General is passé, ‘niche’ is in— not only to make a style statement but also to mark your worth in the management world. Ask the corporate recruiters and many will tell you that they are on the look out for ‘special’ skills in their potential employees. It is now a proven fact that companies prefer mbas in several key positions including marketing, finance, it, supply chain, hr and most other areas. Even in technical areas engineers with mbas are treated preferentially compared to engineers without the management qualification.

A large number of specialist mba courses are being developed of late like rural management, forest management, retail management, advertising management, telecom management, business communi-cation, supply chain management, civil aviation management, brand management, etc. Most emerging areas belong to the service sector which contributes more than half the gdp.

With the floodgates of the indian market being opened due to lilberalisation, the indian customers have a large number of choices because foreign companies have started wooing them in order to promote their products. These products include a wide range of electronic goods for household use to automobiles to cosmetics to clothes and so on. But the big question is — what should be the right price and which segment of the consumer should be targeted? Welcome to the most fascinating but intriguing world of brand management.

Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with present and future purchases of the same product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the manufacturer. This results from a combination of increased sales and increased price.

A good brand name should be legally protectable; be easy to pronounce; be easy to remember; be easy to recognize; attract attention; suggest product benefits (e.g.: easy-off) or suggest usage; suggest the company or product image and distinguish the product’s positioning relative to the competition.

Types of brands: a premium brand typically costs more than other products in the category. An economy brand is a brand targeted to a high price elasticity market segment. A fighting brand is a brand created specifically to counter a competitive threat. When a company’s name is used as a product brand name, this is referred to as corporate branding. When one brand name is used for several related products, this is referred to as family branding. When all company’s products are given different brand names, this is referred to as individual branding. When a company uses the brand equity associated with an existing brand name to introduce a new product or product line, this is referred to as brand leveraging. When large retailers buy products in bulk from manufacturers and put their own brand name on them, this is called private branding, store brand, or private label. Private brands can be differentiated from manufacturers’ brands (also referred to as national brands). When two or more brands work together to market their products, this is referred to as co-branding. When a company sells the rights to use a brand name to another company for use on a non-competing product or in another geographical area, this is referred to as brand licensing.

The branding process begins with the evolution of a new product together with a comprehensive plan to make it an integral part of a consumer’s life. But before the process begins, a market survey is conducted to assess the consumer sentiments. The next step is to assert the brand identity by telling consumers as to how the brand (product) is going to fulfill their needs. The whole process is rounded off by aggressively promoting and campaigning with the use of various media forums and otherwise, to create an awareness among the consumers. Brand management is all about refining and dressing up a particular product so that it finds a permanent place in the consumer’s mind.

The genesis of any brand lies in the identification of a selling idea. The advertising agency assists the company in connecting to the consumers with the help of images and symbols. Brand management is also about delivering various strategies and techniques necessary to sustain the product.

The job of a brand manager essentially revolves around effective co-ordination with the other departments and beyond. In addition to co-ordination the brand manager is also responsible for support to the sales teams, dividing the overall brand strategy and budgeting. In fact, he is the person responsible for flawless functioning of activities such as formulation, productions, packaging and distribution. Further, a brand manager needs to be aware of the trends in the market, must know the effective art of man management and should also be receptive to new ideas. The key to success as a brand manager is practical thinking and always being on the toes.

This is one of the most challenging professions where scope of stagnation is almost nil. To be in the profession you have to learn new things on a regular basis. Moreover, the co-ordination work keeps the brand manager in constant touch with almost every department thus giving him the feel of the whole organization.

To become a brand manager, you should preferably have an mba degree with specialization in brand management. But, you cannot become a brand manager overnight. People generally begin as a part of the sales team. After a sustained good performance for two to three years in the core sales unit team of an organization, only the best and the brightest are promoted to assistant brand/product manager and ultimately to brand manager. The competition is so tough that from a team of about ten people, only a couple make it to brand manager.

Employers who generally provide brand management jobs are- consumer goods corporation; companies specialising in industrial goods; fmcg, pharma-ceutical, diagnostic companies; automobile industry, advertising companies, kpos, financial service companies and banks.

The remuneration of brand managers varies from organization to organization and generally depends upon the experience of person and the company itself. Freshers can earn anywhere between rs. 10,000 and rs. 15,000, whereas those with a couple of years of experience in fmcg industry can earn between rs. 25,000 to rs. 30,000. As the markets in india have become very competitive, the establishment of brands has become extremely important. As a result, the need for brand managers is more than ever before.

Institutes : indian institute of management - kolkata, ahmedabad, bangalore, lucknow and indore; indian institute of science and management- pundag, ranchi – 834004; symbiosis institute of management studies – 15th lane, prabhat road, pune – 411004; sp jain institute of management and research – munshi nagar, dadabhai road, andheri (west), mumbai – 400058; xavier institute of management and entrepreneurship– seva sadan campus, 3rd block, koramangala, bangalore – 560034; institute of management bhubaneswar – gyan vihar, rasulgarh, bhubaneswar – 751010; mp birla institute of management – 43, race course road, bangalore – 560001; indian institute of planning and management – iipm tower, c-10, qutab institutional area, new delhi – 1100016; indian institute of social welfare and business management- management house, college square (west), kolkata-700073; bharatiya vidya bhavan – block fa, sector iii, salt lake, kolkata-700097, and 77, ashutosh mukherjee road, kolkata – 700025.