What is branding? What are the types of branding?

Definition of Branding

Branding means giving a name to the product by which it could become known and familiar among the public. When a brand name is registered and legalized, it becomes a Trademark. All trademarks are brands but all brands are not trademarks. Brand, brand name, brand mark, trademark, copyright are collectively known as the language of branding.

TYPE OF BRANDS
In many markets, brands of different strength compete against each other. At the top level are national or international brands. A large investment has usually been put into an extensive brand building— including advertising, distribution and, if needed, infrastructure support. Although some national brands are better regarded than others—e.g., Dell has a better reputation than Micromax—the national brands usually sell at higher prices than to regional and store brands. Regional brands, as the name suggests, are typically sold only in one area. In some cases, regional distribution is all that firms can initially accomplish with the investment capital and other resources that they have. This means that advertising is usually done at the regional level. Store or private label brands are, as the name suggests, brands that are owned by retail store chains or consortia thereof. (For example, Vons and Safeway have the same corporate parent and both carry the “Select” brand). Typically, store brands sell at lower prices than do national brands.

Co-branding involves firms using two or more brands together to maximize appeal to consumers. Some ice cream makers, for example, use their own brand name in addition to naming the brands of ingredients contained. Sometimes, this strategy may help one brand at the expense of the other. It is widely believed, for example, that the “Intel inside” messages, which Intel paid computer makers to put on their products and packaging, reduced the value of the computer makers’ brand names because the emphasis was now put on the Intel component. For a business organization to successfully create an effective brand that is capable of enhancing a product’s value, it needs to understand how the delivery of value differs across different types of brands. This means that a company has to know the kind of brand suitable for its offering. So what are the different kinds of a brand? They are the following:

1. Manufacturer Brands: These are developed and owned by the producers, who are usually involved with distribution, promotion and pricing decisions for the brands. For example, Apple computers.

2. Dealer Brands: These are brands initiated and owned by wholesalers or retailers.

3. Generic Brands: It indicates only the product category and does not include the company name or other identifying terms.

4. Family Brands: A single brand name for the whole line of closely related items. For example, Amul for milk products.

5. Individual Brands: Each product has a special brand name such as surf etc.

6. Co-Brands: It uses two individual brands on a single product.

7. Licensed Brands: It involves licensing of trademarks. For example, P&G licensed its camay brand of soap in India to Godrej for a few years.