In the Indian context "branded" itself is becoming a brand! Gullible customers assume that "Branded" stands for everything that good brands stand for. Retailers use this term in their advertisements to lure customers and sell them products of inferior quality made by small industries or those imported from china. Do brands have to stand for something? Do brands have to provide some of the advantages of branding for customers that one reads in text books? The way the word "Branded" is used in India is worth thinking about.
Marketing Innovation, or Marketing just legal, it does not matter what you think of it. "Branded" is worth spending advertising money on!
Indian customers have had to deal with a deluge of brands in the last few years, could this be the reason for not being able to distinguish between brands that simply the term "branded" has acquired a life of its own?
Agree with your view when you say that the word "Branded" itself is being used as a brand, never mind what the real brand is. Discount retailers use this ploy to trick customers into believing in a product's quality.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, we may also need to get rid of our obsession with brands themselves and get comfortable with the idea that product generics may often be as good. In many cases, generics are produced in the same facility as "branded" goods, but are not labeled and therefore do not carry the premium.