According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) what is a brand
a 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.”
the key to creating a brand, according to the AMA definition, is to be able to choose a name, logo, symbol, package design, or other characteristic that identifies a product and distinguishes it from others. These different components of a brand that identify and differentiate it are brand elements.
A product:
is anything we can offer to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Thus, a product may be a physical good like a cereal, tennis racquet, or automobile; or a service such as an airline, bank, or insurance company.
A product could also be a retail outlet like a department store, specialty store, or supermarket; a person such as a political figure, social media celebrity, entertainer, or professional athlete; an organization like a nonprofit, trade organization, or arts group; or a place including a city, state, or country; or even an idea like a political or social cause
Five levels of a product
The core benefit level
The generic product level
The expected product level
The augmented product level
The potential product level
The core benefit level
is the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service.
The generic product level:
is a basic version of the product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for its functioning but with no distinguishing features. This is essentially a stripped-down, no-frills version of the product that adequately performs the product function.
The expected product level:
is a set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product.
The augmented product level:
includes additional product attributes, benefits, or related services that distinguish the product from competitors.
The potential product level:
includes all the augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future
brand vs product
A brand is, therefore, more than a product, because it can have dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. These differences may be rational and tangible—related to product performance of the brand—or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible—related to what the brand represents.
Some brands create competitive advantages with product performance
Other brands create competitive advantages through non-product-related means. For example, Coca-Cola, Chanel No. 5, and others have been leaders in their product categories for decades by understanding consumer motivations and desires and creating relevant and appealing images surrounding their products. Often, these intangible image associations may be the only way to distinguish different brands in a product category.
Brands, especially strong ones, carry a number of different types of associations, and marketers must account for all of them when making marketing decisions
example with coke
Coca cola introduced new coke→ people didnt like it, made coke realize that there is an association towards the brand
Coke clearly is not just seen as a beverage or thirst-quenching refreshment by consumers. Rather, it seems to be viewed as more of an American icon, and much of its appeal lies not only in its ingredients but also in what it represents in terms of Americana, nostalgia, and its heritage and relationship with consumers. Coke’s brand image certainly has emotional components, and consumers have a great deal of strong feelings for the brand.
Although Coca-Cola made a number of other mistakes in introducing New Coke (both its advertising and its packaging probably failed to clearly differentiate the brand and communicate its sweeter quality), its biggest slip was losing sight of what the brand meant to consumers in its totality. The psychological response to a brand can be as important as the physiological response to the product. At the same time, American consumers also learned a lesson—just how much the Coke brand really meant to them. As a result of Coke’s marketing fiasco, it is doubtful that either side will take the other for granted from now on
consumer:
broadly to encompass all types of customers, including individuals as well as organizations.
how are brands important to consumers
Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most importantly, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experiences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions
Brands can serve as symbolic devices, allowing consumers to project their self-image. Certain brands are associated with certain types of people and thus reflect different values or traits. Consuming such products is a means by which consumers can communicate to others—or even to themselves—the type of person they are or would like to be
Brands can also play a significant role in signaling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods
search goods, experience goods, and credence goods
For search goods like grocery produce: consumers can evaluate product attributes like sturdiness, size, color, style, design, weight, and ingredient composition by visual inspection.
For experience goods like automobile tires: consumers cannot assess product attributes like durability, service quality, safety, and ease of handling or use so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary.
For credence goods like insurance coverage: consumers may rarely learn product attribute
Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product:
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.
Brands provide a number of valuable functions to their firms.
they serve an identification purpose, to simplify product handling or tracing.
Operationally, brands help organize inventory and accounting records.
A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner
Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again.
In short, to firms, brands represent enormously valuable pieces of legal property, capable of influencing consumer behavior, being bought and sold, and providing the security of sustained future revenues.
For these reasons, huge sums, often representing large multiples of a brand’s earnings, have been paid for brands in mergers or acquisitions. Mergers and acquisitions allow companies to seek out undervalued brands that can be combined with existing product portfolios of acquirers, resulting in higher earnings and profit performance for firms
The key to branding
consumers perceive differences among brands in a product category. These differences can be related to attributes or benefits of the product or service itself, or they may be related to more intangible image considerations
When consumers are deciding between alternatives, brands can play an important decision-making role. Accordingly, marketers can benefit from branding whenever consumers are in a choice situation.
a commodity
a product so basic that it cannot be physically differentiated from competitors in the minds of consumers.– > The key success factor in each case, however, was that consumers became convinced that all the product offerings in the category were not the same, and that meaningful differences existed. In some instances, such as with produce, marketers convinced consumers that a product was not a commodity and could actually vary appreciably in quality. Example with de beers group that sells diamonds (they marketed it in a way with the slogan a diamond is forever so they would stand out)
Business to business products
The business-to-business (B2B) market makes up a huge percentage of the global economy.
Business-to-business branding creates a positive image and reputation for the company as a whole. Creating such goodwill with business customers is thought to lead to greater selling opportunities and more profitable relationships.
High tech products
Many technology companies have struggled with branding.
Managed by technologists, these firms often lack any kind of brand strategy and sometimes see branding as simply naming their products.
What are the keys to Adobe’s success? Adobe’s focus on innovation and emphasis on being customer-centric has allowed it to develop a portfolio of products which are simultaneously innovative yet customer-friendly. In addition, Adobe has shown that excellent design is a key part of technology product marketing. Adobe’s advertising and promotional campaigns to support these products have connected with audiences at an emotional level.
branding services
One of the challenges in marketing services is that they are less tangible than products and more likely to vary in quality, depending on the particular person or people providing them. For that reason, branding can be particularly important to service firms as a way to address intangibility and variability problems. Brand symbols may also be especially important, because they help make the abstract nature of services more concrete. Brands can help identify and provide meaning to the different services provided by a firm.
Branding a service can also be an effective way to signal to consumers that the firm has designed a particular service offering that is special and deserving of its nam
branding professional services
Corporate credibility is key in terms of expertise, trustworthiness, and likability. Variability is more of an issue with professional services because it is harder to standardize the services of a consulting firm than those of a typical consumer services firm (like Mayflower movers or Orkin pest control). Long-term relationships are crucial; losing one customer can be disastrous if it is a big enough account.
One big difference in professional services is that individual employees have a lot more of their own equity in the firm and are often brands in their own right! The challenge is, therefore, to ensure that their words and actions help build the corporate brand and not just their own
Referrals and testimonials can be powerful when the services offered are highly intangible and subjective. Emotions also play a big role in terms of sense of security and social approval.
Retailers and distributors branding
To retailers and other channel members distributing products, brands provide a number of important functions. Brands can generate consumer interest, patronage, and loyalty in a store, as consumers learn to expect certain brands and products.
Finally, the appeal and attraction of brands, whether manufacturers’ brands or the retailers’ own brands, can yield higher price margins, increased sales volumes, and greater profit
The Internet has transformed retailing in recent years as retailers have adopted a “bricks and clicks” approach to their business or, in many cases, become pure-play online retailers, operating only on the Web. Regardless of the exact form, to be competitive online, many retailers have had to improve their online service by making customer service agents available in real time, shipping products promptly, providing tracking updates, and adopting liberal return policies.
Digital brands branding
Online marketers now realize the realities of brand building. First, as for any brand, it is critical to create unique aspects of the brand on some dimension that is important to consumers, such as convenience, price, or variety. At the same time, the brand needs to perform satisfactorily in other areas, such as customer service, credibility, and personality. For instance, customers increasingly began to demand higher levels of service both during and after their Web site visits.
By offering unique features and services to consumers, the best online brands are able to avoid extensive advertising or lavish marketing campaigns, relying more on word-of-mouth and publicity.
Airbnb is an example of how to build a successful online brand.–> Airbnb used storytelling to convey its message, and its content was focused on the people who owned the homes listed, as well as the travelers who go there. They describe how these connections are important to the brand’s value, and how the brand itself makes it possible. Airbnb also created a brand magazine called Pineapple which was described as a platform for stories that Airbnb’s extended family intended to share. This publication allows readers to see how people live and create connections in cities toda
People and organizations branding
When the product category is people or organizations, the naming aspect of branding, at least, is generally straightforward. These often have well-defined images that are easily understood and liked (or disliked) by others. That’s particularly true for public figures such as politicians, entertainers, and professional athletes. All these compete in some sense for public approval and acceptance, and all benefit from conveying a strong and desirable image.
Lady gaga: presents herself well, good connections with fans, unaplogic,
Unicef: Nonprofit organizations like UNICEF need strong brands and modern marketing practices to help them fundraise and satisfy their organizational goals and mission
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chapter `145
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sept 2nd- class notes (chapter 1)26
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chapter 2 textbook68
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September 4th- session 3 chapter 232
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chapter 3 - textbook74
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session 4- September 9th36
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hbr article17
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session 5- September 11th5
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chapter 922
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chapter 10 textbook59
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chapter 4 textbook44
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September 18th brand elememts24
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sept 3027
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October 2nd19
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chapter 5 textbook49
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chapter 6 textbook75
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chapter 8 textbook42
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October 721
