also a negative effect on the multi-product brand
strategy.
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✓ MULTI PRODUCT BRANDING

▪ Multi Product branding strategy is when an organization uses one name for
all its products .
▪ This approach is also referred as blanket or family branding strategy.
▪ It is an attempt to leverage corporate brand equity, to create product
brand recognition e.g., Godrej – Godrej store well, Godrej Navtal ,
Cadbury makes Cadbury Five Star, Cadbury Dairy Milk , Cadbury
Perk etc.
▪ This can result in significant economies of scope since one advertising campaign
can be used for several products.
▪ It also enables acceptance because potential customers are already familiar
with the name.
▪ A Family branding strategy should only be used if the company is already
well known by the target market and, also has a positive image in their
minds.
▪ If family branding is done well, the brand name becomes synonymous with the
product . E.g., Amazon
▪ The main disadvantages of this is that the products are not treated as
individuals, hence there is not sufficient focus on the product.
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Classwork- an example of multi-product branding strategy.

ADVANTAGES
▪ 1. Can leverage brand equity to create product and recognition
▪ 2. Can result in significant economies of scope since one advertising
campaign can be used for several products. E.g., Amul ad campaign
‘The taste of India’.
▪ 3. Facilitates new product acceptance because potential buyers are
already familiar with the same.
▪ 4. Makes possible for line extension
▪ 5. Sub branding combines a family brand with a new brand.
▪ 6. Allows for brand extension ; even to enter a completely different
product class.
LIMITATION
▪ Too many uses for one brand name can dilute/ or weaken the meaning
▪ The products are not treated as individuals , hence there is not adequate
focus on the product’s unique characteristic
▪ In the 1980s, nobody considered the branding of fast-moving consumer
goods under the category of apparel, other than as corporate giveaways
or inexpensive T-shirts and baseball caps. Yet, Coca-Cola agreed a
merchandising deal to create an upmarket fashion line of Coca-Cola
Clothing designed by a young, unknown Tommy Hilfiger.
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▪
o The downside of multi-product branding is that it will spread your
brand thin. When a company spreads their brand thin the result is often
a weaker brand image.
o The more a brand name is used on products of a different class, the
greater the diluted effect on brand equity.
o In order to avoid the negative effects of Multiproduct branding,
companies use sub-branding.
o Sub-branding allows a company to use the big brand name while giving
each product a little brand of its’ own. o For example, Gillette’s Mach
3 razor for men. The Gillette brand is clearly marked on the package, so
consumers associate the new Mach 3 with Gillette quality. This gives the
Mach 3 a sub-brand and distinguishes it from other Gillette razors.
o Gillette also introduced Fusion Pro-glide series, the most expensive of all
razors ever.
MULTI-BRANDING
▪ Multi-branding is used when a product or product line is targeting
different markets. This kind of branding is used favorably within in the
automobile market. General Motors operates Manufacturing plants in 8
countries. Its four core automobile brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC
and Cadillac.
▪ GM defence produces military vehicles for the U.S. Department of
Defense and the Department of State. OnStar provides vehicle safety,
security and information services. ACDelco is the company's auto parts
division. The company provides financing via GM Financial . The
company is developing self- driving cars through its majority ownership
in Cruise LLC.
▪ In short, the multi-branding strategy allows businesses to gain market
share through assessing external opportunities in order to define a
profitable market segment.
EXAMPLES
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BMW values attract only 20 per cent of the premium car buyers
worldwide. BMW refuses to dilute its brand and in order to grow it
went international. It also bought the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands.
▪ The other way in which a company can grow is by creating new brands to
meet the demand that existing brands cannot satisfy. But it takes
courage to launch and position new brands. It takes courage because, at
a time when extensions are the order of the day, it is difficult to admit
that even a mega-brand has its limits.
MULTI BRANDING STRATEGY
The depth of branding strategy concerns the number and nature of different
brand marketed in the product class sold by a firm.

o Why might a firm have multiple brands in the same product category?
The primary reason relates to market coverage. Although , multiple
branding was originally pioneered by General Motors (1908) ,Procter
& Gamble is widely recognized as popularizing the practice.
The main reason to adopt multiple brands is to pursue multiple brand
segments.
▪ These market segments may be based on all types of consideration –
different price segments, different channels of distribute, different
geographic boundaries and so forth.
▪ In many cases , multiple brands have to be introduced by a firm because
any one brand is not viewed equally favorably by all the different
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▪
market segments that the firm would like to target . Some other reason
for introducing multiple brands in a category –include the following
▪ 1. To increase shelf presence and retailer dependence in the store
▪ 2. To attract consumer seeking variety who may otherwise switch to other
brands
▪ 3. To increase internal competition within the firm
▪ 4. To yield economies of scale in advertising , sales, merchandising and
physical distribution
• e.g., HUL detergent powder- Surf Excel, Wheel, Rin

▪ Advantages
▪ 1. The firm can distance products from other offerings in markets
▪ 2. The image of one product is not associated with other products the
company markets
▪ 3. The products can be specifically targeted.
MIX- BRANDING
▪ Mixed branding — to clarify — is a strategy of producing the same good
but marketing it to different segments under different names. The
segmentation does not have to be price-related. The great example is
Toyota and Lexus. Toyota in the U.S. was perceived as a "value" brand
and Lexus targeted the more expensive market.
▪ A company has a multi-brand strategy when their portfolio of products
has different brands or names. For example, Nestlé has a multi-brand
strategy with over 2000 different brands including KitKat and Nespresso. ▪
Other examples include:
▪ Microsoft and Xbox – Microsoft was considered a "serious corporate"
brand, Xbox was new and crazy.
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▪ Skin Simple is a product by Elisabeth Arden, but it's designed for a

specific channel, namely Wal-Mart.
WHY MIX-BRANDING?
▪ Companies looking to break into a new market or wanting to connect
with a seemingly complex audience to reach can turn to mixed branding
efforts for direction. Many companies that employ targeted mixed
branding strategies can engage with new customers without sacrificing
the benefits of their established brand and current loyal customers.

▪ To elaborate…
▪ Toyota is the parent company of Lexus, but the two brands serve very
different markets within the automotive industry because of the
significant difference in their branding.
▪ Toyota has long been established as a cost-effective automotive brand
before introducing Lexus. The parent company was known to be
focused on families that needed reliable yet economical vehicles that
helped them accomplish everything in their busy schedules.
When Toyota wanted to break into the luxury car market, it was clear
that it would be challenging to attract interested luxury buyers with the
family-oriented value brand they had successfully cultivated. To break
away from the brand identity of the parent company, it created Lexus,
which was branded using sleek, contemporary fonts and colours.

CO-BRANDING
• Co-Branding also called-Brand Bundling or Brand Alliance; is when two
or more existing brands are combined into a joint product or are
marketed together in some way.
• It can be termed as marketing partnership between two brands.
• The objective is to combine the strength of two brands , in order to
increase the premium consumers are willing to pay.
• It makes the co-branded product more resistant to copying.
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▪
• It combines the different perceived properties associated with these
brands to make a single product.
• Co-brand only if the company has same ethics, core values, and
common vision.
• Choose co-branding only with brands whose products are best-in-class
status.

Co-brand if the partner and company’s brand share the same target
audience
Advantages
• Branded ingredients are often seen as a signal of quality.
• There is uniformity in quality of ingredient brand which helps maintain
consistency in quality of primary brand.
• Ingredient brands can become industry standards and consumers
would not buy a product that does not contain the ingredient brand.

BRAND LICENSING
▪ Brand Licensing is a contractual agreement whereby a company allow
another firm to use the brand name, patent, trade secret or other
property for a royalty or a fee.
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▪ Licensing also assists companies entering global markets with minimal

risk.
▪ Licensing can be quite lucrative for the licensor. It has long been an
important business strategy for designer apparel and accessories such as
Garfield cat, Disney’s Mickey Mouse or celebrities and designers such
as Martha Stewart, Tommy Hilfiger
▪ Licensing is also seen as a means to enhance the awareness and image of
the brand.
▪ Linking the trademark to other products may broaden its exposure and
potentially increase the strength, favorability and uniqueness of brand
associations.
▪ Licensing may provide legal protection for trademark.
▪ Licensing the brand for use in certain product categories to prevent other
firms or potential competitors from legally using the brand name to
enter those categories for e.g. RaOne, Krissh, Tom & Jerry, Chota
Bheem. Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Angry Birds. E.g. Savlon and Chota
Bheem
▪ But there are certain limitations to licensing. A trademark can become
over- exposed if marketers adopt a saturation policy.
Consumers can become confused or even it can annoying experience if
the brand is licensed to a product that seemingly bears no relation. E.g.
Disney characters present on almost every products for children?
▪ If the product fails to live up to consumers expectation, the brand name
could become tarnished. The manufacturer can consider licensing a
brand that might be popular now but is only a tad and produces short –
lived sales. E.g. Odomos Chota bheem mosquito bands

▪ H&M’s success with their “superhero overall pyjamas” is never ending.

Children love role-play and for them putting on a mask or a piece of
clothes is becoming someone else. This is what they effectively do with
this product that allows young children to “wear” the muscles of a
superhero.
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BRAND PRODUCT MATRIX

▪ A brand is A name, a term, a symbol or a design or a combination of
these, that is intended to identify the products or services of one
business or group of businesses and to differentiate them from those of
competitors
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▪
The brand product matrix is used to categorize the product and
branding strategy of a firm. One useful tool is the brand product matrix
a graphical representation of all products sold by the firm .
▪ The matrix or Grid has the brands of a firm as rows and the
corresponding products as columns (see Figure) HUL
THE ROWS OF THE MATRIX REPRESENTS BRAND –PRODUCT
RELATIONSHIPS AND CAPTURE THE BRAND EXTENSION
STRATEGY OF THE FIRM IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER AND NATURE
IF PRODUCTS SOLD UNDER THE FIRM’S BRANDS.PL. DRAW THIS IN
EXAM

Soaps Facewash Shampoo Detergent Cream

Pears x x x

Dove/Lux x

Breeze X X X x

L’oreal /Sunsilk X x

Wheel/surf excel/Rin X X x

Domex X X X x x

FairLovely X X X
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In other words, what is the level of awareness like to be and what are
the expected strength favorability and uniqueness of brand associations
of the particular extension product.
▪ At the same time how does the introduction of the brand extension affect
the prevailing levels of awareness the strength, favorability and
uniqueness of brand associations or overall response ( judgment and
feelings ) forward the parent brand as whole?

ROW-COLUMN BRAND-PRODUCT RELATIONSHIP

ROW- Brand product relationship COLOUMN – Product brand

relationship

Brand line consist of all product Product line consists of all brands of
original as well as line & Category a single family brands or individual
extension sold under a particular brand that has been line extended
brand

Brand Mix i.e set of all brand lines Product Mix i.e. set of all product
that a particular seller makes lines that a particular seller makes
available to buyers available to buyers
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i.e has to be and extension strategy i.e. has to be and portfolio strategy
characterized by breadth characterized by depth

BRAND HIERARCHY
▪ A brand hierarchy is a means of summarizing the branding strategy by
displaying the number and nature of common and distinctive brand
elements across the firm's products, revealing the explicit ordering of
brand elements.
▪ For example, a Dell Inspiron 17R notebook computer consists of three
different brand name elements, “Dell,” “Inspiron,” and “17R.” Some of
these may be shared by many different products; others are limited.
Dell uses its corporate name to brand many of its products, but Inspiron
designates a certain type of computer (portable), and 17R identifies a
particular model of Inspiron (designed to maximize gaming
performance and entertainment and including a 17inch screen).
▪ There are different ways to define brand elements and levels of the
hierarchy. Perhaps the simplest representation of possible brand
elements and thus potential levels of a brand hierarchy—from top to
bottom—might be as follows
▪ Corporate Brand ( Maruti Suzuki) or HUL
▪ Range Brand (Swift) - DOVE

▪ Individual Brand ( Swift D’zire) - Dove shampoo, Dove Elixir

▪ Modifier ( Swift D’zire Regal) - Hair fall rescue

➢ CORPORATE BRAND
• The highest level of the hierarchy technically always involves one
brand—the corporate or company brand.
• For legal reasons, the company or corporate brand is almost always
present somewhere on the product or package, although it may be
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▪
the case that the name of a company subsidiary may appear
instead of the corporate name
• Corporate branding is the practice of using a company's name as a
product brand name.
• It is an attempt to use corporate brand equity to create product
brand recognition. It is a type of family branding or umbrella
brand. Disney, for example, includes the word "Disney" in the
name of many of its products
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• Corporate image is particularly relevant when the corporate or

company brand plays a prominent role in the branding strategy.

EXAMPLE
➢ RANGE BRAND /FAMILY BRAND
▪ At the next-lower level, a range / family brand is defined as a
brand that is used in more than one product category but is
not necessarily the name of the company or corporation itself.
Because a family brand may be distinct from the corporate or
company brand, company level associations may be less
salient.
▪ If the corporate brand is applied to a range of products, then it
functions as a family brand too, and the two levels collapse to
one for those products.
▪ Brand spread across a range of product categories for e.g. Dove,
Amul, Cadbury’s.
▪ Some other notable family brands for companies include
Purina and Kit Kat (Nestlé); Mountain Dew, Doritos, and
Quaker Foods (PepsiCo); and Oreo, Cadbury, and Maxwell
House (Kraft).
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➢ INDIVIDUAL BRAND
• Individual branding, also called individual product branding or
multi-branding, is the marketing strategy of giving each product in
a portfolio its own unique brand name.
• This contrasts with family branding, corporate branding, and
umbrella branding in which the products in a product line are given
a single overarching brand name. The advantage of individual
branding is that each product has an image and identity that is
unique.
• This facilitates the positioning of each product, by allowing a firm
to position its brands differently.
• Examples of individual product branding include Procter & Gamble,
which markets multiple brands such as Pampers, and Unilever,
which markets individual brands such as Dove

• Individual brands are restricted to essentially one product category,

although multiple product types may differ based on model,
package size, flavor, and so forth. For example, in the “salty snack”
product class, Frito-Lay offers Fritos corn chips, Doritos tortilla
chips, Lays and Ruffles potato chips, and Rold Gold pretzels. Each
brand has a dominant position in its respective product category
within the broader salty snack product class.
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• The main advantage of creating individual brands is that we can

customize the brand and all its supporting marketing activity to
meet the needs of a specific customer group. Thus, the name, logo,
and other brand elements, as well as product design, marketing
communication programs, and pricing and distribution strategies,
can all focus on a certain target market.
• Moreover, if the brand runs into difficulty or fails, the risk to other
brands and the company itself is minimal. The disadvantages of
creating individual brands, however, are the difficulty, complexity,
and expense of developing separate marketing programs to build
sufficient levels of brand equity.

➢ MODIFIER BRAND
▪ Regardless of whether marketers choose corporate, family, or
individual brands, they must often further distinguish brands
according to the different types of items or models. A modifier is
a means to designate a specific item or model type or a
particular version or configuration of the product. Land O’Lakes
offers “whipped,” “unsalted,” and “regular” versions of its
butter. Yoplait yogurt comes as “light,” “custard style,” and
“original” flavors.
▪ Adding a modifier often can signal refinements or differences
between brands related to factors such as quality levels (Johnnie
Walker Red Label, Black Label, and Gold Label Scotch whiskey),
attributes (Wrigley’s Spearmint, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, and

A MODIFIER IS A MEANS TO E.G. DOVE

DESIGNATE A SPECIFIC ITEM OR SHAMPOO HAIR
MODEL TYPE OR A PARTICULAR
VERSION OR CONFIGURATION OF
FALL RESCUE
THE PRODUCT.
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Winterfresh flavors of chewing gum), function (Dockers Relaxed

Fit, Classic Fit, Straight Fit, Slim Fit, and Extra Slim Fit pants), and
so forth. Thus, one function of modifiers is to show how one
brand variation relates to others in the same brand family
➢ GENERIC BRAND
▪ A product that is named only by its generic class (e.g., dripgrind
coffee, barber shop.
▪ Other products have both an individual brand and a generic
classification (Maxwell House drip-grind coffee, Maurice's
barber shop).
▪ Generic brand products are often thought to be unbranded, but
their producer or reseller name is usually associated with the
product, too e.g., Food Bazar Rawa, Food Bazar Maida.
▪ This approach is usually associated with food and other
packaged goods, but many other consumer and industrial
products and services are marked as generics e.g., Kerosene,
Aspirin.
➢ GENERIC BRANDING
▪ Generic Branding: When a particular product category is used
as a brand name by a company it is known to be a generic
branding
▪ For e.g., Xerox associated with photocopying product category
▪ Band Aid associated with product category antiseptic plaster
▪ Crocin associated with product category paracetamol

▪ Cadbury’s for chocolate product category

▪ Bislery for packaged drinking water
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BRAND BUILDING BLOCKS

▪ It is not easy to build brands in today’s environment The Brand

builder who builds brand is like playing golf in strong and
rough weather. Substantial pressures and barriers, both
internal and external can slow down the brand building
process.
▪ To be able to develop effective brand strategies, it is useful to
understand these pressures and barriers
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The brand building blocks are:

1. PRESSURE TO COMPETE WITH PRICE
• In all industries from computers to cars to frozen meals to soft
drinks, price competition is at center stage.
• Whereas a decade ago , manufacturers had all the information
, but now the retailers are collecting vast information and
developing models to use it .
• As a result, suppliers those in the third or fourth market –
share position with only modest loyalty levels, are exposed to
harsh pressure to provide price concessions.
• A decade ago, only 10% of budget was spent towards
communication mix as distribution was simple while today
75% of the amount is spent towards advertising and
promotion.
• Market realities imply the key success factor is low cost .
Organizations must reduce overhead , reduce staff and curtail
unnecessary expenditure
2. PROLIFERATION OF COMPETITORS
▪ Each brand tends to be positioned more narrowly , the target
markets become smaller, and the non- target market becomes
larger
▪ Efforts to market to a broad segment thus become more
difficult in the phase of the complex “brands cape”.
▪ New vigorous competitors come from a different sources.
▪ Additional competitors not only contribute to price pressure
but also on brand complexity .
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▪ E.g., Maggi gives competition to masala product class.

▪ Coca-Cola in coffee product class, fruit juice product class

3. FRAGMENTING MARKETS AND MEDIA

▪ At one time, being consistent across in media and markets were
easy. There were limited number of media options and only a
few media vehicles . Mass media was the norm.
▪ Whereas today it’s a totally different situation . The numerous
array of media options, includes interactive television,
advertising on the internet , direct marketing and event
sponsorship and more being invented daily.
▪ Coordinating messages across these media without weakling the
brand is a real challenge.
▪ E.g., Vicks touch of care campaign on social media.
4. COMPLEX BRAND STRATEGIES AND RELATIONSHIPS
▪ There was a time, when a brand was a clear, singular entity
e.g., Kraft cheese .
▪ Today the situation is different. There are sub brands( such as
Kraft free singles ) and brand extension such as Kraft miracle
whip
▪ This complexity makes building and managing brands difficult.
In addition to this each brand has its role and identity and
understand is difficult .
▪ Also, the tendency is to use establish brand because to establish
a new brand is expensive.
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▪ Further relationship between brands and sub brands must be

clarified both strategically and with respect to customer
perceptions
5. BIAS TOWARDS CHANGING STRATEGIES
▪ There are sometimes overpowering internal pressures to change
a brand identity and / or its execution while it is still effective,
or even before it achieves its potential
More strong brands such as Nike, Volvo have one
characteristic in common: each developed a clear identity that
went unchanged for a long time
▪ The norm is to change , however , and this powerful identities
supported by clear visual imagery never get developed.
▪ E.g., Tata Nexon failed in the market of EV. Tata had to recall all
the cars sold in Indian market due to poor performance.
5. BIAS AGAINST INNOVATION
• When there is a bias towards changing its brand identity or its
execution ,often it prevents true innovation in products and
services.
• Companies managing an established brand can be so pleased by
past and current success, and so preoccupied with day-to-day
problems , that they become blind to changes in the
competitive situation.
• A few competitors, therefore, time and again become the cause
and beneficiary of true innovations
• For e.g., Top Ramen one of the successful brands created its
business by investing in products, advertising and packaging

▪
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with a single-minded vision that they totally eclipsed taste and

current health consciousness .
• Maggi introduced whole wheat Atta noodle
7.PRESSURE TO INVEST ELSEWHERE : THE SINS OF
COMPLACENCY AND GREED
▪ A position of a great brand strength is also a potential strategic
problem, because it attracts both complacency and greed.
▪ Xerox may be the ideal example of a dominant brand that lost
its position because of an inadequate commitment to the core
business.
In the 1960s, Xerox virtually owned the copier industry; its
market share was literally 100 percent .Instead of sticking to
its
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strengths and defending its cost or developing new

technologies , It diverted resources into an “office of the Future
“ concept and into data management.
▪ This resulted in Kodak and Cannon companies entered the
industry with innovative , superior and often less expensive
products .Though there are various reasons why Xerox lost its
position on 1970s one key explanation is the brand’s strong
equity , which caused complacency and a temptation to look
for greener pastures
8.SHORT TERM PRESSURES
▪ Pressures for short term results Sony founder Akio Morito has
opined that most corporate go through short term pressures.
▪ Acceptance of maximization of stock holder value should be
superseding the objective of the firm
▪ Management style itself is dominated by short – term
orientation
▪ A short – term focus is created by the performance measures
available
▪ The net out come is a sometimes – debilitating bias toward short
–term results . As a result , these investments are often forgone
and the organization
TEN GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING STRONG BRAND
▪ 1. Brand Identity.- unique set of brand associations
▪ Have an identity for each brand. Consider the perspectives of
the brand – as a person, brand as an organization , and brand
as a symbol, as well as the brand-as- product. Identity is how
you aspire to be perceived
▪ 2. Value propositions
▪
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Know the value propositions for each brand that has a driver
role .Consider emotional and self- expressive benefits as well as
functional benefits.
3. Brand position
▪ For each brand, have a brand position that will provide clear
guidance to those implementing a communication program.
▪ 4. Execution- Execute the communication program so that it not
only is on target with the identity and position but achieves
brilliance and durability.
▪ Generate alternatives and consider options beyond media
advertising.
▪ 5. Consistency over time- Have a goal, a consistent
identity ,position and execution over time.
▪ Maintain symbols, imagery and metaphors that work.
▪ 6. Brand system- Make sure the brands in the portfolio are
consistent and synergistic.
▪ Know their roles. Have or develop silver bullets to help support
brand identities and positions . A silver bullet is a brand or
subbrand that positively influence the image of another brand.
▪ 7. Brand leverage.
▪ Extend brands and develop co- branding programs only if the
brand identity will be used and reinforced .
▪ Identify range brands and, for each , develop an identity and
specify how that identity will be different in disparate product
contexts .
▪ 8.Tracking brand equity .
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▪ Track brand equity over time, including awareness , perceived

quality , brand loyalty and especially brand associations . Have
specific communication objectives .
▪ 9. Brand responsibility
Have someone in charge of the brand who will create the
identity and position and coordinate the execution over
organizational units , media and markets.
▪ 10. Invest in brands.
▪ Continue investing in brands even when the financial goals are
not being net.

Global Brands
• Global brands were defined as brands that were identical
everywhere in all but brand name or would be evolving in that
direction, guided by the same brand identity involving five
components—the benefits it provides, its values and
personality, the reasons to believe, its discriminators, and its
brand essence. E.g., Coca-Cola, Apple
• A number of well-known global brands have derived much of
their sales and profits from non-domestic markets for decades,
including Coca-Cola, Shell, Bayer, Rolex, Marlboro, Pampers,
and Mercedes-Benz, to name a few. Apple computers, L’Oréal
cosmetics, and Nescafé instant coffee have become fixtures on
the global landscape. Their successes are among the forces
that have encouraged many firms to market their brands
globally.
Building global brand equity: emergence of global brands

▪
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• In building global brand equity, we often must create different

marketing programs to satisfy different market segments.
Therefore, we must:
• 1. Identify differences in consumer behavior—how consumers
purchase and use products and what they know and feel about
brands—in each market.
• 2. Adjust the branding program accordingly through the
choice of brand elements, the nature of the actual marketing
program and activities, and the leveraging of secondary
associations.
• The third way to build global brand equity, leveraging
secondary brand associations (co-branding, character, events,
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country) , is probably the most likely to require change across

countries because the entities linked to a brand may take on
very different meanings in different countries.
• For example, U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss,
and Nike traditionally gained an important source of equity in
going overseas by virtue of their U.S. heritage, which is not as
much of an issue or asset in their domestic market.
HarleyDavidson has aggressively marketed its classic U.S.
image, customized for different cultures, to generate about 30
percent of its sales from abroad.
• Understanding how consumers form their impressions of
country of origin and update their brand knowledge can be
challenging. The design, manufacture, assembly, distribution,
and marketing of products often involve several countries.
Apple’s iPhone is designed and owned by a U.S. company and
assembled and shipped from China from parts produced
largely in several Asian and European countries.
Understand local behavior before going global
• unknowingly—or perhaps even deliberately—overlooked
differences in consumer behavior. E.g., Starbucks, Dunkin's.
Because of the relative expense and sometimes unsophisticated
nature of the marketing research industry in smaller markets,
many companies chose to forgo basic consumer research and
put products on the shelf to see what would happen. As a
result, they sometimes became aware of consumer differences
only after they fail. To avoid these types of mistakes, marketers
may need to conduct research into local markets.
• In many cases, however, marketing research reveals that
product differences are not justified for certain countries. At
one time, Palmolive soap was sold globally with 22 different
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fragrances, packages, nine shapes, and numerous positionings.

After conducting marketing analyses to reap the benefits of
global marketing, the company chose to employ just seven
fragrances, one core packaging design, and three main shapes,
all executed around two related positionings (one for
developing markets and one for developed markets).
Advantages and disadvantages
• ADVANTAGES OF GLOBAL MARKETING PROGRAM:
• 1. Economies of Scale in Production and Distribution: From a
supply-side or cost perspective, the primary advantages of a
global marketing program are the manufacturing efficiencies
and lower costs that derive from higher volumes in production
and distribution. The more economies of scale in production
and distribution from a standardized global marketing
program will prevail by increase in production.
• Lower Marketing Costs: Another set of cost advantages arises
from uniformity in packaging, advertising, promotion, and
other marketing communication activities. The more uniform,
the greater the potential savings. A global corporate branding
strategy such as Sony’s is perhaps the most efficient means of
spreading marketing costs across both products and countries.
Branding experts maintain that using one name can save a
business tens of millions of dollars a year in marketing costs.
Example
• L’Oréal has pursued an aggressive global growth strategy,
prompting one business writer to christen the company “the
United Nations of beauty.” Its Maybelline line is the bestselling
brand in many Asian markets, while eastern Europeans prefer
L’Oréal’s French brands, and African immigrants in Europe
go for the U.S. brand Dark and Lovely. L’Oréal ensures its
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business remains sound on a local level by establishing national

divisions. Because Brazilian women traditionally bought their
cosmetics from door-to-door sales reps, the company
introduced personal beauty advisers at department stores
there. As the one-time head of L’Oréal’s head of luxury
products said, “You have to be local and as
strong as the best locals but backed by an international image
and strategy.”
• Power and Scope: A global brand profile can communicate
credibility. Consumers may believe that selling in many diverse
markets is an indication that a manufacturer has gained much
expertise and acceptance, meaning the product is high quality
and convenient to use. An admired global brand can also signal
social status and prestige.
• Consistency in Brand Image: Maintaining a common
marketing platform all over the world helps maintain the
consistency of brand and company image; this is particularly
important where customers move often, or media exposure
transmits images across national boundaries. For example,
American Express communicates the prestige and utility of its
card worldwide.
• Ability to Leverage Good Ideas Quickly and Efficiently: One
global marketer notes that globalization can increase
sustainability and “facilitate continued development of core
competencies with the organization . . . in manufacturing, in
R&D, in marketing and sales.
DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBAL MARKETING PROGRAM
• Differences in Consumer Needs, Wants, and Usage Patterns for
Products: Differences in cultural values, economic
development, and other factors across nationalities lead
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customers to behave very differently. For example, the per

capita consumption of alcoholic beverages varies dramatically
from country to country: in liters consumed per capita
annually, the Czech Republic (8.51) and Ireland (7.04) drink
the most beer; France (8.14) and Portugal (6.65) drink the most
wine; and South Korea (9.57) and Russia (6.88) drink the most
distilled spirits.
• Different product strategies: Product strategies that work in
one country may not work in another. Tupperware, which
makes the bulk of its annual sales overseas—57 percent from
emerging markets—needed to adjust its products to satisfy
different consumer behavior. In India, a plastic container
paired with a spoon becomes a “masala keeper” for spices.
• In Korea, stain-resistant canisters are ideal for kimchi
fermentation. Larger boxes work as safe, airtight “kimono
keepers” in Japan. In France, its more expensive cookware line
does much better than in the United States, where customers
buy more plastic containers.
• Differences in Consumer Response to Branding Elements:
Linguistic differences across countries can twist or change the
meaning of a brand name. Sound systems that differ across
dialects can make a word problematic in one country but not
another. Cultural context is key. Customers may respond well
to a name with potentially problematic associations. The
questions are how widespread the association is, how
immediate it is, and how problematic it would be.
• http://clearwordstranslations.com/language/en/10-
brandschange-their-names-for-local-markets/
• https://www.usmagazine.com/food/pictures/food-
brandschanging-their-racially-insensitive-names-pics/sambos/
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• E.g., Pepsodent toothpaste was a failure in South-East Asia

because the company promised that persons who used it would
have whiter teeth, which caused the communications campaign
to fail, since persons from this part of the world saw black or
yellow teeth as symbols of prestige.
• https://thunderbird.asu.edu/thought-leadership/insights/
itspeach-not-stork-how-pg-recovered-pampers-fail-japan
Leadership brand
• Leadership brand is a reputation for developing exceptional
managers with a distinct set of talents that are uniquely geared
to fulfill customers' and investors' expectations. A company
with a leadership brand inspires faith that employees and
managers will consistently make good on the firm's promises.
E.g., Parents who take their kids to a Disney theme park
assume that ride operators and restaurant personnel will be
upbeat, friendly, and gracious.
• A leadership brand conveys your identity and distinctiveness
as a leader. It communicates the value you offer. ... A strong
personal leadership brand allows all that's powerful and
effective about your leadership to become known to your
colleagues, enabling you to generate maximum value.
• Brand leadership refers to the techniques and strategies that
organizations use to market a product or service. Usually, the
brand leader is a best-selling product or service and one that is
recognized in a certain market segment. Leading brands are
identified as such when they are relevant, unique, and exciting.
• A leadership brand is also embedded in the organization’s
culture, through its policies and its requirements for
employees.
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• For example, the tagline of Lexus is “the pursuit of perfection.”

Internally, the Lexus division translates that promise into the
expectation that managers will excel at managing quality
processes.
Five principles of brand leadership
• Building a strong leadership brand requires that companies
follow five principles. First, they have to do the basics of
leadership like setting strategy and grooming talent well.
Second, they must ensure that managers internalize external
constituents’ high expectations of the firm. Third, they need to
evaluate their leaders according to those external perspectives.
Fourth, they must invest in broad-based leadership
development that helps managers hone the skills needed to
meet customer and investor expectations. And finally, they
should track their success at building a leadership brand over
the long term.
Globalization and Global Brand Positioning
• Marketers make decisions whether to standardize or localize a
brand for a new market is globalization of brands.
• To best capture differences in consumer behavior, and to guide
our efforts in revising the marketing program, we must revisit
the brand positioning in each market. Recall that brand
positioning means creating mental maps, defining core brand
associations, identifying points-of-parity and points-
ofdifference, and crafting a band mantra. In developing a
global brand positioning, we need to answer three key sets of
questions:
• 1. How valid is the mental map in the new market? How
appropriate is the positioning? What is the existing level of
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awareness? How valuable are the core brand associations,

points-of-parity, and points-of-difference?
• 2. What changes should we make to the positioning? Do we
need to create any new associations? Should we not recreate
any existing associations? Should we modify any existing
associations?
Mental map, POP and POD example

• Understand Similarities and Differences in the Global

Branding Landscape The first and most fundamental guideline
is to recognize that international markets can vary in terms of
brand development, consumer behavior, marketing
infrastructure, competitive activity, legal restrictions, and so
on.
• Almost every top global brand and company adjusts its
marketing program in some way across some markets but
holds the parameters fixed in other markets.
Corporate image:
• A corporate image will depend on a number of factors, such as
the products a company makes, the actions it takes, and the
way it communicates to consumers.
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• A corporate brand is distinct from a product brand in that it

can encompass a much wider range of associations. As, a
corporate brand name may be more likely to evoke
associations of common products and their shared attributes or
benefits, people and relationships, programs and values, and
corporate credibility.
• These associations can have an important effect on the brand
equity and market performance of individual products. For
example, one research study revealed that consumers with a
more favorable corporate image of HUL were more likely to
respond favorably to the claims made in an ad for Surf Excel
and therefore actually buy the product.
• Building and managing a strong corporate brand image,
however, can necessitate that the firm keep a high public
profile, especially to influence and shape some of the more
abstract types of associations. The CEO or managing director,
if associated with a corporate brand, must also be willing to
maintain a more public profile to help communicate news and
information, as well as perhaps provide a symbol of current
marketing activities. E.g., Steve Jobs, Ratan Tata have
maintained public image and communicate specially in the
launch of the product.
• At the same time, a firm must also be willing to subject itself to
more scrutiny and be extremely transparent in its values,
activities, and programs. That helps them to maintain
corporate image in public. Corporate brands thus have to be
comfortable with a high level of openness.
• Corporate brand equity is the differential response by
consumers, customers, employees, other firms, or any relevant
community to the words, actions, communications, products,
or services provided by an identified corporate brand entity.
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• In other words, positive corporate brand image occurs when a

relevant community responds more favorably to a corporate ad
campaign, a corporate-branded product or service, a
corporate-issued PR release, and so on than if the same
offering were attributed to an unknown or fictitious company.
• Corporate image dimensions:
• Common Product Attributes, Benefits, or Attitudes: Like
individual brands, a corporate or company brand may evoke
in consumers a strong association to a product attribute
(Hershey with “chocolate”), type of user (BMW with
“youngsters”), usage situation (McDonalds’ with “fun times”),
or overall judgment (Sony with “quality”).
Two specific product-related corporate image associations—
high quality and innovation deserve special attention.
• A high-quality corporate image association creates consumer
perceptions that a company makes products of the highest
quality. Quality is one of the most important, if not the most
important, decision factors for consumers.
• An innovative corporate image association creates consumer
perceptions of a company as developing new and unique
marketing programs, especially with respect to product
introductions or improvements. Keller and Aaker
experimentally showed how different corporate image
strategies—being innovative, environmentally concerned, or
involved in the community—could affect corporate credibility
and strategically benefit the firm by increasing the acceptance
of brand extensions. Interestingly, consumers saw a company
with an innovative corporate image as not only expert but also
trustworthy and likable. Advertising and corporate image
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• Corporate image campaigns are designed to create associations

to the corporate brand as a whole; consequently, they tend to
ignore or downplay individual products or sub-brands. As we
would expect, some of the biggest spenders on these kinds of
campaigns are well-known firms that use their company or
corporate name prominently in their branding strategies, such
as GE, Toyota, Unilever, IBM, etc.
• Corporate image campaigns have been criticized as an
egostroking waste of time, and they can be easy for consumers
to ignore. However, a strong campaign can provide invaluable
marketing and financial benefits by allowing the firm to
express itself and embellish the meaning of its corporate brand
and associations for its individual products, as Philips did.
• To maximize the probability of success, however, marketers
must clearly define the objectives of a corporate image
campaign and carefully measure results against them. A
number of different objectives are possible in a corporate
brand campaign:
• Build awareness of the company and the nature of its business.
• Create favorable attitudes and perceptions of company
credibility.
• Link beliefs that can be leveraged by product-specific
marketing.
• Make a favorable impression on the financial community.
• Motivate present employees and attract better recruits.
• Influence public opinion on issues.
• A corporate image campaign can enhance awareness and
create a more positive image of the corporate brand that will
influence consumer evaluations and increase the equity
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associated with individual products and any related subbrands.

In certain cases, however, the latter three objectives can take
on greater importance.
• A corporate image campaign may be useful when mergers or
acquisitions transform the company.
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BRAND BUILDING THROUGH IMPERATIVE, GLOBAL AND

CORPORATE IMAGE
Introduction
A business imperative is a major change or goal that your company
promises to reach. Unlike an idea, an imperative does not have the
option of not working.
Design and implement a new product development and brand
architecture strategy to maximize long-term growth across product
offerings, customer segments and geographical markets. Do the
“right thing” with brands. Embrace corporate social responsibility
and manage brands for the long run.

• Brand Imperatives: Co-ordination across organization (imp

diagram)

➢ COORDINATION ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

• In many companies, a corporate brand is shared by several
businesses.
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• For Example: Tata brand is shared by different businesses,

each with its own strategy, customer set and objectives.
• Brand identity needs to be consistent. In such cases, an
organizational imperative is to create a mechanism for
implementing a common, coordinated brand strategy across all
business.
• If no such mechanism is in place, the brand identity is likely to
be inconsistently implemented. It is imperative to have a brand
guide outlining the dos’ and don’ts of brand communication

➢ COORDINATING ACROSS MEDIA

• Another imperative is to create mechanism to coordinate brand
building activities across diverse media options which include
events, sponsorship, clubs and loyalty programs, direct response
marketing, public relations, publicity, promotions, events stores,
packaging and design
• All communication about the brand has to be consistent with the
brand guidelines.

➢ COORDINATING ACROSS MARKETS

• When a brand is active in multiple markets, a final
imperative is to coordinate strategy and tactics across those
markets in order to build synergy and economies of scales
while remaining flexible enough to adjust to each market’s
unique characteristics.
• The task is usually complicated by the many functional
areas that influence brand building such as advertising,
sales and market research, among others.
• HUL in rural and urban areas.
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WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE BRAND?

In too many organizations, the answer to this question is no one. Or
there are many people in charge, but each has different objectives.
Hewlett-Packard, for example, has hundreds of managers, each with
responsibility for the HP brand in a particular business area.
Further, marketing products in different countries adds another
layer of complexity and additional caretakers of the HP brand.
When a single person is in-charge of the business associated with a
brand, there will be an incentive to protect and nurture that brand.
Suppose, however, that another business unit borrows the brand
name, A borrower thus would have less incentive to protect brand
name.
HP laptops- major responsibility to create brand identity
HP printers- not so major responsibility to create brand identity as
it is already created, but to carry it forward to other product class.

• The Brand Manager

Brand Managers have traditionally had strategic and tactical
responsibility for their brand , including having responsibility for
the brand identity and position , maintaining that identity by
securing needed investments and make sure that all media efforts
are consistent with the identity .
The brand manager’s role was first developed by Procter & Gamble
in the mid- 1930s for brands representing distinct business of
manageable size, is now being applied in more complex organization
One problem is that the brand manager is charged with tactical
programs that require day-to-day firefighting

• Brand Equity manager

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A brand equity manager (sometimes labeled as a brand

manager) is in-charge of creating and maintaining the brand
identity and coordinating it over products and markets.
Implementation brand strategy is then conducted by
tacticallyfocused managers or (in the case of some large
organizations such as Marriott, General Motors, and
Hallmark) functional organizational units.
The brand equity manager monitors, reviews, and perhaps
approves the tactics from a brand strategy perspective.

• Range brand manager

Firms with range brands are naturally organized by products. As a
result, the brand is usually managed by different people in different
contexts and with different objectives. A solution is the range brand
manager-one person who looks after the strategic interests of the
brand across the different businesses.
The range brand manager supports the brand by making sure that
there' is an overall brand strategy accepted by everyone and that
managers are sensitive to both the need to support the brand
identity and the need to avoid inconsistencies.
This task involves developing communication vehicles that maximize
brand identity synergies across the organization.

• Global brand manager

Each country has a complement of national brand managers, each
of whom is charged with marketing his or her respective.
However, the major brands also have a global brand manager (in
the case of Smirnoff, this person is president of the Pierre Smirnoff
Company) who is charged with developing a brand identity
worldwide, ensuring that the companies in each country are faithful
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to the brand strategy, communicating and facilitating best practices,

and encouraging consistency and synergy across countries.
This concept has been extended to Grand Met Pillsbury operations
for brands such as Green Giant and Haagen-Dazs.
• The Category Manager
The category manager role was created in response to the need to
think more broadly about efficiencies in distribution and logistics.
Even when a category manager is responsible for multiple brands,
his or her overview perspective can still be useful in coordinating
adjacent and related brands.
Gillette toiletries, for example, include Right Guard, a Gillette
Series (for men), White Rain, Dry Idea, and Gillette Foamy; Procter
& Gamble has seven soaps and several detergents

• Rebranding
Rebranding is the process of changing the corporate image of an
organization. It is a market strategy of giving a new name, symbol,
or change in design for an already-established brand. The idea
behind rebranding is to create a different identity for a brand, from
its competitors, in the market.
Rebranding involves changing your brand identity completely, such
as by implementing a new logo or changing the name of your
company. Rebranding is often done if the company is failing or has
experienced bad press. It’s a way for a company to get a fresh start.
Corporate rebranding is a time- and resource-intensive process that
demands a company’s total commitment to succeed
Initial reaction to rebranding is almost always negative, simply
because people resist change. Sometimes, however, an especially
harsh reception will cause a firm to abandon a new name.
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It is important not to move too fast in rebranding. In updating

brand architecture in any way, the goal is to at least preserve if not
actually enhance brand equity as much as possible.
Let’s understand with the help of an example – Titan Industries
rebranded itself in 2013 and changed the logo as well as the name to
Titan Company. The new logo highlighted the company’s
commitment to "create value, innovate, and maintain highest global
standards".
As your business evolves, you may decide to make changes. It's not
uncommon for companies to create a new identity to elevate a
struggling or out-of-date brand. At the same time, a rebranding
strategy that's rushed or under-budgeted can feel sloppy, lack
meaning and fail to resonate with customers
Examples

Say the word Dunkin, and you automatically think about donuts.
Although that’s a symbol of strong brand awareness, the brand
decided to drop the word "donuts" in a rebrand to modernize
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customers' experience. They changed the look of their stores, got a

new logo, and freshened up their brand messaging.
If you're going to change your name, make sure it still resonates
with your audience. Be consistent with your branding in everything
you do.

• Revitalizing
In virtually every product category are examples of once prominent
and admired brands that have fallen on hard times or even
completely disappeared. Nevertheless, several brands have managed
to make impressive comebacks in recent years, as marketers have
breathed new life into their customer franchises. E.g., Kodak
pharmaceuticals. Lacoste.
For a successful turnaround, brands sometimes must return to their
roots to recapture lost sources of equity.
The Brand Revitalization is the marketing strategy adopted when
the product reaches the maturity stage of product life cycle, and
profits have fallen drastically. It is an attempt to bring the product
back in the market and secure the sources of equity i.e., customers.
Revitalization strategies obviously run along a continuum, with pure
back-to-basics at one end and pure reinvention at the other. Many
campaigns combine elements of both.
Example: Mountain Dew, A Pepsi product, was launched in 1969
with the tagline “Yahoo Mountain Dew” that flourished in the
market till 1990. After that the sales of mountain dew declined due
to which it was re-positioned, its packaging was changed, and the
tagline was changed to “Do the Dew”. It targeted the young males
showing their audacity in performing the adventurous sports. This
led the Mountain Dew to the fifth position in the beverage industry.
Reasons for revitalizing…
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1. Increased Competition in the market is one of the major

reasons for the product to go under the brand revitalization. In
order to meet with the offerings and technology of competitor, the
company must design its brand accordingly to sustain in the market.
2. The Brand Relevance plays a major role in capturing the
market. The brand should be modified in accordance with the
changes in tastes and preferences of customers i.e., it should cater
the need of target market. E.g., Burberry fashion
3. Nowadays Globalization has become an integral part of any
business. In order to meet the different needs of different customers
residing in different countries the brand must be revitalized
accordingly.
4.Sometimes Mergers and Acquisitions demand the brand
revitalization. When two or more companies combine, they want the
product to be designed from the scratch in a way that it appeals to
both and benefits each simultaneously. E.g., Idea and Vodafone
5. Technology is something that is changing rapidly. In order to
meet with the latest trend, the companies must adopt the new
technology due to which the product can go under complete
revitalization.
6. Some Legal Issues may force a brand to go under brand
revitalization such as copyrights, bankruptcy, etc. In such situations,
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the brand must be designed accordingly, and the branding is to be

done in line with the legal requirements. E.g., Harley-Davidson
➢ Rural advertising and brands
The term ‘rural marketing’ used to be an umbrella term for the
people who dealt with rural people in one way or other. It got a
separate meaning and importance after the economic revaluation in
India after 1990.
Rural marketing/ advertising is defined as managing all the
activities involved in assessing, stimulating and converting the
purchasing power of the rural consumers into effective demand for
specific products and services and moving them to the people in
rural areas to create satisfaction and a better standard of living and
thus achieving organizational objectives.
Rural marketing is a process of developing, pricing, promoting, and
distributing rural specific goods and services leading to desired
exchange with rural customers to satisfy their needs and wants, and
to achieve organizational objectives.

Rural product categories:

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FMCG – Major players are HUL, Dabur, Marico, Colgate

Palmolive, Nirma, and Godrej, move relatively faster, irregular
income induces small quantity purchase like sachets, small tubes.
E.g., soap, shampoo, wheat flour, soft drinks.
Consumer Durables – these are purchased once in a few years, it is
in less demand due to low income and bad infrastructural facility,
and lifestyle. LG Sampoorna TV, small refrigerator by Philips.
Agricultural Products – Agricultural inputs such as seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and implements (tractors, tillers
and threshers) Livestock, poultry and fishery.
Services – rural services are witnessing the birth and growth of
internet services. Rural market witnessing e-choupal
Rural Specific Media
Music Records: It is an inexpensive medium. On complete language
group can be reached on a low budget through cassettes that can be
played in the place where rural people gathered.
*Puppetry: Puppetry is the indigenous theatre of India; it has been
mot popular form of entertainment available to the village people.
The performer uses puppets as a medium to communicate, ideas,
values and social messages. Example: Sounds and drama division of
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the government of India used puppets to promote various

government projects.
LIC used puppets to educate rural masses about ‘jeevan beema’ in
Lucknow.
➢ Types of puppet

Folk Theater: Folk theatre is mainly short and rhythmic in form. It

has been used as an effective medium for social protest injustice and
exploitation.
Interpersonal Media: In many cases, rural people prefer face-to-face
communication than mass communication. A firm can contact
audience through fairs & festivals, folk, etc.
Group Meeting: It is a component of interpersonal media. Salesman
can effectively convey the product message at these meetings.
Demonstration of products can also be carried out. E.g., HUL
House-to-House Campaign: In these campaigns, promotional staff
makes house-to-house visits in rural areas. This is different from
door-to-door selling campaigns. Promotion staff does not sell the
products, they only propagate the products.
➢ Importance of branding in rural market
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➢ Recognition and loyalty- rural market would recognize the

brand as it is an untapped market by known/ popular brands.
It is not very difficult to get consumer loyalty.
➢ Brand image- As rural marketing can have a fresh approach
towards this market as they do not have any pre-conceived
image about the brand, it makes easy for the brand to create
image.
➢ Quality- Image can be created by providing quality products,
whole stress is on durability of the products.
➢ Reliability- product/ service quality, consistency, after sale
service, buy back offers can be catered to the market to create
reliability.
➢ Multi-product branding- e.g., Mahindra makes rural
marketing for SUV, tractors, pick-ups and trucks.

Brand building through CSR activities

Some examples
• Protecting the environment is the official reason Apple decided
not to include power adapters or EarPods in the iPhone 12 box.
... Carbon emissions led to climate change, so it's definitely
significant to see a tech giant like Apple making an effort to
reduce its emissions.
• Apple made quite a big deal of it back in 2018, when it
announced that its 2018 MacBook Air was being made from
100% recycled aluminum, reducing its carbon footprint by 50
percent. The revelation was met with thunderous applause by
the assembled crowd, as Apple declared it “The Greenest Mac
Ever.”
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• Google also earned the Reputation Institute’s highest CSR

2018 score much in part due to their data centers using 50%
less energy than others in the world. They also have committed
over $1 billion to renewable energy projects and enable other
businesses to reduce their environmental impact through
services such as Gmail.
• Disney is determined to please companies that have made it a
giant by using zero net direct greenhouse gas emission policies
within all its facilities. In addition, it is working at reducing the
indirect greenhouse gas emissions through the reduction of
electrical consumption.
• Disney also has a zero-waste policy meaning that there is
nothing that would end up in landfills. The entertainment giant
also uses technology that saves water and is working on
lowering the footprint of its product manufacturing and
distribution. This is tied up to the company’s policy of having a
net positive environmental impact that has made Disney a
leader in environmental responsibility.
• https://www.tatamotors.com/corporate-socialresponsibility/
#overview – Tata CSR activities Corporate social responsibility
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to strategies that
companies put into action as part of corporate governance that
are designed to ensure the company’s operations are ethical
and beneficial for society.
• Some marketing experts believe consumers are increasingly
using their perceptions of a firm’s role in society in their
purchase decisions.
• For example, consumers want to know how a firm treats its
employees, shareholders, local neighbors, and other
stakeholder or constituents. As the head of a large ad agency
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put it: “The only sustainable competitive advantage any

business has is its reputation.” consistent with this reasoning,
91 percent of respondents in a large global survey of financial
analysts and others in the investment community agreed that a
company that fails to look after its reputation will endure
financial difficulties. Moreover, 96 percent said the CEO’s
reputation was fairly, very, or extremely important in
influencing their ratings.
• The realization that consumers and others may be interested in
issues beyond product characteristics and associations has
prompted much marketing activity to establish the proper
corporate image. Some firms are putting corporate social
responsibility at the very core of their existence. Ben & Jerry’s
has created a strong association as a “do-gooder” by using Fair
Trade ingredients and donating 7.5 percent of its pretax profits
to various causes.
• An area of increasing importance for many brands is corporate
social responsibility. Firms are becoming more aware of the
environmental, economic, and social impact of their words and
actions. Many now employ cause-marketing programs
designed to align their brands with a cause of importance to
their customers. Many consumers are also becoming much
more aware of the environmental aspect of the products and
services of a firm and how they are produced and dispose.
Pfizer- CSR
• When disaster strikes, emergency assistance in healthcare is
crucial. To aid in these circumstances, Pfizer has a
threepronged approach; product donations, grants and
solutions to access.
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• Grants have been provided to countries such as Haiti in the

aftermath of Hurricane Matthew and the global refugee crisis
in Europe and the Middle East. This money is provided in
cooperation with NGOs to reach as many people as possible.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, through its Global Medical Grants
program, Pfizer provided $5 million to help improve the
recognition, diagnosis, treatment and management of patients. In
addition, grants were made available to clinics, medical centers and
hospitals to improve the management and outcome of COVID-19
patients
CSR and branding
• CSR and branding have a number of linkages, specifically
through trust, corporate reputation and consumer
attribution. Gurhan-Canli and Fries (2009) suggest that
both consumer characteristics, such as awareness of CSR
programs and personal judgment and company
characteristics such as reputation are factors influencing
branding outcomes. The branding outcome would include
evaluation of the company, brand and product, in which
brand trust would be considered. Fit between the CSR
activities and the company and brand itself also impacts on
the way consumers perceive the CSR activities .
• It was argued that brand image is a perceptual
phenomenon affected by corporate communication activities,
by means of which consumers can be led to freely associate
their minds to the branded products. Despite the inter-
relation between reputation and brand, the two concepts
are not synonymous. Reputation centers primarily on the
company, whereas brand is customer-oriented
Helps maintaining relationship with consumers
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• CSR helps humanize your brand by adding to memory

structures that link your brand to important issues – this could
be anything from sustainability, community support,
environmental awareness to mental health. Business growth
comes by finding new customers.
• Corporates are increasingly ramping up their focus on social
responsibility, whether its championing women’s rights,
protecting the environment, or attempting to obliterate
poverty, on local, national, or global levels.
• Embracing socially responsible policies goes a long way
towards attracting and retaining customers, which is essential
to a company’s long-term success. Furthermore, many
individuals will gladly pay a premium for goods, knowing that
part of the profits will be channeled towards social causes near
and dear to them.
• E.g., P & G Shiksha CSR activity to help educate rural girls
who do not get opportunity to go to school.
• Socially responsible companies tend to attract employees who
are eager to make a difference in the world in addition to
simply collecting a paycheck. With large companies, there is
strength in numbers, where collective employee efforts can
achieve substantial results, which increases workplace morale
and boosts productivity.
• Community-oriented companies often enjoy a leg up on their
competition, as well, thanks to superior brand imaging. For
example, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has successfully attracted
environmentally-minded consumers, with his line of
cuttingedge electric-powered cars and green automotive
products.
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• Socially responsible companies cultivate positive brand

recognition, increase customer loyalty, and attract top-tier
employees. These elements among the keys to achieving
increased profitability and long-term financial success.
• https://www.media4growth.com/ooh-news/mcdonalds-
indiamakes-a-significant-presence-in-fight-against-covid-19-
5029
Some benefits of CSR in branding
• 1. Stronger brand image, recognition, and reputation: CSR
adds value to firms by establishing and maintaining a good
corporate reputation and/or brand equity.
• 2. Increased customer loyalty and sales: Customers of a firm
that practices CSR feel that they are helping the firm support
good causes.
• 3. Operational cost savings: Investing in operational
efficiencies results in operational cost savings as well as
reduced environmental impact.
• 4. Retaining key and talented employees: Employees often stay
longer and are more committed to their firm knowing that they
are working for a business that practices CSR.
• 5. Easier access to funding: Many investors are more willing to
support a business that practices CSR.
• 6. Reduced regulatory burden: Strong relationships with
regulatory bodies can help to reduce a firm’s regulatory
burden.
Example- CSR- India
• At Mahindra & Mahindra, The K. C. Mahindra Education
Trust was established in 1953 with the purpose of
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promoting education. Its vision is to renovate the lives of

people in India through education and financial assistance
across age groups and across income strata. The K. C.
Mahindra Education Trust undertakes a number of
education plans, which make a difference to the lives of
worthy students. The Trust has provided more than Rs. 7.5
crore in the form of grants, scholarships and loans. It
promotes education mostly by the way of scholarships. The
Nanhi Kali (children) project has over 3,300 children under it
and the company aims to increase the number to 10,000 in the
next two years by reaching out to the underprivileged children,
especially in rural areas Social activities other than CSR to
enhance the brand:
• By anything that brings members of a community together to
interact like dancing, games and street parties. SOCIAL
ACTIVITY: "Social activity is an event or pursuit that brings
members of the community together.
• Can social activities enhance brand’s image? “perhaps”
because the community on which brands used to depend on
have changed dramatically in the last half-decade.
Consequently, brand managers are scrambling in search of
certain activities that would help a part of the society so that
they can buffet themselves against unpredictable, societal-led
storms.
• Tommy Hilfiger has become well-known for its socially-driven
campaigns in the past few years, which typically center around
topics like diversity and sustainability. Its latest, ‘Moving
Forward Together’ is similarly based on social good, aiming to
help both the fashion and creative industries recover from the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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• E.g., Camlin believes that adding a fun element to education

makes learning fun! Keeping this in mind, Camlin conducted
an event at Shivaji Park, Dadar, in collaboration with the
Rachna Sansad Institute. The goal of this activity was to
beautify the surroundings.
• More recently, Tommy Hilfiger has also announced a
continuation of the campaign, involving a partnership with
learning platform, Future Learn, to offer a series of free digital
learning courses covering a range of topics such as community
building and LGBTQ. Each course will be hosted by Tommy
Hilfiger ambassadors, which include Jameela Jamil and Indya
Moore. Furthermore, the brand will host a series of live talks
on its social media channels in the same vein, furthering its
commitment to empower fans and followers to drive social
change.
• E.g., Vicks glorified the warriors of society. Covid fighters,
transgender etc.
• The Mumbai Marathon (known as the Tata Mumbai
Marathon for sponsorship reasons by Tata Group), is an
annual international marathon held in Mumbai, India, on the
third Sunday of January every year. It is the largest marathon
in Asia as well as the largest mass participation sporting event
on the continent. It is the richest race in India with a prize pool
of US$405,000. This brings Mumbai together to run for
inspiration and motivation. In 2018 when Tata Group took
control of the event, the initiative was to increase participation
and encourage marathoners to complete the marathon run.
• The Mumbai Marathon is India's largest charity platform for
non-profit organizations to raise funds. NGOs represent causes
such as arts, culture and sports, civic and community
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development, disability, education, environment and wildlife,

health, human rights, social services, vocational training, and
women, children and the aged.
• The New Cosmos of Photography is Canon's cultural support
project to discover, nurture, and support new photographers
who pursue new possibilities in creative photographic
expression. Launched in 1991, this year marks the 30th
iteration of the annual contest. What's more, promoting the
competition as a global photo contest that elevates
photographers and videographers playing an active role in the
current art scene.
• Tupperware is also a classic example of conducting social
activities in the organizations, where they exhibit products as
well as lunch/ dinner parties too. The brand has always focused
on reducing impact on the environment by providing reusable,
durable and easy-to-use solutions that help minimize plastic
and food waste. We are now extending our vision by
committing to significantly reduce our impact on the issue of
waste. We are planning large steps to ensure waste reduction at
every step of the lifecycle of our product – design,
manufacturing and distribution, to consumption, recycling and
recovery.
Important factors in conception and various stages of growth and
maturity of brands
• One reason marketers have been forced to use so many
financial incentives or discounts is that the marketplace has
become more competitive. Both demand-side and supply-side
factors have contributed to the increase in competitive
intensity.
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• On the demand side, consumption for many products and

services has flattened and hit the maturity stage, or even the
decline stage, of the product life cycle. As a result, marketers
can achieve sales growth for brands only by taking away
competitors’ market share. On the supply side, new
competitors have emerged due to several factors.

• Every brand or product has its life cycle which spans from the
time it is launched to the time it exits from the market. This
cycle covers five stages, namely product development,
introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The life cycle of
each brand or product is different, and different advertising
strategies should be adopted at different stages to suit the
marketing targets and market environment in order to achieve
the best marketing results.
• Stages:
• Product Development -- This is the stage of design, production
and research carried out by a company to ensure that its
products can meet consumer needs through sufficient market
survey. The company will also improve its products in the light
of market response and gradually build up its brand.
• Introduction -- During this stage, the product is introduced
into the market and publicity campaigns are launched to
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promote its functions, features, quality and usage and attract

customers to try out or buy the product. Here, the brand
awareness is very high as aggressive marketing takes place.
• Growth -- The branded product begins to build up its following
among consumers during this stage. The cumulative effect of
marketing begins to show, and the market share expands.
However, the company must further step up its advertising
efforts, and the advertising must highlight the characteristics
and value of the product. A company may also improve the
quality of their product brands, adding various flavors or
features. E.g., Apple’s launch of SE products.
• Maturity -- Brands or products in the maturity stage have a
considerable market share and have reached their sales peak,
with growth beginning to slow down. Brand influence at this
stage is at its height and the kinds of marketing strategies to be
adopted are many. Here, the brand can revitalize itself by
bringing a change in product or technology. E.g., Bringing M1
chip in MacBook.
• For example, the company that first entered the market may
focus on being the quality leader. The company may keep
prices relatively higher to maintain its premium image. The
target market may include older users with a higher household
income.
• Decline -- Brand awareness is high, but sales are on the decline.
Other characteristics of this stage include falling prices,
weakening competitiveness and emergence of new products.
E.g., iPods are not needed anymore in the market. The need of
the product is over.
Examples: iPod and Kodak
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• The film rolls made by Kodak. After the idea was generated
and tested as a good product (the product development stage),
Kodak launched the product on the market, this is the
introduction stage. After that, people discovered for the first
time this type of product, and they start liking it and buying it,
this is the growth stage. Then, when the product was the most
popular, that was the maturity stage. During the period of
time, Kodak was the most profitable and sales started
declining. And finally, as competitors introduced digital
cameras, consumers didn’t need film rolls anymore, that was
the end of this type of product, this is the decline stage.
• The film rolls made by Kodak. After the idea was generated
and tested as a good product (the product development stage),
Kodak launched the product on the market, this is the
introduction stage. After that, people discovered for the first
time this type of product, and they start liking it and buying it,
this is the growth stage. Then, when the product was the most
popular, that was the maturity stage. During the period of
time, Kodak was the most profitable and sales started
declining. And finally, as competitors introduced digital
cameras, consumers didn’t need film rolls anymore, that was
the end of this type of product, this is the decline stage.
Customer, Industrial, Retail and Service Brands:
• Customer branding is a process in which a customer or
customers define, label, and seek to purchase an otherwise
undifferentiated or unbranded product. The customer(s) can
be anywhere along the value chain and may be intermediate,
industrial or end-user customers.
• Customer branding may have been historically very common
but is probably less common in the modern era. However as
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will be shown, it still exists. While the marketing phenomenon

of customer branding has occurred for hundreds of years,
marketing theory has never incorporated it.
• By understanding the process of customer branding, we can
better understand how markets for seemingly undifferentiated
products work. Customer branding fills in an important gap
that currently exists in the academic literature and in
marketing theory.
• Customer branding exists and by understanding the
phenomenon, channel participants can increase revenue and
improve product movement and potentially profit.
• They are the products which consumers buy depending upon
their price. There is no quantitative differentiation for the
commodities across the market. Milk, sugar, oil, grains are few
example to note. It is not easy to persuade customer as these
products are available at various ranges. So, the sellers need to
put in lot of efforts like color, logo, brand characters,
packaging etc.
• Industrial branding:
• Industrial brands often emphasize functionality and cost–
benefit comparisons.
• Industrial brands can leverage secondary associations
differently; for example, identifying other companies that are
customers for their products or services conveys credibility.
The challenge in advertising that fact, however, is ensuring
these other companies don’t distract from the message about
the advertised company and its brands.
• The principles of effective industrial branding apply to the B2B
sector in the same way as they do in customer-facing
businesses. B2B businesses market products and services
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directly to other businesses rather than the public. They too

need to use branding to differentiate and create a distinct
personality. They may opt for a personality that is more
corporate and business-like in its tone than a consumer facing
brand.
Retail brand
• Emphasizes the specific retail outlet as the place to buy a
specific range of brand. It can be local store advertising in local
newspaper. E.g., Shoppers Stop, Big Bazar
• When you walk into a brick-and-mortar store, its physical
appearance has a look and feel specific to that brand. That’s
retail branding in action. Deliberate design choices like its
layout, the light fixtures, the decor, the music played, the
display fixtures and even the type of flooring are all carefully
selected to build a living brand experience for every shopper
who enters the store.
• Retail branding is a must-do for any business operating in a
physical location. Ecommerce has seen immense growth in the
past few years and that trend isn’t changing any time soon. So,
to keep shoppers coming through the doors, retailers need to
up their branding game and turn their stores into experiences
that shoppers want to come back and relive.

Service brand
• Unlike products, which are easy to brand in visible and
tangible ways, services are a little more challenging to brand.
But that doesn’t mean brands can’t do it effectively—they just
have to be willing to think outside the box.
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• Often, service branding comes in the form of “extras”, like an

insurance company sending all their customers rebate checks
at the end of the year or a hotel offering free cookies at the
caretaker desk. Service branding can also come in the form of
meeting specific expectations that set a company apart from
their competitors, like a cable company connecting customers
with human customer service reps rather than automated
prompts, when they call.
• The point is that by providing these extras, you’re teaching
consumers to associate your brand with a certain user
experience and driving them to keep coming back to have that
experience again.
• People want quick, efficient, friendly service and in some
industries, simply providing this kind of service consistently is
enough. In others, a brand has to actively go above and beyond
by providing unexpected perks to stand out from the crowd.
Any company that provides a service, whether the service is
their sole offering, or something provided alongside tangible
products, needs to create trust with their consumer, especially
as not all services have immediate outcomes. The way that they
can do this is by connecting to their consumers on a deeper,
emotional level.

CASE STUDY

TYPE 2
In this sample case study question no 2 is POSITIONING STRATEGY.

AS POSITIONING STRATEGY IS ASKED STUDENTS SHOULD ANSWER THE

CORNERSTONE OF POSITIONING STRATEGY briefly as per the case study i.e
1) Who am I (Positioning by corporate identity, Positioning by Brand endorsement)
187

2) What am I (Category related positioning , Benefit related ,Positioning by usage and time ,Price
quality positioning
3) For whom am I ( Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral )
4 )Why me ( Unique attributes ,Positioning by competitors )

IF ONLY POSITIONING IS ASKED THEY CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION BASED

ON
THE 7 P’S which ever applicable to the case study )
1. Positioning by Product attributes
2. Positioning by Price/ Quality
3. Positioning by use or application
4. Positioning by product class
5. Positioning by product user
6. Positioning by Competitor
7. Positioning by cultural symbols

CASE STUDY

Food Bazaar has become a trusted name in the branded retail segment was launched in 2002.
It is a chain of large supermarkets with a difference where the best of Western and Indian values
have been put together to ensure consumer satisfaction and comfort while shopping.

The western values of convenience, cleanliness and hygiene are offered through pre-packed
commodities and the Indian values of ‘see-touch-feel’ are offered through the bazaar-like
atmosphere created by displaying staples out in the open.

The best of everything offered with a seal of freshness and purity will definitely makes final
buying decision a lot easier. They have been able to achieve this in a very short time

Based on the above inputs answer the following

 1) Analyze the current brand personality of food bazaar using the brand
personality scale
 2) What position strategy have they followed?

 3) What functional and emotional benefit does it offer?

Solution :
Food Bazaar a chain of large supermarkets with a difference ,is a trusted name in the
branded retail segment. The USP of the brand is it has the western values of
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convenience, cleanliness and hygiene by offering pre-packed commodities and the

Indian values of ‘see-touch-feel’
1) Brand Personality of Food Bazaar
The Brand personality scale has Five core dimensions such as Sincerity,
Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness.
The Current brand personality is Sincerity, Excitement and Competence
Sincerity
• Down- to Earth: Family – oriented
• Honest: Real, Sincere, caring
• Wholesome: Wholesome, original
• Cheerful: cheerful, sentimental, friendly, warm
Excitement
• Daring (daring, trendy, exciting)
• Spirited (spirited, cool, young)
• Imaginative (imaginative, unique)
• Up-to-date (up-to-date, independent, contemporary, innovative )

Competence
• Reliable (reliable, hard- working, secure)
• Successful (successful, confident)
Sincerity, Excitement and Competence are the personalities of the brand . It’s not only
a young brand (2002 ) but also offers both western convenience and Indian values
makes the brand family oriented , unique , contemporary , reliable and successful.
2 ) Positioning strategy of Food bazaar
Food Bazaar has followed the positioning strategy based on the cornerstone of position
strategy.
• Who am I ?
• What am I?
• For whom am I ?
• Why me ?
A ) Who am I ?
Food Bazaar is a part of the Future group launched in 2002 . B)
What am I ?
1. Category related positioning:
189

Food bazaar is blend of a typical Indian Bazaar and International supermarket

atmosphere.
2. ) Benefit related positioning:

Food bazaar gives the advantages of Quality, Range and Price associated with
large format stores and also the comfort of being able to see, touch and feel the
products. The Indian consumer likes to "See, Touch and Feel" the wheat, rice,
pulses, fruits and vegetables before making the final buying decision. Which other
super markets don’t offer
3. Positioning by usage and time
It offers the western values of convenience, cleanliness and hygiene through pre
packed commodities .
4. Price quality positioning
Food bazaar offers price less than MRP and regular discounts with super market
experience

C) For Whom am I ?
Demographic – a)
Gender: All
b) Age: 20 years and above
c) Income: Average Income Group of Rs 30000 per month and above
Psychographic
a) Lifestyle : Consumers who prefer a blend of a typical Indian Bazaar and
International supermarket atmosphere
Behavioral
a) Indian consumer who like convenience , cleanliness , hygiene and the See, Touch
and Feel shopping experience
D) Why me ?
Unique Aspect :
One shop stop experience with blend of a typical Indian Bazaar and International
supermarket atmosphere.
3) Functional and emotional benefit of food bazaar
Functional Benefit
The most visible and common basis for a value proposition is a functional benefit—
that is, a benefit based on a product attribute that provides functional utility to the
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customer. Such a benefit will usually relate directly to the functions performed by the
product or service for the customer.
Functional Benefits of food bazaar is: Price less than the MRP, Regular discounts,
Super market experience. One stop shop experience. In other words customers get
the supermarket experience
Emotional benefits
When the purchase or use of a particular brand gives the customer a positive
feeling, that brand is providing an emotional benefit. It adds richness and depth to
the experience of owning and using the brand
At food bazaar the emotional benefit the customer experience is the “ Touch and feel:
experience as Indian customers are used

Solved Case study Oct 2016

Paper Boat is a non-carbonated beverages and energy drink produced
and marketed by Hector Beverages, They have unique varieties of
beverages such as jaljeera, aamras, Jamun, panakam, chilli guava and
more.
The brand wishes to extended its portfolio by launching unique
flavored ice candy .
. On the basis of the given information answer the following questions:
i) What line extension strategy would you suggest? Justify your answer.
(3)
.ii) What is the current brand personality? Create a new personality using
the big five. (3)
iii) Who would you like to be use as a brand ambassador based on the
current personality (3)

Solution
Paper Boat is a brand of traditional Indian juices and drinks. The brand
has an emotional connect with its consumers and has created an
enjoyable moment with its unique blend of ‘Drinks and Memories’
Today market’s are flooded with different brands of Ice cream and Ice
candy with soft serves such as Mango with vanilla , Raspberry with vanilla
etc.
Paper Boat strategy to extend its brand portfolio by launching Ice candy
will be a big boon to lactose tolerant consumers.
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As the brand wishes to extend its portfolio by launching unique flavored ice
candy ...the following are the suggestions:
I ) Line extension
Line extension is when the parent brand is used to brand a new product
that targets a new market segment within a product category currently
served by the parent brand.
A line extension often involves a different flavor or ingredient variety, a
different form or size, or a different application for the brand
Paper Boat can leverage its brand by creating the following line
extensions :

A ) Flavors: Paper boat is a young and vibrant brand. Most of the

ingredients used are naturally found spices and condiments. Its sweet
and salty flavor has helped the brand reach to the heart of the
consumers. In addition to the existing flavors like Aamras, Jamun,
Pomegranate, Chilli guava etc. The strategy should be to make the most
of on the brand’s recall and introduce new fresh fruit flavors with fruit
pieces such as : Pineapple & Coconut , Apple & Cinnamon, Kachi Keri
Watermelon, Strawberry and Orange .
With a strong brand recognition and recall, it easy for consumers to try
these new variants
B Special ingredients: Paper boat uses natural ingredients and has
sweet and salty flavors.
Special ingredients like Chaat Masala can be used with Kachi Keri ,
Orange & Watermelon. Colorful Chocolate Sprinkles can be used with
Apple cinnamon & Pineapple & coconut .
With these special ingredients paper boat ice candy will be unforgettable
with every bite
C Packaging: Consumers recognize paper boat because of its unique
packaging i.e . spout pouches . Paper boat ice candy can be packed in
transparent pillow pouches like popsicles.
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Different sizes of packaging such as Single for Rs 15 , Mutli pack of 4

variants for Rs 50 and 6 variants for Rs 60 can be a great option for
families .
II)The Brand personality scale has Five core dimensions such as
Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Ruggedness and Sophistication
The Current brand personality is Sincerity and Competence Sincerity:
Down- to Earth: Family – oriented, conventional
Honest: Real, Sincere, caring
Wholesome: Wholesome, original,
Cheerful: cheerful, sentimental, friendly, warm Competence
:
Reliable : hard working, secure
Successful : successful, leader, confident

The new brand personality that we can create is Excitement.

Excitement:
Daring: daring, trendy, exciting
Spirited: spirited, cool, young, lively
Imaginative: imaginative, unique, fun
Up-to-date: up-to-date, independent, contemporary, innovative
The new brand personality with new flavors, special ingredients such as
Chaat Masala, Sprinkles ,variants and size will make the brand fun, spirited
imaginative and lively.
III) Paper boat Juices and drinks doesn’t have any brand ambassador
But for Paper ice candy we would like to introduce Alia Bhat based on the
current personality. Excitement .
Alia Bhat is spirited, young, cool and fun. She connects with her audience
well so does Paper boat as its young vibrant brand and has made an
emotional connect with its consumers
She would work well for the Paper boat brand like as the brand is appeal
is urban India

( BRAND AMBASSDOR QUESTION IS VERY SUBJECTIVE .. IT

DIFFERES FROM STUDENTS TO STUDENT )
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Case Study with answers

Type 1 April 2013
Britannia Marie Gold is facing severe competition in the markets where they were
leaders because of entry of new players and hence the sales were decreasing for
the company.
The marketing head has called a meeting along with the Brand Management Team,
to find a solution.
As a Brand Management Team answer the following questions:
1. What line extension strategy would you suggest to counter the competition?
Justify your answer.
2. What is the current personality? Create a new personality using the Big Five.
3. Who would you like to use as a Brand Ambassador based on your new brand
personality?
Likely Solution:
Britannia Marie Gold is a popular and loved brand that stands for Tea Time Vitality. In
order to enhance the sales the brand management team can find a solution with the
following.
1) Line Extension
• Line extension is when the parent brand is used to brand a new product that
targets a new market segment within a product category currently served by the
parent brand.
A line extension often involves a different flavor or ingredient variety, a different
form or size, or a different application for the brand.
As firms markets one or more new products in an established market and well
known brand name as a multi-product branding strategy. The objective is to take
advantage of the accepted and recognized brand name of the original brand and
satisfy different customer needs and market segments.
Britannia Marie gold can leverage its brand by creating the following line
extensions: a) Flavors:
Britannia Marie is an age old recognized brand. Most of the consumers say 9
out of 10 have at least tasted it once. The strategy should be to capitalize on
the brand’s recall and introduce new flavors such as Orange or Vanilla or
Chocolate .It is easy to make consumers try these new variants as Britannia
Marie Gold brand has a strong recognition.
b) Special Ingredient: Britannia Marie Gold stands for Tea Time biscuit and is
perceived as a low calorie biscuit .
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A sugar free variety can be introduced for the niche segment of consumers
c) Packaging: Small packaging worth Rs 3/- can be introduced as lot of
consumers have 3 to 4 Britannia Marie biscuits as a Tea Time snack.
Dieticians often recommend 3 to 4 Britannia Marie biscuits as an evening
snack. This small pack will be a boon to consumers who are on the move .
2) What is the current personality? Create a new personality using the Big
Five.
The Brand personality scale has Five core dimensions such as Sincerity, Excitement,
Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness.
The Current brand personality is Sincerity:
Sincerity:
Down- to Earth: Family – oriented, small town, Conventional
Honest: Real, Sincere, caring
Wholesome: Wholesome, original, ageless
Cheerful: cheerful, sentimental, friendly, warm
The new brand personality that we can create is Excitement.
Excitement:
Daring: daring, trendy, exciting
Spirited: spirited, cool, young, lively
Imaginativeu: imaginative, unique, fun
Up-to-date: up-to-date, independent, contemporary, innovative
The new brand personality with new flavors, variants and size will make the young and
lively. The sugar free version would make the consumers up-to-date and in line with the
current trend of being health conscious.
3.Who would you like to use as a Brand Ambassador based on your new brand
personality?
Based on the current personality, we would like to introduce Anushka Sharma as the
new Brand Ambassador for Britannia Marie Gold,
She is lively, cool, young, adventurous and trendy. She is fit and likes to stay active.
She would work well for a brand like Britannia Marie Gold as the brand is positioned for
masses. Also she is well accepted by both genders.
So, the new Brand personality of Britannia Marie Gold that we have created gets
leveraged with the Brand ambassador Anushaka Sharma.

Type 2
Food Bazar has become a trusted name in the branded retail segment .They have
been able to achieve this in a very short time
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 1) Analyze the current brand personality of food bazar using the brand
personality scale
 2) What position strategy have they followed?
 3) What functional and emotional benefit does it offer?
Likely Solution
Future group launched Food bazar in 2003. It’s a supermarket chain with a difference.
1) Analyze the current brand personality of food bazar using the brand personality
scale
The Brand personality scale has Five core dimensions such as Sincerity,
Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness.
The Current brand personality is Sincerity, Excitement and Competence
Sincerity
• Down- to Earth: Family – oriented
• Honest: Real, Sincere, caring
• Wholesome: Wholesome, original
• Cheerful: cheerful, sentimental, friendly, warm
Excitement
• Daring (daring, trendy, exciting)
• Spirited (spirited, cool, young)
• Imaginative (imaginative, unique)
• Up-to-date (up-to-date, independent, contemporary, innovative )

Competence
• Reliable (reliable, hard- working, secure)
• Intelligent (intelligent, technical, corporate)
• Successful (successful, confident) 2) What position strategy have
they followed?
Food Bazar has followed the positioning strategy based on the cornerstone of
position strategy: What am I?
• The positioning strategy here revolves around the question of
product functional capabilities.
2. Category related positioning:
3. Benefit related
4. Positioning by usage and time
5. Price quality positioning
Food bazar has positioning strategy is based he core concept of Food Bazaar is
actually very simple at heart.
It is to create a blend of a typical Indian Bazaar and International supermarket
atmosphere with the objective of giving the customer all the advantages of
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Quality, Range and Price associated with large format stores and also the
comfort of being able to see, touch and feel the products.
The Indian consumer likes to "See, Touch and Feel" her wheat, rice, pulses, fruits
and vegetables before making her final buying decision.
Food Bazaar is offering the Indian consumer precisely this - "See-Touch-Feel"
factor. At other super markets, the consumer is deprived of this factor – where
only pre packed staples, foods & vegetables are offered.
Food Bazaar offers the Indian consumer the best of Western and Indian values.
The western values of convenience, cleanliness and hygiene are offered through
pre packed commodities and the Indian values of "See-Touch- Feel" are offered
by displaying staples out in the open, all at very economical and affordable prices
without any compromise on quality.
Truly the Indian consumer is now agreeing with Food Bazaar "Ab Ghar Chalaana
kitna Aasaan".
Ab Ghar Chalaana Kitna Aasaan! Yes! That’s the positioning platform of Food
Bazaar.

 3) What functional and emotional benefit does it offer?

 Functional Benefit
 The most visible and common basis for a value proposition is a functional
benefit— that is, a benefit based on a product attribute that provides
functional utility to the customer.
 Such a benefit will usually relate directly to the functions performed by the
product or service for the customer.
Functional Benefits of food bazaar is: Price less than the MRP, Regular
discounts, Super market experience. One stop shop experience. In other words
customers get the supermarket experience Emotional benefits
• When the purchase or use of a particular brand gives the customer a positive
feeling, that brand is providing an emotional benefit. It adds richness and depth to
the experience of owning and using the brand • At food bazaar the emotional benefit
the customer experience is the “ Touch and feel: experience as Indian customers
are used

Type 2:
“Red Bull” the makers of the ‘energy drink’ want to launch a vitamin packed ‘nutritive
drink ‘for “sports persons.”
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1. What is the current brand personality? Should it Change? Give

reasons
2. What position “strategy “this new product from “use?
3. Define Target audience and there by “user Imagery”. Likely
Solution:

Concepts

1. Brand - A name, a term, a symbol or a design or a combination of these, that is intended

to identify the products or services of one business or group of businesses and to
differentiate them from those of competitors Example: Mcdonald’s , Nike , Close-up ,
Google etc.
2. LOGO - Is the visual signature of the brand. It is a long-term property of a brand and
needs to be handled cautiously. A brand logo consists of five distinct elements: Colour,
Font, geometric shape, Slogan and Brand name. Example : Nike swoosh, . Coca-Cola is
always written in a particular manner, AXIS bank special colour, Castrol in Castrol logo
3. Core identity - The core identity represents the timeless essence of the brand. It contains
brand association that is most likely to remain constant as the brand travels to new
markets and products The core identity, which is the central to both the meaning and
success of the brand. More resistant to change Includes elements that make the brand
both unique and valuable e.g. McDonald’s Value Offering, Quality, Service, Cleanliness,
Nike Thrust, User, Performance, Enhancing lives , Close up Up Gel form, User, Red
color, Dove ¼ moisturizer
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4. Extended identity - The extended identity Includes elements that provide texture and
completeness. It fills in the picture, adding details that help portray what the brand stands
for. For e.g McDonalds extended identity. Brand personality :fun laces, exciting , cool.

Symbol: LOGO: Golden arc, Slogan: “ I m loving it “, Brand Customer Relationship:

Place for kids , family & friends, Sub brands :Toys, Organizational Association: Ronald
McDonald house , helping hand for children, Endorses :Happy family
5. Brand identity - The outward expression of the brand, including its name and visual
appearance. The brand's identity is its fundamental means of consumer recognition and
symbolizes the brand's differentiation from competitors. For e.g Vodafone ZOO ZOO,
Britannia Signature tune, Nike swoosh, golden arch of Mc Donalds.
6. Brand positioning - The distinctive position that a brand adopts in its competitive
environment to ensure that individuals in its target market can tell the brand apart from
others. Positioning involves the careful manipulation of every element of the marketing
mix. This process of creating point of similarities and points of difference in consumer’s
mind is called Brand Positioning.
7. Perpetual mapping - Perceptual mapping does is to represent consumer percep tions-in
(usually) two-dimensional space so that the manager can readily see where his own brand
is positioned in the mind of his prospect and in relation to other Perceptual maps can help
identify where ( in the market ) an organization could position a new brand .Perceptual
mapping help organization identify gaps in the market.
8. Brand personality - Brand Personality can be defined as a set of human characteristics
associated with a brand It is how the brand behaves Gender, age, socio-economic class,
psychographic, emotional characteristics Marlboro is ‘masculine’ while Virginia Slims is
‘feminine’ IBM is ‘older’ while Apple is ‘younger’ India Today is ‘old-fashioned’ while

Outlook is ‘trendier’. Woodland is rugged, Raymonds is Honest.

9. Generic Branding - When a particular product category is used as a brand name by a
company it is known to be a generic branding For e.g Xerox associated with
photocopying product category, Band Aid associated with product category antiseptic
plaster, Crocin associated with product category paracetmol
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10. Generic brand - A product that is named only by its generic class (e.g., drip-grind
coffee, barber shop. Other products have both an individual brand and a generic
classification (Maxwell House drip-grind coffee, Maurice's barber shop). Generic brand
products are often thought to be unbranded, but their producer or reseller name is usually
associated with the product, too e.g Food Bazar Rawa, Food Bazar Maida. This approach
is usually associated with food and other packaged goods, but many other consumer and
industrial products and services are marked as generics e.g Kerosene , Aspirin
11. Co- branding - Co-branding is an arrangement that associates a single product or service
with more than one brand name, or otherwise associates a product with someone other
than the principal producer. The typical co-branding agreement involves two or more
companies acting in cooperation to associate any of various logos, color schemes, or
brand identifiers to a specific product that is contractually designated for this purpose.
There are two types of co – branding i.e. Ingredient co- branding and Composite
cobranding. For e.g. Coca Cola with Macdonald’s, Sunfeast Farmlite digestive biscuits
made from Aashirvaad atta. Intel with HP. ICICI bank visa card with Big bazaar
12.
13. Ingredient Co- branding is another form of co- branding . Ingredient co – branding
implies using a renowned brand as an element in the production of another renowned
brand
For e.g. Sunfeast Farmlite digestive biscuits made from Aashirvaad atta HP or any
computers with Intel Processors , Sunsilk with Keratin Micro technology Pantene with
Pro V
14. Composite co – branding - Composite Co- branding strategy involves two existing
brands and composite with these two to make or create a composite brand name for a new
product. It refers to the use of two renowned brand names in a way that can collectively
offer a distinct product / service that could not have been possible individually For e.g
Iphone with Voda fone, Coca Cola with McDonalds, Exclusive Citibank Platinum VISA
credit card for Jet Airways flyers
15. Brand Vision - The ability to see your company’s future through your customer’s eyes.
The brand's guiding insight into its world
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16. Brand equity - A set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and
symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm
and / or to that firm's customers”.The sum of all distinguishing qualities of a brand,
drawn from all relevant stakeholders, that results in personal commitment to and demand
for the brand; these differentiating thoughts and feelings make the brand valuable and
valued.
17. Brand extension - Brand extension is when a firm uses an established brand name to
introduce a new product. When a new brand is combined with the existing brand, the
brand extension can also be called as sub brand An existing brand that gives birth to a
brand extension is referred to as the parent brand. If the parent brand is already associated
with multiple products through brand extension then it may also be called a family brand.
For e.g Dove -Dove Shampoo, Dove Conditioner, Dove Body lotion etc
18. Line extension - The parent brand is used to brand a new product that targets a new
market segment within a product category currently served by the parent brand. A line
extension often involves a different flavor or ingredient variety, a different form or size,
or a different application for the brand e.g Maggi Masala Noodles, Maggi Atta noodles,
Maggi chicken Noodles etc.
19. Moving the brand up - When the existing brand name is too much of a drag, the only
feasible alternative is likely to be the creations of a standalone brand. Another strategy
that a brand adopts for moving the brand up is by introducing ‘limited edition’, special
edition for example ‘ Mont blanc pens fall in the is category . For instance its writer’s
edition was based on famous authors such as Charles Dickens , Oscar wilde, etc.

20. Moving the brand down - Today's markets, from tires to clothes to computers, are
becoming increasingly value centered. More and more buyers are turning from prestige
and luxury to lower-cost brands that deliver acceptable quality and features. For e.g
Nokia moved their brand down by launching Nokia ASHA for the labour / worker class,
Not very high priced , it had the potential to affect the minds of the target audience in a
very positive way .
21. Multi branding - The depth of branding strategy concerns the number and nature of
different brand marketed in the product class sold by a firm. The main reason to adopt
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multiple brands to pursue multiple brand segments. These market segments may be based
on all types of consideration – different price segments, different channels of distribute,
different geographic boundaries and so forth. For e.g Unilever has Surf excel, Rin and
Wheel in the same product category Detergent
22. Multi Product Branding - Multi Product branding strategy is when an organization uses
one name for all its products. This approach is also referred as blanket or family branding
strategy. It is an attempt to leverage corporate brand equity, in an attempt to create
product brand recognition e.g Godrej – Godrej store well, Godrej Navtal , Cadbury makes
Cadbury Five Star, Cadbury Dairy Milk , Cadbury Perk etc
23. Mix branding - Mixed branding is a strategy of producing the same good but marketing
it to different segments under different names. The segmentation does not have to be
pricerelated. The best example is Toyota and Lexus. Toyota in the U.S. was perceived as
a "value" brand and Lexus targeted the more expensive market.
24. Brand licensing - Brand Licensing is a contractual agreement whereby a company allow
another firm to use the brand name, patent, trade secret or other property for a royalty or
a fee. Licensing also assists companies entering global markets with minimal risk.
Licensing can be quite lucrative for the licensor. It has long been an important business
strategy for designer apparel and accessories such as Garfield cat, Disney’s Mickey
Mouse or celebrities and designers such as Martha Stewart , Tommy Hilfiger
25. Umbrella branding - An umbrella brand can be referred to as a brand when a group of
products possess the same brand name which is known as a family brand or an umbrella
brand. Different products having different images are put together under one major brand
or parent brand and are marketed by the firm. Umbrella branding does not mean that the
whole product portfolio of a firm will fall under one brand name as company can go for
different approaches of branding for different product lines. EXAMPLES - Amul is an
example of umbrella brand. Amul Butter, Amul Cheese spreads, Amul Milk, Amul ice
creams, Amul ghee all fall under single brand name AMUL. Godrej is another example
of umbrella brand. Products like locks, steel cupboards, office furniture electronic
typewriters, desktop printers, refrigerators, air conditioners etc. all come under one parent
name
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GODREJ
26. Brand hierarchy - A brand hierarchy is a means of summarizing the branding strategy
by displaying the number and nature of common and distinctive brand elements across
the firm's products, revealing the explicit ordering of brand elements. Perhaps the
simplest representation of possible brand elements and thus potential levels of a brand
hierarchy— from top to bottom—might be as follows
● Corporate Brand : HUL
● Range Brand : Dove
● Individual Brand : Dove Shampoo
● Modifier Brand: Dove Shampoo- Hair therapy
26. Range brand - Range / family brand is the second level in Brand Hierarchy. It is defined
as a brand that is used in more than one product category but is not necessarily the name
of the company or corpo ration itself. Brand spread across a range of product categories.
For e.g. . Corporate Brand is HUL, Range is DOVE
27. Brand repositioning - Repositioning is the task of implementing a major change the
target market’s perception of the product’s key benefits and features, relative to the
offerings of competitive products. Sometimes, marketers feel the need to change the
present position of the brand to make it more meaningful to the target segment. This
change in position, and finding a new position for the brand, is called brand
repositioning. Repositioning also happens due to various other reasons such as falling
sales, viable position , bringing new costumers etc. For e.g Dettol toilet soap was
positioned as beauty soap initially. It did not work. Dettol, the parent brand (antiseptic
liquid) was known for its ability to heal cuts. The extension’s “beauty "positioning was
not in tune with the parent's “germ-kill” positioning. The soap therefore had to be
repositioned as germ-kill soap and it faired extremely well after repositioning.
28. Brand image - The customer's net "out-take" from the brand. For users this is based on
practical experience of the product or service concerned (informed impressions) and how
well this meets expectations; for non-users it is based almost entirely upon uninformed
impressions, attitudes and beliefs.
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29. Brand awareness - Is the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is
a member of a certain product category? It refers to the strength of a brand's presence in
the consumer's mind. A link between product class and brand is involved. For e.g the use
of a large balloon with the word Levi's on it may make the Levi name more salient, but it
will not necessarily help improve name awareness. However, if the balloon is shaped to
resemble a pair of Levi's 301 jeans, the link to the product is provided, and the balloon's
effectiveness
30. Aided recall - Aided awareness consists in aiding the target audience to recall brands. In
this the researcher casually asks the respondent if he is aware of any more brands in the
category.
31. Brand association - The feelings, beliefs and knowledge that consumers (customers)
have about brands. A brand association is anything "linked" in memory to a brand. Thus,
McDonald's could be linked to a character such as Ronald McDonald, a consumer
segment such as kids, a feeling such as having fun, a product characteristic such as
service, a symbol such as the Golden Arches. These associations might include product
attributes, a celebrity spokesperson, or a particular symbol. Brand associations are driven
by the brand identity - what the organization wants the brand to stand for in the
customer's mind. A key to building strong brands, then, is to develop and implement a
brand identity.
32. Unaided awareness - Refers to the few brands, which immediately come to mind. It
measures the brand's impact, i.e. to what extent it is spontaneously associated with a
given product category for. E.g Chocolate -Have a break Kit kat
33. User imagery - User imagery can be based on either typical users (people you see using
the brand) or idealized users (as portrayed in advertising and elsewhere). User imagery
can be a powerful driver of brand person ality, in part because the user is already a person
and thus the difficulty of conceptualizing the brand personality is reduced. For e.g TVC
of
Raymond’s,( playing with puppies) focuses on soft side of man (i.e. caring and loving)
and also on subtle aspects of life styles of executives
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34. Functional benefit - The most visible and common basis for a value proposition is a func
tional benefit—that is, a benefit based on a product attribute that provides functional
utility to the customer. Such a benefit will usually relate directly to the functions
performed by
the product or service for the customer. For e.g. Volvo is a safe, durable car because of its
weight and design, Quaker Oats provides a hot, nutritious breakfast cereal, a BMW car
handles well, even on ice, Huggies deliver comfort and fit, so leaks are reduced
35. Emotional benefit - When the purchase or use of a particular brand gives the customer a
positive feeling, that brand is providing an emotional benefit. The strongest brand
identities often include emotional benefits For e.g. Excited in a BMW, Energetic and
vibrant when drinking Coke. In control of the aging process with Oil of Olay, Strong and
rugged when wearing Levi's
36. Value proposition - A brand’s value proposition is a statement of the functional,
emotional and self-expressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the
customer. An effective value proposition should lead to a brand—customer relationship
and drive purchase decisions
37. Sub brand - It stretches endorser brand that add association. A brand personality or any
other quality which creates brand identity For example, Nestle KitKat, Cadbury
Dairy Milk, Sony PlayStation or Polo by Ralph Lauren
38. Brand Manager - Brand Managers have traditionally had strategic and tactical
responsibility for their brand , including having responsibility for the brand identity and
position , maintaining that identity by securing needed investments and male sure that all
media efforts are consistent with the identity . The brand manager’s role was first
developed by Procter & Gamble in the mid- 1930s for brands representing distinct
business of manageable size, is now being applied in more complex organization
39. Brand Equity Manager - Some firms have separated brand strategy from the
implementation of the marketing program. A brand equity manager (sometimes labeled
as a brand manager) is in charge of creating and maintaining the brand identity and
coordinating it over products and markets. The brand equity manager monitors, reviews,
and perhaps approves the tactics from a brand strategy perspective.
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40. Range Brand Manager - Firms with range brands are naturally organized by products.
The range brand manager sup-ports the brand by making sure that there' is an overall
brand strategy accepted by everyone and that managers are sensitive to both the need to
support the brand identity and the need to avoid inconsistencies. This task involves
developing communication vehicles that maximize brand identity synergies across the
organization.
41. Global Brand Manager - Each country has a complement of national brand managers,
each of whom is charged with marketing his or her respective. Global Brand manager is
who is charged with developing a brand identity worldwide, ensuring that the companies
in each country are faithful to the brand strategy, communicating and facilitating best
practices, and encouraging consistency and synergy across countries
42. Niche Brand - A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is
focusing. So the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying
specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the
demographics that is intended to impact. It is also a small market segment. For example,
sports channels like STAR Sports, ESPN, STAR Cricket target a niche of sports lovers
43. Silver Bullet - A silver bullet is a brand or sub-brand that positively influence the image
of another brand. It can be a powerful force in creating, changing and maintaining a
brand image. e.g.. When IBM ThinkPad was launched it has provided a significant boast
in public perception of the IBM brand.
44. Perceived Quality - Perceived quality can be defined as the customer's perception of the
overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose,
relative to alternatives. Perceived quality is an intangible, overall feeling about a brand. It
is, first, a perception by customers. It has been shown to drive the financial performance
and is often a major (if not the principal) strategic thrust of a business. Perceived quality
is linked to and often drives other aspects of how a brand is perceived
45. Endorser brand: An endorser brand is an established brand that provide credibility and
success, It usually represents organization rather than product because organizational
association such as innovation, leadership and trust are particularly relevant for
endorsement e.g Mc Chicken, Mc burger m Mc Tiki etc
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46. Brand Revitalization : Change is always the catalyst that drives a brand revitalization. It
could be increased competition, market or industry trends, business acquisitions or
expanding product lines. Whatever is driving the change, you can revitalize your brand
by clarifying and simplifying the brand’s promise then consistently communicate it at
every customer touch point. This will define what makes you different and give
customers a stronger, more compelling reason to do business with you. For e.g Cadbury
Dairy Milk Silk promoted for adult market .
● Portfolio
● Architecture
● Brand mantra
● Mental maps
● Secondary associations
● Brand equity
● POP and POD
● Depth and breadth of brand awareness

Brand Building
Brand Equity & Models
What is brand equity? What are the four major asset categories?
Explain Brand asset valuator ( BAV)
Explain brand equity ten
Explain Y & R graveyard model of brand equity

Short notes
Equitrend
Interbrand
Brand Association (2014, 2015)
Perceived quality
Brand awareness
Brand loyalty pyramid (2011, 12,2015)
Brand recall
Brand recognition
Unaided awareness
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Brand Strategies
Define brand and explain brand product matrix ( 2012, 13, 14, 15 )
Explain brand building blocks or it's difficult to build brands in the current scenario. Elucidate.
(2010,11,12,13,14,15)
What are the ten guidelines to build a brand (2011, 14,15)
Write a note on co- branding (2014)
Short notes
Multi Product Branding (2010)
Multi Branding
Brand licensing ( 2012)
Brand hierarchy
Range branding

Brand Identity
Explain the four identity perspectives or What are the four-identity perspective (2010, 15)
Short Notes:
Core identity
Extended identity
Brand identity traps (2014)
Brand identity (2012)

Brand Personality
How are brand personalities created? Explain both product and non- product categories? (OCT
2011)
What is brand personality? Explain Big five of brand personality. (OCT 2015 )
Explain Brand personality create brand equity

Short Notes:
Brand personality versus user Imagery
Self expressive relationship model
The relationship basis model
Functional benefit representation model

Brand Positioning
Explain the four components of Brand positioning? (2014) What
is the cornerstone of brand positioning strategy?
What are the qualities of brand positioning?
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What are the seven positioning strategies?

Short notes:
Consumer segmentation (OCT 2015)
Perceptual mapping

Brand
Define Brand. Explain the difference between Brand vs product (2011,12, 13, 14, 15). OR What
is the Brand? How does it differ from a product?
Brand vs Product (OCT 2011)
Advantages and Limitation of branding (2015)
Process of branding

Define brand and explain brand product matrix ( 2012, 13, 14, 15 )
Explain brand building blocks or It's difficult to build brands in the current scenario . Elucidate.
( 2010,11,12,13,14,15)
What are the ten guidelines to build a brand (2011, 14,15)
Write a note on co- branding (2014)
Short notes
Multi Product Branding (2010)
Multi Branding
Brand licensing ( 2012)
Brand hierarchy
Range branding

POONAM MA’AM’S QUESTIONS:

1. Explain brand elements with the help of examples
2. Explain the 6 criteria for choosing the brand elements 3. Define Brand. Explain the
difference between Brand vs product OR What is the Brand? How does it differ from a
product?
4. Brand vs Product
5. Advantages and Limitations of branding
6. Process of branding with suitable examples
7. Evolution of Brand
8. Brands/Products can get outdated. Why?
9. Identify and change the brand personality
10. Brand personality concept
11. Explain difference between brand personality and user imagery
12. Explain user imagery
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13. Explain product related characteristics and non product related

characteristics with examples while creating brand personality
14. Explain big five (five dimensions of brand personality)
15. Elaborate perceptual mapping with suitable examples
16. State the difference between Generic Branding and Generic Brand
(5m)
17. Explain Brand Extension along with suitable examples (Concept - 2/5
marks)
18. Explain what is Brand Extension. What are the types and strategies of
Brand Extension? (7m)
19. Explain various Line Extensions with suitable examples (7m)
20. Explain four perspectives of Brand Identity (12 dimensions)
21. Explain leveraging or brand leveraging strategies along with
advantages and disadvantages (15m)
22. Brand Equity (15m)
23. Concept: Mixed Branding, Multi-product Branding Strategy, Multi
Branding Strategy, Brand Architecture, Brand Portfolio, Brand
Hierarchy
24. Explain Four components of Brand Positioning (IMP)
25. Consumer segmentation, perceptual mapping
26. Explain brand licensing w/examples
27. Explain Brand Matrix w/ diagram
28. Brand Building Blocks (15m)
29. Importance of Branding in Rural Market
30. Importance of Branding