What are brands and why do we need them? Brand promotion. Brand stretching

«Truly great brands are more than just labels for products». Tony O'Reilly, Irish enterpreneur.

In a world where products, markets, and industry boundaries are in flux, a well-managed brand can be a prime source of strategic direction and competitive advantage. Today branding is such a strong force that anything from salt to lemon juice and water is branded.For the consumer-in-the-street, brands are the most visible parts of marketing. The brand name means not only the trademark but also, as a rule, the firm itself and its products or services. This name also includes the goodwill which shows additional value of goods and services. Customers trust those trademarks which guarantee them good quality and design, a wide range for choice and good reputation of the products. When the product is promoted different kinds of advertising provide brand awareness, show its core values and create the brand image.It's not only a trademark of some company, but the name of certain product we use every day. For example, speaking about coffee most of us say Nescafe, but not 'coffee'. This short example also illustrates the main aim of producers - to create brand popularity, so that most of people would recognize the product among the competitors products.

We need new brands because customers want new brands. They want choice they want a selection of different products. They like to rely on quality levels guaranteed by company. They like to trust products. It makes shopping so much caser for them. Also they like to identify with brands.There are different types of brands. There are the stand alone brands or individual brands, for example Ariel, Haagen Daaz ice-cream or Marlboro cigarettes. They require separate marketing support. There's also the corporate branding, or family brands such as Heinz or Virgin, Marks and Spencer, Levis.

Besides individual and corporative brands, it exist such types of brands as classic brand, luxury brand and brand leader. Classic brand is a famous brand with a long history. Luxury brand is a brand associated with expensive, high quality products. Brand leader is the band with a largest market share.

Brand stretching – is a using a successful brand name to launch a product in a new category. Some brands easily stretch into other kinds of goods and services. Brand stretches best when they come from a high emotional starting point. One of the most successful brand-stretchers is Walt Disney, which has added merchandise shops, books, videos, games and theme parks to its original filmmaking. The move from making children’s cartoons to other products using the same figures appears a natural development.

To cut a long story short, we are living in the world, called brandshafty. It's place where brands have become an integral part of our everyday lifes.Brands always add value to products. That's why branded products seem to be more expensive among other ones. But if we pay more, we pay for better quality. All in all, brands are one of the moving forces of globalisation.

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