BRANDING


The AMA defines brand as a "name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." It create an identity of seller's product and helps consumers distinguish the features of one product from that of the other.


                                           

Branding is the process of building a brand, through various marketing mix activities, in such a manner that customers begin to associate themselves with the brand and develop a unique identity with it. The elements of branding can be elaborated as:

• Brand Name- BRU
• Brand Logo
• Brand Slogan- BRU se hoti hai khushiyan shuru
• Brand Equity
• Brand Promise- Mood enhancer and catalyst for stimulating conversations
• Brand Awareness- TVC's, print, online etc
• Brand Attitude- No. 1 coffee brand in India
• Brand Purchase Intention- To make instant coffee

PRICING

PRICING DECISIONS

American Marketing Association defines price as “the formal ratio that indicates the quantities of money goods or services needed to acquire a given quantity of goods or services.” In other words, pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its goods and services. Sellers must carefully price their products as much of the business is dependent on the price decided for a particular product.

Price of any product or service is determined by several factors like-

• Manufacturing cost 
• Market conditions 
• Target demographics 
• Competitors’ prices 
• Producer’s perception about the quality of his own product

Generally, prices are set higher than the cost of manufacture of goods so as to earn a minimum amount of profit.

Pricing is of three types-

a. Reference Pricing- Consumer knows the possible price range of the product, may be from a past experience of buying or prior knowledge about the price of the product. Before buying, consumers employ reference pricing and check the actual price of the price and then buys it.

b. Price Cues- In this, seller price the product at a number ending in '9'. This is a highly psychological pricing. Like, a price Rs. 99 gives consumers that price is in the range of 90 while if it is 100 then it gives the feeling that product is priced in 3 digit numbers and it is expensive.

c. Price- Quality inferences- Many consumers thinks that price is the indicator of quality. Higher the price, higher is the quality. Some brands may adopt the policy of exclusivity and scarcity, signifying their uniqueness and charge premium rates.

BRU Pricing

DISTRIBUTION

DISTRIBUTION

Distribution is the process of transferring of goods from the point of manufacture to the point of sales. A product should be available at the right place at the right time and in right condition, so a distributor make sure about its availability.  Role of distribution channel is vital in covering the market and for the sales of the product. 

Direct & Indirect channels:

In direct channel, seller directly sells to the buyer without employing the intermediaries. Seller saves extra costs by eliminating intermediaries and develops more personal relation with the customer. It limits the scope of gaining mass distribution through wholesaler and retailers.

While, indirect channels consists of smaller organizations which acts as intermediaries in the distribution of goods and services. Agents, wholesalers, retailers and other distributors are facilitators who makes product available to consumers across various geographical regions through departmental, supermarket and retail outlets.

Push and Pull Strategies of Distribution:

In Push strategy, manufacturer's sales force and trade promotion techniques like discount coupons, festival offers and schemes, comes into play. They push the product to consumers and drive sales.

On the other hand, pull strategies are targeted at attracting the customers towards the products by way of advertising and other forms of communication. 

Bru follows the policy of extensive distribution through indirect channels because it has a large customer base. 

Its general trade comprises of-

1. Groceries shops
2. Chemist stores
3. Wholesalers
4. Kiosks
5. General stores

Special displays at-

1. Hotel
2. Restaurants
3. Airport
4. Railways
5. Mall 
6. Concerts
7. Trade shows
8. College events

ANALYZING BUSINESS MARKETS

•BRU belongs to Hindustan Unilever

•It was launched in the year 1968 under the brand of ‘Brook Bond’

•One of the highly consumed coffee brand in India

It is an astonishing 800 - crore instant coffee segment in India

Bru’s market share as up to end of 2011 – 50.2% against Nescafe’s 49.2%. Growth rate is projected to be 25.6% p.a.

BRU and competition in India

Market Share

HOLISTIC MARKETING

The concept of holistic marketing is based on the development, design and  complementation of the marketing program, processes and activities in a manner that a favorable image of the product, brand and the company is established in the minds of the consumers and other related parties. It considers the fact that everything matters in marketing. It integrates both external and internal marketing.





The elements of Holistic marketing are:

• Internal Marketing- Different teams in an organization working in collaboration and have common goal of achieving customer satisfaction.

• Integrated Marketing- Communication channels employed by the company should be well integrated and convey the same message across all platforms.

• Performance Marketing- It relates that the performance of the employees and the company as a whole will determine the sales revenue and brand equity of the firm.

• Relationship Marketing- Customers are the most valuable assets to an organization, without which no firm can function. The company should maintain healthy and harmonious relations with the customers and channel partners as they are the pillars of success of an organization.

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING

SEGMENTATION


                                        
According to the AMA, market segmentation refers to "the process of subdividing a market into distinct sunsets of customers that behave in the same way or have similar needs. Each subset may conceivably be chosen as a market target to be reached with a distinct market strategy."

It's done on the basis of-

1. Demographic- Consumer market is divided on the basis of their age, gender, income, occupation etc.
2. Psycho-graphic-  Factors such as lifestyle, personality, occasions, benefits derived from consumption of product, user status, usage rate, loyalty status etc are considered.
3. Geographic- Geographically regions are divided into Tier I, Tier II, Tier III etc or urban, semi urban and rural areas.

TARGETING

Once the segmentation has been done, the seller has to decide which segment he is going to target to sell his products. AMA define targeting as "narrowly focusing ads and keywords to attract a specific, marketing profiled searcher and potential customer."


                                        






POSITIONING

Product positioning is defined by AMA as "the way consumers, users, buyers and others view competitive brands or types of products. As determined by market research techniques, the various products are plotted onto maps, using product attributes as dimensions."


                                        

STP for BRU

SEGMENT                           People looking to make coffee instantly

TARGET GROUP               Middle and Upper middle class people

POSITIONING                    Mood enhancer and catalyst for stimulating conversations

                     "BRU se hoti hai khushiyan shuru"

PROMOTION


Promotion is essentially a marketing communication mix which consists of elements such as- personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, advertising and publicity along with new promotional elements like events and experience, interactive marketing and word of mouth marketing.

Promotion tools which BRU uses-

 

Strategy	Channel	Location
Advertising	1.       Print and Broadcast ads 2.       Posters	1.       Popular TV shows and movies 2.       Colleges 3.       TVC’s
Sales Promotion	1.       Sampling 2.       Premiums and gifts	1.       Bru café world 2.       Retail Stores 3.       Colleges
Public Relation	1.       Press kits	1.       Media Launch
Direct Marketing	1.       Social Networking	1.       Facebook, Twitter, Website, E-mail
Events	1.       College events 2.       Movie Promotion- Tie up with movie ‘Aaisha’ for promotions	1.       Colleges, Restaurants, Café

Promotional Campaigns by BRU

Bru has a stronghold in the southern market. Unilever wanted to explore communication strategies and activation methods to help Bru penetrate the Non- south market and increase the home consumption. Part of the project was also dispelling the perception of Bru as a cold coffee brand and at the same time, promoting unconventional uses of Bru coffee.

Others

Typo form portrait of Rajat Kapur for his film Promotion 

 

Other Celebrities promoting their movies and BRU