Marketing Chapter 9: Products and Branding

Chapter 9: Product, Branding, and Packaging Decisions

• Key learning objectives include describing product components, identifying consumer product types, explaining product mix breadth vs. depth, identifying brand advantages, summarizing brand equity components, describing branding strategies, and stating how packaging/labeling contributes to a firm's strategy.

• Patagonia exemplifies socially responsible consumption for a for-profit company. They are dedicated to sustainability and environmental causes.

Products and Types of Products

• A product is comprised of the actual product (brand name, quality level, packaging, and features/design), core customer value, and associated services (financing, warranty, and support).

Types of Consumer Products

• Products categorized as Specialty goods, Shopping goods, Convenience goods, and Unsought goods. A medical professional is a specialty service, apparel is a shopping item, soft drinks are convenient goods, and insurance is an unsought service.

Product Mix and Product Line Decisions

• Product Mix: The full set of all products offered by a company.
• Product Lines: Groups of related items consumers use together or see as part of a group.

Product Mix and Product Line Decisions: Breadth and Depth

• Breadth: Number of product lines offered.
• Depth: Number of products within a product line.

How to Change Product Mix Breadth

• Increase: Add new product lines.
• Decrease: Delete entire product lines.

Branding

• A brand can utilize a name, logos, symbols, characters, slogans, jingles, and packages to distinguish itself. Under Armour's slogan "The Only Way Is Through" is an example.

What Makes a Brand?

• Brand Name: Used to describe the product or service. Can be invented or derived from colloquial language (e.g. Comfort Inn).
• URLs/Domain Names: Website addresses which often act as brand names (e.g., www.toyota.ca).
• Logos and Symbols: Visual branding elements (e.g., a Nike swoosh).
• Characters: Humans, animals, and animated figures used as brand symbols (e.g., Pillsbury Doughboy).
• Slogans: Short phrases used to describe or persuade customers (e.g., State Farm's "Like a good neighbour").
• Jingles: Audio messages about a brand using distinctive music (e.g., Intel's sound).

Value of Branding

• Brands impact market value, are assets, facilitate purchasing, establish loyalty, reduce marketing costs, and protect from competitors.

Brand Equity

• Components include brand awareness, perceived value, brand associations, and brand loyalty. Brand equity affects how much consumers are familiar with the brand and their overall opinions.

Brand Equity: Brand Ownership Strategies

• Brand ownership encompasses Manufacturer, Store, or Private labels, and Generic labels

Brand Naming Strategies

• Individual Brand Names: Use unique names for each product (e.g., Tide).
• Family Brand Names: Use one brand name for all products (e.g., Kraft).

Naming Brands and Product Lines: Choosing a Name

• Brand names should be descriptive, easy to pronounce/remember, registrable as a trademark, and possibly translatable.

Brand Extension - Benefits

• Using the same brand name for new products can provide several advantages including name recognition, perceived quality (carryover), lower marketing costs, synergy among compatible products, and increased sales. This can be exemplified by Ferrari's licensing agreement.

Brand Extension - Negative Consequences

• Too many brand extensions can dilute the existing brand, and ensuring brands are distanced from each other if necessary is important. This could be potentially risky if the brand association between existing and new products is not similar (e.g., Zippo perfume, Kate Spade Saturday).

Brand Dilution

• Measures to prevent dilution include evaluating product class fit, evaluating consumer perceptions, and refraining from spreading the brand name across too many products.

Cobranding

• Combining two or more brands in a marketing effort on the same package or promotion.

Brand Licensing

• A contract between companies where one company allows another to use its branding (logo/name) for a fee. Porsche licensing their name to other goods are a relevant example.

Packaging

• Packaging is a vital brand element directly impacting consumer attention and standing out from competitors. It functions as a promotional tool and gives physical benefits to products.

Labeling

• Labels are crucial for providing critical information to consumers allowing for informed purchasing decisions related to the product.