Marketing Management Unit 9 Sikkim Manipal University 144 Unit 9 Product Management: Services A nd Branding Strategy Structure 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Brand 9.2.1. Advantages and disadvantages of branding 9.3. Brand equity 9.4. Brand positioning 9.5. Brand name selection 9.6. Brand sponsorship 9.7. Brand development 9.8. Nature and characteri stics of a service 9.9. Strategies for service organizatio ns. 9.10. Summary Terminal questions Answers to SAQs and TQs 9.1 Introduction Services are deeds or performances. The importance of services in India is growing every year. The rise of Information technology (IT) and Information technology enabled services (ITES) is enhancing the contribution of services to the Indian economy. According to the National council of applied economic research (NCAER) services contributes 55% to the total GDP.