An original brand manufacturer, or OBM, is typically a
company that sells an entire product made by a second
company or including a component thereof from a second
company sources as its own branded product. Selling the
product of the second company under its own brand just
adds a virtual extrinsic value to the product.
The term appears as a deduction from the terms OEM and
ODM. The specific meaning of the term varies in
different contexts.
The continuously increasing importance attended to
products with a brand signet on it led to the
application of brands to otherwise anonymous products.
Sharing of production between an anonymous producing
company or manufacturer and selling through a
brand owner without specific interest to produce the
product by itself does not add any real value for the
customer. The value of the product is seen raised
with the branding by some added value in prestigiousness
and possibly some assurance of qualities relevant to
the user. Hence the product may be sold in the market
with or without the branding, however the brand owner
tries to increase sales in the identical quality just
with the comparative competitive advantange of the
branding.As consumption is driven by some imagination
of needs and not just by real needs, the importance of
the branding may increase with the differential of some
individual need reception compared to any rational
arguments on needs.
Such differential is created with
branding a product through adding some extrinsic value
with a brand signet and advertising for sales of such
product under the given brand. Hence OBM strategies allow
sales operations to follow changes in market demands
without investing in production facilities themselves,
very similar to OEM and ODM strategies
