Branding
Point Of Parity (POP)
• POPs are attribute or benefit associations that are not
necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared
with other brands
– POP of hot sauce is the spiciness
- A bank will not be suitable, for example,
unless it offers adequate ATM service
- Car manufactures adding cup holders
POINT OF DIFFERENCE
• The selection of a brand’s point of difference begins
with its competitive strengths and insight about
consumers’ motivations for using the category
and/or brand.
• The goal is to find a feature or benefit that
distinguishes the brand from competitors in the
same category and that is valued by consumers.
When the point of difference is a benefit (rather
than a product feature), the claim is strengthened
by providing reasons to believe the benefit claim.
• Fast-food chain Subway offers healthier meals
than other quick-serve restaurants because its
sandwiches have fewer grams of fat.
Reason to POD
believe
• Although attributes can offer a compelling way
to support a benefit point of difference, in
many cases they are readily imitable. For this
reason, brand position is often rely
on image to provide a rationale for a benefit
point of difference—the type of person who
uses the brand and the type of uses it has.
• Nike, for example, has used professional
athletes to support the brand’s claim of
superior performance in athletic shoes rather
than relying on attributes such as unique
technology in product design.
• Leading brands typically adopt the benefit that
motivates category use as their point of
difference, whereas “follower” brands choose
a niche.
Wisk is strong against stains.
Cheer cleans clothes in cold water
• In choosing a point of difference, brand
marketers usually prefer benefits that reflect
an existing consumers’ belief.
Honey Nut Cheerios developed
a strong brand franchise by
capitalizing on consumers’
beliefs that honey is more
nutritious than sugar and that
Cheerios is among the most
nutritious brands of cereal.
If, however, a brand is distinguished on a benefit
or belief that consumers have not yet accepted,
efforts can be made to change consumers’
opinions. Prompting such change is generally
more costly than adopting accepted consumer
beliefs about benefits, but it is possible.
It’s intentionally made that way so it gives you the impression that it kills more germs
than their competitor’s products do. Listerine mouthwash was successful in overcoming
consumers’ negative perceptions of its taste by convincing consumers that the
unpleasant taste indicated that it was working to kill bacteria and combat bad breath.
For most brands, a single benefit serves as the
point of difference. This enables the marketer to
convince the consumer more simply and easily
of the benefit’s importance when making a
brand choice. However, there are several
circumstances in which a position is based on
multiple benefits. When competitors are each
focusing on a particular benefit, a brand might
compete by claiming to do it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYc6lNpzT3k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxMUdvEN4Wc
Caution!
• When selecting multiple benefits, it is
important to assess their fit with each other.
Specifically, brands possessing potentially
opposing benefits can undermine consumer
confidence in the brand’s position.
high quality low price
superior nutrition superior taste claim
safe exceptional acceleration
Good Example
• Arabian Horse :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReLmjUh
eZzc
• Astral CPVC Pipes :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyPqHfuL
NFs
Branding and Functionality
• American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name,
symbol, word, sign design or combination that differentiates
one or more offerings of a seller or group of sellers from the
competition.
• Functions of Brands for both the buyer and seller.
– For the buyer: brands help with-
– product identification
– signal quality: Volvo
– provide social status: Mercedes
– For the seller: brands facilitate-
– breed customer familiarity,
– identify specific product
offerings,
– differentiate offering
– enhance brand loyalty
Brand Identity
• Brand has a core identity, which is its essence: Brand Essence is the heart
and soul of a brand – a brand’s fundamental nature or quality
• Disney World is magical
• The extended identity - psychological and physical aspects.
• Brand can be thought of as a product.
• Honda: thought of as a bike
• Brand can also be imbued with organizational attributes
• (e.g., innovative, young, socially-responsible, etc.) and certain
expectations in terms of geographic coverage (e.g., local vs. global).
• Facebook as young, Starbucks as ethical
• Brand can become synonymous with a particular person
• Apple with Steve Jobs
• Brand can also become a symbol.
• A yellow round “M” is McDonald, A tilted “T” is Tesla
• A brand is a complex entity, and it potentially means different things to
different people.
Brand Mantra
• It’s an articulation of the heart and soul of the
brand and is closely related to other branding
concepts like; “core brand promise”
• It’s a short, 3 to 5 word phrases that captures the
irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand positioning
• A brand mantra is designed specifically for employees but
not customers. Employees and marketers must be able to
understand what the company stands for in order to serve
and communicate effectively to the customers. Many
employees fail to do that, because they do not understand
the nature of the workplace.
• EM explains how consumers should feel about the brand
• DM describes whom the brand is basically for
• BF expresses what a product or service provides to consumers
Brand Equity
• The measurement of brand value.
• Compare brand assets and brand liabilities and
maintain a strong and viable brand equity
valuation.
• Brand equity comprises five different categories of
assets:
– Brand name awareness
– Brand loyalty
– Perceived quality
– Brand associations: Blue color with Pepsi, signature tune
Ting-ting-ta-ding with Britannia, Panda cheese
– Intellectual rights: copyrights, trademarks, trade
dress, patents: AlBaik in Baily Road
• https://www.brandfinance.com
• https://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/list
/#tab:rank
• https://www.interbrand.com/best-brands/bes
t-global-brands/2018/ranking/
Brand Community
• A specialized community of consumers and
employees whose identifications and activities
focus around the brand.
Brand Architecture: A Strategic Management
Framework
• A brand portfolio can contain a variety of
different types of brand.
• The brand relationship spectrum developed by
Aaker
• House of brands at one extreme to branded house
at the other
1. House of Brands (Product Specific Branding)
• Not connected: Involves an independent set of stand-
alone brands, each maximizing the impact on a market.
• Shadow endorser: not connected visibly to the
endorsed brand, but many consumers know about the
link.
• It is sometimes known as pluralistic brand
architecture
– Allows firms to clearly position brands on functional benefits
and to dominate niche segments
dandruff control shiny and healthy hair
fabric softener concentrated powder
tough cleaning job
all temperature
cleaning
- Signaling breakthrough advantages of new offering :
Toyota launched the premium cars under Lexus
– Avoiding irrelevant brand association: Volkswagen group:
Volkswagen would adversely affect the image of Porsche, Audi,
Bugatti, Bentley, Scania, MAN, Lamborghini image
Minimizing channel conflict - L’Oreal can be sold in discount stores
but Lancôme is sold in department and specialty stores
Problem
• Brand cannibalization
2. Endorsed Brand
• Endorsed brands are independent brands but they
are also endorsed by another brand
• Sort of like Umbrella branding or family
branding
– Token endorser
– Linked name
– Strong endorsement
• It is sometimes known as endorsed
brand architecture
Token Endorser
• A variant of the endorser strategy is a token
brand endorser, usually a master brand involved
in several product-market context, which is
substantially less prominent than the endorsed
brand
– E.g. it can be a logo like nestle written on Kitkat
bar
Linked Name
• Name with common elements creates a
family of brands with an implied or implicit
endorser
• A linked name provides the benefits of a
separate name without having to establish
a second name from scratch and link it to
a master brand
• The brands rely on the visibility of the parent
brand
Strong Endorsement
• A variant of the endorser strategy is a
strong brand endorser, usually a master
brand directly involved in the association
of its naming and management with the
endorsed brand
– E.g. Courtyard by Marriot is a brand of hotels
owned by Marriott International which is
designed for business travelers
3.Sub brands
• Sub brands are brands connected to a master or a
parent brand and augment or modify the
associations of that master brand.
• The master brand here is the primary frame
of reference, which is stretched by sub brands that
add attributes associations, a signal of newness, a
brand personality and even a new energy.
• One role of sub brand is to extend a master
brand into a meaningful new segment.
• If the link between a sub brand and master brand
is extremely close, a sub brand can affect the
image of the master brand
The sub brand as a co-driver
• When both master brand and sub brand
have major driver roles, it is considered a
co-driver situation, usually for this case the
master brand already has some real
credibility in the product class, it may be
providing presence, visibility and attitude
– E.g. Gillette Mach 3
Master brand as a driver
• When master brand has major driver
roles
– Dell Dimension
– HP desk jet
4. A branded house (Manufacturer
Branding)
• In a branded house strategy,
– a master brand moves from being a primary driver
to a dominant driver role across a multiple
offerings.
– The sub brand goes from having a modest driver
role to being a descriptor with little or no driver
role
• Problems:
– This option puts a lot of eggs in a single basket, which of course
is very risky as it is difficult to maintain a cool image or a quality
position with a large market share,
– it can also limit the firms ability to target specific
groups: compromises must be made.
• Benefits: the branded house enhances clarity, synergy
and leverage and thus should be the default brand
architecture option. It is much easier to understand and
recall
A branded house / Monolithic
structure
• Two assumptions:
– 1. There can be different brand identities
and positions in every context despite
the common brand name.
• E.g. GE capital, GE energy, GE appliance
– 2. There is a single brand identity and
position every where even through the
imposition of a single brand identity risks
a mediocre compromise that is
ineffective in many of its context
• E.g. BMW: sports range and sedan
Benefits of brand architecture
1.Ensures the smooth running of an organization
2.Allows to target the needs of specific customers.
3.Balance between the main brand and its sub brands.
4.Allows flexibility for new products and services.
5.Ensures clarity and synergy between brands,
products, and services.
6.Maximize visibility in competitive marketplace.
7.Makes it possible to protect brand equity.
Any
Questions?
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