SAM

What is Brand? : 

What is Brand? BY: Muneshwar Prasad

What is Brand? : 

What is Brand? According to American Marketing Association (AMA ) - A brand is a “ name , term, sign, symbol, or design or combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.” A brand is a product or services whose dimension differentiate it in some way from other products or services ( non-branded) designed to satisfy the same need.

Brand Awareness, Brand Attitude & Feelings : 

Brand Awareness, Brand Attitude & Feelings

Brand Awareness : 

Brand Awareness Brand Awareness is the consumers ability to recognize or recall ( identify) the brand within a given product category in sufficient detail to make a purchase Decision. Brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising in the early months or years of a product's introduction.

Contd… : 

Contd… Brand Awareness is equated with “ Brand Name recall”. It shows the strength of the presence of a brand in consumer mind. The ideal Situation in creating brand awareness by the advertiser is aiming to accomplish both brand recognition and brand recall.

Contd….. : 

Contd….. In some instances, consumer may not aware about the name of product, he/ she might recall the brand by a picture, by logo or by package of the product. It largely happen in rural areas. Ex: People in rural areas ask for cooking oil that has “ palm tree” on the pack, by saying “ who khajoor chhap ghee dena”. They may not know the actual name is “ dalda”. When they ask for the product by the identifying logo, at that point of time they may not accept the substitute of it.

Brand Attitude : 

Brand Attitude Brand Attitude – tells what people think about a product or service, whether the product answers a consumer need, and just how much the product is wanted by the consumer. It’s the consumer’s evaluation and expression of inner feelings that reflect whether the consumer is favorably or unfavorably inclined towards brand to meet a need or want. Knowledge of brand attitude is very helpful in planning an advertising campaign.

Contd…. : 

Contd…. A consumers attitude or feelings get structured by composed of 3 main Components of behavioural aspect:- Cognitive ( Awareness, Knowledge, or comprehension) Affective ( Evaluation, liking, preference, and Conviction) Conative or Behavioural(Tendencies towards action, trial, or purchase)

Brand Equity : 

Brand Equity Brand equity is an intangible asset that depends on associations made by the consumer. The value a customer places on a branded product or service. It is the qualitative sum of everything that a customer thinks, feels and knows about the product or service. Definition’s :- Brand Equity is the added value bestowed on the product by the brand name.” (Chan Su Park and V. Srinivasan ) “ Brand Equity can be thought of as the additional cash flow achieved by associating a brand with the underlying product or services.” ( Alexander L. Biel)

Contd… : 

Contd… The value of brand equity can be determined by comparing the expected future revenue of the branded product/service against the expected future revenue from an equivalent but non-branded product/service. High Brand Equity gives a company the highly desired competitive advantages.

Contd.. : 

Contd.. There are three perspectives to view brand equity: Financial Perspective Brand Extension Perspective Consumer based Perspective

Financial Perspective : 

Financial Perspective One way to measure brand equity is to determine the price premium that a brand commands over a generic product. For example, if consumers are willing to pay Rs.1000- 2000 more for a branded television over the same unbranded television, this premium provides important information about the value of the brand. Expenses such as promotional costs must be taken into account when using this method to measure brand equity.

Brand Extensions Perspective : 

Brand Extensions Perspective A successful brand can be used as a platform to launch related products. The benefits of brand extensions are the leveraging of existing brand awareness thus reducing advertising expenditures, and a lower risk from the perspective of the consumer. Appropriate brand extensions can enhance the core brand. The value of brand extensions is more difficult to quantify than are direct financial measures of brand equity.

Consumer based Perspective : 

Consumer based Perspective A strong brand increases the consumer's attitude strength toward the product associated with the brand. Attitude strength is built by experience with a product. Importance of actual experience by the customer implies that trial samples are more effective than advertising in the early stages of building a strong brand. The consumer's awareness and associations lead to perceived quality, inferred attributes, and eventually, brand loyalty.

Example of Brand Equity : 

Example of Brand Equity In the early 2000s in America, the Ford Motor Company made a strategic decision to brand all new or redesigned cars with names starting with "F". This aligned with the previous tradition of naming all sport utility vehicles since the Ford Explorer with the letter "E". An analyst who warned that changing the name of the well known Windstar to the Freestar would cause confusion and discard brand equity built up, while a marketing manager believed that a name change would highlight the new redesign. The aging Taurus, which became one of the most significant cars in American auto history would be abandoned in favor of three entirely new names, all starting with "F", the Five Hundred, Freestar and Fusion. By 2007, the Freestar was discontinued without a replacement. The Five Hundred name was thrown out and Taurus was brought back for the next generation of that car in a surprise move by Alan Mulally. "Five Hundred" was recognized by less than half of most people, but an overwhelming majority was familiar with the "Ford Taurus".

Brand Personality : 

Brand Personality Kevin Lane Keller defined Brand Personality as -: The Set of human Characteristics linked to the brand that consumer hold in memory. Ex: Nescafe:- young ,upper middle class, professionally qualified, ambitious and confident. Boost :- young dynamic ,energetic and an achiever. Pepsi :- Young, rule establishment, cool, extrovert.

Contd… : 

Contd… Brand Personality includes associations with specific characters, symbols, endorsers, users, and lifestyles. Consumer loyalty is associated with positive brand image, which also include personality dimension and they are willing to search for their preferred brand. Five dimensions of brand personality with corresponding dimensions have been identified.

Dimensions of Brand Personality : 

Dimensions of Brand Personality The Big 5 of Brand Personality Sincerity : Down to earth, Honest, Wholesome, Cheerful. ( Raymond) Excitement : Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up-to- date.( MTV) Competence : Reliable, Intelligent, Successful,( Bajaj, Maruti) Sophistication : Upper Class, Charming ( Lakme, Revlon) Ruggedness : Outdoors, Tough ( Levi’s, Woodland) (Source : Jennifer L. Aaker, Aug 1997, AMA)

Brand Image : 

Brand Image Brand image dimension refers to perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumers memory and encompasses both physical and perceptual components. Brand image is broader term than brand personality and includes consumer’s impression about the brand’s physical attributes, its performance, the functional b Brand image is a customer concept that drives the consumer behaviour. “ Brand Image represent physical features and benefits”. ( by Christine Restall)

Contd…. : 

Contd…. Subroto Sengupta believes that Brand image is a far broader term & is really the sum total of impression created by the brand in the consumer’s mind. This includes consumer’s impression about the brand’s physical characteristics , its performance, the functional benefits, the kind of people who use the brand, the emotions & associations it develops and the imagery or the symbolic meaning it generates. Joseph Plummer also believes that brand image is inclusive of all associations that a consumer has for the brand, such as all the thoughts, feelings, imagery, sounds, colours and smells, etc., that consumers links mentally to the brand in her/his memory.

Views on Brand Personality & Brand Image : 

Views on Brand Personality & Brand Image “ The manufacturer who dedicates his advertising to building the most favorable image, the most sharply defined personality, is the one who will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit – in the long run. ( David Ogilvy in The unpublished Ogilvy, 1995)

Views on Brand Personality & Brand Image : 

Views on Brand Personality & Brand Image David Ogilvy regards Brand Image and personality as meaning the same thing. “You have to decide what image you want for your brand. Image means Personality… the personality of a product is an amalgam of many thing – its name, its packaging, its price, the style of its advertising and above all, the nature of the product itself ”. ( David Ogilvy, “ Ogilvy on Advertising”, 1983). In many markets there are no real differences among the competitors'. So you begin to explore a more emotional and this is where the brand personality comes in. Brand image refers to rational measurement like quality, strength, flavour. Brand Personality explains why people like some brands more than others even when there is no physical difference between them. (Christine Restall of McCann ERICKSON has drawn a distinction between Brand Image & Personality )

Contd… : 

Contd… According to Subroto Sengupta “Brand personality represents that part of brand image, which in the consumer’s mind is associated with the brand‘s emotional aspects & symbolism”.

World Top ten most Valuable Brands ( In Billions, 2009) : 

World Top ten most Valuable Brands ( In Billions, 2009) Coca-Cola -$68.73 IBM -$60.21 Microsoft -$56.65 GE - $47.78 Nokia -$34.87 6. McDonald's -$32.28 7. Google -$31.98 8. Toyota -$31.33 Intel -$30.64 10. Disney -$28.45