Product branding is a sort of branding, but it differs from overall corporate branding in various ways.
Corporate branding should be consistent across the board and encompass the full breadth of a company’s identity. It can even reveal information about a company’s ideals.
Product branding, on the other hand, is far more specialized. It distinguishes a single product (or a family of products, such as Lay’s potato chips) from competing products and other firm offerings.
Product branding can even separate a product from the company that creates it.
Let’s use the same example as before. Lay’s potato chips are made by a company called Lay’s.? No. It’s owned by PepsiCo . But why would you want to buy (much less consume) Pepsi Chips in the world? Pepsi is already so closely associated with a product brand that it, in some ways, pollutes the brand itself.
PepsiCo, on the other hand, is such a well-known and identifiable brand that switching to something more generic (like Fun time Snacks and Drinks) would be a risky move.
What is the solution?
Product branding – the process of identifying and promoting.
PepsiCo has all day to create chips, hummus, granola bars, and breakfast cereals. They should, however, do so under unique product branding identities, which is precisely what they do. The scope to which the world’s largest brands accomplish this is depicted in this image. In some situations, this was accomplished through purchase rather than organic product branding. But the principle remains.
Is Product Branding Worth the Investment?
Yes, absolutely: some level of product branding is worth the investment.
Why? Because you want to sell more products! The purpose of product branding is to distinguish your product from the competition. You’re also creating or narrowing the market to exactly the people you want to reach. If you don’t invest anything at all into product branding, you’ll end up with a sea of bland, poorly defined products. And your sales will show it. The real question isn’t whether product branding is worth the investment. It’s how much you should invest in product branding.
And that will depend greatly on the size of your company and the margins of your brand. This part isn’t rocket science: global megacompanies spend quite a bit on product branding. Start-ups spend a lot less. But we’ve all seen examples of brands that should’ve spent more, right? We’re talking confusing, vague product names with logos that look amateurish.
What Makes a Strong Product Brand? Creating a product brand isn’t difficult.
Creating a fantastic one? That’s another story.
There are plenty of intangibles in play in the area of product branding, just as with branding strategies as a whole.
There’s no strong reason, for example, that Amazon or Google works particularly well.
Those terms don’t tell you anything about what those companies do, and they barely even hint at anything tangible.
But we’d be fools to say that Amazon and Google aren’t effective brands. They most certainly are.
So there are certainly some intangibles in play here. Still, we’ve identified several principles of strong product branding.
Implementing these will get you well on your way to creating a successful, memorable product brand.
1. A Strong Product Brand Differentiates Itself from Competitors (Even Internally)
First, strong product branding creates differentiation.
When you see any Pepsi product (the soda product brand family, not the parent company), you know instantly that it’s a Pepsi product.
Even if it’s that weird new Zero Sugar Mango or the failed Crystal Pepsi — you know they’re Pepsi drinks in a matter of moments.
You’re not confused for a second that Pepsi is a Sprite or a Coke or a beer.
This differentiation is essential with competitors. If you’re creating a hot new cola, you wouldn’t dream of a solid red can with a cursive font, right?
But it’s important even within a single brand, too.
Take OtterBox, for example. The company’s main product area is phone cases.
Its first two popular product brands were the OtterBox Defender and the OtterBox Commuter.
We think these are both very strong product brands. The Defender is the bulky, ultra-rugged case that protects phones from nearly anything.
The Commuter is a slimmer but still protective case designed mainly for (can you guess?) commuters.
Consumers aren’t typically confused about the differences.
But from there, things fell off a bit. Later series include Symmetry, Aneu, Figura, and Lumen. You can kind of guess what some of those are, but none of them speaks with the clarity of the original two.
The differentiation just isn’t as strong.
2. A Strong Product Brand (or Sub-brand) Narrows Itself to a Submarket
Let’s go deeper down the rabbit hole of Pepsi products.
When you see Pepsi Max, you know pretty quickly what’s going on there, too (spoiler alert: there’s no sugar).
At first glance, people might think this is bad.
It will certainly limit sales. Kids don’t want it, and neither do people who don’t like artificial sweeteners.
This is exactly what we want product branding to do for us. The branding itself shrinks the target audience down to a specific submarket.
So Pepsi Zero Sugar is a great product brand.
It instantly shrinks its market down to only those people who want sugar-free soft drinks that taste (sort) like Pepsi.
3. A Strong Product Brand Illustrates the Product
Lastly, the best product branding gives consumers an instant idea of what’s in the packaging.
The name, the logo, and the packaging imagery all work together here.
Take Ruffles potato chips. Ruffles could be a clothing or fabric brand, but the packaging shape and the imagery on it make it clear that we’re dealing with potato chips.
And once those elements put the consumer mindset into chip territory, it’s pretty clear what Ruffles means about the chips themselves. The catchphrase “Ruffles Have Ridges” drives out any chance of misunderstanding, too.
What Are Some Examples of Successful Product Branding?
Apple will be mentioned in any post or article about excellent brands for obvious reasons: they make a lot of money and everyone wants their products.
What about product branding, though?
There have been many achievements for the company, but there have also been some failures.
Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are excellent computers. Let’s have a look at why this is: The word “book” (combined with the product design and packaging) indicates that you’re getting a laptop. The word “air” connotes lightness and thinness (and the rest of the branding matches). The term “pro” denotes a high-end device with a higher price tag. And last but not least, “Mac” indicates that this is a Mac rather than a PC.
Product imagery, advertising slogans, and so on reinforce all the points above and create additional interest, too. Equate: Anything and Everything This one’s counterintuitive, but hear us out. Equate is Walmart’s generic brand for pharmacy and health and beauty goods. The packaging isn’t interesting. The logo design isn’t, either. At first glance, you might expect it to be on a “bad product branding” list. But take a step back and think about the goals of this product branding. It exists to tell consumers “This is a cheaper but reliable alternative.” And by using a consistent product branding approach, Walmart has certainly succeeded here. Consumers instantly recognize Equate products, even if they don’t exactly spark joy. The branding differentiates the products and narrows to a submarket.
Branding consists of numerous actions, which culminate in the development of a higher brand personality. Branding serves many purposes to consumers. One of these benefits refers to identity. Through branding, consumers are in the position to identify with a specific product because of its quality, which culminates in the growth of a higher degree of consumer loyalty ’. The business should consider a variety of aspects in the way of managing brand assets, which include brand vision, recognition, consciousness, image, commitment, and premium.
Graphic design refers heavily to corporate identification, branding, and the character of the firm. Branding originated in the late decades and not only did it appear as collective recognition, but it also signified firm level. Some might recognize this process of “ branding ” a sexy metal sign or logo onto the animal’s body to identify other cattle. Branding the business or any other kind of asset that needs an identity does help one to be acknowledged in the commercial business. Special graphic designers can easily make the brand that suits the organization, too as define it through one simple logo.
Innovation can help in selling the product or idea. It is used for products and components of company personality, e.g., trademarks, colours, business and text as part of branding (see also advertising). Branding has become progressively more significant in the variety of services provided by graphic designers. Graphic designers frequently are part of the branding team.
Branding makes marketers yet more choices to distract the user from purchasing rationally: Product name, logo, slogan, business innovation, and sponsorships. Branding is designed to make an irrational storage system for the broad-brush liking of the company’s products
The brand is a symbol of the company’s values and vision and the ideal product branding will reflect those values.