Branding, Market Segmentation, and Product Identification Strategies

Understanding Brand Elements and Structure

A brand differentiates a product or service from others. It includes:

• Pronounceable name and logo
• Font style and color
• Other identifying characteristics

Main Objective of Branding

To identify and differentiate a product's positioning.

Aspects According to Brand Structure

• Word Mark: Formed by a name or acronym.
• Figurative Mark: Accompanied by a drawing or symbol.
• Brand Slogan: Accompanied by a sentence or advertising phrase.
• Varied Brand: Elements in the brand name may vary.

Aspects According to Brand Use

• Individual Marks
• Collective Marks (also known as an appellation of origin)

Aspects According to Application

• Manufacturer Brand: Applied by the producer of the article.
• Distributor Brand: Applied to items made by other companies.

26. Strategic Motives for Including Labels

• Consumer loyalty.
• Removing the power and monopoly of some manufacturers.
• Achieving lowest prices.
• Maintaining margins and profits.
• Accessing important market segments.
• Differentiation with respect to competition.
• Increasing the range and control of products.
• Reducing dependencies from the manufacturer.
• Allowing innovation in rigid structures.

27. Market Segmentation Defined

Segmenting the market involves dividing it into subgroups that are homogeneous internally but different from others, in order to apply appropriate strategies to each group.

28. Market Segmentation Criteria

Segmentation criteria are categorized as general or specific:

• General Criteria: These are independent of the product. The most common are geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, and psychographic.
• Specific Criteria: These are related to the product, including the type of consumer benefits sought and the frequency of purchase.

30. Calculating Market Share

Market share indicates the proportion of sales an article has relative to the total industry sales in which it is included.

• It is useful for determining which items to include and helps determine the necessary stock level.
• Market share is obtained through establishment panels—a permanent collection of shops from which quantitative information on various aspects is gathered.

31. Product Coding and Identification

Coding consists of assigning a unique reference code to each item that identifies and distinguishes it from others.

Benefits of Product Coding

1. Manufacturer Benefits: Planning production, computerization, and studying brand evolution.
2. Retailer Benefits: Managing the product range, optimizing stock replenishment, and increasing speed at the checkout.
3. Joint Manufacturer and Retailer Benefits: Establishing a common encoding system, reducing stock, increasing the level of customer service, and computerizing the warehouse.
4. Consumer Benefits: Ensuring a tight supply, eliminating billing errors, and providing detailed reports through the till receipt.

32. Product Coding Systems

• Inner Coding: Used initially; could be numeric, alphabetic, or alphanumeric.
• UPC Coding: Used in the USA starting in the 1960s.
• EAN (European Article Numbering): Formed in 1976 as a support system for the UPC system.

33. Barcode Specifications

The barcode is a numeric code translated into a bar chart, which identifies each reference.

• It typically has 13 digits and 30 bars.