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CHAPTER - 1

BRANDS & BRANDING

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Chapter 1 – Brands and Branding

Introduction

One of the most valuable assets that companies have are the brands that they have

created, invested in, and nurtured. Gone are the days when firms believed that their

factories and other physical assets like land and machinery were their most valuable

assets. Brands are rising in the value hierarchy of assets. Whilst the physical assets of

Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) are worth around Rs 3512 crores, revenue for FY

2011-12 at Rs 22,116 crores and net profit at Rs 2691 crores (HUL annual report

2011-2012) its market value is much higher at approximately Rs 101520 crores (BSE

India website, August 2012) owing mainly to the value contributed by its strong

brands like Wheel, Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf, Kissan, Lipton, Liril, Fair & Lovely, Close

Up, Pepsodent, Sunsilk, Denim, Axe and Rin. The same is the case with companies

like Parle Industries, Godrej, Pepsico, Marico Industries, L&T, ITC and Coca Cola.

Also, companies are paying much larger sums to buy brands than to buy physical

assets. HLL paid Rs 110 crores for Lakme’s brands and only Rs 29 crores for their 2

manufacturing plants. Philip Morris bought the Kraft brand for $ 12.9 billion and

Nestle acquired Rowntree for $ 4.5 billion.

Creating (or buying) and developing brands over a period of time is invaluable due to

the enormous returns that brands provide companies. This is due to the ability of

brands to simplify consumer purchase decision process, reduce the risk they perceive,

and satisfy their needs and wants resulting in consumers preferring brands to

unbranded alternatives.

History of Branding

Branding has been used for centuries to identify the offerings of one seller vis-à-vis

other competing sellers, long before the term ‘brand’ existed. In fact, the term brand

gets its origin from the old norse word ‘brandr’ which means ‘to burn’ (Interbrand

2012), as livestock owners burnt unique identification marks into the skin of their

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animals. This practice is prevalent even today in many farming

communities. Baptism, christening, and a variety of child naming ceremonies have

been performed all over the world. These were the first instances of brand naming –

each name representing a unique human being. In addition to helping in identification

of individuals, these names also represented the country (Sanchez, Gomez from Spain

or Mexico; Kim, Park from Korea; and Schmidt, Schroeder, Kohl from Germany) and

in most cases the region from which the individual originated (Patel, Shah from

Gujarat; Chatterjee, Banerjee, Mukherjee from Bengal; Naik, Desai, and surnames

suffixed with kar from Maharashtra), the religion followed (Islam - Ali, Iqbal,

Mohammed; Sindhi – Advani, Santani; Jains – Jain; Sikhs – Chadha, Singh), or the

caste and sect they belonged to. In some cultures, a lot more information about the

person is revealed by their names.

The Origins of branding of products can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Europe

when craftsmen used symbols on their products in order to identify the maker

(Farquhar 1989). Goods from India have been found with marks identifying the

producer from a period dating back to 1300 BC. During the same era, Chinese

porcelain and pottery jars from ancient Greece and Rome also carried identification

marks of the makers.

In medieval Europe, trade guilds used trademarks on their produce. This offered the

consumer an assurance of quality and the producer legal protection from competition.

Bakers in England were forced by a law passed in 1266 to put an identifying mark on

every loaf of bread so as to give consumers and producers legal protection (Keller

2008).

When Europeans moved to America, they carried the practice of branding goods

along with them. Tobacco and medicines were the first products to be branded in the

US. Brand names such as Swaim’s Panacea, Fahnestock’s Vermifuge, and Perry

Davis’ vegetable painkiller were popular prior to the American civil war.

Brand names were first used in the early sixteenth century by whiskey distillers who

shipped their produce in wooden barrels with the distillers name burnt onto them. This

ensured protection from substitution done by tavern owners with cheaper products.

The family name of the creator of the product used to be the brand name. Brands

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which took names of their creators include Ford automobiles, Smirnoff vodka, Sears,

Bakers, Waterman fountain pens, Ponds, Mercedes, Edison phonograph and

Hammond typewriters. Similarlyestablished Indian brands like Godrej, Tata, Birla,

Singhania and Jindal were named after their creators.

Brands evolved in the eighteenth century as producers names began to get replaced by

names of places, famous people and animals with a purpose of making the products

easier for the consumer to remember and differentiate from those of competitors. Till

the eighteenth century, a brand was used only as a product and producer identifier. In

the nineteenth century, brands began to be used to enhance the perceived value of

products by virtue of its associations. In 1835, a brand of scotch called ‘Old

Smuggler’ was introduced to make the most of the excellent quality reputation that

smuggled whiskey brewed by bootleggers enjoyed in America.

Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, brands were not the same, as we know

them today. Modern branding originated and thrived as a result of opportunities

presented by the following macro-environmental changes:

Advertising: Before the emergence of strong regional and national newspapers

and magazines and later the advent of radio and television advertising, there

were very few brands as we know of them today. Brands till then were

products with names of their manufacturers on them such as Ford, Campbell

and Kodak. These manufacturers did not make conscious efforts to build

‘brand images’. Mass media prompted the start of modern brand building,

brands were no longer products with names as efforts were beingmade to

‘position the brand’ in the mind of the customer. This was done by creating

various associations for the brand in their advertising, such as the use of

particular colors (Kodak, Campbell), symbols (Ford), jingles, advertising by

lines, usage situations, and product benefits. Mass media allowed marketers to

reach out to customers far and wide (Farquhar 1994).

Availability: In the early 1800s, product distribution was very limited.

Consumers bought products either directly from the producer, from local

stores that carried an assortment of goods from various local suppliers, and

from traveling salesmen who carried hard-to-find novel products. Thus,

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producers found to difficult to expand beyond local markets and hence few

branded goods existed at this time. Improvements in transportation towards

the end of the nineteenth century due to the expansion of the railroad system

made it easier for manufacturers to distribute their brands to consumers across

regional and national boundaries.

Production: Industrialization made it possible to mass-produce products rather

economically and also with consistent quality. Backed by advances in

communication (proliferation of mass media) and distribution (wide

geographical availability of products due to improvements in transportation),

these brands catered to national demand.

Retailing: Emergence of new types of retail stores like department stores,

variety stores and national mall order houses made shopping a more attractive

proposition for customers and gave a boost to brands.

Increase in disposable incomes: Industrialization in the west resulted in a spurt

in the incomes of people. This made them move away from old customs of

self-production (making foods, clothing, and household utilities themselves at

home) to buying most of the things they needed. Since unbranded goods were

of unpredictable quality, brands became popular.

What is a brand?

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as “a name, term, design,

symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from

those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one

item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the

preferred term is trade name” (AMA website - http://www.

marketingpower.com/live/mg-dictionary.php). This definition views a brand primarily

as a means of identification and differentiation of goods and services of one-seller vis-

à-vis competitors. The focus is on the product and the producer whilst the consumer is

left out of the picture and hence this definition is restrictive in its scope.

A brand is more than a name or label or symbol employed by a manufacturer to

distinguish its products in the eyes of their customers. Brands are images that reside in

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the minds of consumers of functional and psychological attributes of the seller’s

offerings (Chernatony 1998). Brands are a consumer’s perception of the product and

because of the perceptual process; the consumer’s interpretation of the brand may

differ from that intended by the marketer. Pitcher (1985) states that a brand “is not the

producer’s, but the consumers idea of a product”. Consumers do not react to reality,

but to what they perceive as reality. Both Nike and Adidas make sneakers or sports

shoes in addition to a lot of other products. However to a consumer, these brands are

not merely sports shoes, neither are they viewed as similar competing products.

Whilst Adidas is about sports and performance, Nike is about bringing out the best in

the user (irrespective of whether you are playing a sport, running, walking or merely

competing) and it also makes the user feel more flamboyant, stylish and having

achieved up to their potential. Brands are not always what the producer thinks they

are, they are what the consumer perceives them to be.

A brand is a promise to the consumer that it offers more value than any competing

product – the kind of value that is aligned with their functional, emotional and self-

expressive needs and what /that/ they are willing to pay for. Whilst a product offers

functionalutility to the consumer, the brand promises the consumer that it will meet

their needs and wants, make them feel good emotionally, in some instances allows

them to express their values (politicians use khadi to make voters perceive them to be

patriotic, advertising executives dress differently or sport a pony tail or a unique

hairdo to express their creative prowess and individuality) and portray their self-

image to others. The consumer perceives competing brands representing products

from the same category and price range to be different and unique from each other.

Even though Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola and Thums Up are very similar to each other in

terms of tangibles such as color, taste, effervescence and flavor (and very few

consumers have been able to identify the brand on the basis of blind taste tests), loyal

consumers of each of these brands are convinced that the brand he or she uses is

unique and has no substitute. The brand as a promise is illustrated in Table 1-1

below.

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Table 1-1: Examples of the ‘brand as a promise’ to the consumer

Brand Target Consumer The ‘Brand Promise’

ARIEL Urban upper middle class

housewife

Washes clothes whiter &

faster, without damaging

them; thereby satisfying her

need to dress her family in

sparkling clean clothes

without compromising on

her time, which is symbolic

of her love for her family &

her efficiency as a smart

woman

CLASSIC CIGARETTES Upwardly mobile male

smokers

Offers sophisticated full

flavored smoke and social

grace for those who value

taste

DETTOL Middle class housewife &

mother

Protects her family,

especially children, from

germs and thereby ensures

their health and well being

TITAN All adults and children Offers them the latest

international styles in

watches coupled with great

quality

KRACK Cream Women with cracked foot

soles

Keeps foot soles smooth by

preventing them from

cracking and thereby

preventing public

embarrassment

MAGGI NOODLES Mother of school going

active children

Allows the mother to

instantly (in just 2 minutes)

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satisfy the hunger of her

young ones with tasty

noodles

APPLE (Computers) Trendy computer users Offers a humanistic

computer – a computer that

is very user friendly with

aesthetics that are not

machine-like as is the case

with traditional computers.

ALLEN SOLLY White-collared executives Offers them vibrant office

clothing options that makes

them feel more comfortable

and look smart at the

workplace

The brand is a promise that provides the consumer a combination of functional,

emotional and self-expressive (symbolic) benefits.

Functional benefits are based on physical product attributes that give functional

utility to the customer. Some brands which differentiate themselves on the basis of

the functional value they give include Skypak couriers who deliver anywhere in the

world, Duracell batteries which last longer, Natural ice-creams which are 100 percent

natural and Fevikwik which sticks anything in a flash. Functional benefits are directly

linked with the usage situation and brands that own key functional benefits can

dominate product categories (eg Dove moisturizes and Colgate prevents tooth decay

and fights bad breath).

Emotional benefits are the feelings aroused in a consumer as a result of identifying

with the brand through purchase or use. Association with the brand creates feelings of

happiness, love, peace etc. in the consumer. Thus a consumer feels excited when

watching Channel V, auspicious about painting the house with Asian paints, at home

when flying with British Airways and confident with Ponds Dreamflower talc.

Emotions add meaning to the experience of using a brand. Dandi salt, without its

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associations of Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘dandi march’ would revert to being a commodity.

The name ‘Dandi’ evokes images of India’s freedom struggle and ‘satyagraha’,

resulting in an enriched experience in owning and using the brand.

Self-expressive benefits Brands are also bought and used by consumers to express

values about their own selves. For instance, a consumer who wants to project himself

as macho and rugged rides a Bullet Enfield motorcycle, smokes Marlboro cigarettes

or uses Denim aftershave. The brand plays an important role in establishing &

communicating the users identity and values (Belk 1988). The brand confers a distinct

self-expression onto its users and provides the user a way to communicate his or her

self-image. People have multiple facets to their persona. For example, a sales

executive may also be a doting father, tennis player, social worker and engineer. For

each of these personas, the person will have a need to express his self-concept. Use of

brands is one way of achieving this.

Table 1-2 illustrates the difference between Emotional & Self-expressive benefits

Emotional Benefits Self-expressive benefits

These are feelings based benefits (feel

nice, feel patriotic, feel natural).

These are based on the self-image/ self-

identity of the consumer (consumer uses

these products to extend their self-

concept/ self-image – Belk 1988, Sirgy

1982).

Not necessarily socially visible

consumption.

Public settings – socially visible

consumption (so that the consumer can

express something about themselves to

others by the use of the brand ).

Inner directed (i.e, the feelings are

towards oneself – feeling patriotic,

natural, at ease, homely etc)..

Other directed – see self through other

eyes (since these an expression of the self

to others).

Memories of the past (these are based on

nostalgic connections of the past such as

a brand reminds a consumer of a

grandparent, a country, an era or period in

Aspirational (the consumer uses the brand

to extend their self-image/ concept from

the actual perceived self-image to their

ideal-aspirational self-image).

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their lives etc.).

Based on consequences of using the

product.

Based on the act of using the product.

Commodities, Products and Brands

The Oxford business dictionary defines a commodity as “a raw material traded on a

commodity market, such as grain, coffee, cocoa, wool, cotton, jute, rubber, pork

bellies, or orange juice or metals and other solid raw materials.” A commodity is very

basic and rudimentary and satisfies only the core need of the customer

Figure 1-1: Commodities, Products and Brands – What is the difference?

A product is a differentiated commodity. Usually this differentiation is functional and

tangible in nature. Rice, coffee, salt, metals can all be differentiated, for example

basmati rice, instant coffee, free flowing granular salt, iodized salt. A product is

defined as “anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or

consumption that might satisfy a need. It includes physical objects and services”.

Products not only include physical goods and services, but also include retail outlets,

persons, organizations, places, experiences and ideas.

Marketers define a product as “anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a

want or need.” What then is the differentiating line between a commodity and a

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product? Products are created when differentiation is created within a commodity. For

example, table salt was a commodity till the advent of iodized salt, granular free

flowing salt, and 100 percent vegetarian salt. The extent of differentiation results in

different levels of products as defined by Ted Levitt (1980) in the HBR Classic

‘Marketing success through differentiation of anything’:

1. Generic Product – this level corresponds to what has been referred to as

‘commodity’ earlier in this section. A generic product is the minimum offering

needed in order to exist in the market. It is a basic, stripped down version of

the product. Examples of generic products include agricultural produce

(wheat, rice, pulses, fruits, vegetables), table salt, wheat flour, fish, and a lot of

other basic products that are not differentiated at all from one another,

irrespective of the producer or marketer. These products can be differentiated

in many ways; for example, mangoes can be differentiated on the basis of the

variety (Alfonso, Malda, Langda, Totapuri), geographic location where grown

(Ratnagiri Alfonso mangoes from Maharashtra, Goa Mankurad mangoes,

Patna Malda mangoes). The degree of differentiation decides the product

level.

2. Expected Product – are the attributes and benefits consumers expect when

they purchase a product. When consumers purchase vegetables, they expect

the vegetables to be fresh, clean, and free of worm-infestation. Whilst a

consumer primarily expects food from a restaurant, the consumer also expects

cleanliness, good service, adequate lighting, hygienic handling of the food and

comfortable seating. All these attributes together make up the expected

product.

3. Augmented Product – the product can be further differentiated from

competitors by including additional attributes and benefits; thereby, what is

offered to the consumer is more than his expectation. In competitive markets,

companies have to constantly outdo competitors by offering customers more

than the competition in the form of additional features and services. Thus, a lot

of food take-away outlets offer consumers home delivery, facility of ordering

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over the telephone, guarantee of delivering in a fixed period of time

(Domino’s promises to deliver pizza within 30 minutes from the time the

consumer places an order), extend credit facilities, and so on. Product

augmentation is an ongoing activity that companies undertake in their bid to

counter competition. Product augmentations come at a cost and producers

have to take care to ensure that the customer values the augmentation and the

customer is willing to pay for these augmentations. As companies raise their

prices for augmented products, some competitors revert back to offering a bare

stripped-down version of the product that is affordable to a particular segment

of customers. Such examples include ‘no-frills’ airlines like Southwest in the

US; Ryan Air, Easyjet and Go in Europe; and Air Deccan in India.

4. Potential Product – includes all possible future augmentations of the product.

The augmented product describes the product inclusive of augmentations as of

today whilst the potential product consists of all the possible augmentations

that can evolve over a period of time. Companies constantly search for

potential ways of augmenting their augmented products.

Table 1-3 illustrates the four product levels using hotels as a product category.

Table 1-3: Product Levels for Hotels as a category

Level Product Offered

Generic Product A room to relax

Expected Product Expects a clean room, with beds, clean

linen, an attached bathroom & laundry

facilities.

Augmented Product The product can be augmented by

including a basket of fruits, stacked

refrigerator, toiletry kit, access to internet.

Potential Product Potential benefits could include ability to

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personalize the room, linen & service to the

taste of the resident.

What then is a Brand? It is a product that has added dimensions, which differentiate it

from other products. The brand is more than a product: it is both a physical as well as

a psychological entity; whilst the physical aspect of the brand is real, the

psychological part of the brand is perceptual in nature and exists in the mind of the

consumer (Sal 1993). The physical aspect of the brand is tangible in nature and

consists of the attributes of the product (size, shape, weight, colour, fragrance) and its

packaging. The perceptual aspect of the brand consists of all the intangibles that are

part of the brand such as the image of the brand, its perceived quality, consumer

emotions that are evoked by usage or exposure to the brand, the perceived personality

of the brand and so on.

A product offers a functional benefit whilst a brand is a name, sign, symbol or design

that enhances the value of a product beyond functionality. Is a brand then a product

with a name, sign, symbol or design? Contrary to this popular belief, a brand is not

merely a product, service or idea with a name. “A brand name is more than the label

employed to differentiate among the manufacturers of a product. It is a complex

symbol that represents a variety of ideas and attributes. It tells consumers many

things, not only by the way it sounds (and its literal meaning if it has one) but, more

important, via the body of associations it has built up and acquired” over a period of

time (Gardner and Levy 1955). A brand is a differentiated product, service or idea that

is unique from competition. This uniqueness is perceived by consumers and not

created in a laboratory or factory. Whilst products exist in the marketplace, brands

reside in the consumers mind. The uniqueness is meaningless unless it is valuable to

the buyers and users of the brand. Thus, the key differentiator between a brand and

product is its uniqueness that stems from a combination of tangible and intangible

differences the brand has over its competitors. Table 1-4 differentiates between

products and brands.

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Table 1-4: Differences between a Product and a Brand (Hawking 1984)

Product Brand

A product is made in a factory A Brand is what a consumer buys

Is assessed objectively (eg Draught beer,

Brown bread)

Is assessed subjectively (eg. Fosters – The

Australian beer, Coke – The Real Thing)

A product can be copied A brand is unique

A product has a distinct life cycle (eg

Typewriters)

A brand can be timeless (eg. Lux, Levis)

Product development employs existing raw

material, on existing plant, with existing

expertise.

Brand development focuses on delivering

new or improved satisfaction to users

A brand achieves this uniqueness through the various associations it has like the

product it features, country of origin, parent company, packaging, symbol and

advertising. Sony, LG, Samsung, Thomson, BPL, Videocon and a lot of other

companies market television sets with similar physical attributes and functions like

picture tube size and characteristics (like flat screen and screen sizes), number of

channels, audio configuration and other innovative features such as picture-in-picture

facility, bio-friendly emissions, video and internet compatibility and so on. However,

in spite of the barely noticeable difference in the physical attributes and functions of

these televisions, in the mind of the consumer each of these brands is unique to itself

owing to the intangibles bestowed on the brand due to its varied associations such as

country of origin (Sony is Japanese and Japanese electronic gadgets are perceived to

be better than South Korean brands such as LG or Samsung, which in turn are

perceived to be better than Indian brands in this category), organizational associations

(even though Akai is a Japanese brand, the perceived reputation of the organization is

not associated with premium quality products and here the organizational associations

hamper the positive impact of country of origin), advertising (Pepsi is perceived to

have a younger personality than Coca Cola and Thums Up is perceived to be stronger

than Pepsi and Coke owing to its consistent masculine, adventurous advertising

theme), and so on.

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Even though a brand may share a particular association with another brand (both LG

and Samsung have South Korea as their country of origin), the strength of this

association could vary (whilst the pharmaceutical companies Dr Reddys labs, Cipla,

and Wockhardt are all Indian in origin, the consumer would perceive Dr Reddys Labs

to be most Indian, Cipla to be less Indian and probably Wockhardt to be German due

to the way Wockhardt is spelt) and the entire set of brand associations for each brand

will always be unique for all strong brands. Figures 1-2 & 1-3 illustrate the difference

in the association sets of the liquor brands Royal Challenge and Bagpiper (Parulekar

2005).

Figure 1-2 & 1-3: Brand Association sets of Bagpiper and Royal Challenge

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The characteristics of a product are its attributes (Videocon television has Bazooka

sound, Brittania cheese is made of cow’s milk), functional benefits (FeviKwik sticks

fastest, Surf Excel detergent washes whitest), scope (Colgate for all dental care, IBM

provides business solutions), uses (Milkmaid is used for making deserts, Aspirin for

aches and in lower doses for cardiac patients to reduce formation of clots in the

blood), and quality/ value (Classic Ivory soap of P&G is promoted as being 9944/100 %

pure).

Brand characteristics include largely functional product characteristics and additional

psychological characteristics. These additional characteristics are shown in Figure 1-4

below:

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Figure 1-4: The Product and the Brand (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 2000)

Country of origin effects

Products made or originated in different countries are evaluated differently by

consumers. Consumer’s attitudes towards competing products having common

attributes but made in different countries differ widely (Bilkey and Nes 1982).

Where the country has a favorable reputation for a particular technology,

resource, area of expertise or product category, its reputation gets carried over

to the brands made or originating from that country. This is the case for

German cars (Mercedes, BMW), Brazilian coffee, Russian vodka

(Stolichnaya), Indian spices (Everest), Italian design (Ferrari cars, Versace

creations), Japanese electronics (Sony, Hitachi) and Swiss watches (Rolex,

Swatch). This country of origin effects are related to the product that the brand

features. For example, Japanese electronics are rated better than Japanese

food, German beer is favored to German apparel, and Malaysian rubber is

regarded higher than Malaysian cars (Kaynak & Cavusgil 1983).

User Imagery

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Is the image consumers carry in their minds of typical users (people who are

normally seen using the brand) or idealized users (the projected users – models

portrayed using the brands in advertising for the brand). For example,

Mercedes user imagery is upscale corporate executives whilst that of a Ferrari

is a younger flamboyant millionaire heir. User imagery has a large influence in

shaping consumers perception of the personality of the brand. Brands can

influence brand personality by changing the users portrayed in their

advertising. Levis moved away from their established brand personality based

on rugged miners and ranchers in durable denims by using urban, hip user

imagery in their communications aimed at the younger generation (Aaker

1996).

Organizational Associations

Like their set of values, culture, people, assets, competences and goodwill can

provide a basis for creating differentiation in instances where the product as

such is difficult to differentiate. This is true for business-to-business, service,

high technology, and consumer durables brands. In all these industries

competition easily overcomes differentiation by way of product attributes and

it is these organizational associations that are almost impossible to copy.

These firms add a lot of intangibles to the product through their reputations of

being innovative, responsible socially, dynamic, competitive, committed to

customers and the environment (Aaker 1996).For example, computer brand

Apple symbolizes humanistic values in a mechanical world of computers –

this has a positive rub-off on the products featured in the Apple brands like I-

Mac & I-Book.

Brand Personality

Is the visualization of the brand as a person. Consumers perceive certain

human traits in brands like ‘masculinity’ (Axe is masculine and so is Denim),

‘sophistication’ (Axe is more sophisticated than Denim – the product,

packaging, user profile and advertising of Axe are all more sophisticated than

that of Denim), ‘ruggedness’ (Denim is more rough, tough and rugged, whilst

Axe is more suave), ‘youth’ (Dabur is old, Indian and wise, whilst Pepsi is

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young, American and energetic). These characteristics include demographic

characteristics like gender, age, social class, and personality traits like

excitement, competence, sincerity, sophistication and ruggedness (Aaker

1997). Brand personality makes a brand interesting, memorable and unique.

Personality adds on valuable intangible benefits to a brand and forms the basis

for brand-customer relationships.

Symbols

Can be any visual representation of a brand and includes logos (the bitten

apple of Apple computers, the red heart of Maggi), colors (the colors of the

American flag for Pepsi, plain red for Coke), taglines (Hamara Bajaj, Jara sa

Rin), characters (Gattu of Asian Paints, Ronald McDonald of MacDonald’s,

Olympics mascots), jingles (Titan jingle, the long running Nirma jingle),

gestures (‘V’ gesture for Channel V, thumbs up sign for Thums Up),

packaging (Coke bottle, Catch salt and pepper containers, packaging of Titan

Fastrack watches in special tins), scenes or pictures (Marlboro country). A

symbol can enhance the memorability (recognition and recall) of a brand.

Brand-Customer Relationships

Brand-customer relationships are based on the positive feelings (love, passion,

friendship, fun) that a brand evokes in the customer. Brand-customer

relationships of a personal nature are also common. “A brand of air freshener

that grandmother kept in her bathroom, a floor cleaner that an ex-husband

always used – these brands can become so strongly associated with the past

that the person’s spirit comes to dwell in the brand and is evoked reliably with

each use (Fournier 1998). Most brand-customer relationships emanate when

the brand is considered as an organization (since organizations have person

like characteristics and traits) or person. Consumer’s feelings, concerns, and

life experiences make them likely to develop relationships with brands that

add meaning in their lives. Put otherwise, consumers do not choose brands

they choose lives. For example, advertising for Everest masala plays on the

nostalgia of providing the same flavor and taste as the food cooked by your

own mother.

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Emotional benefits

Emotional benefits are based on the ability of the brand to evoke feelings in

the user or buyer when they purchase or use the brand. For example, Camlin

brings back nostalgic memories of school days, consumers feel safe in a

Volvo, patriotic in Khadi garments and a women consumer feels like an

actress after bathing with Lux soap. For the consumer, these feelings result in

an enhanced experience with the brand.

Self-Expressive benefits

Exist when consumers associate themselves with some brands that allow them

to express themselves and portray their self-image. A person may express an

image of being daring and adventurous by smoking Red & White cigarettes,

drinking Thums Up, wearing Killer jeans and driving a Jeep. The distinction

between emotional and self-expressive benefits has been discussed earlier in

this chapter in Table 1-2.

Figure 1-5 distinguishes between a product and brand using Marlboro cigarettes

as an example

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Over a period of time, competitors will try to eliminate the uniqueness of a brand by

copying the functional & psychological associations it has created (Keller et al. 2002).

Any brand uniqueness generates plagiarism from competitors and then attributes that

were once a point of parity can quickly become a standard that all competing brands

adopt and customers grow accustomed to. Ranbaxy, the biggest Indian pharmaceutical

company, was the first company to market the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in India,

branded as Cifran. Cifran went on to become the most successful launch of 1989.

However, the phenomenal success of Ciprofloxacin as an antibiotic attracted more

than 50 companies to this market, resulting in the launch of many competing brands

to Cifran. The Alcipro brand of Alkem Laboratories, which was priced significantly

lower than Cifran, made a significant dent in the sales of Cifran since consumers

perceived hardly any differentiation between the two brands and hence the lower price

of Alcipro tilted the consumers purchase decision in its favor.

Consumer brands, which are category pioneers, are most susceptible to these

phenomena. At launch, these brands are relatively basic, yet differentiated from

49

competition. Over a period of time, these brands become category identifiers (like

Xerox for photocopying and Colgate for toothpastes) and generic in nature (they

enjoy high recognition & recall, but low perceived difference) and run the risk of

being substituted by retailers and consumers (Kapferer 2000) with cheaper or similar

alternatives that offer the retailer better returns. In India, the brand name Bisleri has

become synonymous with bottled water. The widespread awareness of Bisleri should

have resulted in Bisleri easily being the largest selling brand in India; however Bisleri

ranks a far third in the market in terms of sales, behind Kinley and Aquafina. When

the consumer asks for Bisleri, the retailer can freely substitute the brand with any

other competing brand largely because the consumer doesn’t perceive any difference

between Bisleri and other brands such as Bailey, Aquafina and Kinley. This is

because Bisleri has not been able to maintain its differentiation and uniqueness vis-à-

vis these brands.

Benefits of Branding

Branding (the process of creating and managing brands) involves a lot of additional

costs, which are needed to create awareness, recognition, recall, a brand image and a

position in the mind of the consumer. What makes firms and customers opt for brands

in spite of the higher cost?

Consumer Perspective

Brands allow the consumer to identify the maker or seller of a product and protect

them by enabling them to assign responsibility of product performance on the

producer. More importantly, brand names help consumers to shop more efficiently by

relying on their past experiences with the brand and through the advertising and

promotion program of the brand over the years. Due to this exposure and experience

to the brand, consumers have some knowledge about the brand (attributes, benefits,

quality, price and so on), this saves them the trouble (and cost) of searching for and

processing information to make a purchase decision. This knowledge helps them find

out which brands are likely to satisfy their needs and wants and which brands will not.

50

When a consumer buys an unbranded product, like unbranded salt, the consumer

needs to engage into more information search and processing in order to ascertain its

quality, reliability, taste and other relevant features. In the case of branded products

such as Tata salt, the consumer associates the brand name with trust and quality.

When a consumer needs battery cells that last longer, the consumer purchases and

uses Duracell and doesn’t need to find out information to compare various competing

batteries on their long lasting performance. Brands simplify the purchase decision and

thereby gain time for the consumer thereby providing the consumer a shorthand

device for making purchase decisions (Chernatony & McWilliam 1989).

Well-known brands can reduce perceived risk of buying complex products and

services where the prospective consumer finds it difficult to evaluate the attributes of

the product. When consumers travel to new countries where they need to make a

choice between local brands (which they are unaware of) and brands that are

marketed in the country as well as their home country, since consumers are familiar

with the brands that they have had a previous experience with, they would prefer

buying and using these brands instead of the local brands as they perceive lower risk

with purchase and usage of these brands. Hence, transnational brands such as

McDonalds, Dominos, Nike, Coke, Pepsi, Sony, and Mercedes get customer

patronage across geographical boundaries from customers for whom these brands are

well known and who associate lower risk with the purchase and consumption of these

brands.

Consumers can evaluate tangible product characteristics like size, shape, color,

weight, sturdiness, composition, and style by physical inspection of the product.

However, evaluating equally important intangibles like reliability, compatibility,

quality of service, image, social acceptability, and status is a rather difficult task for

the prospective buyer. In these cases, the prospective buyer relies on the brand image

and advertising of the brand. The consumer knows only advertising and through the

position the brand occupies in his or her mind that Coke is ‘the real thing’ (the

original cola), Louis Philippe is for ‘the upper crest’ (successful white collared

professionals), smoking Marlboro cigarettes is seen by others as more macho than

smoking Gold Flake cigarettes, and driving a Mercedes is perceived to be more

prestigious than driving a Toyota. For all these brands, the consumer can evaluate the

51

tangible differences between these products but has to rely on perception and

advertising for the intangibles that are an essential part of brands.

Products have three different types of characteristics:

Physical characteristics, which can be evaluated by visual inspection before

purchase

Experience characteristics like performance, ease of use, comfort – which can

be evaluated by product trial (experience of using the product)

Credence characteristics, which cannot be evaluated and are accepted on the

basis of trust, and external indicators like advertising and word of mouth.

The first type of characteristics include style, size, color, material used, price which

are all tangible in nature and consumers can evaluate these attributes by physical

examination of the product. There is hardly any advantage that brands offer in such

products.

When deciding on the purchase of an automobile, a consumer can assess style,

physical features and price before purchase. However, characteristics like pleasure of

driving, comfort, ease of handling, reliability and quality can only be partially

assessed by experiencing a test drive. The test drive experience when supplemented

by a reassurance through word of mouth and advertising exposure allows the

consumer to make a complete evaluation of the product. This is where brands play a

role. Finally, credence characteristics for premium products (expensive cars, apparel,

perfumes, art) include snob value, the feeling of success (of ‘having arrived’ or

achieved in life) as a result of buying and owning premium brands like a Mercedes,

Armani suit or Luis Vuittton bags; are purely a function of your trust and faith. It is a

belief that the buyer has and is generally shared by other buyers and non-buyers. The

inability to evaluate product characteristics increases the perceived risk consumers

experience during product purchase.

52

The risk perceived by consumers in a purchase situation can be of many kinds

(Loudon & Della Bitta 2002):

Functional or performance risk – the product may not perform up to the level

of consumers’ expectation

Monetary or financial risk – the product is not worth the price paid for it

Physical risk – the product or its side-effect is harmful or injurious to the users

health

Social risk – when association with the product through ownership or usage

negatively affects the way others think about the consumer

Psychological risk – when the product causes anxiety and affects the mental

well-being of the consumer

Time risk – is the time and effort the consumer has to expend in replacing the

product with an alternative in case the fails to perform

The degree of risk perceived varies depending upon the context of product usage. For

example, there is higher risk when buying a shirt for a job interview than for a

weekend outing with friends. Consumers use various strategies to reduce perceived

risk. One such strategy to cope with risk is to only buy well-known brands and rely on

their /its/ reputation. Another risk reduction method is to buy a brand that the

consumer has used in the past and has found satisfactory or has had favorable

experiences with. Brands thrive as the perceived risk increases. Once the risk

disappears, the brand loses its importance.

Brands also have special meanings to customers. Strong brand preference is created

on the basis of what the brand means to the customer and the relationship between a

customer and a brand is analogous to that between two people. Just as the behavior of

a person affects his or her perception by others, similarly the behavior of a brand also

53

affects the way it is perceived by its consumers. For instance, if the brand is

frequently available on sale or discount, the consumer perceives it to be cheap and

uncultured; if the brand advertises extensively, offers strong customer service and has

ease of handling and use, the consumer perceives it to be more approachable and

friendly than a high priced and exclusively distributed brand. This relationship

between the consumer and a brand is based on an implicit understanding that the

brand will provide the consumers ‘need satisfaction’ consistently. In return, the

consumer puts his trust and loyalty in the brand. However, this relationship is

reciprocal and would be damaged in cases of product stock-out or due to changes in

the brand that are not acceptable to the consumer. For example, when most Indian

lower middle consumers think of health soap, what comes to mind is the distinct

reddish, brick-shaped Lifebuoy soap with a carbolic odor (similar to the odor in a

hospital ward). However, after the repositioning of the Lifebuoy brand, the original

Lifebuoy soap was taken off the market to be replaced by a more sophisticated range

of family soaps. This may hamper the relationship of Lifebuoy with many consumers

who were brand loyalists.

Brands also allow consumers to project their self-concept. By associating with these

brands, consumers can communicate to others the kind of person they are (actual self-

concept) or the type of person they aspire to become (their ideal self-concept). This is

illustrated by this 40 year old man’s view of the importance of his Porsche 928 car

(Stein 1985):

“when I pass by teenage girls (in my Porsche 928) on suburban streets, they stare

and smile. When I pull up next to a snooty beauty in a black Rolls convertible, she

winks. When I am out of the car in my own skin, the same women look at me, look

through me, and virtually scream “who is this geek with the gray hair and the

glasses?”

Table 1-5: lists down the benefits of branding for consumers

Function of Brand Benefit to Consumer

54

Identification of producer or seller of

product

Protects consumers by allowing them to

assign responsibility for product

performance

Shorthand device for decision

making

Allow savings of time and energy

through reduced information search and

processing

Promise of consistent quality Consumer is sure of same quality

irrespective of when and where the brand

is purchased

Risk reducer Choosing brands reduces perceived risk

when evaluation of features and benefits

of the product is difficult

Relationship with the consumer Satisfaction as a result of familiarity,

intimacy and identifiability of the

consumer with the brand

Symbolic device Enables the consumers to express their

self-concept

Benefits of Branding – Marketers Perspective

Branding provides firms several valuable advantages. Brands serve an identification

function, thereby making it easier for the producer, seller or distributor to process and

track the product, help organize inventory and maintain accounting records (Kotler

2004). For example, Coca Cola India markets more than 35 different types of

beverage SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) across the country. These SKUs cater to the

needs and wants of different customers, for example, Diet Coke is consumed by

weight or calorie conscious consumers and the 2 litre bottles of Coke, Limca, Sprite

and other soft drinks are bought for consumption at parties (many times to mix with

liquor) and for family consumption. As these numerous SKUs are marketed under

55

various brand names (Coke, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Sunfill and

Kinley), it makes it a lot easier and efficient for the company to organize inventory,

track an individual SKU, and manage accounting records.

A brand can be legally protected against copying of unique aspects of the product and

the brand (such as the name, logo, unique product attributes, jingle and various other

brand elements). This protection is available in the form of trademarks (for the brand

name, logo, symbol), copyrights (for packaging, design, taglines), and patents (for the

manufacturing process or product attributes). This allows the firm to safely invest in

the future of the brand – in research, innovation and brand building, without the fear

of copying by competitors. Firms can also earn substantial royalties by granting

licenses of these legally protected assets to partnering firms, thereby enabling entry

into newer markets where the brand is well known but the firm doesn’t have a

presence. UCB pharma, a Belgium based pharmaceutical company having market

presence mainly in Europe synthesized a new generation anti-allergic molecule called

Cetrizine. UCB marketed cetirizine in Europe under the brand name Zyrtec that soon

became one of the largest selling anti-allergics in Europe. UCB decided to introduce

Cetirizine in the United States where they had a very weak presence and hence

decided to enter the market by licensing the brand name Zyrtec to Pfizer. The

transnational burger chain McDonalds has a presence across the globe through the

licensing of the Mac brand name to business partners. Honda entered the Indian

market through a partnership with Kinetic engineering for marketing scooters (Kinetic

Honda) and Hero motors for motorcycles (Hero Honda). The association with the

Honda brand resulted in the consumers preferring and willing to pay a premium for

the two-wheelers of Kinetic engineering and Hero motors.

Brands fetch a price premium over unbranded products as consumers are willing to

pay higher prices for the perceived unique benefits that it provides them (Davis 2000).

Pillsbury atta costs a customer more than unbranded wheat flour. It is also the case

with Tata or Captain Cook salt. Tanishq jewelry costs a consumer at least 20 per cent

more than a comparable item at a family jeweler.

Since brands are a basis for identification and a promise of consistent quality

(irrespective of when and where the brand is bought) for consumers, in most cases

56

satisfied buyers of the brand choose the brand repeatedly, leading to creation of brand

loyalty. Brand loyalty results in repeated purchase of the brand by the loyal consumer.

The company does not need to constantly woo the customer through advertising

thereby resulting in savings and increased profitability for the company. Moreover,

these satisfied brand loyal customers function as ambassadors for the brand by

influencing a large number of prospective buyers through word-of-mouth. This brand

loyalty improves the predictability and sustainability of demand for the firm resulting

in greater control of inventory, production and marketing. This results in cost

efficiency due to lower customer acquisition and retention costs, and lower production

and inventory costs. The cost advantage and brand loyalty creates barriers of entry

against competitors. Brand loyalty also results in better bargaining power for the firm

with their buyers (distributors, dealers, retailers, brokers and salesmen) because there

exists a “pull” effect for the product which reduces the dependence on trade partners.

Brands can thereby become a source of competitive advantage. Additionally, strong

brands have the resilience to endure difficult situations like economic downturn and

product mishaps. Coca-Cola survived product quality problems in Europe in mid

1990s. In 2003, Pepsi and Coca-Cola survived reports of the presence of pesticides

above limits in their bottles and cans. Even if strong brands are not promoted for a

short period of time, they do not immediately lose out on consumer patronage. In

1993, Coca Cola bought the leading cola brand Thums Up from Parle Industries with

the objective of eliminating the brand and thereby reducing competition in the cola

market. However, in spite of not being advertised and promoted for a couple of

months, consumers still continued to patronize the brand. Although the visibility for

the Coca-Cola brand is higher than that for Thums Up, Thums Up still manages to

outsell Coke by 30 percent.

Brands find easier acceptance by the trade (distributors, wholesalers and retailers)

resulting in wider product availability, lower slotting allowances and more shelf space

(Gibson 1988). Strong brands have the ability to pull customers into the stores that

carry them whilst products are unable to do so. This is because of the uniqueness of

the brands which prevents the retailer from finding a substitute to the brand that is

acceptable. Whilst at a product level Lux and Nirma offer the consumer a beauty

soap, the consumer perceives each of these brands to be distinct from one another –

57

Lux being the soap that film actresses use and Nirma being an affordable and efficient

beauty soap but not premium enough for a budding film actress. Hence, supermarkets

and convenience stores need to carry the brand (Lux) even if HLL doesn’t agree to

pay slotting fees or give higher margins. In the pharmaceutical sector, all brands that

market a drug are bound by the Drug and Control Act to comply to the same stringent

quality standards and hence competing products have hardly any functional

differentiators from each other. In spite of this, very few consumers will accept any

other paracetamol brand than Crocin and this undermines the bargaining power that

retailers have over firms that market these brands.

Marketers can do segmentation of markets by introducing a number of products from

the same category, each under a different brand name and image that caters to a

specific market segment. Arvind Mills makes different brands of jeans, each targeted

at a different income segment. The various branded jeans Arvind Mills markets are

Ruf-n-Tuf, Newport, Flying Machine, Wrangler and Lee. Similarly Hindustan Lever

use its brands Active Wheel, Rin, Surf and Surf Excel to segment its detergent buyers

into distinct segments.

Brands, unlike products, do not have a life cycle – they can live forever if managed

well (Arnold 1992). Products have a distinct life cycle which consists of four phases –

introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The relationship between the sales and

profitability vis-à-vis the stage of the life-cycle the product is in is illustrated in table

1-6 below.

Table 1-6: Product Life Cycle – Impact on Sales, Profitability and Marketing

Strategy

Parameter Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Type of

Customers

Innovators Mass Markets Mass Markets Laggards

Sales Growth

Rate

Moderate Fast No Growth Negative

Growth

Marketing

Strategy

Creating

Awareness

Creating

Preference

Low Pricing Specialised –

targeted at a

58

over

competitors

niche

Pricing High Lower Lowest Rising

Profitability Negative Higher Peak profit

and then

declines

Declining

profits

(Adapted from John Smallwood, “The Product Life Cycle: A Key to Strategic

Marketing Planning,” MSU Business Topics, Winter 1973, pp: 29-35)

In the introduction stage, the product has to be made aware to consumers and this

involves an advertising outlay. However at this stage, the sales are relatively low. As

a consequence, during introduction, the company operates at a loss and invests for the

future. As the product gains acceptance, sales grow at a fast rate. This is the growth

phase of the life cycle. This stage also attracts a lot of competitors who promote the

product and this added advertising and promotion of the product results in accelerated

sales growth. Over a period of time, the market gets saturated or competitors develop

newer superior alternate products, which better satisfy the needs of the market. This

results in stagnation of the sales of the existing product. This period of stagnation is

the maturity phase. Gradually newer products and technology cut into the sales of this

existing product resulting in decline of the product (decline stage) and ultimately

leading to obsolescence of the product. When the product that the brand represents

reaches stagnation or decline (due to technological obsolescence or because

consumers preferences have changed) the brand can replace the obsolete product with

a newer product that can satisfy the consumer needs and preferences. Consumer

durable brands like BPL, LG, Sony, and Videocon keep changing the products

associated with their brand name whenever technology or the consumer makes the

older product obsolete. Brands can also facilitate revenue growth through

‘extensions’. Denim extended from after-shave lotion to shaving cream, toilet soap

and talc. Nike extended from shoes to sportswear, bags, eyewear and time-wear.

Burnol antiseptic cream has been very strongly related to burns – it has a strong

perception in the minds of consumers as an antiseptic to be used in cases of burns.

The brand is very firmly entrenched as the leader in the antiseptic for burns category,

however due to the limited appeal of the category, the sales of Burnol were stagnant

59

for sometime. After Boots sold the brand to Dr Morepen, the company has tried to

expand the appeal of Burnol as an antiseptic for multiple purposes and not just burns.

As the product goes into the maturity and decline phase, the brand can drop the

product and move to another product that is in the introduction or growth phase.

Gillette has moved from shaving rounds to shaving cream, shaving foam and shaving

gel as shaving rounds became obsolete. Similarly, Colgate has toothpowder, cream-

based toothpaste and the currently popular gel-based toothpaste.

Today brands are one of the most valuable assets of firms. Brands can be bought and

sold by companies, thereby providing firms security of sustained earnings in the

future. It is for the same reason that the most valuable assets of companies today are

their brands rather than their fixed assets like factories, equipment and offices. The

value of all the brands of Hindustan Lever is far greater than either their annual

turnover or the book value of all their offices, godowns and manufacturing facilities.

The Table 1-7 lists down the ten most valuable brands in the world:

Table 1-7: The World’s top 10 Brands

Rank Brand Sector Brand Value

2011 ($ Bn)

1 Coca-Cola Beverages 71.9

2 IBM Business Services 69.9

3 Microsoft Computer

Software

59.1

4 Google Internet Services 55.3

5 GE Diversified 42.8

6 McDonald’s Restaurants 35.6

7 Intel Electronics 35.2

60

8 Apple Electronics 33.5

9 Disney Media 29.0

10 HP Electronics 28.5

(2011 Ranking of the 100 Top Brands, Interbrand 2011)

Companies pay hefty sums of money for acquiring brands. Some recent examples of

brand acquisitions in India are presented:

In 1993, Coca-Cola paid close to Rs 175 crore to buy soft drink brands

Thumbs Up, Limca, Citra and Gold Spot from Parle

In 1994, Godrej soaps paid Rs 12 crore to pocket Goodknight (the mosquito

repellant brand from Transelektra

In 1995, Smithkline Beecham paid Rs 42 crore to bag Crocin from Duphar-

Interfran

In 1997, Hindustan Lever Limited paid Rs 110 crores for Lakme’s brands and

only Rs 29 crores for their 2 manufacturing plants.

Ranbaxy paid Rs 80 crore to Gufic Laboratories for their antibiotic brands

Mox, Zole, Excel and Suprimox

Table 1-8 summarizes the benefits of branding for companies

Benefits of Branding for Companies

Means of identification to simplify operations

Brands command a price premium

Branding can be used to segment markets

Source of competitive advantage

Brands can create entry barriers for competitors

Means of legal protection of product uniqueness

Create customer loyalty

61

Better bargaining power over trade partners

Brands can be bought or sold

Resilience to endure crisis

Longevity through extensions

Easier trade acceptance and wider product availability

Types of Brands

Firms engage in various types of brand strategies. Whilst at one extreme there are

firms that brand all their products with the corporate name (Samsung, Philips, Ford),

there are also firms like Procter and Gamble where each product has a different brand

name (Ariel, Tide, Camay, Crest, Pringles). Table 1-9 highlights the salient features

of each of these types of brands.

Table 1-9: Types of Brands

Type of Brand Characteristics Examples

Corporate

Monolithic Brand

All products are

branded with the

corporate name

Reliance – Salt, Trucks, Tea,

Coffee, Infotech, Steel, Cement,

Chemicals

Samsung – Televisions, Cameras,

Refrigerators, Microwaves,

Computer drives & monitors,

Cellphones, Washing Machines,

Laptops

Corporate Endorsed

Brand

Combine the corporate

name and a unique

name for each product

Cadburys Dairy Milk, Cadburys

Drinking Chocolate, Cadburys

Perk, Cadburys Temptations,

Cadburys Gems

Honda Activa, Honda Dio, Honda

62

Eterno, Honda City, Honda

Accord, Honda CRV

Individual Brand The brand features only

a single product

Marico – Parachute, Revive, Hair

N Care, Keo Karpin

Godrej – Navtal, Cinthol, Ganga,

Ezee, Colorsoft

Range Brand Many related products

share the same brand

name (where the brand

name is not the

corporate name)

Maggi – Seasoning Cubes,

Noodles, Soups, Sauces, Pickles,

Dosa Mix

Kissan – Sauces, Jams,

Marmalades, Squashes, Tomato

Puree, Atta

Summary

A brand is/as/ a differentiated product, wherein this differentiation is a combination of

tangible characteristics like size, shape, color, design and features of the brand and

intangibles like the image, quality, personality and symbolic meanings of the brand. A

brand is a promise to the consumer that it will provide a combination of certain

functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits that are unique and consistently

better than any competitive offering. A brand is unique from any other offering and

when it loses its uniqueness, it gets relegated to product status.

A brand is not merely a named product. It is a unique product that achieves its

uniqueness through a combination of tangible and intangible attributes such as the

functions it performs, its physical attributes (such as size, shape, color, taste), country

of origin, user imagery, organizational associations (the producer and seller of the

brand), brand personality, symbols of identification of the brand, the relationship

between the customer and brand, and lastly, the emotional and self-expressive

benefits the brand provides the consumer.

63

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