What is Brand Management? Importance, Definition, Challenges

What is Brand Management?

Brand Management is the function of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity.

The process of maintaining, improving, and upholding a brand so that the name is associated with positive results.

What is Brand?

A brand is an identifier of the seller or the maker. Essentially, a brand is a promise of the seller to deliver a specific set of benefits or attributes or services to the buyer. Each brand represents a level of quality.

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Brand Definition

Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a 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.

American Marketing Association (AMA)

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What is Branding?

Branding is the business process of managing your trademark portfolio so as to maximize the value of the experiences associated with it, to the benefit of your key stakeholders, especially current and prospective.

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Different Types of Brand Elements

1. Brand Name
2. Logo
3. Theme Line
4. Shape
5. Graphics
6. Colour
7. Sound
8. Movement
9. Smell
10. Taste

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Selecting a Brand Name

Criteria for selecting a brand name:

1. Easy for customers to say, spell and recall.
2. Indicate products major benefits.
3. Should be distinctive.
4. Compatible with all products in the product line.
5. Used and recognized in all types of media.
6. Use words of no meaning to avoid negative connotation.
7. Can be created internally by the organization, or by a consultancy.

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Importance of Branding

1. Reducing the Risks in Product Decisions
2. Branding Gets Recognition
3. Branding Increases Business Value
4. Branding Generates New Customers
5. Improves Employee Pride and Satisfaction
6. Creates Trust Within the Marketplace
7. Branding Supports Advertising
8. Source of competitive advantage

Reducing the Risks in Product Decisions

A brand can reduce the risks in product decisions:

• Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations.
• Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well-being or health of the user or others.
• Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid.
• Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others.
• Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well-being of the user.
• Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satisfactory product.

Branding Gets Recognition

Branding is important because it helps the consumer to identify the source of the product and because of the past experience and its marketing program over the time, consumer find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not.

Branding Increases Business Value

Branding is important in generating future business by establishing the brand and give the company more leverage in the industry.

Branding Generates New Customers

Strong brand value reflects that company really provide the customer value which helps in word of mouth and referral to other customers. Brands may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products.

Improves Employee Pride and Satisfaction

An employee will be more satisfied with their job and have a higher degree of pride in the work when they associate themselves with a strong branded company and truly stands behind the brand.

Creates Trust Within the Marketplace         

Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions and build trust in the marketplace. A company with well-strategised branding and with a professional appearance will help the company build trust with consumers, potential clients and customers.

Branding Supports Advertising

Advertising strategies will directly reflect the brand and its desired portrayal. Advertisement is one the component of branding.

Source of competitive advantage

Brand loyalty provides security and predictability of demand for the firm and creates barriers of entry for other firms in the market.

Read: Consumer Behaviour – Classification, Importance, Stages

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Branding Challenges and Opportunities

1. Savvy Customers
2. Brand Proliferation
3. Media Fragmentation
4. Increased Competition
5. Increased Costs
6. Greater Accountability

Savvy Customers

With the advancement of technology and the internet has made consumers and business more experienced with marketing and more knowledgeable about how it works.

Many believe that it is more difficult to persuade consumers with traditional communications than it was in years gone by. One of the key challenges in today’s marketing environment is the vast number of sources of information consumers may consult.

Brand Proliferation

Another important change in the branding environment is the proliferation of new brands and products, by the rise in line and brand extensions. As a result, a brand name may now be identified with a number of different products of varying degrees of similarity.

Procter & Gamble’s original Crest toothpaste has been joined by a series of line extensions such as Crest Mint, Crest for kids, Crest Baking Soda, Crest Multi care Advanced Cleaning.

Media Fragmentation

Another impact in the marketing environment is the fragmentation or erosion of traditional advertising media and the rise of interactive and nontraditional media, promotion, and other communication alternatives.

In its place, marketers are spending more on nontraditional forms of communication and on new and emerging forms of communication such as

• interactive digital media
• sports and event sponsorship
• in-store advertising
• mini-billboards in transit vehicles
• parking meters, and other locations
• product placement in movies

Increased Competition

Both supply-side and demand-side factors have contributed to the increase in competitive intensity.  A marketer has been forced to use so many discount and other incentives in the competitive environment.

Increased Costs

As the competition is increasing, the cost of introducing a new product has also increased. It makes it difficult to match the investment and level of support that brands were able to receive in previous years.

Greater Accountability

Stock analysts value strong and consistent earnings reports as an indication of the long-term financial health of a firm. As a result, marketing managers may find themselves in the dilemma of having to make decisions with short-term benefits but long-term costs.

Moreover, many of these same managers have experienced rapid job turn over and promotions and may not anticipate being in their current positions for very long.

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Functions of Brand Managers

1. Long-term Strategy
2. Sales forecast budget
3. Work with Ad Agencies
4. Support from SalesForce and Trade
5. Gather intelligence on brand performance
6. Identify opportunities to improve

Long-term Strategy

Develop a long-range competitive strategy for the success of the brand. All tactical moves that form part of the strategy are formulated for execution by relevant personnel of the company.

Sales forecast budget

Prepare in coordination with sale personnel sales forecast and dovetail the same into marketing plans and budgets.

Work with Ad Agencies

Work with the advertising and other related agency (promotional, research) to develop advertising copy, communication strategy and plans for execution of advertising and promotional campaigns.

Support from SalesForce and Trade

Stimulate support of the brand among the sales force and trade members (distributors, wholesaler and retailers) through communicating lucidly all the rationale for brand plans.

Gather intelligence on brand performance

Gather intelligence on the brand’s performance to see how the brand stacks up against the competition, customer and trade attitude develop and change and new problems and the opportunity arises.

Identify opportunities to improve

Meet changing market needs to improving and initiating new product you brand this function is an extension of preceding pressed proceeding one and as mentioned cannot form convincingly unless problem problems are identified and changing need pinpointed

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