COURSE: ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING AND STRATEGY

This first part of the course will focus on the marketing mix (product, price,
place and promotion) elements.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The Marketing Mix
Marketing strategies are implemented through the management of the marketing mix. The marketing mix
consists of the controllable variables which the marketing managers can use to influence customer demand. It
represents the method by which marketers seek to achieve marketing objectives. It consists of everything the
firm can do to influence the demand for its product. The major marketing management decisions can be
classified in one of the following four categories: Product, Price, Place (distribution), and Promotion. These
variables are known as the marketing mix or the 4 P's of marketing. The firm attempts to generate a positive
response in the target market by blending these four marketing mix variables in an optimal manner.
The idea of the marketing mix was originally conceived by James Culliton, a noted marketing expert, who
coined the expression marketing mix and described the marketing manager as a mixer of ingredients. To quote
him, “The marketing man is a decider and an artist – a mixer of ingredients, who sometimes follow a recipe
developed by others and sometimes prepares his own recipe. And, sometimes he adapts his recipe to the
ingredients that are readily available and sometimes invents some new ingredients, or, experiments with
ingredients as no one else has tried before’. Subsequently, Neil Borden of the Harvard business school in the
USA in 1948 popularised the idea of the marketing mix. His idea was a limited number of elements including
product, price distribution, selling, advertising, promotion and market research. This idea was later modified by
Jerome E. McCarthy in the 1960s into the 4Ps of marketing including; price, place, promotion and product.
a) Product
It is a set of tangible and intangible benefits that an organization has to offer to meet customer needs. The
product includes design, color, package, size, quality, branding, etc.
b) Price
It is the money necessary to obtain ownership or use of a product or a service or the exchange value of items.
Pricing decisions should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors.
Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, financing, and other options such as leasing.
c) Place (Placement)

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Place describes how products or services are made available to the target market. It involves making decisions
that are associated with channels of distribution that serve as the means for getting the product to the target
customers.
d) Promotion
Promotion involves communicating to the target market the benefits on offer and selling to customers and
potential customers. It includes personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, public relation and direct
marketing.
The 4Ps are very effective for the sales of tangible products as compared to service products. Mary Jo Bitner
and Bernard Booms later developed the additional 3Ps of People, Process and Physical evidence which had
been used for the effective sales of services.
a) People
This refers to employees of the organization with whom customers come into contact. They should be qualified,
receptive, polite and problem solving.
b) Process
This is about developing methods or ways of providing service in a way that adds value to customer experience.
c) Physical Evidence
The physical evidence refers to the place where the services are prepared and delivered. It refers to elements
within the organization, in or at the front which can make customers develop a good fling about the
organization. This plays an important role in establishing quality perception of the organization.

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CHAPTER I: PRODUCT DECISION
INTRODUCTION
The essence of marketing is to create a product to meet buyers’ needs. The product is the first element of the
marketing mix. It is the heart of an organization’s marketing program and it is the basis for meeting customer
needs and wants. The life of a company often depends on how it conceives, produces and markets its products.
A failure in the product to meet customers’ expectations would obviously mean the failure in the marketing
program and therefore inability of the organization to meet its marketing objective.
What is a product?
A product can be defined in a variety of ways. Some of these definitions are given below.
- A product is anything that satisfies a want or a need through use, consumption or acquisition.
- A product is an idea, a good, a service, or any combination of these that is an element of exchange to satisfy
individual or business needs.
- A product is a good, service, or idea consisting of a bundle of tangible and intangible attributes that satisfies
customers and is received in exchange for money or some other unit of value.
From these definitions, a product includes physical objects, services, persons, places, events, organizations,
ideas and benefit.
This means that a product is a set of tangible and intangible attributes that can satisfy a need.
In producing a product, the producer must take into consideration the features and benefits needed by the target
audience. Features are the tangible or intangible attributes given the product by the designer such as colour,
design, speed of service, etc. benefits are the solutions or needs delivered by the product.

Product levels or layers (The augmented product concept)

A physical product can be viewed at five levels;
1. Core product: This is the most basic level. It describes the product or service the customer is actually
buying. In a competitive market it may not be a unique benefit offered by any one producer but rather a generic
description of the core benefit to be derived from the product. Although it is the main stimulus for the demand
for a product, it is not necessarily the main reason for the choice of one product in preference of another.
For instance, the main reason to pay for a travel ticket would be to travel from one place to another.
2. Basic product: It is a product’s physical parts that is, its features, and other attributes that combine to deliver
the core product benefits. It describes the key feature which a customer expects from a product. It represents the
minimum requirement for a product to survive in a competitive market.

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For instance, the basic product required in a travel agency would include seats in the buses, cargo space, good
sitting arrangements, etc.
3. Expected product: It is a set of attributes and conditions consumers normally expect when they purchase the
product. E.g. soft seats, regular schedule, non-stop travel, clean buses etc.
4. Augmented product; It is the part of a product which exceeds customer expectations. It represents additional
benefits and customer services that have been built around the core product, often in an attempt to differentiate
it from competitive offerings. These are methods of adding value to the core products which in themselves do
not represent the reason for purchase, but may well be the reason for choosing one product over another.
For instance, the augmented product in a travel agency may include door to door services, a free travel after a
defined number of journeys, polite workers and drivers, TV etc.
5. Potential product; It encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product might
undergo in the future. Here is where companies search for new ways to satisfy customers and distinguish their
offering.
Today’s competition essentially takes place at the product-augmentation level. (In less developed countries,
competition takes place mostly at the expected product level). Product augmentation leads the marketer to look
at the user’s total consumption system, the way the user performs the tasks of getting and using products and
related services. According to Levitt, the new competition is not between what companies produce in their
factories, but between what they add to their factory output in the “form of packaging, services, advertising,
customer advice, financing, delivery arrangements, warehousing, and other things that people value.”
The diagram below schematizes the product levels.

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PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION
Products generally have three classifications which are;
-Tangibility
-Durability
-End use
1) Tangibility
This classifies products according to our ability to touch them. Products can therefore be tangible or intangible
(services).
2) Durability
Tangible products are often further divided into non-durable goods and durable goods.
Non-durable goods are those which are consumed relatively rapidly and reordered regularly. They are destroyed
with the process of consumption e.g. food, drinks etc.
Durable goods are those that survive many uses. They are used for a long time and are not frequently bought
e.g. TV sets, radio, refrigerators, washing machines, etc
3) End use
Products can also be classified according to those intended for ultimate users (consumer products), and those
which will be further processed (industrial products).
Consumer products are bought by the final consumer for their own use while industrial products are used by
business organizations either for further processing or for resale.

TYPES OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Consumer products are usually classified according to how much effort is used to shop for them. They are
usually classified into:
-convenience products
-shopping products
-specialty products
-unsought products
1) Convenience Products
These are products and services that consumers want to buy frequently and immediately and with minimal
efforts. They are relatively inexpensive and need little shopping effort. They are bought without much planning.
Convenience products can be subdivided into;

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- Staples: Includes items that are constantly or routinely purchased such as toothpaste, bathing soap, rubbing
oil, etc.
- Impulse: Consumer purchases without any planning or search effort. They are products purchased for
immediate use e.g. ice cream, bread, car wash etc.
- Emergency items: They are products bought for unexpected and urgent need e.g. an umbrella bought on a
rainy day.
2) Shopping Products
These are products that consumers buy only after comparing several brands or stores on characteristics such as
price, quality, style, color. They are willing to invest some time and effort to get the desired benefit. Shopping
products can either be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Heterogeneous shopping products are those that
consumers perceive to be essentially different e.g. furniture, housing, etc.
Homogeneous shopping products are those that consumers perceive to be similar e.g. refrigerators, radios, TV,
etc
3) Specialty Products
These are particular items that consumers search extensively for and are reluctant to accept substitutes. They
carry special characteristics and usually command high prices and often represent well-known brands e.g. fine
watches, expensive cars, high class restaurants, etc
4) Unsought Products
These are products that are not known to the potential buyer or that are known but which the buyer does not
actively seek or want at the moment e.g. life insurance, cemetery, funeral services. They are subdivided into
new unsought and regular unsought products.
New unsought products are products that customers are not aware of.
Regular unsought products are those that consumers are aware of but do not have a use for them at the
moment.

TYPES OF BUSINESS OR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

We classify industrial goods in terms of their relative cost and how they enter the production process. They are
generally classified into:
1) Installations (major equipments)
They are fixed capital goods with long lifespan and expensive equipment e.g. tractors, buildings, generators,
etc.
2) Accessory Equipment

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These consist of small capital items used in production or business operations. They are made up of portable
tools and office equipment such as type writers, fax machine, microcomputers etc.
3) Raw Material
They are unprocessed agricultural or natural products. They enter the production process with no prior
processes to be transformed into a part of the finished products e.g. corn, iron ore, etc.
4) Component Parts
They are either finished items ready for assembling or products that need very little processing before becoming
part of some other product e.g. tires, switches, etc.
5) Processed Materials
They are items that are used directly in the manufacturing of other products. Unlike raw materials, they have
had some processing e.g. chemicals, sheet metals, and flour. They do not retain their identity in the finished
products.
6) Supplies
They are consumable items that do not become part of the final product. They include the following:
- Repair and maintenance supplies e.g. nuts, bolts and lubricating oil.
- Operating supplies that include stationery and electricity.
- Professional services; these are specialised services such as catering, security and computer maintenance
services that are outsourced by the company.
7) Business services
They are intangible products that organizations use in their operations e.g. marketing research, advertising
services, legal services, financial services, etc.

PRODUCT COMPONENTS
Customers buy benefits not just products. To provide the benefits customers want, marketers need to integrate
the components that make up a product effectively.
a) Quality
Quality represents how well a product does what it is supposed to do as defined by the customer. Customers
define quality in different ways. The important point for marketers is to define their target market’s important
quality characteristics and make sure their product delivers on these factors.
Dimensions of Product Quality

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According to Garvin (1987), organisations having chosen appropriate strategies, quality can be used
strategically to gain competitive advantage. He measures or evaluates product quality on the following
dimensions:

- Performance: This refers to the main operating characteristics of goods and services.

- Special Features: These are supplements to product’s main characteristics. For examples airbags, electronic
windows and alloy wheel for cars are secondary to the basic operating functions.

- Conformance: This is the measurement of the extent to which the product’s basic operating characteristics
meet established performance standard. For example, if Peugeot Assembly of Nigeria (PAN) claims that a
particular brand (406) of its products can travel from Kaduna to Lagos with a full tank of fuel. And if the car
traveled down to Lagos and does not consume more than that, you then say the actual performance conforms to
predetermined standard.

- Reliability: This measures the degree of product working properly, consistently or performing adequately
over a period of time.

- Durability: This refers to the measurement of the product useful life or what benefits people derive from the
product before malfunctioning, deteriorating to where replacement is a better option than repair or failure.

- Serviceability: This refers to the case of promptness, proficiency and speed of handling repairs. It also
involves the availability of genuine serviceable parts.

- Aesthetics: This measures the appeal of product in terms of products’ looks, smells, sounds feels and tastes.
This dimension is technical and sometimes difficult to evaluate because the issues depend on personal judgment
and preference.

- Perceived Quality: Perceived quality means evaluation or subjective assessment of product quality by
customers.

b) Design

Product design includes the styling, aesthetic and function of a product. How a product is designed affects how
it looks, how it works, how it feels, how easy it is to assemble and fix, and how easy it is to recycle. Much of
the current emphasis on product design is to improve product performance and to reduce cost of production.
Another emphasis on product design is to add more features but make it easier for customers to use the products

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c) Branding
The success of any business or consumer product depends in part on the target market’s ability to distinguish
one product from another. Branding is the main tool marketers use to distinguish their products from those of
competitors. Branding is the act of giving a name, symbol, term, design, or a combination of these elements
intended to identify a seller’s products and differentiate them from those of competitors.

d) Packaging

Packaging is defined as the activity of designing and producing a container or wrapper for a product.

e) Labeling

A label is that part of a product that carries information about the product or the seller. A label may be part of a
product or it may be a tag attached to a product.

f) Customer service

It describes the assistance provided to help a customer with the purchase or use of a product. It applies to both
goods and services. It concerns all contracts a customer has with the employees or seller of the product.
Customer service differentiates competitors from many products. Providing exceptional customer service can
give a firm market advantage. The key to success therefore in many industries will depend on the ability of the
firm to beat competitors in customer service.

PRODUCT HIERARCHY

Each product is related to certain other products. The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular
items that satisfy those needs. We can identify six levels of the product hierarchy, using life insurance as our
example:

1. Need family: The core need that underlies the existence of a product family. Example: security.

2. Product family: All the product classes that can satisfy a core need with reasonable effectiveness. Example:
savings and income.

3. Product class: A group of products within the product family recognized as having a certain functional
coherence. Example: financial instruments.

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4. Product line: A group of products within a product class that are closely related because they perform a
similar function, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same channels, or fall within
given price ranges. Example: life insurance.

5. Product type: A group of items within a product line that share one of several possible forms of the product.
Example: term life insurance.

6. Item: (also called stock-keeping unit or product variant): A distinct unit within a brand or product line
distinguishable by size, price, appearance, or some other attribute. Example: Prudential renewable term life
insurance.

PRODUCT MIX (PORTFOLIO OR ASSORTMENT)

The product mix is the set of all products and items a particular seller offers for sale e.g. all the products offered
by brasseries du Cameroun constitute its product mix. The product mix may be divided into a number of
product lines.
- Product Line: It is a group of products that are closely related to each other. They function in a similar
manner or are sold through the same type of retail outlets E.g. brasseries du Cameroun has a product line of
alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and mineral water.
- Product Item: A single differentiable product or service e.g. Guinness smooth.
- Product Mix Width (breadth): This refers to the number of product lines that a company offers e.g. the
width of brasseries du Cameroun is three (alcoholic drinks, sweet drinks and mineral water)
- Product Line length: This is the number of product items in a production line
- Product mix length: Refers to the total number of product items in a product mix.
- Product line depth: Refers to the number of versions offered of each product in a product line that is, the
number of variants of each item within the product line.
- Product Mix Consistency: Refers to how closely related the various product lines are in end use, production
requirement, distribution channels or some other ways.
The dimensions of the product mix provide the means for defining the company’s product strategy. It can add
new product lines thus widening its product mix breadth. It can lengthen its existing product lines by adding
new products (product line stretching).
It can also add more product versions to each product, thus deepening its product mix.
The company can remove unprofitable items from its product lines (product line pruning or product
elimination).

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Product mix and product Line Decisions
Over time, firms change product items, lines and mixes to take advantage of new technology or product
developments or to respond to changes in the environment. They may adjust by:
- Modifying products
- Repositioning products
- Extending product lines
- Contracting product lines
- Product mix strategy
1) Product Modification: This changes one or more of the product characteristics. Modification can be done
by:
-Quality modification
-Functional modification
-Style modification
2) Repositioning Product: Changing consumer perception of a brand.
3) Product Line Extension: This involves addition to the product line. It can be done through the following
ways:
- Downward stretch strategy: It is the addition of a new product to the lower end of a product line. It is the
addition of low price products into a line of expensive products. This enables the firm to capture other variety of
customers who may be unable to buy expensive products. It broadens the customer base of the company.
- Upward stretch strategy: Products are added at the higher end of a product line. It is the addition of higher
price products into a line of lowly priced products. Companies may wish to enter the high end of the market to
achieve more growth, realize higher margins, or simply position themselves as full-line manufacturers.
- Two way stretch strategy: Entails adding products at both high and low ends of the product line.
-Line filing stretch strategy: Involves adding products in different places within a product line.
4) Product Line Contraction: This involves deleting products which are not successful from a product line. It
is often painful but also necessary to improve performance. Deleting products reduce expenses and can lead to
improved profitability.
Product line contraction and extension are generally known as product line strategies.
Product Mix Strategy
The product mix strategy is of three dimensions. This includes:
-Adding new product lines

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-Deleting existing product lines
-using branding strategies.

BRANDING

What is branding?

Branding is a marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol or design that is easily identifiable
as belonging to the company. Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. This helps
to identify a product and distinguish it from other products and services.

Definition of a brand

According to American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol or design or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to
differentiate them from those of competitors”.

Brand Name: It is that part of a brand that can be spoken including letters, words, and numbers e.g. BMW,
Toyota carina, etc.

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Brand Mark: It is a distinctive symbol or form of lettering which is also associated with a brand. It is that
element of a brand that cannot be spoken.

Logo: A brand name or company name written in a distinctive way; short for logotype. For example, Coca-Cola
written in white script letters on a red background.is called a logo

Trade Mark: It is the exclusive right to use a brand or part of a brand. It restricts others from using the brand
without permission.

Service mark: A symbol that identifies a service. It distinguishes a service in the way a trade-mark identifies a
good.

Generic name: A brand name so commonly used that it is part of everyday language and is used to describe a
product class rather than a particular manufacturer’s product e.g. salt, cellphone, nylon.

The six level meaning of branding

A brand can convey up to six levels of meaning:

Attributes: Every brand brings to the consumer mind certain attributes and characteristics. For example, Honda
vehicles suggest style, comfort and well-engineered product. Mercedes brings to mind expensive, well built,
well-engineered, durable, high prestige automobiles.

Benefits: The attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits. For example, ‘fuel efficient’
attribute must be translated into ‘savings’ benefit. Emotional benefit like ‘prestige’ must be translated through
lifestyle positioning. The attribute ‘durable’ could translate into the functional benefit and the attribute
‘expensive’ translates into the emotional benefit (status)

Values: Sometimes brand conveys to consumers values in terms of social welfare. For example, Mercedes
stands for high performance, safety and prestige

Culture: A brand may represent certain culture. For example, Sony Music and Sony exhibit a high quality
Japanese company, Mercedes represents German culture; organized efficient, high quality.

Personality: A brand can project a certain personality. For example, Mercedes may suggest a no-nonsense boss
(person).

User: This suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product. A top executive behind the wheel of a
Mercedes and not a young secretary.
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Essentially, a brand is a promise of the seller to deliver a specific set of benefits or attributes or services to the
buyer. Each brand represents a level of quality. Irrespective of the firm from which the brand is purchased, a
level of quality is expected of the brand.

BRAND MANAGEMENT

It is the application of marketing strategy and plans to ensure the success of a specific brand. Strong brands can
charge a higher price and customers are willing to pay a premium price for them.

Characteristics of a good brand

A good brand possesses several of the following characteristics;

- It should be easy to pronounce

- It should be easy to recognize
- It should be easy to remember
- It should be distinctive and unique
- It should describe the product
- It should describe the product’s use
- It should be able to describe the product’s benefits
- It should have a positive connotation.
- It should reinforce the product’s image
- It should be legally protectable in home and foreign markets of interest.

Importance of branding
a) To the Manufacturer
- It creates opportunities for the seller to attract brand loyal customers
- It enables a product to be easily identified
- It helps to distinguish the product from those of competitors
- It makes it easier for orders to be handled
- It enables the manufacturer to advertise a particular brand
b) To the customer
- It tells the buyer something about the product quality

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- It helps to create brand loyalty
- It creates emotional benefits which adds value to an offering
- It reduces risk in purchasing

Brand sponsor decision

There are several brand sponsorship options which include;
- Manufacturer brands also known as national brand or regional brand.
- Private brand also called distributor brand, store brand, reseller brand or house brand.
- Licensed brand
Manufacturer brands are initiated by manufacturers and identify the producer. This type of branding generally
requires the initiator’s involvement in its distribution promotion and pricing decision. The brand quality is
assured and guaranteed, and the aim of the promotion mix is to build company and brand image and encourage
brand loyalty.
Private brands are reseller initiated brands. The manufacturer is not identified on the product. Wholesalers and
retailers use private brand to develop more efficient promotion, to build store and generate higher gross margin.
Licensed brand is a relatively new trend and involves licensing of trade marks. Entering into a licensing
agreement, a company allows approved manufacturers to use its trade mark for a mutually agreed fee.
Generic products are products that are typically not branded. They are normally labeled instead by their generic
name and may be of low quality and cost less than branded competitors.

Brand name decision

Firms that brand their products must choose which brand name to give their products or services. The following
choices are available:
1) Individual brand name: Here each product has a unique brand name with no connection to others. Each
brand gets promoted separately and moves by itself.
Advantages
- The firm does not tie its reputation to the failure of one product.
- Each brand builds its own separate equity which allows the firm, if it chooses, to sell off an individual brand
without impacting on others e.g.
- The firm is at liberty to choose the best name for each of its new products.
- If one brand receives negative publicity, it is unlikely to affect other brands.
Disadvantage

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- High promotion expenditure required to build and maintain new brands.
2) Family branding: This refers to selling related products under one family/ blanket name e.g. the company,
Johnson & Johnson sells many of its baby care products under the Johnson’s brand name. Johnson’s Baby
Powder, Johnson’s Baby Soap, Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.
Advantages
- The cost of introducing new product is less because there is no need for name research or heavy advertising
expenditures to create brand-name recognition.
- Sales of the new product are likely to be strong if the manufacturer’s name is good.
Disadvantages
- The market may have established certain perceptions of the brand e.g. low-end, low priced product making it
difficult for the firm to offer a high-end product.
- Negative publicity for one brand could impact on others.
3) Separate family names: Different product lines have different umbrella names. Where a company produces
quite different products, it is not desirable to use one blanket family name.
4) Company trade name combined with individual product names: Some manufacturers tie their company
name to an individual brand name for each product. The company name legitimizes, and the individual name
individualizes, the new product.
5) Use of the Company Name: The temptation to use the company name as a brand name is also strong. Some
of the most famous brand names belong to this category e.g. Bata, Samsung, Philips and Sony.
Normally, companies choose brand names by generating a list of possible names, debating their merits,
eliminating all but a few, testing them with target consumers, and making a final choice. Today many
companies hire a marketing research firm to develop and test names. These companies use human
brainstorming sessions and vast computer databases, catalogued by association, sounds, and other qualities.
Name-research procedures include association tests (What images come to mind?), learning test (How easily
is the name pronounced?), memory tests (How well is the name remembered?), and preference tests (Which
names are preferred?). The firm must also conduct searches through other databases to make sure the chosen
name has not already been registered.

Brand strategy decision

One or more of the following branding strategies can be adopted by a firm:

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1) Line extension: Line extensions consist of introducing additional items in the same product category under
the same brand name e.g. Colgate toothpaste: Colgate Dental Cream, Colgate Gel, Colgate Calciguard, Colgate
Total, Colgate Sensitive, Colgate Herbal, Colgate Cibaca Top.
2) Brand extensions: This is where a firm uses its existing brand name to launch new products in other
categories e.g. Honda uses its company name to cover such different products as automobiles, motorcycle,
snowblowers, lawn mowers, marine engines, and snowmobiles.
3) Multibranding: This involves giving each product a distinct name. A company will often introduce
additional brands in the same product category. Sometimes the company is trying to establish different features
or appeal to different buying motives.
Advantages
- More shelf-space
- The firm is able to capture brand switchers
- It can protect its core brands (major brands) by setting up flanker brands.
- More variety to customers
Disadvantages
- More marketing costs
4) New Brand: This is when an organization decides to launch a new product category with a new brand name.
5) Cobrands. It is also called dual branding. It is a situation in which two or more well-known brands are
combined in an offer. Each brand sponsor expects that the other brand name will strengthen preference or
purchase intention.

Brand repositioning/Rebranding
- It is an attempt to change consumer perceptions of a particular brand.
- It is changing the appeal of a brand in order for it to attract new market segments.
- Rebranding can be at brand, product or even company level e.g. Celtel to Zain.

Reasons for repositioning

- The company is entering new businesses and the current positioning is no longer appropriate.
- A new competitor with a superior value, proposition enters your industry forcing as company to re-emphasize
its product position.
- Competition has usurped your brand’s position or rendered it ineffectual.
- Product/brand is slipping or sliding into decline stage.

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- When a contemporary image is required in some categories due to changing psychographics.
- When a brand seeks to communicate improved offerings.

Concepts in brand management

1) Brand identity
It is a broad concept from a marketers’ point of view. David A. Aaker defines brand identity as “a unique set of
brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create and maintain. This association represents what the
brand stands for and implies a promise to customers from the organization members”.
Brand identity should describe the products in simple clear terms. All aspects of the brand building process
should support and reinforce the brand identity. Examples of brand identity are strong, reliable, etc. A good
brand identity distinguishes the brand from others in the market by communicating characteristics important to
the target market.
2) Brand Awareness
Marketers must ensure that target customers are aware of the availability of the brand. This means trying to
make the product familiar to the public. Advertising offers a good method of stimulating brand awareness.
Other methods that can be used include offering free samples, coupons for purchases. At this stage, the target
customers are aware of the brand but do not prefer it to competing brands.
3) Brand Image
Targeted customers should have an accurate perception of the brand’s characteristics that matches the brand
identity. Brand image reflects the perception of outsiders i.e. customers about the brand. From customers’ point
of view, it is the image of the brand that matters. It is the sum total of impressions created by the brand in the
customer’s mind. This includes the customers’ impression about the brand’s physical characteristics, its
performance, the functional benefit, the kind of people who use the products, the emotions, and association it
develops and the imagery or the symbolic meaning it generates.
Alexander L. Biel proposed two types of associations to brand image which are:
-Hard association
-Soft association
Hard association includes consumer’s perception of tangible or functional attributes of a brand. This involves
brand physical construction and performance abilities such as economy, quality, flexibility, etc
Soft associations are emotional in nature. Such associations can be positive or negative.
4) Brand Promise

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Understand the benefit from purchasing and using the brand. It is the marketer vision of what the brand must be
able to do for the target customers.
5) Brand Experience
This is gained from using the product. Marketers should ensure that the brand experience customers have in
purchasing and using the product meet or exceed the brand promise. If the promised benefits are received, brand
experience is good and the basis for further purchase is established. But if the promised benefits are not
received, brand experience becomes bad and may drive away customers from the brand.
6) Brand Loyalty
This is derived from good brand experience. Brand loyalty means that the customers select the brand on all or
most purchasing opportunities.
Brand insistence is the highest level of brand loyalty in which the customer refuses to accept alternatives and
searches extensively for the desired goods or services.
7) Brand personality: This is a set of human characteristics associated with a brand name. It is the attribution
of human personality traits to a brand as a way to achieve differentiation. Such traits include; warmth and
youthfulness.
8) Brand Equity
Brand equity is the value the brand has in the market place. It is the added value endowed on products and
services. It is the positive effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to a product. It results
in customers showing a preference for one product over another when the two are basically identical.
Kelvin Lane Keller defines brand equity as “brand equity is defined in terms of marketing effort uniquely
attributed to the brand –for instance when certain outcomes result from the marketing of a product or service or
its brand name that will not occur if the same product or service did not have the name”
Walfried Lasser, Banwani Mittal and Arun Sharma identified five dimensions of customer based brand
equity which are;
- Performance; this focuses on the physical and functional attributes of a brand
- Social Image; this focuses on what the brand holds in terms of its esteem and reference groups.
- Value; this refers to the customer value perception of the brand. It is the ratio between what the costs involved
are and the perceived delivered value.
- Trust Worthiness; this means the customer’s extent of faith in the brands performance, quality and service.
- Identification; this is the extent to which customers feel emotionally attached to the brand.
Importance of brand equity
- The firm can charge a higher price than competitors because the brand has perceived higher quality.
- The firm can easily launch brand extensions because the brand name has high credibility e.g. Colgate.
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- A successful brand guards the firm against price competition.

PACKAGING
Definition
Packaging is defined as the activity of designing and producing a container or wrapper for a product.
A package is any external material used to protect a product from damage.
Packaging Materials
Packaging may include the following three levels of materials.
Primary Package; This is the product’s immediate container e.g. bottle of wine, beer bottle, glycerin bottle,
etc.
Secondary Package; this is the material that protects the primary package in which the product is found.
Shipping Package; this is the package necessary for storage, identification or transportation.
Functions/ importance of Packaging
-it gives protection to the product
-it provides convenience at the level of handling, storage, and distribution.
-it contains the product.
-it provides after use facilities.
-The package gives information about the product to consumers.
-it helps in promoting the product.
-Packaging helps to distinguish the product from competitor products.
Disadvantages of Packaging
-packaging leads to waste of resources
-packaging is excessively expensive thus increasing the price of the product.
-packages may be deceptive or deceiving
-health hazards result from some forms of packaging
-packaging creates a lot of environmental pollution.

Packaging strategies
1) Changing the packaging strategy

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This involves changing the container or wrapper of the product. It enables the marketer to;
- Attract new groups of customers.
- Correct a poor feature in the existing container.
- Take advantage of new materials.
- Make appeal in advertising.

2) Packaging the product line strategy

Here, a company decides to develop a family resemblance in the packaging of the products in a product line.
E.g. tops in Brasseries du Cameroun.
3) Reused packaging strategy
This is when a company designs a package that can serve other purposes after the original content has been
consumed. Reuse packaging strategies help to stimulate repeat purchases as the consumer attempts to acquire a
set of containers e.g. Tangui
4) Multiple packaging strategy
This is a practice where a firm places several units in one container. It helps to increase the total sales of a
product e.g. crate, planet, and nut milk.

LABELING
A label is that part of a product that carries information about the product or the seller. A label may be part of a
product or it may be a tag attached to a product.

Types of labels
Labels are classified as brand label, grade, and descriptive labels
1) Brand Label: It is simply the brand alone attached to the product or package. Some products carry the brand
label like Holland wax, Nigerian wax etc.
2) Grade Label: It identifies the product’s judged quality with a letter, number or word e.g. Ndawara tea
graded as yellow and blue label, coffee graded as Arabia or Robusta.
3) Descriptive Label: this label gives objective information about the product’s performance such as product
use, composition, and other features.
Labeling generally takes one of two forms: persuasive and informative labeling.
Persuasive labeling focuses on promotional terms and consumer information is secondary.

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Informational labeling gives information about the product and its usage. It is designed to help consumers
make a proper product selection and lower their dissatisfaction after the purchase.
Packaging, branding and labeling are closely related. The label appears on the package and the brand is always
on the label.

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