Abstract:
Branding is a key tool in marketing to any business whether local products or foreign
products to win the market. good branding boosts the business activities and gains competitive
advantages in the market place. This study shows the branding problems of Jaffna made products,
and why they are ineffective in the market place. In the post war Jaffna Market there are number of
new business from other districts of Sri Lanka, as well as from foreign countries have penetrated into
the market. Due to that, consumers have more bargaining power than manufacturers, the have more
choices to purchase product, because many branded products are available in the market place.
Jaffna manufacturers transformed their businesses activities due to prolonged war and recently
returned to their livelihood businesses. Due to the poor knowledge they have on branding, they face
stiff competition in market place. This study analyzed the reasons behind the unsuccessfulness of
Jaffna made products. Through the qualitative research methodology ten multiple case studies from
10 Jaffna Manufacturers were selected to collect data. Collected data were analyzed using content
analysis method to identify the branding problems of Jaffna made products. This study has found that
there are many reasons behind the branding problems, such as Poor-quality packaging, inadequate
supporters to develop, lack of knowledge on branding, good external brands from other places, Poor
quality production, Poor technology adoption, non-attractive packaging, insufficient marketing
opportunity, and Deprived branding promotion. Each brand has unique problems in their labels and
features. Each brand is compared with good quality brands and the ideas for improvement have
been suggested by the researchers. This study found that due to many reasons they could not achieve
the target market even though the Jaffna manufacturers have good product, Jaffna Manufacturers
have to work hard to improve their brands to match the quality standards.
