LEVERAGING SECONDARY
BRAND ASSOCIATIONS TO
BUILD EQUITY
Chapter 7
LEVERAGING
• “Borrowing” some brand knowledge and
depending on the nature of associations or
responses, some brand equity
• Unlike brand elements and communication
strategies, this is an indirect approach to
build brand equity.
Sources of Brand Knowledge
Company
Ingredients
Alliances
Other
Brands
Extensions
Events
es
Employees
Things
Brand
People
Endorsers
3rd Party
ndorsements
Places
Country of Origin
Channels
Creation of New Brand
Associations
• By making a connection between and
other entities, consumers form a mental
association
• This secondary knowledge is most likely to
affect the evaluations of a new product
when consumers lack the motivation or the
ability to judge product related attributes
Effects of Existing Knowledge
• Awareness and knowledge of the entity
– DO they have the knowledge
– Do they hold unique associations
• Meaningfulness of the knowledge
– Is the knowledge relevant and meaningful for the
brand
– Does it have connection to the brand
• Transferability
– How strongly will this impact the choice of the new
brand
Examples
•
•
•
•
Events: create experiences
People: create feelings
Media: knowledge about attributes
Cause-related marketing:
– Enhance brand image
– Evoke feelings of social approval/esteem
– Brand attitudes such as trustworthy &
Likeable
Will Brand Leveraging Work for
you?
oes the new product fit into the established product
amily?
oes the brand have attributes or features that easily
nd effectively carry into new categories?
the brand name strengthened or diluted by
epresenting two (or more) differentiated products?
oes your company have facilities necessary to
manufacture and distribute a new and differentiated
roduct?
Will sales of the new product cover the cost of product
evelopment and marketing?
brand leveraging strategy can be extremely successful
nd profitable if it is correctly implemented and provides
ew products with the right image.
Associations
Commonality: when consumers have
associations to another entity that are
congruent with desired brand associations
Complementarity: when there is not the
level of congruence required, how much
can associations add to the brand
o Lay™ name is extended from potato chips into
other types of snack foods and dips. An
ntroduction of Frito Lay™ lemonade did not
ucceed because the fruity, sweet drink had little
onnection to other Frito Lay™ products.
Other examples that did not work in the consumer
market include
– Ben-Gay™ aspirin,
– Fruit of the Loom™ laundry detergent.
However, M&M™ ice cream, Reese’s™ peanut
butter, and Minute Maid™ orange soda
experienced success because the brands held
direct and logical connections to their new
ategories.
An Exception
Bic™ is a strong brand name with years of
experience in marketing low-cost
disposable plastic products such as the
Bic™ pen. Thus, Bic™ is positioned well
to introduce products that capitalize on
these same basic strengths – products
such as disposable razors and cigarette
lighters.
Pros
re products mean greater shelf space for the
nd and more opportunities to make a sale.
e cost of introducing a brand leveraged
duct
is
less
than
introducing
an
ependently new product due to a much
aller investment in brand development and
vertising designed to gain brand recognition.
full line permits coordination of product
erings, such as bagels and cream cheese,
ato chips and ranch dip, peanut butter and
y, etc.
reater number of products increase efficiency
manufacturing facilities and raw materials.
Cons
Brand leveraging does present challenges.
– Brand dilution
– Potential exists for damaging the reputation of
the parent product if new products fail.
– Manufacturing and inventory costs may be
higher as a result of product diversification.
Company
• Create a new brand
• Adopt or modify an existing brand
• Combine an existing or a new brand
Corporate Marketing Umbrella
(Philosophy)
Corporate
Reputation
Corporate
Branding
Corporate
Identity
Corporate
Marketing
Corporate
Communica
tions
Corporate
Image
Corporate Brand vs. Product
Brand
Management
responsibility:
Management
responsibility:
CEO
Brand Manager
Functional
resp.:
Most/All
Departments
General
responsibility:
All personnel
Communication
channels:
Functional
resp.:
Communication
mix
Marketing
General
responsibility:
Stakeholder
focus:
Marketing
personnel
Consumer
Brand
gestation:
Medium / Long
Brand
gestation:
Short
Importance of Corporate
Branding
Country of Origin
s Land Rover British, German or
American?
Cultural Bazaar
Origins of the brand are more important
than who the owner becomes latter in life.
Lamborghini is owned by German-VW, yet
it keeps this Italian identity.
Rolls-Royce is now owned by German
BMW, it still is associated with English
luxury.
It is like a child, the first years are the
most important for his identity.
Other Geographic Associations
• States: Idaho Potatoes
• Regions: Irish Spring Soap
• Cities: Impulse London Vibe
Problems
trong associations may hinder migration
avourability of the country of origin
Domestic Perspective
Foreign Perspective
Individualistic vs collectivist societies
atriotic Appeal
Lack uniqueness
Overused
Channels of Distribution
ssociations with
Product
Price
Credit Policy
Quality of Service
Results in associations of brands by retailers
f its sold in Nordstrom, it must be of good
quality”
n Bangladesh context?????
• Exclusive
Vs.
• Intensive distribution
A small story….
the little tan bear millions of kids grew up with. He tagged
h Christopher Robin, stuck his hand in the honey pot, and
ut new ways to cause harmless mischief. And no matter
hildren came from or what their parents did for a living, the
innie-the-Pooh conjured up a single image gleaned from
ic books by A.A. Milne.
kids, however, won't have that common touchstone.
ays, their image of Pooh depends a lot on where they live
w much money their parents make. That's because the
ney Co., which owns the rights to Milne's make-believe
ie, is carefully marketing two distinct Poohs. The original
wn figure appears on fine china, pewter spoons, and pricey
ionery found in upscale specialty and department stores
Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. The plump, cartoonlike
ad in a red T-shirt and a goofy smile, adorns plastic key
polyester bedsheets, and animated videos. It sells in Walres and five-and-dime shops. Except for at Disney's own
he two Poohs do not share the same retail shelf.
Co-Branding
Occurs when two or more existing brands
are combined into a joint product or are
marketed together in some fashion
Examples:
Sony Ericsson
Yoplait Trix Yogurt
Nestle’s Cheerios Cookie Bars
Co-branding is nothing new, and it's something that we
as consumers take somewhat for granted. Visit a grocery
store and you'll see dozens of examples, from the ice
cream aisle (Breyer's (UL) and Hershey to the snack
aisle (Lay's and KC Masterpiece (CLX)) to the cereal
aisle (Kellogg's (K) and Healthy Choice) to the dessert
aisle (Cinnabon and Mrs. Smith's). You can also find cobranding examples in the automotive world (Coach
(COH) and Lexus (TM)), the hospitality industry (Bulgari
and Ritz-Carlton), the footwear business (Disney (DIS)
and Crocs (CROX), the franchising world (Tim Hortons
(THI) and Cold Stone, the airline industry (Southwest
(LUV) and SeaWorld), and even in product catalogs
stuffed into airplane seat pockets ("Order your Braun
Oral-B Plaque Remover today").
• For example, a restaurant could co-brand with a
local packaged-foods maker to create a new
menu item, an accounting firm could co-brand
with an information-technology provider to
create a new consulting offering, or a physician
might co-brand with a hospital on a new service
line. A good place to start generating ideas is by
thinking about other types of companies that do
a good job serving your target market. You might
even ask your customers to identify other
companies with which they do business and see
if you come across any patterns.
Advantages of Co-Branding
•
•
•
•
Borrow needed expertise
Leverage equity you don’t have
Reduce cost of product introduction
Expand brand meaning into related
categories
• Broaden meaning
• Increase access points
• Source of additional revenue
Disadvantages of Co-Branding
•
•
•
•
•
Loss of control
Risk of brand equity dilution
Negative feedback effects
Lack of brand focus and clarity
Organizational distractions
Ingredient Branding
A special case of cobranding that involves
reating brand equity for
materials, components,
or parts that are necessarily
contained within
other branded products
Examples:
Betty Crocker baking
mixes with Hershey’s
chocolate syrup
Intel inside
Licensing
volves contractual arrangements whereby
s can use the names, logos, characters, and
orth of other brands for some fixed fee
mples:
ntertainment (Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc.)
elevision and cartoon characters (The
mpsons)
esigner apparel and accessories (Calvin Klein,
erre Cardin, etc.)
Celebrity Endorsement
Draws attention to the brand
Shapes the perceptions of the brand
Celebrity should have a high level of
visibility and a rich set of useful
associations, judgments, and feelings
Celebrity Endorsement: Potential
Problems
elebrity endorsers can be overused by
ndorsing many products that are too varied.
here must be a reasonable match between the
lebrity and the product.
elebrity endorsers can get in trouble or lose
opularity.
any consumers feel that celebrities are doing
e endorsement for money and do not
ecessarily believe in the endorsed brand.
elebrities may distract attention from the brand.
orting, Cultural, or Other Events
Sponsored events can contribute to brand equity
y becoming associated to the brand and
mproving brand awareness, adding new
ssociations, or improving the strength,
avorability, and uniqueness of existing
ssociations.
The main means by which an event can transfer
ssociations is credibility.