Protecting Trade Marks & Designs:
business related aspects
Mark Kennedy
OHIM-General Affairs & External Relations Department
www.oami.eu.int
Index:
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Basic Marketing concepts
The Marketing Mix
Brands
- Definition
- Functions
- Classes
The weight of Brands in business strategy
Branding challenges
CTM vs. national marks
The registration of CTMs-OHIM
Basic marketing concepts
“Marketing is the art of selling”. It implies goods,
services, experiences, events, persons, places,
information, ideas ...
Marketers are skilled in stimulating demand for a
company’s products.
Core marketing concepts:
- target markets and segmentation,
- customers needs, wants and demands,
- customer value and satisfaction (value is the ratio
between what the customer gets and what he gives),
- marketing channels.
The marketing mix
Marketing mix is the set of tools that a marketer
and its firm uses to pursue the marketing
objectives in the target market.
- The 4 Ps:
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
- The 4 Cs:
1. Customer solution
2. Customer cost
3. Convenience
4. Communication
Marketing
Mix
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
Product variety
Quality
Design
Features
Brand name
Packaging
Sizes
Services
Warranties
Returns
List price
Discounts
Allowances
Payment period
Credit terms
Sales promotion
Advertising
Sales force
Public relations
Direct mktg
Channels
Coverage
Assortments
Locations
Inventory
Transport
Brand Definition
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design or
combination of them, intended to identify the G&S of
one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them
from those of competitors.
A brand is an intangible but critical component of
what a company stands for.
A consumer generally does not have a relationship
with a product or a service but with a brand
- 3M invokes innovation
- Hallmark stands for caring
- FedEx means guaranteed delivery
Functions of a brand
A Brand is essentially a seller’s promise to deliver a
specific set of features, benefits and services
consistently to the buyers.
A Brand is even a more complex symbol
Business identifier
Warranty of quality
“Goodwill”
Marketing function
Categories of brands
1.- According to the object
Product mark
Service mark
2.- According to their recognition
Ordinary mark
Notorious mark
Reknown mark
CATEGORIES OF BRANDS
• 3.- According to their extension
– National trademarks (USPTO, INPI, UKPTO)
– International trademarks (WIPO)
– CTM (OHIM)
• 4.- According to their nature
Word marks
3D marks
Figurative marks
Sound marks
Others
Fortuna
Colour marks
Olfativas “The smell
of fresh cut grass
THE WEIGHT OF BRANDS IN BUSINESS STRATEGY
A
strong brand provides the Cy with several benefits:
- loyalty drives repeat business
- brand-based price premiums allow for higher margins
- strong brands lend immediate credibility to new products
introductions
- strong brands allow for greater shareholder returns
- brands embody a clear, valuable and sustainable point of
differentiation relative to the competition
- strong brands mandate clarity in internal focus and brand execution
- the more loyal the customer is and the stronger the brand, the more
likely customers will be forgiving the company’s mistakes
- brand strength is a lever for attracting the best employees.
THE WEIGHT OF BRANDS IN BUSINESS STRATEGY
The 5
levels of customer attitude towards a brand:
(from the lowest to the highest)
- customer will change brands (price reasons)
= no loyalty,
- customer satisfied. No reason to change the brand,
- customer satisfied & would incur in costs by changing
brand,
- customer values the brand and sees it as a friend,
- customer devoted to the brand.
Brand equity = positions 3, 4 and 5.
THE WEIGHT OF BRANDS IN BUSINESS STRATEGY
Brand equity provides competitive
advantages:
- the company will enjoy reduced marketing costs because of brand
awareness
- the company will have more trade leverage in bargaining with
distributors and retailers (PUSH & PULL strategies)
- the company can charge higher price because the brand has higher
perceived quality
- the company can more easily launch extensions (the brand name
carries high credibility)
- the brand offers the company some defense against price
competition.
BRANDING CHALLENGES
Managing brands requires to take several
decisions:
- To brand or not to brand?
- Brand name decision
- Brand strategy decision
- Brand repositioning, packaging and labeling.
BRANDING CHALLENGES
To brand or not to brand?
- In the past most products were unbranded.
- Today hardly anything goes unbranded.
- However there has been a return to “no branding”
- consumer goods
- pharmaceuticals
- Generics are unbranded, plainly packaged, less expensive
versions of common products.
- Generics offer standard or lower quality at a price between 20
and 40% lower than nationally advertised products.
BRANDING CHALLENGES
Brand name decision: 4 available strategies
- Individual name. The company does not tie its reputation to the
product’s. (Seiko introduces lower quality watches under Pulsar without
diluting the Seiko name).
- Blanket family names. Development cost is less because of absence of
name research (Heinz, General Electric introduce all their products under
the same family name).
- Separate family names for all products. Companies invent different
family names for different quality lines within the same product class
(Mead Johnson uses Nutriment for gaining weight products, and Metrecal
for weight reduction products).
- Company trade name combined with individual product names. The
company name legitimizes and the product name individualizes (Kellog’s
Rice Krispies, Kellog’s Corn Flakes).
BRANDING CHALLENGES
Brand name decision
Options
- name of a person (Honda, Esthée Lauder)
- location (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
- quality (Safeway, Duracell)
- lifestyle (Weight watchers, Healthy choice)
- artificial name (Exxon, Kodak)
Tips
- Suggest something about the product’s benefits
- Suggest product qualities such as action or color
- Easy to pronounce, recognize and remember
- Distinctive
- Should not carry poor meanings in other countries and
languages
BRANDING CHALLENGES
Brand repositioning
- Even if a brand is well positioned, the Cy might have to
reposition it because of
- competitors
- changing customer preferences.
- 7-Up
Packaging
- Packaging has become a powerful marketing tool.
- Well designed packages creat convenience and promotional
value
- Self-service, consumer affluence, Cy & brand image,
Innovation opportunities.
Labeling
A brand is a
set of
promises
BB is not only
advertising
BB involves
innovation
Use
subbrands to
tell a story and
manage
perceptions
Connect with
customers on
an emotional
level
Excellence in
execution
brings huge
payoffs
Brand
building
lessons
The brand
team should
run the brand
Products are
key to the
brand
The brand is
more than
products
Know the
brand identity
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