Chapter 9: Developing a Brand Equity Measurement and Management System The New Accountability ● Virtually every marketing dollar spent today must be justified as both effective and efficient in terms of Return on marketing investment (ROMI) ● Increased accountability → has forced marketers to address tough challenge → Develop new measurement approaches ● Conducting Brand Audits ○ Comprehensive examination of a brand to discover its sources of brand equity ○ Consists of 2 steps 1. Brand inventory 2. Brand exploratory ➔ Marketing audits: Independent examination of a company’s marketing environment, objectives, strategies, activities, data collection, report preparation and presentation ● Brand Inventory ○ First step in the brand audit ○ Purpose → provide a current, comprehensive profile of how all products and services are marketed and branded ○ Profiling each product or service requires marketers to catalogue: ■ Visual and written form for each product or service sold ■ The inherent product attributes or characteristics of the brand ■ Pricing, communications, and distribution policies ○ A digital inventory of brand assets may provide useful insights: 1. Outdated brand accounts that have fallen into disuse 2. Overlapping brand assets which can be merged or deleted 3. Existing brand accounts with inaccurate or not up-to-date information 4. Particular digital and social media channels where the brand does not have a presence ● Brand Exploratory ○ Second step of the brand audit ○ Provides detailed information about what consumers actually think and feel about a brand and how they act toward it → Helps identify sources of brand equity and possible barriers ○ Three criteria to judge qualitative research techniques (confessional interviews, Story telling, Role Playing,): ■ Direction ■ Depth ■ Diversity ○ Digital marketing review can provide important input to a brand audit → could help generate useful insights regarding a brand’s online presence ● Brand Positioning and the Supporting Marketing Program ○ Ideal brand positioning aims to achieve congruence between: ■ ■ ■ ■ What customers currently believe about the brand What customers will value in the brand What the firm is currently saying about the brand Where the firm would like to take the brand Designing Brand Tracking Studies ● Brand tracking studies ○ Collect quantitative information from consumers on a routine basis ○ With brand extensions or additional communication methods → difficult and expensive to research but net necessary ● What to track → economic independence, personal values, demographic profile., attitudes to shopping… ○ Product-Brand Tracking ■ ask consumers what brands come to mind ■ Next ask for recall of brands ■ Then tests of brand recognition ○ Corporate or Family Brand Tracking ○ Global Tracking ■ May need a broader set of background measure Big Data and Marketing Analytic Dashboards ● Troves of data exist can enable continuous tracking of customers ● Marketing analytic dashboard → systems and processes within an organization to communicate important metrics and make them available throughout an organization Establishing a Brand Equity Management System ● Brand Charter or Bible ○ First step of the Brand Equity Management System→ formalizes the company view of brand equity into a document ○ Provides relevant guidelines to marketing managers and key marketing partners ○ Should be updated annually ● Brand Equity Report ○ Second step in establishing a successful brand equity management system ■ Assemble results of the tracking survey and other relevant performance measure for the brand ■ Create a brand equity report or scorecard ■ Contents → a brand equity report should describe: ● What is happening with the brand? ● Why is it happening? ■ Should include more descriptive market-level information ● Brand Equity Responsibilities ○ Third step in establishing a successful brand equity management system ■ Clearly define organization responsibilities and processes with respect to the brand ○ Responsibilities: ■ Overseeing Brand Equity ■ Organizational Design and Structures ■ Managing Marketing Partners Chapter 10 Measuring Sources of Brand Equity: Capturing Customer Mind-Set Qualitative Research Techniques (6) ● Free Association ○ Simplest and often most powerful way to profile brand associations ○ Subjects are asked what comes to mind when they think of a brand ○ Used mainly to identify the range of possible brand associations in consumers’ minds ○ Answers help marketers clarify the range of possible associations and assemble a brand profile ● Projective Techniques ○ Diagnostic tools to uncover the true opinions / feelings of consumers when: ■ Unwilling or otherwise unable to express themselves on these matters ○ Present consumers with ambiguous stimulus and ask them to make sense of it ○ Completion and Interpretation Tasks → classic projective technique ■ Use ambiguous stimuli to obtain consumer thoughts and feelings ○ Comparison Tasks ■ Ask consumers to compare brands to people, countries, animals… ● Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique ○ Uncovers hidden consumers’ knowledge ○ construct refers to “an abstraction created by the researcher to capture common ideas, concepts, or themes expressed by customers” ○ ZMET study starts with a group of participants (asked in advance to think about the research topic) ■ Collect a set of images from their own sources that represent their thoughts and feelings about the research topic ■ Bring images with them for a one-on-one interview ■ When interviews are complete, researchers identify key themes and assemble a consensus map of the most important constructs ● Neural Research Methods ○ Neuromarketing → how the brain responds to marketing stimuli ○ Research indicates that consumer buying decision is a unconscious habitual process ○ Some firms apply sophisticated techniques (EEG and fMRI) Brand Personality and Values ○ Brand personality → human characteristics or traits that consumers can attribute to a brand ○ The big 5 factors of brand personality: ■ Sincerity ■ Excitement ■ Competence ■ Sophistication ● ■ ● Ruggedness Ethnographic and Experiential Methods ○ Researchers are tapping more directly into consumers’ actual home, work, or shopping behaviors ○ Ethnographic researches uses “thick description” based on participant observation ○ Extract and interpret the deep cultural meaning of events and activities Quantitative Research Techniques (3) ● Brand Awareness ○ Related to the strength of the brand in memory → consumers’ ability to identify various brand elements ○ Describes the likelihood that a brand will come to mind in different situations: Recognition, Recall, Corrections for guessing, Strategic implication ● Brand Image ○ Associations that consumers hold for a brand ○ Useful for marketers to make a distinction between: ■ Lower-level considerations (performance and imagery) ■ Higher-level considerations (judgments and feelings) ○ Beliefs → Descriptive thoughts that a person holds about something ● Other approaches ○ More complicated quantitative technique to assess overall brand uniqueness ■ Multidimensional scaling (MDS), or perceptual maps Social Media Listening and Monitoring ● Social media monitoring → fast-growing and increasingly specialized area of marketing research ● Dashboard → Summary of key statistics associated with a brand: ○ Number of engagements of brand messages across social media platforms ○ Sentiment associated with social media messages ○ Topics that are related to a brand ○ Lists of keywords that are associated with a brand Brand Responses ● Purchase Intentions ● Likelihood to Recommend NPS Net Promoter Score How likely is it that you would recommend AirFrance to a friend or a colleague ? 1-10 Brand Relationship ● Behavioral loyalty, Attitudinal attachment, Sense of community, Active engagement, Fournier’s Brand Relationship Research Comprehensive Models of ConsumerBased Brand Equity ● BrandDynamics → Bonding – Advantage – Performance – Relevance – Presence ● Relationship to the CBBE model – Five sequenced stages of Millward Brown’s BrandDynamics model to the four ascending steps of the CBBE model Chapter 11: Measuring Outcomes of Brand Equity: Capturing Market Performance Comparative Methods → research studies or experiments that examine consumer attitudes and behavior toward a brand ● Brand-Based Comparative Approaches ○ Competitive brands used as benchmarks by consumers ■ Example: category leader or some other brand that consumers feel is representative of the category ○ Applications → classic example is blind testing research ■ Consumers examine or use a product with or without brand identification ○ Critique ■ Learning is limited by the number of different applications examined ● ● Marketing-Based Comparative Approaches ○ “Hold the brand fixed” → maintaining a key element of the brand ■ Examine consumer response based on changes in the marketing program ○ Applications – Long academic and industry tradition of exploring price premiums using marketing-based comparative approaches ■ Variations to derive similar types of demand curves ● Many firms now try to assess price sensitivity and willingness-to pay thresholds for different brands (intentan evaluar la sensibilidad al precio y los umbrales de disposición a pagar de las distintas marcas). ○ Critique ■ Difficult to discern whether consumer responses to changes in the marketing stimuli are being caused by brand knowledge or more generic product knowledge Conjoint Analysis (as a technique that combines both) ○ Survey-based multivariate technique that enables marketers to profile the consumer decision process with respect to products and brands ○ Applications ■ Allows study of different brands and different aspects of the product or marketing program simultaneously ● Product composition, price, distribution outlets, etc. ○ Critique ■ Marketing profiles may violate consumers’ expectations based on what they already know about brands Holistic Methods ● Residual Approach ○ Examines the value of the brand by subtracting consumers’ preferences for the brand from their overall brand preferences ■ Based on physical product attributes alone ○ ● 3: ■ Scanner Panel ■ Choice Experiments ■ Multi-Attribute Attitude Models ○ Is most suited for brands with many product-related attribute associations ■ Cannot distinguish between different types of non product-related attribute associations ■ Generally take a static view of brand equity Valuation Approach ○ Places a financial value on brand equity for: ■ Accounting purposes, mergers and acquisitions, or others… Chapter 12: Designing and Implementing Brand Architecture Strategies Developing a Brand Architecture Strategy ● The role of brand architecture is twofold: ○ To clarify brand awareness ○ To improve brand image ● Brand architecture strategy ○ Helps marketers determine which products and services to introduce ○ Which brand names, logos, symbols, etc. to apply to new and existing products ● 3 steps: ○ Step 1: Defining brand potential ■ Three important characteristics: ● Brand vision ● Brand boundaries ● Brand positioning ○ Step 2: Identifying brand extension opportunities ■ Brand extension is a new product introduced under an existing brand name ● Line extension: New product introductions within existing categories ● Category extension: New product introductions outside existing categories ■ Equity implications of each extension needs to be understood in terms of: ● Points-of-parity ● Points-of-difference ○ Step 3: Branding new products and services ■ New products and services must be branded in a way to maximize the brand’s overall clarity ● Branded house strategy ○ Umbrella corporate or family brand for all its products – ● House of brands strategy ○ Collection of individual brands all with different names ■ Sub-brands ● Brand extension in which the new product carries both the parent brand name and a new name Brand Portfolios ● Includes all brands sold by a company in a product category ○ Brand portfolio judged by its ability to maximize brand equity ■ Any one brand in a portfolio should not harm or decrease the equity of the others ■ Ideally, each brand maximized equity in combination with all others ● Reasons for introducing multiple brands in a category: ○ Increase shelf presence and retailer dependence in the store ○ Attract consumers seeking variety who may otherwise switch to another brand ○ Increase internal competition within the firm ○ Yield economies of scale in advertising, sales, merchandising, and physical distribution ● 3 portfolios: ○ Flankers ■ Protective or “fighter” brands ● To create stronger points of-parity with competitors’ brands ■ Fighter brands must not be so attractive that they take sales away from higher-priced comparison brands ● If connected to other brands in the portfolio, must not be designed so cheaply that they reflect poorly on other brands ○ Cash Cows ■ Despite dwindling sales, some brands are retained ● Due to their sustainability with virtually no marketing support ■ Milked by capitalizing on their reservoir of existing brand equity ○ Low-End, Entry-Level, or HighEnd, Prestige Brand ■ Sub-brands leverage associations from other brands while distinguishing themselves on price and quality ■ Role of a relatively low-priced brand ● To attract customers to the brand franchise ■ Role of a relatively high-priced brand ● To add prestige and credibility to the entire portfolio Brand Hierachies ● Brand hierarchy: ○ A useful means of graphically portraying a firm’s branding strategy ■ By displaying the number and nature of common and distinctive brand elements across a firm’s product ● Levels of a Brand Hierarchy ○ Corporate or Company Brand Level ■ Highest level of hierarchy ■ Corporate image ● Consumer associations to the company or corporation making the product or providing the service ● Relevant when the corporate or company brand plays a prominent role in the branding strategy ○ ● Family Brand Level ■ Used in more than one product category ● But is not necessarily the name of the company or corporation ● Also called a range brand or umbrella brand ■ If the corporate brand is applied to a range of products, then it functions as a family brand too ■ If products linked to a family brand are not carefully considered, the associations to the family brand may become weaker ○ Individual Brand Level ■ Restricted to essentially one product category ● Although multiple product types may differ ■ Customization of the brand and all its supporting marketing activity ■ If a brand runs into difficulty or fails, risk to other brands and the company is minimal ■ Disadvantages of difficulty, complexity, and expense of developing separate marketing programs ○ Modifier Level ■ Must further distinguish brands according to different types of items or models ● Modifier ○ Designate a specific item or model type or a particular version or configuration of the product ■ Function of modifiers is to show how one brand variation relates to others in the same brand family ■ Help make products more understandable and relevant to consumers ○ Product Descriptor ■ Helps consumers understand what the product is and does ● Helps define relevant competition in consumers’ minds ■ In the case of a truly new product, introducing it with a familiar product name may facilitate basic familiarity and comprehension Designing a Brand Hierarchy (Guidelines) ○ The challenge in setting up a brand hierarchy is to: 1. Decide on which products are to be introduced ○ Principle of growth ○ Principle of survival ○ Principal of synergy 2. Decide on the number of levels ○ Principle of simplicity ○ Principle of clarity 3. Decide on the levels of awareness and types of associations to be created at each level ○ Principle of relevance ○ Principle of differentiation 4. Decide on how to link brands from different levels for a product. ○ Principle of prominence 5. Decide on how to link a brand across products ○ Principle of commonality Corporate Branding ● Corporate Image Dimensions ○ Common Product Attributes, Benefits, or Attitudes ○ People and Relationships ○ Values and Programs ○ Corporate Credibility ● Managing the Corporate Brand ○ Corporate Social Responsibility ○ Corporate Image Campaigns ○ Corporate Name Changes Brand Architecture Guidelines ● Adopt a strong customer focus ● Create broad, robust brand platforms ● Avoid over branding and having too many brands ● Selectively employ sub-brands ● Selectively extend brand Chapter 13: Introducing and Naming New Products and Brand Extensions New Products and Brand Extensions ● Three branding approaches available when a firm introduces a new product: 1. Develop a new brand 2. Apply one of its existing brands 3. Use a combination of new and existing ● A brand extension occurs when a firm uses an established brand name to introduce a new product ○ Line extension ■ Adds a different variety, a different form or size, or a different application for the brand ○ Category extension ■ Marketers apply the parent brand to enter a different product category from the one it currently serves ● Advantages of Extensions ○ For most firms, the question is not whether to extend the brand, but: ■ When, where, and how to extend it ○ Advantages in two categories ■ Facilitate new-product acceptance ● ● ● ● ● ● Improve Brand Image Reduce Risk Perceived by Customers Increase Efficiency of Promotional Expenditures Avoid Cost of Developing a New Brand Reduce Costs of Introductory and Follow-Up Marketing Programs ■ Provide feedback benefits to a parent brand ● Clarify Brand Meaning ● Enhance the Parent Brand Image ● Bring New Customers into the Brand Franchise and Increase Market Coverage ● Revitalize the Brand Disadvantages of Brand Extensions ○ Can confuse or frustrate consumers ○ Can encounter retailer resistance ○ Can fail and hurt parent brand image ○ Can succeed but cannibalize sales of parent brand ○ Can succeed but diminish identification with any one category ○ Can succeed but hurt the image of parent brand ○ Can dilute brand meaning ○ Can cause the company to forgo the chance to develop a new brand Understanding How Consumers Evaluate Brand Extensions ● Managerial Assumptions ○ Consumers have some awareness of and positive associations about the parent brand in memory ○ Some of these positive associations will be evoked by the brand extension ○ Negative associations are not transferred from the parent brand ○ Negative associations are not created by the brand extension ● Brand Extensions and Brand Equity ○ Creating extension equity ■ Creating a positive image for an extension depends on: ● How salient parent brand associations are ● How favorable any inferred associations are ● How unique any inferred associations are ○ Contributing to parent brand equity ■ Effects of an extension on consumer brand knowledge depends on: ● How compelling the evidence is about the corresponding attribute or benefit association ● How relevant or diagnostic the extension evidence is ● How consistent the extension evidence is ● How strongly existing attribute or benefit associations are ● Vertical Brand Extensions ○ Vertical brand extensions ■ Extend a brand up into more premium market segments or down into more value-conscious segments ■ Common means of attracting new groups of consumers ○ ● Logic is equity of parent brand can be transferred to appeal to consumers who otherwise would not consider it Evaluating Brand Extension Opportunities ○ Define Actual and Desired Consumer Knowledge about the Brand ○ Identify Possible Extension Candidates ○ Evaluate the Potential of the Extension Candidate ○ Design Marketing Programs to Launch Extension ○ Evaluate Extension Success and Effects on Parent Brand Equity Extension Guidelines Based on Academic Research ● Successful brand extensions occur when the parent brand has favorable associations, and consumers perceive a fit between the parent brand and the extension product ● Concrete attribute associations tend to be more difficult to extend than abstract benefit associations ● It can be difficult to extend into a product class that consumers see as easy to make ● The most effective advertising strategy for an extension is one that emphasizes information about the extension (rather than reminders about the parent brand) ● Cultural differences across markets can influence extension success Chapter 14: Managing Brands Over Time Reinforcing Brands ○ We reinforce brand equity by marketing actions that consistently convey the meaning of the brand to consumers in terms of brand awareness and brand image ● Maintaining Brand Consistency ○ Maintaining consistency involves two key aspects: ■ Consistency of marketing support, and ■ Consistency of brand associations ● Protecting Sources of Brand Equity ○ Unless the company makes strategic positioning of the brand less powerful, there is: ■ Little need to deviate from a successful positioning ○ Brands should always look for potentially powerful new sources of brand equity ■ Top priority is to preserve and defend those that already exist ○ Key sources of brand equity are of enduring value ● Fortifying Versus Leveraging ○ Marketers can design marketing programs that mainly try to capitalize on or maximize brand awareness and image ○ Without its sources of brand equity, the brand itself may not continue to yield valuable benefits ● Fine-Tuning the Supporting Marketing Program ○ Product-related performance associations ○ Nonproduct-related imagery associations ● Revitalizing Brands ○ ● ● ● In virtually every product category are examples of once prominent and admired brands that have fallen on hard times or even completely disappeared ■ Brands such as Microsoft, GE, and Old Spice have successfully repositioned their brands ■ 2 strategic options: 1. Expand the depth or breadth of brand awareness, or both 2. Improve strength, favorability, and uniqueness of the brand associations Expanding Brand Awareness ○ Identifying Additional or New Usage Opportunities ○ Identifying New and Completely Different Ways to Use the Brand Improving Brand Image ○ Identifying the Target Market ■ Key target market segments as part of the brand revitalization strategy: ● Retaining vulnerable customers ● Recapturing lost customers ● Identifying neglected segments ● Attracting new customers ○ Repositioning the Brand ■ May require more compelling points-of-difference ■ May need to reposition to establish a point-of-parity on some key image dimension ○ Changing Brand Elements ■ May need to convey new information ■ May need to signal that a brand has taken on new meaning because something in the marketing program has changed Adjustments to the Brand Portfolio ○ Migration Strategies ■ Brand migration strategy ● Helps consumers understand how various brands in the portfolio can satisfy their needs ○ As they change over time or as products and brands themselves change over time ■ Managing brand transitions is especially important in rapidly changing, technologically intensive markets ● Ideally, brands will be organized in consumers’ minds ○ Acquiring New Customers ■ Trade-offs between attracting new customers and retaining existing ones ■ Firms must proactively develop strategies to attract new customers, especially younger ones ○ Retiring Brands ■ Some brands are not worth saving ● Sources of brand equity may have dried up ● Damaging and difficult-to-change new associations may have been created ● Obsoleting Existing Products ○ Technological changes and shifting consumer tastes can be challenging for brands ■ May not have kept up with changes in the marketplace ○ Discontinuing brands (or deliberate obsoleting) may be a bold move ■ But one which paves the way for introducing innovative, new brands Chapter 15: Managing Brands Over Geographic Boundaries and Market Segments Regional Market Segments ● A regionalization strategy can make a brand more relevant and appealing to an individual ● Downsides: ○ Marketing efficiency may suffer and costs may rise with regional marketing ○ Regional campaigns may force local producers to become more competitive ● Upside: ○ Marketing can have a stronger impact Other Demographic and Cultural Segments ● Marketing Based on Age ○ Marketers particularly interested in millennials ○ Younger generation may be more easily influenced by trends and broad cultural movements due to media exposure ■ Brands can tap into global sensibilities of the youth market ● Marketing Based on Ethnicity Global Branding ● Why Should a Brand Focus on Global Markets? ○ Forces that have encouraged many firms to market their brands internationally: ■ Perception of slow growth and increased competition in domestic markets ■ Belief in enhanced overseas growth and profit opportunities ■ Desire to reduce costs from economies of scale ■ Need to diversify risk ■ Recognition of global mobility of customers ○ Advantages of Global Marketing Programs ■ Economies of scale in production and distribution ■ Lower marketing costs ■ Power and scope ■ Consistency in brand image ■ Ability to leverage good ideas quickly and efficiently ■ Uniformity of marketing practices ○ Disadvantages of Global Marketing Programs ■ Differences in Consumer Needs, Wants, and Usage Patterns for Products ■ ■ ■ ● ● ● ● Differences in Consumer Response to Branding Elements Differences in Consumer Responses to Marketing Mix Elements Differences in Brand and Product Development and the Competitive Environment ■ Differences in the Legal Environment ■ Differences in Marketing Institutions ■ Differences in Administrative Procedures ○ Strategies for Creating & Managing Global Brands ■ Most experts agree that to be regarded as a successful global brand ● A company should derive at least half of the revenue outside their domestic market ● Have much of their growth derived from these global markets ○ Creating Global Brand Equity ■ Global brand equity can be built by achieving the following for each global market: 1. Establishing breadth and depth of brand awareness 2. Creating points-of-parity and points-of-difference 3. Eliciting positive, accessible brand responses 4. Forging intense, active brand relationships Global Brand Positioning ○ Because the brand is at an earlier stage of development when going abroad: ■ Awareness and key points-of-parity need to be established first Customizing Marketing Mix Elements in Local Markets for Global Brands ○ Product Strategy ○ Communication Strategy ○ Distribution Strategy ○ Pricing Strategy Marketing to Consumers in Developing and Developed Markets ○ Important basic distinction between countries that global brands enter is whether they are developing or have developed markets ■ Some of the most important developing markets are BRICS ● Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa …. and new ones are opening up 10 Commandments to Building Global Customer-Based Brand Equity 1. Understand similarities and differences in the global branding landscape. 2. Do not take shortcuts in brand building. 3. Establish marketing infrastructure. 4. Embrace integrated marketing communications. 5. Cultivate brand partnerships. 6. Balance standardization and customization. 7. Balance global and local control. 8. Establish operable guidelines. 9. Implement a global brand equity measurement system. 10. Leverage brand elements. Chapter 16: Closing Observations Sources of Brand Equity ● 3 factors 1. Strength 2. Favorability 3. Uniqueness Strategic Brand Management Guidelines ● Summary of Customer-Based Brand Equity Framework ○ Customer-based brand equity framework ■ Rationale is to recognize the importance of a customer in the creation and management of brand equity ■ “Consumers own brands, and your brand is what consumers will permit you to have” ○ Brand awareness ■ Related to the strength of the brand trace in memory ■ Reflected by consumers’ ability to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions ○ Brand image ■ Consumer perceptions of and preferences for a brand ● Measured by various types of brand associations ● Tactical Guidelines ○ Building Brand Equity ■ Initial choice of brand elements ■ Marketing activities and marketing programmes ■ Leverage of secondary associations ■ Importance of ● Complementarity → Choosing different brand elements ● Consistency ○ Measuring Brand Equity ■ Measure: ● Directly: measuring its potential sources ● Indirectly: measuring its possible outcomes ■ Design and implement a brand equity measurement system ■ Documents, brand inventories, consumer tracking studies, assemble results of tracking survey ○ Managing Brand Equity ■ Take a broad, long-term perspective ■ Optimal brand portfolio ■ Manage brands over geographic boundaries → maintain balance ■ Manage brands over time → moderate levels of change What Makes a Strong Brand? ● To create a strong brand and maximize brand equity, marketing managers must: ○ Understand brand meaning and market appropriate products and services in an appropriate manner ○ Properly position the brand ○ Provide superior delivery of desired benefits ○ Employ a full range of complementary brand elements, supporting marketing activities, and secondary associations ○ Embrace integrated marketing communications and communicate with a consistent voice ○ Measure consumer perceptions of value and develop a pricing strategy accordingly ○ Establish credibility and appropriate brand personality and imagery ○ Maintain innovation and relevance for the brand ○ Strategically design and implement a brand architecture strategy ○ Implement a brand equity management system to ensure that marketing actions properly reflect the brand equity concept Future Brand Priorities ● The importance of branding seems unlikely to change ○ Consumers will continue to value the functions brands provide Fully and Accurately Factor the Consumer into the Branding Equation ● One of the most important rules of branding: ○ The consumer owns the brand ● Significant branding challenges include: ○ Customer diversity ○ Customer empowerment Go Beyond Product Performance and Rational Benefits ● At the heart of a great brand is a great product or service ● Developing better designed products and services requires a clear, comprehensive, up-to-date understanding of consumers ○ As well as how they purchase and use products and services and think and feel about brand Make the Whole of the Marketing Program Greater Than the Sum of the Parts ● Diverse means to communicate about and sell products and services to consumers ○ Rise of digital media channels ○ Fragmentation of TV viewership ○ Growing use of streaming services ○ Video gaming ○ Increasing use of mobile phones ○ Explosion of social media ○ Online blogs and social communities ○ Greater importance of events, experience, and buzz marketing Understand Where You Can Take a Brand (And How) ● Brand Potential ● Brand Extensions ● Brand Elements Do the “Right Thing” with Brands ● Cause marketing ● Protecting brand equity Take a Big Picture View of Branding Effects ● Linked, interlocking models that marketers can use in brand planning, tracking, and measurement: 1. Brand positioning model 2. Brand resonance model 3. Brand value chain model Finding the Branding Sweet Spot ● Brands are likely to remain a top priority for organizations ○ Intense research attention ○ New areas of emphasis ○ New skills ● Brand balance ○ Managers must reconcile trade-offs in brand management ■ Strike a balance between simplicity and complexity in all brand decision-making and activity New Capabilities for Brand Marketers ● Critical skills for brand managers and marketers: ○ Analytical and quantitative capabilities ○ Storytelling and creativity ○ Collaboration and teamwork ○ Strategic thinking, understanding current and future trends ○ Empathy and understanding ○ Digital marketing and technological and computing skills
