BRANDED VS.

GENERIC PRODUCTS
Amina Muzaffar Qureshi Bahria University, Islamabad-Pakistan aminamuzaffar_q@hotmail.com ABSTRACT This paper initially describes generics in comparison to brands. The consumers have a very important role in perceiving brands. As the marketing principal states, customer is the boss. The customers have the ability to give the marketers the clues as to whether their brand would be successful or not. The paper explains the customer perception of a generic product. It all depends on how the marketers respond to the signals of the consumers. In most of the cases the customers are concerned with the features of the product on sale especially quality. The behavior of the customers towards the branded items is far different as compared to the generic items. Generic product is known to the consumers on the basis of its contents e.g., sugar, flour, salt etc. They are either called no name or un-branded items. One of the major reasons the consumers go for generic products is the price constraint. This is due to the fact that now a days many un-branded products are of considerable quality. Since the generics are packaged in large size this caters to the daily requirements of the consumers. Key Words: Generics, Brands, Advertising, Consumer INTRODUCTION To a layman, the terms "product" and "brand" are often used interchangeably. But a product is "something that offers a functional benefit" (Farquhar 1989, p. 24). A brand, on the other hand, is "a name, symbol, design, or mark that enhances the value of a product beyond its functional value" (Farquhar 1989, p. 24). Trade mark includes the brand name and the brand mark. Brand name is in the form of letter or numbers that can be vocalized whereas brand mark is in the form of a symbol or design or distinct colors that can be visualized but not pronounced. Generic products are known to the consumers on the basis of their ingredients as they are plain packed. These products are often packed in large size and not brand labeled. WHY BRAND A PRODUCT? Although branding is a tough job but the marketers go for it due to brand equity (the value that is added to a product due to branding). While weakly branded products compete on price and are viewed as commodities, strong brands create a premium. In todays crowded market, branding is especially important - and it can add significantly to your bottom line without adding cost. But branding is frequently misunderstood and

under-leveraged. For branding a product, marketers or the creative team need to know the answers to certain questions: . Brand management is the most challenging job after the marketers have introduced a new brand in the market as tough competition is faced by a new brand. Efficient marketers have to be on their toes in order to keep themselves up to date of the market movements. That is the reason why branded products cost more to the consumers. Brand names have always been considered to be very important for the product as they enable the producers to develop brand extensions as a result of consumer loyalty. GENERICS AND THEIR MARKETING Generics are usually associated with low price as well as low quality. This reduction in price is balanced by drastic cuts in advertising, packaging and labeling costs. The generic concept is more easily applied to the low-involvement products which carry less physical, financial and social risk. Consumers perceive positive relationship between quality and price. There is a need to convince the consumers that the generic products are of adequate quality and good value for money. The general perception is that because these products are plain packaged therefore, are not quality items. Since the marketing of the generic products is based on no advertising therefore the manufacturers would have to convince the consumers through the product itself. Generic advertising is the cooperative effort of the producers of homogeneous products to disseminate information about the underlying attributes of product to existing and potential consumers for the purpose of strengthening demand of that commodity. It therefore, requires a joint effort of a group of people on a certain program in order to persuade the potential uses of a product resulting in increased customer support. The efforts would be focused not only on attracting new customer base but also increase the Who are the audience? What are their needs and expectations? What affect should a brand have on people? What is already happening in the market? Who are the competitors? What would be the creative guidelines? What is the brand essence? How to identify and position the brand? How to design a logo, tagline, and packaging? What should be the strategy? How should it be executed?

existing customer usage of the commodity. It is basically designed to establish long-term habit persistence patterns for the commodity. Why is it that there is no advertising for flour and brown sugar whereas millions and millions are being spent on Coke and Pepsi? Most of the concerts, fashion shows and matches are sponsored by these giants. These advertised products are attracting our young generation. Why is there not a single advertisement in which a doctor is informing the general public of the dark side of the product usage? There is a strong need to convince our innocent consumers of the negative consequences of utilizing these harmful products. Convincing advertisements need to be made focusing on the generic products in order to not only attract the audience but also retain them as the consumer attraction and retention are the main causes behind low popularity of the generic products. In generic advertising the product identity is maintained throughout the distribution chain from the producer to the consumer. Incase the product loses its identity at the consumption point than such programs are not considered to be effective in terms of changing consumer perceptions. If the consumers initial state of understanding about the product is high than the advertisement may not have a significant response to any level of advertising. With little understanding of the product attributes, advertising would depend upon the product, what can and cannot be communicated about the product. For generic advertising it is important to take into account the following factors: The nature of a commodity The current state of a consumer knowledge about the product Consumer behavior Media creativity Government regulations and policies

Ward, Chang, and Thompson (1985) state that generic and brand advertising are interrelated. They state the relative roles of generic and brand efforts: Generic advertising encourages consumption and repeat purchases of the product category Generic advertising provides information about product groups and would generally be expected to be less persuasive (less deceptive) relative to brand advertising Generic advertising has more factual advertising as compared to brand advertising, but is still more oriented to high recall than the kinds of messages one would expect from promoting search goods Generic advertising should have a negative impact on product differentiation, thus reducing barriers to entry and excessive profits Generic advertising is likely to force the brand advertisers to concentrate on product attributes that are more difficult for the consumers to verify Generic advertising may provide producers and smaller firms with a mechanism for benefitting from any economies of scale from advertising.

Product attributes and uses of a product

Consumer characteristics (including demographics)

The current state of consumer knowledge about the product

Required objective of a generic product

Budget constraints (Choice of Media)

Effective implementation

Program control

FIGURE 1 THE PROCESS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR GENERICS

The above figure 1 explains the various factors that are interrelated and play an important role in the Process of Strategic Planning for Generics. It is the duty of the marketers to identity as a first step the product attributes along with their uses. Consumer characteristics as well as their initial understanding of the product knowledge has an impact on the success of a generic advertisement. Keeping in view the desired objective of a generic product and the budget constraints the marketers can select the media. The process of Strategic Planning for Generics can only be completed with effective implementation of the strategies and sound control. CONCLUSION Generic advertising is intended to inject information into the marketing system, coordination and funding of the information programs among the producers with common goals, and addressing product attributes common to the commodity group. There is a strong need to advertise agricultural commodities. Consumer attention and consumer retention are the basic objectives behind generic advertising. How badly a product is required by the consumers also determines whether he/she would purchase a generic product. If a product is considered to be of a high value than there would be less chances of going for a generic, linking it with the quality aspects. Although, there are consumers who would go for a generic product whom only consideration is getting more for less money. Their attitude is such that when more quantity is available for paying less than there is no need going for an expensive branded items in the same product category. Relationship between the product involvement and the purchase of the generic products is also very important. REFERENCES Akshay, R. R. & Robert, W. R. Brand Alliances as Signals of Product Quality, P (1-11) Frank, M. B., Anand, K. M., Ashutosh, P. & Suresh, P. S. Generic and Brand Advertising Strategies, P (1-39) Lokan, B. & John, D. R. 1993. Diluting Brand Beliefs: When Do Brand Extensions Have a Negative Impact? Journal of Marketing, 57: 71-84 Park, C. W., Jaworski, B. J. & MacInnis, D. J. 1986. Strategic Brand Concept-Image Management Journal of Marketing, 50: 135-145 Yovovich, B. G. 1998. What is Your Brand Really Worth. Adweeks Marketing Week, pp 18-24.