midterm Flashcards
What is a brand?
Brand is in the consumers mind! It’s the mental representation of the offering in their minds. (its not the name/logo but what they means to the consumer in their minds) → brand needs to be differentiated from competitors
Brands create mental structures to help consumers organize knowledge about g/s in away that clarifies decision making and provides value to the firm
Awareness of brand
Associations of brand
Awareness of brand = cued or uncued recall of brand name and benefits
Associations of brand = differentiates from competitors, tangible and intangible associations), many diff associations and meands to create them
brands can be created for (9)
- Physical goods
Ex. sony, nescafe, mercedes
B2B: crates positive image and rep for the company as a whole, creating goodwill with business customers leads to more profitable relationships
High tech products: struggle bus with branding - Services
Ex. british airways, ritz carleton, amex
Less tangible vary in quality - Goods and services (digital brands)
Ex. amazon, twitter, google, fb
Unique brand aspects, perform satisfactorily - Ideas and causes
Ex. remembrance day poppies, AIDS ribbons, movember - Organizations
Ex. red cross, mcgill. p&g
Straightforward names, need right awareness and image - Sports arts and entertainment
Ex. teams, artists, movies
Brand symbols/logos super key - Geographic locations
Ex. countries, cities, provinces - People
Ex. kylie jenner, lady gaga, ronaldo - Retailers and distributors
Brands help retailers create an image and establish positioning.
Also can make store brands
5 levels of meaning for a product
CGEAP
- Core benefit level (fundamental need or want satisfied by consuming g/s)
- Generic product level (basic version containing only attributes abs necessary for its functioning no distinguishing features)
- Expected product-level (attributes buyers expect and agree to)
- Augmented product level (additional attributes that distinguish product)
- Potential product level (all augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future)
why is branding important (firm perspective)
(brand equity for firms super important, fundamentally for identification purposes)
- Price premium over unbranded alts
- Ability to extend brand name to other categories or within same category
- Barriers to competition increase (consumers have habits, strong brand has deep pockets, keep competition low)
- Leverage in distribution channels (brick and mortar stores, online stores)
- Value from licensing (ex. Star wars /frozen licensing)
- High share price (bc strong brands can change price premium = more expected profits = greater share price)
- Legal protection
why is branding important (consumer perspective)
Brands provide important functions to consumers :
- Assures quality / reduces risk to consumers
- Simplifies consumer choice
- Signals consumer identity
- Identifies source of product
- Takes on meaning to consumers
- Recognition = less additional thought required = search cost reducer
a. Search goods: grocery produce, cust evaluates product attributes
b. Experience goods: tires, product trial necessary
c. Credence goods: insurancee, rareely learns product attributes
- Brands can reduce risk in product decisions (functional, physical, financial, social, psychological and time risk)
how to build a strong brand
Maintaining brand relevance and differentiation is important to the success of a brand, but any brand is vulnerable to poor brand mgmt
Marketers benefit from branding whenever consumers are in a choice situation
Key concept=brand equity = consist of marketing effects uniquely attributable to a brand
Brand marketing programs
Traditional media (tv)
Digital media (sm)
Strategic brand management process (def and 4 steps)
ID MG (a sh)
Def: Involves the design and implementation of marketing programs and activities to build, measure, and manage brand equity
- Identifying and developing brand plans (brand positioning model, brand resonance model, brand value chain)
- Designing and implementing brand marketing programs (position in minds of consumers, spending on three factors 1) initial choices of brand elements 2) marketing activities 3) other associations leveraged by the brand
- Measuring and interpreting brand perf (brand equity management system, brand audits, brand tracking)
- Growing and sustaining brand equity (define brand architecture–protfolio, hierarchy, managee brand equity over time, geographic boundaries, cultures, and market segments)
How can we monetize a strong brand?
Brand pricing
Brand extensions
Brand licensing
Co-branding
Global branding
Digital branding
Branding challenges and ops
(10)
Unparalleled access to info and new tech
Downward pressure on prices
Ubiquitous Connectivity and Consumer Backlash
Sharing Information and Goods
Unexpected Sources of Competition
Disintermediation (reduction of intermediaries) and Reintermediation
Alternative Sources of Information about Product Quality
Winner-Takes-All Markets
Media Transformation
Customer Centricity
brand equity, customer based brand equity, sources of BE (3)
BE: brand knowledge that influences consumer response to the brand
Sources of brand equity: brand awareness/familiarity, brand image, brand associations
CBBE: differential effect that brand knowledge has on customer response to the marketing of that brand
- Need to make quality investments in brand building (over qty)
Brand knowledge (def and two components)
- Brand knowledge marketers create dictates appropriate and inappropriate future decisions for the brand
- Key to creating brand equity (creates the differential effect)
DEF: Associative network memory model views memory as a network of nodes and connecting links, nodes store info and links rep strength of association between the nodes
Has two components: brand awareness (strength node or trace in memory) and brand image (perception about a brand, associations held in consumers memory)
Marketing advantages of strong brands
improved perceptions of performance, greater loyalty, less vulnerable to competitive marketing actions, larger margins, licensing, brand extension ops, etc.
brand awareness
Brand recognition → consumers ability to confirm prior exposure to brand when given brand as a cue (ex. Full or partial brand name)
- High brand recognition → brand will stand out on crowded shelves, low lighting, low effort consumers
Brand recall → ability to retrieve the brand memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase / usage situation as a cue (ex. Product category, usage occasion)
how to create brand awareness, advantages of brand awareness (3)
How to create brand awareness:
- Repeated expose inc familiarity (symbols, jingles, logo), linkages in memory to product categories
Advantages of brand awareness:
a. Learning advantages (influences associations)
b. Consideration advantages (put in consideration set of consumers)
c. Choice advantages (elaboration-likelihood model, low involvement can make decisions without brand associations
Familiar brands have advantages…
Brand familiarity is required first, before building up brand associations
Familiar brands considered for purchase
Familiar brands liked more (familiarity = comfort)
Brand familiarity is required FIRST before building brand associations (brand name repeated many times)
Brand associationss (SFIU)
Brand associations → need to be SFIU → can be either brand attributes (descriptive that characterize g/s) or brandd benefits (personal value and meaning consumers attach to g/s)
S = Strong (easy to recall)
Larger font words are stronger brand associations (high frequency, quick response)
WOM, direct experience, NOT paID ADV
F = Favorable (good for the brand)
Favourable brand associations improve taste through confirmation bias
by convincing consumers that the brand possesses relevant attributes and benefits that satisfy their needs and wants
I = Important (for consumers)
Brand associations should be important to target consumers (ex. Business vs leisure travelers)
U = Unique (vs competitors)
Points of different (POD) and points of parity (POP)
Can be based on performance or non performance attributes
Most important brand associations
Brand values
Not all brand associations are equal, 2-3 most important associations of a brand are called brand values
- These core brand values from the positioning of the brand
- Good to have some core values that are intangible (ex. Fun, easy to use, refreshing) so that…. The brand can be extended into other product cats, the brands differentiation is more difficult to copy by competing brands (vs low price, wide availability, etc)
Segmentation
divide the population into different groups with different needs (give each group a brand that best fits their needs)
Ex in slides (GM, BMW)
Benefits, psychographics and demographics, geographic, behaviouristic variables for segmentation
START WITH BEHAVIOURISTIC variables, includes benefit expectations
Usage segmentation
segment customers based on actual purchasing behaviour
Ex high vs low usage frequency customers, high vs low profit customers
Loyalty programs, monthly contracts, purchase data
other types of segmentaion
- Brand loyalty / price sensitivity segmentation (esp with loyalty cards/apps)
- Brand loyalty - buys national brands vs store brands - Price sensitivity - likelihood of buying on promotion
- End use segmentation
- Gender segmentation
- Geographic - low vs high growth countries, more vs less sweet taste preference countries
Which segmentation base to take?? & criteria to guide segmentation (4)
Multiple segmentation: start with a single base and then expand to other bases, usually it is best to use multiple bases in order to get a richer picture of a segment
Criteria to guide segmentation: Identifiability, size, accessibility, responsiveness
Targeting
How attractive is each segment to me? (size, $, competition, tech) → target most attractive segment/s
Criteria for determining segment attractiveness (3 cs)
- Consumer-related factors
- Size of market (number of cysts, growth pot)
- Importance of consumer need/problem being solved
- Price sensitivity, income capacity to pay
- Customer lifetime value - Competition-related factors
- Number of competitors, size of comps, comp resources
- Barriers to entry - Company-related factors
- Technological advantage (patents)
- Past experience with similar products
- Low cost of manufacturing
Positioning, why position
def: act of designing the company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target consumers mind → find proper location in minds of consumers
You need to position your brand (vs competitor brands) in your target consumer’s mind
Is your brand unique? Is it perceived as valuable? In white space? High on important attributes?
Why position? If you can figure out how to stand out (position so that you are different) in a crowd, you will have a better chance of success
Positioning statement
Product…….category (is the one)…….target customer……value prop…….reason (why they should believe u can deliver the benefit)…….differentiation (most compelling and motivating benefits that set you apart from comp)
Brand mantra & why useful
3-5 word phrase that captures the core essence of the brand, describes how a brand can compete
Useful bc ……. Easy to remember for all stakeholders (consumers, employees, adv agencies), ensures consistency in brand mgmt and image
Must comm what a brand is and is not
Deciding on positioning requires determining a frame of references and POP/PODs → need to know
1) who the target consumer is, (2) who the main competitors are, (3) how the brand is similar to these competitors, and (4) how the brand is different from them
POD POP
(POD, rely on perf attributes/benefits, imagery) (POP, category=minimal generic, competitive=negate competitors pods, correlational=inversely related to pod)
Two key issues in arriving at the optimal competitive brand positioning are
(1)
(1) defining and communicating the competitive frame of reference
- Determine category membership (which set of products does it compete with)
^tell consumers about the goals they achieve by using a g/s - Need to convince that a brand is a true valid member of the category
preferred approach to positioning is to inform consumers of a brand’s membership before stating its point-of-difference in relationship to other category members.
3 ways to convey a brands category membership
Communicating category benefits
Comparing to exemplars in a category
Relying on a product descriptor
Two key issues in arriving at the optimal competitive brand positioning are
(2) & 3 criteria to choosing
triple d
(2) choosing and establishing points- of-parity and points-of-difference
Choosing
Compelling and credible → associations need to be desirable, deliverable and differentiating
a. Desirability criteria
Consumers must find the POD personally relevant and important → differences must MATTER to consumers
b. Deliverability criteria
- Depends on company’s ability to make the g/s (feasibility) as well as its effectiveness in convincing consumers of its ability to do so (communicability)
- Feasibility → Can the firm actually supply the benefit underlying the POD?
- Communicability → consumers’ perceptions of the brand and resulting brand associations pose a key issue. What factual, verifiable evidence or proof points can marketers communicate as support, so that consumers will actually believe in the brand and its desired associations?
c. Differentiation criteria
Target consumers must find the POD distinctive and superior → need viable long term bases for differentiation
Key to branding success
establishing both POP and POD -> poses challenges in position bc they are inverse to each other
Consumers typically want to maximize both the negatively correlated attributes and benefits
Competitors are trying to achieve their own PODs that is negatively correlated with PODs of the target brand
3 approaches to make sure g/s are developed to perf well on pods and pops
Separate the attributes (two marketing campaigns, $$$)
Leverage equity of another entity (link to an entity)
Redefine the relationship (convince the consumers that the relationship is positive)
Straddle positions
Straddle two frames of reference with one set of POD POPs → best of both worlds solutions, carries burden
Laddering
Need to deepen the demanding of the brand to permit further expansion
- Explore underlying consumer motivations to uncover relevant associations -> maslow hierarchy of needs
- Means end chain (higher level meanings of brand characteristics), attributes → lead to benefits →lead to values (move up the ladder to higher level)
Brand resonance
Very strong brand equity based on thoughts, feelings and connections
- Love the brand, connect with the brand, passionate about the brand
Intense loyalty
- High price premium, many repeat purchases, glowing reviews
Building a brand as a sequence of steps, each contingent on the previous
IM RR
- Ensure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the brand in customers’ minds with a specific product class, product benefit, or customer need. BRAND IDENTITY (who)
- Firmly establish the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by strategically linking a host of tangible and intangible brand associations. BRAND MEANING (what)
- Elicit the proper customer responses to the brand. BRAND RESPONSE (what do i feel about you)
- Convert brand responses to create brand resonance and an intense, active loyalty relationship between customers and the brand. BRAND RELATIONSHIP (connection between us)
brand resonance
pyramid notes
Salience- brand resonance pyramid
associative network model of memory , how easily brand is evoked under diff sits
- Depth of Awareness, sub category based
- Beverages broken down into categories
- depth of brand awareness measures how likely it is for a brand element to come to mind and the ease with which it does so - Breadth of Awareness
- Usage based, occasion specific
- The breadth of brand awareness mea- sures the range of purchase and usage situations in which the brand element comes to mind and depends to a large extent on the organization of brand and product knowledge in memory
performance - brand resonance pyramid
How well the product or service meets customers’ more functional needs (ie problem solving / basic performance)
- Based on objective attribute information: reliability, durability, price, guarantee,…
- Based on objective testing information: consumer reports, edmunds,…
- Based on subjective review info; CNET, google reviews,…
Five types of attributes/benefits underlie brand perf: primary ingredients and supplementary features, product reliability durability and serviceability, Service effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy, style and design, price
imagery brand resonance pyramid
User imagery – type of person who uses the brand
Purchase and usage situations – what conditions they buy and use the brand
Brand personality:
Human traits that consumers attribute to a brand
5 personality traits: excitement (youth, happiness, independence), sincerity (thoughtfulness, realness), sophistication (style, confidence), ruggedness (masculinity, toughness),competence (reliable, intelligent)
Brand history and heritage
Brand associations with their past
Noteworthy events in the brand’s history
Imagery vs image
Imagery = visual associations of a brand – logo, founder
Image = all associations of a brand
brand judgements brand resonance pyramid
Customers personal evaluation of a brand based mainly on brand performance
- Objective attributes,objctive testing, subjective ratings
Important types of brand judgements are: overall brand quality, source/firm credibility, brands consideration for purchase, brand superiority
brand feelings brand resonance pyramid ( and 6 types of brand building feelings)
wfe sss
Customers emotional responses to a brand based mainly oon brand imagery (user / founder imagery)
The emotions evoked by a brand can become so strongly associated that they are accessible during product consumption or use. Researchers have defined transformational advertising as advertising designed to change consumers’ perceptions of the actual usage experience with the product
6 types of brand-building feelings
1. Warmth—Soothing feelings that make consumers feel a sense of calm or peacefulness.
2. Fun—Upbeat feelings that make consumers feel amused, lighthearted, joyous, playful, and cheerful.
3. Excitement—Ability of the brand to make consumers feel energized and experience something special.
4. Security—Ability of a brand to produce a feeling of safety, comfort, and self-assurance.
5. Social approval—Gives consumers a belief that others look favorably on their appearance and behavior.
6. Self-respect—Brand makes consumers feel better about themselves.
brand resonance - brand resonance pyramid (inclu4 categories)
BASA
Creating brand community <3 → in sync with brand → characterized in terms of intensity and activity
- Sense of community: brand can take on a broader meaning by conveying a sense of community, customers feel a kinship or affiliation with others associated with the brand
High price premium
Feelings come first, feelings influence subsequent thinkin – confirmation bias
4 categories
1. Behavioral loyalty = repeat purchases
2. Attitudinal attachment = personal attachment
3. Sense of community = identify with the brand
4. Active engagement = willing to invest time resources into brand
Brand building implications
from resonance model
Customers own the brand
Dont take shortcuts with brands
Brands should have a duality
Brands should have richness
Brand resonance provides important focus
Customer networks strengthen brand resonance
Brand value chain defs
- Structured approach to: assessing the sources and outcomes of brand equity and the manner by which marketing activities create brand value
- Recognizes that many ppl in org effect brand equity → VC provides insight to brand managers
- Model assumes that a number of linking factors intervene between these stages. These linking factors determine the extent to which value created at one stage transfers or “multiplies” to the next stage
Brand value chain part 1/4
Marketing program investment: any marketing program investment that can contribute to brand value development (intentional or not)
Program quality multiplier -DRIVE (marketing program quality)
Distinctiveness
Relevance
Integrated
Value
Excellence
Brand value chain part 2/4
Customer mind-set: includes everything that exists in the minds of customer with respect to the brand
5A’s: Brand awareness, associations, attitudes, attachment, activity
Marketplace conditions multiplier
- Extent to which value created depends on factors beyond the individual customer
- Competitive superiority, channel and other intermediary support, customer size and profile
Brand value chain part 3/4
Market performance
Price premiums
Price elasticities
Market share
Brand expansion
Cost structure; reduced marketing program expenditures
Brand profitability
- Investor sentiment multiplier: financial analysis and investors arrive at their brand valuations and investment decisions through the following factors:
- Market dynamics, growth potential, risk profile, brand contribution
Brand value chain part 4/4
Shareholder value
Financial marketplace formulates opinions and assessments
Direct financial implications for brand value
Brand value chain has many implications
Value creation begins with the marketing program investment
Value creation requires more than an initial marketing investment
Brand value chain provides a detailed roadmap for tracking value creation
Brand audit
a comprehensive examination of a brand to discover its sources of brand equity
- Externally, consumer focused exercise to assess health of brand, sources of brand equity, suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity
- Sets a strategic direction for the brand
Brand inventory
Current comprehensive profile of how your brand is being marketed
Helps suggest what consumers perceptions are based on, descriptive exercise, reveal extent of brand consistency
Collect visual and written materials related to your brand: names, logos, packaging, slogans, advertising, pricing, distribution, market perf, brand crises, change in cons lifestyle, changes in tech
Threats or ops related to these^? Ex. lack of clear positioning, lack of consistency, negative publicity, new tech related to brand
What are consumer perceptuins of your brand based on?
Profiling each g/s when looking at brand inventory→ provides 4 types of insights
- Outdated brand accounts that have fallen into disuse, and perhaps need to be closed or updated
- Overlapping brand assets which can be merged or deleted, to ensure a more streamlined set of assets
- Existing brand accounts with information that is either inaccurate or not up-to-date. For example, brand logos may feature outdated colors or design, which may need to be updated
- Particular digital and social media channels where the brand does not have a presence—this could be a starting point for reworking the strategy going forward.
Brand exploratory def and 6
Provide detailed info about what consumers actually think of the brand → research directed to understanding what the consumers think and feel about the brand and act toward it TO better understand sources of brand equity n barriers
- Preliminary activities (research studies, company archives, interview internal personnel
- Interpret qualitative research
- Criteria to classify and judge qualitative research: direction, depth, diversity
- Mental maps and core brand associations : map portrays all salient brand associations and responses for a particular target market, core brand associations : abstract associations 5-10 dimensions of brand
- Conduct qualitative research: should examine both specific brand beliefs and overall attitudes and behaviors to reveal potential sources and outcomes of brand equity. And they should assess the depth and breadth of brand awareness by employing various cues
- Digital marketing reviews: input to brand audit regarding brands online presence (digital efforts are received? Customer level insights? Brand strategy input, health check of SM strat)
5c’s of online brand conversations
(1) conversation channel; (2) conversation source; (3) conversation content; (4) channel-specific engagement; (5) context
demand side data qualitative
Free association, adjective ratings and checklists, projective techniques, photo sorts, bubble drawings, story telling, personification exercises, role playing experiential methods
demand side data quantitative
Brand awareness : direct and indirect measures of brand recognition, aided and unaided measures of brand recall
Brand image: open ended and scale measures of specific brand attributes and benefits (strength, favorability, uniqueness), overall judgements and feelings, overall relationship measures (intensity, activity)
Measure brand equity = brand awareness , brand associations
Measure brand resonance = pyramid
Designing brand tracking studies & what to track (3)
Brand tracking studies collect information from consumers on a routine basis over time, usually through quantitative measures of brand performance on a number of key dimensions that marketers can identify in the brand audit or other means
What to track
1. Product brand tracking = measure brand awareness and image with recall and recognition measures moving from general to specific qs
2. Corporate or family brand tracking = The actual questions should reflect the level and nature of experience your respondents are likely to have had with the company.
3.Global tracking = broader set of background measures
Big data and marketing analytics dashboards
Sudden availability of troves of data which can enable continuous tracking of customers
Invest in data analytics systems and marketing analytics dashboards which can …….. Communicate important metrics and make them available throughout the organization
These analytic dashboards provide ways of linking different types of marketing expenditures to outcome variables such as profits
Marketing analytic dashboards can help answer four types of questions:
What happened? Why did it happen? What will happen if? What should happen?
brand equity management system
: set of organizational processes designed to improve the understanding and use of the brand equity concept within a firm
Three major steps help to implement a brand equity management system (1)
1.Creating brand charters or bibles
Formalize company view of brand equity into a document → defined firms view of branding and brand equity, describe scope of key brands in terms of associated products and the manner by which they have been branded and marketed
Define POP, POD and brand mantra
Three major steps help to implement a brand equity management system (2)
2.Assembling brand equity reports
attempts to summarize the contents of analytic dashboard information, with a view to aid decision-making
Describe what is happening with the brand and why its happening
- One section of the report should summarize consumers’ perceptions of key attribute or benefit associations, preferences, and reported behavior
- Another section of the report should include more descriptive market-level information such as the following: retail category trends, cost breakdowns, profit assessments, price and discount schedules
Three major steps help to implement a brand equity management system (3)
3.Defining brand equity responsibilities.
Define organizational responsibilities and processes with respect to the brand. Brands need constant, consistent nurturing to grow
a. Overseeing brand equity
- Position to oversee implementation of brand charter and brnd equity reports
b. Organizational design and structures
- Many firms are thus attempting to redesign their marketing organizations to better reflect the challenges faced by their brands
c. Managing marketing partners → manage rels carefully
qualitative research goals
identify brand associations and sources of brand equity
qualitative-free association
mental map
- Simple and powerful way to profile brand associations → what comes to mind when subjects think of the brand
- Two main issues to consider in conducting free association tasks are what types of probes to give to subjects, and how to code and interpret the resulting data
- Initial measure in focus group
- Understand brand associations (SFIU)
- Open ended questions (track order of mention for Strength and phrasing of mention for Favourability)
- Follow up questions (what comes to mind for Uniqueness, how important for Importance)
qualitative - Adjective ratings (SFIU Measures)
Rate things that came to mind when thinking about brand
qualitative - projective techniques
Hidden motivations/associations/feelings/reasons for purchase → INDIRECT ways to elicit true feelings/opinions
Diagnostic tools to uncover the true opinions/feelings of consumers when:
- Unwilling or otherwise unable to express themselves on these matters
First words that come to mind, story, picture collage, if brand were a person, draw a picture, analogy with other objectives, etc.
a.Completion and interpretation tasks
b. Comparison tasks
qualitative - Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET)
Technique for eliciting interconnected constructs that influence thought and behavior
Interview steps: Storytelling, Expand the frame, Sensory metaphor, Vignette, Digital image
qualitative - Brand personality and values
Brand personality is the human characteristics or traits that consumers can attribute to a brand. The simplest and most direct way is to solicit open-ended responses to a probe → if brand were a person what it would be like?
Or picture sorting
The big five Aaker model : Sincere, exciting, sophisticated, rugged, competent
(pic in notes)
qualitative - Ethnographic and experiential methods
In marketing, the goal of ethnographic research is to extract and interpret the deep cultural meaning of events and activities through various research techniques such as consumer immersion, site visits, shop-alongs, embedded research, and so on
Spend time with consumers (stalker much) ex. Undercover boss
quantitative research
employs various types of scale questions from which researchers can draw numerical representations and summaries
quantitative - Brand awareness
Frequency and speed of brand name VS competing brands in the product category
- Strength of the brand in memory ass reflected by ability to identify brand elemtns
- Top of mind recall (main product category)
-Partial brand name recall (if lesser known brand) - Depth of recall (recall in other product categories)
- Breadth of recall (recall in diff usage occasions)
quantitative- recognition
identify the brand under a variety of circumstances and can rest on the identification of any of the brand elements
quantitative-recall
Consumers must retrieve the actual brand element from memory when given some related probe or cue
Unaided recall and aided recall
quantitative- cocrrectioons for guessing
Marketers should be sensitive to the possibilities of misleading signals because of spurious brand awareness, especially with new brands or ones with plausible-sounding names.
quantitative- Brand associations
similar to adjective ratings in focus group
Ex. Here are ten words related to insurance companies. Please rate:
quantiative - Brand Image
Image is reflected by the associations that consumers hold for it
Beliefs (descriptive thoughts), Brand association beliefs are those specific attributes and benefits linked to the brand and its competitors.
Do the open ended SFIU brand association questions
What are the strongest associations you have to the brand? What comes to mind when you think of the brand? (Strength)
What is good about the brand? What do you like about the brand? What is bad about the brand? What do you dislike about the brand? (Favorability)
What is unique about the brand? What characteristics or features does the brand share with other brands? (Uniqueness)
Social media listening and monitoring
Use to track brand and product mentions across SM sources → number of engagement, sentiment, topics related to brand, keywords associated with brand → compare across comp → dashboard
Provide firm with two data: VOLUME and VALENCE
Brand responses
to data quant and qual
The purpose of measuring more general, higher-level considerations is to find out how consumers combine all the more specific, lower-level considerations about the brand in their minds to form different types of brand responses and evaluation
a. Purchase intensions
Focus on the likelihood of buying the brand or of switching to another brand
b. Likelihood to recommend
A customer’s willingness to recommend results from all aspects of a customer’s experience
Brand relationships
Characterized brand relationships in terms of brand resonance and offered possible measures for each of the four key dimensions: behavioral loyalty, attitudinal attachment, sense of community, and active engagement
Fournier’s brand relationship research
identifies a typology of 15 different relationship types characterizing consumers’ engagement with brands
Brand relationship quality BRQ: main facets are (1) interdependence, (2) self-concept connection, (3) commitment, (4) love/passion,6 (5) intimacy, and (6) brand partner quality.
Brand elements
trade-markable aspects of a brand that identify and differentiate the brand
Encountered at different touch points of custom journey with the brand
The entire set of brand elements makes up the brand identity = the contribution of all brand elements to awareness and image ex. Charmin (name, characters, slogan)
Six criteria for choosing brand element
LMM TAP
- Memorability → easily recognized / recalled (ex. Visual, unusual)
- Meaningfulness → highly suggestive of the product class and benefits (ex. New product category, point of diff) → gen info about function or specific info about attributes and benefits of brand
- Likability → inherently fun or interesting, has creative potential (universally liked in target market)
- Transferability → transferable to a variety of products and geographies (Not strongly associated with one product category…but has a general brand personality or name)
- Adaptability → can be updated to stay relevant over time (Plan future modifications in the brand element, can go back to earlier versions of brand element for nostalgia)
- Protectability → strongly protectable both legally and competitively (only something the firm has invented (and is not in common usage already) can be legally protected)
Some brand elements are difficult for competitors to imitate (even if not legally protected)
brand name overview, 5 styles
First thing consumers see, takes little time to see, represents the brand, most difficult to change (closely tied to the offering in consumers mind)
Brand name can be descriptive, evocative/suggestive, personality, synthetic, founder
evokes/suggests: brand benefit, usage method, usage situations, usage feelings
brand name contributing to brand awareness
Simple & easy to spell/pronounce: the better for recall
Familiar & meaningful for high recall…if marketing budget is small
Distinctive & unusual for high recognition…but only if marketing budget is large or market size is small
brand name contributing to brand associations
Name can convey benefit/positioning
“Too descriptive” may jeopardize leverage to other categories/ cultures
brand name naming procedure 5 steps
Define objectives
Generate names
Screen initial candidates
Study candidate names
Select the final name
logo
brand name expressed with a particular font, size, style….
More versatile/upgradeable than brand names
Logos can be designed off something as simple as a font
Font is important ex. Disney → can be identified with brands
symbol
visual (not verbal) representation of brand name
Choose symbols that increase brand recall and fit brand associations
brand characters
Special type of brand symbol
- One that takes on human or real lufe characteristics
- Useful for creating/reinforcing brand personality
Introduced through advertising
- Can play a central role in advertising campaigns and package designs
Human-like = More memorable, More likable, Demonstrate product benefit , Can evolve over time
Attention getting – good for creating brand awareness
Can help communicate key benefit, stand out, enhance likability
Caution: dominate other brand elements
URLs
Huge volume, protect brands from unauthorized use in other domain names
Cybersquatting
Slogans
Short phrases that communicate descriptive or persuasive information about the brand
- Efficient, shorthand means to build brand → summarize and translate intent of a marketing program
Can playoff brand name, tied to campaigns
Can play off brand name to build both awareness and image
Hard to update!
Steps to do it: recognize how slogan is contributing to brand equity, decide how much of those equity enhancement is still needed, retain needed equities
packaging (7 things it does)
Packaging can help with product use, can create a point of difference, can communicate persuasive info
Can signal higher quality extension, country of origin
Can facilitate transportation, at-home storage
Packaging can attract attention to the brand. Often the “1st encounter” consumers have with a new brand is in-store.–> eyetracking software
Firms change their packaging to …. Signal higher price, new distribution channels, product line expansion, new product innovation, old package outdated
packaging must achieve 5 objectives
Identify the brand.
Convey descriptive and persuasive information.
Facilitate product transportation and protection.
Assist in at-home storage.
Aid product consumption.
you got this!
yay!
product - features and design
Determinant of what customers experience with a brand
Perceived quality : customers’ perceptions of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service compared with alternatives and with respect to its intended purpose
product - mass customization and when to use it
making products to fit customers exact specifications, on a huge scale
More relevant to tastes of a particular customer => more attention, more liking of brand
When Should Brands Use Mass Customization?
1. Customer preferences vary (e.g., sugar/flavor in soda)
2. Customers are willing to spent time customizing
3. Customers are willing to wait for product delivery
4. Customization is technically possible at reasonable cost
5. Products have symbolic benefits (i.e., express one’s personality, indicate group membership)
product - experiential marketing and when to use it
Promotes a product by communicating product features/benefits and connecting it with unique and interesting consumer experiences
→ sensory, affective, behavioural, intellectual
When to use? When experience needs to be unique/interesting, creating experience is possible at good cost, creates the right brand associations, consumers are willing to interact with the brand over a period of time
product - relationship marketing
Premise that current customers are key to LT success → CA is expensive
product - Post purchase management (5)
important part of product strategies - aftermarketing
Customerfollowupafterpurchase
User manuals, customer service programs
Loyalty Program Membership
Customer Complaint Management:
Firms can use complains to increase satisfaction if they give quick and good compensation → exceeding expectations for solution = high satisfaction & positive WOM
Complaint Handling Process Should Be Tailored to Different Customer Segments (i.e., based on customer lifetime value)
product - permission marketing
Practice of marketing to consumers only after gaining their express permission, is another influential perspective on how companies can break through the clutter and build customer loyalty……
steps below
1. Situational permission: Prospects permit the company to access their personal information.
2. Brand trust: Prospects allow the company to provide for their needs.
3. Personal relationship: Prospects offer information based on a personal relationship with the provider’s organization.
4. Incentive-based permission: Incentives such as points or free prizes are used to maintain permission to access customer data.
5. Intravenous permission: Customers become dependent on the company, and the supplier controls the supply of certain goods or services.
price quality correlation
Choosing a pricing strategy to build brand equity means determining: method for setting current price and a police for choosing depth/duration of discounts
High price is associated with high quality
Higher price signals higher quality and firms should also deliver higher quality (quality = functional, hedonic, symbolic)
When should you price your brand high (vs. low)
Depends on whether your brand is a search (quality readily observable prior to purchase), experience (value det by experiencing them, wine), or credence good (value never known with certainty, matter of faith, vitamins)
Value based pricing strategies
objective of value pricing is to uncover the right blend of product quality, product costs, and product prices that fully satisfy the needs and wants of consumers and the profit targets of the firm
- Need product design and delivery, lower product costs as much as possible, consumer wtp, price segmentation
Price Elasticity
Are customers focusing on value being provided (i.e., benefit) or cost to them (i.e., price)? Can be calculate for product and brands
% change quantity / % change price → high means customers focus on price, low means customers focus on benefits
Pricing Strategies
How can I manage prices over time?
(4)
- “Razor & blades” pricing
- Every-day low pricing - walmart - complementary pricing approach to determine the nature of price discounts and promotions over time that maintains consistently low, value-based prices on major items on a day-to-day basis.
- Penetration pricing - netflix
- Skimming pricing - samsung
place def and channel design
Sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption
Direct vs indirect (3rd party intermediaries)
Channels can often blend three key factors: information, entertainment, and experiences.
place - indirect channels
Retailers have most visible and direct contact aith customers → they effect brand equity
Manufacturers must be creative in the way they develop marketing and merchandising programs aimed at channel members
place - direct channels
Company owned stores – gain control
Store within a store
Marketing communications, why important (4)
the means by which companies attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about the brands they sell
- Firms can add imagery, emotions, personality
- Firms can demonstrate quality and usagE
- Firms can offer incentives to try/buy
- Firms can stand out from competition
IMC criteria for effectiveness (6)
- Coverage : Does IMC cover target segments and no one else? (otherwise wasted money)….
Proportion of the audience reached by each communication option, as well as how much overlap exists among comms options - Contribution : communication objectives → does IMC achieve quantifiable objectives? (which depends on time)
What do I want my IMC campaign to achieve? Needs to be quantified!
Ability to create the desired response and comms effects in the absence of exposure to any other comms options - Commonality : Does IMC have consistent message across channels and across time? But have some variation to keep it interesting
Consistent and cohesive brand image → contributes to how easily consumers recall existing associations → recall and learn info that is consistent easier - Complementarity : Different messages & channels over time (to achieve different objectives)
Extent to which different associations and linkages are emphasized across communication options
Should ensure that the communication options chosen are mutually compensatory and reinforcing to create desired consumer knowledge structures - Conformability : Does IMC work for different target segments / work regardless of what a particular target segment has seen before?
Extent to which marketing comms id effective for diff groups of consumers (2 types = communication and consumer)
Multiple information provision strategy
Broad information provision strategy - Cost : Does IMC program fit my firm’s budget? Must be weighed against cost!! For effective and efficient comms
Using IMC choice criteria
Evaluating communication options : according to the response effects they can create
Establishing priorities and trade-offs
a. Commonality and complementarity will often be inversely related
b. Conformability and complementarity will also often be inversely related.
c. Commonality and conformability do not share an obvious relationship
IMC content depends on (4)
Depends on …… branding objectives, communication objectives, type of channel, type of consumer (low effort to high effort)
IMC content can be (3)
Informational (benefit elaboration)
Problem-solution
Demonstration
Product comparison
Testimonial
Transformational (imagery portrayal)
Typical or aspirational usage situation or user of product
Brand personality and values
Motivational (borrowed interest techniques)
Humor, warmth, sex appeal, music, fear, special effects
Brand should try to increase consumer effort by (3) MAO
Increase motivation (relevance) → relevant to important needs ie. achievement, social, safety, etc
Increase ability (knowledge)
Increase opportunity (time)
IMC Budget!!
Economic theory suggests placing dollars into a marketing communications budget and across communication options according to marginal revenue and cost
Models of budget allocation emphasize more observable factors such as stage of brand life cycle, objectives and budget of the firm, product characteristics, size of the budget, and media strategy of competitors. These factors are typically contrasted with the different characteristics of the media.
Judge marketing comms programs by ability to ..
….contribute to brand equity (ex. Adds to brand awareness? strengthens/creates brand associations?)
steps for persuasion from IMC (5)
- exposure
- attention
- comprehension
- yielding
- intentions
5.behaviour
major marketing comms options (advertising)
Paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor
advertising -television
Allows for sight sound and motion
Pros: vivid demonstration of product attributes
Cons: fleeting nature of the message and distracting creative elements
guidelinesL distinguish both the message strategy / positioning of an ad (competitive frame of reference, POP attributes, POD attributes) from its creative strategy (informational, transformational, motivational – explained above)
Future? Some doubts, live tv events
advertising -radio
Pervasive medium, effective = identify brand early and often, promise benefit, repeat benefit
Pros: flexibility, not $$$, effective in the morning
Disadvantage: no visual
advertising - print
Magazines and newspapers
Pros: build user and usage imagery, engaging, timely
consL short shelf life
Communicate clearly directly and consistently, apparent brand name
advertising - direct response
Uses mail, telephone, Internet, and other contact tools to communicate with or solicit a response from specific customers and prospects
To implement an effective direct marketing program, marketers need the three critical ingredients of (1) developing an up-to-date and informative list of current and potential future customers, (2) putting forth the right offer in the right manner, and (3) tracking the effectiveness of the marketing program
marketing comms (promotion) 3 types
- Sales promotions: short term incentives to encourage trial or usage of g/s → INCENTIVE to buy
- Pros: permit manufacturers to price discriminate by effectively charging different prices to groups of consumers who vary in their price sensitivity
- Cons: decreased brand loyalty and increased brand switching, decreased quality perceptions, and increased price sensitivity - Consumer promotions
- Designed to change the choices, quantity, or timing of consumers’ product purchases ex. Samples demonstration and educagional material, premiums, sweepstakesm refund offers
3.Trade promotions
Financial incentives given to retailers to stock/display
marketing comms (Events and experiences)
Sponsorship, in store product demonstration or sampling program –? Engage consumers senses and imagination
Rationale
To identify with a particular target market or lifestyle
To increase awareness of the company or product name
To create or reinforce consumer perceptions of key brand image associations
Enhance corporate image dimensions
Create experiences and evoke feelings
Entertain key clients
Guidelines: choose carefully, design, measure
secondary brand associations
associations not directly related to the brand in the consumer’s mind
These associations related to external sources to which a brand is linked → may lead the consumer to assume / infer beliefs they have for external sources also holds for the brand
“The associations of the associations” ex. Solomon
They are most likely to affect evaluations of a new product when consumers lack either the motivation or the ability to judge product-related concerns
3 factors in predicting the extent of leverage from linking the brand to another entity:
- Awareness And Knowledge Of The Entity
- Meaningfulness of the knowledge of the entity
- Transferability of the knowledge of the entity
Guidelines to leveraging brand to another entity
Commonality leveraging strategy - when consumers have associations to to another entity that are congruent with desired brand associations
Complementarity - when entities are chosen that represent a departure for the brand because there are few if any common or similar associations. Such branding strategies can be strategically critical in terms of delivering the desired position
Process of association transfer
a. Secondary brand associations can allow marketers to
- Create or reinforce an important point-of-difference or
- Create or reinforce competitive point-of-parity versus competitors
b. Commonality leveraging strategy
- Reinforce existing associations with your brand
c. Complementarity branding strategy
- Add new associations to your brand
Endorsers
- Credible endorser => relevant associations
- SM influences as the new celebrities
- Can draw attention and shape perceptions of a brand →should have high level of visibility and set of useful associations
- Problems: if celeb endorses many brands, must be match between the celeb and the product, if they get in trouble or lose popularity, diminishing their marketing value to the brand, if cons feel its not genuine
- To overcome these problems, marketers should strategically evaluate, select, and use
country of origin
In advertising and brand logo
In brand letters (accents, mini so, loreal)
In brand names (haagen dazs, germany = quality chocolate), packaging, logo, adv, champagne
IMPACT: leverage positive associations of geography for the product category in question (domestic patriotic, exotic, quality)
Even unfamiliar but plausible geos can be used
Three main branding options exist for a new product:
Create a new brand;
Adopt or modify an existing brand;
Combine an existing and a new brand.
create new corporate brand
A corporate or family brand can be a source of equity, evoking associations of common product attributes, benefits, or attitudes and corporate credibility
Leverage existing corporate equity for new products => lower cost of introduction
Corporate brand associations are often general and can apply in new categories
Failure of new products could harm corporate brand
Lack of brand clarity of new products
Co-brand
Pairing of two brands into a single product or marketed together in some fashion
- Each brand should reinforce existing brand associations
- Also add new brand associations
Wont work when
“Dilution of stronger brand by weaker brand”
co brand adv and disadv
Advantages:
Borrow needed expertise
Leverage equity you don’t have
Reduce cost of product introduction
Expand brand meaning into related categories
Broaden meaning
Increase access points Source of additional revenue
Disadvantages:
Loss of control
Risk of brand equity dilution Negative feedback effects
Lack of brand focus and clarity Organizational distraction
Ingredient brand
- Special type of co-branding called Ingredient Branding
- Ingredient branding creates brand equity for components, materials, or parts of a larger branded product
Familiar ingredients havee quality associations, unfamiliar are good bc consumers think theres a reason for it
Being the first to brand an ingredient can help since it will attract attention
The uniformity and predictability of ingredient brands can reduce risk and reassure consumers → can become industry standards
ingredient branding adv and disadv
Adv: creating consumer pull, company can generate sales at greater margin, access new categories
Disadv: high costs, inexperienced suppliers for comms, loss of control
4 tasks: cons must perceive ingredient matters, cons convinced ingredient brands are not all the same, distinct symbol or logo for ingredient, coordinated push/pull program
Licensing
Firms can use the names, logos, characters, and so forth of other brands to market their own brands for some fixed fee → shortcut to building brand equity
Third party sources
Not paid endorsers → reviewers/experts, credible organizations and associations, leading magazines → credibility!!
