Brand Management (MKT624)

VU

Lesson 1 UNDERSTANDING BRANDS – INTRODUCTION Brand management as one of the marketing functions has been around for as long as we have known professional marketing. But, it has been a part of the traditional marketing approach in which many functions of today’s brand management were performed in a spread out fashion by the marketing manager and a combination of his team members like the sales manager, the advertising and communications manager, and the marketing administration manager to name a few. The terminology of brand management was not used. Brand management, in its present integrated form, has come into limelight and focus over the last 20 years. The functional execution has undergone transformation in terms of its description as a substantive job under one head. This implies that the overall functions of brand management are full of substance and therefore are described specifically under the head brand management and not as disparate parts of the overall marketing functions. In other words, brand management has not lost its primary roots that are well-entrenched in marketing; it only has acquired explicitly defined dimensions within which the function operates. To further elucidate the point, there have been functional adjustments within the overall marketing functions only to bring into clear and sharp focus the specific functions and job of brand management. Brand management now presents itself as a distinct part of an integrated marketing approach in which it connects with all the touch points within and outside of the marketing department. The whole concept can be exemplified by seeking your attention toward two fruit baskets; one full of mixed fruits and the other having compartments carrying different fruits of each type in each compartment. Each type comes into a sharper focus! So do the touch points. This course is