| Brand management is the application 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. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise
that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with present and future purchases of the same
product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the
manufacturer to charge more for the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the
manufacturer. This results from a combination of increased sales and increased price.
A good brand name should:
- be legally protectable
- be easy to pronounce
- be easy to remember
- be easy to recognize
- attract attention
- suggest product benefits (eg.:Easy off) or suggest usage
- suggest the company or product image
- distinguish the product's positioning
relative to the competition
A premium brand typically costs more than other products. An economy brand is a brand targeted to a high price elasticity market segment. A
fighting brand is a brand created specificlly to counter a competitive threat. When a company's name is used as a product
brand name, this is referred to as corporate branding. When one
brand name is used for several related products, this is referred to as family branding. When all a company's products are given different brand names, this is referred to as
individual branding. When a company uses the brand equity associated with an existing brand name to introduce a new product or
product line, this is referred to as brand leveraging. When
large retailers buy products in bulk from manufacturers and put their own brand
name on them, this is called private branding. Private brands can be
differentiated from manufacturers' brands (also referred to as national brands). When two or more brands work
together to market their products, this is referred to as co-branding. When a company sells the rights to use a brand name
to another company for use on a non-competing product or in another geographical area, this is referred to as brand
licensing.
Brand rationalization refers to reducing the number of brands marketed by a company. Companies tend to create more
brands and product variations within a brand than economies of
scale suggest they should. Frequently they will create a specific product or brand for each market that they target. They
also do this to gain precious retail shelf space ( and also reduce the amount of shelf space allocated to competing brands). But
this can be a very inefficient strategy so a company may decide to rationalize their portfolio of brands from time to time. They
may also decide to rationalize their brand portfolio as part of an overall corporate downsizing.
There are several problems associated with setting objectives for a brand or product category.
- Many brand managers limit themself to setting financial objectives. They ignore strategic objectives because they feel this
is the responsibility of senior management.
- Most product level or brand managers limit themselves to setting short term objectives because their compensation packages
are designed to reward short term behaviour. Short term objectives should been seen as milestones towards long term
objectives.
- Often product level managers are not given enough information to construct strategic objectives.
- It is sometimes difficult to translate corporate level objectives into brand or product level objectives. Changes in
shareholders equity are easy for a company to calculate : It is not so easy to calculate the change in shareholders equity
that can be attributed to a product or category. More complex metrics like changes in the net present value of shareholders
equity are even more difficult for the product manager to assess.
- In a diversified company, the objectives of some brands may conflict with those of other brands. Or worse, corporate
objectives may conflict with the specific needs of your brand. This is particularly true in regards to the trade-off between
stability and riskiness. Corporate objectives must be broad enough that brands with high risk products are not constrained by
objectives set with cash cow's in mind (see B.C.G. Analysis). The
brand manager also needs to know senior managements harvesting strategy. If corporate management intends to invest in brand
equity and take a long term position in the market (ie. penetration and growth strategy), it would be a mistake for the product manager to use short term cash
flow objectives (ie. price skimming strategy). Only when these
conflicts and tradeoffs are made explicit, is it possible for all levels of objectives to fit together in a coherent and mutually
supportive manner.
- Many brand managers set objectives that optimize the performance of their unit rather than optimize overall corporate
performance. This is particularly true where compensation is based primarily on unit performance. Managers tend to ignore
potential synergies and inter-unit joint processes.
Brand Management: Wikipedia.og
External links
References
- Brands Trademarks and Advertising, Rodney D. Ryder, Lexis Nexis Butterworths.
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