Product Branding: Definition, Benefits, and Examples

Do you know that PepsiCo stands behind not just your beloved refreshing beverage, Pepsi, but also behind Lay's (which is known as Walkers in UK, or Hostess in Canada), Life (popular breakfast cereal), and Aunt Jemima (cooking mixes)? Yes, all these products belong to one powerful multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation that earns a staggering revenue yearly.

This brilliant plan of action designed to conquer the World with goods under different names belonging to one company is a part of a branding strategy called product branding.

Product branding in marketing is not something new. It is as old as time; however, it works no matter what. In 2021, you can hardly find a huge company that does not take advantage of this approach. What's more, even small businesses and startups prioritize product brand strategy. The reason is simple: not only does it come with numerous benefits that help level up the game, but most importantly, it brings colossal revenue and underlies the whole success of the venture.

Let's delve into the concept of branding a product a bit deeper, consider its pros and check out some examples of best product branding.

Product and branding are different concepts in marketing; however, only in tandem do they exert the most potent effect. Therefore, they are often used together and form a singular term, "product branding."

Although some people use company branding and product branding interchangeably, these concepts are not the same thing. Let's consider the main differences between them.

Corporate branding conveys a broad, consistent message reflecting the company's values and identity and targets a broad, diverse audience across multiple sectors.

Its focus is on promoting the company's overall qualities. In contrast, product branding is specific and dynamic, frequently changing to meet consumer demands. It caters to a narrower target segment within a specific industry, emphasizing the unique features of a particular product.

While product branding typically relies on marketing research and may not always mirror the company's reputation, corporate and product branding play crucial, complementary roles in defining and reinforcing a company's market position.

Product branding matters because it creates an immediate association for the customers and tugs their heartstrings, evoking a necessary gamut of emotions and establishing a powerful connection. On top of that, it offers such benefits as:

1. Driving customer loyalty

Product branding differentiates your offerings from competitors, helping you swiftly gain consumer preference. This strategy bolsters customer loyalty and extends corporate branding's influence, potentially turning your product into a representative of its category. By heightening brand awareness, it can capture the target segment and become the go-to choice for consumers.

2. You are always ahead

As a powerful tool, product branding can position your company as a trendsetter, increasing trust and credibility. It sparks interest in the parent company, influences consumer purchasing decisions, and boosts employee motivation. It also attracts top talent, turning new hires into brand evangelists and reducing onboarding costs.

3. Unique identity

Product branding enhances user experience and can inspire new product creation. Over time, it can reduce advertising costs and open new revenue opportunities. It also serves as a protective layer between brands and sub-brands, safeguarding the company's reputation, even in the face of product failure, thereby maintaining a unique brand identity.

Strong product branding creates enormous competition in the niche, forcing other companies to invest more money and effort. On top of that, it compels others to improve their products, thereby populating the market with high-quality articles and making the World a better place.

First things first. Like it or not, you need a professional product branding company to create a strong product brand. Every industry goliath has a reliable team of experts that sets their particular services or products to a successful trajectory and supports their development and advancement during the lifecycle.

Second, you need to ensure that some of the crucial things that help the product brand establish a firm position in the market are enforced or developed.

Effective product branding begins with a unique value proposition and clear benefit statements reinforced by an easily recognizable slogan. Well-conceived design traits, including compelling imagery and memorable mascots, establish an emotional connection with customers and cultivate a beloved brand personality.

Excellent user experience and trademark protection further enhance brand integrity. Visual elements should align with the product's objectives and resonate with the target audience's preferences.

Consistent marketplace performance and a mission that signifies a more significant cause also fortify the branding strategy. The approach is rounded off by expanding marketing campaigns across social media and maximizing exposure through all distribution channels.

Everything boils down to the value that customers get from the product. It is a no-no if it is useless or fails to meet expectations. Therefore, make sure product branding also brings value to the customer.

With such a long list of things that help the brand product achieve success, the question arises, what product branding services you may need. Let's highlight the top seven:

• Name Creation.
• Logo Design.
• Product messaging.
• Product positioning.
• Style guide.
• Product branding strategy.
• Product branding marketing.

Multi-product branding, a strategic approach to managing and marketing a range of specific products under a single brand name, is vital to a company's branding strategy. When one asks, "What is product branding?" it refers to developing a unique identity for a product, which differentiates it from similar products in the market.

The need to know about multi-product branding is significant, given its benefits. Companies adopt this branding strategy as it helps to build customer loyalty by presenting a unified and consistent identity. Targeting an audience with a distinctive color scheme, logo design, and marketing strategy can create a strong product brand that resonates with customers and influences their purchasing decisions.

Branding an individual product within a more significant line requires careful consideration of its unique identity. The right name can make a product stand out, much like one individual in a crowd. A well-aligned color palette across the product line further strengthens the brand. It's a reason consumers choose a company's offerings over those of competitors.

Successful product branding examples include the likes of Coca-Cola and Apple, with their new and innovative products, each maintaining its own identity while contributing to the overall brand image. Look at how these brands manage their diverse product lines while ensuring each product is unique yet recognizable. Their success makes a compelling case for the effectiveness of a well-executed multi-product branding strategy.

Product branding strategy with example is an excellent source of real insights on how to nail this crucial part of marketing. Let's examine five acknowledged and utterly successful product brands and their corresponding parent companies.

1. Pepsi

We have already mentioned PepsiCo, one of the giant American multinational corporations with a strong position in the food and beverage sector. So, let's dig a little bit deeper.

Formed in 1965, PepsiCo has dramatically expanded its sphere of influence. It is no longer a company that sells only refreshing soft drinks. Nowadays, it offers an increasingly diversified range of food and beverage brands that you might not even know. For example, PepsiCo owns Lay's, Tropicana, Doritos, Cheetos, Starbucks, and Fritos. This allowed the company to generate staggering revenue of 70.37 billion in 2020.

Their product branding is exceptional. The key takeaway: the team does not link its parent brand name with its products. There are two solid reasons for that. First, no one will buy potato chips or breakfast cereal from a company that is primarily associated with a sugary soft drink. Therefore, they were managed to overcome the frustration of the target audience and start with a clean slate yet with huge investments and a well-researched market.

Second, if one of those products fails, the reputation of the corporation will remain untouched, saving decades of hard work.

2. Apple’s iPhone and MacBook

Apple stands in stark contrast to PepsiCo, showing a different approach to conducting marketing campaigns and creating product branding. All its products are closely connected with the parent brand. The team behind Apple uses its powerful reputation to sell goods and give new products a head start.

Everyone knows that Apple is obsessed with perfection. The corporate name is almost a synonym of this quality. Therefore, all the products feel the same way by default. Customers can be sure that they get the best of the best in this sector. Some of the products do not even need an introduction. People will buy them without much consideration.

However, the team goes the extra mile with product branding, investing millions of dollars in packaging and advertising to make the product comply with the company's standards and ideology and meet the client's expectations.

3. Coca-Cola

Unlike PepsiCo, Coca-Cola has not dramatically expanded its area of influence. It stays in the beverage sector, even though it has been around for a century.

Instead, the company has carved quite a niche for itself. One cannot deny that when it comes to soft drinks, the first thing that springs to mind is the red bottle with an iconic logo, Cola.

Speaking of which, even though the corporation retails all sorts of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups and alcoholic beverages around 200 countries featuring numerous products, its flagman remains the same all the time. This is another intelligent strategy that runs smoothly, maintaining the company's legacy over the past 120 years.

The key takeaway is the well-thought-out product branding strategy that heavily relies on consistency. The latter is traced everywhere, starting with the color scheme and ending with packaging and advertising. The recognizable bottle shape, curvy typeface, and of course, red color remain almost the same, bridging the product with the generations of target audience and creating a powerful emotional connection.

4. McDonald's McDrive, Big Mac, and Happy Meal

Consistency and uniformity are two critical ingredients of this bespoken leader in the fast-food industry. Whatever country you are in, I bet you can quickly locate its restaurant because of its eye-catching golden letter "M" and iconic red and white color scheme.

That's not all. The team has done a great job meeting the needs and expectations of local markets by serving dishes with regional flavors. However, when it comes to packaging, range of products, and user experience, the team sticks to their guns, avoiding any compromises. You can find McDrive, McCafe, McExpress, Big Mac, McCombs, Happy Meal, and other quintessential elements everywhere. They help maintain McDonald's ideology and beliefs in every region.

5. Nike

Not only are the food and IT industry famous for its brilliant product branding strategies. Every niche has its heroes that give great insights into ways of conducting marketing campaigns to stay afloat for decades and generations. Nike, the leading manufacturer in the apparel sector, is one of them.

As the World's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel, its product branding strategy is one to envy. Though, everything is simple here. The team combines simplicity with consistency and heavily praises and promotes its philosophy through numerous distribution channels, turning brand identity elements into iconic things.

For instance, their logo even has a name, "Nike Swoosh." It is one of those signs that is instantly associated with the sport and widely recognized as an icon of this category.

Another critical feature of product branding strategy is collaborating with famous people. This tactic gives extra bonuses for products and the parent company.

6. Harley Davidson

Harley Davidson has effectively created a robust and distinctive brand identity that has resonated with consumers globally. Their product branding is more than just about the motorcycles they make; it's about the lifestyle and freedom that those motorcycles represent.

From their unique logo design to the characteristic roar of their engines, every aspect of their product branding is aligned to create an exclusive experience. This branding strategy has fostered an incredibly loyal customer base, with riders often brandishing Harley Davidson tattoos and apparel, showcasing their deep emotional connection to the brand.

7. Procter & Gamble (P&G)

Procter & Gamble (P&G), on the other hand, demonstrates a powerful multi-product branding strategy. As a multinational consumer goods corporation, P&G houses multiple brands with unique identities, target audiences, and marketing strategies. For instance, Pampers, one of P&G's brands, appeals to parents by emphasizing safety, comfort, and care for infants.

Meanwhile, Gillette, another P&G brand, targets adult men by associating itself with precision, quality, and masculinity. Through these unique, differentiated product branding strategies, P&G caters to various customer segments while maintaining a solid corporate identity.

Creating a strong product branding is tough. It does not happen overnight, nor does it happen on its own. It is a long, costly process that requires a professional product branding company. However, it pays off generously in the end.

When well-done and properly nurtured along its lifecycle, it brings numerous benefits to the company: it takes the product to the next level, improves the corporate branding, prolongs both product's and company's life, and manifests in increased sales through the brand, opening new opportunities to grow.