ADVERTISING PRACTICES

UNIT2: ACCOUNT PLANNING

BRAND IN ADVERTISING

A brand is a sign of identity, the mark or label which differentiates one product from another. A
brand is also a symbol encompassing the key features of a product such as its physical features,
its price and its image. A brand is a product, service, or concept that is publicly distinguished
from other products, services, or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and usually
marketed. A brand name is the name of the distinctive product, service, or concept.

A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by
identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image.

A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. For
example, Coca Cola is the name of a brand make by a particular company.

Product v/s brand

 Product is made in the factory. The brand is bought by the customer.

 A product can be copied. Brand is unique

 A product can be outdated. A brand is timeless

 Brands differentiate the products –

EXAMPLE-

 Fairness cream: fair & lovely v/s ponds dream fairness

 Coconut oil-parachute v/s dabur vatika hair oil

 Cola-coca cola v/s pepsi

Role of brand

Signify quality
Create barriers to entry
Serve as a competitive advantage
secure price premium

Features of Brand

BRAND ELEMENTS CONSISTS OF:

• URLs
• Logos
• Symbols
• Characters
• Slogans

Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like thoughts, feelings,
perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand,
of a brand from the experiential aspect.

Brand Experience: The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the
brand and is known as the brand experience. The brand experience is a brand's action
perceived by a person.

Brand value: the value of a brand comes from its ability to gain an exclusive, positive and
prominent meaning in the minds of a large number of consumer.

Example: If one feels comfortable with Colgate, Cadbury or Pepsi or Heinz product anywhere in
the world: a result of years of efforts in building and managing the brand.
One cannot also forget the slogans that define the brands with such as:
hero honda: desh ki dhadkan
cadbury: khane valo ko khane ka bahana chahiye,
kuch meetha ho jaye!

Brand Orientation: Orientation of the whole organization towards its brand is called brand

orientation.

BRANDING

Branding is the process of creating and disseminating the brand name. Branding can be applied
to the entire corporate identity as well as to individual product and service names.

Branding can be defined as the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a
product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent
theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that
attracts and retains loyal customers.

Branding is the process where the brand known as idea or image is marketed so that it is
recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when
there are many other companies offering the same service or product.

People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand
experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has
certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand is therefore one of
the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner
is able to offer in the marketplace.

STAGES IN BRANDING

A brand is a concept that happens in a consumer’s mind. It’s a perception. A company does not
create a brand; it merely creates the tools, actions, and processes that enable the formulation
of a brand.
Stages-The Brand Pyramid

Clearly, your goal is to get as many of your customers as possible to the higher levels of the
pyramid. After all, the higher people are up the pyramid, the more money they're likely to
spend with your brand..
Let's look at each level in more detail-

Level 1: Presence
At this level, customers are aware of your brand, but little else. They may have tried your
products and services before, but they have little or no emotional attachment to them.

Level 2: Relevance
At this level, customers start to think about whether the brand meets their wants and needs.
It's here that they begin comparing the cost of your products with respect to the value these
provide.
Customers begin asking questions like:
 "Does this brand fit my needs?"
 "Is it in the right price bracket for me?"
 "Is it worth it?"

Level 3: Performance
Here, customers begin comparing the brand with others, to see whether it delivers on its
potential.
They're also starting to associate the brand with a specific identity, and they're beginning to
recognize it and associate with it.
By now, the brand is on the customer's "short list" of brands to choose from.

Level 4: Advantage
At this level, customers have determined that there is a distinct advantage to using the brand,
compared with others. They're also beginning to associate the brand with their emotions and
with their sense of self.

Level 5: Bonding
Here, customers have established a bond with the brand. They've determined that cost,
advantage, and performance are all at levels that they're happy with.
They've also formed a strong emotional attachment to the brand; the brand has become an
integral part of their self-image, and helps represent who they are. This, in turn, encourages
them to exclude other brands in favor of this one.
Customers at this level are also likely to be vocal advocates of the brand, which helps build
further awareness within their family, social, and professional circles.
BRAND MANAGEMENT

The process of maintaining, improving, and upholding a brand so that the name
is associated with positive results. Brand management involves a number of important aspects
such as cost, customer satisfaction, in-store presentation, and competition. Brand management
is built on a marketing foundation, but focuses directly on the brand and how that brand can
remain favorable to customers. Proper brand management can result in higher sales of not only
one product, but on other products associated with that brand. For example, if a customer
loves Pillsbury biscuits and trust the brand, he or she is more likely to try other products offered
by the company such as chocolate chip cookies.

BRAND IMAGE: The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a
symbolic construct created within the minds of people, consisting of all the information and
expectations associated with a product, service or the company(ies) providing them

Brand image is the overall impression in consumers’ mind that is formed from all sources.
Consumers develop various associations with the brand. Based on these associations, they form
brand image. An image is formed about the brand on the basis of subjective perceptions of
associations’ bundle that the consumers have about the brand.

For example, Volvo is associated with safety. Toyota is associated with reliability.
Brand image is the current view of the customers about a brand. It can be defined as a unique
bundle of associations within the minds of target customers.

Brand image can be reinforced by brand communications such as packaging, advertising,

promotion, customer service, word-of-mouth and other aspects of the brand experience.

The impression in the consumers' mind of a brand's total personality (real and imaginary
qualities and shortcomings) is called brand image. Brand image is developed over time through
advertising campaigns with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers'
direct experience.

Features of the Brand Image

It signifies what the brand presently stands for. It is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand.
In short, it is nothing but the consumers’ perception about the product.

 It is the manner in which a specific brand is positioned in the market.

 Brand image conveys emotional value and not just a mental image.

 Brand image is nothing but an organization’s character. It is an accumulation of contact

and observation by people external to an organization. It should highlight an
organization’s mission and vision to all.

 The main elements of positive brand image are- unique logo reflecting organization’s
image, slogan describing organization’s business in brief and brand identifier supporting
the key values.

 Good brand images are instantly evoked, are positive, and are almost always unique
among competitive brands.

Brand images are usually evoked by asking consumers the first words/images that come to their
mind when a certain brand is mentioned (sometimes called "top of mind"). When responses are
highly variable, non-forthcoming, or refer to non-image attributes such as cost, it is an indicator
of a weak brand image.

How to create a Brand Image?

A brand is unlikely to have one brand image, but several, though one or two may predominate.

The key in brand image research is to identify or develop the most powerful images and
reinforce them through subsequent brand communications.

The term "brand image" gained popularity as evidence began to grow that the feelings and
images associated with a brand were powerful purchase influencers, though brand recognition,
recall and brand identity. It is based on the proposition that consumers buy not only a product
(commodity), but also the image associations of the product, such as power, wealth,
sophistication, and most importantly identification and association with other users of the
brand.

In a consumer led world, people tend to define themselves and their "persona" by their
possessions. According to Sigmund Freud, the ego and superego control to a large extent the
image and personality that people would like others to have of them.

The idea behind brand image is that the consumer is not purchasing just the product/service
but also the image associated with that product/service. Brand images should be positive,
unique and instant. Brand images can be strengthened using brand communications like
advertising, packaging, word of mouth publicity, other promotional tools, etc.

Brand image develops and conveys the product’s character in a unique manner different from
its competitor’s image. The brand image consists of various associations in consumers’ mind -
attributes, benefits and attributes. Brand attributes are the functional and mental connections
with the brand that the customers have. They can be specific or conceptual. Benefits are the
rationale for the purchase decision. There are three types of benefits: Functional benefits -
what do you do better (than others ),emotional benefits - how do you make me feel better
(than others), and rational benefits/support - why do I believe you(more than others). Brand
attributes are consumers overall assessment of a brand.

Brand image has not to be created, but is automatically formed. The brand image includes
products' appeal, ease of use, functionality, fame, and overall value. Brand image is actually
brand content. When the consumers purchase the product, they are also purchasing it’s image.
Brand image is the objective and mental feedback of the consumers when they purchase a
product. Positive brand image is exceeding the customers’ expectations. Positive brand image
enhances the goodwill and brand value of an organization.

To sum up, “Brand image” is the customer’s net extract from the brand.

BRAND EQUITY

A brand's power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time,
which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against competing brands.
companies can create brand equity for their products by making them memorable, easily
recognizable and superior in quality and reliability.

when people speak of "brand equity" they mean the public's valuation of a brand. Brand equity is
associated with wide recognition, customer loyalty, and the market share enjoyed by the branded
product or service. Wide familiarity, strong loyalty, and a dominant share tend in the long run to
be the consequences of consistently favorable performance by the owner of the brand. A very
strong bond equity of long standing may also result in that brand being used as the name of an
entire category. Thus people talk of "hoovering," "cola" is a generic for a soft drink, Coca-Cola's
brand equity is the highest in the world.

Brand elements to build Brand Equity

• MEMORABILITY –
Easily recognized
Easily recalled
• MEANINGFULNESS –
Descriptive
Persuasive
• LIKABILITY
Fun and interesting
Rich visual
Verbal imagery
• TRANSFERABILITY
Within and across product categories
Across geographic boundaries and cultures
• ADAPTABILITY
Flexible
Updatable
• PROTECTABILITY
Legally
Competitively

BRAND POSITIONING

What is a Position and what is Positioning?

Position is, as the word suggests, a perception in someone’s mind and, without getting too
technical about it, positioning is all that you do to create that perception.

As a strategy, positioning can be based on:

 on perceived benefits, characteristics or image.

 on competition
 on a combination of both (i) and (ii )

The product positioning may be done on various bases:

Examples-

i) Product Attributes: LG Golden Eye: Auto contrast and Brightness control

ii) Benefits, Problem Solutions & Basic Needs: Pepsodent (decay prevention), Close-Up

(Fresh breath)
iii) Quality: Sony

iv) Product User: Parker (Amitabh Bachchan), Reid and Taylor (Executive/ Lifestyle)

v) Product Usage: Burnol

vi) Specific use: Greeting cards for every occasion

vii) Services: Maruti Service Station all over India

viii) Price: Subhikha: Isse sasta aur nahi???

ix) Distribution: Dell (direct selling: customization)

x) Against Other Products (Competitors): Savlon vs Dettol; Savlon jalta nahin.).

xi) Did Harley Davidson or Royal Enfield ever claim that they are a macho bike? They definitely
didn’t. But it was implied from their ads, from the design of the product, the sound of the
machine, from the people that actually rode them and suddenly every guy wanted to own one.
So, it’s not necessary to claim something that can be communicated without saying it.
However, you can engineer every move in a way that implies that positioning.

xii) A two minute Maggie.

UNIQUE SELLING PREPOSITION (USP)

The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is
different from and better than that of the competition-

 By way of product advantage,

 cost benefit,

 after sales service.

For example:

 Maruti’s TV commercial has a tourist who is amazed to find a service station in a

remote area which does not even have a tea shop. This is a memorable way of
emphasizing that only Maruti is accessible to people in every nook and corner of
India
 Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not
makeup. Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell on-time service.
Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.