1. MANAGING BRANDS FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
• Brand Name, term, sign, symbol, design, or some combination that identifies the products of one firm while differentiating them from the competition’s.
• Brands have a powerful influence on consumer behavior.

2. BRAND LOYALTY • Measured in three stages:
• Brand recognition Consumer awareness and identification of a brand.
• Brand preference Consumer reliance on previous experiences with a product to choose that product again.
• Brand insistence Consumer refusal of alternatives and extensive search for desired merchandise.

3. BRAND LOYALTY TYPES OF BRANDS • Measured in three stages:
• Brand recognition Consumer awareness and identification of a brand.
• Brand preference Consumer reliance on previous experiences with a product to choose that product again.
• Brand insistence Consumer refusal of alternatives and extensive search for desired merchandise.
TYPES OF BRANDS
• Brands classified in a number of ways.
• Generic products Products characterized by plain labels, no advertising, and the absence of brand names.

4. Manufacturer’s Brands versus Private Brands
• Manufacturer’s brand Brand name owned by a manufacturer or other producer.
• Examples: Sony, Pepsi, Dell.
• Private brands—brands offered by wholesalers and retailers.
• Account for one of every five items sold in the United States.
Captive Brands
• National brands sold exclusively by a retail chain.
• Example: Target’s sale of products by Michael Graves.
Family and Individual Brands
• Family brand Single brand name that identifies several related products.
• Individual brand—uniquely identifies the item itself.

5. BRAND EQUITY
• Brand equity Added value that a respected, well-known brand name gives to a product in the marketplace.
• Strong brand equity
• Increases likelihood customers will recognize firm’s product or product line.
• Can contribute to buyers’ perceptions of product quality.
• Can reinforce customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
• Facilitates expansion into international markets.
• Built sequentially on four dimensions: differentiation, relevance, esteem, and knowledge.

6. THE ROLE OF CATEGORY AND BRAND MANAGEMENT
• Category management Product management system in which a category manager—with profit and loss responsibility—oversees a product line.
• Help retailer’s category buyer maximize sales for the whole category, not just particular manufacturer’s product.
• Also identify opportunities for growth, set performance targets, and create marketing strategy.

7. PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION
• Products identified in the marketplace by brand names, symbols, and distinctive packaging.
• Choices about how to identify products are a major strategic decision.
BRAND NAMES AND BRAND MARKS
• Brand name Part of a brand consisting of words or letters that form a name that identifies and distinguishes a firm’s offerings from those of its competitors.
• Brand mark—symbol or pictorial design that distinguishes a product.
• Effective brand names are easy to pronounce, recognize, and remember.
• Should give buyers correct connotation of product’s image and qualify for legal protection.
• Brand name loses protection when class of products generally comes to be known by that name. Examples include nylon, kerosene, and zipper.

8. Protecting Trademarks
• Trademark Brand for which the owner claims exclusive legal protection.
Protecting Trademarks
• Gives firm exclusive legal right to use brand name, brand mark, and any slogan name or product name appreciation.
• Example: Former Beatles and their representatives sued Apple Computer, claiming its iPod product violated the trademarks for Apple Corps, the Beatles record label.
• Firms can also seek protection for packaging elements and product features.
Trade Dress
• Visual cues in branding that create an overall look.
• Examples: McDonald’s golden arches, Merrill Lynch’s bull.

9. DEVELOPING GLOBAL BRAND NAMES AND TRADEMARKS
• An excellent name or symbol in one country may be a poor choice in another.
• Some sounds are common to most languages, such as o, k, and short a, so names such as Coca-Cola and Texaco tend to work well worldwide.
PACKAGING
• Can powerfully influence buyers’ decisions.
• Many companies conduct research to develop and evaluate packaging.
Protection Against Damage, Spoilage, and Pilferage
• Protection against damaging was original purpose of packaging.
• Packaging can help overcome consumer fears of tampering.

10. Assistance in Marketing the Product
• Many firms use biodegradable and recyclable materials to respond to consumer preferences.
• Packaging must help product capture the shopper’s attention.
• Can enhance convenience for buyers.
• Example: Squeezable bottles of honey and ketchup.
Cost-Effective Packaging
• Packaging cost must be reasonable.

11. Labeling
• Label carries an item’s brand name or symbol, the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor, information about the product’s composition and size, and recommended uses.
• Labels are both promotional and informational.
• Subject to legal restrictions.
• Universal Product Code (UPC)—numerical bar codes printed on packages.
• Reduce labor costs and improve inventory control.
• Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags—electronic chips that carry encoded product identification.
• May one day replace some functions of UPC codes.

12. BRAND EXTENSIONS BRAND LICENSING
• Brand extension Strategy of attaching a popular brand name to a new product in an unrelated product category.
• Development by Mattel of Barbie-branded high-end clothing and accessories for women from their teens through their 30s.
BRAND LICENSING
• Authorizing other companies to use a firm’s brand name.
• Brand’s owner receives royalties, typically four to eight percent of wholesale revenues.
• Can hurt a brand if the licensed product is poor quality or ethically incompatible with the brand.
• Another risk is overextending the brand.

13. NEW-PRODUCT PLANNING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
• Firms must add new products in order to continuing prospering as other items reach the later stages of the product life cycle.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

14. • Product positioning—refers to consumers’ perceptions of a product’s attributes, uses, quality, and advantages and disadvantages relative to competing brands.
• Market development—concentrates on finding new markets for existing products.
• Product development—introduction of new products into identifiable or established markets.
• Product diversification—focuses on developing entirely new products for new markets.
• Firms must avoid cannibalization—introducing a new product that adversely affects sales of existing products.

15. CONSUMER ADOPTION PROCESS
• Adoption process Stages that consumers go through in learning about a new product, trying it, and deciding whether to purchase it again.
• Consumers go through five stages:
• Awareness—individuals first learn of the new product, but they lack full information about it.
• Interest—potential buyers begin to seek information about it
• Evaluation—they consider the likely benefits of the product.
• Trial—they make trial purchases to determine its usefulness.
• Adoption/rejection—decide whether to use the product regularly.
• Example: Schick gave away samples of its Quattro razor to move buyers through the evaluation and trial stages.

16. ADOPTER CATEGORIES
• Consumer innovators People who purchase new products almost as soon as the products reach the market.
• Diffusion process Process by which new goods or services are accepted in the marketplace.

17. IDENTIFYING EARLY ADOPTERS
• Firms who reach early buyers can treat them as a test market.
• Tend to be younger, have higher social status, are better educated, and enjoy higher incomes than other consumers.
Rate of Adoption Determinants
• Relative advantage—increases the product’s adoption rate.
• Compatibility—innovation consistent with the values and experiences of potential adopters.
• Complexity—difficulty understanding the innovation can slow the speed of acceptance.
• Possibility of trial use—can accelerate the rate of adoption.
• Observability—observing an innovation’s superiority increase the adoption rate.

18. ORGANIZING FOR NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
• Firms must be organized so personnel can stimulate and coordinate new-product development.
New-Product Committees
• Most common arrangement for new-product development.
• Primarily review and evaluate others’ new product plans rather than develop their own.
• Tend to move slowly and conservatively in large companies.
New-Product Departments
• Encourage innovation as a full-time activity.
• Department head typically has substantial authority.

19. Product Managers Venture Teams
• Another term for a brand manager; supports the marketing strategies of an individual product or product line.
• Set prices, develop advertising and sales promotion programs, and work with sales representatives in the field.
• Most consumer-goods companies have adopted a category management structure, as discussed earlier in the chapter.
Venture Teams
• Gathers a group of specialists from different areas of an organization to work together in developing new products.
• Has a flexible lifespan.

20. THE NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
• Firms must usually generate dozens of ideas to produce one successful product.
• New products have an 80 percent failure rate.

21. PRODUCT SAFETY AND LIABILITY
• Manufacturers must design their products to protect users from harm.
• Product liability—responsibility of manufacturers and marketers for injuries and damages caused by their products.
• Example: Poison Prevention Packaging Act, which requires drug manufacturers to put product in child-resistant packaging.
• Consumer Product Safety Commission has jurisdiction over most consumer product categories.
• Food and Drug Administration approves food, medications, and health-related devices.
• Liability lawsuits are increasing domestically and internationally.
• To counter increased litigation and legislation, some companies sponsor voluntary improvements in safety standards.
• Safety planning and testing can be an effective marketing tool.