BRAND

STRATEGY
 Definitions of Brand Strategy
• A plan for the systematic development of a
brand to enable it to meet its agreed objectives.
• The strategy should be rooted in the brand's
vision and driven by the principles of
differentiation and sustained consumer appeal.
• The true brand is the sum total of the
perceptions of all the constituencies which
contribute to revenues and profits.
 BRAND VISION
• A clean articulation of strategic, financial &
brand goals that management has created for the
brand.
• A first step to strategic success as to where the
brand can & cannot go.
• Provides a vision that forces management to
articulate what they want the brand to do for the
organization over the next five years , relative to
brand value ,revenue & profit contributions.
 BRAND’S POSITIONING IS
• The place in the consumer’s mind that you
want your brand to own –the benefit you want
them to think of when they think of your
brand.
• A strong position means the brand has a unique ,
credible , sustainable ,& valued place in the
customer’s mind.
• Good positioning gives you the direction required
to focus the organization & focused your strategic
moves.
• A good positioning is a single idea to be
communicated to your customers.
• It revolves around a benefit that helps your
product or service stand apart from the
competition.
• Disney- family fun entertainment
• Wall – Mart – low price & good value
• McDonalds – food & fun
• Apple – innovation
• Google – simplicity
• Toyota -- reliability
• A well crafted brand positioning has three
primary components –
• A definition of the target market you wish to
pursue
• A definition of business your company is in or
the industry or category it competes in.
• A statement of your point of difference & key
benefits.
 Effective Brand Strategy

• Branding in essence is effective brand

strategy. It's the application of sound research
into brand communications, analytical
techniques, and the development of an
improved strategy for your brand.
• Strategy is all about brand positioning. We'll
identify the key elements of your corporate or
product brand and develop a branding action
plan to implement it.
 Types of branding strategy

• Normally, a company can opt for one or more

of the following strategies:
• Product branding
• Product-line branding
• Product-range branding
• Corporate branding
PRODUCT BRANDING STRATEGY

• This type of brand give each individual

product an exclusive brand name and the
company name being ignored
• It allows the brand to have unique values,
personality, identity and positioning.
• By doing so, it implies that every new product
the company brings on to the market is a new
brand and can be positioned precisely for a
specific market segment
• It has the advantage of making it easier for the
company to evaluate brand performance and
worth and allows better resource-allocation
decisions.
• The major drawbacks are product cannibalization
if consumers cannot differentiate clearly among
product brands and involves higher advertising
and promotion budget and is totally self-
supporting with little or not brand name assistance
or assurance from the parent.
 PRODUCT-LINE BRANDING
STRATEGY
• Here, the products appear under the same
brand name and possess the same basic
identity but with slightly different
competencies for example Follow Me line of
hair shampoos. Here the brand line comes
under the hair-care category but the different
line extensions cover complementary
applications of essentially the same product
• Advantages therefore are economies of scale
in advertising and promotion and each new
line extension strengthens the position of the
brand and therefore its image. The line helps
defend the category from predatory attack.
Hence, individual product brands can move
across to line brands as companies find ways
of extending the brand to different consumer
groups or segments.
 PRODUCT- RANGE BRANDING
STRATEGY
• A number of products or services in a broad category
are grouped together under one brand name and
promoted with one basic identity.
• Compared to product-line branding, product-range
branded products carry out the basically the same
functions but at different performance levels like
various cars in the Mercedes S, E, C and A class and
Intel’s Pentium and Celeron ranges of microprocessors.
• Therefore the advantage here is that a single brand
name allows some economies of scale in advertising
and promotion as the products tend to carry the same
overall brand values and positioning.
 CORPORATE BRANDING
STRATEGY
• Two approaches in the Corporate brand exercises
• First is to promote its name as the main brand
name sometimes referred to as monolithic or
umbrella branding.
• Here the product is not branded individually or as
strongly as the corporate brand. Companies using
this approach – IBM, Virgin, Sony.
• The basic principle is that the companies believed
that the company name is the life of an enterprise.
• The second approach which is becoming
popular whereby the product brand name has a
high profile but is endorsed by the parent
company which gives the product a stamp of
quality and credibility.
• Here the product brand is self supporting in
practically every respect but retains the
assurance of the corporate brand endorsement.
• This type of corporate branding is also called
house or endorsement branding. Nestle uses
this approach to protect and guarantee the
performance of their multitude products.
• Also suitable for companies engaged in service
industries as their products are more intangible
in nature. When consumers cannot see the
products, the company name helps to give
them an assurance of quality, heritage and
authenticity
 What is a brand?
• A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design
or a combination of the above to identify the
goods or service of a seller and differentiate it
from the rest of the competitors
 A brand comprises of
• Tangible attributes • Intangible attributes
• Product • Quality
• Packaging • Emotional benefits
• Labeling • Values
• Attributes • Culture
• Functional benefits • Image
 Brand Identity
• It is the marketer’s promise to give a set of
features, benefits and services consistently
 Brand Building
• Involves all the activities that are necessary to
nurture a brand into a healthy cash flow
stream after launch
 What kind of activities?
Eg.
• Product development
• Packaging
• Advertising
• Promotion
• Sales and distribution
 Brand Equity
• When a commodity becomes a brand, it is said
to have equity
• What is brand equity?
• The premium it can command in the market
• Difference between the perceived value and
the intrinsic value
What happens when equity increases?

Commodity Brand Power Brands

Presence
+
Personality
What happens when brands have high
equity?
• The company can have more leverage with the
trade
• The company can charge a premium on their
product
• The company can have more brand extensions
• The company can have some defense against
price competition
Brand Loyalty Pyramid

1 Committed buyer
1
1
Likes the brand. Considers
it a friend
Satisfied buyer. Would
incur costs to switch

Satisfied buyer/no
reason to change

Switchers/Price
sensitive
 How does one build brands?
• Distinguishing it from others – value
proposition
• Brand promise must match brand delivery
 The value proposition
• Broad positioning
• Specific positioning
• Value positioning
 Creating the brand
• Choosing a brand name
• Develop rich associations and promises
• Managing customer brand contact to meet and
exceed expectations
 Considerations in choosing a brand
name
• What does the brand name mean?
• What associations / performance / expectations
does it evoke ?
• What degree of preference does it create?
 A brand name should indicate
• Product benefits • Product category
• Product quality • Distinctiveness
• Names easy to • Should not indicate poor
remember, recognize, meanings in other
pronounce markets or languages
 Brand Associations
• ‘owned word’
• Slogans
• Colours
• Symbols and logos
 Brand Status
E
S
T
E Step up Cash Cow.Need to
E advertising Sustain brand building
M activities

Troubled brand
New Product Product upgradation
Or Product required
should be phased out

FAMILIARITY
 Brand Ambassadors
• Giving a face and personality to the brand that
is expected to be rubbed off from the brand
ambassador
 Brand Vitality
• Differentiation in consumer’s need
• Differentiation relevant to consumer’s need

• Brand Pitfalls
• Brand experience must match brand image
• Calls for managing every brand contact