NUS MBA

BMA5506
Product & Brand Management
Notes from Class 1
15 Jan 2017

What is a Brand?

Brands can be people

Brands can be products

Brands can be organizations

Brands can be organized simply or with great complexity

A brand is not just

A product or service

A logo or trademark

A level or type of advertising or a tagline

All brands are promises – delivering value

A strong brand reduces the perceived risk faced by the buyer.

It lowers the cost of search through recognition.

As a promise of quality, it adheres to standards.

It delivers functional benefits that are needed.

It offers emotional associations that are valued.

What do great brands have in common?

Simplicity. Singular vision. Clarity.

It delivers its promise in a simple, meaningful & relevant way.

A brand is a relationship built on a promise between a product/service and

customers.

The promise is clear, distinctive and appealing to the customer.

Are products the same thing as brands?

Products are functional, rational; offers a set of benefits & can be copied

Brands are intangible & emotional; offer a “promise” built on trust, consistency
& a set of expectations

Brands

Allow you to “cut through” in cluttered environments

Brands are authentic

Can help you create product ideas & services

Brands can help differentiate “commodity” products

Brand help you compete more effectively in the marketplace

What is Brand Management?

Brand Management is about building, enhancing, protecting your company /

product’s / service’s reputation in the marketplace

Brand strategy vs Business strategy

Brand Strategy …a reflection of business strategy or intent

Value of a brand

Brands with strong reputation create competitive advantage that is substantial

and sustainable

A strong brand can….

• Direct consumers to products that are most relevant and useful
for them (via mnemonic aid)
• Guide product choice based on consumer loyalties
• Enhance the value of products or services beyond their
functional attributes
• Create long-term, emotional relationships with target audiences
that influence their behavior
• Differentiate and build preference versus competing products
• Allow marketers to charge a relative price premium
• Lower both customer attrition and cost of new customer
acquisition
• Attract the best talent
• Allow a company to withstand crisis situations
Collection of terminology (not jargon)

Brand = Identity + Reputation

Identity The visual, verbal, audible and environmental expression of a brand
positioning
Reputation Promise + Performance:
The perceptions and feelings, as well as rational and emotional expectations,
that internal and external shareholders have of a company/division/product
Brand Promise The past, present, or future explicit/implicit commitments
articulated to all the organization’s stakeholders
Brand Experience The collective experiences a customer has across all
points of contact with a company’s products/services, employees,
environments and communications
Brand Strategy Brand positioning central to the business proposition and the
supporting brand attributes and architecture

Brand Attributes Reputational characteristics that define and differentiate the

brand
• Entrystake attributes—Attributes needed to
compete in an industry
• Qualifying attributes—Attributes which place a
brand among a peer group, separating them from
other contenders
• Spike attributes—The few attributes with the
potential to differentiate our client’s brand among
its peers
Brand Positioning The strategic intent of the brand, capturing the way we
want customers, employees, partners, investors/members and other
stakeholders to think and feel about the company/division/product. The
“perceptual space” the brand strives to occupy to enhance success of the
business strategy. It is the desired future reputation and personality of the
brand.
Brand Architecture Type, number, relationship, and purpose of brands

Brand equity The elements of a brand (identity and reputation) that are
perceived to add value beyond the basic functionality of a company’s
products/services

Equity elements include:

• Brand associations
• Brand permissions
• Perceived quality
• Awareness and familiarity (of name,
symbology, value proposition, etc.)
• Strength of loyalty/preference
Brand Management The structure, discipline, and process across the entire
organization needed to build reputation including the development and
management of brand launch programs and brand communications
Brand Measurement Processes for valuing and evaluating brands, usually
using quantitative methods
Logo A proprietary symbol/sign used to help identify a
company/division/product most often used in conjunction with a name(s)
Wordmark A signature using a proprietary typeface and/or type application
used to help identify a company/division/product used without a symbol

Example:

Brands are strategic management tools. When are brands useful?

1. There’s a new product/service/company and a need to name/brand it.

2. The brand is out-dated or the business strategy has changed.
3. The corporate culture is not in synch with the brand strategy/vision
4. There’s an opportunity in new categories or markets
5. The brand portfolio has too many brands & become complicated or difficult
to manage
6. There’s a need to differentiate and stand out in a competitive and / or
cluttered landscape
7. Changing customer needs require an innovative response

Typical Branding process

1. Research
2. Strategy
3. Implementation
– People & culture development
– Visual & verbal expression
– Communication
– Capabilities
– Product & service innovation & development