4. “Unless you have absolute clarity of what your brand stands for,
everything else is irrelevant.”
– Mark Baines, Global CMO, Kellogg
• What is a brand?
– Old Norse word ‘brandr’: ‘to burn’
– Definition
• “A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that
identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those
of other sellers”. – AMA
• “a seller’s promise to deliver a specific set of features,
benefits and services consistent to the buyers…” – Kotler
– Does that mean a brand is merely a symbol?
• Why we distinguish between ‘a brand’ and ‘The B-R-A-N-D’?
5. The roles of a brand
• Identify the maker
– This is ‘……..’’s product
• Simplify product handling
– A ‘Van Heusen’ is a ‘Van Heusen’ and not a
‘Peter England’
• Organize accounting
– Financial performances of brands
• Offer legal protection
– There is only one ‘World Cup’ - FIFA
6. The roles of a brand
• Signify quality
– There is ‘Arrow’ and there is ‘Knighthood’
• Create barriers to entry
– The Coca Cola Company, Pepsico & …… ???!!!
• Competitive advantage
– Will buy a ‘Kinley’ and not local mineral water
• Source of price premium
– Plain white shirt: Arrow - Rs1299, Koutons – Rs 499
7. Branding & brand management
• Branding
– Endowing products and/or services with the
power(s) of the brand(s)
• Brand management
– Managing a ‘brand’ empowered product or
service
8. Scope of branding
• Branding can be of:
– Physical good(s)
– Service(s)
– Store(s)
– Person(s)
– Place(s)
– Organization(s)
– Idea(s)
– Event(s)
9. Strategic brand management
• Identifying and establishing brand positioning
– Creation of unique brand identity leads to positioning
strategies: 7Up - ‘Uncola’
• Planning and implementing brand marketing
– PLC gives rise to BLC
• Measuring and interpreting brand performance
– The creation of brand equity
• Growing and sustaining brand value
– Let ‘Google’ show you the way!
10. Brand identity & brand positioning
• Brand identity
– Brand Identity is a unique set of brand associations
that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain.
These associations represent what the brand stands
for and imply a promise to customers from the
organization.
– Brand identity perspectives:
•
•
•
•
Brand as a product – The ‘Bosch’ machine
Brand as an organization – The ‘Vatican’
Brand as a person – Levi’s ‘ the rugged ‘jeans
Brand as a symbol – ‘Swoosh’ by Nike
11. Brand identity & brand positioning
• Positioning
– The place a product/ service occupies in customer’s
mind relative to competing products/ services.
• Brand position is based on the brand identity
– Brand Position is the part of the brand identity and
value proposition that is to be actively communicated
to the target audience and that demonstrates an
advantage over competing brands.
• ‘Isse sasta aur achcha kahin nehin’ – Big Bazaar
• ‘We are number two, so we try harder’ - Avis
12. Brand equity
• Brand Equity is a set of assets (and liabilities)
linked to a brand’s name and symbol that adds
to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a
product or service to a firm and/or a firm’s
customers.
• Measurement of brand equity
– Customer based brand equity
– Customer based brand equity for B2B brands
– Financial brand equity
