Brand Management

Brand Management

Definition of Marketing

Broadly defined, marketing is a social and managerial process bywhich individuals and organizations obtain what they need andwant through creating and exchanging value with others. In anarrower business context, marketing involves buildingprofitable, value-laden exchange relationships with customers.

Hence, Marketing is the process by which companies create valuefor the customers and build strong relationships in order tocapture value from customers in return.

Marketing management: Marketing management is the art and scienceof choosing target markets and building profitable relationshipswith them.Marketing management OrientationsThe Production Concept: The production concept holds thatconsumers will favor products that are available and highlyaffordable and that the organization should therefore focus onimproving production and distribution efficiency.The Product Concept: The product concept holds that consumerswill favor products that offer the most in quality, performance,and innovative feature and that the organization should thereforedevote its energy to making continuous product improvement.Selling Concept: The selling concept holds that consumers willnot buy enough of the firm’s product unless it undertakes alarge-scale selling and promotion effort. The concept istypically practiced with unsought goods—those that buyers do notnormally think of buying, such as insurance or blood donations.

Marketing Concept: The Marketing concept holds that achievingorganizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants totarget markets and delivering the desired satisfactions betterthan competitors do. Under the marketing concept, customer focusand values are the paths to sales and profits. Instead of a

The Selling

Factory Existing Selling and Profits through

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product-centered “make and sell” philosophy, the marketingconcept is a customer-centered “sense and respond” philosophy.

The Societal Marketing Concept: A principle of enlightenedmarketing that holds that a company should make good marketingdecisions by considering consumers’ wants, the company’srequirements, consumers’ long-run interests; and society’s longrun interests. The societal marketing concept questions whetherthe pure marketing concept overlooks possible conflicts betweenconsumer short-run wants and consumer long-run welfare.

The Holistic Marketing concept

The holistic marketing concept is based on the development,design, and implementation of marketing program, processes andactivities that recognizes their breadth and indepencies.Holistic marketing recognized that “every thing matters” withmarketing and that a broad, integrated perspective is oftennecessary. Four components of holistic marketing are;

Market Customer Integrated Profits through

The Marketing

Holistic Marketing

Internal Integrated

Social responsible

Relationship Marketing

Marketing

Senior Manageme

Other departme

Communicat

Product &

Channels

Ethi

Environm

Leg Communicat

Channe

Partn

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Relationship marketing: Relationship Marketing has the aim ofbuilding mutually satisfying long-term relationships with keyparties—customers, suppliers, distributors, and other marketingpartners—in order to earn and retain their business. Relationshipmarketing builds strong economic, technical, and social tiesamong the parties.

Relationship marketing involves cultivating the right kind ofrelationships with the right constituent groups. Marketing mustnot only do customer relationship management (CRM), but partnerrelationship management (PRM) as well. Four key constituents formarketing are

a. Customers.b. Employees,c. Marketing partners (channel, suppliers,

distributors, dealers, agencies) andd. Members of the financial community (shareholders,

investors, analysts).

Integrated marketing: The marketer tasks is to device marketingactivities and assemble fully integrated marketing programs tocreate, communicate and deliver value for consumers. Themarketing program consists of numerous decisions on valueenhancing marketing activities to use. McCarthy classified thesetools intro four broad groups which he called 4P’s of marketing

Communit

Product

Variety QualityDesignFeatures

Place

Channels CoverageAssortments

Marketing Mix

Target Market

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Internal marketing: Holistic marketing incorporates internalmarketing, ensuring that every one in the organization embracesappropriate marketing principles, especially senior management.Internal marketing is the task of hiring training and motivatingable employees who want to serve customers well.

Social responsible marketing: Holistic marketing incorporatessocial responsibility marketing and understanding broaderconcerns and the ethical environmental, legal and social contextof marketing activities and programs. The cause and effects ofmarketing clearly extend beyond the company and the consumer tosociety as a whole. Social responsibility also requires thatmarketers carefully consider the role that they are paying andcould pay in terms of social welfare.

Marketing Mix: The marketing mix is the set of controllable,tactical marketing tools—product, price, place and promotion—thatthe firm blends to produce the response it wants in the targetmarket. The many possibilities can be collected into four groupsof variables knows as the “four Ps”; product, price, place,promotion.

a. Product: Product means the goods and services combinationthe company offers to the target market.

Product

Variety QualityDesignFeatures

Place

Channels CoverageAssortments

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b. Price: Price is the amount of money customers have to pay toobtain the product.

c. Place: Place includes company activities that make theproduct available to target consumers.

d. Promotion: Promotion means activities that communicate themerits of the product and persuade target customers to buyit.

Product A product is anything that can be offered to a market forattention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy aneed or want. A product may be

a. Physical goods (Cereal, tennis)Econo pen

b. Service (an airline, bank) GMGAirlines.

c. Retail store (Department store, super market)Rajdhani Supermarket

d. Person (Political figure, entertainment) BillClinton

e. Organization (Non profit organization, trade organization)Red Cross

f. Place (city, state, country) Cox’sBazar

g. Idea (political and social cause) Free Trade

Consumer products: Consumer products are products and servicesbought by final consumers for personal consumption. Marketersusually classify these products and services further based on howconsumers go about buying them. Consumer products are differenttypes;

a. Convenience products: Convenience products are consumerproducts and services that the customer usually buysfrequently, immediately and with a minimum of comparison andbuying effort. Examples include soap, candy, newspapers andfast food.

b. Shopping products: Shopping products are less frequentlypurchased consumer products and services that customers

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compare carefully on suitability, quality, price and style.When buying shopping products and services, consumers spendmuch time and effort in gathering information and markingcomparison. Examples include furniture, clothing, used cars,major appliances and hotel and airline services.

c. Specialty products: Specialty products are consumer productsand services with unique characteristics or brandidentification for which a significant group of buyers iswilling to make a special purchase effort. Examples includespecific brands and types of cars, high-priced photographicequipment, designer clothes and the services of medical orlegal specialists.

d. Unsought product: Unsought products are consumer productsthat are the consumer either does not know about or knowsabout but does not normally think of buying. Most major newinnovation are known but unsought products and services arelife insurance, preplanned funeral services, and blooddonations to the Red Cross.

Product Benefit Level

a. Core benefit level: The core benefit level is thefundamental need or what the consumers satisfy by consumingthe product or service.

b. Actual benefit level: A basic version of the productcontaining only those attributes or characteristicsabsolutely necessary for its functioning.

c. Augmented benefit level: The augmented product levelincludes additional product attributes, benefits or relatedservices that distinguish the product from competitors.

Brands works as an actual benefit level

Brand

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Brand: A brand is therefore a product but one that adds theirdimensions that differentiate it in some way from other productsdesigned to satisfy the same need.

The difference may be;

Rational and tangible—related to product performance of thebrand.

Or

More symbolic, emotional and intangible—related to what the brandrepresents.

According to American Marketing Association, “A brand is a name,term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them, intended toidentify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellersand to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Brands represent consumer’s perceptions and feelings about aproduct and its performance.

Brand element: To create a brand, is to able to choose a name,logo, symbol, package design or other design attributes thatidentify product and distinguish it from others. These differentcomponent of brand that identify and different it can be calledbrand element. Brand element come in many different form. Sometimes company name can be use or sometimes other name may be usedas a brand. The name of a brand come in many different form.

Roles that brands playFor consumer;

a. Identification of source of product.b. Assignment of responsibility to product maker.c. Risk reducerd. Search cost reducere. Promise, bond or pact with maker of product.f. Symbolic device.g. Signal of quality.

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For manufacturer

a. Means of identification to simplify handling &tracing (inventory, accounting).

b. Means of legally protecting unique feature(intellectual, properly right).

c. Signal of quality level to satisfy customers.d. Means of endowing product with unique associations.e. Source of competitive advantage.f. Source of financial return.

The main theme of brand management is to provide the name of aproduct and establish strongly in the long run.

Brand EquityBrand equity is a set of brand assets (or liabilities) associatedwith a brand, name and symbol that add (or subtract) value.

Elements of brand equity

a. Perceived quality—high (or low) quality perceived by buyersincreases (or decreases) cost of retaining buyers.

b. Brand awareness—a recall and familiarity of the brand signalsbuyers commitment and enhances purchases.

c. Brand association—Buyers ability to associate a brand withquality attributes and value add to brand equity.

d. Brand loyalty—Buyers resistance to switch brand reduces themarketing cost of doing business and adds value to themarket.

e. Other proprietary brand assets (competitive advantage).

Brand equity is not a single term. It consists of five elements.When these five elements help to add the value of the productthen it is called brand equity. A marketer’s task is to build upthese five elements as a assets.

Finally we can say that Brand equity is the value that is givenby the five elements of brand.

Brand equity concept

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a. What makes a brand strong?b. How do you build strong brands?

Sources of Brand Equity

Brand knowledge: The difference in response are a result ofconsumer knowledge about the

Brand, that is, what consumer have learned, felt, seen and heardabout the brand as a result of their experiences over time. Thus,although strongly influenced by the marketing activity of thefirm brand equity ultimately depends on what reside in the mindsof consumers. Brand knowledge is characterized in terms of twocomponents, brand awareness, and brand image.

Brand awareness: Brand awareness consists of brand recognitionand brand recall performance.

a. Brand recognition: Brand recognition relates to consumers’ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when giventhe brand as a cue. In other words, brand recognitionrequires that consumers can correctly discriminate the brandas having been previously seen or heard. For example, whenconsumers go to the store, is it the case that they will beable to recognize the brand as one to which they havealready been exposed?

b. Brand recall: Brand recall relates to consumers’ ability toretrieve the brand from memory when given the productcategory, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchaseor usage situation as a cue. In other words, brand recall

Brand

Unique Brand

Favorable Brand

Strong brand

Brand

BreadDepth

Brand

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requires that consumers correctly generate the brand frommemory when given a relevant cue.

Brand awareness is characterized by the depth and breadth.

Depth: The depth of brand awareness concerns the likelihood thata brand element will come to mind and the ease with which it doesso. For example, a brand that can be easily recalled has a deeperlevel of brand awareness than one that only can be recognized.

a. Familiar word.b. Easily spelling.

Easy to remember.

Breadth: The breadth of brand awareness concerns the range ofpurchase and usage situations in which the brand element comes tomind. The breadth of brand awareness depends to a large extent onthe organization of brand and product knowledge in memory.Breadth can be introduced for increasing awareness.

Brand image: A positive brand image is created by marketingprogram that like strong, favorable, and unique associations tothe brand in memory. The definition of customer based brandequity does not distinguish between the source of brandassociations and the manner in which they are formed; all thatmatters in the resulting favorability, strength, and uniquenessof brand association.

Strong Brand Association: Making sure that associations arelinked sufficiently strongly to the brand will depend on how themarketing program and other factors affects consumers’ brandexperiences. Associations will vary in the strength of theirconnection to the brand node. Strength is a function of both theamount, or quantity of processing that information receives aswell as the nature or quality of that processing. The more deeplya person thinks about product information and relates it toexisting brand knowledge, the stronger the resulting brandassociations. Two factors facilitating the strength ofassociation to any piece of information are

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Personal relevance of the information, and The consistency with which this information ispresented over time.

Favorable Brand Association: Favorable brand association arecreated by convincing consumers that the brand possesses relevantattributes and benefits that satisfy their needs and wants, suchthat they form positive overall brand judgments. Thus, favorableassociations for a brand are those associations that aredesirable to consumers and are successfully delivered by theproduct and conveyed by the supporting marketing program for thebrand (e.g. such that the brand is seen as highly convenient,reliable, effective, efficient, colorful and so on).

Unique Brand Association: Brand associations may or may not beshared with other competing brands. The essence of brandpositioning is that the brand has a sustainable competitiveadvantage or “unique selling proposition” that gives consumers acompelling reason why they should buy that particular brand.These differences may be communicated explicitly by making directcomparisons with competitors, or may be highlighted implicitlywithout stating a competitive point of reference.

Customer-Based Brand Equity Model

2. Meaning

What are

3. Response

4. Relationship

Resonance

Judgment (Opinio

Feeling (Emotional

Performance (Customer need function)

Imagery (Psychologicalneed)

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Brand salience: Brand salience relates to aspects of theawareness of the brand, for example, how often and easily thebrand is evoked under various situations or circumstances. Brandawareness refers to customers’ ability to recall and recognizethe brand, as reflected by their ability to identity the brandunder different conditions. To what extent is the brand top-of-mind and easily recalled or recognized? What types of cues orremainders are necessary? How pervasive is this brand awareness?

Brand performance: The product itself is at the heart of brandequity, because it is the primary influence on what consumersexperience with a brand, what they hear about the brand in theircommunications. To create brand loyalty and resonance, consumers’experiences with the product must at least meet, if not actuallysurpass, their expectation. Brand performance relates to the waysin which the product or service attempts to meet customers’functional needs. The specific performance attributes andbenefits making up functionality will vary widely category. Thereare five types of attributes and benefits that often underliebrand performance, as follows;

Primary ingredients and supplementary features.Product reliability, durability andserviceability Service effectiveness, efficiency and empathyStyle and designPrice.

Brand imagery: Brand imagery deals with the extrinsic propertiesof the product or service, including the ways in which the brandattempts to meet customers psychological or social needs. Brandimagery is how people think about a brand abstractly rather than

1. Identity

Who are you?Salience (Awareness)

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why they think the brand actually does. Thus, imagery refers tomore intangible aspects of the brand. Many kinds of intangiblescan be linked to a brand. But four categories are highlighted;

User profiles.Purchase and usage situationsPersonality and values History, heritage and experiences.

Brand Judgments: Brand judgments focus on customers’ personalopinions and evaluations with regard to the brand. Brandjudgments involve how customers put together all the differentperformance and imagery associations of the brand to formdifferent kinds of opinions. Four types of summary brandjudgments are particularly important;

Brand quality: Brand attitudes are defined in terms ofconsumers’ overall evaluations of a brand. Brand attitudes areimportant because they often form the basis for actions andbehavior that consumers take with the brand (e.g. brandchoice). Consumers’’ brand attitudes generally depend onspecific considerations concerning the attributes and benefitsof the brand.

Brand credibility: Brand credibility refers to the extent towhich the brand as a whole is seen as credible in terms ofthree dimensions; perceive expertise, trustworthiness, andlikability. Is the brand seen as

Competent, innovative and a market leader (brandexpertise);

Dependable and keeping customer interests in mind(brand trustworthiness); and

Fun, interesting and worth spending time with (brandlikability)?

Brand consideration: Brand consideration is more than mereawareness and deals with the likelihood that customers willinclude the brand in the set of possible options of brandsthey might buy or use. Consideration depends in part on howpersonally relevant customers find the brand that is, theextent to which customers view the brand as being appropriateand meaningful to themselves.

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Brand superiority: Superiority relates to the extent to whichcustomers view the brand as unique and better than otherbrands. In other words, do customers believe that the brandoffers advantages that other brands cannot?

Brand feelings: Brand feelings are customers’ emotional responsesand reactions with respect to the brand. Brand feeling alsorelate to the social currency evoked by the brand. The emotionsevoked by a brand can become so strongly associated that they areaccessible during product consumption or use. The following aresix important types of brand building feelings;

Warmth FunExcitementSecuritySocial approval Self respect

The first three types of feeling are experimental and immediate;increasing in level of intensity. The latter three types offeelings are private and enduring, increasing the level ofgravity.

Brand resonance: The final step of the model focuses on theultimate relationship and level of identification that thecustomer has with the brand. Brand resonance refers to the natureof this relationship and the extent to which customers feel thatthey are “in sync” with the brand. Brand resonance can be brokendown into four categories;

a. Behavioral loyalty: The first dimension of brand resonanceis behavioral loyalty in terms of repeat purchases and theamount or share of category volume attributed to the brand,that is, the “share of category requirement.” In otherwords, how often do customers purchase a brand and how muchdo they purchase?

b. Attitudinal attachment: To create resonance, there alsoneeds to be strong personal attachment. Customer should gobeyond having a positive attitude to viewing the brand asbeing something special in a broader context. For example,

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customers with a great deal of attitudinal attachment to abrand may state that they ‘love’ the brand, describe it asone of their favorite possessions, or view it as a ‘littlepleasure’ that they look forward to.

c. Sense of community : The brand may also take on broadermeaning to the customer in terms of a sense of community.Identification with a brand community may reflect animportant social phenomenon whereby customers’ feel akinship or affiliation with other people associated with thebrand.

d. Active engagement : Finally, perhaps the strongestaffirmation of brand loyalty is when customers are willingto invest time, energy, money or other resource in the brandbeyond those expended during purchase or consumption of thebrand.

Primary ingredients: The primary ingredients of the productoperate (e.g. low, medium, high, or very high). Additionally,they may have beliefs as to special, perhaps even patented,features, or secondary element of a product that complement theseprimary ingredients.

Supplementary features:

a. Some categories have few ingredients or features.b. Some products have many essential ingredients but few

features.c. Some products have numerous ingredients and features.

Product reliability refers to the consistency of performance over timeand from purchase to purchase. Product Durability refers to theexpected economic life of the product. Product Serviceability refers tothe ease of servicing the product if it needs repair.

Service effectiveness refers to how completely the brand satisfycustomers service requirements. Service Efficiency refers to themanner by which these services are delivered in terms of speed,responsiveness, and so forth. Service Empathy refers to the extentto which service providers are seen as trusting, caring, andhaving the customer’s interests in mind.

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Brand positioning and values

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Brand positioning is at the heart of marketing strategy. Kotlerdefines brand positioning as the “at o designing the company’soffer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued placein the target customer’s minds.” A good brand positioning helpsto guide marketing strategy by clarifying what the brand is allabout how it is unique and how it is similar to competitivebrands, and why consumers should purchase and use the brand.

According to the Customer based brand equity model, deciding on apositioning requires;

a. Determining a frame of reference:

Identify the target market: Identifying the consumer targetis important because different consumers may have differentbrand knowledge structures and thus different perceptionsand preferences for the brand. Without this understanding,it may be difficult to be able to state which brandassociations should be strongly held, favorable and unique.

i. Segmentation basis

ii. Criteria: A number of criteria have been offered toguide segmentation and target market decisions, such asthe following;

Identifiability: Can segment identification be easilydetermined.

Size: Is there adequate sales potential in thesegment.

Accessibility: Are specialized distribution outletsand communication media available to reach thesegment?

Responsiveness: How favorably will the segment respondto a tailored marketing program?

The nature of competition

i. How many firms have also decided to target that segmentin the part or plan to do in the future?

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ii. Consumers in that segment already may take to certainbrands in their purchase decision.

iii. Which products &brands are most likely to be seen asclose substituted?

b. The ideal point of parity: Points of parity (POPs), are thoseassociations that are not necessarily unique to the brand butmay in fact be shared with other brands. These types ofassociations come in two basic forms;

Category points of parity : Category points of parity arethose associations that consumers view as being necessary tobe a legitimate and credible offering within a certainproduct and service category. In other words, they representnecessary—but not necessarily sufficient—conditions forbrand choice.

Competitive points of parity: Competitive points of parityassociations are those associations designed to negatecompetitors’ points of difference. In other words, if in theeyes of consumers, the brand association designed to be thecompetitors’ point of difference (e.g. a product benefit ofsome type) is as strongly held for the target brand as forcompetitor’s brands and the target brand is able toestablish another association as strong, favorable andunique as part of its point of difference.

c. The ideal point of difference: Points of difference (PODs) arestrong, favorable and unique brand associations for a brand.They may be based on virtually any type of attribute orbenefit association. All that ultimately matters for anattribute or benefit association to become a point ofdifferences is that it becomes a strong, favorable and uniqueassociation in the minds of consumers. That is, PODs areattributes or benefits that consumers strongly associate witha brand, positively evaluate and believe that they could notfind to the same extent with a competitive brand. According toCBBE model, brand associations can be broadly classified interms of either functional, performance-related considerationsor abstract, imagery-related considerations.

Brand Management

Brand value

Core brand values to capture the important dimensions of thebrand meaning and what the brand represents. Core brand valuesare those set of abstract associations (attributes and benefits)that characterize the 5 to 10 most important aspects ordimensions of a brand.

In particular, core brand values can serve as the basis of brandpositioning in terms of how they relate to the points of parityand point of differences.

Core brand values can be identified through a structured process.

a. The first step is to create a detailed mental map of thebrand. A mental map accurately portrays in detail all salientbrand associations and responses for a particular targetmarket (e.g. brand users). Mental map must reflect the realityof how the brand is actually perceived by consumers in termsof their beliefs, attitudes, opinions, feelings, images andexperiences.

b. Brand associations are grouped into categories according tohow they are related often with two to four associations percategory. Each category is labeled to be as descriptive aspossible as a core brand value. For example, in response to aNike brand probe, consumers may list Michael Johnson, tigerwoods, which could be summarized by the label “top athletes.”

Brand Mantras: A brand mantra is highly related to brandingconcepts as “brand essence” or “core brand promise” used byothers. A brand mantra is an articulation of the “heart and soul”of the brand. Brand mantras are short 3 to 5 word phrases thatcapture the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brandpositioning and brand values. Their purpose is to ensure that allemployees within the organization and all external marketingpartners understand what the brand most fundamentally is torepresent with consumers so that they can adjust their actionsaccordingly.

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Choosing the brand elements to build brandequity

Brand elements, sometimes called brand identities, are thosetrademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiatethe brand. The main brand elements are;

a. Brand names: The brand name is a fundamentally importantchoice between it often captures the central theme or keyassociation of a product is a very compact and economicalfashion. Brand names can be an extremely effective shorthandmeans of communication. Because the brand name becomes soclosely tied to the product in the minds of consumers,however, it is also the most difficult brand element formarketers to subsequently change.

b. URLs: URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are used to specifylocations of pages on the Web, and are also commonly referredto as domain names. Anyone wishing to own a specific URL mustregister and pay for the name with a service such asRegister.com. In recent years, as companies clamored for spaceon the Web, the number of registered URLs increaseddramatically.

c. Logos: Although the brand name typically is the centralelement of the brand, visual brand elements often play acritical role in building brand equity, especially in terms ofbrand awareness. Logos have a long history as a means toindicate origin, ownership, or association. For example,families and countries have used logos for centuries tovisually represent their names.

d. Symbols: There are many types of logos, ranging from corporatenames or trademarks (word marks) written in a distinctiveform, on the one hand, to entirely abstract logos which may becompletely unrelated to the word mark, corporate name, orcorporate activities, on the other hand,. Examples of brands

Brand Management

with strong word marks (and no accompanying logo separate fromthe name) include Coca-cola, Dunhill, and Kit-kat, Examples ofabstract logos include the Mercedes star, Rolex crown, CBSeye, Nike Swoosh and the Olympic rings. These no-word marklogos are called symbols.

e. Characters: Characters represent a special type of brandsymbol—one that takes on human or real life characteristics.Brand characters typically are introduced through advertisingand can play a central role in these and subsequent adcampaigns and package designs.

f. Slogans: Slogans are short phrases that communicatedescriptive or persuasive information about the brand. Slogansoften appear in advertising but can play an important role onpackaging and in other aspects of the marketing program. Forexample, Snickers’ “Hungry? Snickers Really Satisfies” sloganappears in ads and on the candy bar wrapper itself. Slogansare powerful branding devices because like brand names, theyare extremely efficient, shorthand, means to build brandequity.

g. Jungles: Jingles are musical messages written around thebrand. Typically composed by professionals’ songwriters, theyoften have enough catchy hooks and choruses to become almostpermanently registered in the minds of listeners—sometimeswhether they want them to or not!

h. Packages: Packaging involves the activities of designing andproducing containers or wrappers for a product. Like otherbrand elements, packages have a long history. Early humansused leaves and animal skin to cover and carry food and water.From the perspective of both the firm and consumers, packagingmust 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.

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Criteria for choosing brand elementsIn general, there are six criteria in choosing brand elements (aswell as more specific choice considerations in each case,

a. Memorability: A necessary condition for building brand equityis achieving a high level of brand awareness. Toward thatgoal, brand elements can be chosen that are inherentlymemorable and therefore facilitate recall or recognition inpurchase or consumption settings.

b. Meaningfulness: Besides choosing brand elements to build brandawareness, brand elements can also be chosen whose inherentmeaning enhances the formation of brand associations. Brandelements may take on all kinds of meaning, varying indescriptive as well as persuasive, content.

c. Likability: The association suggested by a brand element maynot always be related to the product. Thus, brand elements canbe chosen that are rich in visual and verbal imagery andinherently fun and interesting.

d. Transferability: The fourth general criteria concern thetransferability of the brand element—in both a productcategory and geographic sense. First, to what extent can be brand element add to the brandequity of new products sharing the brand elements introducedeither within the product class or across product classes.Second, to what extent does the brand element add to the brandequity across geographic boundaries and market segment?

e. Adaptability: The fifth consideration concerns theadaptability of the brand element over time. Because ofchanges in consumer values and opinions, or simply because ofa need to remain contemporary, brand elements often must beupdated overtime. For example, logos and characters can begiven a new look or a new design to make them appear moremodern and relevant.

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f. Protectability: The sixth and final general considerationconcerns the extent to which the brand element is protectable—both in a legal and competitive sense. In terms of legalconsiderations it important to

1. Choose brand elements that can be legally protected on aninternational basis.

2. Formally register them with the appropriate legal bodies,and

3. Vigorously defend trademarks from unauthorizedcompetitive infringement.

Brand element

Criterion BrandNames

And URLs

Logos andSymbols

Characters Slogansandjingles

Packagingand sinage

Memorability

Can bechosen toenhancebrand recallandrecognition.

Generallymore usefulfor brandrecognition.

Generallymore usefulfor brandrecognition

Can bechosen toenhancebrand recallandrecognition.

Generallymore usefulfor brandrecognition

Meaningfulness

Canreinforcealmost anytype ofassociation,althoughsometimesonlyindirectly

Canreinforcealmost anytype ofassociation,althoughsometimesonlyindirectly

Generallymore usefulfor non-product-relatedimagery andbrandphilosophy.

Can conveyalmost anytype ofassociationexplicitly

Can conveyalmost anytype ofassociationexplicitly

Likability Can evokemuch verbalimagery

Can provokevisualappeal

Can generatehumanqualities

Can evokemuch verbalimagery

Can combinevisual andverbalappeal

Transferability

Can besomewhatlimited

Excellent Can besomewhatlimited

Can besomewhatlimited

Good

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Adaptability

Difficult Cantypically beredesigned

Cansometimes beredesigned

Can bemodified

Cantypically beredesigned

Protectability

Generallygood butwith limits

Excellent Excellent Excellent Can becloselycopied

Designing Marketing Programs New perspective on marketing

The rapid expansion of the internet has brought the need forpersonalized marketing in sharp focus.

Personalized marketing: To adapt to the increased consumerdesire for and competitive forces impelling towardpersonalization, marketers are embracing concepts such asexperimental marketing, one-to-one marketing, and permissionmarketing.

a. Experiential marketing: Experiential marketing promotes aproduct by not only communicating a product’ features andbenefits but also connecting it with unique and interestingexperiences. One marketing commentator describes experientialmarketing by writing “The idea is not sell something but todemonstrate how a brand can enrich a customer’s life.”

Schmitt underscores the importance of experiential marketing“the degree to which a company is able to deliver a desirablecustomer experience—and to use information technology, brandsand integrated marketing communication and entertainment to doso—will largely determine its success in the global marketplace of the new millennium”. Schmitt details five differenttypes of experiences sense, feel, think, act, & relate—thatare becoming increasingly vital to consumers’ perceptions ofbrands. He also describes how various experience providers(such as communications, electronic media, and sales people)can be used as part of a marketing campaign to create theseexperiences.

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b. One-to-one marketing: Consumers help to add value by providinginformation to marketers; marketers add value, in turn bytaking that information and generating rewarding experiencesfor consumers. In doing so, the firm is able to createswitching costs, reduce transaction costs and maximize utilityfor consumers, all helping to build strong, profitablerelationships. One-to-one marketing is thus based on severalfundamental concepts;

Focus on individual consumers through consumer databases—“We single out consumers.”

Respond to consumer dialogue via interactivity—“Theconsumer talks to us.”

Customize products and services—“We make something uniquefor him or her.”

Another tenet of one-to-one marketing is the importance oftreating different consumers differently because of theirdifferent needs, different value to the firm (current as well asfuture or lifetime value), and so on.

c. Permission marketing: Permission marketing, the practice ofmarketing to consumers only after gaining their expresspermission, is gaining popularity as a tool with whichcompanies can break through the clutter and build customerloyalty. Godin argues that if marketers want to attractconsumer’s attention, they first need to get his or herpermission with some kind of inducement. Such as a freesample, a sales promotion or discount, a contest and so on. Byeliciting consumer co-operation in this manner, marketers canpotentially develop stronger relationships with consumers sothat they will wish to receive further communications in thefuture.

Godin identifies five steps to effective permissionmarketing;

Offer the prospect an incentive to volunteer.

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Offer the interested prospect a curriculum over time,teaching the consumer about the product or service beingmarketed.

Reinforce the incentive to guarantee that the prospectmaintains the permission.

Offer additional incentives to get more permission from theconsumer.

Over time, leverage the permission to change consumerbehavior toward profits.

Product strategy The product itself is at the heart of brand equity because it isthe primary influence on what consumers experience with a brand,what they hear about a brand from others, and what the firm cantell customers about the brand in their communication. In otherwords, at the heart of a great brand is invariably a greatproduct. Designing and delivering a product or service that fullysatisfies consumer needs and wants is a prerequisite forsuccessful marketing, regardless of whether the product is atangible good, service or organization. To create brand loyalty,consumers’ experiences with the product must at least meet, ifnot actually surpass, their expectations.

a. Perceived quality & Value: Perceived quality has been definedas customers’ perception of the overall quality or superiorityof a product or service relative to relevant alternatives andwith respect to its intended purpose. Thus, perceived qualityis a global assessment based on customer perceptions of whatconstitutes a quality product and how well the brand rates onthose dimensions. Consistent with the CBBE model, priorresearch has identified the following general dimensions ofproduct quality.

Performance: Levels at which the primary characteristics ofthe product operate (e.g. low, medium, high or very high).

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Features: Secondary elements of a product that complementthe primary characteristics.

Conformance quality: Degree to which the product meetsspecifications and is absent of defects.

Reliability: Consistency of performance over time and frompurchase to purchase.

Durability: Expected economic life of the product.

Serviceability: Ease of servicing the product.

Style and design: Appearance or feel of quality.

Consumer beliefs along these dimensions often underlieperceptions of the quality of the product that, in turn, caninfluence attitudes and behavior toward a brand.

Brand intangibles: Product quality depends not only onfunctional product performance but on broader performanceconsiderations as well. For example, product quality mayalso be affected by factors such as speed, accuracy, andcare of product delivery and installation; the promptness,courtesy, and helpfulness of customer service and training;and the quality of repair service.

Brand attitude may not necessarily be based only on productperformance but may also depend on more abstract productimagery such as the symbolism or personality reflected inthe brand. These “augmented” aspects of a product are oftencrucial to its quality.

Total quality management & return on quality: TQM principleshave provided some useful structure and guidance tomarketing managers interested in improving product quality.In practicing, TQM, however, some firms have run intoimplementation problems because they became overly focused—perhaps even obsessed—with processes and how they were doingbusiness, losing sight of the needs and wants of customersand why they were doing business. For example, scientificequipment maker Varian totally embraced TQM principles but

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found itself losing money as it became inwardly focused,rushing to meet production schedules and deadlines that itnow feels may not have been that important to its customerto begin with.

Return on quality improving quality on those dimensionsthat produce tangible customer benefits, lower cost orincreased sales. This bottom-line orientation forcescompanies to make sure that the quality of the productofferings is in fact the quality consumers actually want,leading to recommendations.

Value chain: The value chain is a company instrument ordevice which helps to create more customer value byperforming some interdependent activities. Company’srelative cost advantage and differentiation depends on theanalysis of value chain by using value chain, company canperform various relevant activities such as—designing,producing, marketing, delivering and also perform somesupporting activities. Relevant activities depend on betterunderstanding of cost behavior and potential sources ofdifferentiation. A firm can gain competitive advantage fromfollowing sources:

a. Low cost physical distribution system.b. Highly efficient assembly process.c. Superior sales force utilization.

There are two ways in identifying value activities;

a. Primary activities : To compete with any industry, companyshould perform five generic categories of primaryactivities. According to particular industry and firm’sstrategy, activities may differ. These activities are;

Inbound logistics: These activities associated withreceiving, storing and disseminating inputs to theproduct such as—material handling, warehousing,inventory control, vehicle scheduling etc.

Operation: Operation activities involve transforminginputs into final product from such as machinery,

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packaging, assembling, equipment maintenance, testing,printing etc.

Outbound logistics: Outbound logistics involve afterprocessing activities such as—collecting and storingfinished goods and also distributing the product tobuyers.

Marketing and sales: By performing these activities,buyers can purchase product in response of advertising,promotion, sales force, channel selection etc.

Service: Service activities enhance or maintain thevalue of the product such as installation, repair,training, parts supply, product adjustment etc.

In order to operating the business and sending the output thefinal consumer by marketing and servicing the product, primaryactivities are necessary.

b. Supportive activities : Supportive activities include fourgeneric categories;

Procurement : Procurement activities referred to thefunction of purchasing inputs in the firm’s value chain.In primary activities, only raw materials is purchased buthere other items like machine, ancillary product, ,mealsan lodging is purchased by required person.

Technology development: Products are processed andimproved by using technology development instead of R&D.because R&D uses in a narrow sense.

Human resource management: It includes recruitment,hiring, training, development and compensation of alltypes of personal.

Firm infrastructure : It consists of various activitiessuch as general management, planning, financing,accounting, legal, government, affairs and qualitymanagement which supports the whole chain rather thanindividual activities.

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b. Relationship marketing: Product strategies must thereforetranscend the actual product or service to create strongerbonds with consumers and maximize brand resonance. Thisbroader set of activities is sometimes called relationshipmarketing. Relationship marketing attempts to provide a moreholistic, personalized brand experience to create strongerconsumer ties. Relationship marketing involves marketingactivities that deepen &broaden how consumers think and acttoward the brand.

i. Mass customization: The concept behind mass customization,namely, making products to fit the customer’s exactspecifications, is an old one, but the advent of digital-age technology enables companies to offer customizedproducts on a previously unheard-of scale. Via theInternet, customers can communicate their preferencesdirectly to the manufacturer, who can, by using asophisticated production line, assemble the product for aprice comparable to that of a non customized item. A Dellcomputer is now a classic example of the power of masscustomization. Dell’s built-to-order computers, solddirectly by the company on the Internet or over the phone,helped make it the most successful computer manufacturer ofthe 1990s.

ii. After marketing: After marketing is those marketingactivities that occur after customer purchase. Innovativedesign, through testing, quality production and effectivecommunication—through mass customization or any other means—are without question the most important considerations inenhancing product consumption experiences that build brandequity. In many cases, however, they may only be necessaryand not sufficient conditions for brand success, and othermeans to enhance consumption experiences may need to beemployed as well. For example, instruction manuals for manyproducts are too often an after thought put together byengineers who use overly technical terms and convolutedlanguage.

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iii. Loyalty programs. Loyalty or frequency programs have becomeone popular means by which marketers can create strongerties to customers. The purpose of frequency marketing hasbeen defined as “identifying, maintaining and increasingthe yield from a firm’s ‘best’ customers through long-term,interactive, value-added relationships.” Loyalty programshave been adopted by a wide range of industries becausethey often yield results. As one marketing executive said,“Loyalty programs reduce defection rates and increaseretention. You can win more of a customer’s purchasingshare.” Some tips for building effective loyalty programsfollow:

Know your audience: Most loyalty marketers employsophisticated databases and software to determine whichconsumer segment to target with a given program.

Change is good: Marketers must constantly update theprogram to attract new customers and prevent othercompanies is their category from developing “me-too”programs.

Listen to your best customers: Suggestions andcomplaints from top customers must be carefullyconsidered, because they can lead to improvements in theprograms.

Engage people: It is important to make customers want tojoin the program. This includes making the program easyto use and offering immediate rewards when customerssign up.

Pricing activitiesPrice is the one revenue-generating element of the traditionalmarketing mix, and price premiums are one of the most importantbrand equity benefits of creating brand awareness and strong,favorable and unique brand associations.

a. Survival: Companies set survival as their major objective ifthey are troubled by too much capacity, heavy competition,

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or changing consumer wants. To keep a plant going, a companymay set a low price, hoping to increase demand. In the longrun, the firm must learn how to add value that consumerswill pay for or face extinction.

b. Profit maximization: Many companies use profit maximizationas their pricing goal. They estimate what demand and costwill at different price and choose the price that willproduce the maximum profit, cash flow, or return oninvestment.

c. Market penetrate

Policy: Policy means some principle

Strategy: To achieve the policy different types of way isdetermined. This way is called strategy.

Method:

a. Cost plus pricing

b. Return on investment

Break-even analysis

Customer perceived value

c. Competitive price method

For brand equity

a. Price perception: The pricing policy for the brand can createassociation in consumers’ minds to the relevant price tier orlevel for the brand in the category, as well as to itscorresponding price volatility or variance (in terms of thefrequency or magnitude of documents etc.). In other words, thepricing strategy can dictate how consumers categorize theprice of the brand (e.g. low, medium, or high priced) and how

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firm or flexible consumers see that price (e.g. frequently orinfrequently discounted.)

b. Setting price to build brand equity: Choosing a pricingstrategy to build brand equity involves determining thefollowing;

A method or approach for how current prices will beset.

A policy or set of guidelines for the depth andduration of promotions and discount over time.

Value pricing: The objective of value pricing is touncover the right blend or product quality, product cost,and product prices that fully satisfies the needs andwants of consumers and the profit targets of the firm.Consumer may combine their perceptions of the quality ofproduct with their perceptions of the price of the productto arrive at an assessment of its perceived value. In thischallenging new climate, several firms have beensuccessful by adopting a value-pricing strategy. Forexample, Wal-Mart’s slogan “We sell for Less” describesthe pricing strategy that has allowed them to become theworld’s largest retailer.

There are a number of opinions regarding the key for successin adopting a value-based pricing approach. In general, eneffective value-pricing strategy should strike the properbalance among the following;

Product design and Delivery: The first key is the properdesign and delivery of the product. Product value can beenhanced through many types of well-conceived andexecuted marketing programs. Proponents of value pricingpoint out that the concept does not mean sellingstripped-down versions of products at lower prices. WhenGillette introduced the Match III, it priced thecartridges at 50 percent premium over its then-priciestblade, Sensor Excel, despite the prevailing deflationaryclimate.

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Product costs: The second key to a successful value-pricing strategy is to lower cost as much as possible.Meeting cost targets invariably requires additional costsavings through productivity gains, outsourcing,material substitution (less expensive or less wastefulmaterials), product reformulations, process changes(automation or other factory improvements) and so on.For example, by investing in efficient manufacturingtechnology, Sara Lee was able to maintain adequatemargins for years on its L’eggs women’s history withminimal price increases.

Product prices: The final key to a successful value-pricing strategy is to understand exactly how much valueconsumers perceive in the brand and thus to what extentthey will pay a premium over product costs. For example,General Motor’s Cadilac division has used “targetpricing” to arrive at the prices of its luxury cars. GMmarketers determined the optimal price based onassumptions about the consumer and then figured out howto make the car at the right cost to ensure thenecessary profit.

Every day low pricing: Every day low pricing (EDLP) hasreceived increased as a means of determining the nature ofprice discounts and promotions over time. EDLP eschews thesaw tooth, whiplash, and pattern of alternating priceincreases and decreases or discounts in favor ofestablishing a more consistent set of “every day” baseprices on products. In the early 1990s, Procter & Gamblemade a well-publicized conversion to EDLP. By reducinglist prices on half of its brands and eliminating manytemporary discounts, P&G reported that it saved $175million in 1991or 10 percent of its previous year’sprofit. Advocates of EDLP argue that maintainingconsistently low prices on major items every day helpsbuild brand loyalty, fend off private label inroads, andreduce manufacturing and inventory cost.

Channel strategy

Brand Management

Marketing channels are defined as “sets of interdependentorganizations involved in the process of making a product orservice available for use or consumption.” Channel strategyinvolves the design and management of intermediaries such aswholesalers, retailers, brokers, and retailers. This sectionconsiders how channel strategy can contribute to brand equity.

Channel of distribution: Manufacturers produce the product butconsumers consume the product. But consumers can not get theproduct with their hand. For distributing the product frommanufacturers to consumers a various types of intermediaries isused such as wholesaler, retailer, brokers etc. Theseintermediaries are called channel of distribution.

Physical distribution: Consumers consume the product and varioustypes of intermediaries is used for distributing the product. Fordistributing the product the intermediaries or middle man usedvarious types of logistics support such as warehousing,transportation, etc. These logistics support are called physicalsupport.

Types of channel of distribution

A number of possible channel types and arrangements exist.Broadly they can be classified into direct and indirect channel.

a. Indirect channel: Indirect channels involve selling throughthird party intermediaries such as agents or brokerrepresentatives, wholesalers or distributors and retailersor dealers.

b. Direct channel: Direct channels involve selling throughpersonal contacts from the company to prospective customersby mail, phone, electronic means, in-person visits and soforth.

One example, one study for industrial products suggests thatdirect channels may be preferable when the following true;

Product information needs are high.

Product customization is high.

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Product quality assurance is important.

Purchase lot size is important.

Logistics are important.

On the other hand, this study suggest that indirect channels maybe preferably when,

A broad assortment is essential.

Availability is critical.

After-sales service is important.

Channel conflict

How channel strategy helps to build brand equity

Promotional mix a. Direct marketing: Direct marketing via promotion delivered

directly to the individual customer, or

Marketing via leaflets, brochures, letters, catalogs, orprint and etc direct ads, mailed or distributed directly tocurrent or potential customer.

The direct marketing association defines that “DirectMarketing is an interactive marketing system that uses oneand more advertising media to affect a measurable responseto transaction at any location.”

b. Advertising : Advertising can be defined as any paid form onnonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, andservices by an identified sponsor. Advertising plays animportant and often controversial role in contributing tobrand equity. Although advertising is recognized as a powerfulmeans of creating strong, favorable, and unique brandassociations and eliciting positive judgment and feelings. Itis controversial because the specific effects of advertisingare often difficult to quantify and predict. For example, the

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American Association of advertising agencies has complied alist of some of the studies demonstrating the productivity ofadvertising expenditure. Analyses of advertising effects usingthe PIMS (profit impact of marketing strategy) database of 750consumer business in a variety of industries showed that firmswhich increased advertising during a recessionary periodgained one-half to a full market share point coming out of arecession, where those firms who cut their advertising budgetonly gained two-tenths of a share point.

c. Personal selling: Personal selling involves face-to-faceinteraction with one or more prospective purchasers for thepurpose of making sales. Personal selling represents acommunication option with pros and cons almost exactly theopposite of advertising. Specifically, the main advantages topersonal selling are that a detailed, customized message canbe sent to consumers and that feedback can be gathered to helpclose the sale. Prospective customers can be identified, andtailored solutions can be offered. Personal selling can alsobe beneficial after the sale to handle customer problems andensure customer satisfaction.

d. Sales promotion: Sales promotion can be defined as short-termincentives to encourage trial usage of a product or service.Sales promotions can be targeted at either the trade or at endconsumers. Like advertising, sales promotions comes in allforms. Whereas advertising typically provides consumers areason to buy, sales promotions offer consumers an incentiveto buy. Thus, sales promotions are designed to do thefollowing;

Change the behavior of the trade so that they carrythe brand and actively support it.

Change the behavior of consumers so that they buy abrand for the first time, buy more of the brand, orbuy the brand earlier or more often.

e. Public relation or publicity: Public relations and publicityrelate to a variety of programs and are designed to promote orprotect a company’s image or its industrial products.

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Publicity offers to non-personal communications such as pressreleases, media interviews, press conferences, featurearticles, new letters, photographs, films and tapes. Publicrelations may also involve such things as annual reports,fund-raising, and membership drives, lobbying, special eventmanagement, and public affairs.

Effectiveness a. Exposure: A person must see or hear the communication.

b. Attention: A person must notice the communication.

c. Comprehension: A person must understand the intended messageor arguments of the communication.

d. Yielding: A person must respond favorably to the intendedmessage or arguments of the communication.

e. Intentions : A person must plan to act in the desired mannerof the communication.

f. Behavior: A person must actually act in the desired mannerof the communication.

Developing Integrated Marketing communicationprogram

There are many ways to create IMC programs. A number ofconsiderations come into play when holistically evaluating an IMCprogram that in when considering responses to a set ofcommunications across a group of consumers. In assessing thecollective impact of IMC program, the ordering goal is to createthe most effect and efficient communication program possible.Toward that goal, six relevant criteria can be identified.

Six criteria can be identified to matching communication option

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There are many ways to create IMC programs. A number ofconsiderations come into play when holistically an IMC program,that is, when considering responses to a set of communicationsacross a group of consumers. In assessing the collective impactof an IMC program, the overriding goal is to create the mosteffective and efficient communication program possible. Towardthat goal, six relevant criteria can be identified.

a. Coverage: Coverage relates to the proportion of the audiencethat is reached by each communication option employed, aswell as how much overlap exists among communication options.In other words, to what extent to different communicationoptions reach the designated target market and the same ordifferent consumers making up that market?

b. Contribution: Contribution relates to the inherent ability ofa making communication to create the desired response andcommunication effects from consumers in the absence ofexposure to any other communication option. In other words,contribution relates to the “main effects” of a marketingcommunication options in terms of how it affects consumerprocessing of a communication and the resulting outcomes.

c. Commonality: Commonality relates to the extent to whichcommon associations are reinforced across communicationoptions, that is, the extent to which the informationconveyed by different communication options shares meaning.Most identifications of IMC emphasize only this criterion.For example, Burnett and Moriarty define integrated marketingcommunications as the “practice of unifying all marketingcommunication tools—from advertising to packaging—to sendtarget audiences a consistent, persuasive message thepromotes company tools.”

d. Complementarity: Complementarity relates to the extent towhich different associations and linkages are emphasizedacross communications options. For example, research hasshown that promotions can be more effective when combinedwith advertising. In both cases, the awareness and attitudescreated by advertising campaigns can improve the success of

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more direct sales pitches. Thus, the ideal marketingcommunication program would ensure that the communicationoptions chosen are mutually compensatory and reinforcing tocreate desired consumer knowledge structure.

e. Versatility: Versatility refers to the extent that amarketing communication options is robust and effective fordifferent groups of consumers. There are two types ofversatility; communication and consumer. The reality of anyIMC program is that when consumers are exposed to aparticular marketing communication, some consumers will havealready been exposed to other marketing communication, someconsumers will have already been exposed to other marketingcommunications for the brand, whereas other consumers willnot have had any prior exposure.

Brand extensionNew product introductions are often vital to the long run successof a firm. A number of factors related to consumer behavior,corporate capabilities and competitive actions affect thesuccessful development of a new product or market. When a brandintroduces a new product, it has three main choices as to how tobrand it

a. It can develop a new brand, individually chosen for the newproduct.

b. It can apply, in some way, one of its existing brands.

c. It can use a combination of a new brand with an existingbrand.

A brand extension is when a firm uses an established brand nameto introduce a new product (Approach 2 or 3). When a new brand iscombined with an existing brand (approach 3), the brand extensioncan also be called a sub brand. An existing brand that givesbirth to a brand extension is referred to as the parent brand. Ifthe parent brand is already associated with multiple productsthrough brand extensions, then it may also be called a familybrand.

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Classification of brand extensionBrand extension can be broadly classified into two generalcategories;

a. Line extension: The parent brand is used to brand a new prdoutthat target a new market segment within a product category,currently served by the parent brand. A line extension ofteninvolves a different flavor or ingredient variety, a differentfrom or size, or a different application for the brand (e.g.Head & Shoulders Dry scalp shampoo).

b. Category extension: The parent brand is used to enter adifferent category from the currently served by the parentbrand (e.g. Swiss Army watches).

Advantages of brand extensions For most firms, the question is not whether the brand should beextended, but when, where, and ho the brand should be extended.Well-planned and well-implemented extensions offer a number ofadvantages to marketers. The advantages of brand extension aregiven below;

a. Facilitate new product acceptance: The high failure rate of anew products is well documented. Marketing analysis estimatesthat perhaps only 2 of 10 new products will be successful, ormay even as few 1 of 10. New products can fail for a number ofreasons.]

The market is too small.

The product was a poor match for the company.

The product was justified on inadequate or inaccuratemarketing research, or the company ignored researchresult.

The company was too early or too late in researchingthe market.

The product provided insufficient return oninvestment.

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The product was not new or different.

The product did not go hand in hand with familiarity.

Credibility was not confirmed on delivery.

Consumers could not recognize the product.

Improve brand image: With a brand extension, consumers canmake inferences and form expectations as to the likelycomposition and performance of a new product based on whatthey already know about the brand itself and the extent towhich they feel this information is relevant to the newproduct. These inferences may improve the strength,favorability, and uniqueness of the extension’s brandassociation.

Reduce risk perceived by Customers: One research studyexamining factors affecting new product acceptance foundthat the most important factor for predicting initialtrial of new product was the extent to which a knownfamily brand was involved. Extensions form well-knowncorporate brands such as General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, or others may communicate longevity andsustainability.

Increase the probability of gaining distribution and Trial: Because of the potentially increased consumerdemand resulting from introducing a new product as anextension, it may be easier to convince retailers to stockand promote a brand extension.

Increase efficiency of promotional expenditure: From amarketing communications perspective, one obviousadvantage of introducing a new product as a brandextension is that the introductory campaign does not haveto create awareness of both the brand and the new productbut instead can concentrate on only the new productitself.

Reduce costs of introductory and Follow-up marketing program: Because of these push and pull consideration in

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distribution and promotion, it has been estimated that afirm can save 40 percent to 80 percent on the estimated 30million to 50 million it can cost to launch a newsupermarket product nationally in the market.

Avoid cost of developing a new brand: To conduct thenecessary consumer research and employ skilled personnelto design high-quality brand names, logos, symbols,packages, characters and slogans can be quite expensiveand there is no assurance of success. As the number ofavailable—and appealing—brand names keeps shrinking, legalconflicts are more likely to result.

Allow for packaging and labeling efficiencies: Similar orvirtually identical packages and labels for extensions canresult in lower production cost and if, coordinatedproperly more prominence in the retail store by creating a“billboard” effect.

Permit consumer variety seeking: By offering consumers aportfolio of brand variants within a product category,consumers who need a change—because of boredom, satiationor whatever—can switch to a different product type if theyso desire without having to leave the brand family.

b. Provide feedback benefits to the parent brand: Besidesfacilitating acceptance of new products, brand extensions canalso provide positive feedback to the parent brand in a numberof ways, as described in the following subsections.

Clarify brand meaning: Extensions can help to clarify themeaning of a brand to consumers and define the kinds ofmarkets in which it competes. Thus through brandextensions, Hunts means “tomato”, Clairol means “haircoloring”, Gerber means “baby care,”.

Enhance the parent brand image: According to the customer-based brand equity model, one desirable outcome of asuccessful brand extension is that it may enhance theparent brand image by strengthening an existing brandassociation, improving the favorability of an existing

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brand association, adding new brand association or acombination of these.

Bring new customer into the Brand franchise and increase market coverage: Line extension can benefit the parentbrand by expanding market coverage, for example, byoffering a product benefit whose lack may have thereforeprevented consumers from trying the brand.

Revitalize the brand: Sometimes brand extensions can be ameans to renew interest and liking for the brand.

Permit subsequent extensions: One benefit of a successfulextension is that it may serve as the basis for subsequentextensions.

Disadvantages of brand extensions a) Can confuse or Frustrate consumers: The different varieties of

line extensions may confuse and perhaps even frustrateconsumers as to which version of the product is the “rightone” for them. As a result, they may reject new extensions fortried and true favorites or all purpose versions that claim tosupersede more specialized product versions.

b) Can encounter retailer resistance: On average, the number ofconsumer packaged-goods stock keeping units (SKUs) grew 16percent each year from 1985 to 1992, where as retail shelfspace expanded only 1.5 percent each year during the sameperiod. Many brands now come in a multitude of differentforms.

c) Can fail and hurt parent brand image: The worst possiblescenario with an extension is that not only does it fail butit also harms the parent brand image somehow in the process.Unfortunately these negative feedback effects can sometimeshappen.

d) Can succeed but cannibalize sales of parent brand: Even mayhave merely resulted from consumers switching to the extensionfrom existing product offerings of the parent brand—in effectcannibalizing the parent brand by decreasing the sales.

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e) Can succeed but Diminish identification with any one category: One risk of linking multiple products to a single brand isthat the brand may not be strongly identified with anyproduct. Thus, brand extensions may obscure the identificationof the brand with its original categories, reducing brandawareness.

f) Can succeed but hurt the image of the parent brand: If thebrand extension has attributed or benefit associations thatare seen as inconsistent or perhaps even as conflicting withthe corresponding association for the parent brand, consumersmay change their perceptions of the parent brand as a result.

g) Can dilute brand meaning: The potential drawbacks from a lackof identification with any one category and a weak image maybe especially evident with high-quality or prestige brands.

h) Can cause the company to forgo the chance to develop a new brand: One easily overlooked disadvantage to brand extensionsis that by introducing a new product as a brand extension, thecompany for goes the chance to create a new brand with its ownunique image and equity.

Managing brand overtime Effective management requires taking a long-term view ofmarketing decisions. Any action that firm takes as part of itsmarketing program has the potential to change consumer knowledgeabout the brand in terms of some aspect of brand awareness andbrand image. These changes in consumer brand knowledge will havean indirect effect on the success of future marketing activities.

1. Re-enforcing brand: In a general sense, brand equity isreinforced by marketing actions that consistently convey themeaning of the brand to consumers in terms of brand awarenessand brand image. Questions marketers should consider asfollows;

What products does the brand represent, what benefits doesit supply, and what needs does it satisfy? For example,Nutri-Grain has expanded from cereals into granola bars and

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other products, cementing its reputation as “makers ofhealthy breakfast and snack food.”

How does the brand make those products superior? Whatstrong, favorable, and unique brand associations exist inthe minds of consumers? For example, through productdevelopment and the successful introduction of brandextensions, Black & Deeker is now seen as offering“innovative designs” in its small appliance products.

a. Maintaining brand consistency: The most importantconsideration in reinforcing brands is the consistency of themarketing support that the brand receives, both in terms ofthe amount and nature of that support. Brand consistency iscritical to maintaining the strength ad favorability of brandassociations.

Market leader and failures: From the perspective ofmaintaining consumer loyalty, inadequate marketing supportis an especially dangerous strategy when combined withprice increases. An example, of the consequences of failingto adequately support a brand occurred in the oil and gasindustry. In the late 1970s, consumers had an extremelypositive image of Shell Oil and saw clear differencesbetween the brand and its major branded competitors, in the1980s, for various reasons, Shell went through a period oftime during which it cut back considerably on itsadvertising and marketing support of the brand. As aresult, Shell no longer enjoyed the same special status inthe eyes of consumer in their strategies once they achieveda preeminent market leadership position.

Consistency and change: Consistency does not mean, however,that marketers should avoid making any changes in themarketing program. On the contrary, the opposite can bequite true; being consistent in managing brand equity mayrequire numerous tactical shifts and changes in order tomaintain the strategic thrust and direct of the brand. Thetactics that may be most effective for a particular brand

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at any one time can certainly vary. Many brands have kept akey creative element in their marketing communicationprograms over the years and as a result, have effectivelycreated some “advertising equity”. For example, Nestea icedtea has used the “Nestea Plunge” in ads and promotions foryears.

b. Protecting sources of brand equity: Although brands shouldalways look for potentially powerful new sources of brandequity, a top priority under these circumstances is topreserve and defend those sources of brand equity that alreadyexist, as illustrated by the examples of Cascade. Whilerolling our its value-pricing initiative, Proctor & Gamblemade a minor change in the formulation of its Cascadeautomatic diswashing detergent, primarily for cost-savingsreasons. As a result, the product was not quite as effectiveas it previously had been under certain, albeit somewhat atypical, water conditions. After discovering the fact, one ofP& G’s chief competitors, Lever Brothers, began runningcomparative ads for its Sunlight brand featuring side-by-sideglasses that claimed, “Sunlight Fights Spots Better ThanCascade”. Since the consumer benefit of “virtually spotless”is a key brand association and source of brand equity forCascade, P&G reacted swiftly. It immediately returned Cascadeto its original formula and contacted Lever Brothers toinform that company of the change, effectively forcing it tostop running the new Sunlight ads on legal grounds. As thisepisode clearly demonstrates, Procter & Gamble fiercelydefends the equity of its brands, perhaps explaining why somany of P&G brands have had such longevity.

c. Fortifying vs. leveraging: In managing brand equity, it isimportant to recognize tradeoffs between those marketingactivities that attempt to fortify and further contribute tobrand equity and those marketing activities that attempt toleverage or capitalize on existing brand equity to reap somefinancial benefit. In other words, marketing actions thatattempt to leverage the equity of a brand different ways maycome at the expense of other activities that may help to

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fortify the brand by maintaining or enhancing its awarenessand image.

d. Find tuning the supporting marketing program: Although thespecific tactics and supporting marketing program for thebrand are more likely to change than the basic positioning andstrategic direction for the brand, brand tactics also shouldonly be changed when there is evidence that they are no longermaking the desired contribution to maintaining or strengthenbrand equity.

Product related performance Association: For brands whosecore associations are primarily product-related performanceattributes or benefits, innovation in product design,manufacturing and merchandising is especially critical tomaintaining or enhancing brand equity. For example, afterTimex watched brands such as Casio and Swatch gainsignificant market share by emphasizing digital technologyand fashion (respectively) in their watches, it made anumber of innovative marketing changes. Within a shortperiod of time, Timex introduced Indiglo low-in-the darktechnology, showcased popular new models such as theIronman is mass media marketing, and launched new Timexstores to showcase its products. Timex also bought theGuess and Monet watch brands to distribute through upscaledepartment stores and expand its brand portfolio. Theseinnovations in product design and merchandising havesignificant revived the brand fortunes.

Non-product-related Imagery Associations: For brands whosecore associations are primarily non-product-relatedattributes and symbolic or experiential benefits, relevancein user and usage imagery is critical. Because of theirintangible nature, non-product-related associations may bepotentially easier to change. For example, through a majornew advertising campaign that communicates a different typeof user or usage situation. Nevertheless, ill-received or

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too-frequent repositioning can blur the image of a brandand confuse or perhaps even alienate consumers.

2. Revitalizing brands: The meaning of the brand has had tofundamentally change to regain lost ground and recapturemarket leadership. Reversing a fading brand’s fortunes thusrequires either lost sources of brand equity to be recaptureor new sources of brand equity to be identified andestablished. Regardless of which approach is taken, brands onthe comeback trail have to make more “revolutionary” changesthan “evolutionary” changes to reinforce brand.

a) Expanding brand awareness: With a fading brand, often it isnot the depth of brand awareness that is a problem—consumerscan still recognize or recall the brand under certaincircumstances. Rather the breadth of brand awareness is thestumbling block-consumers only tend to think of the brand invery narrow ways. One powerful means of building brandequity is to increase the breadth of brand awareness, makingsure that consumer do not overlook the brand and that theywill think of purchasing or consuming it in those situationsin which the brand can satisfy consumers’ needs and wants.

Identifying additional or New Usage Opportunities: Insome cases, the brand may be seen as useful only incertain places and at certain times, especially if it hasstrong brand associations to particular usage situationsor user types. In general, to identify additional or newopportunities for consumers to use the brand more –albeitin the same basic way—a marketing program should bedesigned to include both of the following;

Communications to consumers as to theappropriateness and advantages of using the brandmore frequently in existing situations or in newsituations.

Remainders to consumers to actually use the brand asclose as possible to those situations.

Brand Management

Identifying new and completely different wages to use the brand: The second approach for increasing frequency ofuse for a brand is to identify completely new anddifferent usage applications. For example, food productcompanies have long advertised new recipes that use theirbranded products in entirely different ways.

b) Improving brand image: Although changes in brand awarenessare probably the easiest means of creating new sources ofbrand equity, more fundamental changes are often necessary.A new marketing program may be necessary to improve thestrength, favorability and uniqueness of brand associationsmaking up the brand image.

Repositioning the brand: Repositioning the brand requiresestablishing more compelling points of difference. Thismay simply require reminding consumers of the virtues ofa brand that they have begun to take for granted.

Changing brand elements: Often one or more brand elementsmust be changed to either convey new information or tosignal that the brand has taken on new meaning becausethe product or some other aspect of the marketing programhas changed. Although the brand name is typically themost important brand, it is often difficult to change.For example, Federal express chose to officially shortenits name to FedEx and introduce a new logo in response towhat consumers actually were calling the brand.

c) Entering new markets: Positioning decisions require aspecification of the target market and the nature ofcompetition to set the competition to set the competitiveframe of reference. The target market or markets for a brandtypically do not constitute all possible segments that makeup the entire market. In some cases, the firm may have otherbrands that target these remaining market segments. In othercases, however, these market segments represent potentialgrowth targets for the brand.

Brand Management

Brand Management

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