Sellers recognize brands as a basis for establishing competitive advantage. Many also consider it a sign of quality for satisfied customers. Consumers recognize brands as symbolic devices that denote quality and source of a product. For the most part, customers trust strong brands as reliable enough to give them quality products for their money. As a result, good brand management can actually simplify a consumer’s purchase decision, as consumers discover which brands satisfy their needs and remain committed and loyal to those brands as long as they continue to meet their expectations.
Brand management is essentially a form of marketing. A brand manager uses various techniques in order to increase the perceived value of a brand over a period of time. When effective, brand management builds a customer base that remains loyal even as prices increase. This requires that the brand manager understands the brand, its target market, and the company’s overall vision so that he can develop a strategic plan in order to maintain and even gain more value for the brand.
Naturally, any brand must effectively manage their assets, both tangible and intangible. Some of the tangible properties of a brand include its product, price, packaging, logo, associated colors, and lettering format. Consumers see or hear things as a result that cause them to think of the brand. Some of the intangible properties of a brand include the promise, personality, positioning, and emotion that is associated with the brand. Brands can cover multiple products or services, and even a single brand name can cover multiple brands under it. An example is a brand of cars, which has many different models under their brand, or a parent company with many brands under it.
