Brand Management - Definition, Importance, Types, Process & Example
What is Brand Management?
Brand management is a concept which deals with strategizing and evaluating brands in terms of brand positioning, target customers, brand perception and brand image. For brand management, the company should maintain a good image among the customers. The main objective of brand management is to ensure that the product and service highlight the quality of the brand.
Importance of Brand Management
Brand management is a concept adopted by companies & marketers to create an emotional connect between customers and their product. Through brand management, an image of the product or brand is created in the mind of the consumer. This becomes the foundation of not only acquiring new customers but also increasing brand loyalty amongst existing users. Also, brand management is important for any business as it helps companies evaluate the performance of the brand and helps them improve and adapt with changing times.
Inability to change with customer preferences and needs can lead to the demise of the brand.
A good overall brand management can help increase business and have strong advocates for the brand. Brand management is an important marketing strategy which helps companies establish their brand & products.
Types of Brand Management
Brand management as a concept deals with 2 types - Direct (or Tangible) and Indirect (Intangible). The brand image component of brand management can be maintained by tangible as well as intangible aspects of the product.
Direct brand management includes the brand aspects of core product, pricing, packaging, SKU, product offering and other tangible aspects of the overall product. The indirect brand management includes more intangible aspects like USP, Positioning, benefits, value, perception etc. Brand manager is responsible for all these.
Brand Management Process
Brand management process includes the following steps:
1.Identify Brand Positioning and Value
The first step in the brand management process is to understand the product and service offering in terms of positioning and brand value it offers to the customers. This is the foundation for companies as how they want the customers to perceive their product or service is a part of brand development.
2. Brand Marketing Planning
Brand building is the next step in brand management for a product/service. This process includes creation of the brand by creating components like pricing, packaging, customer service etc.
Also, brand awareness techniques like marketing, branding & advertising also come under this step. Companies use integrated marketing communications (IMC) to promote its products & services.
3. Measuring Brand Performance
It is not simply important to create brand but to also measure its performance vis-à-vis competitors & other market dynamics. This step in brand management identifies parameters like brand recall, brand preference, brand recognition etc.
4. Growth & Sustainability
The final step in the brand management process post evaluation is to improve the brand performance to ensure growth and sustainability. Brand equity is the measure of the quality offered by a product and service.
Advantages of Brand Management
There are several benefits of brand management, some of which are highlighted below:
1. Brand management helps create an emotional connect between customers and products.
2. Effective brand management helps the business grow as consumers become loyal and advocate for the products & services. Customer loyalty further helps boost business.
3. Taking critical and important feedback helps companies improve based on consumer insights.
4. Brand managements helps companies adapt their strategies with changing times based on the needs and requirements of the customers.
5. Tools like brand development index (BDI), help a brand grow and fight competition.
Brand Management Examples
Some of the leading companies in the world have successfully used brand management to make their brand top in the mind of the consumer. Consider the leading global brands like Nike, Mercedes, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Microsoft etc. All these companies are the best examples of how companies do business using brand management as an integral part of their processes. All these companies produce high quality products & services, and have a strong brand image (core product, brand image).
Once the products are ready, these companies use various media channels like TV commercials, social media, online advertising, print ads etc. to create brand awareness among customers. The big companies ensure high quality post-purchase customer service and are receptive to critical feedback which helps in improving their brand. Thus, all companies using end-to end brand management processes for effective business are the best examples.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Brand Management along with its overview.
This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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