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DMA 412: BRAND MANAGEMENT BY DR JUSTUS M MUNYOKI, PHD 2013

INTRODUCTION
Branding is very old concept used to distinguish goods Derived from the Old Norse word brandr, meaning to burn. Was used to mark animals by burning them with a hot metal rod

What is a brand ?

Brand a name, term, sign , symbol or design used to identify a product or service as distinct from those of competitors (AMA).

Brand names could be related to the company or may be unrelated at all. Some may be related to individuals, or geographical features such as mountains, rivers etc

Brand elements like logos may also be based on people, places or

Differences between a brand and a product

Product: anything that can be offered in the market for attention, use or consumption to satisfy a need or a want. Product could be defined at

The core benefit level: the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service

The generic product level: basic version of the product containing only those characteristics absolutely necessary for its functioning but with no distinguishing features

The expected product level: those attributes customers expect to get in a product

Augmented product level: includes additional product benefits, attributes, that distinguish the product from that of competitors

Potential product level: includes all the augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future

A brand is more than a product, because it can have dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. .

This is what makes a branded product different from a similar product that is not branded Brands play different roles to consumers and to manufacturers

By creating perceived differences among products through branding and by developing a loyal consumer franchise, marketers create value that results in financial gain to the firm.

Branding helps consumers to create a mental structure about the product. A brand resides in the minds of the consumer. It is a reflection of the perceptions of the consumers

The Brand equity concept This is the marketing effects uniquely attributable to a brand. It constitutes the added value a product gets as a result of past investments in the marketing activity for the brand

Brand equity is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product or its marketing

STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT PROCESS 1. Identify and establishing brand positioning Creating brand superiority in the minds of the consumers, so that they can use the points of difference a brand has over competitors, as well as alleviating concerns about possible disadvantages (Points of parity).

Establish a mental map (visual depiction of the different types of association liked to the brand), are brand as mantra ( brand essence or brand, promise). Also useful to define the Brand mantra: A short 3 to 4 word expression of the most important aspects of a brand and its core brand association. Also known as Brand essence or brand promise

2. Planning and implementing brand marketing programme. Involves mixing and matching of brand elements implanting brand marketing activities leveraging secondary activities

Branding may be associated with other characters like channels of distribution, location licensing or people ( through endorsements) sporting or cultural events ( through sponsorships) and hence the need to create the brands own equity through levering these associations.

3. Measuring and interpreting brand performance this is done through Brand value chain (tracing value creation of the brand), Brand audits ( comprehensive examination of the brand to assess its strengths and areas of improvement), Brand tracking and brand equity management systems.

4. Growing and sustaining brand equity. Have a brand product matrix (graphical presentation of all the brands and products sold by the firm) and brand hierarchy (displays the number and nature of common and distinctive brand components across the firms products).

The firm needs also to develop a brand portfolio ( set of all brands and brand lines that a particular firm offers from sale to buyers in a particular category.

BRAND EQUITY ASSESTS These include brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations.

Brand loyalty Behavior that leads to repeat purchase . Indication of commitment towards a product or company. a function of both behavior and attitude

It is a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand and reflects how likely a customer will be to switch to another brand, especially when that brand makes a change, either in price, product features, communications or distribution programs. Brand loyalty represents the love of a brands equity.

It is the ultimate objective and meaning of brand equity. Still, brand loyalty cant be analyzed without considering its relationship to other descriptive dimensions of brand equity like awareness, perceived quality or associations.

Brand loyalty is one of the major elements that underlie brand equity. Brand loyalty is a behavioral response and is a function of psychological process (Jacoby and Keyner, 1973) which means that brand loyalty is a function of both behavior and attitude.

Marketing practitioners thus have to posses adequate knowledge and understanding of brand loyalty as loyal customers are less likely to switch but rather increase their purchase pattern in relation to non-loyal customers If the company can retain 5% more of its loyal customers, profits will increase by 25%-125%, .

its more expensive to retain a customer than to acquire one; it is easier to sell more products to one loyal customer than to sell the same amount to two new customers

Brand loyalty increases a companys profitability by reducing the cost of doing business loyal customers provide free advertisement through positive word of mouth thus increasing customer base. .

Brand Associations The way a customer relates a brand experience with existing brand information Has to do with specific brand attributes and brand benefits

Brand associations Branding UON: Association

Associations: UON
Globally recognized Indiscipline

The Univer sity

Variety of courses
Poor school management/adm in Poor facility management/s anitation

Heritage
Best quality of education

Highly Qualified lecturers

Sleeping giant

UON was largely associated with good quality of education, resources, heritage but poor management and discipline

Brand Awareness Brand recognition and brand recall Recognition: can the consumer recognize the brand as on previously used? Recall: can consumer retrieve the brand from memory

Can be enhanced through advertising, using simple names, symbols, logos etc

BRAND ELEMENTS Brand names, logos, symbols, characters, trade marks, slogans, packaging, positioning

Brand equity elements Logos and symbols Logos are mainly used to indicate the origin, ownership and association. They range from corporate names or trademarks to entirely abstract design that are completely unrelated to the word mark, corporate name or corporate activities.

Logos: brands with strong word marks and no accompanying logo separate from the name. Eg Coca cola, symbols : abstract logos which have no word mark include Mercedes star, Nike etc.

Logos and symbols are easily recognized and can be a valuable way to identify products, they are also very versatile arise they are usually non word, and can thus be easily trumpeted across cultures.

Characters These represent a special type of brand symbol, and takes on human or real life characteristics

Commonly used in advertising and can play a central role in advertising campaigns and package designs. E.g the dancing robot used by Barclays Bank to introduce ATM cards.

Very useful in creating brand awareness. The human element of brand characteristics can enhance likeability and helps to create perceptions of the brand as fun and interesting. May also be transferred easily across product categories since they do not typically have a direct product meaning.

Slogans These are short phrases that provide descriptive information about the brand. They are powerful branding devices because like names, they are an extremely efficient, short hand means to build brand equity.

They are very good at translating and summarizing the intent of a marketing program in a few short words or phrases.

It is very difficult to change the slogan for a product especially when customers get used to it or when it becomes very closely linked to the brand.

Examples of slogans The shoes that say you know Africa- Bata The pride of Africa KQ

Slogans are perhaps the easiest brand elements to change. However ,one must ensure that the qualities of the slogan that contribute most towards brand equity are retained.

Packaging As a brand element, packaging must be able to identity the product, and convey descriptive and persuasive information. Marketers must choose the aesthetic and functional components of packaging correctly.

To achieve marketing objectives and meet consumers needs, size, shape, material and colour must be carefully chosen

Packaging can become an important means of brand recognition and convey information needed to enhance brand association. It can create very strong appeal on the store shelf and stand out from the clutter. It is a very cost effective way to build brand equity.

According to psychology of packaging, packaging ; Can influence taste Can influence value Can influence consumption Can influence how a person uses a product.

Brand positioning Brand positioning is the act of designing the companys offer and image so that it occupies a distinct place in the minds of customers.

Positioning guidelines This entails Defining and communicating the competitive frame of references. One need to determine the category membership the products competing with the brand. For instance are Sony computers in the same class as Dell, HP?

It is very important to make it clear to the customers, the brands actual membership In choosing points of differences (POD) one must consider desirability and Deliverability criteria.

Desirability criteria, Marketers must assess relevance, distinctiveness and believability from the consumer perspective. Relevance target consumer must find the POD personality relevant and important to them.

Distinctiveness target consumers must find the POD distinctive and superior. E.g for medicine, to say fast relief is more appealing than long lasting relief, which may imply slow acting.

Believability A brand must offer a compelling and credible reasons for choosing it over the other options.

Positioning implies finding the proper location in the minds of consumers goods brand (positioning helps to guide market strategy by clarifying what a brand is all about, its uniqueness and similarities with competing brands, and why consumer should purchase it.

Deliverability criteria In order for positioning to have the potential to endure, it should satisfy the deliverability criteria of feasibility, communicability and sustainability.

Feasibility it is better to try and create a POD, by coming up with something new and convince consumer about it, than to make changes in a product and try to convince consumers about the changes

communicability. It is important to convince consumers to belief in the brand and its desired associations, always come up with brand positioning strategy that is easy to communicate,

sustainability. The brand positioning should be sustainable over time. This depends largely on the internal commitment and use of resources as well as external market forces.

The positioning must be highly differentiated in order to be effective. .

2. Establishing points of parity and points of differences. One of the challenges in getting attributes of PODs is that they tend to be negatively correlated e.g Low price Vs high quality Nutritious Vs good tasting Powerful Vs safe

The challenge is that competitors often try to achieve their POD on an attribute that is negatively correlated with the POD of the target brand. The best approach is therefore to develop a product that performs well on both dimensions.

One may also Seek to separate the attributes by launching two different campaigns running concurrently, each devoted to a different brand attribute. Leverage equity of another entity e.g link the brand to another entity such as a celebrity, event or another brand.

Redefine the relationships, for example, by convincing consumers that the relationship is actually positive

Finally, it is important to continuously update the positioning strategy over time. One must consider two issues. Laddering how to deepen the meaning of the brand to tap into the core brand associations of at what level of motivation do they appeal?
Reacting competitors will often try to react to such updates, are many decide to : do nothing - no reaction

go on the defensive e.g try to add some reassurance in the product or advertising to strengthen the PODs and PODs go on the offensive a more aggressive stance to reposition one self e.g campaign tht fundamentally changes the meaning of the brand.

3. Defining and establishing brand mantras One needs to clearly define a brand through its core brand association and brand mantras. Core brand association are those abstract associations ( attributes and benefits) that characterize the 5 to 10 most important aspects of a brand. Consumer can be asked to list the 10 most important attributes of a brand, which then become the consumers mental map.

A brand mantra on the other hand, is an articulation of the heart and soul of the brand, given by a 3 to 5 word phrase that capture the essence or spirit of the brand positioning.

Brand mantras can provide guidance about what product to introduce under the brand, what and campaign to run and when and how the brand should be sold.

They help the brand to present a consistent image. A good brand mantra should have a trend function ( nature of the product or service or benefits the product provides), descriptive modifier ( provides further clarification of the nature) and emotional modifier ( provider a further qualities how exactly the brand provides benefits and in what ways.

Examples Product :Nike Emotional modifier: Authentic Descriptive modifier: Athletic Brand function: performance Nike: Authentic athletic performance

Examples Product :Disney Emotional modifier: Fun Descriptive modifier: Family Brand function: Entertainment Disney : Fun family entertainment

Brand mantras should be developed at the same time as the brand positioning. The marketer can summarize the brand positioning in a few sentences or a shot paragraph which suggest the ideal core brand associations consumers should hold. These are then brainstormed by members in order to arrive at the final, acceptable brand matric. The following should be considered.

A good brand mantra should clearly communicate both the category of business to set the brand, boundaries, and clarify what is unique about the brand. simplify An effective brand mantra should be memorable inspire should be inspiring and likeable to employees and customers

CHOOSING BRAND ELEMENTS TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY There are six common criteria for choosing brand elements Memorability Meanifulness Likability

Transferability Adaptability Protectability

Memorability : The element should be easy to recall and should therefore be able to create a high level of brand awareness.

Meaningfulness: while a brand name can be based on people, places, animals or birds the brand elements should be able to convey: General information about the nature of the product category Specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand.

Likability customers should find the element to be aesthetically appealing. It should be interesting to look at or to express verbally.

Transferability a measure of the extent to which the brand element adds to the brand equity of new products for the brand.

In general, the less specific the name, the more easily it can be transferred across categories, for example. The Nile as a river, used as a brand name, allows greater flexibility than a more specific name like Jogoo. As much as possible the brand element should also be able to easily cut across different cultures, especially in new markets.

Adaptability it should be possible to update the element to reflect changes over time for example, logos and characters can be given a new look or a new design to make them appear more modern and relevant.

Protectability- Extent to which the brand element is protectable both in a general and a competitive sense.

It is important to choose brand elements that can be legally protected internationally, register them, and vigorously defend trademarks from unauthorized competitive infringement.

While these six criteria are very important for a good brand element, it is difficult to choose a brand name or any element that satisfies all these criteria. Thus, it becomes necessary to have multiple brand elements

Considerations for various brand elements Brand name Brand name is a very important element as it is the one that captures the central theme or key associations of a product in a very compact and economical fashion. It can be a very effective short hand means of communications.

A brand name is the most difficult elements to change. The choice of a band name is a complicated process that requires that all the six general criteria of memorability, meaningfulness likability, transferability, adaptability and protectability are put in mind. It is an art as well as a science.

Naming procedures Define the objective in terms of the six general criteria mentioned easier, and in particular, define the ideal meaning the brand shared convey.

Denote names get as many names from as many sources as possible. Screen the names and eliminate those that
Have unintentional double meaning are already in use, or very closely resemble names already on use Have obvious legal complication Represent an obvious contradiction of the positioning.

Study candidate names Gather more information about each of the remaining 5- 10 names. Search thoroughly the legal implications from all over the world Research the final candidates Do consumer research to gauge the feeling of consumers regarding the remaining names

select the final name management should now choose the name that maximizes the firms branding and marketing objectives and then register it.

CAT 26.3.2013

The Concept of Brand Loyalty The American Marketing Association defines brand loyalty as the situation in which a consumer generally buys the same manufactureroriginated product or service repeatedly overtime rather than buying from multiple suppliers within the category or the degree to which a consumer consistently purchases the same brand within a product class.

brand loyalty is the biased behavioral response expressed overtime by some decision making unit with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands and is a function of psychological processes.

brand loyalty is a measure of the attachment that a customer has to a brand. It reflects how likely a customer will be to switch to another brand, especially when that brand makes a change, either in price, product features, communications or distribution programs. Brand loyalty represents the love of a brands equity.

brand loyalty cant be analyzed without considering its relationship to other descriptive dimensions of brand equity like awareness, perceived quality or associations.

Brand loyalty is one of the major elements that underlie brand equity. Brand loyalty is a behavioral response and is a function of psychological process which means that brand loyalty is a function of both behavior and attitude.

Marketing practitioners thus have to posses adequate knowledge and understanding of brand loyalty as loyal customers are less likely to switch but rather increase their purchase pattern in relation to non-loyal customers

if the company can retain 5% more of its loyal customers, profits will increase by 25%-125%, its expensive to retain one customer than to acquire one; it is easier to sell more products to one loyal customer than to sell the same amount to two new customers.

Furthermore, brand loyalty increases a companys profitability by reducing the cost of doing business In this case loyal customers provide free advertisement through positive word of mouth thus increasing customer base.

All the other descriptive dimensions of brand equity can enhance brand loyalty as perceived quality, associations and awareness provide reasons to buy and affect satisfaction.

Loyalty could arise from a brands perceived quality or associations but could also occur independent of these dimensions.

For instance, a person can be loyal to a low perceived quality brand and dislike a brand with a high perceived quality due to subjective reasons, yet the nature of this relationship is unclear.

On the other hand, loyalty can induce a higher perceived quality e.g. a potential customer has a better evaluation of a brand if that brand is perceived as having a loyal customer base.

There are several levels of loyalty each of which represents a different marketing challenge and a different type of offset to manage and exploit. These include: The non-loyal buyer, who is completely indifferent to the brand. Each brand is perceived to be adequate and the brand name plays little role in the purchase decision. This buyer might be termed as a switcher or price buyer.

The second level includes buyers who are satisfied with the product or at least not satisfied. These buyers might be termed as habitual buyers. However, such a segment can be vulnerable to competitors that can create a visible benefit to switching.

The third level consists of those who are satisfied, and in addition have switching costs. Costs in time, money or performance risk associated with switching.

On the fourth level we find those who truly like the brand- loyalists. Their preference may be based upon an association such as a symbol, a set of experiences or high perceived quality. The top levels are committed customers.

They have a pride of discovering and/or being users of the brand. To them the brand is very important either functionally or as an expression of who they are.

Nevertheless, brand loyalty is qualitatively different from other major dimensions of brand equity, being stronger related to life experience.

Brand loyalty is conditioned by poor purchase and life experience, while awareness, association or perceived quality may be present even in the case of a brand that has not been used yet.

Designing marketing programs To build brand equity Marketing activities, in general and the 4 PS in particular, build brand equity.

In todays marketplace, there are many different means by which products and services can build brand equity. Creative and original thinking is necessary to create fresh new marketing programs that break through the noise in the marketplace to connect with customers.

Key program to build brand equity include Personalizing marketing though use of element and other media that another one to personally reach the customer

Experimental marketing promotes a product by not only communicating a product features and benefits but also connecting it with unique and interesting experiences. Some of the experience that customer have include sense, feel, think, act and relate.

One to one marketing Enables marketers to treat customers differently and focus on their specific needs

Permission marketing practice of marketing to consumers only after gaining their express permission.

Product strategy Designing and delivering a product or service that fully satisfies consumer needs and wants is a pre-requisite for successful marketing. For brand loyalty to exist, consumers experiences with the product must at least meet their expectations.

Consumers consider the perceived quality customers perception of the overall quality of the product as compared to alternatives with respect to its internal purpose.

Dimensions include. Performance level of which primary characteristics perform Features - secondary elements that support primary element Conformance quality. Degree to which product meets specification and has no defects.

Reliability consistency of performance Durability expected economic life of the product Serviceability Ease of servicing the product Style and design appearance or feel of quality

Pricing strategy Pricing strategy can dictate how consumers categorize the price of brand, and how flexible they think the price is, based on how deeply or how frequently it is discounted. .

Within any price tier ( range of prices) there is a range of acceptable prices ( price bands) that indicate the flexibility and breadth marketers can adopt in pricing their brands within a tier. Prices should thus be always set in a way that brand equity is enhanced.

That are eight steps to better pricing:


Assess what value your customers place on a product or service look for variation in the way customers value the product assess customers price sensitivity Identify an optimal pricing structure

consider competitors reactions monitors prices realized at the transactional level Access customers emotional response Analyze whether the returns are worth and the cost to serve.

To build brand equity, marketers must determine strategies for setting prices and adjusting them ( if at all) over the short and the long run.

Channels strategy The kind of channel strategy a firm adopt, can determine the brand equity and ultimate sales success of a brand.

It is clear that winning channels strategies will be those that can develop interested shopping experiences that combine physical stores internet, telephone and catalogs

Research suggest that direct channels may be preferable when


Product information needs are high Product customization is high Product quality as essence is important Purchase lot size is important Logistics are important.

On the other hand, indirect channels may be preferable when


A brand assortment is essential Availability is critical After sales service is important

Emphasis can be laid on the stockist or retailers ( push strategy) or on the customers (pull strategy) A push strategy is when attention is given to the retailer to stock products or have them displayed on the shelves.

The retailers sometimes demand compensation for stocking the new product or ash for promotions of the product in order to keep them on the shelf.

A firm may also directly influence customers to demand that the product is stocked, and this is pull strategy. The customers are given incentives to buy the product.

Developing marketing communication to build brand equity. The various promotional tools used by firms play a great role towards brand equity. Marketing communication can contribute to brand equity by creating awareness of the brand, linking points of party and points of difference associations to the brand in consumers memory, and eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings.

The new media environment The media environment has tremendously changed from the traditional media such as TV, Radio, and newspaper, towards internet advertising.

Consumers are actively creating and sharing content online as consumer communities and blogs have been created virtually in all topics. This has forced marketers to re evaluate how they should best communicate with consumers.

Advertising Newspaper, TV, radio, websites, online ads, mobile marketing of cell phones bill boards and posters. All these should be done in such a way that they contribute to brand equity.

Scales promotion short term incentives to encourage trial and usage of a product. Promotions strategy must reflect the attitudes and behaviour of consumers.

Trade promotions financial incentives or discounts given to retailers to stock, display or facilitates the sale of a product through point of purchase display, trade hours, contents etc.

Helps to secure shelf space for a new product, or to achieve more prominence on shelf and in store e.g to place product on a shelf at eye level rather than at the bottom shelf.

Consumer promotion designed to change the choices, quality or timing of consumers product purchases. Such as customers franchise building promotions ( e.g samples, demonstrations and educational materials), and non customer franchise building promotions ( e.g premiums, sweepstakes, and refund offers).

Event marketing and sponsorship Event marketing is public sponsorship of events or activities related to sports, art entertainment or social causes. Event marketing is gaining more and more popularity with large companies sponsoring sports and games. EABL, coca colar, KCB, Safari com and other companies are some of the companies that have recently sponsored events.

The rationale behind event sponsorship include


To identify with a particular target market or life style To increase awareness of the company or product name To create or reinforce consumer perception of key brand image associations

To enhance corporate image dimensions To create experiences and evoke feelings To express commitment to the community or on social issues To entertain key clients or reward key employees.

Developing successful event sponsorships involves i. Choosing sponsorship opportunities the event must meet the marketing objectives and communication strategy defined for brand. It must have sufficient awareness and posses the desired image and be able to create the desired effects with the target market. Sometimes, rather than comm.** to link themselves to an event, some sponsors create their own. Some firm are using their names to sponsor the arena, stadium and other venues that actually hold the events.

ii. Designing sponsorship programs. Then should be a clear program in order for the program to succeed. This may be by way of providing banners, signs, and programs. These can be supplemented with samples, prizes, publicity, advertising and retail promotions

Iii. Measuring sponsorship activities. This can be done in two ways: focusing on supply side ( focusing on the extent of exposure of brand e.g number of seconds the band is clearly visible on a television screen.

Alternatively, one can focus on the demands side, which attempts to identify the effects that sponsorship has on consumers brand knowledge structures. One can find out the member of spectators that can remember the events sponsors, as well as attitudes and intentions towards the sponsors as a result of the event.

Public relationships and publicity Publicity is non personal communication such as press releases, media interviews, press conferences, newsletter etc. public relations may also include annual reports, fund raising and membership drives, special event management and public affairs. PR should not just be used during crisis, but should be routine part of any marketing communication program.

DESIGNING MARKETING PROGRAMS TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY Marketing activities, in general and the 4 PS in particular, build brand equity. In todays marketplace, then are many different means by which products and services can build brand equity. Creative and original thinking is necessary to create fresh new marketing programs that break through the noise in the marketplace to connect with customers.

Key program to build brand equity include


Personalizing marketing though use of element and other media that another one to personally reach the customer Experimental marketing promotes a product by not only communicating a product features and benefits but also connecting it with unique and interesting experiences. Some of the experience that customer have include sense, feel, think, act and relate.

One to one marketing Enables marketers to treat customers differently and focus on their specific needs. Enables the marketer to devote more marketing effort to the most valuable consumers. Permission marketing practice of marketing to consumers only after gaining their express permission. This is a way of developing the consumer dialogue component of one to one marketing in more detail.

Personal selling face to face interception with one or more prospective purchases for the purpose of making sales. Marketers can identify prospective customers and tailors solutions to the needs. Smart selling means focusing the entire company on its customers, including the way sales people are hired, trained and paid.

Marketers need to develop integrated marketing communication programmes, whose impact can be assessed by checking its
Coverage Contribution Commonality Complementary Versatility Cost.

Commonality The program should deliver a consistent and cohesive brand image in which brand associations share content and meaning. Commonality is the extent to which common information conveyed by different communication options share meaning across communication options. Versatility extent that a marketing communication option is Robert and effective for different groups of customers.

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