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 Product Packaging Labeling Functional benefits Intangible attributes Quality Emotional benefits Values Culture 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 Committed buyer 111 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 quality Names easy to remember, recognize, pronounce Product category Distinctiveness Should not indicate poor meanings in other markets or languages

Brand Associations ‘owned word’ Slogans Colours Symbols and logos

Brand Status E S T M Step up advertising Cash Cow.Need to Sustain brand building activities Troubled brand Product upgradation required New Product Or Product 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