Unit 3: Brand fundamentals
Product and Brand Management notes · PTU syllabus (MBA 926-18)
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Unit summary
A brand is a promise that adds value beyond the product. This unit covers the concept and significance of a brand, brand marks and trademarks, types of brands — family, individual, private and co-brands — selecting a brand name, branding decisions, customer-based brand equity and branding research design.
After this unit you can
- Explain the concept and significance of a brand
- Distinguish brand marks and trademarks and types of brands
- Select brand names and take branding decisions
- Explain customer-based brand equity and branding research
PTU syllabus topics
- Concepts and significance of a brand
- brand mark and trademark
- types of brands (family, individual, private, co-branding)
- selecting a brand name
- branding decisions
- customer-based brand equity
- branding research design
- Resonance
Loyalty, attachment, community
- Judgements and feelings
Quality, credibility, warmth
- Performance and imagery
What it does and what it means
- Salience
Brand awareness
Topic 1
Concept and significance of a brand
Brand: a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller and differentiate them from competitors (AMA).
- For consumers: identification, quality assurance, reduced search cost and risk, self-expression.
- For firms: differentiation, loyalty, price premium, legal protection, easier extensions, asset value.
Topic 2
Brand mark and trademark
- Brand name: the part that can be spoken (Tata, Amul). Brand mark: the part that is recognised but not spoken — symbol, design, colour (Nike swoosh, Amul girl).
- Trademark: a brand or part of it given legal protection — registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999; ® for registered and ™ for claimed marks; registration valid for 10 years and renewable.
Topic 3
Types of brands
Family (umbrella) brand
One name for many products — Tata, Godrej
Individual brand
Separate name for each product — HUL's Lux, Dove, Surf Excel
Private (store) brand
Owned by retailers — Reliance's Good Life, DMart's Premia
Co-brand
Two brands combined — HDFC Bank–Swiggy credit card, Tata–Starbucks
Ingredient brand
Component branded — Intel Inside, Dolby
Topic 4
Selecting a brand name
- Criteria: memorable, meaningful, likeable, easy to pronounce in many languages, distinctive, adaptable to extensions, legally protectable, culturally appropriate, available domain name.
- Process: define objectives, generate names, screen, research consumer reactions, legal search, final choice.
Topic 5
Branding decisions
- Positioning: the place a product occupies in consumers' minds relative to competitors (Volvo = safety; Patanjali = natural/Ayurvedic).
- Branding: a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design identifying a seller's goods. Decisions: brand name, brand sponsor (manufacturer or private label), and brand strategy (line extension, brand extension, multibrands, new brands). Brand equity is the added value a brand gives a product.
- Packaging: protects the product, provides convenience, promotes and differentiates it.
- Labelling: identifies the product and gives information — in India the Legal Metrology rules require details such as MRP, net quantity, manufacturer, date of manufacture and expiry where applicable.
Topic 6
Customer-based brand equity
Keller's CBBE model: brand equity is the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of the brand.
- Resonance
Loyalty, attachment, community, engagement
- Judgements and feelings
Quality, credibility, consideration, superiority; warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, self-respect
- Performance and imagery
Functional benefits; user profiles, personality, history
- Salience
Breadth and depth of awareness
- Aaker's model: brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, brand loyalty, other proprietary assets.
Topic 7
Branding research design
- Qualitative: free association, projective techniques (brand as a person, animal), laddering, ethnography.
- Quantitative: awareness (unaided and aided recall), image and attribute ratings, preference and purchase intent, brand funnel, conjoint analysis for brand value.
- Design: objectives, sample of target customers, measures linked to the CBBE pyramid, periodic tracking studies.
Key terms
- Brand
- Identifier that differentiates a seller's offering
- Brand mark
- Recognisable but unspoken part of a brand
- Trademark
- Legally protected brand element
- Co-branding
- Combining two brands in one offering
- CBBE
- Customer-based brand equity
Quick revision
- Brand definition and significance.
- Brand name, brand mark, trademark; Trade Marks Act 1999.
- Family, individual, private, co-brand, ingredient brands.
- Brand name criteria; branding decisions.
- Keller's pyramid; Aaker's model; qualitative and quantitative brand research.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define a brand.
- Q2.Distinguish a brand mark and a trademark.
- Q3.Distinguish family and individual brands.
- Q4.What is co-branding?
- Q5.State four criteria for a good brand name.
- Q6.Name the levels of Keller's CBBE pyramid.
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the concept and significance of brands.
- Q2.Discuss types of brands with examples.
- Q3.Explain the process of selecting a brand name and major branding decisions.
- Q4.Explain Keller's customer-based brand equity model and branding research design.
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