OPINION
ADÉLE MARITZ
Are you a pusher
or a puller?
Over the past months we have covered a broad range of brand and
marketing topics and focused on some issues pertaining specifically
to retailers. This month will however focus more on the manufacturing
and distribution industry, says Adēle Maritz.
Adéle Maritz is the
owner of AM Brand Service
and offers a wide range
of brand and marketing
services tailor made to fit
the specific needs of each
client. Contact her at
[email protected] or
visit www.ambrand.co.za
I
n the world of the
manufacturer and wholesaler
there is often a basket
full of brands to keep track
of. These are product brands,
your company brand and your
SUPER
ALKALINE
customers’ brands. In the greater
BATTERIES From
picture of production volumes,
driving sales and logistics
AAA
brand and marketing strategies
sometimes fall by the way side.
Lewis Carroll wrote, “If you
don’t know where you are going,
any road will get you there.”
Without a clearly laid out industrial
marketing strategy you could be
working yourself in circles without
feeling that you are accomplishing
much, or reaching goals within the
timeframes you set yourself.
Let’s start with the brands
you manage. Should you be in a
position where you manufacture or
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distribute more than one product
There are three main models:
1 A house of brands: This is where
there is a ‘silent’ parent brand with
individual product brands, which
sometimes even compete with each
other. An example would be Proctor
& Gamble who is the parent brand of
Ariel, Gillette, Oral B, Vicks and many
more.
2 A branded house: The parent brand
is the main brand and consistent
across all products or services. There
is one main brand promise that
must be delivered on throughout all
the different offerings. An example
would be Virgin that operates Virgin
Air, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Records.
3 Hybrid architecture: This is where
the parent brand is used to endorse
other individual brands. An example
would be Coca Cola with brands such
as Sprite, Coke Zero, Minute Maid - all
endorsed with the Coca Cola brand.
brand, that differ from your
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company brand, it is extremely Regardless of the model used each
important to understand the brand should be clearly defined including
architecture of your brand application guidelines to ensure their
strategy and the reasoning behind integrity remains consistent throughout
it. This all boils down to how a any consumer touch point.
company’s logos and brands
Next would be the marketing strategy
work together, thus informing the you want to follow. You are probably
consumer on how to understand manufacturing or distributing products
and interact with them. that will ultimately be used by the