The market for Commodities Branding in India is so large that no marketer can simply ignore it. It promises unlimited opportunity both in terms of size of market for a commodity to different types of commodities that can be branded. It is difficult to think of a commodity that does not have the potential to be branded. From essential commodities like water, milk, vegetables, food grains, salt, sugar to commodities like Gold, all have been branded. Tanishq's 24 carrot gold is just one example how even gold can be branded. The huge opportunity has brought in several companies into the fold of branded commodities, both domestic and multinational.
             The market for many branded commodity is cluttered with numerous brands fighting for a pie of the market. Competition is cut-throat and marketers are always on their toes to look for innovative methods to differentiate their brand from the other. But the most difficult task for the marketers is to use the differentiation to create value for the consumers so that the differentiation also results into increase in revenues.
             The paper attempts to explain the current branding process and outlines the various challenges faced by marketers in Commodities branding and also suggests some logical solution to such challenges. The solution incorporates various marketing functionalities like sales and distribution and borrows liberally from the strategic Porter's five forces model to explain the solutions. Challenges such as 'Commoditization of Brands' and the 'Death of Innovation' have been attacked head on with adequate examples and reasoning.
             The framework for branding commodities is envisaged through two model viz. EVA and Brand elasticity. These models project a perceptual picture of the brand identity and try to map the current brand strategy with their effectiveness and the future course of action. This would result in efficient brand communication and differenti...