1.3.2 Branding & Promotion

• Advantages of branding

  • enables business to reduce the amount spent on promotion
  • customers are likely to purchase the product again (repeat purchase)
  • easier to persuade retailers to put the product in their stores
  • other products can be promoted using the same brand name
• Benefits of established branding

  • Added value - strong brands give reassurance & may provide aspirational benefits.
  • Charging premium prices - Nescafe charges 60% more than own label coffee.
  • Reduced price elasticity - Brand loyalty lowers price elasticity, enabling producer to increase prices without damage to sales volume.
  • Combating discounters - weak brands will be pushed out of the market. Strong brand acts like a protection.
• Ways to build a brand

  • USP - An extreme version of product differentiation but is temporary as the features can be copied by rivals. Main differentiation is the brand name.
  • Advertising - keeps reinforcing the message about the superiority of the product & encourages new, younger buyers
  • Sponsorship - attempt at a long term brand building. Can help the brand have a personality. Eg: Richard Branson with Red Bull
  • Use of social media - allows an advertiser to spend fixed amount & reach a wide audience
• Viral Marketing & branding

  • strategy where business uses online platforms to promote their products by creating content at specific times
  • This is easily be shared & commented on
  • brand message spreads like a virus from mouth to mouth
• Social Media & branding

  • specific target market - at the tastes & habits of an individual, including changes in behaviour
  • Provides a two-way process between the consumer and brand which is distinct from traditional advertising
  • Crowdfunding - obtaining external from many individuals - helps create a bond between consumer & brand
• Emotional branding

  • strategy where business builds emotional connection with the consumer
  • eg Andrex puppy adverts
  • a community of followers can be established that becomes self sustaining
  • stimulates short term sales & sales that build on long term
• Persuasive advertising

  • creates a distinctive image
  • BMW - persuades customers that it doesn't produce a car but a 'Driving Machine'
• Promotion helps to build brand awareness and loyalty which can lead to repeat purchases and referrals
• Advertising

  • Promotion occurs through paid channels such as television, radio, print media (magazines), and online advertising
• Advantages of advertising

  •  reach large audiences and increase brand awareness
  • used to create a specific brand image 
• Disadvantages of advertising

  • expensive
  • effectiveness can be difficult to measure
  • customers may ignore ads
• Direct Marketing Involves communicating directly with customers through email, text message, social media or post
• advantages - direct marketing

  • can target specific audiences and personalise message to individual customers
  • measurable - enables businesses to track their results and adjust their strategy accordingly
• disadvantages - direct marketing

  • Can be intrusive as customers may perceive it as spam
  • costly, especially if businesses do not have an established customer database
• Sales promotions

  • Marketing techniques that encourage the purchase of a product or service by offering temporary incentives or discounts such as free samples, bogof, discount coupons, loyalty cards.
• advantages - sales promotion

  • quickly boost sales or customer engagement
  • help to clear out stock or promote a new product
  • encourage impulse purchases
  • targeted to specific segments of customers
• disadvantages - sales promotion

  • expensive if promotion is heavy discounting
  • attract deal-seeking customers who may not be loyal to the brand
  • reduce the sales of full-priced products
• Personal Selling Occurs when a salesperson interacts with potential customers one-on-one, either in person or through digital communication channels
• advantages - personal selling

  • build relationships with customers and understand specific needs
  • can provide personalised advice and guidance to customers
• disadvantages - personal selling

  • expensive- cost of hiring and training sales staff
  • impact of personal selling can be limited as it is difficult to scale to large audiences
• Sponsorship

  • agreement in which a company provides financial or other support to an event, team, or organization in exchange for marketing exposure
  • many forms, such as logo placement or naming rights 
• advantages - sponsorship

  •  build brand awareness and credibility
  • create emotional connections with target audiences
  • support specific business objectives - entering new markets/ reaching new customers
• disadvantages - sponsorship

  • expensive, especially for high-profile events
  • May not directly drive sales
  • May be subject to negative publicity if the sponsored entity experiences a scandal or controversy
• Public Realtions (P.R)

  • business seeks to build relationships with the public and manage their reputation
  • activities can include media relations, crisis management and community outreach
• advantages - P.R

  • enhance a business's reputation and credibility
  • lead to increased customer loyalty and sales
  • cost-effective when compared to advertising or personal selling
• disadvantages - P.R

  • time-consuming and is difficult to measure impact
• Digital Communication (D.C)

  • Refer to any form of marketing or communication that is delivered electronically, such as social media, search engine optimisation
  • sed for building brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales
• advantages - D.C

  • highly targeted to specific customer segments
  • provide real-time engagement and feedback from customers
• disadvantages - D.C

  • easily ignored or filtered out by customers
  • require significant investment in technology 
  • subject to data privacy regulations or security breaches
  • not be effective for reaching older o customer segments.
• Corporate Branding refers to the use of a company name or logo to promote all the products or services offered by the company
• advantages - Corporate branding

  • strong brand recognition and reputation increasing customer loyalty & trust
  • Allows company to leverage its existing reputation & customer base to introduce new products easily
  • build economies of scale by promoting multiple products under one brand - reduce marketing costs & increase profitability
• disadvantages - corporate branding

  •  If reputation is damaged by product it can have a negative impact on all products offered under that brand
  • if company faces competition in one market, it will affect the other products
• Product Branding refers to the use of a unique name, design, or symbol to promote a specific product
• Advantages - product branding

  • distinct identity for product - helps to differentiate from competitors 
  • market different products to different segments
  • build customer loyalty and trust by associating the product with a specific quality
• disadvantages - product branding

  • creating/promoting a new brand for each product can be expensive
  • Different products within brand have different levels of quality which affect customer satisfaction
• Own brand product/ 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
• Advantages - own brand labelling

  • help retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors
  • allows retailers to offer products at a lower cost than branded products - increase sales & profitability
  • help build customer loyalty by offering exclusive products that are not available elsewhere
• disadvantage - own brand labelling

  • lower perceived quality than branded products which can affect customer loyalty and trust