Developing and Maintaining Sustainable Brands-A Theoretical Model

The process of political-economic transformation from a semi-controlled economy to a semi-liberalized one began in 1992 and eight years later India is emerging as one of the largest markets for commodities and services. New players have entered the market and many of the older ones have had to make way for them. An era of mergers, acquisitions, hostile bids, deacquisitions and other forms of strategic alliances has followed. In 1991-2 the business houses which were asking for a level playing field are now asking for some sort of protection against foreign competition (c.f. Sadri 2003,2007). New barons are entering the foray for a larger slice of the proverbial cake. Brand Identity, Brand Positioning, Brand Personality, Brand Association, Brand Essence, Brand Image, Brand Loyalty, Brand Equity, etc. were, until now, terms used in the postgraduate classroom and executive development seminars are now being heard in the corporate corridors. When the rules of the game have changed, when the raj of licenses and controls has started giving way to a freer market, the time is ripe to pose the question: what essentially does Brand Management mean in the Indian context? As we enter the dawn of the new century, a specialist in Marketing and a specialist in Quantitative Techniques and Quality jointly take up the issue of Branding essentially from a management science viewpoint.