SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BRANDING; WHAT ARE THE SIX STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A WORLD CLASS BRAND

• PRODUCT BRAND
• LINE BRAND
• RANGE BRAND
• UMBRELLA BRAND
• SOURCE BRAND  (or PARENT BRAND)
• ENDORSING BRAND

           PRODUCT BRAND.  A brand is a symbol, a word, object, or a concept---all at once and one at the same time. The purpose of a product-brand is to assign an exclusive name to a product.  This is the strategy that Proctor and Gamble employees.  Tide is P &G’s laundry detergent.  The product is so well marketed that when consumers hear the name, Tide,  the first thing they thing they think of is washing clothes.

            RANGE BRAND.   A group of products all under one name and one promise. This is how television networks brand their shows. During promotional breaks, a network will advertise several shows at once. The networks goal is for a consumer to think of several shows when they hear the name of the network  

           LINE BRAND. A group of products that have complementary products.  Cosmetic products are branded in this way.  In many lines there is a shampoo, a shaving cream, an after shave, and a deodorant, all under one roof. The advantages to this strategy is that it raises the selling power of the brand and creates a strong image of consistency. It creates an easy movement to line extensions and it reduces line costs.

            UMBRELLA--BRAND.  This method is used when a group of very different products are  marketed under one brand. A brand of motorcycles  also brands pianos and guitars. Yamaha brands like this.

            SOURCE BRAND.  This is like Umbrella except under source branding, the products are now directly named. A consumer brand might name its products Dairy Crunch, Nescafe, Nesquick.

            ENDORSING BRAND. . Car companies brand in the same way.  Pontiac,  Buick, Oldsmobile, and Chevrolet in the United States and  Opel and Vauxhall in Europe are endorsed by General Motors. The advantage to this type of branding is that it adds more touch points.  Each particular name evokes a forceful image of the product in one’s mind.  In the case of a car brand, there are many individual products. Using the endorsing mechanism allows a company to save a great deal of expense and it simplifies the branding in the consumer’s mind.