CHAPTER - SEVEN

DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING

BRANDING STRATEGIES
 Branding strategy
Branding strategy is critical because it is the means by which the
firm can help consumers understand its products and services and
organize them in their minds.

Two important strategic tools:

 The brand-product matrix and
 The brand hierarchy
 They help to characterize and formulate
branding strategies by defining various
relationships among brands and products.
 Brand-Product Matrix
 The brand-product matrix, a graphical
representation of all the brands and products sold
by the firm.
Products
1 2 3 4
A
Brands B
C
 Must define:
 Brand-Product relationships (rows)
 Line and category extensions
 Product-Brand relationships (columns)
 Brand portfolio
 Important Definitions
• Product line
– A group of products within a product category
that are closely related
• Product mix (product assortment)
– The set of all product lines and items that a
particular seller makes available to buyers
• Brand mix (brand assortment)
– The set of all brand lines that a particular seller
makes available to buyers
 Designing a Branding Strategy

• The branding strategy for a firm reflects the

number and nature of common or distinctive
brand elements applied to the different
products sold by the firm.

– Which brand elements can be applied to which

products and the nature of new and existing
brand elements to be applied to new products
 Brand Hierarchy
• A means of summarizing the branding strategy by
displaying the number and nature of common and
distinctive brand elements across the firm’s
products, revealing the explicit ordering of brand
elements
• A useful means of graphically portraying a firm’s
branding strategy
11.6
 Brand Hierarchy Tree: Toyota
Toyota
Corporation

Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota Lexus

(Trucks) (SUV/vans) (Cars) Financial
Services

Corolla MR2
Camry Avalon Celica ECHO Matrix Prius
Spyder
Platinum
CE SE Edition
S LE XL SE
LE XLE XLS SLE
 Brand Hierarchy Levels

Corporate Brand (General Motors)

Family Brand (Buick)

Individual Brand (Park Avenue)

Modifier: Item or Model (Ultra)

11.8
 Corporate Brand Equity

• Occurs when relevant constituents hold strong,

favorable, and unique associations about the
corporate brand in memory
• Encompasses a much wider range of
associations than a product brand
 Family Brands
• Brands applied across a range of product categories

• An efficient means to link common associations to

multiple but distinct products.
• It involves using one brand name to market multiple
products.
• For example, a company may use one brand to
market soap, lotion, hair shampoo, and nail
polish.
 Individual Brands

• Restricted to essentially one product category

• There may be multiple product types offered
on the basis of different models, package sizes,
flavors, etc.

11.11
 Modifiers
• Signals refinements or differences in the brand
related to factors such as quality levels, attributes,
functions, etc.
• Plays an important organizing role in
communicating how different products within a
category that share the same brand name
 CHAPTER -8
BRAND NAMES AND BRAND EXTENSIONS

• 8.1 New Products and Brand Extensions

• One useful perspective is offered by Anosoff’s

product/market expansion grid.
 Product

Existing New

Brand Line extension (1) Brand extension (2)

Existing
Names
Multi brands (4) New brands (3)

New
 Deciding how to brand new products is
especially critical. A firm has three main
choices:
1. Develop new brand elements for the new
product.
2. Apply some of its existing brand elements.
3. Use a combination of new and existing
brand elements.
 Brand Extensions

• A Brand Extension occurs when a firm uses an established

brand name to introduce a new product (approaches 2 or 3).
• When a new brand is combined with an existing brand
(approach 3) also called a sub-brand.
• An existing brand that gives birth to a brand extension is the
parent brand.
• If the parent brand is already associated with multiple
products through brand extensions, then it may also be
called a family brand.
 Types of Brand Extension

 Line Extension

• The parent brand is used to brand a new product that

targets a new market segment with in a product
category currently served by the parent brand.
• Adds a different flavor or ingredient variety, a different
form or size, or a different application for the brand.
 Category Extension

• The parent brand is used to enter a different product

category from that currently served by the parent
brand.
 Advantages of Brand extensions
Facilitate New Product Acceptance
A familiar brand name reduces the risk and as a
brand extension is more likely to succeed
– Improve brand image
– Reduce risk perceived by Customers
– Permit consume variety-seeking
– Increase the probability of gaining distribution and trial
– Increase efficiency of promotional expenditures
– Reduce costs of introductory & follow-up marketing
programs (save 40-80%) E.g. Apple iPods
– Avoid costs of developing a new brand
– Allow for packaging & labeling efficiencies
 Provide Feedback Benefits to the Parent
Brand and Company
 Clarify Brand meaning – e.g. Cadbury’s means
‘sweetness and celebration’
 Enhance the Parent brand image – by adding
new brand associations
 Bring in new customers and increase market
coverage.
 Revitalize the brand

 Permit subsequent extensions

 Disadvantages of Brand Extensions

 Despite their potential advantages, brand extensions have a

number of disadvantages

Can confuse or frustrate consumers:

Can encounter retailer resistance:

Can fail & hurt parent brand image:

Can succeed but cannibalize sales of parent brand:

Can dilute brand meaning

Can cause the company to forgo the chance to develop a new

brand
• If the following four assumptions hold true, consumers
will form favorable attributes towards an extension.
 Consumers have some awareness and positive associations
about the brand in memory
 At least the positive associations are evoked by the brand
extension:
 Negative associations are not transferred from the parent
brand:
 Negative associations are not created by the brand extension
 CHAPTER -9: MANAGING BRANDS OVER TIME

 One of the obvious challenges in managing brands is constant change in

the marketing environment like;

• Shifts in consumer behavior

• Competitive strategies

• Government regulations

• Technological advances and other areas can profoundly affect the fortunes

of a brand.

 Effective brand management requires proactive strategies designed to at

least maintain—if not actually enhance—customer-based brand equity in

 Reinforcing Brands

Maintaining Brand Consistency

Protecting Sources of Brand Equity

Fortifying versus Leveraging

Fine-Tuning the Supporting Marketing Program

Maintaining Brand Consistency

Market
Leaders and
Failures

Consistency
and Change
 Market leaders and failures
• Inadequate marketing support is an especially
dangerous strategy when combined with price
increases.
 Consistency and change
• Managing brand equity with consistency requires
making numerous tactical shifts and changes in order
to maintain the strategic thrust and direction of the
brand.
• The strategic positioning of many leading brands has
been kept uniform over time by the retention of key
elements of the marketing program and the
 Protecting Sources of Brand Equity
• Unless some the company makes the strategic positioning
of the brand less powerful, there is:
– Little need to deviate from a successful positioning
• Brands should always look for potentially powerful new
sources of brand equity
– Top priority is to preserve and defend those that
already exist
• Key sources of brand equity are enduring value
 Fortifying versus Leveraging

• Marketers can design marketing programs that

mainly try to capitalize on or maximize brand
awareness and image
• Without its sources of brand equity, the brand
itself may not continue to yield valuable
benefits
 Fine-Tuning the Supporting Marketing Program
• Marketers should make changes only when it’s clear
the marketing program and tactics are no longer
making the desired contributions to strengthening
brand equity.
Product-related performance associations
• For brands whose core associations are primarily
product-related performance attributes or benefits,
innovation in product design, manufacturing, and
merchandising is especially critical to maintaining or
enhancing brand equity.
• Product innovations are critical for performance-based
brands whose sources of equity reside primarily in
product-related associations.
 Non-product-related imagery associations

• For brands whose core associations are primarily non-

product-related attributes and symbolic or experiential
benefits, relevance in user and usage imagery is
especially critical.
• Too-frequent repositioning can blur the image of a
brand and confuse or even alienate consumers.
• Brand images can be extremely sticky, and once strong
associations have formed, they may be difficult to
• Reinforcing brand equity requires consistency in
the amount and nature of the supporting marketing
program for the brand
• Product innovation and relevance are paramount
in maintaining continuity and expanding the
meaning of the brand
 Revitalizing Brands

• The Brand Revitalization is the marketing strategy adopted

when the product reaches the maturity stage of product life
cycle, and profits have fallen drastically. It is an attempt to bring
the product back in the market and secure the sources of equity i.e.
customers. For example, a phone company might make covers to
protect its devices
• It can be performed by the following

1. Identifying additional or new usage opportunities

2. Identifying new and completely different ways to use the brand
 Improving Brand Image

Identifying the Target Market

Repositioning the Brand

Changing Brand Elements

• Identifying the target market
• Key target market segments:
• Retaining vulnerable customers.
• Recapturing lost customers.
• Identifying neglected segments.
• Attracting new customers.
• During a decline in sales, it is best to ensure that no more customers
are lost in the short run before targeting new ones.
• Segmenting on the basis of demographic variables or other means and
identifying neglected segments.
• Marketers also introduce programs targeted to different racial and ethnic groups, age
 Repositioning the brand
• A common problem for marketers of established, mature
brands is to make them more contemporary by creating
relevant usage situations, a more contemporary user profile, or
a more modern brand personality.
• Updating a brand may require some combination of new
products, new advertising, new promotions, and new
packaging.
 Changing brand elements
• One or more brand elements are changed either to convey new
information or to signal that the brand has taken on new
meaning because the product or some other aspect of the
marketing program has changed.
• Brand name is typically the most important brand element.
• It is easier to change other brand elements especially if they
Adjustments to the Brand Portfolio

Acquiring
Migration
New
Strategies
Customers

Retiring
Brands
• Brand migration strategy:
• Helps consumers understand how various brands in the portfolio
can satisfy their needs as brands change over time.
• Brands that are ordered in a logical manner provide the
hierarchical structure in consumers’ minds to facilitate brand
migration.

Acquiring new customers

• Firms must proactively develop strategies to attract new
customers, especially younger ones.
• Challenge is greater when the brand has a strong personality.
• Some marketers have attempted to cut loose from the past to deal
with marketing across generations.
• Other brands have attempted to develop more inclusive
marketing strategies to encompass both new and old customers.
Retiring brands
• Retrenching a fading brand is to reduce the number of its
product types.
• This reduces the cost of supporting the brand and allows
it to concentrate on its strength so it can more easily hit
profit targets.
• Once-popular brand with diminished equity that a parent
company allows to decline by withdrawing marketing
support.
• When the brand is beyond repair, marketers have to take
more drastic measures, such as consolidating it into a
stronger brand.
• A permanent solution is to discontinue the product
altogether.
Figure 9.1 - Brand Reinforcement Strategies
Figure 9.2 Brand Revitalization Strategies
 To Sum Up…
• Effective brand management requires taking a long-
term view
– Dictates proactive strategies designed to maintain and
enhance customer-based brand equity over time

• Marketers reinforce brand equity by actions that

consistently convey the meaning of the brand
• Most important consideration in reinforcing brands is
consistency in the nature and amount of marketing
support
 count…

• The strategy for reinforcing brand meaning depends on

the nature of the brand association
• In managing brand equity, managers have to make trade-
offs between those marketing activities that:
– Fortify the brand and reinforce its meaning,

– Attempt to leverage or borrow from its existing brand equity

to reap some financial benefit

• Revitalizing a brand requires marketers to either recapture

lost sources of brand equity or establish new ones