Branding

Branding

Global Brands

A global brand is branding products with a single brand worldwide. A firm may look at launching the products worldwide with a single brand logo, slogan. In the practice, we see some brands such as Coca Cola, Apple etc. are familiar to us irrespective of the cultural differences and the geographical boundaries we deal with in day to day life. This is where the global branding has come out in action. However a firm needs to carefully analyse the conditions that favour using a same brand name worldwide.

Global brands will have same product attributes, product formulas core benefits, values, same product positioning across the globe. Firm may enjoy high economies of scales through maintaining global brands and the brand awareness effort is less to a firm in the case of global branding. Global brands add prestige and image to the firm in across the globe, and this helps in gaining the market leadership position in both home and foreign countries.

Local Branding

Some firms go by the basis of local branding to mitigate with the cultural barriers, language differences, etc.. For an example, if the local industry is using a similar brand name, then its disadvantageous for the company to go on the global branding, therefore a localised version needs to come up as local branding.

This will help the firm to create a customer mindset, that they are purchasing a local brand that will help them to capture the market.

Whether to use global branding or local branding is a tricky question that needs to be answered by a firm carefully. Maintaining and acquiring well known local brands are a mode of generating access to the local channels, distribution network and established staff. It is more advisable to maintain a local brand by a company after an acquisition as this will help a firm to establish the product in the foreign market more successfully.

Private – Label Branding

This is in increasing threat to most of the large MNCs. They are high frightening competitors who provide the retailer with high margins to gain preferential shelf spare and strong in store promotion. Most of these brands are quality products with low prices, that will get immediate consumer attention, rather than the manufacturer brands that are premium priced.  Therefore, the MNCs will need to compete with these private brands in the international marketing platform.

Brand Name Changeover strategies:

Fade-in/ Fade-out: This is where the new global brand will be tied up to a local brand which is existing in the host market. Once the transition is done, the old name will be dropped out.

Combining the local brand with the name of the new partner. This is another branding strategy used to achieve successful change over of the brands in international markets.

Transparent forewarning- this alert the customers about the brand name change through communications, in-store displays, using the product packing.

Summary Axing: The old brand name will be dropped overnight and the new brand name / global brand will come to use. Suitable for situations where the market competition is high and the competitors are gaining the market share through the development of global brands.

Co – Branding: Co branding will be carried out by linking two products to obtain advantage of the equity of each brand.

Example:  Unilever Ice cream company co-branding together with Mars in the USA.

Umbrella Branding: A single banner brand will be used across the globe, with the support of a sub brand name for the total product portfolio of the company. The company name goes with the whole product portfolio. The brand name will be reflected through each and every product.

Companies with a positive brand name will benefit through umbrella branding in international marketing context as the customers will have a trust on the umbrella brand and therefore the product offered to foreign markets will too be highly accepted.