Product Management 1

2010
Understanding a Brand
 Product Vs Brand
 Evolution of Brand Management
 Brand Understanding
 Brand Challenges
A Product is made in a factory….a Brand is
Bought by a customer

A Product can be copied…a Brand is Unique

A Product is quickly outdated…a Brand is

Timeless
Product Vs Brand
Brands differentiate Products
 Fairness Creams : Fair & Lovely vs Ponds Dream Fairness
 Coconut Hair Oil : Parachute vs Dabur Vatika
 Cola: Coca Cola vs Pepsi
 ----------------------------------------------------
Products largely undifferentiated: Product choice function
of Convenience/ Availability or Price
 Petrol : BPCL vs IBP vs….
 ATM : HDFC vs HSBC vs…..
 Mineral Water : Bisleri vs Bailey vs Kinley…..
Product Levels : Kotler
 Core Product: Core benefit or service

 Tangible Product: Brand Name,

Packaging, Features, Quality,Styling

 Augmented Product: After Sale service,

Installation, Delivery & credit, Warranty
 Eg: Consumer Durables vs FMCG
Essence of a Brand : Aaker
 "A company's brand is the primary source of its
competitive advantage and a valuable strategic
asset,"

 Mergers & Acquisitions- Brand Equity / Potential

Brand Earnings
 Brand Acquisition- Lakme vs Mediker
 Power of Global Brands- Amazon.com vs Ebay
Essence of a Brand : Aaker
 "The challenge for all brands is that they have a
distinct, clear image that matters to customers and
truly differentiates them from the rest."

 Competitive Markets- Basis for Product

Differentiation
 Coke vs Pepsi vs Thums Up
 Cigarettes
Essence of a Brand : Aaker
 The key step is to create a broad brand vision or
identity that recognizes a brand as something
greater than a set of attributes that can be imitated
or surpassed.

 Enhance Perceived Value- Rules Brand Price/

Brand Acceptance
 Mercedes Benz
 Ariel vs Surf
Evolution of Brand Management:
Stage1
 Commodities / Sellers Market
 Few/ Single Supplier Situation eg-
Telephone( MTNL), Cars( Ambassador-Fiat);
 New Product categories: eg- Photocopiers
(Xerox).. Sunscreens
 Controlled Markets: Petroleum, Pharmaceuticals
 Limited/ Identifiable Customers: Industrial
Products
Evolution of Brand Management:
Stage1
 Role of Pdt > Brand;
 Focus on providing effective Product, as a
Problem Solution
 Critical functions : production/ engineering/
distribution/ logistics
 Purpose of Brand- Product Identification/
trademark; usually a family name/
manufacturer’s name
Stage 2: Classical/ Functional
Marketing
 Competitive Market Scenario
 Thrust on Product Differentiation--- Competitive
Advantage
 Eg Soaps Market – Market Segmentation based on
 Pricing: (Economy, Popular,Premium)
 Product/ Functional Benefits….Need Segments(Beautiful Skin-
Lux, Clean Hygienic-Dettol, Healthy skin- Lifebuoy,….. Fair
Skin- FairGlow)
 Product Ingredients ( herbal- Chandrika, Lime- Cinthol,
Glycerine- Pears)
 Target Segment ( Male- Aramusk/ Denim, Kids- Doy, Babies-
Johnson’s)
Stage 2: Classical/ Functional
Marketing
 Positioning ---- Target Sement
 Lux- Beauty Soap for Filmstars----- aspirational to
middleclass Housewives
 Dove- Not Soap but Skincare… with Moisturisers---
Older, Upper Income women
 Fairglow- Fairness---Users of other Fairness pdts?
 Role of Product = Brand,
 Product Innovation & Brand Building,
 Brand focussed on emphasizing Product Benefits/
Functions/ attributes, Brand is the halo round the product
Stage 3: Consumer Orientation/
Benefit Marketing
 Competition, Media Revolution, Globalization..no boundaries
 Emphasis on understanding the Consumer MIND
 Emotional Benefits….. Consumer Insights… Brand
Associations
 Mobile phones-Connecting people.. BPL vs Nokia
 Fresh Breath…Confidence- Close Up ( Closeness)
 Durable paints..Festivity- Asian Paints(Paint Pour)
 Savings…. Security- ICICI (Sindoor)
 Brand overshadows the product, Brand-BONDING with
consumers..Focus on BRAND IDENTITY…BRAND
COMMUNICATION
Stage 4: Experiential Marketing
 Flood of offerings, Plethora of choices
 Products fight for MINDSPACE of Consumers…
no product boundaries
 Brands takes product to new platform… provide
an experience
 Consumption is a holistic EXPERIENCE eg:
Cars- The Mercedes Experience
 Brands provide an experience, Products provide a
service
Experiential Marketing:
Application, Scope
 Experiential Products- Books( CrossWord), Music-( Planet M,
CD- Wherehouse)
 Lifestyle/ Luxury Products- Cars, Furniture
 LifeStyle Products-Cigarettes( Wills-Togetherness…Classic-
King), Alcohol (Bacardi)
 Fashion Products- (Gucci, CK, Armani..)
 Retail Products- ( Coffee- Barista, McDonalds- Happy kids,)
 Service Products- Banks, Hotels … Airlines
 Experiential Advertising- Cadbury’s(CDM), Nescafe, Nokia
 Experiential Marketing- Jet Airways- Caring
Experiential Marketing - What?
Bernd Schmitt
SEMs- Strategic Experiential Modules:
 Sense: Sight-Sound-Taste-Scent-Touch:
 Tide, Orange, Fashion collections- Revlon, Heinz

ketchup,NECC- Egg,Huggies Diapers, Samsung mobile,

Lakme colours- Billy Joel
 Feel- ( Moods/ Emotions) ICICI- Sindoor..Tera ghar/ Mera
Ghar, CDM, Nike
 Think- ( Surprise/ Intrigue/ Provoke) Whisper
 Act-( Physical Behaviour) Dominoes- Hungry Kya?
 Relate- ( Membership/ belonging) :Harley Davidson, Pepsi
vs Coke, Archies Cards
Experiential Marketing- How?
Bernd Schmitt
ExPros- Experience Providers:
 Communicaion/ Advertising
 Identity Related( Logo/ name/Signs-Visual/ Verbal)-
Britannia
 Product Presence (Design/ Pkg)- Fragrances
 Co- Branding (Events/ Sponsorship)- Lakme Fashion week,
Femina miss India
 Spatial Environment ( Retail/ Office/Factory)- Barista, Titan,
Infosys
 Web Site/ Electronic Media- Encyclopedias.. Virtual Reality
 People- IBM-employees, Tata- culture, Reliance- Ambanis
Stage 5: New Age Marketing
 Technology & Communication Revolution-easy REACH, no physical
barriers
 Integrated systems- Production- Distribution…. Consumers
 Mass Customization- Knowing what The consumer wants.. Able to
deliver it to him
 IT based products- Music, Magazines, Education
 Top end/ high value products- Cars, Furniture
 Service Products- Investments, Insurance..Call Centres
 Boutique products- Bodyshop, Designer wears
 Speciality Products- Paints, Cosmetics..Pastries
 Ultimate products- ( Minority Report ?!!)
 Product = Brand, Brand boosts the Product, Drives the Product Choice
Kapferer’s Brand Pyramid
 Brand Vision & Purpose
 Brand Values
 Brand tone codes & Personality
 Strategic Products/ Common Traits

 Sum ( Pdt A+B+…+N)

Typical Brand actions
 Eg : Maruti vs Honda
Product VS Brand
 Bottom Up Perspective: Products constitute the Brand
 ( Consumer View)- Real /Tangible, open to

Competitive Threat
 Top Down Perspective: Brand Vision directs Product
Introduction/ Innovation
 ( Brand Managers Challenge)- Protects the

Uniquesness of the Brand

 Long Term Vision Appreciates the Brand’s Life /
Equity- Greater B®andWidth, Better RubberB®and
Brand Boundaries
 Parachute
 Cadbury

 Titan
 Nike

 Britannia
 Amul

 Godrej
 Tata
The RubberB®and Effect

Highly Elastic InElastic

Corporate Brands Generic Brands
Godrej/ Tata Parachute/Xerox

Perfect Elasticity
Constant Brand Renewal
Philips/ ICICI/ Britannia
Brand Name
 Can help to improve the Brand’s life/equity ?
 Descriptive Names

WordStar vs Lotus
ATM vs Mediclaim
 Long Names

Pond’s Magic vs Pond’s with SAM

 Difficult Names
Brand Space
 Same Space:- Fight for Market Share
 Different Image- Coke – Real Thing vs, Pepsi-

Younger Generation
 Same Image/ Forced Differentiation- Sprite vs

Limca- “Cool Guy”

 Different Space
 Same Image- Godrej vs Tatas – Trust, Quality,

Reliability
Brand Life ?
 Brand Equity vs Product Life Cycle
 Intangible vs Physical, Soul vs Body
 Brand Life- Continuum
 Power of Old Brands- Murphy Radio, Afghan
Snow… HMT, HMV
 Importance of Brand Renewal- ( Revitalization/
Re-engineering)
Luxury Brands: emerging concepts
 Griffe Brands- Signature Brands : Aura Money
 Eg- Hemant Trivedi

 Luxury Brands- Boutique/ Designer Brands:

 Eg- Ritu Kumar

 Upper Range Brand- Premium Brand

 Eg- Louise Phillipe

 The Brand – Mass Market

 For Perfumes, Cosmetics, Fashion Accessories/ Wear

 InStore Brands- Pyramid, Pantaloon

Service Brands: emerging concepts
 Quality of Service : PEOPLE: Basis of Differentiation
 Loyalty of Consumers: Basis for Growth
 Led by Corporate Brands : People who run the Business
 Market Saturation- Growth of Brand Systems, Possibility
of Product Brands in a Service Industry?
 Eg
 Hotels- Taj- Coffee Shop vs Starboard, Birdy’s

 Banks- Smart Money Vs Deep Discount vs….

 Airlines- Jet Airways- Shopping Mall, Privilege Club

 Life Insurance- LIC- Jeevan Bima, Jeevan Suraksha….

Brand Alliances: emerging concepts
 Brand Economics: For Promotions/ Sponsorships
 Filmfare, Movie

 Brand Association: Complementary Products

 Ariel & Whirlpool, Coke & Bacardi Lime, Ingredient based products- like

Food
 Consumer Convenience
 Technology Products

 PC- Hardware & Software- Microsoft Windows/ Intel Pentium/ Samsung

Monitor
 Service Products

 Holiday Packages- Airlines ( Jet) & Hotels (Taj)

 Product Bundles for same Target Audience

 School Children- Camlin stationery+ Navneet workbooks

 Dot Com- Strategy

Brand Challenges…..Aaker
 Yet, research shows that managers cannot
identify with confidence their brand
associations, levels of consumer awareness,
or degree of customer loyalty.

 Frooti & Digen Verma

 Sunsilk & Fruits
Brand Challenges
 Moreover, in the last decade, managers desperate for
short-term financial results have often unwittingly
damaged their brands through price promotions and
unwise brand extensions, causing irreversible
deterioration of the value of the brand name.

 Business World
 Akai
 Parachute & Nutrisheen
 Dettol Perfumed
Brand Challenges
 "Yet, too often, the brand message to
customers is weak, confused, irrelevant, or,
worst of all, indistinguishable from
competitor offerings.

 “It’s a boy”!!!
 Liquor & Neckline
Brand Challenges
 "Managing multiple brands is not easy,"
 Acquisitions-
 HLL- Soaps- Jai, Breeze, Hamam,

Rexona……..
 Electrolux- Kelvinator

 Own Introduction-
 Lakme & Elle18

 Surf & Wheel

Brand Challenges
 "Inconsistent or 'cross-purposes' execution
within a company's branding system can be
destructive,"

 Corporate Brands- S Kumars, Godrej

 Coke vs Diet Coke