BRANDING

by John Murphy
Interbrand Group PLC, London The Development of Branding Branding has been used since the earliest times to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. But the use of branding has developed considerably over time and particularly in the last 100 years.
The ways in which brands have developed are essentially threefold: Legal systems have recognised the value of brands to both producers and consumers. Most countries in the world now acknowledge that intellectual property trademarks, patents, designs, copyright is property in a very real sense and therefore confers rights on the owners of such property. The concept of branded goods has been extended successfully to embrace services. Perhaps most importantly, the ways in which branded products or services are distinguished from one another have come increasingly to embrace non-tangible factors. The brand qualities which consumers rely on in making a choice between brands have become increasingly subtle, and even, at times, fickle. Cigarette A may be virtually indistinguishable from Cigarette B, yet outsell it ten to one; a fragrance costing $5.00 a bottle may be outsold by another fragrance with very similar physical characteristics but which sells at $50.00 a bottle. Modern, sophisticated branding is now concerned increasingly with a brand's gestalt, with assembling and maintaining in a brand a mix of values, both tangible and intangible, which are relevant to consumers and which meaningfully and appropriately distinguish one supplier's brand from that of another.

The Importance of Brands

Brands are important because, if they are appealing, consumers will purchase them and in time they will become valuable assets. Brands are also enduring assets as long as they are kept in good shape and continue to offer consumers the values they require. But brands also play a vital strategic role. In the words of H.G. Wells, "They let the manufacturer reach over the shoulder of the retailer straight to the consumer." In practice, producers of goods or services generally do not interact directly with their customers. Kodak films are normally sold through drug stores or kiosks or by mail order; Formica laminates are sold by hardware stores or as components in fitted kitchens; Pan-Am airline tickets are retailed through travel agents. Thus the producer the brand owner constantly faces the possibility that, at point of sale, his efforts to develop branded products which attract strong consumer interest will come to nothing. If Heinz baked beans are unavailable or substantially more expensive than Safeway's own-brand baked beans, the own-brand product may well suffice. If Pan-Am Clipper Class is fully booked, the traveller will readily settle for British Airways Club. If Ford's Orion is on four months delivery and the equivalent Volkswagen is available from stock, the Volkswagen will do just fine. Few brands are so powerful as to protect the brand owner against the persuasiveness of a substantially lower price or a much better delivery. For this reason, the marketing function in companies is normally concerned with ensuring that the company's brands are not handicapped by such factors. What the successful brand does is tip the balance slightly in favour of the producer or, at least, ensure that the balance does not rest entirely with the retailer or middle-man. The brand allows the brand owner to prevent his product simply becoming a commodity which is bought by an intermediary on the basis of the market forces operating at a particular time.

The Elements of a Brand

The ingredients of a brand are the product itself, the packaging, the brand name, the promotion, the advertising and the overall presentation. The brand owner assembles these attributes and blends them in a unique way. It is a little like cooking part of the skill is in the selection of the elements in the mix, part in the blending and cooking and part in the presentation. The brand is therefore a synthesis of physical, aesthetic, rational and emotional elements. Essentially, however, the end result must be not only appropriate but differentiated from the brands of competitors the consumer has to have a reason to choose one brand over all the others on offer. Synopsis of a talk given to the Institute of Marketing, London, 28 January 1987.

International Brands
Another important characteristic of most major brands is that they are international in scope Charlie is as likely to appeal in Brazil as in Hong Kong. The developed countries, whose inhabitants are the major consumers of branded goods, have shown in this century an enormous "coming together" of consumer tastes and expectations. Regional and local tastes, attitudes and

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preferences remain, and these must be taken into consideration. Nonetheless, brands that are successful in one market are increasingly likely to have appeal to consumers on an international basis. The reasons for this are many and include improved communications, increased travel and greater language tuition in schools (particularly of English). The most important reason, however, is that wherever we live, whatever our colour and whatever our culture, we are all very much the same. Coca Cola tastes as good to a teenager in Kowloon as in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. A couple in Tokyo take as much pleasure in looking at their Kodak wedding photographs as a couple in Nairobi. A further factor is that as consumers get more sophisticated, even "picky", manufacturers are increasingly developing specialist, niche products. Few niche markets in any particular country (except perhaps the US) are large enough to be of interest to manufacturers, but aggregate a few markets and the situation is quite different.

downwards, but, when a new management restored quality, loyalty to the brand returned. Brands therefore are fairly robust and are capable of surviving in adversity. But consumers are not fools and will not maintain their support for a brand once it ceases to keep its side of the bargain.

The Life Cycle of a Brand

In practical terms, most brands need have no life cycle at all. Such major international brands as Kodak, Coca Cola, Goodyear, Hoover, Gillette and IBM have been with us for generations, and are all still thriving and enormously successful. Indeed, it is the potentiality of such long life that makes new-brand development so exciting and important, and successful brands so valuable look at Grand Met's recent purchase of Heublein for $1.2 billion (which was mainly to obtain the Smirnoff brand name). But, like anything else, brands only survive if they are looked after. If Kodak had stopped product development and innovation with the Box Brownie, the Kodak brand would have been of interest only to historians; if Coca Cola had not continued to promote and support the brand, or had allowed it to become a generic name like sarsparilla or soda rather than a proprietary trademark, it would not be in such powerful use today.

. . . consumers are not fools and will not maintain their support for a brand once it ceases to keep its sideThe potentially indefinite life of a brand is recognised in law. Whereas patents have a finite life of, generally, 15-20 of the bargain
years and then expire, registered trademarks, if properly maintained and renewed, can go on indefinitely. Most importantly, however, international brands provide companies with a coherence to their international activities. International companies which permit, or are forced to accept, a proliferation of local brands often find a fragmentation of their activities. In theory, each of these brands should be more ideally adapted to particular local conditions; in practice, the appeal, coherence and power of competitive international brands makes it difficult for the local brands to compete.

Brand Extension
One of the most difficult decisions facing the owners of existing brands is that of "extend or not?" On the one hand the brand owner foresees the possibility of endowing a new product with some or all of the qualities of an existing brand. He can thus enter a market more cheaply, establish his new product more quickly, and increase the overall support and exposure of the brand. On the other hand, the brand owner faces the possibility that, by extending the brand to cover a new product, all he is really doing is diluting the appeal of his existing brand. In Britain, Cadbury's has, over the years, extended the Cadbury name to embrace not only chocolate and candy products, but such mainstream food products as mashed potatoes, dried milk, soups and beverages. It is arguable that in using the Cadbury name as an endorsement of quality, origin and value on nonchocolate products, it has diluted its reputation for excellence and its power in the chocolate area. Recently, Cadbury-Schweppes sold off many of its food brands and is taking steps to retrieve the position. On the other hand, brand extension (of both "product brands" and "house brands") has proved in many cases to be a remarkably successful strategy. It has reduced the risk and cost of new product launches, increased the exposure of brands, made brands more attractive and contemporary to consumers, and in many instances extended the brand's life. It is apparent, therefore, that brand extension is entirely practical, but needs to be treated with considerable care and skill.

Maintaining Brand Values

Brand owners, however, must constantly ensure that the qualities and values of their brands are maintained. They must continue to appeal to the consumer and should be developed so as to maintain their attractiveness in a changing world. In other words, except in the short term, the brand can seldom shield the brand owner from his own failure to maintain his brand in good repair or even from his own rapaciousness or stupidity. In the 1960s, the British brewing industry, in an attempt to streamline and modernise its activities, made a concerted attempt to change the formulation and presentation of traditional branded beers, arguably for the worse. Public outrage was slow to develop, but develop it did. Loyalty to many of the leading brands fell considerably and the brewing industry was forced to reverse its policies. This relative slowness of consumers to desert established brands was also demonstrated in the 1970s when product quality and reliability at Jaguar Cars plummeted. Sales followed the product quality spiral

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Developing New Brands

Different companies often follow quite different strategies for developing new brands. The most common is that of developing "me too" products. Every successful new brand attracts a flock of imitators similar in concept, get-up, brand name and function to the original. Such "me too" brands frequently have little chance of competing seriously with the original brand unless, for example, they are able to offer a substantial price advantage. They do, however, offer a producer a low-risk opportunity to enter a market at low cost and secure a modest market share. Another common approach in developing branded products is that of over-sophistication. Every possible attribute of a new brand is measured, whether it is relevant or not and whether such measurement provides data of any value in making decisions. Moreover, such research is frequently done among consumers whose experience is limited to the existing brands on the market. They tend, therefore, to react most favourably in a research situation to the familiar and, frequently, the banal, and this can lead to unexciting and uninspired brands. Such research does, however, provide good excuses in the event of failure! Other organisations, especially those in areas such as fashion and fragrances, frequently view branding almost entirely as a creative or artistic process largely unfettered by research considerations.

successful blending together of qualities and attributes, both tangible and which are appealing to consumers and which they are prepared to purchase. There is also no doubt that Charlie represents for Revlon a valuable asset which has enduring and international appeal. But branding is not a cynical activity. The consumer is part of the process. He/she does not have to buy the brand. If they do not like it, if it does not perform or if it offers bad value, they will reject it. In other words, the brand must deliver even if some of the delivered value is not directly measurable.

Differentiate, Differentiate, Differentiate

One of the most successful retailers in Britain, Charles Clore, was once asked the secret of good retailing. He said three things had to be considered the site, the site and the site. In branding, the most important thing is to differentiate products if your product is the same as everyone else's, why should anyone buy it? It is estimated that 17 out of 20 new brands fail. The reasons for failure can sometimes be attributed to product problems, at other times to distribution problems, to changes in legislation, to bad luck or to bad management. Most commonly, however, the reason for failure is simply that the new brands do not offer the consumers anything of interest that they do not have already they are not differentiated meaningfully from existing products. Most new brands are simply approximate facsimiles of existing brands they are as close as they can be to existing brands within the constraints imposed by trademark law, passing off, copyright and corporate pride. Innovative, differentiated brands, however, can offer potent advantages. Not only can they offer the consumer real benefits and thus give the consumer a reason to change, they can also serve to outmode existing brands. The new brand not only offers the consumer a new set of values, it wrong-foots the opposition and shows it up as being unexciting and staid. In the 1950s in Britain, the culture of car branding was largely "British" in style cars had names like Westminster, Cambridge, Herald and Oxford. Ford then introduced the Cortina. The post-war boom was getting underway, consumers were starting to take organised Mediterranean holidays and Britain's earlier insularity was beginning to dissolve. Cortina hit the mood of the moment. It was fresh, exciting, different and a little foreign and sophisticated. Not only did the brand name assist in positioning the new car in an interesting and fresh fashion, it also wrong-footed competitive products and made them look somewhat dull and old-fashioned.

. . . branding consists of thinking ahead of the consumers, or anticipating and sharing their needs and wants
Perhaps, however, the most appropriate and successful approach to the development of new brands is the pragmatic one trying to identify new brands with some measure of distinctiveness and consumer appeal which are not simply "me too" products. Use appropriate research techniques to measure the brand's likely market success. But recognise also that branding does have a strong creative element, so therefore encourage creativity and flair.

Creative Branding
In a sense, branding consists of thinking ahead of the consumers, or anticipating and shaping their needs and wants. Consumers would never have conceived of a fragrance called Charlie. Indeed, the culture of branding in the 1960s when Charlie was first launched was one where most new fragrances carried feminine, elegant French names, and consumers at that time would have specified that any new brand must meet these parameters. Yet Charlie struck a chord with consumers around the world which was attractive and unique. The brand embodied a set of values and attributes which were appropriate, which stimulated consumer interest, which distinguished the brand from others and created a unique piece of property for its owners. Charlie, then, might be seen as a "power brand", a uniquely

What's in a Name?
Of course, with many products, the main means of differentiating one brand from another is the name. After all, if you are introducing a new mass-market, traditional beer, you cannot do a great deal about colour, taste, formulation, even about the basics of packaging or price. The brand name and the product "get-up" are the main means of differentiating one brand from another.

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The brand name performs a number of key roles: It identifies and helps to differentiate the product or service, and allows the consumer to specify, reject, or recommend brands. It communicates messages to the consumer. It functions as a particular piece of legal property in which a manufacturer can invest and which is protected from competitive attack or trespass. Through time and use, a name can become a valuable asset. The brand name is therefore not only important, but is also complex. It must satisfactorily perform a number of quite different roles involving aspects of communication and it also has an important legal role.

technique is adequate at this stage for name ranking purposes. Consumers are simply asked to rank the names in relation to a product description on a "like" versus "dislike" basis. On other occasions, it may be necessary to test the names in rather more depth, e.g. strength versus weakness, masculinity versus femininity, expensive versus inexpensive. Mapping techniques may also be used to relate the shortlisted names to existing competitive brand names. In any case, it is sensible to have the shortlisted names arranged into a broad rank order before starting the legal screening.

Developing New Brand Names

So how do you develop effective brand names names that will not only help position the new product or service in its required market, but are attractive, memorable and protectable, and will stand the test of time? We have found the following approach productive: We look carefully at overall strategy, product strategy, positioning, competition and so on, and develop a naming brief and preferred creative themes. We use consumer creative groups (usually international), our database, copywriters and computer creation techniques to develop appropriate names. We conduct broad screening for language, consumer preferences and client preferences. We do detailed language checks, market research checks and full legal availability searches nationally and internationally.

In general, the more descriptive a name, the more it communicates immediately to the consumer
Of the 20-30 names tested on consumers, perhaps 15-20 will survive to legal screening. This may seem an extravagant number of names, but in such overcrowded product classes as pharmaceuticals, food, drinks and cosmetics, the chances of a free international mark emerging at the end of the process are unacceptably low if one does not start with a list of this size. Even with 15 or 20 carefully chosen names, it would be unusual to find more than two or three free marks at the end of the international legal screening process.

Legal Searching
The next step then is full legal searching. We normally start by carrying out national and international searches, using computer searching facilities. This service is quick and reasonably thorough. We receive a detailed listing of all apparently pertinent marks, as well as those where consents may be negotiable or those where validity of title may be questionable. We then undertake detailed searches of the apparently available names, plus searches, where appropriate, of unregistered marks. Such searches and negotiations are expensive and time consuming. It is not uncommon, for example, for a single name to encounter many apparent objections. These must all be checked, often the owners must be contacted and, at times, commercial agreements are necessary. In one case, we helped to set up an arrangement whereby the Dutch subsidiary of a British company bought flour from a French company in return for which the French company gave the British company rights to one of its trademarks. In other cases, it has been necessary to conduct detailed confidential investigations to check independently if a trademark is being used, and, if so, on what products. Sometimes, it may even be necessary to threaten legal action to have a trademark cancelled so as to secure it in a particular country.

Selecting the Name

Brand-name development necessarily involves a careful refining process a great deal of ore has to be fed into the hopper in order to produce a small amount of pure gold the attractive, strong, protectable brand name. Thus, having created a vast list of names, it has to be pared down to manageable proportions. To do this, those words are eliminated which at first sight have inherent pronunciation defects or problems of legibility, memorability or meaning. We also eliminate all those words that are unregistrable as trademarks, which are too close to existing competitive marks or which fail to meet other criteria, e.g. length. In this way, the initial list of names can be reduced to perhaps 100 or 200 candidate names. These would be discussed in detail with our client and a preferred short list of some 20-30 names drawn up. Though none of these words would have been checked yet for registrability, they should all appear capable of doing the marketing job in hand. This shortlist would then be thoroughly checked in all the languages to be covered by the project, and would then be tested with consumers and ranked according to preference. Frequently, a simple five-point scale

The Brand Name Spectrum

Companies tend, when developing new brand names, to see descriptive names. It is somehow felt that such names will help sales, and scant attention may be paid

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to the longer-term implications. But why does the name need to contain an overt message? After all, the advertising, the graphics and the packaging all convey messages to consumers. So why use the brand name, too, to describe your product? To hazard the long-term success of the brand by adopting a descriptive name which is unprotectable is clearly absurd. A name like Kodak, however, has no element of descriptiveness whatsoever; it is a pure invention. So, too, is Exxon. They are both collections of letters which are short, memorable, strong both graphically and visually, and yet have no "core" of meaning that is instantly intelligible. Sunsilk is an attractive name for shampoo. It has connotations of softness, and associations with the great outdoors. It is by no means a pure invention, but, rather, draws its strength from images and associations relevant to us all. Bitter Lemon is purely descriptive of a lemon-based mixer drink. It has very little invention, and hence is virtually unprotectable. These brand names span the brand name spectrum from totally free-standing names to completely descriptive ones. All brand names fall somewhere along this spectrum. Schweppes, a name with delightful inbuilt onomatopaeia, conveys images of effervescence. Formica is mainly an invented name, but has a core meaning. Visa is a name with associations of travel and crossing boundaries, and Sweet 'n' Low is a name with a high descriptive content. In general, the more descriptive a name, the more it communicates immediately to the consumer. Unfortunately, such names tend to be less distinctive and less protectable. In contrast, the more free-standing a name, the less it immediately conveys to the consumer and the more the brand owner needs to invest in it to confer on it the qualities of excellence and superiority he requires. Between these two extremes lie "associative names", those which are distinctive and protectable, and yet communicate some appropriate message or messages to the consumer, perhaps subconsciously. This middle route, the associative route, can and does result in powerful, attractive and protectable brand names. Kodak might have fared as well had Mr Eastman adopted a name such as Vista, but would hardly have been in as powerful a market position today if he had called his company Super-Pic or Easi-Foto.

In an age in which companies spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars or pounds per year advertising and promoting a single product or product line, when the clutter and noise in most sectors increases constantly, when those magical market share points can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars or pounds, the power of the brand name continues to grow. Within the brand name resides all that investment. And it is the only clear, identifiable aspect of the product that the consumer uses in selection and purchase.

Conclusions
Branding is a creative process. It uses research techniques and the skills of a number of specialists. But, in the end, it is about creating distinctiveness in a consumer relevant fashion. Unfortunately, most branding seems to be concerned not with distinctiveness, but with sameness, with camouflaging the brand so that it melts in among all the other brands on the market. To be distinctive, to refuse to follow the herd, takes courage. It can, however, be highly rewarded. We are by no means, however, advocating the development of wild and eccentric brands though these may have a place in certain market sectors. Rather, and as we have mentioned previously, we feel it essential that you differentiate your new brand from the dozens of brands already on the market, though probably in a quite subtle way. For unless your brand is differentiated, why should the consumer purchase it?

Is it Worth it?
The brand name is central to a product's personality. It is the one aspect of a product that never changes, and is an essential prerequisite of international marketing. It can become an asset of enormous value. Obviously, it pays to get the brand name right, to select one which is legally available in all the countries of interest, and to remove all third-party obstacles at relatively low cost before launch, and not at very high cost after launch. MIP 6,4 1988 8 Curiously, however, such a systematic approach is often ignored. Organisations select names with profound marketing and legal defects. They spend fortunes in litigation trying to resolve inherent legal defects. They even, not infrequently, have to withdraw products from the market.