Branding and Promotion

• Types of Promotion :

  • Advertising
  • Public relations & sponsorship
  • Personal selling
  • Direct marketing
  • Sales promotion
• Types of branding = personal branding, corporate branding, product branding, and service branding.
• A strong brand can increase customer loyalty, improve recognition, and enhance perceived value.
• Advantages of strong branding = Customer loyalty, can charge higher prices and can become globally known.
• Ways to build branding =

  • By developing unique selling points (USPs)
  • Through advertising
  • Through sponsorship
  • Through the use of social media
• Disadvantages of weak branding:

  • hinder customer image
  • less customer loyalty
  • poor consumer awareness
• advantages of promotional activities:

  • attracts new customers
  • generates more sales
  • gain brand establishment
  • increase the distribution of the product
• Disadvantages of promotional activities:

  • last for a short period
  • many hidden costs (sunken costs)
  • promotions are sensitive to price change
• Advertising = Promotion occurs through paid channels such as television, radio, print media (magazines), and online advertising
• Direct Marketing = Involves communicating directly with customers through email, text message, social media or post
• Sales Promotions = Marketing techniques that encourage the purchase of a product or service by offering temporary incentives or discounts such as free samples, buy one get one free (bogof), discount coupons, loyalty cards, and rebates
• Personal Selling = Occurs when a salesperson interacts with potential customers one-on-one, either in person or through digital communication channels
• Sponsorship = an agreement in which a company provides financial or other support to an event, team, or organization in exchange for marketing exposure
• Public Relations (PR) = The business seeks to build relationships with the public and manage their reputation

  • Public relations activities can include media relations, crisis management and community outreach
• Digital Communications = any form of marketing or communication that is delivered electronically, such as social media, search engine optimisation (SEO), or mobile apps such as Instagram and Twitter
• Corporate branding

  • This refers to the use of a company name or logo to promote all the products or services offered by the company
• Corporate branding

  Advantages:

  • Creates strong brand recognition and reputation 
  • Allows the company to leverage its existing reputation and customer base to introduce new products more easily
  • Helps to build economies of scale by promoting multiple products 


  Disadvantages:

  • If a company's reputation is damaged by a product it can have a negative impact on all the products offered under that brand
  • If the company faces intense competition in one market , it may affect the sales of all the products offered across other markets
• Product branding:

  • This refers to the use of a unique name, design, or symbol to promote a specific product
  • E.g. KitKat, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's Big Mac
• Product branding

  advantages:

  • Creates a distinct identity for the product which can help to differentiate it from competitors and increase brand loyalty
  • Allows the company to market different products to different segments of the market e.g. Coco Cola and Coke Zero
  • Can help to build customer loyalty and trust by associating the product with a specific quality and benefits


  Disadvantages::

  • can be expensive
  • Different products within the brand may have different levels of quality which can affect customer satisfaction
• Own brand product

  • Own brand or private label branding refers to the use of a retailer's name to promote a specific product or service and is often used by supermarkets
  • E.g. ASDA chocolate, Tesco's Finest range, and Sainsbury's Basics range
• Own brand product

  Advantages:

  • It can help retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering unique products
  • It allows retailers to offer products at a lower cost than others
  • It can help to build customer loyalty 


  Disadvantages

  • Own brand products may have a lower perceived quality than branded products which can affect customer loyalty and trust
• Emotional branding

  • Emotional branding is a strategy where companies build strong emotional connections with their customers by appealing to their values, beliefs, and emotions
  • E.g. Patagonia and TOMS have built their entire brand identities around their commitments to the environment