11.brand strategies

THARAKA DIAS MBA(USA), BBA(USA), Dip in Mgt, ACIM(UK), FAEA(Dip in AEA-UK),

FinstSMM(UK), CPM(Asia), MSLIM, PM(Sri-Lanka)

¡  Branding strategy involves in deciding which brand names, logos, symbols, and so forth should be applied to which products and the nature of new and existing brand elements to be applied to new products.

Tharaka Dias - AOT 2

1.  How many brands can an organization effectively and efficiently offer to the market

2.  Whether to come out with new plan or not 3.  Whether to plan these brand launches as line

extension or category extension 4.  Which brand elements to use? Existing, new or

combination of both


1.  Corporate brand name combined with individual name - E.x Reliance Gas / Munchee Mari

2.  Individual names – E.x Lux 3.  Blanket family name – E.x General Motors Chevrolet

for its range of Sedan, SUV’s 4.  Separate family name – E.x Under Tata group , Croma

is for retailing brands, Westside chain for garments etc.


¡  Launch a new brand in an existing product category - Flanker brand (Unilever – Lux, pears, Rexona, Dove)

¡  Launch a new brand in a new product category – New product ( Revello by Ceylon Biscuits )

¡  Launch an existing brand in new product category – line extension ( Nestles –Maggi noodles , in different flavors like masala, chicken, vegetable )


¡  Diversity of customers ¡  Customer need for variety ¡  Pricing breadth ¡  Capacity utilization ¡  Increasing profitability ¡  Competitive reasons ¡  Trade demand ¡  Counter competition ¡  Image benefit


¡  Horizontal line extension – when an establish brand name used to enter a new segment of the market in the same product class ( Coke to launch diet Coke )

¡  Vertical line extension – same name used to introduced a related brand in the same product category but with a different price and quality balance ( Dove)this can also happen in two types

1.  Upscale extension – launch a higher price and better quality extension

2.  Downscale extension – launch a product at a low price and quality. Levis – strauss signature for the value conscious customers.



¡  When an existing brand name is used to launch a new product in a different product category

( Ceylon biscuits, Munchee, Ritzburry )


1.  To capitalize on the brand equity that has been built over a period of time

2.  To gain success by investing less money in comparison to an individual brand

3.  To capture opportunities in the market 4.  To enhance the appeal of the brand 5.  To manage the fewer brands better in the

portfolio 6.  To increase advertising efficiencies


¡  Category related extension – launches a brand related to the same category as the parent brand (Amul – lite- a low fat, low calories and low cholesterol bread)

¡  Image related extension – Britania biscuits launch new product of breads and cakes by using its image of biscuits

¡  Unrelated extension – diversification



¡  The term stretching ¡  and extension are often used interchangeably.

How ever some have delineated extension as the addition of product variant or new products under the establish brand name

(Yamaha )



¡  Awareness and reputation of the parent brand ¡  Applicability of the brand essence ¡  Experience and know how ¡  Consumers perception of the difficulty to

manufacturer the new brand ¡  Offering complementary products ¡  Filling a market gap


¡  Inappropriate association between the parent brand and the new brand

¡  Wrong association between parent and new brand also lead to a disadvantage

¡  Consumer perception of the organization



¡  Products with function –oriented image (Gillette/ Nokia/ Sony TV)

¡  Products with prestige oriented image – (Yamaha/ Apple )


¡  They enhance appeal for the parent brand ¡  They reinforce key associations ¡  They strengthen parent brand memory structure and

facilitate retrieval processes ¡  They maximize comparative advantageous ¡  They lead to fewer brands that need to be managed ¡  They increase advertising efficiencies ¡  They defend a brand ¡  They enhance life cycle of the brand ¡  They help target a particular segment of customers


¡  Positioning a brand ¡  Introducing a brand ¡  Introducing from a position of strength ¡  Minimize introduction expense ¡  Minimize marketing expense ¡  Quality association ¡  Encouraging trial purchase ¡  Satisfying variety seeking behavior ¡  Increasing advertising efficiencies ¡  Increasing market coverage


¡  Failure of brand name to add value ( Vanilla Coke 2004)

¡  Negative association (Lux shampoo) ¡  Problem of fit the perception ( Dettol

confectionery ) ¡  Cannibalization of parent brand sales ( Axe ) ¡  Perception of poor quality on the others ¡  Weakning of existing association – (Abans )


Brand extension success

Parent brand characteristics .quality of product

Conviction of parent brand Experience with parent brand

Relationship between parent and extended brand

.perceptual fit .benefit transfer

Retailer acceptance of the Extended brand

Extended brand .marketing support

.competitive leverage

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Stage 1 Brand to be extended by the organization ( Ceylon Biscuits/ Unilever)

Stage 2 Identify the associations with the brand name (Amul – association with quality milk )

Stage 3 Definition for each association

Stage 4 Related categories are identified for each definition Ex. Cheese, processed cheese, cottage cheese etc

Stage 5 Selecting the ‘candidate product’

Stage 6 Launching the brand extension


¡  Brand lines – this includes all the products sold under a particular brand . Including parent brands and sub brands

¡  Brand mix – all the brand lines that an organization has to offer are called the brand mix or brand assortment

¡  Brand portfolio – it include all the brands are brand lines that a company has to offer the market


¡  Brand stretching – this refer to launching a brand in a new product field as the parent brand

¡  Branding strategy – it reflects the number and nature of common and distinctive brand elements applied to the different product sold by the firm

¡  Category extension – when an existing brand name is used to launch a new product in a different product category.

¡  Line extension – when a new product is added to an existing brand in the same product category.


¡  Product line – the organization can come out with a number of related products that form one product line or a number of unrelated that form different product lines .

¡  Product mix – the unrelated product lines that a brand has in its portfolio

¡  Product width – It includes all the different product lines a company is offering to the market


¡  What is brand portfolio? Discussed with the help of industry examples

¡  Differentiate between product mix and brand mix ¡  Differentiate between the followings 1.  Line extension and category extension 2.  Brand extension and brand stretching



Marketing

11.brand strategies