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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
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Department of Master of Business Management
Answer Key to INTERNAL ASSESSMENT TEST –2
Date
28/4/2015
Subject & Code : Strategic Brand Management – 12MBAMM416
Name of faculty: Ravi Urs
Max Marks: 50
Section
:A
Time
: 11.30 AM– 1.00 PM
Note: Answer all questions
1.
a
What is brand equity?
3
Brand equity describes the value of having a well-known brand name, based on the idea
that the owner of a well-known brand name can generate more money from products
with that brand name than from products with a less well known name, as consumers
believe that a product with a well-known name is better than products with less wellknown names.
OR
It is the value premium that a company realizes from a product with a recognizable name
as compared to its generic equivalent.
OR
It is a brand's power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned
over time, which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against
competing brands.
b
What are the criteria for choosing brand elements?
Memorability
Building brand awareness is very important for building brand equity. Elements which
are memorable and attention getting help in the goal of building brand awareness. These
elements also facilitate recall or recognition in purchase or consumption settings.
Meaningfulness
The brand element should be able to convey:
General information about the nature of the product category
Does the brand element have descriptive meaning and suggest something about the
product category? How likely is that a customer could correctly identify the product
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
category for the brand based on any one brand element? Does the brand element seem
credible in the product category? This helps in creating brand awareness and salience.
Specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand
Does the brand elements have persuasive meaning and suggest something about the
particular kind of product, or is its key attributes or benefits? Does it suggest something
about a product ingredient or type of person who might use the brand? This helps in
creating brand image and positioning.
Likability
Do customers find the brand element aesthetically appealing? Is it likable visually,
verbally and in other ways? A memorable, meaningful, and likable set of brand elements
offers many advantages because consumers often do not examine much information in
making product decisions.
Transferability
It is a measure of the extent to which the brand element adds to the brand equity of new
products for the brand. It is about how useful id the brand element for line or category
extensions. In general, the less specific the name, the more easily it can be transferred
across categories. The ability of a brand element to add brand equity across geographies
and market segments depends on the cultural content and linguistic qualities of the
brand element. Companies must review all their brand elements for cultural meaning
before introducing the brand into the new market.
Adaptability
A brand element should be adaptable over time. The changes in consumer values and
opinions or the need to remain contemporary, may need updating the brand elements.
The more adaptable and flexible the brand element, the easier it is to update.
Protectability
The brand element should be protectable both legally and in competitive sense.
Marketers should choose elements which:
a) Can be legally protected internationally
b) Can be registered with the appropriate legal bodies
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
c) Can be vigorously defend trademarks against unauthorized competitive
infringement
Unauthorized use of trademarks, patents and copyrights leads to billions of dollars of
loss. A brand element should be competitively protectable. If any of the brand elements
can be easily copied, much of the uniqueness of the brand may be lost. Marketers need
to reduce the likelihood that competitors can create a derivative based on the product’s
own elements.
c
Describe the process of identifying and establishing brand positioning.
Defining and communicating the competitive frame of reference
The first step in defining a competitive frame of reference for brand positioning is to
determine the category membership. With which products or set of products does the
brand compete? Choosing to compete in different categories often result in different
competitive frames of reference and thus different POPs and PODs. The category to
which the product belongs to tells consumers about the goals they might achieve by
using a product or service. It is necessary to inform customers of a brand’s category
when a new product category is being created. Sometimes consumers know a brand’s
category membership but may not be convinced the brad is true, valid member of the
category. In these cases it may be necessary to reinforce category membership.
Sometimes customers affiliate a brand with a category that it does not belong to In these
instances the brand must be promoted by using the POD with competitors, and educate
the customer. But in this approach it is necessary to make the customers understand
what the brand is, and not just what the brand is not. The preferred approach to
positioning is to inform the customers of a brand’s membership before stating its point
of difference in relationship to other category members (E.g. Passenger car
manufacturers specify the category by mentioning the price). This helps the customers to
know what a product is and what function it serves before they can decide whether it
dominates the brands against which it competes. It is however preferred to convey the
brand’s category membership and points of differences in separate ads. Occasionally, a
company will undertake to straddle two frames of reference. However, if the points of
difference and points of parity with respect to both categories are not credible,
consumers may not view the brand as a legitimate player in either category.
There are three main ways to convey a brand’s category membership
a) Communicating category benefits
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
b) Comparing to exemplars
c) Relying on the product descriptor
Communicating category benefits
To reassure consumers that a brand will deliver on the fundamental reason for using a
category, marketers frequently use benefits to announce category membership. These
brands are presented in a manner that does not imply brand superiority but merely
notes that the brand possesses them as a means to establish category POPs.
Performance and imagery associations can provide supporting evidence.
Comparing to exemplars
Exemplars are the well-known, noteworthy brands in a category. They can be used to
specify a brand’s category membership.
Relying on the product descriptor
The product descriptor that follows the brand name is often a very compact means of
conveying category origin
Choosing Points of Difference
The two most important in choosing PODs are:
1) The consumers must find the POD desirable (Desirability)
2) Consumers must believe that the firm has the capabilities to deliver on it
(Deliverability)
When the POD can satisfy both the above criteria then it has the potential to become
strong, favorable, and unique brand association
Desirability Criteria
The three key desirability criteria for PODs that needs to be accessed from the consumer
perspective are:
a) Relevance
b) Distinctiveness
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
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c) Believability
Relevance
The target consumers must find the POD personally relevant and important. This criteria
is very easy to be easily overlooked.
Distinctiveness
Target consumers must find the POD distinctive and superior. When a category has well
established brands, the challenge is to find a viable basis for differentiation. Sometimes
the point of difference is one on which a brand dominates its competition but that is not
important to consumers.
Believability
A brand must offer a compelling and credible reason for choosing it over other options.
The simplest approach is to point to a unique attribute of the product. When the point of
difference is abstract or image based, support for the claim may reside in more general
associations to the company that have been developed over time.
Deliverability Criteria
It is based on a company’s inherent capabilities
The three criteria for deliverability are:
a) Feasibility
b) Communicability
c) Sustainability
Feasibility
It must answer the question of can the firm actually create the POD. The product and
marketing must be designed in a way to support the desired association. It is easier to
convince consumers of some fact about the brand that they were unaware of (E.g. The
fact that Favicol can work even in water) or may have overlooked, than to make changes
in the product and convince consumers of the value of these changes.
Communicability
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
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It is about the consumers’ perception of the brand and the resulting brand association. It
is very difficult to create an association that is not consistent with the existing consumer
knowledge, or that consumers have trouble believing in. What factual, verifiable
evidence or “proof points” can marketers communicate as support, so that consumers
will actually believe in the brand and its desirable associations?
Sustainability
Is the positioning preemptive, defensible, and difficult to attack? Can the brand
association be reinforced and strengthened over time? If the answer to the above
questions is positive, then the positioning is sustainable.
Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference
One challenge for marketers is that many of the attributes or benefits that make up the
POPs or PODs are negatively correlated. Sometimes individual attributes and benefits
often have both positive and negative aspects. Consumers typically want to maximize
both the negatively correlated attributes and benefits. The challenge is that competitors
often are trying to achieve their points of difference on an attribute that is negatively
correlated with the point of difference of the target brand. The best approach is clearly
to develop a product or service that performs well on both dimensions.
The following three approaches are listed in increasing order of effectiveness – but also
increasing order of difficulty
Separate the Attributes
An expensive but sometimes effective approach is to launch two different marketing
campaigns, each devoted to a different brand attribute or benefit. These campaigns can
run concurrently or sequentially. The hope if that consumers will be less critical when
judging the POP and POD benefits in isolation, because the negative correlation may be
less apparent. The downside is that two strong campaigns must be developed. If
marketers do not address the negative correlation head-on, consumers may not develop
as positive an association as desired.
Leverage Equity of Another Entity
Brands can link themselves to any kind of entity that possesses the right kind of equity –
a person, other brand, event and so forth – as a means to establish an attribute or
benefit as a POP or POD. Self-branded ingredients may also lend some credibility to a
MBA IV
USN
1 P E
PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
questionable attribute in consumers’ minds. Borrowing equity is costly and has its
associated risks.
Redefine the Relationship
A very powerful and often difficult way to address the negative relationship between
attributes and benefits in the minds of consumers is to convince them that in fact the
relationship is positive. Marketers can achieve this by providing consumers a different
perspective and suggesting that they may be overlooking or ignoring certain factors or
other considerations. Such a strategy can be powerful because the two associations can
become mutually reinforcing. The challenge is to develop a credible story with which
consumers can agree.
2.
a
Define brand image.
3
Brand image is consumers’ perceptions about a brand, as reflected by the brand
association held in consumer memory. The brand associations contain the meaning of
the brand for consumers. Associations can come in all forms and may reflect
characteristics of the product.
b
Explain points of parity and points of difference.
The two most important in choosing PODs are:
3) The consumers must find the POD desirable (Desirability)
4) Consumers must believe that the firm has the capabilities to deliver on it
(Deliverability)
When the POD can satisfy both the above criteria then it has the potential to become
strong, favorable, and unique brand association
Desirability Criteria
The three key desirability criteria for PODs that needs to be accessed from the consumer
perspective are:
d) Relevance
e) Distinctiveness
MBA IV
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USN
1 P E
PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
f)
Believability
Relevance
The target consumers must find the POD personally relevant and important. This criteria
is very easy to be easily overlooked.
Distinctiveness
Target consumers must find the POD distinctive and superior. When a category has well
established brands, the challenge is to find a viable basis for differentiation. Sometimes
the point of difference is one on which a brand dominates its competition but that is not
important to consumers.
Believability
A brand must offer a compelling and credible reason for choosing it over other options.
The simplest approach is to point to a unique attribute of the product. When the point of
difference is abstract or image based, support for the claim may reside in more general
associations to the company that have been developed over time.
Deliverability Criteria
It is based on a company’s inherent capabilities
The three criteria for deliverability are:
d) Feasibility
e) Communicability
f)
Sustainability
Feasibility
It must answer the question of can the firm actually create the POD. The product and
marketing must be designed in a way to support the desired association. It is easier to
convince consumers of some fact about the brand that they were unaware of (E.g. The
fact that Favicol can work even in water) or may have overlooked, than to make changes
in the product and convince consumers of the value of these changes.
Communicability
MBA IV
USN
1 P E
PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
It is about the consumers’ perception of the brand and the resulting brand association. It
is very difficult to create an association that is not consistent with the existing consumer
knowledge, or that consumers have trouble believing in. What factual, verifiable
evidence or “proof points” can marketers communicate as support, so that consumers
will actually believe in the brand and its desirable associations?
Sustainability
Is the positioning preemptive, defensible, and difficult to attack? Can the brand
association be reinforced and strengthened over time? If the answer to the above
questions is positive, then the positioning is sustainable.
Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference
One challenge for marketers is that many of the attributes or benefits that make up the
POPs or PODs are negatively correlated. Sometimes individual attributes and benefits
often have both positive and negative aspects. Consumers typically want to maximize
both the negatively correlated attributes and benefits. The challenge is that competitors
often are trying to achieve their points of difference on an attribute that is negatively
correlated with the point of difference of the target brand. The best approach is clearly
to develop a product or service that performs well on both dimensions.
The following three approaches are listed in increasing order of effectiveness – but also
increasing order of difficulty
Separate the Attributes
An expensive but sometimes effective approach is to launch two different marketing
campaigns, each devoted to a different brand attribute or benefit. These campaigns can
run concurrently or sequentially. The hope if that consumers will be less critical when
judging the POP and POD benefits in isolation, because the negative correlation may be
less apparent. The downside is that two strong campaigns must be developed. If
marketers do not address the negative correlation head-on, consumers may not develop
as positive an association as desired.
Leverage Equity of Another Entity
Brands can link themselves to any kind of entity that possesses the right kind of equity –
a person, other brand, event and so forth – as a means to establish an attribute or
benefit as a POP or POD. Self-branded ingredients may also lend some credibility to a
MBA IV
USN
1 P E
PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
questionable attribute in consumers’ minds. Borrowing equity is costly and has its
associated risks.
Redefine the Relationship
A very powerful and often difficult way to address the negative relationship between
attributes and benefits in the minds of consumers is to convince them that in fact the
relationship is positive. Marketers can achieve this by providing consumers a different
perspective and suggesting that they may be overlooking or ignoring certain factors or
other considerations. Such a strategy can be powerful because the two associations can
become mutually reinforcing. The challenge is to develop a credible story with which
consumers can agree.
c
Define brand elements. What are the options and tactics for brand elements?
Brand Names
The brand name is a fundamentally important choice because if often captures the
central theme or key associations of a product in a very compact and economical fashion.
Customers can notice the brand name and register its meaning or activate it in memory
in just a few seconds. Since it is closely tied to the product in the minds of the customer,
it is also the most difficult element to change. So marketers systematically research
before making a choice of the brand name. But, arriving at a satisfactory brand name for
a new product can be painfully difficult and prolonged process.
URLs (Uniform Resource Locators)
They specify the location of pages on the Web and are commonly known as Domain
Names. Specific URLs are registered by paying with services such as Register.com.
Companies use coined words for new brands if they wish to have a web site for the
brand. Companies find it challenging to protect their brands from unauthorized use in
other domain names. A company can either sue the current owner of the URL for
copyright infringement (Tata’s had to go to court to get back the URL ww.tata.com), buy
the name form the current owner, or register all conceivable variations of its brand as
domain names ahead of time.
Logos and Symbols
Visual elements play a critical role in building brand equity and especially brand
awareness. Logos indicate origin, ownership and association. Logos range from corporate
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
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names or trademarks written in distinct form to entirely abstract designs that may be
completely unrelated to the word mark, corporate name, or corporate activities. These
non-word mark logos are often called symbols. Some of the logos are literal
representations of the brand name, enhancing brand meaning and awareness, such as
Apple logo. Logos can be concrete or pictorial like Amul girl. Certain physical elements of
the product or company can become a symbol like McDonald’s golden arches. Research
has proved that logos have meanings and associations that change consumer
perceptions of the company.
Characters
It is a special type of brand symbol – one that takes on human or real-life characteristics.
Brand characters typically are introduced through advertising and can play a central role
in ad campaigns and package designs. Some are animated like Pillsbury’s Poppin’ Fresh
Doughboy, Peter Pan peanut butter’s character, Amul girl, Gattu of Asian Paints,
Vodafone Zoo Zoo and some are cereal characters such as Tony the tiger. Others are liveaction figures like Ronald McDonald.
Slogans
Slogans are short phrases that communicate descriptive or persuasive information about
the brand. They often appear in advertising but can play an important role on packaging
and in other aspects of the marketing program. They are powerful branding devices
because they are an extremely efficient, shorthand means to build brand equity. They
can function as useful “hooks” or “handles” to help consumers grasp the meaning of a
brand – what is it and what makes it special (E.g. Johnson Baby Oil: No More Tears). They
are an indispensible means of summarizing and translating the intent of a marketing
program in a few short words or phrases.
Jingles
They are musical messages written around the brand. Typically composed by
professional songwriters, they often have enough catchy hooks and choruses to become
almost permanently registered in the minds of the listeners (E.g. Thumps Up: Taste the
Thunder; Mango Frooti: Fresh N Juicy; Sundrop: Healthy oil for Healthy people; Lifebuoy:
Tandurusti ki Raksha Karta hai Lifebuoy). They played a major role during the early
twentieth century when radios were predominantly used for brand building. They can be
thought of as extended musical slogans. But, jingles are not nearly as transferable as
other brand elements. They can communicate brand benefits, but in a non-direct and
MBA IV
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
fairly abstract manner (E.g. Cadbury: Asli Swad Zindagi Ka). Jingles are most valuable in
enhancing brand awareness. Often, they repeat the brand name in clever and amusing
ways that allow consumers multiple encoding opportunities (E.g. Parle G: G mane
Genius). Consumers are most likely to mentally rehearse or repeat catchy jingles after
the ad is over, providing even more encoding opportunities and increasing memorability
(E.g. Pepsi: Yehi he Right Choice Baby, Aha). A well-known jingle can serve as an
advertising foundation for years (E.g. “Give Me a Break” jingle for Kit Kat candy bars has
been sung in ads since 1988 and has helped make the brand the sixth best-selling
chocolate candy in US).
Packaging
It is the activities of designing and producing containers or wrappers for a product
The objectives of packaging from the perspectives of both the firm and consumers are:
a) Identify the brand
b) Convey descriptive and persuasive information
c) Facilitate product transportation and protection
d) Assist at-home storage
e) Aid product consumption
It would be necessary for marketers to choose aesthetic and functional components of
packaging correctly to achieve the above objectives and meet consumers’ needs.
Aesthetic considerations govern a package’s size and shape, material, color, text, and
graphics.
3.
Case Study: (Compulsory)
Most people in the metro cities of India remember Amul by its topical hoardings that
sport the iconic Amul girl. Among all the brand mascots in the Indian marketing
communication landscape none is as popular, as lovable, and as long-standing as this
little bob-tailed cartoon character
The first outdoor ad for Amul was created in 1967. The ad agency adopted for a cute,
mischievous girl as a cartoon mascot. The choice was dictated by two requirements: the
key target audience was children and the brand property should be memorable. It was
MBA IV
USN
1 P E
PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
soon thereafter the Amul hoardings started becoming a social observer, making witty
comments about he goings-on in the country and the world.
Most companies tend to discontinue the use of mascots; Asian Paints did away with its
Gattu mascot. Soma companies struggle to find a role for the mascot in these changing
times. Some others try and change the look of the mascot to match the times. However,
in the case of Amul, the little girl has continued to stay the course.
Amul butter packs too sport the little girl, providing a link to the outdoor campaign.
Questions:
a
Explain the Amul character from the perspective of the different criteria used for
selecting a brand element.
6
Explain the Amul character from the following perspectives:
a) Memorability: It has been in the public domain from the last couple of decades.
This proves its memoranility.
b) Meaningfulness: It is meaningful as it shows a healthy and a mischievous girl who
is the target audience of Amul.
c) Likability: Its popularity shows it to be one of the most liked characters.
d) Transferability: Amul has been able to transfer it to all other categories in its
umbrella brand like ice creams, ready-to-eat foods, etc.
e) Adaptability: The survival and growth of this character has proven its
adaptability.
f)
b
Protectability: It is well protected through copy rights and trade marks.
What according to you are the reasons for the popularity of the Amul mascot for such a
long time?
Amul has been able to sustain the interest of the audience over the last couple of
MBA IV
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PESIT Bangalore South Campus
Hosur road, 1km before Electronic City, Bengaluru -100
Department of Master of Business Management
decades by using the character to convey messages about the current happenings across
the world and also in India. The bill board and the print ads have emphasized the
relevance of Amul to the current happenings in the world. The ads have been witty and
thus have always retained the curiosity with the readers. The ads have endeared the
character to the customers. Thus the ads have effectively ensured that Amul character
has remained relevant with time.
********
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