Brand, Meaning of Brand, Definition of Brand, Evolution of Brand, Nature of Brand, Levels of Brand, Types of Brand , Functions of Brand, Brand Management,

1. BY
KRISHNAMOORTHY .M
MBA STUDENT

2. Meaning of Brand
Definition of Brand
Evolution of Brand
Nature of Brand
Levels of Brand
Types of Brand
Functions of Brand

3. • Branding is a symbolic representation of information
associated with a product or service.
• A Brand particularly consists of a name, logo, other visible
features including colour combinations, fonts, images, symbols,
etc.
• A brand is essentially a promise that the company makes to
customers.
• It is a promise towards satisfaction of their needs and assuring
world-class product and service quality.
• Three questions “who”, ”what”, and “why” , are very crucial for
the successful branding of any product.

4. • According to American Marketing Association,
“Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them which is intended to identify the goods
or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors”.

5. It comprises six stages, which are as follows:
• Unbranded Goods: At this stage, goods were treated merely
as a commodity nothing else. At this stage of brand
evolution, market demand exceeds the supply. Unbranded
goods are usually associated with production and distribution
in developed economies.
• Brand as Reference: At this stage, competition brought the
concept of branding into the marketplace. The quality of
product is changed at this stage in order to bring
differentiation through unique functional benefits with respect
to competitors and products starts getting specific brand
names.

6. • Brand as personality: At this stage, the brands are given a
personality to satisfy the emotional needs of consumers and to
have another way of differentiation. Brand as personality
means assigning human personality traits/characteristics to
brand so as to achieve differentiation. These characteristics
signify brand behaviour through both individuals representing
the Brand (i.e., its employees) as well as through advertising,
packaging, etc.
• Brand as Icon: At this stage, brands step forward to become
an icon or symbol to represent an inherent idea which is
valued by customers. Here what brands represent resides into
the mind of consumer.

7. • Brand as company: At this stage, a two way communication
between the customer and the firm comes into existence.
Customers now want to know beyond the brand, means about
the company too. They start expecting after-sale service and
customisation of product and service from company. It also
facilitates new product acceptance because potential buyers
are already familiar with the name.
• Brand as Policy: This is the highest developed stage of brand
till now. At this stage, brand is complete in itself and it also
contributes its presence to society in terms of social
responsibility, political issues, and ethical norms. Customer
commitment is based on this new ideology of the brand. Very
few companies operate at this level of brand in the present
context.

8. The nature of brand can be explained with the help of the
following points.
 Target ability: One of the main characteristics of brands is
that they must be targetable. That is, business owners must
identify the types of customers who are most likely to
purchase their brands. No one brand can appeal to the entire
market.
 Awareness: Another characteristics of brand is that it creates
awareness. Brand awareness is the percentage of people who
are aware of a particular brand. Companies that are well-
established usually enjoy the highest levels of brand
awareness. There are many ways to built brand awareness,
including television, radio, magazine, newspapers and
Internet.

9.  Consistency: Brands must also remain consistent throughout
their existence. Businesses make numerous promises in
commercials and ads about their brands, and consumers
expect companies to continue living up to these promises.
For example, customers may buy a certain cleaner because
it’s highly effective in removing grease stains. Hence, it
shouldn’t matter if customers buy the brand a month or year
later. The product should still be effective in removing grease
stains.
 Distinctive Design: People make a decision about the
company and the brand within a few seconds of initial
contact, so first impressions do count. Customers process
through their eyes, so design has a keen emotional and
memorable impact on the brain.

10.  Loyalty: Brand loyalty is the highest achievement or apex for
any company. Brand loyalists are customers who buy a
particular brand exclusively. Many consumers prefer using
certain brands of clothing, deodorants or toothpastes. They
like how their favourite brands work, or enjoy how certain
brands benefit them. The best way to build brand loyalty is to
stay in close contact with customers. Know what features or
product characteristics are most important to them.
Companies must also ensure that their brands continue to be
available in stores to maintain high levels of brand loyalty.

11. Generally, there are four levels of brand which are
 Attribute Brands:
Attribute Brands are ones which give the description
about the features of the product. Attributes are different
types ; some are tangible while some are intangible.
 Emotional Brands:
Some brands try to enter into psyche of the consumers
by branding the product as an emotionally gratifying
experience.

12.  Benefit Brands:
Attributes refer to the qualities of the product or
description about it. However, it becomes quite essential to
tell that how the consumer would be benefitted by the certain
attribute of the product.
 Value Brands:
The driving force of human beings is much more than
his emotional and psychological needs. The basic human
nature is defined as ‘psychographic’, i.e., behavioural and
psychological construction. For getting connected with the
consumers, the brands try to visualise how their product
would match with the psyche of the consumers, even before
branding and marketing the product.

13. Brands can be classified as follows:
1) According to Ownership:
i) Manufacture’s Brand
ii) Middlemen’s Brand
2) According to the Market Area:
i) Local Brand
ii) Provincial Brand
iii) Regional Brand
iv) National Brand
v) International /Global Brand

14. 3) According to the Number of Products:
i) Family Brand
ii) Product Line Brand
iii) Individual Brand
4) According to Use:
i) Fighting Brand
ii) Competitive Brand

15. Functions of brand as follows
1) Related to Consumers
i) Identification of Product Source
ii) Assignment of responsibility to product maker
iii) Risk Reducer
iv) Search Cost Reducer
v) Promise, Bond or Deal with Maker of Product
vi) Symbolic Device
vii) Signal of Quality

16. 2) Related to Manufactures
i) Means of Identification to simplify Handling or Tracing
ii) Means of Legally Protecting Unique Features
iii) Signal of Quality level to satisfied customers
iv) Means of Endowing products with unique associations
v) Source of Competitive Advantage
vi) Source of Financial Returns