Promotion is a marketing tool, used as a strategy to communicate between the sellers and buyers. Through this, the seller tries to influence and convince the buyers to buy their products or services. It assists in spreading the word about the product or services or company to the people. The company uses this process to improve its public image. This technique of marketing creates an interest in the mindset of the customers and can also retain them as a loyal customer.

It refers to the use of communication with the twin objectives of informing potential customers about a product and persuading them to buy it.

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Promotion is necessary in marketing for several key reasons:

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1. Market Awareness: Companies need to make potential customers aware that their products or services exist. Without promotion, even the best products might remain unknown to target audiences.

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2. Information Communication: Consumers need information about product features, benefits, price, and availability to make informed purchase decisions.

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3. Competitive Differentiation: In crowded marketplaces, promotion helps distinguish a company's offerings from competitors.

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4. Demand Generation: Promotion stimulates interest and desire, creating demand for products and services.

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5. Sales Conversion: The ultimate goal of promotion is to convert interest into actual sales, which requires persuasive communication.

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6. Overcoming Market Inertia: Consumers often stick with familiar products and brands due to habit or perceived switching costs. Promotion provides the impetus needed to break this inertia and encourage trying something new.

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7. Managing Price Sensitivity: Effective promotion can reduce price sensitivity by emphasizing unique value propositions, quality differences, or emotional benefits that justify premium pricing.

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8. Accelerating Purchase Decisions: Many consumers postpone purchases indefinitely without a compelling reason to act. Promotion, particularly time-limited offers, creates urgency that accelerates the decision-making process.

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9. Channel Development: Promotion isn't just directed at end consumers—it's also necessary to convince distributors, retailers, and other channel partners to stock, display, and recommend products.

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10. Balancing Supply and Demand: When companies face inventory surplus or seasonal fluctuations, promotional activities help balance supply with demand.

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11. Countering Competitive Moves: Promotion is often necessary as a defensive strategy to respond to competitors' promotional activities and prevent loss of market share.

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12. Supporting New Market Entry: When entering new markets or segments, intensive promotion is necessary to establish credibility and overcome entry barriers.

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1. To Provide Information (availability, features, uses, uses, price etc)

2. To Stimulate Demand (create awareness and build interest)

3. To Remind the customer

4. To differentiate the product (from competing products)

5. To Build Image (public relations)

6. Build Awareness

7. Create Interest

8. Reinforce The Brand

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Build Awareness

• Introduces new products, services or brands to potential customers
• Makes target audiences conscious of your brand's existence
• Establishes initial recognition in the marketplace
• Creates visibility for previously unknown offerings
• Forms the foundation for further marketing efforts

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Create Interest

• Transforms awareness into genuine curiosity about the product
• Highlights unique features and benefits that appeal to target segments
• Engages emotions to create desire for product experiences
• Positions the offering as a solution to customer problems or needs
• Encourages consumers to seek additional information

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Provide Information

• Communicates product availability (where and when to purchase)
• Details specific features, specifications, and capabilities
• Explains various use cases and applications
• Clarifies pricing structures, payment options, and value propositions
• Educates consumers about product benefits and advantages

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Stimulate Demand

• Motivates consumers to take action and make purchases
• Creates urgency through limited-time offers or scarcity messaging
• Demonstrates how products fulfill existing or latent needs
• Encourages trial purchases through promotions or samples
• Accelerates the customer journey from consideration to decision

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Reinforce The Brand

• Strengthens brand associations and perception
• Maintains top-of-mind awareness among existing customers
• Reinforces brand values, personality, and positioning
• Builds long-term brand equity beyond immediate sales
• Supports customer loyalty and repeat purchases

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Differentiate the Product

• Highlights unique selling propositions versus competitors
• Establishes clear points of difference in crowded markets
• Communicates superior benefits, quality, or innovation
• Creates distinctive brand personality and voice
• Justifies premium pricing through value differentiation

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Build Image

• Shapes public perception of the company and its offerings
• Cultivates specific brand associations and reputation
• Develops goodwill through corporate social responsibility initiatives
• Establishes credibility and trust with various stakeholders
• Manages brand perception during challenges or crises

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Remind the Customer

• Keeps brands relevant in consumers' minds between purchases
• Prevents competitors from drawing away established customers
• Reinforces previous purchasing decisions to reduce cognitive dissonance
• Maintains presence during non-peak buying seasons
• Prompts repurchase for consumable products

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1. 1. To introduce a new product.
2. 2. To educate customers about the product usage.
3. 3. To increase awareness of the product.
4. 4. To differentiate from competitors.
5. 5. To achieve increase in product recall.
6. 6. To build brand value and image.
7. 7. To encourage people to buy in bulk especially in off season to level the demand.

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Let us take a scenario of launching a new car in the market. The car may be very good in terms of features, mileage, style and affordability. However without marketing promotion, the potential customers in the target group might not be able to know about the same. Hence the automobile companies use marketing promotions like campaigns, commercials, test drives at exhibitions and trade events, social media engagement etc. Marketing promotion helps customers take better decisions about the car once they know about the product offering and features.

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The Promotion Mix refers to the blend of several promotional tools used by the business to create, maintain and increase the demand for goods and services.

The fourth element of the 4 P's of Marketing Mix is the promotion; that focuses on creating the awareness and persuading the customers to initiate the purchase. The several tools that facilitate the promotion objective of a firm are collectively known as the Promotion Mix.

The Promotion Mix is the integration of Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Public Relations and Direct Marketing. The marketers need to view the following questions in order to have a balanced blend of these promotional tools

• What is the most effective way to inform the customers? ग्राहकों को सूचित करने का सबसे प्रभावी तरीका क्या है?

• Which marketing methods to be used? कौन सी विपणन विधियों का उपयोग किया जाना चाहिए?

• To whom the promotion efforts be directed? प्रचार के प्रयास किसकी ओर निर्देशित किये जायें?

• What is the marketing budget? मार्केटिंग बजट क्या है?

• How is it to be allocated to the promotional tools? इसे प्रचार उपकरणों के लिए कैसे आवंटित किया जाना चाहिए?

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TOOLS/TECHNIQUES FOR PROMOTION MIX

1. ADVERTISING
2. SALES PROMOTION
3. PERSONAL SELLING
4. PUBLICITY
5. DIRECT MARKETING
6. PUBLIC RELATIONS

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1. Advertising

Advertising is a paid form of non person presentation and promotion of goods, services or ideas by an identified sponcer.

The advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of goods and services by the identified sponsor in the exchange of a fee. Through advertising, the marketer tries to build a pull strategy; wherein the customer is instigated to try the product at least once. The complete information along with the attractive graphics of the product or service can be shown to the customers that grab their attention and influences the purchase decision.

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2. sales promotion

Sales Promotion refers to those activities that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness such as display, demonstration, exhibitions and various selling efforts.

The sales promotion is the short term incentives given to the customers to have an increased sale for a given period. Generally, the sales promotion schemes are floated in the market at the time of festivals or the end of the season. Discounts, Coupons, Payback offers, Freebies, etc. are some of the sales promotion schemes. With the sales promotion, the company focuses on the increased short-term profits, by attracting both the existing and the new customers.

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3. personal selling

Personal Selling is a face to face selling technique by which a salesperson uses his interpersonal skills to persuade a consumer in a particular product.

This is one of the traditional forms of promotional tool wherein the salesman interacts with the customer directly by visiting them. It is a face to face interaction between the company representative and the customer with the objective to influence the customer to purchase the product or services.

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4. publicity

Publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public,often via the media.

Publicity is a term that refers to public awareness of a company or person. The ultimate goal of publicity is to create a positive public perception of a company to inspire more people to engage with it. Often, companies use publicity as a component of a marketing campaign.

Types of publicity
Press releases, Events, Social media, Expert presenter

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5. direct marketing

Direct Marketing is with the intent of technology, companies reach customers directly without any intermediaries or any paid medium. The emails, text messages, Fax, are some of the tools of direct marketing. The companies can send emails and messages to the customers if they need to be informed about the new offerings or the sales promotion schemes.

E.g. The Shopper send SMS to its members informing about the season end sales and extra benefits to the golden card holders. Thus, the companies can use any tool of the promotion mix depending on the nature of a product as well as the overall objective of the firm.

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6.Public relations

The marketers try to build a favourable image in the market by creating relations with the general public. The companies carry out several public relations campaigns with the objective to have a support of all the people associated with it either directly or indirectly. The public comprises of the customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, shareholders, government and the society as a whole. The publicity is one of the form of public relations that the company may use with the intention to bring newsworthy information to the public.

E.g. Large Corporates such as Dabur, L&T, Tata Consultancy, Bharti Enterprises, Services, Unitech and PSU's such as Indian Oil, GAIL, and NTPC have joined hands with Government to clean up their surroundings, build toilets and support the swachh Bharat Mission.

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1. 1. Product
2. 2. Price
3. 3. Place
4. 4. Promotion
5. 5. People
6. 6. Physical Evidence
7. 7. Process

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1.Product Mix

Product is the sum total of tangible and intangible attributes including, product design, style, size, quality, colour, brand name, packaging, labelling, after sale services etc.

Product mix also includes product differentiation, standardisation and grading, product lines etc. Hence, product mix is the total of all products, offered for sale by a company.

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2.Price Mix

Price is the value of a product expressed in terms of money. It is a matter of vital importance to the buyer and the seller. Exchange of goods and services take place only when the price is agreed upon between the buyer and the seller. Price is the primary source of revenue to a firm.

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3.Promotion Mix

Promotion mix is the communication mix. Promotion is a means by which a marketer talks to its existing and potential customers. Such communication, promotion effort can be personal or impersonal.

Personal communication means face to face communication between buyer and the seller, also known as "Personal Selling.

In case of impersonal communication, there is no direct link between the producer and the consumer. Impersonal communication includes: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Public Relations etc.

The choice or selection of different elements of promotion mix depends upon the nature of product, nature of market, size of market, location of market, distribution strategy, stage of product life cycle and pricing strategy.

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4.Place Mix

Place mix is the distribution mix. It is concerned with the smooth flow of goods and services from the producer to consumer by creating time, place and possession utilities.

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5.People

People constitute an important dimension in service marketing. In case of service marketing, every employee in the organisation becomes a sales person. Therefore his attitude, behaviour, style and sense of responsibility becomes more important.

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6.Physical Evidence

No doubt, a customer needs the service, but it is also important how the service is offered. At the place of service, the provision of adequate facilities becomes more important especially in the case of hotels, beauty-parlours, airports, bus terminals, banks, schools, colleges, etc

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7. Process

The term "process" refers to the method by which a customer is served. In a service organization, the process of delivery is crucial and encompasses the procedures, routines, and mechanisms implemented within the organization. For effective communication and efficient service delivery, a marketer must evaluate and optimize the process and time involved to meet consumer expectations.

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It Is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or Combination of all intended to Identify and differentiate the goods and services of one seller to another ———AMA

According to Kotler & Amstrong :

"A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of these that identifies the maker or seller of a product."

Once brand name and brand mark is registered and legalized it becomes a trade mark.

A Brand which is registered under “Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958" treated as a trade mark.

A trade mark is a brand or part of a brand that is given legal protection

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1.Identification of Product

2.Differentiation of Product

3.Legal Protection

4.Competitive Advantages

5.Signal of Quality Product

6.Risk Reducer

7.Easy to promote

8.Firm may be able to charge a premium price for the brand

9.Helps in introducing a new product.

10.Helps in repeat purchase by customer

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1.Branding invole huge cost

2.If Brand gets bad reputation then it is very difficult to regain the good position

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1.Simple and easy to pronounce: Brand names should be straightforward to say and remember. Names that are complex or difficult to pronounce create barriers to word-of-mouth marketing and recall. Examples like Apple, Nike, and Uber succeed partly because they're short and phonetically simple.

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2.Suggestive: Effective brand names often hint at the product's benefits or the company's values without being overly literal. For instance, "Duracell" suggests durability and battery cells, while "Pinterest" combines "pin" and "interest" to convey the platform's concept.

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3.Distinctive: A strong brand name stands out from competitors and avoids generic terms. This distinctiveness helps with both legal protection and consumer recognition. "Kodak" was created specifically because it was unique and unlike any existing word.

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4.Adaptable: Good brand names can evolve with the company and accommodate new products or services. Amazon began as an online bookstore but chose a name that could expand to encompass its current vast marketplace.

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5.Versatile: The name should work well across different markets, languages, and cultures. International brands must ensure their names don't have negative connotations in other languages or cultures. This global versatility is crucial for expansion.

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6.Legal protection: The name must be available for trademark registration to prevent confusion with existing brands and to secure exclusive rights. This protection is essential for building brand equity without legal complications.

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7.Staying power: A good brand name should remain relevant and appealing over time rather than following short-term trends. Classic brands like Coca-Cola have maintained their names for over a century because they possess timeless quality.

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These seven characteristics work together to create brand names that are memorable, marketable, and valuable business assets that contribute significantly to long-term success.

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The process of giving a name, sign or symbol to a product is called branding.

Through branding firm try to build a distinct and unique image for its products in the mind of public.

Firm have to decide whether to sell the product in its generic name or to sell them in a brand name.

If products were sold by generic names, it would be very difficult for marketers to distinguish their products from those of their competitors.

Therefore most of the marketer give a brand name to their products which help in identifying and distinguising their product from the competitors products.

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Brand is the identity, perception, and reputation of a product, service, or organization. It encompasses the name, logo, visual elements, and the overall impression held by consumers. A brand is what people think and feel when they encounter your company or product.

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Branding is the active process of shaping and influencing that perception. It involves all the strategic actions taken to build, manage, and enhance a brand over time.

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1. Product Brands

Overview: These are created specifically to represent a single product or product line. The brand identity is tightly tied to the product's features, benefits, and emotional value.

Key Features:

1. Focus on product differentiation (e.g., taste, quality, packaging).

2. Often associated with a tagline or imagery for recognition.

Examples:

Coca-Cola: Built its brand around its flagship soda, emphasizing happiness and celebration.

Ferrari: Represents high-performance sports cars known for luxury and speed.

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2. Service Brands

Overview: These revolve around providing services rather than physical goods, such as hospitality, transportation, or digital streaming.

Key Features:

1. Highlight customer experience and quality of service.

2. Build trust and reliability to maintain loyalty.

Examples:

Uber: Represents convenience and accessibility in transportation services.

Netflix: Associated with entertainment, binge-watching culture, and a massive content library.

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3. Corporate Brands

Overview: These represent an entire organization, showcasing its mission, values, and reputation rather than focusing on individual products.

Key Features:

Often emphasize innovation, sustainability, and ethics.

Used as an umbrella for multiple product lines or services.

Examples:

Apple: Known for cutting-edge technology, minimalistic design, and creativity.

Samsung: Represents a diverse portfolio of electronics and technology solutions.

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4. Personal Brands

Overview: Focused on individuals rather than companies, these brands are built around personal identity, skills, or achievements.

Key Features:

1. Often rely on social media presence to build influence.

2. Centered on authenticity and connection with the audience.

Examples:

Cristiano Ronaldo: Represents athleticism, discipline, and global sportsmanship.

Oprah Winfrey: Embodies inspiration, empathy, and success.

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5. Luxury Brands

Overview: These emphasize exclusivity, premium quality, and high status.

Key Features:

1. Positioned as aspirational, appealing to an elite or affluent audience.

2. Often rely on heritage, craftsmanship, and limited availability.

Examples:

Gucci: Represents high-end fashion and bold luxury.

Rolex: Synonymous with sophistication and timeless watches.

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6. Retail Brands

Overview: These focus on retail experiences, either physical stores or online platforms.

Key Features:

1. Cater to customer convenience and value for money.

2. Represent the overall shopping experience and product range.

Examples:

Walmart: Known for affordability and everyday low prices.

IKEA: Represents stylish, affordable furniture and a unique shopping experience.

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7. Nonprofit Brands

Overview: Built around social causes, these brands prioritize community impact and philanthropy.

Key Features:

1. Focus on building trust and transparency.

2. Leverage emotional and ethical appeal.

Examples:

Red Cross: Represents humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

UNICEF: Symbolizes child rights and global development.

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8. Global Brands

Overview: These are recognizable across multiple countries, appealing to a wide, diverse audience.

Key Features:

1. Ensure consistency in message, quality, and values worldwide.

2. Adapt to local markets while maintaining a global identity.

• Examples:
  
  • McDonald’s: Known for its fast food and iconic golden arches.
  • Toyota: Represents reliability and innovation in automobiles.

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9. Local Brands

Overview: These are specific to a region, catering to local cultures, tastes, and preferences.

Key Features:

1. Emphasize regional authenticity and identity.

2. Often compete with global brands by focusing on niche markets.

• Examples:
  • A local restaurant chain popular in a single state or city.

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10. Co-Branding

Overview: A strategy where two or more brands collaborate to create a unique product or service, blending their strengths.

• Key Features:
  • 1. Can attract diverse customer bases from both brands.
  • 2. Creates buzz and innovation through partnerships.
• Examples:
  • Nike x Off-White: A collaboration blending Nike’s sportswear expertise with Off-White’s streetwear aesthetic.

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Branding is essential because it:

• 1. Creates recognition and differentiation in crowded markets
• 2. Builds customer loyalty and trust
• 3. Justifies premium pricing
• 4. Provides clarity of purpose internally
• 5. Creates emotional connections with consumers
• 6. Delivers consistent experiences across touchpoints
• 7. Protects market share from competitors
• 8. Increases business value beyond tangible assets

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1.Personal Branding

2.Product Branding

3.Corporate Branding

4.Service Branding

5.Co-Branding

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1. Establish What Your Brand Represents

This foundational step involves defining your brand's core identity, including your mission, vision, values, and personality. You need to clarify what your brand stands for, what makes it unique, and what you want people to feel when they interact with it. This internal clarity guides all subsequent branding decisions.

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2. Research Competition

Analyzing competitors helps identify market gaps and opportunities for differentiation. Study how competitors position themselves, their visual identities, messaging, pricing strategies, and customer perceptions. This research helps ensure your brand stands out rather than blending in with existing market offerings.

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3. Determine Target Audience

Clearly defining who your brand serves is crucial for effective branding. Develop detailed customer personas that include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, needs, and pain points. Understanding your audience deeply allows you to create branding elements that resonate specifically with them.

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4. Create Value Propositions

Your value proposition articulates why customers should choose your brand over alternatives. It communicates the specific benefits, solutions, and unique advantages your brand offers. Effective value propositions are clear, compelling, and directly address customer needs or problems.

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5. Market Your Brand

This step involves promoting your brand through appropriate channels to reach your target audience. It includes selecting marketing strategies, platforms, and messages that align with your brand identity and resonate with your audience. Effective brand marketing builds awareness and attracts the right customers.

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6. Build a Brand Story

Crafting a narrative around your brand creates emotional connections with audiences. Your brand story explains your origins, purpose, challenges overcome, and vision for the future. Stories make brands more relatable, memorable, and meaningful to customers by going beyond features and benefits.

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7. Consistency

Maintaining consistent brand elements across all touchpoints reinforces brand recognition and trust. Consistency applies to visual identity (logos, colors, typography), messaging, customer experience, product quality, and service delivery. This consistency builds brand equity over time and prevents customer confusion.

Each of these steps is interconnected, forming a comprehensive process that creates a strong, distinctive brand that resonates with target audiences and drives business success.

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Brands are built by a combination of seven factors

1. 1. Quality
2. 2. Being first
3. 3. Positioning
4. 4. Long term perspective
5. 5. Repositioning
6. 6. Internal marketing
7. 7. Well-balanced communication

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Branding strategy, often called Brand Architecture, refers to how a company organizes, manages, and presents its brands in the marketplace. This framework guides how different products and services relate to each other and to the parent company.

1. 1. Develop new brand elements for a new product
   • Creates an entirely distinct brand identity
   • Example: Toyota creating Lexus as a separate luxury brand

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1. 2. Apply some of its existing brand elements
   • Leverages established brand equity for new offerings
   • Example: Apple applying its brand to iPhone, iPad, etc.

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1. 3. Use a combination of new and existing brand elements
   • Balances established recognition with unique positioning
   • Example: Marriott Courtyard, combining corporate and product-specific branding

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• Brand Extension: When a firm uses an established brand to introduce a new product
  
  • Example: Dove extending from soap to shampoo, deodorant, and skincare
  • Leverages existing brand equity to enter new categories

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• Sub-Brand: When a firm combines a new brand with an existing brand
  
  • Example: Toyota Camry, where Toyota is the parent brand and Camry is the sub-brand
  • Creates distinction while maintaining connection to the parent

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• Parent Brand: The existing brand that gives birth to brand extensions or sub-brands
  
  • Example: Nike is the parent brand for Nike Air, Nike Pro, etc.
  • Provides credibility and recognition to extensions

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This framework helps companies strategically manage their brand portfolios to maximize market impact while efficiently using marketing resources and protecting brand equity.

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Different brand names for different products, even within the same company. This allows each product to have its own unique identity and positioning.

• Example: Procter & Gamble uses separate brands like Head & Shoulders and Pantene (both for hair care), or Tide and Ariel (both for laundry)
• Advantage: Allows targeted positioning for different market segments without affecting other product lines

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Different brand names for different product lines or business divisions within the same corporate group.

• Example: Aditya Birla Group uses Hindalco for aluminum products, UltraTech for cement, and Idea for telecom services
• Advantage: Enables diversified businesses to maintain specialized industry identities while benefiting from the parent company's reputation

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A single brand name is used across all types of products and services offered by the company.

• Example: Tata, Bajaj, Samsung, or Apple products all carry their respective corporate names
• Advantage: Builds cumulative brand equity across diverse offerings and simplifies brand management

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Combining two or more corporate, family, or individual product brand names to create a new offering that benefits from multiple brand associations.

• Example: Microsoft Surface, Marriott Courtyard, or Dell Inspiron
• Advantage: Leverages existing brand equity while allowing for differentiation of specific product lines

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• House of Brands Strategy: Use of individual or separate family brand names (like P&G's approach) where each brand stands mostly on its own
• Branded House Strategy: Use of umbrella corporate or company brand name (like Virgin's approach) where the parent brand is the primary driver of brand identity
• Hybrid/Endorsed Strategy: Primary brands with secondary endorsement (like Nestlé KitKat, where Nestlé endorses but KitKat has its own identity)
• Sub-brand Strategy: Combination of parent brand with descriptive sub-brands (like iPhone 15, where iPhone is the brand and 15 is the sub-brand)

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Each strategy offers different benefits in terms of brand management, marketing efficiency, risk containment, and marketplace impact. The optimal approach depends on the company's portfolio diversity, target markets, and overall business strategy.