ation, which in true sense is the 'Catchword' for any brand manager when confronted with the hurdle of commodization.
             Branding can be viewed as a tool to position a product or a service with a consistent image of quality and value for money to ensure the development of a recurring preference by the consumer. It is common knowledge that the consumer's choice is influenced by many surrogates of which the simplest one is a brand name. Although there may be equally satisfying products, the consumer when satisfied with some brands does not want to stay spend additional effort to evaluate the other alternative choices. Once he or she has liked a particular brand , he or she tends to stay with it, unless there is a steep rise in the price or a discernible better quality product comes to his/her knowledge which prompts the consumer to switch the brand. Thus Branding can be used as a differentiation strategy when the product cannot be easily distinguished in terms of tangible features.
             Further a strong brand forces the retailers to stock it and helps the product to command a premium. Commodities lack differentiation and are increasingly being branded.
             Commodity Branding, the Indian context
             In the past in India most commodities were sold in unbranded form. Today the trend has reversed. It all started in the early nineties when food grains and spices were sold in branded form. This was followed by vegetables, salt, sugar etc. And today it is difficult to think of a commodity which does not have the potential to be branded. From the freely available commodity like water to the most desirable commodity like have been branded. Bisleri for water stands for purity. Similarly Tanshiq's 24 carat gold is a guarantee of purity. Thus brands are associated with some attributes that distinctly places it in the minds of the consumer. Generally speaking, marketers have added value to co
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