Marketing

Topic 9: Branding, new products, and product

strategy

Dr. Steve Clarke

O u t l i n e f o r To d a y
– What is a BRAND?
– Elements
– Brand Equity
– Brand situation map
– Brand resonance pyramid

– What is a PRODUCT?
– What is a product? Levels (TPC)
– Product mix (depth and breadth)
– Product Life Cycle
– Diffusion of Innovation
– New product Development
 What is a brand?
• A brand is (definition):

o A Promise to deliver value

o A name, term, sign, symbol, colour, or design, or a

combination of them, intended to identify the products of
one seller or group of sellers, and to differentiate them
from those of competitors

o Supported by brand attributes: story, imagery, symbolism

and signs

• Brand attributes include: A name, term, sign, symbol, colour,

or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the
goods or services of one seller or group of sellers, and to
differentiate them from those of competitors. (Kotler & Keller,
2016 p 322)

In marketing, a brand is not a logo (Although a logo can be a

visual heuristic)

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Elements of a Brand

Brand

• Name, term, design, symbol, or any feature

• Identifies one marketer’s product as distinct from those of other marketers

Brand name

• Part of a brand that can be spoken

• Letters, words and numbers

Brand mark

• Element of a brand not made up of words

Trademark

• Legal designation indicating the owner has exclusive use of a brand

Trade name

• Full and legal name of an organization

 What is a brand cont…

• Brands are linked to customer perceptions

o It is well known that in blind product testing, consumers fail
to distinguish between brands in each product category.
o e.g. Anheuser Busch experiment – 5 segment-packaged beers
all gained different responses from segment target
consumers despite product being identical.
• Different meanings: meanings are subjective
o A brand is a complex symbol that can convey up to six levels
of meaning (Kotler, 2001).
• Attributes, Benefits, Values, Culture, Personality and User.

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 What does a brand mean to you?

• These two cars are essentially the same

– One is an S Class Mercedes

– One is a Ssangyong Chairman made using old Mercedes

tooling

• Would you pay more for the Mercedes?

– How much? Why?

 Brand
Awareness

Brand
Equity
Brand
Brand
Associations
Loyalty

Brand equity—Assets and liabilities connected to the brand

Marketing
Figure 9.1
 Brand Equity

Brand equity is an additional value endowed on products.

Organisations strategically invest in their brands to ensure they are
well-known and valued by customers.

• Convey relevant & important meanings

• The degree that people will prefer/choose

• Willingness to pay a premium

• Equity = Brand knowledge effect

• Consumer-centric approach is
necessary
Brand Equity
Keller, K (1993)
Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity
 Brand Equity
• Marketing and financial value associated with a brand’s strength in a market

• Brand Equity

o The worth of a brand

• Measurement approaches

o Determining the price premium of brand

• “How much are you willing to pay for gas at Shell?” vs.

• “How much are you willing to pay at a local station?”

o Comparing branded and unbranded

• “How much do you like this $799 Sony flat screen with screen-within-a-screen?” vs.

• “How much do you like this $799 unknown brand flat screen sharing the same features?”

• Brand familiarity - Being aware of a brand

• Brand loyalty: Customer’s favorable attitude toward a specific brand

 What is brand identity?

• A brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies
one seller's goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers," (American
Marketing Association). 

• Your brand identity is the representation of your company's reputation through

the conveyance of attributes, values, purpose, strengths, and passions.

• It includes what your brand says, what its values are, how you communicate its
concepts, and which emotions you want your customers to feel when they
interact with your business. 

• “Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

(Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com)

Five levels of brand identity

Vision Statement

Mission Statement

Brand Essence

Brand Personality

Positioning/Value
Proposition
 Step 1: Vision Statement

• A vision statement describes what you want your company to become in the future. It
should be aspirational and inspirational. Ideally, the statement should be one sentence in
length and should not explain how the vision will be met. (Don't worry, that'll come later.)

• When developing your vision, keep these questions in mind:

• What are your most important products and services?

• What products and services will you never offer?

• What is unique about doing business with your brand?

• How would your customers describe your brand?

• Where do you want your company to be in five years?

• For example: JetBlue’s Vision Statement:

• JetBlue Airways is dedicated to bringing humanity back to air travel."

 Step 2: Mission Statement

• A mission statement defines the purpose of the company. It should be simple,

straightforward, articulate, and consist of jargon-free language that's easy to grasp. It
should be motivational to both employees and customers. Consider:

• What are the specific market needs the company exists to address?

• What does the company do to address these needs?

• What are the guiding principles that define the company's approach?

• Why do customers buy from you and not your competition?

• Example of a good mission statement – Walt Disney Company:

• The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and
providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its
content, services and consumer products. The company's primary financial goals are to
maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital toward growth initiatives that will
drive long-term shareholder value."
 Step 3: Essence

• The essence of the company speaks to the intangible emotions you want your
customers to feel when they experience the brand. A brand's essence is the
representation of the company's heart, soul, and spirit (Kotler Marketing 3.0), and is
best described with one word. When defining the essence of your brand, consider these
points:

• When your customers experience your product or service, what emotions does the
encounter elicit?

• If your brand were a person, how would you describe its personality?

• Check out this SlideShare: "The 9 Criteria for Brand Essence."

• Read this blog post on cultural archetypes.

• Here are some great samples of brands' essences:

• Volvo is "safe."

• Disney is "magical."

• Lamborghini is "exotic."
 Step 4: Personality

• Just as with humans, a brand's personality describes the way a brand speaks, behaves,
thinks, acts, and reacts. It is the personification of the brand: the application of human
characteristics to a business. For example, Apple is young and hip, whereas IBM is
mature and set in its ways.

• What personality do you want to put forth when people experience your brand?

• Are you lighthearted and fun?

• Are you serious and all business?

• Are you down-to-earth?

• Are you playful or matter-of-fact?

 Step 5: Position or Value Proposition

• A brand positioning statement, or value proposition, is a brief statement that clearly

articulates your product or service's unique value, and how it benefits customers. It must
define the audience, define the category in which the brand exists, cite a clear product or
service benefit, set your brand apart from your competitors, and instill confidence the
brand will deliver on its promise.

• When crafting a positioning statement, consider:

• To whom are you speaking? (Target market, demographic, and persona)

• Which market segment does your product or service serve?

• What is your brand promise? (Both rational and emotional)

• Why is your product or service different from the competition, and why should your
customers care?

• For instance, Warby Parker has a great positioning statement:

• Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to offer designer
eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious
businesses."
 The Brand Identity Prism

• To illustrate brand identity with a holistic view of a brand, an internationally recognized

corporate branding specialist named Jean-Noel Kapferer created a model he called the
"Brand Identity Prism." 

• The Brand Identity Prism illustrates

six aspects of brand identity:

o Physique

o Personality

o Culture

o Relationship

o Reflection

o Self-image
Nike
Brand resonance pyramid
 Slogans: Brand Taglines and Brand
Promises
• A brand promise is the statement that you make to customers that
identifies what they should expect for all interactions with your people,
products, services and company.

• A brand tagline is a short text which serves to convey an attitude,

persona, emotion or feeling for a brand, often designed with a degree
of dramatic effect.
Slogans: Brand Taglines and Brand
Promises
• Successful brand promises…
– Make it measurable (avoid interpretive words)
– What does safe, friendly, big, tough actually mean?
– Make it meaningful
– Actions speak louder than words

• Successful Brand Taglines

• Are evocative
• Speak to the emotions and higher order motives
• Are memorable (simple, and ‘sticky’)
 Influencers: Brand Ambassadors &
Spokespeople
• A Brand Ambassador (sometimes also called a Corporate
Ambassador, or Brand Spokesperson) is a person who is hired by an
organization or company to represent a brand in a positive light and by
doing so help to increase brand awareness and sales.
 Some brand Elements you can
consider in your project
• Logos

o Iconography

o Typography

• Elevator pitch

• Catchphrases, slogans

• Mood boards, brand tone of voice

• Storyboard for a typical branded-ad

• Endorsers/influencers

• Other trademarks

o Sounds, colors, patterns/

design styles, tone of voice
 Brand Elements
• Memorable: recognise, recall
BRAND BUILDING
• Meaningful: credible, salient

• Likeable: aesthetically, emotionally

DEFENSIBLE

• Transferable: conducive to new

• Adaptable: updateable, malleable

• Protectable: legally, trademark

Brand Situation Map
 Value of Branding
• Buyers' benefit

o Helps identify specific products that are

preferred over others

o Purchase of certain brands can be a form

of self-expression

o Symbolizes a certain quality level

o Reduces perceived risk of purchase

o Psychological reward from owning a brand

that symbolizes status
 Value of Branding
• Sellers’ benefit

o Identify products, making repeat purchases easier

o Helps a firm introduce a new product that carries the name of one
or more of its existing products

o Facilitates promotional efforts

o Fosters brand loyalty

 Branding Review
• A brand is the collection of brand elements that identify a maker/seller

• Brand elements – logo, name, colour scheme, typography, slogan, music/sound, design
principles, ambassador, and more… (trademarked?)

• Branding is co-created – resides in consumer’s mind (individual & collective)

• Brand Equity is a measure of the commercial value that derives from consumer
perception of the brand, rather than the product or service itself.

• Tools covered:

o Brand Situation Map: explores VP and competitive position,

relative to customer needs (requires research to be done beforehand)

o Kapferer’s Identity Prism: six aspects of brand identity, holistic view

Product Line and Product Mix
 Product Line and Product Mix
• Product item

• a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering

among a firm’s products (eg: GAP shirt)

• Product line

• a group of closely related product items viewed as a unit because of

marketing, technical or end-use considerations Eg: Twinnings herbal teas)

• Product mix

• the total group of products that an organization makes available to customers,

all products the firm manufactures

o Breadth of product mix: the number of product lines a company has

o Depth of product mix: the average number of different product items offered in each
product line
Categories of Consumer Products
Convenience products

• Inexpensive, frequently purchased items for which buyers exert

only minimal purchasing effort (eg: gum)

Shopping products

• Items for which buyers are willing to expend considerable effort

in planning and making the purchase (eg: TV)

Specialty products
• Possess one or more unique characteristics
• Buyers are willing to expend considerable effort to obtain them
(eg: artwork)

Unsought products

• Purchased when a sudden problem must be solved

• Products of which customers are unaware, and products that
people do not necessarily think of purchasing (eg: plumbing)
Marketing Impact of the Consumer, Shopping
and Specialty Products and Services

Factor Convenience Shopping Specialty

Products and Products and Products and
Services Services Services
Marketing Mix Factors
Price Low Relatively high High
Promotion Advertising Personal selling Personal selling
and promotion and advertising and advertising
by producer by both producer by both
and retailer producers and
retailer
Distribution channel length Long Relatively short Very short
Number of sales outlets Many Few Very few; often
one per market
area

Importance of seller’s image Unimportant Very important Important

The Four Stages of the Product Life Cycle
Introduction
Product mode new
Price policy use skimming or penetration
strategies
Place rapidly building distribution
network
Promotion build general demand
Profits expected losses

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Growth
Product mode differentiated products
Price policy maintain stable pricing policy

Place solidify distribution channels and

network
Promotion generate secondary demand
Profits highest profits (peak)

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Maturity
Product mode modify product or product usage
Price policy price reduction; non-price
competition
Place increase distribution efforts
Promotion concentrate on product
positioning
Profits stable profits

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Decline
Product mode maintain a basic product
Price policy maintain pricing or rise prices

Place limit distribution efforts

Promotion cut-back on advertising and sales
promotions
Profits reduced profits

Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

 Developing and marketing new
products
• What is “new”?

• Discontinuous

o Completely new

• Example: digital music

downloads

• Continuous

o Minor innovation

• Example: new ingredient

in toothpaste

• Dynamic continuous

o New but no user behavioural

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Phases of New-Product
Development
 Some empirical results
• 27% of product line extensions failed;
• 31% of new brands introduced in categories where the
company already had a product failed; and
• 46% of the new products that were introduced to new
categories failed.
• (Urban and Hauser, 1993)

• While not guaranteed of success, line and brand

extensions are considered less risky because they attempt
to capitalise on existing market based assets
• (Aaker and Keller, 1990)
Product Adoption Process
1. Awareness: buyer becomes aware of the product

2. Interest: the buyer seeks information and is receptive to learning

about the product

3. Evaluation: the buyer considers the product’s benefits and

decides whether to try it

4. Trial: the buyer examines, tests, or tries the product to determine

if it meets his or her needs

5. Adoption: the buyer purchases the product and can be expected

to use it again whenever the need for this general type of product
arises
Adopter Categories
Innovators
• First to adopt a new product

Early adopters
• Choose new products carefully

Early majority
• Adopt just prior to the average person

Late majority
• Skeptical of new products but eventually adopt them because of
economic necessity or social pressure

Laggards
• Last to adopt a new product, are oriented toward the past