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Question2: A brand is a composite set of beliefs and associations in the mind
of consumers. In brand development, as a part of branding strategy decision,
the brand manager can decide to create new brand elements for the new
products, apply some of the existing brand elements to the new product, or
use a combination of existing and new brand elements to the existing and new
products. Explain the different branding strategies used by the companies for
their range of products.
Answer: Brand: The AMA defines it as “A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol,
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.”
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies a
seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. There are three
aspects of this definition. Firstly, it focuses on „what‟, of the brand. Secondly, it
emphasizes on what the brand „does‟. A brand can be a combination of name,
symbol, logo, or trade mark. Brands do not have fixed lifetimes. Under the
trademark law, the users are granted exclusive rights to use brand names in
perpetuity. A brand name is a word or a combination of words or letters that are
pronounceable e.g., Promise toothpaste, Rexona soap, etc. Brand as a logo is
unique to that product as a product design and signage.
Advantage of Brand: The following are the advantages of branding.
(a) A brand promises and delivers a high level of assurance to consumers.
(b) A brand serves as an assurance to the customer about the product performance.
A brand helps customers to identify the product on the shelf and helps in making
an informed choice.
(c) A brand as a symbol of status and social significance gives you psychological
satisfaction.
(d) The brand speaks about the product's attributes and how they perform, about
the brand name and what it stands for and about the company associated with a
brand. Hence, for a consumer, the brand aids decision making by building trust,
familiarity, and assurance of a certain standard.

2. The brand also provides benefits to the company. It develops a loyal customer base
e.g., brands like Starbucks coffee, Harley, Lux, Kellogg's, and Horlicks have a
strong loyal consumer base.
Companies use different branding strategies for their range of products. They
can be categorized into the following three types.
1. Individual branding – In this case, the company adopts a separate
Brand name for each product it offers. For example, Hindustan Lever
Markets its range of toothpastes by different brand names such as Close-up,
Pepsodent, Pepsodent-G, and New Pepsodent. Likewise, it offers bathing soaps in
different brand names such as Liril, Rexona, Lux, Lifebouy Plus, and Lifebouy
Gold. The major advantage of individual branding is that if one brand loses its
market, the others may offset sales in the particular product category. However, the
company has to spend a lot of money and pursue enormous promotional efforts to
position each brand in the consumer‟s mind. Large multinationals such as
Hindustan Lever, Proctor and Gamble, etc. follow individual branding Strategy.
2. Family branding – This is another type of branding strategy followed by some
companies which have developed their family names. For example, Godrej is a
family name used for all its products. Likewise, Ponds uses its name for all
products that include shampoos, talcum powders, and creams. The major
advantage of using family name for Products is that it minimizes advertising and
other promotional costs. But, if one product in the group is perceived negatively in
terms of quality, or in other aspects, by consumers, it may pull down the entire
Range of products. Hence, companies which use family names for branding must
be cautious.
3. Corporate umbrella branding – Companies such as Tata, Coke, and Pepsi are
not only using individual brand name for the range of products They market but
also use a corporate umbrella cover for their brands. It is the corporate logo,
symbol, or trademark which provides protection to the individual brand. The idea
is that the corporate name symbolizes trust and confidence to the buyers.