Branding

According to Jeff Bezos, branding is creating a corporate brand identity for consumers and getting that brand identity imprinted on the minds of consumers, and this requires brand positioning and brand management. An important decision area for any entrepreneur for marketing its product is to decide whether to sell the product under its generic name or with a brand name. For example, the idea is to identify whether a pen is to be sold as a ‘pen’ or a ‘Reynolds pen’. The selection of a brand name plays an important role in the success of a product.

Consider a scenario where products were sold under generic names—it would become very difficult for companies as well as buyers to distinguish one product from another. Providing a brand name to a product helps in identifying it and distinguishing it from others. Hence, branding is a process of giving a name, sign or a symbol, etc., to a product or service.

Benefits of Branding

• It helps in creating product differentiation
• It provides a basis for distinguishing the product from that of the competitor
• It helps in building customer loyalty and in promoting sales

There are various terms that are related to the concept of branding. Knowing these can help understand the concept of branding. 

Brand

• A brand is a name, term, symbol, design or a combination of these that is used by a company to distinguish a product, either in the form of goods or services, from that of another
• It helps in differentiating one from those of their competitors
• Some examples of well-known brands are Liberty, Lux, and Maggi
• The term brand covers mainly two components: brand name and brand mark

Brand Mark

The brand mark is the part of a brand that cannot be spoken but can be recognised in the form of symbol, design, design, specific colour scheme or certain letters—for example, the half apple of the brand Apple. 

Brand Name

The brand name is that component of a brand that can be spoken. Examples include Asian Paints, Uncle Chips, Maggi, and Lifebuoy.

Trademark

• A brand or part of a brand that is given legal protection is called a trademark
• The companies registered their brand or brand name as a trademark to protect and restrict its use by other firms
• Upon registration, the company is entitled to use a trademark exclusively
• Although it adds to the cost, it also protects the company from various legal consequences

Advantages of Branding

A brand has certain advances for various categories of people. Some of them are discussed below.

Advantages for Manufacturers

• Enable marking product differentiation

A brand helps in distinguishing a company’s product from that of competitors and enables them to secure and control the market for their products.

• Builds better advertising

A brand helps and promotes advertising, and it can very well be said that without a brand name, the manufacturer cannot create awareness about their products.

• Introduction of new products

Once a brand is established in the market, it becomes comparatively easier for the manufacturer to introduce other new products.

• Differential pricing

Branding provides an opportunity for the manufacturer to charge their prices as per market standards and in comparison to their competitors. The simple logic here is that once a customer starts liking a particular brand, they do not mind paying a little higher.

Advantages for Customers

• Helps in product identification

 A brand helps customers in identifying and differentiating products from one brand to another. It has been generally observed that branding also promotes repeated purchases.

• Ensures quality

When buying a product, customers expect a certain level of quality. Hence, with an established brand, they are sure that a specific level of product quality will be maintained. This builds the confidence of the customers and helps in increasing their level of satisfaction.

• Status symbol

With a continuous presence in the market, many brands become status symbols. The main reason is that customers always prefer to buy quality products.

Characteristics of a Brand Name

Choosing the right brand name can never be an easy task. What makes this task even more important is the fact that once a brand name is chosen and the product is in the market, changing the brand name is very difficult—and generally not advisable. 

Thus, it becomes very important for the company to get it right in the first place to make a major impact. While deciding on a good brand name, the following are some points to keep in mind:

• It should be short and easy to pronounce and remember, for example, Rin, Maggie, Eclairs
• It should suggest the product’s qualities
• It should represent the product’s function
• It should be distinctive
• It should be versatile and in sync with the new product line as well
• It should be such that it can be registered and legal
• It should have a good shelf life, i.e. it should not get out of date in a short span of time

Conclusion

An important decision area for any manufacturer while marketing their products is to decide whether to sell the product under its generic name or with a brand name. And once a brand name is chosen, it has certain advantages to various categories of people. Choosing the right brand name can never be an easy task, but it is an important one.