Positioning Strategies: Reverse Positioning,

Breakaway
Positioning and Stealth positioning;
Branding Concepts:Definition, Commodity Vs
Brand, Product Vs Brand, Brand Culture and
Brand
Extensions.
Brand Value Dimensions: Reputation,
Relationship,
Experiential, Symbolic.
Brand Evaluation Metrics: Behaviour, attitude,
relationships, Brand equity.
 PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES
• An item ready for sale in the • Satisfies the needs
market • Competition is price based
• Perform certain functions • Customer involvement is low
• Made in factories or workshop • Customer loyalty is low
• May be tangible or intangible • Customer switch over is high
• Instantly becomes meaningful
• Goes obsolete overtime
• Can be replaced/copied with
relative ease
 BRAND ATTRIBUTES
• Distinguishes a product from other products
• Offer emotions
• Brands are made by customers
• Can only be experienced (intangible)
• Impossible to copy
• Becomes meaningful overtime
• Brand remains forever
• Satisfies wants of customers
• Ingredients-basic product +additional value
• Very important in evaluating the value of company
• Competition is on additional or differentiated value offered
• Can be for one product or entire company
• Protected from use by others by trademark
• Expressed in form of logo or other graphical representation
 BRAND VALUE DIMENSIONS
1)Reputation Value: Product Quality

• From an economic point of view, brands serve as containers of reputation.

Products have tangible features that deliver on utilitarian goals: flights are on
time, fabrics clean easily, tools never break down.
• Customers take on risk when they purchase products, particularly products that
will be used into the future and products for which quality cannot be reliably
evaluated upon inspection before purchase. Sometimes the risk is huge: for
consumers, consider the purchase of an automobile or an HMO policy; for
business to business (B2B), consider the purchase of a mission-critical software
program.
• Customers, to varying degrees, get added value from products that lower the
risks of future performance failures. So when there is risk inherent in a product,
customers are usually willing to pay to reduce risk.
• The brand operates as a signaling mechanism to increase customers’ confidence
that the product will provide excellent quality and reliability on important
functions.
• The history of product experiences—both successes and failures—is spread in
stories and aggregates to form part of the brand culture.
2) Relationship Value: Relationship Perceptions

• Brands also communicate that the firm producing the product can be trusted to act as
a long-term partner that will flexibly respond to future customer needs. For many
products, especially in B2B and in services, customer uses and needs cannot be fully
anticipated (and so built into a contract) at the time of purchase.
• For these products, research in economic sociology has demonstrated that a
significant aspect of product value is the perception that the firm will respond as
desired to uncontracted future contingencies.
• The brand is, once again, the material marker that “contains” stories conveying that
the firm can be trusted to deliver on these future contingencies.
• Relationship value accumulates as particular stories, images, and associations that
circulate around the product become conventional, taken for granted.
• For example, if a story that “IBM consultants would rather miss their own wedding
than fail to respond immediately to IT failures” becomes a widely accepted part of
IBM’s brand culture, social value increases.
• Customers assume, a priori, without any particular evidence, that IBM will go the
extra mile to make sure that its IT solutions always function as desired.
3)Experiential Value: Consumer Experiences

• From a psychological perspective, the brand acts as a perceptual frame that highlights
particular benefits delivered by the product. This framing guides consumers in
choosing products and also shapes their product experiences. The heuristic value of the
brand provides for considerable savings in search costs and in the need to continually
process information to make effective choices. Hence, firms often seek to brand their
products as particularly effective in delivering on a single benefit desired by customers.
• A classic example comes from Procter & Gamble’s lineup of detergent brands, each of
which is framed to consumers as designed to solve a particular cleaning problem (all
temperature cleaning, removing tough stains, etc.).
• Experiential framing relies upon consumers who are cognitive misers, uninterested in
investigating the technical supporting evidence for how brands are framed. As a result,
branding efforts that frame benefits can sometimes tread in a gray area between adding
customer value and manipulating customers’ uses of heuristic thinking.
• For example, Winston cigarettes were effectively re-framed by removing a few
chemicals used in processing the tobacco and then pronouncing via advertising that the
cigarettes were “100% natural.” While the removal of the chemicals used to process
the tobacco did nothing to the cigarette’s carcinogenic properties, the framing of the
brand as 100% natural made a dangerous product seem a little less dangerous, and
sales shot up.
• Similarly, consider how Intel’s “Intel Inside” campaign was able to create the
perception that CPUs were the most important component of the computer and also
that there were significant differences in performance and reliability across chips.
4)Symbolic Value: Values and Identities

• Brands also act as symbols that express values and identities. Historically, humans
have depended upon their material culture (clothes, homes, craft goods, public
monuments, religious icons) to serve as concrete markers of values and identities. In
contemporary market economies, consumer goods now dominate in serving this
function (hence the term “consumer culture”).
• In particular, brands have become powerful markers to express statuses, lifestyles,
politics, and a variety of aspirational social identities. Consider, for instance, how Nike
became a powerful marker for American ideals of achievement and perseverance in the
1990s. Or how Apple became a symbol for the rebellious, creative, libertarian values
associated with New Economy professionals.
• When symbolic value becomes conventionalized in a brand culture, it often exerts a
powerful halo effects on the other dimensions of brand value. For example, when
Budweiser’s Lizards ad campaign created powerful symbolic value for the brand, Bud
drinkers reported that the beer tasted better.
• Customers get three types of symbolic value from brands: they viscerally experience
desired values and identities when they consume the brand (what anthropologists call
ritual action); they use the brand symbol to create social distinction, to make status
claims; and they use the brand symbol to forge solidarity and identification with others.
On rare occasions, brands serve as the center of communities. This extreme case of the
solidarity effect has been considerably overstated and glamorized in marketing circles
 Brand Evaluation Metrics
1. Brand Behavior
Brand behavior refers to how a brand interacts with customers and the
market. This includes:
•Purchase Behavior: Understanding how often customers buy the
product and what factors influence their decision-making (e.g., price,
quality, promotions, etc.).
•Customer Loyalty: Measures of repeat purchases and brand advocacy.
Loyal customers will continue purchasing from the brand and may even
recommend it to others.
•Brand Consistency: Consistency in the brand’s messaging, design, and
customer experience across different touchpoints (website, social media,
packaging, etc.).
•Brand Usage: Frequency and intensity with which consumers use the
product or service.
2. Brand Attitude
Brand attitude captures consumers' feelings and opinions about the brand. Key
metrics include:

Brand Perception: How customers perceive the brand compared to its competitors
in terms of quality, reliability, and value.

Customer Satisfaction: Whether customers feel their expectations are met or

exceeded by the brand. High satisfaction often correlates with repeat purchases
and positive word of mouth.

Net Promoter Score (NPS): A metric that measures customer loyalty by asking
how likely they are to recommend the brand to others.

Emotional Connection: The degree to which the brand resonates with customers
on an emotional level, which can drive stronger brand affinity and long-term
loyalty.
3. Brand Relationships
Brand relationships evaluate the strength of the connection between the brand
and its customers. These include:

Brand Trust: Trust is foundational in customer relationships. A trusted brand is

more likely to maintain loyalty, even during tough times.

Brand Community: This is the extent to which consumers feel like they belong
to a community centered around the brand. For example, Apple has a
passionate, loyal following that sees itself as part of an exclusive group.

Engagement: The level of active participation customers have with the brand,
such as social media interactions, participation in events, or involvement in
brand-driven initiatives.

Customer Retention: The ability of the brand to maintain long-term

relationships with customers through excellent customer service, rewards
programs, and effective communication.
4. Brand Equity
Brand equity is the value that a brand adds to a product or service, based on
consumer perceptions and attitudes. Key metrics include:

Brand Awareness: The level of recognition and recall customers have of the
brand. High awareness usually leads to higher market share.

Brand Loyalty: A measurement of the extent to which customers continue

purchasing the brand’s products over time, often leading to stronger market
positioning.

Brand Associations: The mental and emotional connections that consumers make
with the brand, such as attributes, benefits, and qualities they associate with it.

Perceived Quality: How consumers perceive the quality of the brand’s products
or services compared to competitors, which can influence purchasing decisions
and pricing power.

Brand Value: The overall financial value of the brand, which can be measured by
looking at sales, market share, and how much consumers are willing to pay for
the brand over alternatives.