Benefits of Branding for Consumers, Suppliers, and the Society

Branding has become very common in today’s society. There is hardly a product in the market that does not carry a brand name. Every product that you buy from salt to Cola and automotive parts carries a brand name. The automotive parts you buy for your old car may have different brand names than the automaker.  Now even fruit products including juices and jams are branded. The products that carry no brand are called Generic products. These generic products come in simple packages and are less expensive than those made by the main brands. The lower prices of generic products are made possible by lower quality ingredients, lower costs of packaging as well as lower expenses on advertising. However, the generic products are not as popular as the branded products. This brings to mind some important questions?

  1. What is the need for branding?
  2. Who benefits from branding and what types of benefits does he get?
  3. What are the costs of branding?

Branding does not just help the seller, but it also helps the buyers, suppliers as well as the consumers and society in many ways.

Benefits of branding for the buyer:

  • It is a sign of quality and makes the selection easier for the buyer. Those who buy the same brand each time can expect to have the same quality every time they buy.
  • It makes shopping easier for the buyer. Suppose you want to buy toothpaste and do not remember any brands. You go to a supermarket and come across only generic products. This will make it difficult for you to decide which one to buy. In another situation, you have a long list of products to buy and you go to a supermarket where branded products are sold. You remember the brand you want to buy for each product. It takes you a few minutes only to find your preferred brands in a large supermarket. So, shopping has been made convenient and easier by branding.
  • Calling the attention of buyers to a new product that might benefit them is easier because of branding. The brand also acts as the base upon which the entire story regarding the special qualities of the product can be built. It becomes easier for the buyers seeking those special qualities to find their desired product. In this way, branding offers several advantages for buyers.

Branding Advantages for Sellers and Suppliers:

  • One of the most basic benefits that branding offers for the suppliers is that processing and tracking orders becomes easier for them.
  • Brand name and trademark also offer protection against cheap imitation. Competitors can easily copy the unique production features of a supplier if not for the legal protection that brand name and trademark offer.
  • For suppliers, it is easier to attract the right set of customers for the products they manufacture. Suppliers can attract loyal and profitable customers with higher convenience through branding.
  • Branding also helps suppliers and sellers with consumer segmentation. Suppliers can offer several products that are made for a definite consumer segment. For example, Coca Cola offers soda drinks in several flavors and low-calorie versions depending upon the choices of various consumer segments.

Advantages for the consumers and society:

  • Branding has led to higher and more consistent product quality. Brands want to retain their loyal customers and therefore focus on maintaining the quality of their products. If customers are loyal to a brand, then it is because of product quality.  Customers can expect consistent quality of products when they buy from their preferred brands.
  • Branding has led to higher innovation and the availability of more variety and choices for consumers. Branding incentivizes innovation since producers look for new features that can be protected against imitation by competing brands.
  • Consumers can find much more information about products, their special features, uses and where to find them because of branding. If not for branding getting this information would have remained difficult for the consumers and society.

In this way, branding has several advantages for all the key stakeholders and not just sellers. It has led to a higher focus on quality by the suppliers as well as higher innovation and differentiation. Due to branding, the consumers have more choices available before them in each product segment. So, on the one hand, while branding benefits the consumers and society, on the other it also protects the seller or the supplier.

CITE THIS.
APAPratap, A. (2020, March 3). Advantages of Branding for the buyers, sellers, suppliers and society. Retrieved from https://notesmatic.com/benefits-of-branding-for-consumers-suppliers-and-the-society/
MLAPratap, Abhijeet. “Advantages of Branding for the Buyers, Sellers, Suppliers and Society.” Cheshnotes, 3 Mar. 2020, notesmatic.com/2020/03/benefits-of-branding-for-consumers-suppliers-and-the-society/.