Planning and

implementing brand
marketing programs
Module 2
Brand elements
Brand elements are those trademarkable devices that serve to identify and
differentiate the brand.
Criteria for choosing brand elements:-
A. Offensive strategies- It involves taking proactive, aggressive action in the
market. It is for building the brand. The offensive strategies are:
➢ Memorability- Easily recognized, Easily recalled
➢ Meaningfulness- Descriptive, persuasive
➢ Likeability- Fun and interesting, Aesthetically pleasing
B. Defensive strategies- They are reactionary and involve a wait and see
approach. It is for maintaining the brand. The defensive strategies are:
➢ Transferability- Within the categories, across geographic boundaries and
cultures
➢ Adaptability- Flexible, updateable
➢ Protectability- Legally, competitively
Types of brand elements
 Brand name
 URL’S
 Logos and symbols
 Characters
 Slogan
 Jingles

Integrating marketing programs and activities : An integrated marketing program is a comprehensive

marketing solution specifically designed to ensure that all messaging and communications are unified across
all channels and strategically focused to attract the customer
There are 7 essential steps to create a great marketing program :
 Marketing strategy – roadmap for implementation of an integrated marketing program
 Brand analysis –a specific logo or brand has to be developed
 Website and content development- content and schedule for posting should be generated
 Social media strategy and blogging- social networks, blogs
 Creative campaign -
 PR/media outreach strategy – develop a database of contacts and design effective outreach campaigns
 Trade distribution strategy – B2B
Personalizing marketing
Personalized or individual marketing is a marketing strategy by which companies
leverage data analysis and digital technology to deliver individualized messages and
product offerings to current or prospective customers.
Types of personalized marketing :
1. Experiential marketing – It is a form of customer focused marketing activity at
various touch points and creates a sensory emotional connection to the customer.
The different types of mktg experiences that are vital to the consumers
perception of brands are as follows :
 Sense marketing which appeal to consumers senses
 Feel marketing appeals to consumers inner feelings
 Think marketing appeals to the intellect
 Act marketing targets the physical behaviours
 Relate marketing takes into account individual’s desire to be a part of the social
context.
2. One to one marketing – It is an extreme form of segmentation . It refers to
approaching the customer as an individual and having a tailored mktg mix
designed for the specific customer.

3. Permission marketing – It is the practice of marketing only after gaining the

express permission of the consumers

4. Relationship marketing – It attempts to provide more holistic personalized

brand experience in order to create strong consumer ties .
Product strategy
Product strategy is defined as the road map of a product. A good product strategy
maximizes both customer satisfaction and profits.
Product strategy should have the following core elements :
 Design
 Features
 Quality
 Branding
 Target market
 Positioning
 To maximize profits
 To optimize perceived product quality
Perceived quality- Optimizing perceived quality means choosing how to balance the
specific requirements of each of the three elements in the purchasing process i.e.
image, value and satisfaction.
Managing product for customers
Pricing strategy
A solid pricing strategy can have a positive effect on brand equity while a poor
strategy can do the opposite.
Some of the pricing strategies are :
 Discounted pricing
 Everyday low pricing – Brands and retailers promise consumers that their prices
will be consistently low as opposed to have discounts or promotions
 Power of pricing – It is often the difference between a company that succeeds and
one that fails by using the pricing strategy
 Value pricing – Here prices are set primarily but not exclusively , according to the
perceived or estimated value of a product rather than to the cost of the product
Channel strategy

Marketing channels are the set of independent organizations involved in the

process of making a product available for use or consumption.
Channel strategy includes the design and management of intermediaries like
wholesalers, retailers, distributors, etc.
Any type of channel must focus on 3 key factors:
 Information
 Entertainment
 Experience
There are different type of channel arrangements
Direct channels
Herein the producer sells a product directly to a consumer without the help of
intermediaries. The main advantage of direct channel are low overheads and global
reach. Direct distribution via the internet is convenient for customers and available 24
hours a day.
Forms of direct channels:
1. Company owned stores
2. Store within a store
3. Other direct means

Indirect channels
Consists of different types of intermediaries
1. Manufacturer -> Retailer -> Consumer – Goods sold consumer durables
2. Manufacturer -> Wholesaler -> Retailer -> Consumer – Goods sold soaps, cosmetics,
etc.
3. Manufacturer agent -> Wholesaler -> Retailer -> Consumer – Goods sold cloth, food
grains, edible oil, etc
The channel members can provide the following types of services
 Marketing research
 Communications
 Contact
 Matching
 Negotiations
 Physical distributions
 Financing and risk taking
 Other services

Advantages of indirect channels

Relieves the manufacturer from the problems of distribution and he can
concentrate fully on production.

Limitations of indirect channels

Creates distance between the producer and the consumers
The producer looses control over distribution.
Promotion strategy
Product promotion is one of the necessities for getting the brand in front of public and
attracting new customers.

Developing Integrated Marketing Communication Programmes –

An IMC plan uses the same thematic message in different types of promotions.
The idea behind the message remains consistent .
The marketing communications strategy will promote an awareness of brand within the
target market.
The firm can use the following 4 steps to develop a comprehensive integrated marketing
communication program:
1. Identify different marketing communications-The options available are :
• Content marketing- can be made available online through blogging, premium content,
marketing automation and dynamic websites.
• Advertising
• Sales promotions
• Social media
2. Develop a marketing communication plan- marketers have to keep in mind that
they are delivering the right content, at the right place and at the right time
3. Understand the customer decision making process- Most customer’s decisions
follow a basic pattern:
• They recognize a problem
• They search for information
• They identify products and services
• They choose which alternative they will buy
• They assess the after sales experience
4. Implement your marketing communication plan- to help make the marketing
communication strategy comprehensive and results driven marketers should
continue to monitor the needs of real clients, focusing on the capabilities of the
products that solve their problem, inspiring confidence in the brand and
generating audience excitement.
The criteria for IMC programme is as follows:
1. Coverage- it is the proportion of the audience reached by each communication
action
2. Contribution- it is the inherent ability of a marketing communication to create
the distinct response and communication effects
3. Commonality- it is the extent to common information conveyed by different
communication options
4. Complementarity- the extent to which different associations and linkages are
emphasized across communication options
5. Confirmability- the extent to which communication option is robust and
effective for different group of consumers
6. Cost- the efficiency generated must outweigh the cost of the program
Leveraging secondary brand associations
to build brand equity
Secondary brand associations are important in creating strong, favourable and
unique associations or responses if the existing associations are deficient.

Brand associations that are related to source factors

1. Company- branding strategies are an important determinant of the strength
of association from the brand to the company. The three main branding
options that exist for a new product are as follows
• Create a new brand
• Modify the existing brand
• Combine the existing and the new brand
2. Country of origin- the country where the product is originated must also be linked
to the brand and generate secondary associations
3. Channel of distribution- the success of a brand is ensured when a distribution
network performs the function more effectively than any other competitor
network
Importance of channels of distribution
 Delivery of satisfaction
 Standard of living
 Value addition
 Communication
 Employment
 Efficiency
 Financing
Brand associations that are related to people,
place and things:

 Co-branding- which is also called as brand building or brand alliances occurs

when two or more existing brands are combined into a joint product or are
marketed together in the same manner.
It reduces the cost of product introduction.
 Characters through licensing- licensing creates contractual agreements
whereby the firms can use logos, characters ,etc. of other brands in order to
market their own brands for some fixed fee. For eg- movie titles and logos
like spiderman, chota bheem and various other characters are used for
advertising the products.
 Events- sponsored events can contribute to brand equity. E.g.Pepsico which is
leading sponsor of National Football League.