What is a brand? What are the advantages of branding?
Enhances Product Recognition - Brands provide multiple sensory stimuli to enhance customer recognition.
For example, a brand can be visually recognizable from its packaging, logo, shape, etc. It can also be recognizable via sound, such as hearing the name on a radio advertisement or talking with someone who mentions the product.
Helps Build Brand Loyalty - Customers who are frequent and enthusiastic purchasers of a particular brand are likely to become Brand Loyal.
Cultivating brand loyalty among customers is the ultimate reward for successful marketers since these customers are far less likely to be enticed to switch to other brands compared to non-loyal customers.
Helps With Product Positioning - Well-developed and promoted brands make product positioning efforts more effective. The result is that upon exposure to a brand (e.g., hearing it, seeing it) customers conjure up mental images or feelings of the benefits they receive from using that brand. The reverse is even better.
When customers associate benefits with a particular brand, the brand may have attained a significant competitive advantage.
In these situations the customer who recognizes he needs a solution to a problem (e.g., needs to bleach clothes) may automatically think of one brand that offers the solution to the problem (e.g., Clorox). This "benefit = brand" association provides a significant advantage for the brand that the customer associates with the benefit sought.
Aids in Introduction of New Products - Firms that establish a successful brand can extend the brand by adding new products under the same "family" brand.
Such branding may allow companies to introduce new products more easily since the brand is already recognized within the market.
Builds Brand Equity - Strong brands can lead to financial advantages through the concept of Brand Equity.