3 – Building Brand Equity I: Brand Elements and Marketing Programs Flashcards
Brand Positioning
Implanting and sticking a simple idea in consumer’s mind. All other elements are created so this can be implemented. Act of designing the company’s offer and image so it occupies a distinct and valued place in target consumer’s mind. Legitimising yourself in product category → entering market with POPs → differentiating yourself through PODs
Apple positioning as stylish, user friendly etc.
Building brand positioning can help build brand equity through salience, and imagery.
Brand Positioning Considerations
• Understanding who are target customers: market segmentation divides the market into distinct groups of homogenous consumers who have similar needs and consumer behaviour according to different bases
• Understanding who are competitors
• Points of parity (POPs)
• Points of difference (PODs)
Teenagers that care about peers, Apple, Quality camera, Waterproof
Building brand positioning can help build brand equity through salience, and imagery. Category, competitive or correlational POPs. Desirability and deliverability criteria for PODs. Brands vs. products.
Points of Parity
Company needs to see you as a provider of the product they need, make them aware that you are a legitimate competitor. Define what they do and communicate this to customer to make them understand.
US air change to US airways. Tommy Hilfiger
Building brand positioning can help build brand equity through salience, and imagery. Category, competitive or correlational POPs. Desirability and deliverability criteria for PODs. Brands vs. products. Brand salience, performance and imagery
Category POPs
Aspects that legitimise entry into the industry.
Smartphone
Brand positioning, products and product level meaning. Brand salience, performance and imagery
Competitive POPs
Attributes created in a product to become similar to competitors, strategy to reduce differentiation between competitors.
Apple to introduce waterproofing
Brand positioning, products, PODs, product level meaning. Brand performance and imagery, consumer judgements and feelings
Correlational POPs
Negatively correlated POPs and PODs are different from competitors but may cause consumers to see compensation in other aspects of a product/service.
Taste vs. health, price vs. quality
Brand positioning, brand elements, changing negative correlation through IMC, PODs. Brand performance and imagery. Consumer judgements, and feelings
Points of Difference
Attributes that differentiate from competitors:
• Desirability criteria (consumer perspective): consumers need to be different but in a factor that consumers care about. Uniqueness to be satisfied, but after consumers needs are. To make a product stand out in comparison to other products.
• Deliverability criteria (firm perspective): delivering uniqueness, and what makes a product/service different from competitors. Whether the brand can actually provide what they have promised customers.
FedEx.
Brand positioning, POPs, brand elements, IMC, brand performance, consumer judgments and feelings.
Reconciling POPs and PODs conflicts
• Establish separate marketing program for each attribute
• Leverage equity of another equity to counter issue
• Redefine relationship from negative to positive. Convincing consumers that they are not negatively correlated but this can be difficult
Head and Shoulders, celebrities, Apple
Brand positioning, POPs, PODs, brand elements, IMC, leveraging secondary associations, consumer judgements, brand performance, brand imagery
Brand Mantra
Core of a brand. A 2-5-word descriptor that is the essence of the brand. Should be simple uncomplicated, meaningful, inspirational. It reflects the heart and soul of a brand. It should not be too narrow. It needs to be understood by employees and communicated to consumers. It consists of:
• Brand functions: nature of product/service/experience/ benefit the brand provides
• Descriptive modifier: further clarifies its nature
• Emotional modifier: provides another qualifier – how does a brand benefit
McDonalds:
Food, folks, fun
Nike: performance, athletic, authentic
Useful in establishing brand positioning. Highlights POPs and PODs. Can create brand equity through brand salience, and brand resonance. Shows the importance of brands to customers, firms, employees, top management and investors.
Brand Elements
Trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand. Brand knowledge structures depend on the initial choices of brand elements.
Jingle, slogan, name, logo, packaging etc.
Tools for building brand equity. Brand positioning, POPs and PODs. Brand knowledge – awareness and image. Recognition and recall.
Criteria for choosing Brand Elements
• Memorability: increasing recognition and recall. Needs to stick in consumer’s mind. Ensure consumer doesn’t forget the brand
• Meaningfulness: what a symbol means and why it is chosen to represent a brand. More important to organisation as it gives them focus. It needs to be descriptive (general info about product/service), and persuasive (specific info about attributes and benefits of brand).
• Likeability: liked by consumer, rich in imagery, fun, interesting, aesthetically pleasing.
• Transferability: across time, borders and products. Should be able to expand globally. Sensitive to other cultures.
• Adaptability: designed in a way that it can be modified without disturbing the core product/service. Flexible as time goes on
• Protect-ability: protected in legal and competitive terms.
Apple logo, Mercedes logo, Animal planet logo, Books r us, Shell, Molson Ice
Positioning, brand salience, brand imagery. Brand knowledge – awareness and image. Recognition and recall. Brand identity and brand meaning.
Brand name
Captures the central theme/key associations of a product in compact and economical fashion. Time is taken to come up with a brand name. It should be short, have a single meaning, easy to pronounce, familiar, meaningful, distinctive, different and unusual.
• Descriptive – describes what a company does
• Suggestive – suggests benefit/function
• Compounds – when two words come together
• Suggestive + Compound
• Classical – borrowing from classical scripture
• Arbitrary – common names
• Fanciful – nonsensical or made up
Singapore airlines, Snooze, iMac, Quik-Eze, Nike, Apple, Kodak
They can build brand equity, through brand salience and brand imagery. Quantitative research methods using this brand element. Brand positioning. Brand awareness focuses on the brand name especially with brand recognition and recall. Can reinforce almost any type of association. Can evoke much verbal imagery. Can be somewhat limited in transferability. Difficult to adapt. Good protect-ability but with limits.
Brand Logo and Symbols
More memorable, easily visible, transferable, as they have the same meaning, versatile, can be adapted over time to have a contemporary look.
Nike Swoosh, McDonalds golden arches
They can build brand equity, through brand salience and brand imagery. Quantitative research methods using this brand element. Brand positioning. Brand awareness focuses on brand recognition. Can reinforce almost any type of meaningful association, can provoke visual likeability, excellent transferability, adaptable as it can be redesigned and excellent protectability.
Characters
They can be attention grabbing, as they have a personality that can be transferred to the brand. They can be used as licensing property, to other products and competitors. They are transferable across categories, can enhance likability and can easily form a relationship with a brand.
MnMs characters, Disney characters.
They build brand equity through brand salience and imagery. Can help with recognition. Leveraging secondary associations with licensing. Brand positioning. Useful for non product related imagery and brand personality. Can generate human qualities to increase likeability. Limited in transferability. Can sometimes be adaptable. Excellent protect-ability.
Slogans
Short phrases that describe the brand. It can be more memorable than the name. The brand can be built around it. It can be linked to what they stand for, a POD, more descriptive or persuasive.
Citi never sleeps, I’m lovin’ it
Build brand equity through brand salience and imagery. Can help with recognition and recall. POPs and PODs can be used. Focuses on brand positioning. Can convey almost any type of meaningful association. Can evoke much likeable verbal imagery. Somewhat limited in transferability. Can be modified. Excellent protect-ability.
