Roles of Brand

1. As a Driver Brand:- A brand becomes a driver brand when it leads to the purchase decision. Here the brand represents the package of benefits or a corporate brand or a combination. In a computer industry, Intel can be a derived brand, rather than a computer brand itself. In detergents, we have Surf Excel, and Excel becomes the driver brand owing to the presence of enzymes it suggest which the consumer is actually buying. In Bajaj Chetak, Bajaj is the driver brand as it is represents reliability and performance.

2. As an Endorser Brand:- A brand plays the role of an endorser also. Here it supports the driver brand and its claims. It thus lends credibility to the driver and endorser brand. In several cases to begin with, corporate brand that supports a driver brand, is usually used. Later, the corporate brand is withdrawn, when the driver brand can stand-alone.

3. Strategic Role:- A brand can play a strategic role in the future performance of the company. For HLL, brands such as LUX, LIFEBUOY, SURF play a strategic role. Their brand equity would affect the future performance of the company. So the company must identify what it’s strategic brands are and whether these brands are handled with extreme care.

4. As a Sub-Brand:- A brand can play the role of a sub-brand reserved for a part of the product line for e.g. , Vediocon Bazooka, where Bazooka is a sub-brand of Vediocon. Bazooka distinguishes a T.V. from other T.V. sets in Vedio Range. In some cases like Arial Micro-shine, the sub-brand does not remain just descriptive, but plays a driver role. A sub-brand that describes the driver brand does not dilute the driver brand, or does not distract us from it. A sub-brand can specify segments. An organisation can use common prefixes or suffixes to denote sub brand e.g. Philishave.

Brand System

A concern’s bouquet of brands should be treated as a system, rather than individual members.

In a system, brands are supportive to each other.

The new branches are launched from this platform.

Brand in a system show synergy, preserve brand identity, and enable an organization to change and modify.

It is also easier to optimize resource allocation.

Just like products, brands have hierarchies too.We, thus, have corporate brands, range brand covering several product classes, product line brands for specific products, sub-brands, which are further refinements of basic brands, and brands assigned to product features or components (picture-in-picture in Videocon or Intel Pentium Chip in computers). The diagram illustrates this hierarchy.

Generic Brand

A brand that becomes a product category, and no longer remains a brand. Frigidaire is GE’s brand. But now we call any refrigerator a ‘fridge’. So it has become generic. Other well-positioned brands have overtaken Frigidaire, and it is no longer a market-leader similarly, Dalda Vanaspati has become generic. It is now again trying to get rid of it’s generic label. Though consumer ask a product by the generic name, he ends up buying a brand that offers attractive benefits. The generic brand sits on the shelf.

Developing appropriate brand strategy
A company has four choices in respect of it’s brand strategy.
1. Line Extensions:- Extend the existing brand name in the existing product category.
2. Brand extensions:- Extend the brand name to new product category,
3. Multiple brands:- Have new brand names in the same product category.
4. New brands:- Invent a new brand name for a new product category.

Generally new products in the FMCG category and grocery products are line extensions. A few are brand extensions. A few new brand names appear in both multiple brand strategy and new brand strategy.