4 – Building Brand Equity II: Communications

Question 1

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

Answer 1

Designed marketing programs to build brand equity. Brand building and positioning with many different formats of communication, but IMC involves conveying a similar message to implant the brand’s positioning/ an idea in the consumers mind.
McDonalds marketing campaigns
It can help build brand equity through brand salience; performance and imagery/ show consumer judgements and feelings. Move consumers to brand resonance. Brand positioning. Showing POPs and PODs. It needs to consider coverage, commonality, contribution, complementarity, conformability and cost.

Question 2

Contribution of IMC to brand equity

Answer 2

• Creating awareness of the brand
• Linking POPs and POD associations to brand in consumer’s memory
• Eliciting positive brand judgments/feelings
• Facilitating a stronger consumer-brand connection and brand resonance
• Provide incentives eliciting differential response that makes up CBBE.
Apple
Brand salience. Brand awareness – recognition and recall. POPs and PODs, positioning. Consumer judgements and feelings. Brand resonance. Moving up the pyramid. Build brand equity through differential effect through brand knowledge that elicits consumer responses. Quantitative research methods.

Question 3

Marketing Communication Effectiveness

Answer 3

Current brand knowledge → communication → desired brand knowledge. Persuasive forms of communication need exposure, attention, comprehension, yield, intention and behaviours. 
Old Spice
Brand identity (organisation view of the brand) vs. brand image (consumer view of the brand) are not the same. IMC can close the gap. Brand knowledge, image and positioning.

Question 4

Television Advertising

Answer 4

Popular form, best way to have the biggest reach. Effectiveness has reduced with the remote control that allows consumers to change channels during ad breaks. They are seen as an intrusion. Successful campaign can actively engage with target market. Disadvantages: can overlook product related messages and brand itself, high number of ads could cause consumer to ignore/ forget ads, high cost of production and placement. Effective ads should define proper positioning to maximise brand equity, and identify a creative strategy to communicate positioning.
Andes Beer and tele transporter
Building identity and awareness, bottom of the pyramid. Shows brand image and sometimes performance. Active engagement and brand resonance. Brand positioning to maximise brand equity. High coverage. Recognition and recall.

Question 5

Radio Advertising

Answer 5

Can tell consumers about product related attributes of the brand. It could lack visual image and is relatively passive. Effective ds should identify the brand early to create awareness, repeat the brand name and promise benefits to consumer.
Pedigree with K9FM
Impacts bottom of the pyramid, but can help brand climb up the pyramid on the rational side through telling performance aspects of brand. Impacts recognition and recall.

Question 6

Print Advertising

Answer 6

It is all around. Making it creative so consumers pay more attention to it. It is highly engaging, less intrusive, more truthful and relevant but poor reproduction quality and short life can diminish impacts. Print is effective when the message of ad is clear at first glance, benefit should be offered by headline, illustration should support the headline, easy to follow, product and brand should be easily identifiable.
Land Rover, Absolut Vodka
It can create brand awareness. It can improve brand image and successful campaigns can promote active engagement. Recognition and recall.

Question 7

Direct Response

Answer 7

Draws links between communication consumers are exposed to and the response. Catalogues, emails, but this can be annoying if too frequent. Can be effective when developing an updated and informative list of current and potential customers, putting forth the right offer in the right manner, tracking the effectiveness of marketing program
Chubb, Nivea
Can create brand awareness. Most useful in consumer judgements and feelings, as consumers most likely have a response to this form of promotion. Can promote active engagement, and sense of community if successful.

Question 8

Place Advertising

Answer 8

Creates new associations with the brand. What, how and where is conveyed is important when considering using this ad.
McDonalds
It impacts the bottom level of the pyramid and creates awareness. Can show brand imagery and its positioning. Recognition and recall.

Question 9

Billboards

Answer 9

Unexpectedness can be a factor. Successful outdoor ads can create conversation, making consumers talk about it. Increase brand exposure and goodwill.
The Economist
It impacts the bottom level of the pyramid and creates awareness. Can show brand imagery and its positioning. Recognition and recall.

Question 10

Product Placement

Answer 10

Brand appearing in movies/ TV. Characters should use the brand meaningfully. Compatibility and use should be considered.
Reese’s Pieces in ET
It impacts the bottom level of the pyramid and creates awareness. Can show brand imagery and its positioning. Recognition and recall.

Question 11

Point of Purchase

Answer 11

Purchase decisions often made in store causing consumers to think about the brand. In store TV, radio, shopping cart ads, designed to increase number and nature of spontaneous and unplanned buying decisions.
UNICEF in shopping carts
It impacts the bottom level of the pyramid and creates awareness. Can show brand imagery and its positioning. Recognition and recall.

Question 12

Interactive Marketing

Answer 12

Making all tools have similar messages. it is about being creative and having fun.
Diamond Shreddies
Can improve all aspects of the pyramid to increase brand equity. Can change positioning through interactive marketing

Question 13

Events and Experiences

Answer 13

It allows engagements with audiences, to identify a particular target market, to increase awareness, to create/ reinforce consumer perceptions, enhance corporate image dimensions, evoke feelings and create experiences, to express commitment to community/social issues, entertain key clients/ employees, or permit merchandising/ promotional activities
Skoda Fabia car
Improves brand equity through most aspects of the pyramid – brand salience and imagery, consumer judgements and feelings, and brand resonance through active engagement, sense of community etc. Shows brand positioning. Leveraging secondary associations.

Question 14

Websites Advertising

Answer 14

Must provide timely and reliable information, updated frequently, offers customisation, eye catching and employing the latest technology.
Apple
Improves brand equity through sense of community, active engagement, and brand performance and consumer judgements.

Question 15

Social Media Advertising

Answer 15

Could complement and reinforce other communication activities, promote innovation and relevance, create community and active engagement. Problems include ads could feel like violating social media news feed and not everyone is involved. Needs to be true to their positioning.
Honest Tea, Chipotle
Builds brand equity through sense of community, active engagement. Needs to focus on its brand positioning.

Question 16

Viral Marketing

Answer 16

When an ad is released onto the internet, and consumers forwarding it to other consumers. Factors that help in making an ad go viral:
• Utilise brand pulsing – unobtrusively weave brand image through ad. A story is needed, brand cannot be the main focus
• Create joy/ surprise right away but not shock as it may cause consumers to look away
• Build an emotional rollercoaster
• Target right viewers – extroverts and egocentrics to gain social currency as they have a greater likelihood to share with others
Old Spice, Samsung, Carlton Draught
Builds brand equity through awareness/salience, imagery, consumer feelings, sense of community, attitudinal attachment etc.

Question 17

6C’s of communication

Answer 17

• Coverage: how much people can this communication be targeted to
• Contribution: how individual tools independently contribute to effectiveness
• Commonality: how easy percentage of information can be conveyed across other methods of communication
• Complementarity: how each communication tool adds/ builds the other tools
• Conformability: communication conforms to all and their different levels of brand knowledge
• Cost: how expensive it is to use various communication tools.
Old Spice has followed all these in their IMC campaign that began with viral marketing
Commonality and complementarity is often inversely related. Conformability and complementarity will is often inversely related. Commonality and conformability do not share an obvious relationship. Things to consider when building IMC. Brand knowledge – awareness and image. Can assist in recognition and recall.

Question 18

Marketing Communication Guidelines

Answer 18

• Be analytical – use frameworks and theories coming from psychology and scientific component to understand effective communication
• Be curious – get an in depth understanding about consumers
• Be single minded – focus on message across communication tools
• Be creative – heart of engagement, make it unexpected
• Be observant – towards competitors and other factors
• Be realistic – about objectives of communication
• Be patient – it takes time to build brands and to be changed through communication.
Old Spice
Quantitative and qualitative research techniques to gain better understanding of how to build brand equity. Understand brand positioning. IMC needs to consider complementarity. Builds brand equity through active engagement