LECTURE 1

Brands and Brand Management

 WHAT IS A BRAND?
• AMA – 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 those
of the competition.

• Practical – A brand is something that has actually created a

certain amount of awareness, reputation, prominence and so on
in the market place.

• Brand elements are the different components that identifies

and differentiates a particular seller’s products.
 Difference: Brands and Products
• Product- anything offered to the market for
attention, acquisition, use or consumption that
might satisfy a need or want.

• Products can be physical goods , services,

people, places, organization or idea.
 Levels of Meaning for a Product
• Core benefits – fundamental need or want. (comfort)

• Generic product – basic offering.(cooling capa)

• Expected product – normal expectation from a product in

the market.

• Augmented product – differentiating and distinguishing

attributes, benefits, or related service.(additional features)

• Potential product – ideal and in future.(future augmentation)

Core Benefit
• The core benefit is the fundamental need or wants that the customer satisfies when they buy the product.

• For example, the core benefit of a hotel is to provide somewhere to rest or sleep when away from home.

Generic Product
• The generic product is a basic version of the product made up of only those features necessary for it to function.
• In our hotel example, this could mean a bed, towels, a bathroom, a mirror, and a wardrobe.

Expected Product
• The expected product is the set of features that the customers expect when they buy the product.

• In our hotel example, this would include clean sheets, some clean towels, Wi-fi, and a clean bathroom.

Augmented Product
• The augmented product refers to any product variations, extra features, or services that help differentiate the product from its
competitors.

• In our hotel example, this could be the inclusion of a concierge service or a free map of the town in every room.

Potential Product
• The potential product includes all augmentations and transformations the product might undergo in the future. In simple
language, this means that to continue to surprise and delight customers the product must be augmented.

• In our hotel, this could mean a different gift placed in the room each time a customer stays. For example, it could be some
chocolates on one occasion, and some luxury water on another. By continuing to augment its product in this way the hotel
will continue to delight and surprise the customer.
FIVE PRODUCT LEVELS EXAMPLE: COCA-COLA
Core Benefit
• The core benefit of Coca-Cola is to quench a thirst.
Generic Product
• The generic product is a burnt vanilla smelling, black, carbonated, and sweetened fizzy drink.

Expected Product
• The expected product is that the customer ’s Coca-Cola is cold. If this isn’t the case then expectations won’t be met and the
drink will not taste its best in the mind of the customer.

Augmented Product
• Coca-Cola’s augmented product is that it offers Diet-Coke. How does Coca-Cola exceed customers expectations with this
product? By offering all the great taste of Coca-Cola, but with zero calories.

Potential Product
• One way in which Coca-Cola delights customers is by running competitions. The prizes in these competitions are often things
that, “money can’t buy”, such as celebrity experiences. To continue to delight customers over time the competition prizes
change frequently.

Advantages
-Enables an organization to identify the needs and wants of customers. The organization can then:
• match the features they create to what the customer wants.
• match operational processes to what customers want. In our hotel example, this would mean strict processes around cleaning
each room.
• match marketing efforts to appeal to customers wants.
• The model ultimately helps organizations differentiate themselves from their competitors in a way that aligns with the wants
and needs of their customers.
-Help organizations understand their customers. From there, they can structure themselves to best serve those needs and wants. In
this way, they can differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Why Brand? - Benefits
Consumers
Identification of source
Assignment of responsibility
Risk reducer – functional,
physical, financial, social,
psychological, and time
Search cost reducer
Promise, bond, or pact
Symbolic, cultural
Signal of quality to consumers
Manufacturers/Organisations
Means of identification for handling or
tracing
Legal protection
Signal of quality
Endowing product with unique association
Competitive advantage
Source of financial return
What can be Branded?

Commodity – Chicken, Coffee, salt, fruits, vegetables, water, etc.

Physical good - Consumer products; Business to Business; High-tech products.

Services – KPMG, Citi, Airlines, Energy firms, etc.

Retailers and distributors – Wal-Mart, private or store brands.

On-line product and services – google, e-bay, amazon ,blue nile

People and Organizations – J. J. Rawlings, Akushika, UGBS.

Sports, Arts, and Entertainment – horse racing, premier league.

Geographic Locations – Australia, Akwapim.

Ideas and Causes – Red Cross.

 Challenges/ Opportunities of Branding

o Savvy consumers, maturing market, decreasing brand

loyalty.
o Brand proliferation: choices .
o Media fragmentation, eroding traditional media, new
options, changes in advertising and promotional
expenditures.
o Increased competition, difficulty differentiating, private
labels.
o Increased cost
 The Concept of Brand Equity
• Branding is all about endowing products with the power
of brand equity.
• It explains why different outcomes result from the
marketing of a branded product/service than if it was not
branded.
• Branding is all about creating differences
• Brand equity describes the level of sway a brand name
has in the minds of consumers, and the value of having a
brand that is identifiable and well thought of.
• Organizations establish brand equity by creating positive
experiences that entice consumers to continue purchasing
from them over competitors who make similar products.
• BE describes a brand’s value
• That value is determined by consumer
perception of and experiences with the brand.
• If people think highly of a brand, it has
positive brand equity whereas when a brand
consistently under-delivers and disappoints to
the point where people recommend that others
avoid it, it has negative brand equity.
Positive brand equity has value:

• Companies can charge more for a product with a

great deal of brand equity.
• That equity can be transferred to line extensions –
products related to the brand that include the
brand name – so a business can make more
money from the brand.
• It can help boost a company’s stock price.
The goal is to manage brands to create equity for
product that is, create an enduring advantage for
your brands hence Strategic Brands Management.
 Strategic Brand Management Process
• It involves the design and implementation of
marketing programs and activities to build,
measure and manage brand equity.
- Identify and establish brand positioning
- Planning and implementing brand marketing
programs
-Measuring and interpreting brand
performance
- Growing and sustaining brand equity
 Identify and establish brand
positioning and value
• What the brand is to represent and positioned

• Positioning convinces consumers of

advantages and disadvantages.

• It specifies brand associations and mantra

 Planning and implementing brand
marketing program
• Choosing brand elements

• Marketing activities and supporting marketing

programs

• Leveraging secondary brand association

 Measure and Interpret brand
performance
• Evaluating brand positioning through
- brand audit: to examine the brand and assess
its health.
- brand value chain: to trace the value creation
process for the brand
- brand equity measurement system: to
provide timely, accurate and actionable
information.
Growing and Sustaining Brand Equity
• Defining branding strategies

• Managing brand equity over time

• Managing brands over geographic boundaries

End of lecture one