Branding refers to specific symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, design, fonts, color scheme, symbols and sound for easy product identification. It helps to differentiate one product from another. The American Marketing Association defines a trademark as “a name, term, design, symbol, or any other characteristic that identifies the goods and services of a seller as distinct from those of other sellers.” The various concepts of Branding are classified as: –
1. BRAND MANAGEMENT: – It is an art of creating and maintaining a brand. “A brand that captures your mind wins behavior. A brand that captures your heart wins commitment” – Scott Talgo.
2. BRAND RECOGNITION: – If a brand is widely known in the market and in the mind of the consumer, it is called Brand Recognition. let me tell an anecdote: – A lady sitting next to Raymond Heowy at dinner, made a conversation
“Why?” He asked, “did you put two x’s in Exxon?”
“Why ask?” He asked.
“Because,” he said, “I couldn’t help but notice,”
“Well,” he replied, “that’s the answer.”
Source: – Alan Fletcher, the art of looking sideways.
3. BRAND FRANCHISE: – When brand recognition accumulates to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive feelings in the market, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. As Martin Lindstorm rightly said, a global brand building strategy is actually a local plan for each market.
4. BRAND EQUITY: Measures the total value of the brand to the brand owner and reflects the scope of the brand’s franchise. According to Christopher Betzer, “Brand Equity is the sum of all the hearts and minds of every person who comes into contact with your company.”
5. BRAND IDENTITY: – The way a company wants the consumer to perceive the product or brand is called Brand Equity. Features such as color, design, logo type, name, symbol, etc. they identify and distinguish one brand from another in the mind of the buyer. Lexicom once rightly said that a brand is more than a word. It is the beginning of a conversation.
6. BRAND PROMISE: – If the company undertakes to do something for its customers, it is recognized as a Brand Promise. Stuart Agres believed that a brand is a set of differentiating promises that link a product to its customers.
7. BRAND POSITIONING: -This concept is clearly explained by Jack Trout’s famous words, “Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the minds of the potential customer. That is to say , you position the product in the minds of the potential customer. “
8. BRAND DEVELOPMENT: – Measures the infiltration of product sales, generally per thousand inhabitants. For example: – if 100 of every 1000 people buy a product, the product has a brand development of 10%. “A brand house is like a family, each one needs a role and a relationship with the others” – Jeffery Sinclair.
9. BRAND EXTENSION: – An existing strong brand can be used as a vehicle for new or modified products. More than 80% of all new products are categories like brand extensions, emphasizing the importance of their success. Ahuwalia’s finding says: “Stretching a brand makes it important to target an audience that can process and understand a brand’s relationship to the new product. Getting it right the first time is crucial, because early success with an audience objective can help with future extensions. And the broader a brand gets, the easier it is to stretch it next time. “
10. BRAND MARKETING: – Focuses on communicating the brand’s message to raise awareness and affect attitude. Stephen King feels that a product is something that the customer brings. A product can be copied by a competitor, a brand is unique. A product can quickly become obsolete, a successful brand is timeless.
11. MARK OF ATTITUDE: – It is the choice to represent a great feeling that is not necessarily related to the product or the consumption of the product at all. “Products are made in a factory, but the brand is created in the mind” – Walton Landor.
12. INDIVIDUAL BRAND: – It involves assigning a unique / separate name to each product of the organization, which can even compete with another brand of the same company.
13. MULTI BRANDS: – It is when the company has more than one product competing with each other in a given market. According to George Bull, “Well-managed brands live off what only bad brand managers die.”
14. PERSONAL BRAND: – It is rightly explained as a process in which people and their careers are marked as a brand. It implies the application of one’s own name to various products.