Lecture 2: Branding & identity

Question 1

The boundaries of branding as a commercial activity have changed dramatically over time. Some of the elements influencing these trends include:

Answer 1

• Historical and cultural events
• Political contexts
• Economical and financial conditions (e.g. rising vs depression)

Question 2

Branding in the 19th century

Answer 2

Industrial Revolution = mass production
Most products are just products (e.g. the one toothpaste, the one type of cookies made by the local baker…)

Branding becomes a tool to:
- Inform the consumer that a product exists
- Guarantee a certain degree of quality

Question 3

Branding in the 20th century

Answer 3

Two world wars + aftermath: from poverty and lack of resources to a new economic growth
Massive technological innovation, but expensive goods
Monopolies, seller’s market

Branding is instrumental:
- It informs consumers of where a product comes from, or how it is made. Focus is on the product and its characteristics

Question 4

Branding in the 1960s/1970s

Answer 4

In these two decades we see both an economic boom (1960s) and the first global oil crisis (1970s)
This abundance of goods on the market makes it more of a buyer’s market ->
products are available at different price points

Branding is part of marketing:
- can be helpful to establish product ranges

Marketing segmentation also emerges as a practice around this time

Question 5

Branding in the 1970s/1980s

Answer 5

Over-saturation of the market = there are more products than people wanting to buy them
Brands are less indicative of product quality, more indicative of the company image

Trends in branding go in two opposite directions:
- Focus on consumers’ perceptions of brand image
- Decision-making based on what maximized the value of the brand (brand equity)

Question 6

Branding in the 1990s and 2000s

Answer 6

Early/mid signs of globalization outsourcing, cheaper goods from abroad, broader markets

Megabrands (e.g. P&G, PepsiCo) emerge, opting for different branding options. Services also becomes an important part of branding

The internet

Branding follows two trends
- Identity based branding
- Combination of outside-in perspective (image) and inside-out perspective (employees + competence)

Question 7

Branding in 2010 to now

Answer 7

Economic crisis (2010-2012) + a pandemic + climate change
Broader consumer awareness + easy control over claims
Wider expectation from brand

Question 8

Other influences over time in branding?

Answer 8

1954-1957:
- USA after the war
- Baby Boom
- TVs are no longer a luxury, but they are in Black and White

1960s:
- Certain competitor launches a children-targeted campaign featuring a famous clown character

Early 2000s:
- After one last attempt at relaunching the king that is heavily rejected by the Internet, company is consulted to go for a modern food-centric approach

2020 and onward:
- Y2K trend and nostalgia marketing

Question 9

Brand identity - Buurman et al. 2017

What are symbolic values?

Answer 9

Consumers (but more broadly stakeholders) of a certain organization attribute a value to its brand because it defines a degree of belonging based on the creation of a common ground of understanding

Question 10

Explain the identity theory of Erikson

Answer 10

Identity results from a psychological development process

Psychological + social mechanisms = crisis!
From the management of a crisis -> identity

Solution to crisis remain with an individual and define their entire life

Question 11

Explain the identity theory Interactionism

Answer 11

I = individual characterisitcs of a person
Me = image of a person has of themselves through interactions with others

In most cases there is no congruence between I and Me; identity forms by adjusting self-perception to social perception

Question 12

Explain the identity theory Patchwork identity

Answer 12

From a temporal point of view: identity is not a linear process, but rather an adjustment of experience to the existing identity concept

From a content point of view: Individuals cover different roles in society, and have to coordinate partial identities which constitute a person’s overall identity

Question 13

What is the defintion of Brand (Meffert & Buurman, 1996)?

Answer 13

a bundle of functional and non-functional benefits which, from the target group’s point of view, differentiate the brand from competing offers in a sustainable way

Question 14

What is the difference between brand identity and brand image?

Answer 14

Brand identity = all characteristics which define the brand, according to internal target groups (= those who define the organization from the inside)

Brand image = identity of the organization as established by all of its audiences, over time

Question 15

What are the determinants of Brand identity?

Answer 15

Vision (where are we going?) -> Personality (how are we communicating?)
Origin (where do we come from?) -> Competences (what are we capable of?)
.
.
.
.
Personality + Competences + Values (what do we believe in?)= Offer (What are we marketing?)

Question 16

What is brand promise?

Answer 16

all benefits relevant to the purchase that are offered to the target group

Question 17

What is brand behavior?

Answer 17

products and services offered within a brand + advertisement

Question 18

what are brand needs?

Answer 18

what consumers expect from the brand

Question 19

what is brand experience?

Answer 19

interactions between consumers and brands at different touch points

Question 20

What is brand origin?

Answer 20

refers to where the brand comes from, and often hints at the history of the brand

Question 21

What are the 3 different kinds of Brand origin?

Answer 21

1. Geographical origin = what country does the brand originate from? (Can be actual or perceived)
2. Company origin = who were the founders and what were their values?
3. Industrial origin = what industry did the brand start operating in?

Question 22

What is Brand vision?

Answer 22

Forward-looking, i.e. what are the objectives of a brand (brand targets) and how is the brand going to achieve them?

If well formulated, includes guidelines for employees to identify competences essential to the fulfilment of the vision

Question 23

What are Brand competences?

Answer 23

What is a brand capable of? What can its employees do?
Often expressed into how much more consumers are willing to pay compared to other brands

Question 24

What are Brand values?

Answer 24

What does the brand believe in?
Delivers to consumers non-functional benefits, such as the perceptions of a company as authentic and consistent

Question 25

What is Brand personality?

Answer 25

Human personality traits attributed to a brand
Can be thought of as intended, as though brands had an ideal for the type of personality they’d like to broadcast to internal and external audiences

Question 26

What is Brand offer?

Answer 26

How is the brand useful to the consumer?
What does a brand produce? But also: how does it support consumers, what kind of other services does it offer, etc

Question 27

Brand image is dependent on the functional and non-functional brand benefits: What are the functional benefits?

Answer 27

Utilitarian (Deutsche Bahn) en Economic (Lidl)

Question 28

Brand image is dependent on the functional and non-functional brand benefits: What distinction is made in the non-functional benefits?

Answer 28

Individual benefits (intrinsic) en social benefits (extrinsic) (Apple)

Question 29

Brand image is dependent on the functional and non-functional brand benefits: What distinction is made in the individual benefits?

Answer 29

Sensual-aesthetic (purfume) en hedonic (holiday resort)

Question 30

Brand image is dependent on the functional and non-functional brand benefits: What does Social benfits mean?

Answer 30

It satifies needs for esteem, group affiliation, self-expression in a social context

Question 31

What is Brand trust?

Answer 31

It represents a higher-order benefit, something that can prevail on the fulfilment of all the others.

Question 32

When consumers put trust in a brand they…

Answer 32

• Assume that the brand promises will be fulfilled
• Assume that the risk of not getting some benefits (e.g. not getting goods for as cheap as promised) will be contained