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Coca-Cola started life in 1886 as a soda fountain beverage. A typical local or store brand, it spread to other outlets rapidly. Bottling was not an initial priority. In fact, two attorney bought the bottling rights for most of the US for a handsome $ 1.

Nokia was originally a brand of paper and cardboard. It pre-dates Coke, tracing its origins back to 1865. Today, it is the world's eighth most valuable brand worth $ 24 billion (Coke No .1 at $ 67 billion). The company was in paper; it is still in the communications business.

All brands have small beginnings. Even in these days of simultaneous global launches, there is an enormous amount of test marketing initially. In India, cities like Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and areas like Lokhandwala in Mumbai are happy hunting grounds for the test marketing fraternity. Sometimes new brands spend as much as a year out there before they are taken regional or national.

So is there a hierarchy in brands? At the bottom is the store brand or the private label (a very localized brand). Then comes the regional brand, followed by the national brand and the global brand.

The store brand needs the least investment and the global brand the highest. Given the same core product, the global brand cost the most. An obvious corollary: the margins on store brands are the least.

Is there also a natural progression from a store (local) brand to regional, national and finally global? What does it take to move from one orbit to the other?

It is an increase in energy level and really needs three inputs. First is the communication input, which means advertising, promotions, etc. Then is the availability input, which is essentially distribution. Finally, it is the unpredictability input.

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* Contributed by -
Lal Saraj, Nithin Raj.Y.S, Ranjeet George Mathew & Sivaprakash.C.S
Second Semester - MBA,
Institute of Management in Kerala,
University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.