Branding

There are millions of products and services all over the world, each claims to be the best among their category. But, every product is not equally popular. Consumer doesn't remember every product, only few products are remembered by their name, logo, or slogan. Such products generate desired emotions in the mind of consumer. It is branding that makes product popular and known in the market; branding is not an activity that can be done overnight, it might takes months and even years to create a loyal and reputed brand.

Branding gives personality to a product; packaging and labelling put a face on the product. Effective packaging and labelling work as selling tools that help marketer sell the product.

According to American Marketing Association -  Brand is "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."

According to Philip Kotler- "Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors"

Branding is “a seller’s promise to deliver a specific set of features, benefits and services consistent to the buyers.”

Meaning of Branding

Branding is a process of creating a unique name and image for a product in the mind of consumer, mainly through advertising campaigns. A brand is a name, term, symbol, design or combination of these elements, used to identify a product, a family of products, or all products of an organisation.

Branding is an important component of product planning process and an important and powerful tool for marketing and selling products.

Elements of Branding

Brand includes various elements like - brand names, trade names, brand marks, trade marks, and trade characters. The combination of these elements form a firm's corporate symbol or name.

• Brand Name: It is also called Product Brand. It can be a word, a group of words, letters, or numbers to represent a product or service. For example - Pepsi, iPhone 5, and etc. 

• Trade Name: It is also called Corporate Brand. It identifies and promotes a company or a division of  a particular corporation. For example - Dell, Nike, Google, and etc.

• Brand Mark: It is a unique symbol, colouring, lettering, or other design element. It is visually recognisable, not  necessary to be pronounced. For example - Apple's apple, or Coca-cola's cursive typeface.

• Trade Mark: It is a word, name, symbol, or combination of these elements. Trade mark is legally protected by government. For example - NBC colourful peacock, or McDonald's golden arches. No other organisation can use these symbols.

• Trade Characters: Animal, people, animated characters, objects, and the like that are used to advertise a product or service, that come to be associated with that product or service. For example - Keebler Elves for Keebler cookies 

Branding Strategises 

There are various branding strategies on which marketing organisations rely to meet sales and marketing objectives. Some of these strategies are as following:

• Brand Extension: According to this strategy, an existing brand name is used to promote a new or an improved product in an organisation's product line. Marketing organisations uses this strategy to minimise the cost of launching a new product and the risk of failure of new product. There is risk of brand diluting if a product line is over extended.

• Brand Licensing: According to this strategy, some organisations allow other organisations to use their brand name, trade name, or trade character. Such authorisation is a legal licensing agreement for which the licensing organisation receives royalty in return for the authorisation. Organisations follow this strategy to increase revenue sources, enhance organisation image, and sell more of their core products. 

• Mixed Branding: This strategy is used by some manufacturers and retailers to sell products. A manufacturer of a national brand can make a product for sale under another company's brand. Like this a business can maintain brand loyalty through its national brand and increase its product mix through private brands. It can increase its profits by selling private brands without affecting the reputation and sales of its national brand.

• Co-Branding: According to this strategy one or more brands are combined in the manufacture of a product or in the delivery of a service to capitalise on other companies' products and services to reach new customers and increase sales for both companies' brands.