Brand Vs. Product
Brand Management
Yuri Passos
Lincoln Memorial University

Brand Vs. Product

There are many definitions about a product, some says a product is merchandise, the commodities offered for sale, an artifact that has been created by someone or some process and a consequence of someone’s efforts of a particular set of circumstances. In marketing, it defines as a product of anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need. It is not just a physical object but a complete bundle of benefits or satisfaction that buyers perceive when they will obtain if they purchase the product. It is the sum of all physical, psychological, symbolic and service attributes (Kum, Bergkvist, Lee & Leong, 2012).
On the other hand, a brand is trade name given to particular product or service. It is the recognizable kind, a trademark. In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. It includes a name, a logo, and other visual elements such as images or symbols. It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typically arise in the minds of the people. Such people include the employees of the brand owner, people involved with the distribution, sale or supply of the product or service and the ultimate consumers (Sellani, 2007). There are many differences between a product and a brand. A product is tangible, you can see and touch it. It has physical attributes, different models, features and prices. It has objective qualities like taste, texture, color, firmness and hardness. While a brand is how the consumers feel about that product, it deals with their affection, the personality they ascribe to it, the trust and loyalty they give it. Above all, the shared experienced they have with it. It is a part of the product that you cannot put in the box. It is extremely valuable because it is incorporeal. Today, marketers are placing great emphasis on the value and importance of their brands. The people or consumers prefer to buy things for subjective reasons and not for objective reasons. The people are looking for the things that have status. They appreciate the branded products than the usual ones mainly because they had trust in it in making them comfortable and satisfied. It’s a guarantee for them if they chose to go with the branded.
However, a brand always start with a product that services a real need or want of a market and then be wrapped with a consistency of logical and emotional appeals. Products happen by accident because the manufacturers or suppliers of a particular product sees to it that their products was made for the consumers in order for them to fill their needs and wants and branded products must be designed or built because the manufacturers or suppliers of a particular product should have been made in order to fill the craving of the consumers who were following the new styles and trends (Sellani, 2007). A core product is the prime purpose of a product’s existence which might be expressed in terms of function or psychological benefits. It is a problem-solving service that a customer is really buying in receiving the product. Nowadays, branded products are very important to the success of a company’s future. Although, the quality of a product and value are important factors in a successful product still, the consumers prefer to buy branded products because they were basing on the popularity of images and logos on a certain product. Most of the companies today have a customer orientation or customer focus. It means that the company is focusing on the activities and products that a customer needs (Kum, Bergkvist, Lee & Leong, 2012).
There are two ways in doing this: first, the customers driven approach which indicates that the consumer wants are the reason of all strategic marketing decisions. The companies believe that every aspect of market offering