Importance of brand

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Importance of brand as a marketing tool results from several advantages of brand in gaining competitive advantage. Brand and trademark are primarily used to distinguish between products manufactured by individual enterprises, it is important that these should be sufficiently distinguishable from each other. Distinctive function of brand decides should ensure that brand differs from brands of other entrepreneurs.

Definition of a brand

A brand is a special name, sign, symbol, color, spatial compositions, melody or a combination thereof, designed to mark a product and distinguish it from a competitor's product. With brand are connecting terms:

  • Brand name - is the part of the brand that can be expressed in words.
  • Brand symbol - this part of the brand that can be recognized but can not be expressed verbally. It can be a symbol, form, shape or a special color of the letters of the brand name.
  • Goodwill - is the difference between the accounting and the market value of the company. It consists of such elements as: good name, talented management and employees, good credit conditions, product reputation and location benefits. In many cases, the largest share of goodwill can be attributed to the brand.
  • Trademark - a brand or a part of a brand legally protected as a result of registration prior to appropriation by other companies, the trademark may be: word, drawing, color composition, plastic form, melody, sound signal or a combination thereof. Registration of the mark allow to use of the international ® symbol. The placement of the ® symbol at the trademark is not obligatory [1].

Advantages of using brand

  • lower marketing costs due to greater customer confidence and higher brand loyalty,
  • maintaining a higher price level, because its quality is perceived higher,
  • ease of expanding the product line,
  • protection in price competition.

History of a brand

The way and importance of branding have changed over the centuries. Marking of products have started already in antiquity, when, for example, on the bricks appeared names to identify the manufacturer. The long history of branding made that the brand has become more and more important. It was caused by:

  • technical progress in transport,
  • improvement of production processes,
  • progress in the field of packaging, which enabled individual packaging of products and the possibility of branding them,
  • legislative changes allowing legal protection of trademarks,
  • posting in newspapers and magazines more and more advertisement [2].

Functions of brand

The brand perform functions:

  • identification, that consist in identifying product features,
  • show functional and emotional benefits,
  • brand's promotional function - thanks to the brand it is easier to promote products that are associated with this brand,
  • a guarantee function, which means that the brand owner undertakes to maintain the product quality at a certain level,
  • a protective function - it provides legal protection against competition activities.

An important function of the brand is to create consumer confidence in the product and company that uses the brand. The condition of this trust may be symbolic (psychological) satisfaction or the quality function of the product which is guarantee by the brand. The brand is a promise that the product will always represent a specific set of physical characteristics and benefits for the consumer / user and guarantee the quality of the product. When we buy a product of a specific brand the consumer knows what product quality, what sensory values, and finally, what price level is represented by the brand. The importance of the brand is demonstrated by the fact that the consumer buy "something" more than goods and benefits. The branded product also gives consumers a sense of security, guarantees of quality and reliability. Consumers who value their time prefer to pay a higher price for the certainty that they will not have any problems with the product. Owning a brand product gives satisfaction due to the prestige and emphasizing belonging to a specific group [3].


Importance of brand — recommended articles
Brand essence — Competitive advantage — Components of brand — Company image — Brand — Competitive strategy — Perceived quality — Augmented product — Market positioning

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Hem E. L., Iversen M. N. 2003, p. 73
  2. ↑ Malik E. M., Ghafoor M. M., Iqbal H. K., Riaz U., Ul Hassan N., Mustafa M., Shahbaz S. 2013, p. 170
  3. ↑ Janiszewska K., Insch A. 2012, p. 17

Author: Weronika Cyganik

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