1. Branding Branding is a marketing practice of creating and developing a brand that leads to customer loyalty. A brand is ……

2. brand Just do it

3. Brands A brand refers to a well known name, logo, sign, symbol, design, slogan or a combination of them that allows consumers to easily identify and differentiate a product from others. When a brand is registered, it is known as a brand mark or trademark. This gives legal protection to the registered firm on the exclusive use of the brand.

4. Other ways of creating a brand (product differentiation) Colour. Many products are recognized by their colour. Examples include Colgate white and blue, IKEA yellow. Size. This can make a product stands out. E.g. Big Mercedez, pocket size mobile phone. Design. A proper design can be attractive to customers. E.g. Apple Packaging. Presentation can make a product different. E.g. Pizza Hut box. Service. Hotels and air lines differentiate themselves by the quality of their services.

5. Brand loyalty/preference Brand loyalty occurs when customers buy the same brand of product repeatedly and even recommend it to other people. The customers prefers the brand over its rivals.

6. Brand development Brand development is the process of differentiating the name and image of a brand so that it stands out from others, brand loyalty is achieved and sales increases. This is usually done by constantly advertising and promoting the brand. Brand development can be very costly

7. Role and Benefits of branding/brand development/brand loyalty Higher sales. leads to higher sales and larger market share as customers are loyal and less sensitive to changes in price Differentiation. Enables consumers to easily identify and differentiate a product from others. Premium pricing. Allows a firm to charge a higher price as customers do not find close substitutes to choose from. Distribution. Enables easy placement (distribution) as retailers tend to accept and sell the product. Supermarkets are more willing to provide space on their shelves for such products.

8. Intangibility. Brands have intangible value that customers place on the product. It is the brand that sells the product and not the other way round. Development. A strong brand enables a business to develop other products or markets Timeless. Over time a product can become obsolete but the brand can be used for new product. E.g. walkman and Sony. Legal instrument. Brand creates a legal identity for a product and protects it against imitation. It makes it more difficult for others to enter the market

9. Problems with branding Some products are generic that it is difficult to establish a brand. They are better known by the name of the product rather than by a brand name. Examples include aluminium foil, apples, carrots, chips, etc. Not all markets are suited to brands. Some people buy wine according to the region it is produced rather than on the brand name. Meat is another example. Branding is expensive. Once a brand is introduced in the market, it must continuously be promoted and maintained or else it is no longer recognized.

10. Types of brands or branding strategies There are five main types of brands: – Individual product branding – Family branding – Corporate branding – Manufacturers brand – Own label branding

11. Individual product branding Individual product branding refers to a business giving a brand to each of its an individual product so as to give it a separate identity. Examples: Omo, Persil and Ariel are separate brands of products in the same company Unilever. Lexus is a separate brand within Toyota. Fanta and Darsani are separate brands within Coca cola company Most brands started as an individual product brand

12. Advantages and Disadvantages of individual branding The main advantage of product branding is that individual brand can be developed for separate market segment (e.g. Lexus). Failure by one brand will not affect other products of the business. It is also easier to sell part of the business. The main disadvantage is that it is costly to develop individual brand and economies of scale cannot be achieved as each product has to be promoted separately.

13. Family branding

14. Family, corporate and manufacturer branding Family branding refers to marketing a range of related products under a single name. Here, a firm will launch new products under an existing strong brand. It is the opposite of individual product branding. E.g. Windows softwares, Lu biscuits, etc Company or corporate branding is a form of family branding. It uses the name of the business as the brand name and includes a whole range of related and unrelated products of the business. E.g.: Virgin, Ikea

15. Manufacturer’s brand Manufacturer’s branding is a form of family branding where all the goods manufactured bears the name of the manufacturer. The manufacturer is often involved in the production, distribution, promotion and even pricing of these products. They usually do not produce for other suppliers Examples include Heinz baby food, Kellogg corn flake, Gilette razors, Levi’s jeans, or Dell computers.

16. - Family manufacturer corporate individual Coca Diet Darsani Sweppes

17. Benefits of family, corporate or manufacturer branding can benefit from marketing economies of scale. This means that a whole range of products can be promoted using a single advertisement. A new product in a successful family has a higher chance of success and survival. A further benefit is that it can help to build customer trust and loyalty. The brand enables future product development as it is not tied up in a particular product.

18. Problems with family, manufacturer or corporate branding The main drawback of family/corporate branding is that bad publicity of one product can lead to huge problems to all products in the family. For example, poor quality in one product can lead to a fall in the sales of all other products since customers will relate the poor quality to the family brand. The individual qualities of each product cannot be fully exploited as promotion focuses on the family name and does not highlight the characteristics of individual product.

19. Own label (retailer) branding Own label or private label or distributor label branding refers to brands which are manufactured specifically for distributors mainly supermarkets. These products usually cannot compete with branded products and therefore cheaper. They are marketed under the distributor’s name to acquire a form of branding in order to improve sales. Examples include Wal-Mart wines, Tesco baked beans, Fair price etc.

20. Advantages and disadvantages of own label brands The main advantage is that own label products are usually priced lower than well known brands. This is because they can be bought in large quantities directly from manufacturers at a lower price. Very little is spent on packaging and promotion but promotes the company’s name. They are often perceived as better and more reliable than non branded goods. A key drawback is that private labels tend to be seen as low quality products that are catered for budget consumers.

21. Brand extension and stretching Brand extension occurs when an existing brand is used for a new product in a similar market, e.g. Coca Cola producing Coca Diet. Brand stretching occurs when an existing brand is used for a new product into an unrelated market, e.g. Virgin brand has been used to enter a variety of businesses such as music shop, airlines, and financial services.

22. Branding in the global market Global brands are brands which are recognized and marketed in a large number of countries around the world. Examples include Coca Cola, Microsoft, Dell, etc. Firms with global brands can market their products throughout the world with almost the same marketing strategy and therefore benefit from economies of scale. Global brands enable consumers to travel around the world without missing out opportunities to consume their favourite products, e.g. Big Mac.

23. Unit 23: Case study: a, c and (a) Both Hewlett-Packard and Burberry could best be described as having __________ brands. These are brands created and sold bearing the name of the __________. In both cases, the products are produced and sold under the __________ brand name.

24. (c) Hewlett-Packard suffered damage as a brand because HP was _____ and ______ the PC as __ _________ and was not meeting the customers’ ______. For example their computers were not ______ enough and were not allowing …… Burberry, a previously up-market ______ brand slowly became associated with ______ market trends. For example, …………

25. (d) It seems highly likely that branding will be _________ for both Hewlett Packard and Berburry. Branding enables the products of both businesses to be differentiated from others. For example, HP products…….. Branding enables businesses to charge a ________ price. This is the case for Berburry who ………. Branding creates brand ______ in existing _______ and therefore increases ________. It can also create new markets. For example HP is ………. and Berburry is ……..

26. However, consumers may not respond to the effort of building strong brands. For example, if _________ also introduce the same features as HP, its products will not be ________. Businesses may lose a profitable market in trying to reposition a brand. For example, Berburry……. Brand development requires _________ promotion which may exceed the resulting ________.