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BRAND MANAGEMENT
Unit D – D1, D2, D3
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What Is Branding?

Product definition
• “Broadly, a product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a
want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events,
persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas” (Kotler &
Keller, 2015).
This means that a product can be anything from a hotel stay, a flight, a
language course, to clothes, food, a toothbrush etc.
To illustrate the definition of a product and the role it occupies in defining
branding, we will use the example of water:
Water is a free resource that every human being needs to live and survive. Yet
it became a product the day humans and companies started to commercialize
it, for example by selling mineral water in glass and plastic bottles.
But water always looks the same, isn’t it? It is liquid and transparent. So, how
can different companies sell the same product but still convince people to
purchase their bottled water instead of the one from the competition?
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What is Branding?

The answer is: by creating a brand.

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What is Branding?
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Brand Definition
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one
seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American
Marketing Association).
Let’s illustrate this again with our water example. The product sold is water, but
in order to convince people to purchase a particular water, companies
developed different water brands, such as Evian, Perrier, Fiji or Volvic. In Indian
context we have Bisleri, Aquafina, Himalayan, Kinley etc. And each one of
these brands provides a different meaning to the product water:
– Evian makes you feel young
– Perrier is refreshing, bubbling and sexy
– Fiji Water is pure, healthy and natural
…and so on.
What is it?
“Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand” (Kotler
& Keller, 2015)
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Brand Definition
Branding is the process of giving a meaning to specific organization, company,
products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. It is
a strategy designed by organizations to help people to quickly identify and
experience their brand, and give them a reason to choose their products over
the competition’s, by clarifying what this particular brand is and is not.
The objective is to attract and retain loyal customers and other stakeholders by
delivering a product that is always aligned with what the brand promises.
Who does it affect?
• Consumers: As discussed above, a brand provides consumers with a
decision-making-shortcut when feeling indecisive about the same product
from different companies.
• Employees/shareholders/third-parties: Besides helping consumers to
distinguish similar products, successful branding strategies are also adding
to a company’s reputation. This asset can affect a range of people, from
consumers to employees, investors, shareholders,
providers, and distributors.
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Brand Definition
How can it be done?
Companies tend to use different tools to create and shape a brand. Branding
can be achieved through:
• Brand definition: purpose, values, promise
• Brand positioning statement
• Brand identity: name, tone of voice, visual identity design (which includes
the logo design, color palette, typographies…)
• Advertising and communications: TV, radio, magazines, outdoor ads,
website, mobile apps…
• Sponsoring and partnerships
• Product and packaging design
• In-store experience
• Workspace experience and management style
• Customer service
• Pricing strategy
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Brand Definition
• Packaging design is the silent salesman that will grab busy consumers’
attention in-store. It informs consumers about the product’s properties and
visually differentiates the brand from the competition on-shelf.
• Advertising is a powerful tool to create and shape a brand universe as it is
very visual and tells a story about the product/company. Here are some
examples of branding water through advertising.
Conclusion
• In very simple words, a product is what you sell, a brand is the perceived
image of the product you sell, and branding is the strategy to create that
image.
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Product Vs Brand
Brand and Product are two different terms, which are commonly encountered in
marketing. These two differ in the sense that a product is created by the
company while a brand is built by the people using them i.e. customers.
Moreover, the former can be easily duplicated, whereas a the latter is unique,
and it cannot be copied. A product passes through a life cycle, but a brand is
timeless.
Due to the rapid modernization of the society, now every person is concerned
about, How they look? What they wear? What do they carry? What do they
eat? etc. This modernization made them brand sensitive.
Comparison Chart
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Product Vs Brand
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Definition of Product

The product is a good or service or the combination of the two that is made
available by the companies in the market for sale to the end consumer. It can be
in physical or non-physical form.
The producers manufacture a product. The raw materials which are procured
from the manufacturers, then they are converted into finished goods, which are
offered by them for selling purposes. The cost of production is the investment
made by the company in producing a product, and it is sold at a price known as
a selling price.
The product has its own life years. After the expiry of that period, the product
becomes obsolete. In such a case every product needs to be reinvented or
regenerated, to attract the target audience. Sometimes, products are re
launched by the companies with some new or exciting features that will be able
to grab the attention of more and more customers.
Every product is different in itself regarding size, colour, brand name, shape,
packaging, features, after sales services and much more. However, the
difference in the product is psychological, not physical. These factors are more
or less used by the companies to persuade customers to buy their product. E.g.
Handbags, sunglasses, jeans, shoes, belts, etc.
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Definition of Brand

The market is flooded with millions of products, the name, symbol, sign, product,
service, logo, person, or any other entity that makes you distinguish a product from
a clutter of products, is a Brand.
A Brand can neither be seen nor touched; it can only be felt. The brand is not built
in a day; it takes years and years to gain the trust of customers.
A brand is a combination of three things, i.e. promise, wants and emotions. It is a
promise made by the company to its customers that what they get after they buy
the company’s products? It fulfils all the wants of the customers. It is an emotion to
which the customers are attached to. The Brand creates an expectation in
customers which the promises made by the company under the brand umbrella
will be fulfilled by those products they use. The legal identity of a brand is known
as a trademark.
• E.g. Gucci, Rolex, Nike, Reebok, Starbucks, Armani, RayBan, Apple, etc.
Conclusion
The significant difference between product and brand is that a product is a single
entity, but there can be millions of products under a single brand. So, the brand is
a wider term than a product. The name of a product among people is just because
of the brand.
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Branding challenges and opportunities

Branding needs, methodologies, and branding challenges keep changing all the
time, as the market needs, consumer preferences, and definition of quality are
continually reinvented.
Let’s first look into the significant branding challenges and opportunities.
Considering branding as an asset
• In today’s competitive marketing space, the pressure on branding to deliver
short-term financial gains tempts most organisational decision-makers to focus
more on such measurable tactics. However, often this means neglecting the
objectives of building assets like a brand.
Bringing up breakthrough brand concepts
• With tight competition, brand building is never easy.
• The need for excellent ideas and perfect execution is at a peak to bring a
brand vision to life. What you think is good, is not good enough to reap the
best results. This points to the need to source more original ideas from various
sources and ensure you are the first to market advantage.
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Branding challenges and opportunities

Financial challenges
• Another of the top branding challenges businesses face regarding branding is
the funding it needs to be successful.
• A sensible budget should be allocated to branding, along with marketing,
which is a significant consideration to make.
• In fact, when business finances come into the picture, many fail to do
budgeting efficiently.
• The primary reason for it is the need for repayment of the debt, which slowly
builds up as a troublesome affair for entrepreneurs on the go.
• However, these debts can be managed efficiently with budgeting and funding
for the necessary needs like marketing and branding if you are careful.
Creating a digital branding strategy
• Brand building online is a more dynamic and complex arena when compared
to conventional brand-building channels.
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Branding challenges and opportunities

Conclusion
• For new entrepreneurs, building a brand may seem to be a massive
undertaking, especially when resources and budget are limited.
• However, as we had seen above, there are many economic and practical
ways to start with branding challenges and keep the momentum up, with
consistent and insightful efforts.
• Branding has to be made culture, and of course, you need to enjoy and have
fun with this creative process to take it to the top.
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Brand

Advantages of Branding in Marketing Management
Creates Wide Awareness
• Branding helps the business in creating wide awareness regarding its
products or services among the public. Branding informs customers about the
quality and features of the company’s products and differentiates it from other
competitors.
Acquires Customers Easily
• Good brand of a company helps it in getting new customers. Companies
enjoying better images are easily able to acquire new customers. Customers
develop faith and confidence in good brands. They become loyal to them and
make repetitive purchases.
Increase Profitability Of Business
• Branding helps businesses in generating large revenue. Through branding,
the business develops a good position in the market. They are easily able to
sell their products at a good margin.
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Brand

Helps In Facing Competition
• A good brand is an important factor for businesses facing tough competition.
Through branding, businesses create a distinguished identity that helps them
in developing loyal customers.
Enhance Business Value
• Business value in the market is a must to attract funds from the market. A
reputed business has a good image in the market. Every investor wants to
invest in reputed companies.
Improves Productivity Of Employees
• Good brands are easily able to attract the most skilled and qualified
employees. Every person wants to work in top reputed companies. Your good
reputation will attract them to your business. This way companies get talented
and smart workforce for their different activities.
Supports Business During Crises
• Strong brands are able to survive during the time of crisis. In case of any
mishaps, they are able to handle it easily. Customers have strong confidence
and trust in these brands.
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Brand

Disadvantages of branding in Marketing Management
Expensive
• The branding process involves huge development costs on the part of the
business. They need to incur huge costs on advertising and publicity
programs for maintaining their brand image. All this expenditure influences
the price of goods and services offered by the brand.
Creates Confusion
• It creates confusion in the minds of consumers while choosing products.
Every company through its publicity messages gives the same assurance
regarding its product quality and features. People are confused in deciding
which one to purchase and which one not.
Impersonal
• Businesses may lose personal touch with their customers as branding is an
impersonal activity. They are able to manage better relations with their
customers when they interact with them personally.
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Advantages & Disadvantages of Brand

Leads To Monopoly
• Branding leads to the creation of a brand monopoly in the market. This
process aims at creating a better image of products and its manufacturers in
the minds of customers. Small businesses that cannot afford branding
expenses suffer from monopolistic competition in the market.
Timescale
• Another important disadvantage of branding is that it is a time-consuming
process. It requires large efforts and time to design a branding message and
circulating it among the large public to establish a better public image.
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Concept of Brand Equity

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Concept of Brand Equity

What is Brand Equity?
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, brands are now more than ever
presented with the challenge of capturing and sustaining market share and
keeping their customers loyal.
Defining Brand Equity
• Brand equity is a multi-dimensional and complex concept, but its
understanding remains central to a brand fulfilling its competitive potential. Its
complexity is demonstrated by a wide range of perceived interpretations and
attempted definitions by both academics and professionals.
A popular definition of brand equity is that of renowned marketing theorist and
Professor David Aacker, who defines brand equity in his book ‘Managing Brand
Equity’ as:
“A set of assets or liabilities in the form of brand visibility, brand associations
and customer loyalty that add or subtract from the value of a current or potential
product or service driven by the brand.”
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Concept of Brand Equity

Put simply, brand equity represents the value of a brand. It is the simple difference
between the value of a branded product, and the value of that product without that brand
name attached to it (Rosenbaum-Elliott, 2015).
Components of Brand Equity: David Aacker’s model
• Aacker has derived a simple framework, which features the key components
comprising brand equity: brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand
loyalty, and other proprietary assets.
Brand Loyalty
• Brand loyalty dictates that a consumer who truly believes in the value of a brand’s
offerings will often make frequent and repeat purchases from it instead of switching
between brands.
• High brand loyalty ensures that business is stable and consistent, and enables the
organization to capture a larger market share.
Brand Awareness
• Brand awareness concerns the extent to which a brand is known or recognizable to a
consumer.
• A brand with high brand equity will spring to mind when a customer searches for a
particular product. This is also termed brand salience; the brand occupies a prominent
position in consumers’ minds.
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Brand Equity
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Brand Equity
Perceived Quality
• This element centers on the brand’s reputation for high-quality products and
customer experience.
• Good quality is favored more highly than particular product features, with
consumers often willing to pay premiums for high-quality products relative to
other brands.
Brand Association
• Brand association involves anything related to the brand, which evokes
positive or negative sentiments, for example, a product’s functional, social or
emotional benefits.
• More broadly, this relates to the brand’s overall image, and what consumers
associate with that image – if consumers associate predominantly positive
attributes with the brand, then the brand possesses high brand equity.
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Brand Equity
Other Proprietary Assets
• Proprietary assets include patents, trademarks, and channel or trading
partner relationships.
• These assets are vital to ensuring that other brands cannot compete by
operating under a similar name or using very similar packaging, which may
confuse consumers and compete away from a brand’s customer base.
Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity Model
• Keller, a leading branding author and professor, has comprised a CBBE brand
equity model, whereby brand equity addresses four key questions, which
relate directly to how a consumer perceives a brand and their requisite
attitudes towards it.
Brand Identity: Who are you?
• Building strong brand equity requires formulating your brand in a way that
causes it to be prominent in the minds of consumers; it’s all about enhancing
your brand’s identity and salience.
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Brand Equity
Brand Meaning: What are you?
• How you communicate what your brand stands for will significantly impact your
brand equity. It is essential to deliver on both performance (how well your
product meets the needs of customers) and imagery (meeting the
psychological needs of your customers through developing your brand’s
personality and overall image).
Brand Response: What about you?
• This concerns how consumers respond to your brand, based on their emotions
and perceptions. Brand response is predominantly based upon the brand’s
perceived quality and credibility. Therefore, managers should establish a
superior level of expertise within their requisite field, communicate clear sets of
values, and better fulfill the consumer’s needs relative to competitor brands.
Brand Relationships: What about you and me?
• Brand equity can be built by strengthening the connection, or resonance,
established between your brand and your customer, evidenced through factors
such as repeat purchase or active engagement on social media (both with the
brand and those within the brand’s community).
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Brand Equity
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Building Brand Equity

How to Build Brand Equity?
• Building strong brand equity is the foundation for an organization’s long-term
success. Marketers can reinforce brand equity by actively investing in the
components of brand equity.
Some ways you can do this include:
Building Brand Awareness
• This can be done by creating positive, strong, and unique brand attributes which
consumers will retain in their minds, for example, by:
• Advertising your brand on different media
• Engaging with various communities on social media
• Creating viral content (videos, campaigns)
Positioning your Brand Consistently within the Market
• A brand’s overall culture (including its beliefs, values, and USPs) should remain
consistent, such that consumers are not left confused or in doubt about what the
brand stands for. This is not to say that managers cannot make tactical strategic
changes, such as introducing new packaging or rewriting their slogans, if this is
necessary to re-align with changing consumer needs, or external economic and
social factors.
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Building Brand Equity

• A conscious, consistent conveyance of the brand’s core values and meaning
• Relaying to consumers what your products represent, and the core benefits they supply
• Clarifying what your brand is and is not, as compared to the competition
Emphasizing Positive Brand Associations
• Strong brand associations are crucial to building loyalty towards your brand. Ways of
enhancing the way consumers view your brand might include:
• Using innovative and eye-catching means of advertising, highlighting the core functional,
social, or emotional benefits of your product
• Ensuring that the business behind the brand is socially responsible and establishes
ethical business practices
• Celebrity endorsement
Focusing on Building Relationships
• It is mainly consumers who determine the strength of your brand’s equity; it is, therefore,
essential to build and maintain positive relationships with your target segments.
Managers can do this in simple ways such as:
• Staying in touch with customers via social media
• Providing excellent customer service at all times
• Tracking any negative press or feedback, listening and responding
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Measuring Brand Equity

Measuring Brand Equity
• Perhaps the most challenging aspect of brand equity is how to calculate it, for
there is no unique or consistent metric that brands can use to measure
consumers’ subjective emotions and responses.
• However, it remains an essential function since losing sight of the strength of
your brand equity can impact your bottom line and your ability to compete.
Quantitative measurements
• This involves measuring brand equity by looking at financial metrics, which
reflect the requisite strength of the brand. Such metrics include:
• Profit margins
• Price sensitivity – known in economics as price elasticity, and concerns the
extent to which consumer demand will react to changes in price
• Profitability
• Growth rate
• Market share percentage
• Purchasing frequency
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Measuring Brand Equity

Qualitative Measurements
These measurements cannot measure brand equity as such, but are an essential
means of insight. Qualitative methods might include:
• Monitoring social media reactions towards your brand to assess the level of
‘buzz’ your brand creates
• Conducting surveys or focus groups to evaluate consumers’ emotions and
feelings towards your brand, indicative of the value of your brand to consumers
• Conducting focus groups to assess consumers’ knowledge of various brands
within a market, their favorite brands, and evaluate the relative prominence of
your brand within this mix
The Importance of Managing Brand Equity
• Managing brand equity over time is essential in achieving several competitive
benefits, which will drive profitable growth.
Higher price points
• Brands with strong brand equity are in a position to charge premiums, which are
not attributable merely to product-related benefits but are attributed to the value
and strength of attaching the brand name to that product.
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Measuring Brand Equity

Such products will also enjoy a low price elasticity, meaning that consumers will
be less inclined to switch to even those competitors with lower prices.
Product line extensions
• Brands with high brand equity are exposed to significantly less risk when
introducing line extensions or extending their brand name to new products
since the brand name alone carries a value.
• If a high brand equity organization such as Apple were to introduce a new line
of products, many consumers would likely not hesitate to purchase them. This
is due to the positive associations which the Apple brand triggers, and
therefore the brand loyalty it inspires.
Increased market share
• Brand equity is said to enhance a customer’s ability to interpret and process
information. It improves confidence in the purchase decision (Aacker, 1991).
• Therefore, an organization with high brand equity can capture and retain a
large portion of the requisite market share by acquiring a loyal customer base
and better-withstand promotional pressures from competitors.
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Measuring Brand Equity

Brand resilience
• Brands need to take a forward-looking approach, recognizing that the added
value created by a brand name can act as a security against uncertain market
conditions, ever-more-complex consumer demands, shifting behavioral trends,
and increasing numbers of competitor market entrants.
Asset for the relationship with other stakeholders
• Brands with strong brand equity are often better able to attract talent. Such
brands may also be better positioned to gain investors’ trust, who will have
greater confidence in yielding returns on their investments.
• The same goes for suppliers, who can be more certain of consistent business
when entering into contracts.
Brand Equity Examples
Negative Brand Equity: Volkswagen
A key example is the Volkswagen emissions scandal of 2015, where it was
revealed that the brand had been falsifying their emissions figures using
technology, which could cheat on emissions tests. Volkswagen’s brand equity
was left subsequently damaged.
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Brand Equity Examples

• The relative perceived quality of Volkswagen contributed highly to this, with
consumers undoubtedly feeling as though other mid-market car brands could
provide greater overall quality only by fitting their cars with reliable and fully
functioning emissions technologies.
• Crucially, its brand associations deteriorated since the public could no longer
associate the brand with positive feelings of trustworthiness or reliability.
• Financial value: using a market share metric, we can see a decline in brand
equity given that following the scandal, Volkswagen lost nearly a quarter of its
market value (23%), a reduction of approximately $17.6 billion.
Positive Brand Equity: Nike
• Positive brand equity is demonstrated effectively by the apparel brand Nike.
• Nike has successfully built up strong brand awareness using various
sponsorships and advertisements at major sporting events, using bright orange
shoe boxes, and creating innovative, customer experience-focused stores. Its
highly recognizable slogan, “Just Do It”, paired with its infamous ‘swoosh’
logo means that many Nike campaigns do not need to mention the brand
name, because brand awareness is already so strong.
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Brand Equity Examples

• When consumers think of Nike, a majority of them are confronted by
positive brand associations of innovation, motivation, and determination. These
positive associations are created predominantly through their inspiring advertising
campaigns and collaborations with influential athletes, such as LeBron James or
Michael Jordan, which encourages consumers to believe that Nike is just as expert
in the retail field as their representatives are in theirs.
• Financial value: These branding features add significant extra value to Nike
products, making Nike the world’s most valuable apparel brand. In 2020 Nike’s
brand value was $39.1 billion, which almost matched its brand revenue of $39.3
billion.
Summary
• Brand equity represents the value of a brand, and comprises a consumer’s
awareness of a brand, the associations they make with the brand, the way they
perceive the quality of its products, and the extent to which consumers show
loyalty towards it.
• Brand equity forms a significant component of marketing strategies, given its
significant impact on a brand’s ability to sustain competitive advantage in the long
term.