Branding Challenge in Today's Scenario
By
Ms. Leni S. Varghese
Sr. Faculty
ICFAI National College
Bhopal
The battle for a share of the consumer's wallet and cut throat competition for every bit of market space has resulted in search for a powerful weapon that delivers sustainable competitive differentiation. In the beginning itself it is of great relevance to quote Philip Kotler, marketing guru about his perception on brands, "Branding is expensive and time consuming and it can make or break a product." But even then, today, branding is such a strong force that hardly anything goes unbranded. No one had thought that commodities like "Aata", & "Rice" would be branded. Today, one does not go to the shop and ask for just salt but will ask for Tata Salt or Captain Cook Salt or Annapurna Salt. These brands have become part of our daily life. Developing of an effective brand allows the organization to create a distinctive presence in the market and compete more effectively by leveraging its organizational strengths. In the current competitive market, brands are identified as an intangible asset that can be revenue generating in the long run.
Distributors and retailers want branded products because brands make the product easier to handle, hold production to certain quality standards, strengthen buyer preferences, stimulate repeat purchases, facilitates promotion efforts, makes it easier to identify suppliers and stabilizes market share. On the other hand, consumers prefer branded products because it gives them an assurance of quality, differentiate from competitive products and help him in efficient shopping. That is why, Philip Kotler has said, &n ...