CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY        

Perhaps the most distinction skill of professional marketing is their ability to create, maintain, protect and enhance brands.   Marketers say, “Branding is the art and cornerstones of marketing”.   The American Marketing Association define branding as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers.  

        In essence, a brand identifies the seller or maker.  It can be a name, trademark or other symbol.

        Brand name is a name given to a product which can be vocalized or pronounced and services to distinguish it from others.   Brand mark is that part of a brand show in front of sign, symbol, letter, design which are not alterable.   A trademark is a brand mark or a brand name with legal protection.   No other seller is given the right to use a trademark except the registered owner.

        For trademark law the seller is granted exclusive right to use of the brand name in perpetuity.   These brands differ from other assets such as patents and copyright which have expiration data.

        A brand is essentially a seller’s promise to consistently deliver a specific set of features, benefits and services to the buyers.   The best brand conveys a warranty of quality.  But a brand is even a more complex symbol.  A brand can convey up to six levels of meaning.  

Attrisutes:     A brand first brings to mind certain attributes.

Benefits:    A brand is more than a set of attributes customers are not buying attributes; they are buying benefits.

Values:         The brand also says something about the producer’s values.

Culture:     The brand may represent a certain culture.

Personality:        The brand can also project a certain personality.

User: The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product.

If a company treats a brand only as a name, it misses the point of branding.   The challenge in branding is to develop a deep set of meanings for the brand.   When the audience can visualize all six dimensions of brand is deeps otherwise it is shallow.

        Given the six level of a brands meanings marketer must decide at which level(s) to deeply anchor identify.   One mistake would be to promote only the brands attributes.   Firstly, the buyer is not interested in the brand benefits. Secondly, competitor 45 can easily copy the attribute.   Third, the current attributes may become less valuable later, hunting a brand that is too tried to specific attributes.

        Brand identification has certain advantage.   It enables the seller to build a consumer following and identify a given level of quality with a product from competitions. It expedites the process of communicating to buyers.   Thus, it is impossible to identify some products as those of a particular manufactures without the aids of a brand name.  Moreover, brand identification enables the manufacturer to communicate to buyers not only a point of purchase but through the medium of advertising and occasionally through publicity.   Finally, branding may enable the firm to communicate psychological as well as material values.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

        Despite the importance of branding and its un-preventing role and its restrictive (legal) measures on the product policy copy right and patent right, people still devour in product imitation, refinement and passing off image in order to project their product image in the market place.   That is, non-original and unbranded product are placed headlong with the original in the market place committing for the same market share.

        In view of these, branding is important in considering these statements.

a)           Whether branding creates impulse purchase.

b)           Whether branding helps Unilever Brother Nigeria Plc in segmenting their market.

c)           Whether it has been enhancing Unilever Brother Nigeria Plc sales volume buyer’s motives.

d)           Whether it has improving the company profit margin.

e)           If branding has any impact in determining the distribution channels of Unilever Products.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

        Brand as the name implies could be seen as a name, term, symbol, design or a combination of them which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and also shows the distribution from those of competitors.

        This study therefore, seeks to know the effectiveness of branding on manufactured products with a view to establish the extent to which it has helped in the manufacturing companies like Unilever products. 

1)           To identify how the consumer of the entire public react to branding and the impact and impressions it creates in them.

2)           To find out if a well planned branding strategy can make a product of Unilever Brothers Nigeria Plc to lead the market and suppose it’s competitors.

3)           To determine the problems that are association within branding as a strategy and the panacea to it.

4)           To examine the importance of branding as a promotional tools to the Unilever products.  

5)           To examine critically Unilever products.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

        The aiding research question used is intended to achieved the following:

1)           To find out how branding decision is users and producers.

2)           To asses the knowledge of Unilever Brothers towards their product.

3)           To find out possible strategy towards the branding of Unilever product.

4)           To determine the response of people towards the branding of toiletries.

5)           To find out the factors that influences of branding consumers.

SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

        This research work has significant for both the companies and their consumes it affords the searcher an insight into the role it could play in any firm.   It will bring to the knowledge to the Nigeria entrepreneurs and companies who produce toiletries to appreciate the use of branding of consumers product. Also that they could locate adequate finance of their budget on any major branding decision.

        It is now a common practice that consumers buy most of their product its because of good branding and packaging.   It therefore go along way to suggest the priority that should placed on it by the firm.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

            The scope of the study is one of the importance branding in the marketing of the unlace product in Enugu metropolis.  The researcher will carryout an indept study on how unilever

brands their products as well as their customer perceptions on their product branding.