Keller, KL. (2001): Building Customer - Based Brand Equity: A Blueprint for Creating
Strong Brands, Working paper Marketing Science Institute
In this article, Keller introduces the Customer-Based Brand Equity model, CBBE, which can
be used as a tool to assist a company in building a strong brand. According to the model,
building a strong brand involves following four steps in this specific order:
1.
Establishing the proper brand identity
2.
Creating the appropriate brand meaning
3.
Eliciting positive, accessible brand responses
4.
Forging brand relationships with the right customers
To follow and establish the four steps above is a complicated process. To make it easier, the
CBBE model provides six “brand-building blocks” in order to succeed with the four steps
above.
1.
Brand Salience
2.
Brand performance
3.
Brand imagery
4.
Brand judgments
5.
Brand feelings
6.
Brand resonance (the most valuable brand-building block, can only occur once all the
other blocks have already been established).
These six building blocks can be put together into a brand pyramid. The higher up in the
pyramid the brand has climbed, the higher the brand equity. In addition, these levels have
been split into blocks, which represent the six brand building blocks.
The first block is about building a strong brand identity which is achieved by creating brand
saliency which can be described as how strong the presence of your brand is and how easily it
comes to mind. Brand awareness can be split into two key dimensions: depth and breadth.
Depth is how easily recognized the brand is while breadth is the range of different contexts
where the brand comes to mind in the customers daily lives.
Secondly, an established brand image is an important part when creating a brand's meaning.
The brand image consists of two parts; performance and imagery-related considerations.
Brand performance is about the product itself and how it influences the consumers. It can be
divided into different aspects, for example primary characteristics, secondary features and
product reliability. Brand imagery on the other hand, is about how the brand manages to meet
the social and psychological needs of the customers, and the people’s thoughts on the brand
itself. This includes user profiles such as; purchase and usage situations, personality and
values, history, heritage and experience.
The third block, brand responses, concerns how the customers respond to the brand and can
be divided into brand judgements and brand feelings. Brand judgment is about the personal
opinions of the customers and can be summarized into brand quality, brand credibility, brand
consideration and brand superiority. Brand feelings are about how the brand makes the
customers feel, either about themselves or in relationship to others.
Brand relationships is the last block and is also known as brand resonance. It puts focus on
how the customer identifies with the brand. It is about the psychological bond between
customer and brand, as well as the activity that comes along with the loyalty, such as repeated
purchases. Brand resonance can itself be divided into four different categories: Behavioral
loyalty, attitude attachment, sense of community, and active engagement.