“BUILDING A BRAND FROM SCRATCH”

Brand Building Strategy for Beginners

Prof. Rutu Mody-Kamdar Assistant Professor in Marketing

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (Deemed University)

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FOREWORD

Brand Management is an important topic in Marketing Management, both for academicians and more so for professional practitioners in live marketing. Branding adds great value to a product and is therefore an intrinsic aspect of a product strategy. All management institutes have realized the importance of this subject, and have introduced a separate course on Brand Management in their MBA (Marketing) syllabus. Ms. Rutu Mody-Kamdar, one of our youngest and energetic faculty members in the Marketing area, has been teaching this subject in her MBA classes. She has extensively studied the topic and her class students have appreciated the depth and devotion with which she has been teaching the course. Now she has put all her conceptual teaching material in the form of a booklet for all those who have interest in the subject of Brand Management. This booklet would be of special interest to students, faculty members and even marketing practitioners. I have great pleasure in releasing this book “ Building a Brand from Scratch: Brand Building Strategy for Beginners”, which is a treatise on Brand Management. She has covered various dimensions of the area like brand definition, brand positioning, brand associations, brand image and brand identity. NMIMS appreciates the efforts put in by her in producing this valuable publication and hopes that she will continue to do further research in this area in greater depth. I personally wish her all the best in her academic career with NMIMS. Dr N. M. Kondap Vice Chancellor NMIMS Deemed University March 7, 2005

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INTRODUCTION

Branding can be called both an art and a science. Branding is a science- A science that seeks to peek into the minds of consumers and create offerings that cater to their individual and aggregate needs, wants and desires. However, this extremely ‘soft’ area of branding, is difficult to identify and classify clearly. Consider the following:

Brands are about consumers and their minds, their extremely volatile minds. None of us can claim to be a champion of the human mind as yet. There is indeed no computer on earth as yet that can claim to clone the processes of the mind and its volatile nature. The mind is still being understood.

The only reality around in our lives is change. This all about change that is an amorphous process in the mind of the consumer. This change is seldom a continuous trend. It is as discontinuous as it can get. There is seldom anything predictive about the pattern of this change in the consumer mind and mood. It is as maverick as the consumer is!

Branding, when studied from the perspective of the quantitative technique and parameters that are empirical and scientific, is a theory that is never really alive.

Not as alive and kicking as the consumer is! Yet, let’s look around at our brand-centred establishments. Every corporate worth his corporate culture and coat is into the realm of the science more than the realm of the art. Much of the time, the hard area in branding dominates the soft.

Look at branding as an art then. As a qualitative technique! As a soft-skill operating in a soft terrain. The soft terrain of the ever-changing human mind.

A terrain that depends on the apt and adequate understanding of the human mind at that point of time. A skill that depends on the ability of the reader of the mind of the consumer. A skill that centres itself on the realm of consumer insight that is truly soft and real. Not hard and quantifiable, but soft and somewhere there.

This soft-skill is, therefore, the essence of understanding the consumer and the brand. And this is precisely the skill that modern corporates have shunned for long. Consumer insight and the soft arena of reading it as precisely as possible is the only true blue cutting edge of branding; therein lies the advantage for corporations in future.

The case is clear then. Branding is certainly much more of an art than a science. Get in there with your artistry. Get in there with your heart and everything soft about you in the understanding of the consumer.

Excerpt from The Soft Art Behind The Hard Sell

IndiatimesIndiatimesIndiatimesIndiatimes---- Business of Management Business of Management Business of Management Business of Management

Harish Bijoor

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TOPIC INDEX

1. Chapter 1: Brands and Brand Building

2. Chapter 2: Gaining Customer Insights

3. Chapter 3: Brand Positioning

4. Chapter 4: Brand Identity

5. Chapter 5: Articulating Brand Identity

6. Chapter 6: Executing Brand Identity

7. Chapter 7: Extending Brand Identity

8. Chapter 8: Reviewing Brand Identity

9. Conclusion

10. List of References

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CHAPTER 1

BRANDS AND BRAND BUILDING

Brand So, how does one define the oft-used word- Brand? Branding has really been around for centuries as a means of distinguishing the goods of one producer from the other. The word ‘brand’ is derived from the word ‘brandr’ which means ‘to burn’, as brands were means by which owners of livestock would mark their animals to identify them. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) a brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differntiate them from those of competition”. Technically speaking, this definition of brands seems sound, but it is limiting in many ways. This definition indicates that whenever a company launches a product and attaches a name, term, sign or symbol, it is creating a brand. These, however, are only brand elements, being simply, only an expression of what the brand really stands for symbolically. For example, Lux beauty soap uses its brand name, symbols and images of young actresses to symbolize a far deeper image of beauty, glamour and success. Hence, the name, logo, packaging and endorsers have only been used as an expression to the deeper, more symbolic meaning of a Lux soap. People do not perceive the world as it is. Their internal mental image of the world, at times, differs from the external physical world. The reality for an individual is perceived. “The objective reality of a product matters little; what matters is a customer’s perception of a product or a brand”. Brands are symbols, which stand for something in a prospect’s mind. It carries a meaning behind it. Symbols work by stimulating the cognitive process. The consumer’s perceptual process is nothing but making sense of the symbols present around them. Therefore, figurative aspects like the name, colours, logo and packaging are symbols that the marketer uses to communicate their intentions to the customers. Slender tall bottles are used to connote feminine qualities. Colours are not really only colours. They are used to connote certain moods and values. Red packaging connotes warm, hot, where as blue and green packaging may connote cold, calm, cool. Brands names are also only titles that are given to the brand. A word is a signifier that marketers employ to facilitate communication about brands. The word helps in identification, but moreover, acts as a symbol. Therefore, elements such as the name, logo, colours etc. are only the signifiers. Signifying, at a deeper level, the intentions of the brand manager, and symbolizing the often intangible meanings of the brand.

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Another interesting perspective of brands is that brands are the ‘human face to the product-consumer relationship’. They create and bring humanity to the organization. They unite people, i.e. companies, consumers and stakeholders…brands form an emotional connect with people. Brands are essentially about people, and therefore are living, vivid memories that people carry in their minds. All of us have carried living images of brands such as Raymonds, Cadbury’s, Surf, and many other stalwart brands. The ‘complete man’ of Raymonds, or the ‘exuberant girl running on the cricket field for Cadbury’s, or the smart Lalitaji of Surf have all entered our lives, and have redefined our relationship with these brands and the manner in which we use them. Products versus Brands A product is a physical entity that lives in the real world. A brand is a perceptual entity that lives in the consumer’s mind. It is important to effectively differentiate between a product and a brand. According to Philip Kotler, the marketing Guru, a product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Kotler defines five levels to a product, which are as follows. The following concept is explained using the example of airlines.

1. Core Benefit Level: is the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service. e.g. the basic need of transportation is being addressed by an airline

2. Generic Product Level: is a basic version of the product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for it’s functioning but with no distinguishing feature. e.g. the airline with a basic seating and pilot

3. Expected Product Level: is a set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product. e.g. people expect an airline with an airhostess, hot food, drinks, in-flight entertainment and service.

4. Augmented Product Level: includes additional product attributes, benefits, or related services that distinguish the product from competitors. e.g. the airline may have special loyalty programs, or special airport lounges to augment themselves.

5. Potential Product Level: includes all of the augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future. e.g. the airline may introduce a special ‘home pick up’ facility for passengers in the future

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Kotler also points out here that competition between products essentially takes place at the product augmentation level, because most companies can build satisfactory products at the expected product level. At this stage, let us revisit the meaning of branding: A brand is a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. Hence, in accordance to the concept proposed by Kotler, brands emanate mainly at the ‘augmented product level’, where each product tries to augment itself beyond its basic product offering. This augmentation could be either very large, as in the case of Mont Blanc pens, where an ordinary product like a pen is given a larger than life status, or it could be small, as in the case of Ad Gel Pens, where the brand is not emphasised on much, and there is no significant augmentation in the form of branding taking place.

Core Benefit

Generic Product

Expected Product

Augmented Product

Potential Product

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As shown in the diagram above, the dotted line expressing the depth of branding that can be applied to the core product. This depth signifies the extent of augmentation that can be applied. The differences that are identified at the time of augmentation could be rational and tangible (closer to the core product), or could be symbolic, emotional and intangible (further away from the core product). One marketing observer puts it this way:

More specifically, what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity counterpart and gives it equity is the sum total of consumer’s perceptions and feelings about the product’s attributes and how they perform, about the brand name and what it stands for, and about the company associated with the brand.

Brands are also known to move from Product Feature propositions to Functional Benefit propositions to Emotional Benefit propositions. Hence a brand such as Kellogg’s, when it was first launched in India, centered its proposition around ‘Iron’ as a product feature, where ‘Iron shakti’ was identified as a major selling point. At this stage, Iron was the product feature around which the proposition was centered. Over time, Kellogg’s moved on to talking about ‘improved memory’ for the child, which was a functional benefit that the Iron ingredient provided. Over time, the brand now talks about ‘intelligent child, far superior than peers’ which is an Emotional benefit which appeals to the hearts and minds of all mothers who want to see their child

Product

•Scope

•Attributes

•Uses

•Quality

•

Organisational Associations

Country of origin

Emotional Benefits

Brand Personality

Self Expressive Benefits

Brand customer relationships

Brand

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excel. While progressing through these stages, it is imperative to keep these basic questions in mind:

a. What attributes are embodied in the product or service? b. What advantages does it incorporate? c. What benefits does it provide? d. What obsessions does it represent?

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Why Brand? An obvious question here is that why are brands important? Should companies really invest that much of time, money, energy in building their brands? This question can be answered mainly from two perspectives, i.e. the Consumers and the Manufacturers An obvious question is. Why are brands important? What functions do they perform that make them so valuable to marketers? One can take a couple of perspectives to uncover the value of brands to both consumers and firms themselves. Consumers Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers to assign responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Most important, brands take on special meaning to consumers. Because of past experiences with the product and its marketing program over the years, consumers learn about brands. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and which ones do not. As a result, brands provide a shorthand device or means of simplification for their product decisions. Housewives who are used to particular brands of household products, would comfortably buy the same brand month after month, without bothering to change their brands. If consumers recognize a brand and have some knowledge about it, then they do not have to engage in a lot of additional thought or processing of information to make a product decision. Thus, from an economic perspective, brands allow consumers to lower search costs for products both internally (in terms of how much they have to think) and externally (in terms of how much

Consumers

Identification of source or

product

Assignment of responsibility to

product maker

Risk reducer

Search cost reducer

Promise, bond

Symbolic device

Signal of quality

Manufacturer

Means of identification

Means of legally protecting

unique features

Signal of quality level to

satisfied customers

Means of endowing products

with unique associations

Source of competitive

advantage

Source of financial advantage

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they have to look around). Based on what they already know about the brand – its quality, product characteristics, and so forth – consumers can make assumptions and form reasonable expectations about what they may not know about the brand. The meaning imbued in brands can be quite profound. The relationship between a brand and the consumer can be seen as a type of bond or pact. Consumers offer their trust and loyalty with the implicit understanding that the brand will behave in certain ways and provide them utility through consistent product performance and appropriate pricing, promotion, and distribution programs and actions. To the extent that consumers realize advantages and benefits from purchasing the brand, and as long as they derive satisfaction from product consumption, they are likely to continue to buy it. These benefits may not be purely functional in nature. Brands can serve as symbolic devices, allowing consumers to project their self – image. Certain brands are associated with being used by certain types of people and thus reflect different values or traits. Consuming such products is a means by which consumers can communicate to others – or even to themselves – the type of person they are or would like to be. Pulitzer prize winning author Daniel Boorstein asserts that, for many people, brands serve the function that fraternal, religious, and service organizations used to serve – to help people define who they are and then help people communicate that definition to others. As Harvard’s Susan Fournier notes:

Relationships with mass (market) brands can soothe the “empty selves left behind by society’s abandonment of tradition and community and provide stable anchors in an otherwise changing world. The formation and maintenance of brand – product relationships serve many culturally – supported roles within post-modern society.”

Brands can also play a significant role in signalling certain product characteristics to consumers. Researchers have classified products and their associated attributes or benefits into three major categories: search goods, experience goods, and credence goods. “With search goods, product attributes can be evaluated by visual inspection (e.g., the sturdiness, size, colour, style, weight, and ingredient composition of a product). With experience goods, product attributes – potentially equally important – cannot be assessed so easily by inspection, and actual product trial and experience is necessary (e.g., as with durability, service quality, safety, and case of handling or use). With credence goods, product attributes may be rarely learned (e.g., insurance coverage). Because of the difficulty in assessing and interpreting product attributes and benefits with experience and credence goods may be particularly important signals of quality and other characteristics to consumers for these types of products. Brands can reduce the risks in product decisions. Consumers may perceive many different types of risks in buying and consuming a product. For example, if I were to evaluate and buy a car for the first time;

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� Functional risk: The product does not perform up to expectations. (The car

breaks down often and gives me problem in performance) � Physical risk: The product poses a threat to the physical well – being or

health of the user or others (The car may increase my risk of having mishaps and accidents on the road)

� Financial risk: The product is not worth the price paid (The other brand of car was better value for money)

� Social risk: The product results in embarrassment from others (The car does not live up to my social standards)

� Psychological risk: The product affects the mental well –being of the user (The car is constantly keeping me worried of added fuel expenditure)

� Time risk: The failure of the product results in an opportunity cost of finding another satisfactory product (I am wasting too much of my time in deciding which car to buy)

Although there are a number of different means by which consumers handle these risks, certainly one way in which consumers cope to buy well –known brands, especially those brands with which consumers have had favourable past experiences. Thus, knowing that Maruti is a good, trusted and well established brand, will help me in eliminating the amount of risks perceived, and will aid my final decision. Thus, brands can be a very important risk – handling devices. Firms Brands also provide a number of valuable functions to firms. Fundamentally, they serve an identification purpose to simplify product handling or tracing for the firm. Operationally, brands help to organize inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product. A brand can retain intellectual property rights, giving legal title to the brand owner. The brand name can be protected through patents, and packaging can be protected through copyrights and designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm can invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable asset. As noted earlier, these investments in the brand can endow a product with unique associations and meanings that differentiate it from other products. Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied buyers can easily choose the product again. This brand loyalty provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and creates barriers of entry that make it difficult for other firms to enter the market. Although manufacturing processes and product designs may be easily duplicated, lasting impressions in the minds of individuals and organizations from years of marketing activity and product experience may not be so easily reproduced. In this sense, branding can be seen as a powerful means of securing a competitive advantage. In short, to firms, brands represent enormously valuable pieces of legal property, capable of influencing consumer behavior, being bought and sold, and providing the security of sustained future revenues to their owner. For

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these reasons, large earning multiples have been paid for brands in mergers or acquisitions. The price premium paid for companies is often clearly justified on the basis of assumptions regarding the extra profits that could be extracted and sustained from their brands, as well as the tremendous difficulty and expense of creating similar brands from scratch. Thus, much of the recent interest in brands from senior management has been a result of these bottom line financial considerations. For a typical fast – moving –consumer-goods (FMCG) company, the vast majority of its corporate value is made up by intangible assets and good will- net tangible assets may be made up by brands. Brand Building Strategy- An Overview

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand Elements

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand Marketing

Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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CHAPTER 2

GAINING CUSTOMER INSIGHTS Consumer Insights The first stage in the brand building strategy is to first understand customer insights. A brand lives in the customer’s mind in the form of a universe of associations. So, when you are confronted with the word, ‘Bajaj’, immediately a universe of associations spring to the mind- key concepts being scooter, motorcycles, hamara bajaj, value for money, Indian etc. Semantic memory is one important aspect of consumer knowledge. It refers to how to store the meanings of verbal material in the long-term memory. Semantic memory works in the form of networks. The network has nodes and links or connections. Nodes represent the semantic concepts, and the connections represent the relationship between them. For example, consider the diagram below:

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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All brands are stored in a similar form in a consumers mind. A variety of information is generally stored in an associative network of this kind. For example, the brand name, product category, use experience, visuals from the advertisement, people associated, feelings generated etc. Development of a correct associative network is at the heart of any brand building exercise. Customers discriminate against other brands in the category because of the ‘created’ network of associations. For a powerful brand, a good product needs to be supported by the right knowledge structure. When something undesirable gets connected with the network by way of a new node, the brand suffers in the marketplace. For example, when Tata Indica was first launched in the market, the car did not perform well functionally. Due to this, certain bad associations were inextricably linked to the product, and the sales suffered until the company decided to launch a new version of the vehicle. So was the case with Limca, when the BVO controversy erupted. Limca was seen to be containing a harmful chemical used as an agent. The result, a node with a strong connection got attached to the hub-Limca. These associations make consumers dislike the brand. Create Network Structure Hence the key to making a strong powerful brand is to create a solid and appealing associative network structure for the brand. It is also known that strong brands are generally preferred in the marketplace. Which is why a Coke, Nike, Levis, Gillette etc are strong preferred brands in the marketplace. Customers ask for these brands rather than others. Their success lies in their ability to be chosen above other brands. The customer’s choice is really an exercise in elimination. The essential questions surrounding the concept of choice are why and how a brand is chosen while others are rejected. Consider the diagram below:

LIRIL

LIME

BATHING

SOAP

FRESH

WATERFALL

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Decision Making Process A pioneering framework illustrating the decision making process suggests that the consumer moves through the four stages of 1) Problem Recognition 2) Search and Evaluation 3) Purchasing Process and 4) Post Purchase Behaviour. Once the problem is recognised by a consumer, he or she starts searching and evaluating brands. At this stage, certain brands are eliminated from the list, and certain brands short-listed for purchase. As shown in the diagram above, brands that are known move into a consumer’s consideration set. Out of these, certain brands are acceptable, certain brands are unacceptable, some are ignored and some of the brands may have been overlooked. For example, when a consumer wants to buy a watch, he may face the following situation:

All Brands

Known Brands

Unknown Brands

Acceptable Brands

Unacceptable Brands

Indifferent Brands

Overlooked Brands

Purchased

Brand Not Purchased

Brands

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Total Brands: Titan, Timex, Maxima, Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Lancer, Omega, Rolex, HMT, Patek Phillipe, Tag Heuer etc. Known Brands: Titan, Timex, Maxima, Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Omega, Rolex, HMT, Tag Heuer Unknown Brands: Patek Phillipe, Lancer Considered Brands: Titan, Timex Unacceptable Brands: Maxima, Seiko, HMT Ignored Brands: Tag Heuer, Rolex Overlooked Brands: Citizen, Casio Purchased Brand: Titan Not Purchased Brand: Timex

The implication for a brand manager is that marketing efforts must focus on placing the brand in the ‘known’ set, thereafter in the ‘acceptable’ set and thereafter in the ‘purchased’ category. If the brand fails to get into the consideration set, the marketer loses the opportunity to succeed. Hence, at the stage of ‘Search and Evaluation’ the brand must hit the consumer with the right kind of knowledge structure or associative network memory model, to be considered for purchase. The power of the brand lies in what customers have learned, felt, seen, and heard about the brand as a result of their experiences over time. In other words, the power of a brand lies in what resides in the minds of customers. The challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is ensuring that customers have the right type of experiences with products and services and their accompanying marketing programs so that the desired thoughts, feelings, images, beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and so on become linked to the brand.

Brand knowledge is the key to creating brand equity, because it creates the differential effect that drives brand equity. What marketers need, then, is an insightful way to represent how brand knowledge exists in consumer memory. Consistent with the associative network memory model, brand knowledge is conceptualised here as consisting of a brand node in memory with a variety of associations linked to it. In particular, brand knowledge can be characterized in terms of two components: brand awareness and brand image. Brand awareness is related to the strength of the brand node or trace in memory, as reflected by consumers’ ability to identify the brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is a necessary, but not always sufficient, step in building brand equity. Other considerations, such as the image of the brand, often come into play. Brand image can be defined as perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory. In other words, brand associations are the other informational nodes linked to the brand node in memory and contain the meaning of the brand for consumers. Associations

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come in all forms and may reflect characteristics of the product or aspects independent of the product itself. For example, consider the brand Amul. If someone asked you what came to mind when you thought of Amul, what might you say? You might reply with associations such as “butter”, “milk products”, “taste of India” and so forth. Your brand image for Amul can be made up by the associations that came to your mind. Through skillful marketing, Amul has been able to achieve a rich brand image made up of a host of brand associations in the minds of at least some consumers. Different consumers might think of different associations for Amul. Other brands of course, will be characterized by a different set of associations. For example, McDonald’s marketing program attempts to create brand associations in consumers’ minds to “quality,” “service, “ “cleanliness,” and “value.” McDonald’s rich brand image probably also includes strong associations to “Ronald McDonald.” “golden arches,” “for kids,” and “convenient, “ as well as perhaps potentially negative associations such as “fast food.” Coca Cola’s marketing program strives to link brand associations in consumers’ minds to refreshment, “ “taste,” “availability,” “affordability,” and “accessibility.” Whereas Mercedes – Benz has achieved strong associations to “performance” and “status. To build a strong brand, the customer needs to hold strong, unique and favourable associations in his memory. On some cases, brand awareness alone is sufficient to result in more favourable consumer response, for example, in low involvement decision settings where consumers are willing to base their choices merely on familiar brands. In most other cases, however, the strength, favourability, and uniqueness of the brand associations play a critical role in determining the differential response making up the brand equity. If the brand is perceived by consumers to be the same as a representative version of the product or service in the category, then consumers response to marketing for the brand would not be expressed to vary from when the marketing is attributed to a fictitiously named or unnamed product or service. If the brand has some salient, unique associations, then consumer response should differ. For branding strategies to be successful and brand equity to be created, consumers must be convinced that there are meaningful differences among brands in the product or service category. The key to branding is that consumers must not think that all brands in the category are the same. Thus, establishing a high level of brand awareness and a positive brand image in consumer memory- in terms of strong, favourable, and unique brand associations- produces the knowledge structures necessary for building a strong brand. Brand Awareness Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall performance. Brand recognition relates to consumers’ ability to conform prior exposure to

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the brand when given the brand as a cue. In other words, brand recognition requires that consumers can correctly discriminate the brand as having been previously seen or heard. For example, when consumers go to the store, is it the case that they will be able to recognize the brands as one to which they have already been exposed? Brand recall relates to consumers’ ability to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase or usage situation as a cue. In other words, brand recall requires that consumers correctly generate the brand from memory when given a relevant cue. For example, recall of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes will depend on consumers’ ability to retrieve the brand when they think of the cereal category or of what they should eat for breakfast or eat for breakfast or snack, either at the store (when making a purchase), at home (when making a consumption choice), or wherever. As is the case with most information in memory, it is generally easier to recognize a brand in a store than it is to recall it from mere memory. The relative importance of brand recall and recognition will depend on the extent to which consumers make product- related decisions with the brand present or not. For example, if product decisions are made in the store, brand recognition may be more important (and easy) because the brand will actually be physically present. Outside the store or in any situation where the brand is not present on the other hand, it is probably more important that the consumer be able to actually recall the brand from memory. For this reason, brand recall is critical for service and online brands. Consumers must actively seek the brand and therefore be able to retrieve it from memory when appropriate. Establishing Brand Awareness How do you create brand awareness? In the abstract, increasing the familiarity with the brand through repeated exposure creates brand awareness, although this is generally more effective for brand recognition than for brand recall. That is, the more a consumer “experiences” the brand by seeing it, hearing it, or thinking about it, the more likely it is that the brand will become strongly registered in memory. Thus, anything that causes consumers to experience a brand name, symbol, logo, character, packaging, or slogan can potentially increase familiarity and awareness of that brand element. Examples include a wide range of communication options such as advertising and promotion, sponsorship and event marketing, publicity and public relations, and outdoor advertising. Moreover, it is important to visually and verbally reinforce the brand name with a full complement of brand elements (e.g., in addition to its name, Britannia uses the Britannia logo and its distinctive music to enhance its awareness in multiple ways). Although brand repetition increases the strength of the brand and thus its recognizability, improving recall of the brand requires linkages in memory to appropriate product categories or other situational purchase or consumption cues. In particular, to build awareness, it is often desirable to develop a slogan or jingle that creatively pairs the brand and the appropriate category or purchase or consumption cues (and, ideally the brand positioning as well, in

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terms of building a positive brand image). Additional use can be made of the other brand elements- logos, symbols, characters, and packaging. The manner by which the brand and its corresponding product category are paired (e.g., with an advertising slogan) will be influential in determining the strength of the product category links. For brands with strong category associations (e.g.Cadbury’s Chocolates), the distinction between brand recognition and recall may not matter much- consumers thinking of the category are likely to think of the brands. For brands that may not have the same level of initial category awareness (e.g., in competitive markets or when the brand is new to the category, eg. Hyundai Getz cars), it is more important to emphasize category links in the brand to the proper category or other relevant cues may become especially important over time of the product meaning of the brand changes (e.g., through brand extensions or mergers or acquisitions). In short-, brand awareness is created by increasing the familiarity of the brand through repeated exposure (for brand recognition) and strong associations with the appropriate product category or other relevant purchase or consumption cues (for brand recall). Brand Image A positive brand image is created by marketing programs that link strong, favourable, and unique associations to the brand in memory. Besides marketer- controlled sources of information, brand associations can also be created in a variety of other ways: by direct experience; from information communicated about the brand from the firm or other commercial or non- partisan sources (e.g., Consumer Reports or other media vehicles) and word of mouth; and by assumptions or inferences from the brand itself (e.g., its name or logo) or from the identification of the brand with a company, country, channel or distribution, or some particular person, place, or event. Marketers should recognize the influence of these other sources of information by both managing them as well as possible and adequately accounting for them in designing communication strategies. Strength of Brand Associations Making sure that associations are linked sufficiently strongly to the brand will depend on how the marketing program and other factors affect consumers’ brand experiences. Associations will vary in the strength of their connection to the brand node. Strength is a function of both the amount, or quantity, of processing that information receives as well as the nature, or quality, of that processing. The more deeply a person thinks about product information and relates it to existing brand knowledge, the stronger the resulting brand associations. Two factors facilitating the strength of association to any piece of information are the personal relevance of the information and the consistency with which this information is presented over time. The particular associations that are recalled and salient will depend not only on the strength

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of association, but also on the context in which the brand is considered and the retrieval cues that are present that can serve as reminders. Marketing communications programs attempt to create strong brand associations and recalled communication effects through a variety of means, such as using creative communications that cause consumers to elaborate on brand- related information and relate it appropriately to existing knowledge, exposing consumers to communications repeatedly over time, and ensuring that many retrieval cues are present as reminders. Favourability of Brand Associations Choosing which favourable and unique associations to link to the brand requires careful analysis of the consumer and competition to determine the optimal positioning for the brand. Favourable associations for a brand are those associations that are desirable to consumers and are successfully delivered by the product and conveyed by the supporting marketing program for the brand (e.g., such that the brand is seen as highly convenient, reliable, effective, efficient, colourful, and so on). In terms of desirability, how important or valued is the image association to the brand attitudes and decisions made by consumers? Desirability depends on three factors: (1) how relevant consumers find the brand association, (2) how distinctive consumers find the brand association, and (3) how believable consumers find the brand association? Creating a favourable association also requires that the firm be able to deliver on the desired association. In terms of deliverability, the main question is, what would be the cost or investment necessary and the length of time involved to create or change the desired association(s)? Deliverability also depends on three factors: (1) the actual or potential ability of the product to perform, (2) the current or future prospects of communicating that performance, and (3) the sustainability of the actual and communicated performance over time. Uniqueness of Brand Associations Brand associations may or may not be shared with other competing brands. The essence of brand positioning is that the brand has a sustainable competitive advantage or “unique selling proposition” that gives consumers a compelling reason why they should buy that particular brand. These differences may be communicated explicitly by making direct comparisons with competitors, or may be highlighted implicitly without stating a competitive point of reference. Furthermore, they may be based on product- related or non- product- related attributes or benefits. In fact, in many categories, non- product related attributes, such as user type or usage situation, might more easily create unique associations (e.g., the rugged western image of Marlboro cigarettes or the rebellious nature of Axe deodorants). The existence of strongly held, favourably evaluated associations that are unique to the brand and imply superiority over other brands is critical to a brand’s success. Yet, unless the brand faces no competitions, it will most

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likely share some associations with other brands. Shared associations can help to establish category membership and define the scope of competition with other products and services. Research on non-comparable alternatives suggests that even if a brand does not face direct competition in its product category, and thus does not share product-related attributes with other brands, it can still share more abstract associations and face indirect competition in a more broadly defined product category. Thus, although a railroad may not compete directly with another railroad, it still competes indirectly with other forms of transportation, such as airlines, cars, and buses. A maker of educational CD- ROM products may be implicitly competing with all other forms of education and entertainment, such as books, videos, television, and magazines. For these reasons, branding principles are now being used to market a number of different categories as a whole- for example, banks, furniture, carpets, bowling, and trains, to name just a few. A product or service category can also be characterized by a set of associations that includes specific beliefs about any member in the category, as well as overall attitudes toward all members in the category. Those beliefs might include many of the relevant product- related attributes for brands in the category, as well as more descriptive attributes that do not necessarily relate to product or service performance (e.g., the colour of a product, such as red for ketchup). Because the brand is linked to the product category, some category associations may also become linked to the brand, either in terms of specific beliefs or overall attitudes. Product category attitudes can be a particularly important determinant of consumer response. For example, if a consumer thinks that all brokerage houses are basically greedy and that brokers are in it for themselves, then he or she probably will have similarly unfavourable beliefs about and negative attitude toward any particular brokerage house simply by virtue of its membership in the category. Thus, in almost all cases, some product category associations that are linked to the brand will also be shared with other brands in the category. Note that the strength of the brand associations to the product category is an important determinant of brand awareness. Thus, it is important to associate unique, meaningful points of difference to the brand to provide a competitive advantage and “reason why “ consumers should buy it. For some brand associations, however, consumers only need to view them at least as favourably as competitors. That is, it may be sufficient that some brand associations are seen as roughly equal in favourability with competing brand associations, so that they function as points of parity in consumers’ minds to negate potential points of difference for competitors. In other words, these associations are designed to provide “no reason why not” for consumers to choose the brand. Assuming that other brand associations are evident as points of difference, more favourable brand evaluations and a greater likelihood of choice should then result.

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Neither all brand associations will be deemed important and viewed favourably by consumers, nor will they equally valued across different purchase or consumption situations. Moreover, not all brand associations will be relevant and valued in a purchase or consumption decision. The evaluations of brand associations may be situation- or context- dependent and vary according to the particular goals that consumers have in that purchase or consumption decision. An association may be valued in one situation but not another.

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CHAPTER 3

BRAND POSITIONING

Brand Positioning Brand positioning is at the heart of marketing strategy. Kotler defines brand positioning as the ”act of designing the company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customer’s minds. “ Thus, positioning, as the name implies, involves finding the proper “location” in the minds of a group of consumers or market segment so that they think about a product or service in the “right” or desired way. Positioning is all about identifying the optimal location of a brand and its competitors in the minds of consumers to maximize potential benefit to the firm. A good brand positioning helps to guide marketing strategy by clarifying what a brand is all about, how it is unique and how it is similar to competitive brands, and why consumers should purchase and use the brand. Positioning is more akin to a ‘frame of reference’ that we are creating for the brand. It is a platform, or space that the brand occupies, which ultimately lodges in the consumer’s mind. Hence, it follows directly from the powerful consumer insights derived, and leads to the development of a sharper brand identity.

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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Deciding on a positioning requires determining that frame of reference by identifying the target market, the nature of competition, and ideal points-of-difference and the ideal points-of-parity in their brand associations. In other words, it is necessary to decide (1) who the target consumer is, (2) who the main competitors are, (3) how the brand is different from these competitors and (4) how the brands is similar to these competitors.

(1) Target Market Identifying the target consumer market is important because different consumers may have different brand knowledge structures and thus different perceptions and preferences for the brand. Without this understanding, it may be difficult to be able to state which brand associations should be strongly held, favourably and uniquely. A number of considerations are important in defining and segmenting a market and choosing target market segments. A market is a set of all actual and potential buyers who have sufficient interest in, income for, and a access to a product. In other words, a market consists of all consumers with sufficient motivation, ability, and opportunity to buy a product. Market segmentation involves dividing the market into distinct groups of homogenous consumers who have similar needs and consumer behavior and thus require similar marketing mixes. Defining a market segmentation plan involves tradeoffs between costs and benefits. The more finely segmented the market is, the greater the likelihood that the firm will be able to implement market programs that meet the needs of consumers in any one segment. The advantage of a more positive consumer response from a customized marketing program, however, can be offset by the greater costs from a lack of standardization.

(2) Nature of Competition It is difficult to disentangle target market decisions from decisions concerning the nature of competition for the brand because they are often so closely related. In other words, deciding to target a certain type of consumer often, at least implicitly, defines the nature of competition because certain firms have also decided to target that segment in the past (or plan to do so in the future) or because consumers in that segment already may look to certain brands in their purchase decisions. Other issues can be raised, however, in defining the nature of competition and deciding which products and brands are most likely to be seen as close substitutes. For example, the nature of competition may depend on the channels of distribution chosen. Competitive analysis considers a whole host of factors – including the resources,

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capabilities, and likely intentions of various other firms – to choose markets where consumers can be profitably serviced One lesson stressed by many marketing strategists is not to be narrow in defining competition. Often competition may occur at the benefit level rather than the attribute level. Thus, a luxury good with a strong hedonic benefit (e.g., segment D car) may compete as much with a vacation as with other durable goods (e.g., furniture).

Points of Parity and Points of Difference Once the appropriate competitive frame of reference for positioning has been fixed by defining the customer target market and nature of competition, the basis of the positioning itself can be defined. Arriving at the proper positioning requires establishing the correct points-of-difference and points-of-parity associations.

(3) Points-of-Difference Associations Points of Difference (PODs) should be strong, favorable, and unique brand associations for the brand. They may be based on virtually any type of attribute or benefit association. All that ultimately matters for an attribute or benefit association to become a point of difference is that it becomes a strong, favorable, and unique association in the minds of consumers. That is, PODs are attributes or benefits that consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe that they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand. Although a myriad of different types of brand associations are possible candidates to become points of difference, brand associations can be broadly classified in terms of either functional, performance- related considerations or abstract, imagery- related considerations. The concept of PODs has much in common with several other well – known market concepts. For example, it is similar to the notion of unique selling proposition (USP), a concept pioneered by Rosser Reeves and the Ted Bates advertising agency in the 1950s. The original idea behind USP was that advertising should give consumers a compelling reason to buy a product that competitors could not match. With this approach, the emphasis in designing ads was placed on communicating a distinctive, unique product benefit (i.e., the ad message or claims) and not on the ad-creative benefit (i.e., the ad created or executed). In other words, USP emphasized what was said in an ad as opposed to how it was said. As a result, ads single-mindedly hammered the key consumer benefit.

Consumers’ actual brand choices often depend on the perceived uniqueness of brand associations. Creating strong, favourable, and unique associations is a real challenge to marketers, but essential in terms of competitive brand positioning. Points of difference may involve

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performance attributes (e.g., the fact that Britannia singles cheese has 1 glass of milk) or performance benefits (e.g., the fact that Whirlpool refrigerators announce their fast cooling features). In other cases, PODs involve imagery associations (e.g., the western imagery of Marlboro cigarettes). Many top brands attempt to create a point of difference on ”overall superior qaulity,” whereas a positioning strategy adopted by a number of other firms is to create a point of difference for their brands as the “low- cost provider” of a prodcut or service. Thus, a host of different types of PODs are possible.

(4) Points- of- Parity Associations. Points of parity (POPs), on the other hand, are those associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands. These types of associations come in two basic forms: category and competitive . Category points of parity are those associations that consumers view as being necessary to be a legitimate and credible offering within a certain product or service category. In other words, they represent necessary – but not necessarily sufficient- conditions for brand choice. These attribute associations are minimally at the generic product level and most likely at the expected product level. Thus, consumers might not consider a bank truly a “bank “ unless it offered a range of checking and savings plans; provided safety deposit boxes, travelers checks, and other such services; had convenient hours and automated teller machines; and so forth. Category POPs may change over time because of technological advances, legal developments, and changes in customer needs, but the attributes and benefits that function as category POPs can be seen as the “green fees” to play the marketing game. Note that category POPs become especially critical when a brand launches a brand extension into a new category. In fact, the more dissimilar the extension category, the more important is to make sure that category POPs are sufficiently well established . The implications of this realization for the introductory marketing program for an extension are clear. In many cases, consumers might have a clear understanding of the extension’s intended point of difference by virtue of its use of an existing brand name. Where consumers often need reassurance, however, and what should often be the focus of the marketing program, is whether the extension also has the necessary points of parity.

Competitive points-of-parity associations are those associations designed to negate competitors’ points of difference. In other words, if in the eyes of consumers, the brand association designed to be the competitor’s point of difference (e.g., a product benefit of some type ) is as strongly held for the target brand as for comeptitor’s brands and the target brand is able to establish another association as strong, favorable, and unique as part of its point of difference, then the target brand should be in a superior competitive position. In short, if a brand

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can “break even” in those areas where their competitors are trying to find an advantage and can achieve advantages in some other areas, the brand should be in a strong - and perhaps unbeatable – competitive position.

Points of Parity versus Points of Difference

To achive a point of parity on a particular attribute or benefit, a sufficient number of consumers must believe that a brand is “good enough” on that dimension . There is a “zone” or “range of tolerance or acceptance” with POPs. It does not have to be the case that the brand is literally seen as equal to competitors, but consumers must feel that the brand does sufficiently well on that particular attribute or benefit so that they do not do not consider it to be a negative or a problem. Assuming consumers feel that way, they may often be willing to base their evaluations and decisions on other factors. Points of parity are thus easier to achieve than points of difference, where the brand must demonstrate clear superiority.

Often, the key to positioning is not so much in acheieving a point of difference as in achieving necessary of competitive points of parity.

Positioning Guidelines

The concepts of points of difference and points of parity can be inavluable tools to guide positioning. A number of considerations come into play in conducting positioning analysis and deciding on the desired PODs and POPs and the resulting brand image. Two key issues in arriving at the optimal competitive brand positioning are (1) defining and communicating the

Healthy

Refined Oil

Food

Little Kid- Cartwheels

Yellow

Fitness

Heart Attack

SUNDROP

SAFFOLA

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competitive frame of reference and (2) choosing and establishing points of parity and points of difference.

1. Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame of Reference

A starting point in defining a competitive frame of reference for a brand positioning is to detrmine category memebrship.Membership indicates the products or sets of products with which a brand competes. Choosing to compete in different categories often results in different competitive frames of reference and thus different POPs and PODs.

Communicating category membership informs the consumer about the goals that they might achieve by using a product or service. For highly established products and services, category membership is not a focal issue. Target customers are aware that Coca-Cola is a leading brand of soft-drink, that Kellogg’s Corn Flakes is a leading brand of cereal.

There are many situations, however, in which it is important to inform consumers of a brand’s category membership. Perhaps the most obvious situation is the introduction of new products, where the category membership is not always apparent. This uncertainty can be especially true for high- tech products. Brands are sometimes affiliated with categories in which they do not hold membership rather than with the one in which they do. This approach is a variable way to highlight a brand’s point of difference from competitor’s, provided that consumers know the brand’s actual membership. The preferred approach to positioning is to inform consumers of a brand’s membership before stating its point difference in relation to other category members. Presumably, consumers need to know what a product is and what function it serves prior to assessing whether it dominates the brands against which it competes. For new products, separate marketing programs are generally needed to inform consumers of membership and to educate them about a brand’s point of difference. For brands with limited resources, this implies the development of a marketing strategy that establishes category membership prior to one that states a point of difference. Brands with greater resources can develop concurrent marketing programs in which one features membership and the other the point of difference. Efforts to inform consumers of membership and points of difference in the same ad, however, are often not effective. There are three main ways to convey brand’s category membership: communicating category benefits, comparing to exemplars, and relying on the product descriptor. To reassure consumers that a brand will deliver on the fundamental reason for using a category, benefits are frequently used to announce category membership. Thus, industrial motors might claim to have power, and analgesics might announce their efficacy in reducing pain. These benefits are presented in a manner that does not imply brand superiority but merely notes

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that the brand possesses these properties as a means to establish category POPs. To provide supporting rationale so that consumers believe that a brand has the benefits that imply membership in a category, performance and imagery associations can be used. An Ready to Eat packaged food brand might attain membership in the Ready to Eat category by claiming the benefit of great taste and might support this benefit claim by possessing high – quality ingredients (performance) or by showing users delighting in its consumption (imagery). 2. Choosing Points of Parity and Points of Difference Points of parity are driven by the needs of category membership (to create category POPs) and the necessity of negating competitors’ PODs (to create competitive POPs). In terms of choosing points of difference, broadly, the two most important considerations are that consumers find the POD desirable and believe that the firm has the capabilities to deliver on it. If both of these considerations are satisfied, the POD has the potential to become a strong, favorable, and unique brand association. 3. Establishing Points of Parity and Points of Difference Creating a strong, competitive brand positioning requires establishing the right points of parity and points of difference. The difficulty in doing so, however, is that many of the attributes or benefits that make up the POPs or PODs are negatively correlated. That is, if consumers mentally rate the brand highly on one particular attribute or benefit, they also rate it poorly on another important attribute. For example, it might be difficult to position a brand as “inexpensive” and at the same time assert that it is “of the highest quality.” Moreover, individual attributes and benefits often have positive and negative aspects. For example, consider a long - lived brand that is seen as having a great deal of heritage. Heritage could be seen as a positive attribute because it can suggest experience, wisdom, and expertise. On the other hand, it could also be easily seen as a negative attribute because it might imply being old – fashioned and not contemporary and cutting – edge. Unfortunately, consumers typically desire to maximize both of the negatively correlated attributes and benefits. The challenge is that competitors often are trying to achieve their point of difference on an attribute that is negatively correlated with the point of difference of the target brand. The best approach clearly is to develop a product or service that performs well on both dimensions. Thus, the ability of BMW to establish their straddle-positioning image of “luxury and performance” was due in large part to product design and the fact that the car was considered both luxurious and high – performance. Separate the Attributes An expensive but sometimes effective approach is to launch two different marketing campaigns, each one devoted to a different brand attribute or benefit. These campaigns may either run concurrently or sequentially. For example, Head and Shoulders met success in Europe with a dual campaign in which one ad emphasized its dandruff removal efficacy

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while another ad emphasized the appearance and beauty of hair after its use. The hope is that consumers will be less critical when judging the POP and POD benefits in isolation because the negative correlation must be less apparent. The downside to such an approach is that two strong campaigns have to be developed – not just one. Moreover, by not addressing the negative correlation head – on, consumers may not develop as positive associations as desired. Leverage Equity of Another Entity The brand can “borrow” or leverage the equity of well – known and well – liked celebrities to lend credibility to one of the negatively correlated benefits. Brands can potentially link themselves to any kind of entity that possesses the right kind of equity – a person, other brands, event, and so forth –as means to establish an attribute or benefit as a POP or POD. Self – branded ingredients may also lend some credibility to a questionable attribute in consumers’ minds. Borrowing equity, however, is neither costless nor riskless. Redefine the Relationship Finally, another potentially powerful but often-difficult way to address the negative relationship between attributes and benefits in the minds of consumers are to convince them in fact that the relationship is positive. This redefinition can be accomplished by providing consumers a different perspective and suggesting that they may be overlooking or ignoring certain factors or other considerations. 4. Upgrading Positioning over Time The previous section described some positioning guidelines that are especially useful for launching a new brand. With established brands, competitive forces often dictate shifts in positioning strategy over time. Updating positioning involves two main issues. The first is how to deepen the meaning of the brand to tap into core brand values or other, more abstract considerations (laddering). The second is how to respond to competitive challenges that threaten an existing positioning (reacting). Laddering Although identifying PODs to dominate competition on benefits that are important to consumers provides a sound way to build an initial position, once the target market attains a basic understanding of how the brand relates to alternatives in the same category, it may be necessary to deepen the meanings associated with the brand.

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CHAPTER 4

BRAND IDENTITY

Brand Identity In the previous section, we have defined Brand Positioning and its role in brand strategy. Brand Positioning is the first step that a brand should take in order to define its ‘frame of reference’ for the consumer. Hence, it needs to clearly identify the target consumer, competitors, points of parity and points of difference that a brand should maintain. Metaphorically speaking, brand positioning is defining the outer framework or boundary for the brand in question. It is like giving the outline boundary on a canvas. What you eventually paint on a campus can be defined as the actual character or identity of the brand, which will be discussed next. The Oxford dictionary’ defines identity as “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is;” “the characteristics determining this.” The concept of identity has been widely used n the context of humans. Identity card is particularly employed as a devise to establish the identity of the owner. It describes who the person is. Military history is replete with instances where

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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spies were sent to enemy territories to uncover battle plans and dig enemy strengths by camouflaging their identities. They attempted to establish in the enemy’s territories what they were not – by adopting their dresses, accents, languages, mannerisms, etc. The key consideration to their success was how effectively they established what they were not. The whole establishment of spying is based on a critical understanding of who you are – the real identity and what you want to be perceived as – the brand identity perceived by the perceiver. In other instances, the task is exactly opposite to what we have in spying endeavours. Now days, in offices, where a large number of people work, identity becomes an important issue. It is for the safety and proprietary reasons that only legitimate persons should be allowed to gain entry. Establishing what/who a person is can be done in a number of ways – dress, language, code, mannerism, identity card, palm scanning and other electronic mechanisms. Here, in these instances, the idea is to establish congruence between who you are (not, who you are not in spying) and whom you are perceived as. That is to eliminate the possible discrepancy, which may arise between whom, the person is – identity – and who he has been received as – decoded identity. The key to establishing correct identity lies in avoiding things, which may throw the decoded identity out of its intended realm, and thereby creating problems in gaining entry. Identity implies what a person or thing is. Appreciation of this is critical because it draws a separating line as to what a person or thing is not. Accordingly it is easier to determine what is ‘in’ and ‘in ’sync’ with the identity and what is not. Many a times decision-makers responsible for steering the brand do not have any idea as to what the brand is. The result – they end up taking decisions, which impact the brand adversely for they, lack ideas about what is legitimate and what works in the interest of the brand. Consider the following: � Cinthol, once a very powerful brand has been subjected to several

damages because of typical mistakes that brand managers committed. It is the absence of understanding, may be, about what the brand is that has led to the present situation. The soap was initially positioned as containing a deodorizing agent, which would boost the confidence of the user. In the first moves, Cinthol changed its track and went on to acquire a masculine image with up market hero/hunk user profile. The brand ambassadors hired for the job were Imran Khan, Vinod Khanna and later Akshay Khanna. As usually happens, the brand got entangled with HLL’s rival Liril. It is the rising popularity of Liril that forced Godrej to position its Cinthol head on with Liril as a ‘freshness’ soap with lime associations. In fact the brand communications depicted a slice of lime and a water fall which were very similar to those conveyed by Liril for years. If one removed the brand name from the advertisements and television commercials it would have been near impossible to identity the true sponsor. The brand further saw a spate of extensions – Cinthol Cologne, Cinthol Lime, Cinthol International. The focus shifted from brand user to brand ingredients and attributes. It seems, that the brand suffered because of the absence of a charter-

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guiding brand decisions. The actions of the managers have left the brand weak and vulnerable.

� Limca reigned the undisputed ruler of the lime drink market for decades.

The slogan “Lime’ n Lemoni Limca…” clearly focused on the unique lemon taste. The thick cloudy drink formulation gave customers the taste they preferred. The result, it always out competed its rival, mainly Campa Lemon flavour with a great margin. But in the last couple of years frequent tinkering with the brand position has rendered the brand weak. From ‘Lime and Lemoni…’Limca went on to focus on thirst to suggest itself as a great thirst quencher. The brand communication stressed on isotonic salts the drink contained to offer better thirst quenching properties than the other brands. Then came the ’take it easy’ campaigns depicting funny adult situations. During the last couple of years, the brand has not been adequately supported by adequate media spending. The result, Limca from being a leader has been reduced to a brand very few people ask for. May be it is the only earlier loyal customers who reach out to the brand nostalgically to taste the ’Lime and Lemoni’ flavour.

� Bata for Indian middle class consumers meant shoes that last. It has

unique value for money position firmly etched in consumer’s mind. Like many other brands, Bata also took severe beating when brand stewards took decisions, which did not match with the brand’s core spirit. In the late eighties and early nineties, Bata brand began to alienate from its core when management began to stretch the brand upwards. The result, Bata shoes began to be adorned with brands, which displayed price tags not within the reach of its core customers. The much hyped ‘European Collection’ ‘Hush Puppies’ and ‘Marie Claire’ ‘Julio’, ‘Westminster’ range gave a shock to the typical Bata buyers. While the high price customers never made Bata shoe stores their destination. For them Bata still meant an ordinary men’s shoe. The result, the brand began to disenchant its current customers while the premium shoe buyer was never charmed by the Bata name. It is only lately that Bata has reverted back to its core by launching shoes with rubber soles and the ‘Bata Gold’ ranges in order to reaffirm its commitment to value for money and durability proposition. Now Bata is beginning to secure and hold over its intended customers.

Brands are the connecting links between the marketers and the customers. But this connection often suffers at the hands of so called people responsible for steering the brands. The lack of vision, competitive pressure and often short – term orientation drive brand marketing efforts. Larry Light once observed, “Brands do not have to die. They can be murdered. And marketing Dracula’s is draining the very lifeblood away from brands. Brands are being bargained, belittled, and battered.” The wounds are inflicted on brands by reckless decision. Brands suffer on account of: � Brand campaigns, which do not carry through in an unchanging core,

which must remain permanent. For instance the waterfall and Liril girl is inseparable from what Liril is all about.

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� Brand sponsoring event, which does not go with its essence. Many a times a highly exclusive brand may associate itself with popular sport or event to gain awareness or recall as a short- term goal.

� Excessive reliance on promotions and price discounting. � A brand may choose someone as an ambassador who does not fit with the

overall brand architecture. � Blind line extensions to secure temporary gains in market by cashing in on

market shifts and trends.

� Pushing the brand beyond its legitimate territory by brand extensions. For instance, Pond’s once tried unsuccessfully to extend their brand name into the toothpaste market.

At the root of such decision-making is usually is lack of appreciation of what a brand is – what is its identity. Hence, what is within legitimate scope and what is not is important. The only way a synchronization in marketing efforts could be achieved is by developing a statement about brand identity. Brand identity would provide guidance and direction to brand managers. It would demotivate brand managers into doing things, which may boost on brand’s short – term performance at the cost of its long - term health. Aaker defines brand identity as “a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organisation members.” What a brand stands for is a crucial question. It determines the basis on which a brand seeks to create a relationship with customers. At its core lies the value proposition. What is its unique focus? How does it differ from the rest in the class? Brand identity is an insider’s concept. That is, crucial decisions are for the brand manager to make. The public façade of identity is brand image. Brand image is the decoded version of brand identity. Brand managers first ideally define identity involving difficult questions about a brand’s essence, soul, values, and visions. It is not a tactical task. It is a strategic exercise. The purpose is to spell out the brand’s domain. What is it that it seeks out to perform and achieve externally in the customer’s life? What are compelling reasons embodied in its essence that would attract customers in spite of a large number of apparently ’me too’ brands in the category? What are its bonding agents? In the current times of easy resource availability and barrier free marketing environment it is much easier to create products. In fact, most of the new launches in many marketing areas prima facie appear to be brand launches but a closer examination reveals the truth to the contrary. The products by compulsion arrive in the market place with a name but they carry a hollow centre. These launches tend to be limited to product level of a

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brand. That is, the managers at the backside in their companies do not seem to have a clear idea about brand identity. What are the qualitative and epistemological aspects of brand? What is its philosophical core? What is its mission and where is it going? What are the competitive struggles and pressures to survive which force firms to get into reactionary marketing? The competitor moves are copied without paying much attention to reason and logic. The result is a barrage of brand launches without identities. The key sign of this is the creation of a plethora of marginal brands that start their life at the product shelf at a retailer’s outlet and continue to vegetate for long periods. The process is quite similar to human existence. Procreation adds millions to the world’s population but very few make a mark, while the rest remain as a faceless crowd. The people who have made a mark in human history are the ones who had a firm grip on their identity – who they were and what their mission was. A brand is a mission of its creator. It is very rare that a brand could be created without a mission. What does this mission signify? It is what lies at the core of the brand. Consider an unbranded cigarettes and a pack of Marlboro. What does the brand add to the product? It is something which can be called ‘Marlboro – ness’. In a similar vein take the case of a heavy motorcycle and a similar bike with the Harley name on it. Immediately, the product is transformed. It acquires a large meaning. The brand has added ‘Harley - ness’. It is this ‘ness’ that is at the heart of the brand identity system. The brand creator is one who has an idea about this ‘ness’, which forces him/her to create the brand. A brand without this just cannot break away from product boundaries. All the powerful brands of the world possess this unique ’- ness’ which forms the fundamental basis of brand relationships with the customers. The development of the brand’s unique’ – ness’ needs confronting many fundamental questions/issues. These issues define brand identity for the people behind the brand. The conceptual clarity must be achieved with respect to what the brand’s spiritual centre is? With what missions the brand has come into existence? What is its long - term vision? What are the key values that epitomise the brand? What is its legitimate territory? What the entire brand can become and what all it cannot? What are its essential truths? The identity serves to guide all brand-related efforts. It is a blueprint for action for brand stewards. It is the brand identity that makes the fundamental difference. The identity “is a brand’s DNA configuration, a particular set of brand elements, blended in a unique way, which determines how that brand will be perceived in the marketplace.” In the world of communication many a times confusion prevails around the concept of brand identity and image. Brand identity concerns the strategic and more core issue of what the brand is. It is the driver of marketing efforts including product launches, extensions, and communications. All these acts are essentially brand expressions. The brand manifests its identity in these behaviours. External signs of brand – product, symbols, visual images, communication, etc., - all have their roots in brand identity. They all emanate from one single source. Identity is something that precedes all this. It essentially deals with what is to be communicated, portrayed or expressed. It

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is signified. The visible actions/efforts that generally keep people busy are essentially signifiers. Appreciation of the difference between the signified and signifier is what differentiates effective brand navigation from the ineffective one. Most of the times, people responsible for brand management are just able to touch the periphery and get trapped in the maze of less strategic issues concerning brand management. This can be observed by examining how firms manage campaigns. Many a times brand campaigns change. But along with them the brand’s core is also torn and changed. Nothing gets carried over from old to new campaigns. In fact if the campaigns are intended to promote the same brand, something must remain constant. The epicentre or brand’s essence must not change. The campaign change my permit freedom in message and media tactics, but the brand essence or identity which inspires the campaigns must remain constant, otherwise it could easily destroy what is intended as a brand and what is received by the market as a brand. The brand managers would not resort to subjective notions while providing briefs to client servicing from the advertising agencies. Thus people in custody of a brand may change, but still continuity could be maintained. The best example of continuity is observable in the brand McDonald’s. The brand is sold all over the world in different countries with highly heterogeneous social and cultural environment. Since the brand has to connect with a diverse set of audience like Chinese to French to Americans to Indians, it does not completely give in to change. The communication execution does differ from one country to another, yet the essence of is left untouched. The brand is a great puller all over the world. This is the beauty of brand identity. The concept of brand identity has been theorized to a great extent. Several academicians and brand scholars have developed highly specialized models to understand and articulate brand meaning to a product. Here, let me explain two of the most popular models/views of thinking on brand identity, i.e. David Aaker’s Brand Identity Model and Jean Noel Kapferrer’s Brand Identity Prism. The Brand Identity Planning Model of David Aaker The brand identity planning model provides a tool to understand, develop, and use the brand identity construct. In addition to the brand identity itself, it includes two other strategic brand components, (i) the strategic brand analysis and (ii) the brand identity implementation system, which are discussed next.

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BRAND IDENTITY PLANNING MODEL- DAVID AAKER

Essence

Core

Extended

Brand as Product

Product Scope

Product Attributes Quality/Value

Uses/Users Country of origin

Brand as Organisation

Organisation Attributes Local v/s Global

Brand as Person

Personality

Brand as Symbol Visual imagery and metaphors

Credibility

Brand-Customer Relationship

Customer Analysis

Trends Motivation Unmet needs Segmentation

Competitor Analysis

Brand Image/Identity Strengths/Strategies Vulnerabilities Positioning

Self Analysis

Existing brand image Brand heritage Strengths/Strategies Organisation values

STRATEGIC BRAND ANALYSIS

BRAND IDENTITY SYSTEMS

Value Proposition Functional Emotional Self-Expressive

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Strategic Brand Analysis To be effective, a brand identity needs to resonate with customers, differentiate the brand from competitors, and represent what the organization can and will do over time. Thus the strategic brand analysis helps the manager to understand the customer, the competitors, and the brand itself (including the organization behind the brand). The customer analysis must get beyond what customers say to what lies underneath what they do. Creative qualitative research is often useful toward this end. Another challenge is to develop a segmentation scheme that can drive strategy. To do this, the manager must discover which segmentation variables have real leverage and understand the size and dynamics of each segment. The competitor analysis examines current and potential competitors to make sure that the strategy will differentiate the brand and that communication programs will break away from the clutter in a meaningful way. Studying competitor strengths and strategies as well as positions can also provide insight into the brand-building task. The self-analysis identifies whether the brand has the resources, the capability, and the will to deliver. The analysis needs to uncover strengths, limitations, strategies, and values of the organization that is creating the brand. Ultimately, a successful brand strategy needs to capture the soul of the brand, and this soul resides in the organization. Brand Identity The figure provides an overview of brand identity and its related constructs. Note that there are twelve categories of brand identity elements organized around four perspectives – the brand as product (product scope, product attributes, quality/value, use experience, users, country of origin), organization (organizational attributes, local versus global), person (brand personality, customer-brand relationships), and symbol (visual imagery/metaphors and brand heritage). Although each category has relevance for some brands, virtually no brand has associations in all twelve categories. Note also that the brand identity structure includes an essence, a core identity, and extended identity. A good brand essence statement does not merely string a set of core identity phrases together into a sentence, since this would provide little value beyond the core identity. Instead, it provides a slightly different perspective while still capturing much of what the brand stands for. The brand essence can be viewed as the glue that holds the core identity elements together, or as the hub of a wheel linked to all of the core identity elements.

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The brand essence should have several characteristics. It should resonate with customers and drive the value proposition. It should be ownable, providing differentiation from competitors that will persist through time. And it should be compelling enough to energize and inspire the employees and partners of the organization. (Even an understatement such as “It simply works better” or “Take a different road”, however, can be inspirational to those who take it seriously and recognize its challenge.) Strong brand essence statements usually have multiple interpretations that make them re effective. For Nike the brand essence might be “Excelling,” which could encompass such diverse components of the Nike identity as technology, top athletes, aggressive personalities, the track shoe heritage, and sub brands like Air Jordan, as well as customers who strive to excel. For American Express, “Do more” expresses the thrust of the organization that walks the extra mile, a product set that offers more than competitors, and a customer base that is not satisfied with a conventional lifestyle but engages in more and different activities. The brand essence is distinct from a tagline. When searching for a brand essence, it is counterproductive to evaluate candidates on whether they would make good tagline. A brand essence represents the identity, and one of its key functions to communicate and energize those inside the organization. In sharp contrast, the tagline represents the brand position (for communication goals), and its function is to communicate with the external audience. A brand essence should be timeless or at least expected to be relevant for a long time period, while a tagline may have a limited life. Further, a brand essence is likely to be relevant across markets and products, whereas a tagline is more likely to have a confined arena. Though it might seem efficient to have a brand essence statement that also functions as a tagline, insisting that statement candidates meet both criteria as diverting at best (and counterproductive at worst). Typically, the core brand identity will require from six to twelve dimensions in order to adequately describe the brand’s aspiration. Because such a large set is unwieldy, it is helpful to provide focus by identifying the core identity (the most important elements of the brand identity). All dimensions of the core identity should reflect the strategy and values of the organization, and at least one association should differentiate the brand and resonate with customers. The core identity is most likely to remain constant as the brand travels to new markets and products – if customers perceive the brand according to the core identity, the battle is won. The core identity usually has two to four dimensions that compactly summarize the brand vision. It often is useful, however, to provide even more focus by creating a brand essence: a single thought that captures the soul of the brand. In some cases, it is not feasible or worthwhile to develop a brand essence, but in others it can be a powerful tool.

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The extended brand identity includes all of the brand identity elements that are not in the core, organized into meaningful groupings. Often the core identity is a terse description of the brand, and this terseness can generate ambiguity; as a result, brand implementation decisions benefit from the texture and completeness provided by the extended identity. Moreover, there are useful elements of the extended identity (such as the brand personality and a specification of what the brand is not) that do not usually fit comfortably into the core identity. Brand Identity Prism of Jean Noel Kapferrer The Prism of Identity A six – sided prism may represent brand identity diagrammatically:

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BRAND IDENTITY PRISM- KAPFERRER

Personality Physique

Relationship

Culture

Reflection Self-Image

PICTURE OF SENDER

PICTURE OF RECEIVER

EXTERNALISATION INTERNALISATION

EXTERNALISATION

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Physique A brand first has a physique – a combination of independent characteristics, which may be either prominent (springing readily to mind when the brand is mentioned) or dormant (though nevertheless distinguishable). Cadbury’s chocolate evokes the picture of foil wrapped chocolate in a distinct purple and white wrapper. Ford Ikon car spells out superior performance and energy, Whirlpool Air Conditioner talks about ultra fast cooling etc. Physique is the brand basis. Taking the analogy of a flower stem, without the stem the flower dies – it is its independent tangible support. This is the traditional basis of communication, corresponding to brand know-how and standard positioning. It derives its features from certain key or prominent attributes of the brand. Physique is a necessity, but not, of itself, sufficient, forming only the first stage in brand construction. Personality A brand has a personality. It acquires a character. If, as often happens we identify the brand with a person, we gradually form a picture of that person by the way in which he speaks of products or services. Raymond is a distinguished well-groomed man. Pepsi is a fun loving bubbly person. Dabur is a trustworthy, old and dependable person. Personality has been the brand focus since 1970. Numerous American agencies have made it a prerequisite in all communication campaigns. Ted Bates created a new USP (unique selling personality), while Grey Advertising gave its own definition of brand personality. The Euro- RSCG agency made physique and personality the two main pillars of all brand communication, and considered these as the source of its style. The easy way to bestow personality on a brand is to provide it with a spokesperson, a star, or an animal. It is restrictive to summarize the brand as simply having a physique and a character. As we shall see, power brands have further depths. Culture The brand has its own culture from which every product derives. The product is the physical embodiment and vector of this culture. Culture implies a system of values, a source of inspiration and brand energy. The cultural facet relates to the basic principles governing the brand in its outward signs (that is, products and communication). A deep - seated facet, it is the mainspring for the brand. Amul is a brand that symbolizes a freedom- liberating culture with a deep-rooted Indian philosophy. This culture becomes established not only in its products, but also inherently in its advertising style. Culture seems to both influence and infiltrate major brands (Beneton, Coca Cola, Adidas, etc.). Advertising strategy has neglected this essential facet in its insistence on mere personality. We shall see this when considering retailers’ identity, too: the leading retailers are those which have personality,

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but also a culture. Mercedes personifies German values, with order and strength prevailing. The three- box bodywork and overall symmetry characterize the brand’s physique, while the Mercedes symbol on the front is a further epitomization of order. Adidas is embedded in a collective culture, unlike Nike’s or Reebok’s highlighting of the virtues of individualism, Adidas linked to the values of collective sports (soccer, etc.). The cultural facet is an essential one. It has only recently come to the fore, coinciding with a realization of the link between brand and product. Cultural associations are evoked in brand countries of origin. In Coca Cola we see America, in IBM we see Wall Street, in Mitsubishi, we see Japan. A product such as Mars, however, has somewhat lost its apparent roots in becoming a totally international brand. The cultural facet provides the link between brand and firm, particularly when they bear the same name (e.g., IBM, Amul, Nestle). Its culture prevents Nestle from becoming regarded solely as a provider of mouth – watering delicacies. As a puritan and austere corporation it could not be otherwise; this would not do. A brand’s degree of freedom is largely dependent on the corporate culture, of which it becomes the most visible sign. Relationship A brand is a relationship. It often provides the opportunity for an intangible exchange between persons. This is particularly true of brands in the service sector and, as we shall later see, for retailers. The Axe brand name has an air of mischief – an underlying sensual man-woman relationship permeates both the products and their customer appeal, even though no personal presence may be evident. Dabur is clearly a grandparent, where as Pepsi is a friend. ICICI Bank is like a dependable trustworthy relation. Reflection A brand reflects a customers’ image. When asked for their views on such –and- such a make of car, the consumer’s immediate reaction is to think of the type of driver that it would most suit –youth, family man, executive or senior citizen. There is often a confusion between this reflection and a brand’s target. Target describes the brand’s potential purchasers or users. Reflection is not necessarily the target, but the image of that target which the brand offers to the public. It is a type of identification. Though its reflection is restrcited (young people), Pepsi has a much wider clientele. Such a paradox can be explained by adults’ identification with youth values. Similarily, Lux’s reflection could be beautiful glamourous women, but its target audience could be much wider setting aspirations for the larger target audience. The confusion between reflection and target still causes problems. Many advertising managers fail to realize that the public cannot be targeted in a simple, transparent way. This approach ignores the fact that the brand buyer

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does not want to be portrayed as he/she is, but as he/she wishes to be seen as a result of being an adept of a particular brand. Brands are used by consumers to build up and convey their own identity.They have an emblematic value in the eyes of the beholder. Thirty years ago, when David Ogilvy portrayed the man in the Hathaway shirt as a one – eyed man, a sort of Brirtish colonel who was injured at El Alamein, he did not mean that the Hathaway shirt target was this type of person. Similarly, not all persons wearing Lacoste shirts play tennis. Tennis is not the target market of Lacoste. It is its cultural root and a source of positive image for people buying the brand. Self-Image The sixth facet of brand identity is customers’ self- image. If reflection is the target’s outward mirror, the self – image is the internal miror. Through our attitude toward certain brands, we develop a certain type of inner relationship with ourselves. Many Tata Indigo owners, for example are upgraders from the standard B segment car. They are simply proving to themselves that they have the ability to buy a 3 box car. Such a purchase may be inconsistent with their career prospects, and to some extent, a gamble on their materialization. The brand, therefore, acts as an obligatory motive for boosting the self ego. The brand talks about ‘spoil yourself’ which is a massage to this individual’s ego. Even if he is not the sporting type, the man who buys a Nike sees himswelf inwardly as sporty and athletic. These are the six facets which define brand identity and its potential territory.The brand identity prism demonstrates that these facets form a structured whole. The content of one facet echoes that of another. The prism structure is derived from one basic concept- that the brand has a voice. A brand does not exist unless it communicates. It would decline in strength if allowed to remain silent and unused for too long. Since the brand has its own means of referrring – when speaking of the products which it encompasses, or endorsing the products which it promotes – it can therefore be analyzed like any communication. Rhetoric teaches us that speeches always convey a picture of the sender. Likewise the case with products or shops; their type of communication allows us to imagine who is speaking behind them –the sender. It is a figurative process in the sense that, in the case of the brand (as opossed to the firm’s direct voice.) the sender does not physically exist. Neverthless, customers, when asked, can immediately describe the brand’s communicator – the one who personifies the brand name. The physical and personality facets surround this figurative sender. In focus groups they imagine and describe Mr. Pepsi or Mr. Lacoste, the founder. Naturally they do not describe the real Mr. Lacoste, but the one constructed by the communication.

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Every form of comunication also points to the presence of a recipient, as if a certain type of person or audience were being addressed. The reflection and self – image facets surround this figurative recipient, who in turn form as part fo the brand identity. The final two facets – relationship and culture – are the bridging points between sender and recipient. The identity prism also incorporates a vertical division. The facets to its left – physique, relationship, and expression. All three are visible facets. The facets to the right – personality , culture, and self- image – are those incorporated within the brand itself within its spirit.

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CHAPTER 5

ARTICULATING BRAND IDENTITY

Articulating Brand Identity Having drawn out an identity for the brand, it is now essential to ‘express’ the identity appropriately. An identity otherwise is simply a set of words which are sometimes very intangible in nature. If not articulated correctly, they would risk not being understood at all. To articulate the identity, you could use an array of ‘brand elements’ such as name, logo, packaging, character, jingles, slogan etc. All these try and express the brand’s inner identity. In choosing brand elements, in general, there are six criteria one must adhere to. 1. Memorability 2. Meaningfulness 3. Likeability 4. Transferability 5. Adaptability 6. Protectability The first three criteria – memorability, meaningfulness, and likability – can be characterized as “brand building” in nature and concern how brand equity can be built through the judicious choice of a brand element. The latter three, however, are more “defensive” in nature and are concerned with how the

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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brand equity contained in a brand element can be leveraged and preserved in the face of different opportunities and constraints. The following sections briefly consider each of these general criteria. Memorability A necessary condition for building brand equity is achieving a high level of brand awareness. Toward that goal, brand elements can be chosen that are inherently memorable and therefore facilitate recall or recognition in purchase or consumption settings. In other words, the intrinsic nature of certain names, symbols, logos, and the like – their semantic content, visual properties, and so on. – may make them more attention getting and easy to remember and therefore contribute to brand equity. For example, naming a brand of food “Pilsbury” and reinforcing it with a doughboy as a mascot with a distinctive kitchen hat is likely to stick in the minds of consumers. Meaningfulness Besides choosing brand elements to build awareness, brand elements can also be chosen whose inherent meaning enhances the formulation of brand associations. Brand elements may take on all kinds of meaning, varying in descriptive, as well as persuasive content. Two particularly important dimensions or aspects of the meaning of a brand element are the extent to which they convey the general information about the product category and specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand. In terms of persuasive meaning, to what extent do the brand elements suggest something about the particular kind of product that the brand would likely be, for example, in terms of key attributes or benefits? Does it suggest something about a product ingredient or the type of person who might use the brand? Likeability The associations suggested by a brand element may not always be related to the product. Thus, brand elements can be chosen that are rich in visual and verbal imagery and inherently funny and interesting. Independent of its memorability and meaningfulness, how aesthetically appealing do consumers find the brand element? Is it inherently likeable, visually, verbally, and in other ways? In other words, independent of the particular product or service, how much would consumers like the brand element? In terms of these first three criteria, a memorable, meaningful and likeable set of brand elements offers many advantages. Because consumers often do not examine much information in making product decisions, it is often desirable that brand elements be easily recognized and recalled and inherently descriptive and persuasive. Moreover, memorable or meaningful brand names, logos, symbols, and so on reduce the burden on marketing

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communications to build awareness and link brand associations. The different associations that arise from the likeability and appeal of the brand elements also may play a critical role in the equity of a brand, especially when few other product-related associations exist. Often, the less concrete the possible product benefits are, the most important is the creative potential of the product of the brand name and other brand elements to capture intangible characteristics of a brand. Transferability The fourth general criterion concerns the transferability of the brand element – in both a product category and geographic coverage. First, to what extent can the brand element add to the brand equity of new products sharing the brand elements introduced, either within the product class or across product classes? In other words, how useful is the brand element for the line or category extensions? In general, the less specific the name, the more easily it can be transferred across categories. For example, ‘Lifestyle’ connotes an attitude or a way of life, and therefore as a brand can be appropriate for a variety of different types of products, whereas Shopper’s Stop obviously does not permit the same flexibility. Second, to what extent does the brand element add to brand equity across geographic boundaries and market segments? To a large extent this depends on the cultural content and linguistic qualities of the brand element. For example, one of the main advantages of non-meaningful names (e.g., Exxon) is that they translate well into other languages since they have no inherent meaning. The mistakes that even top companies have made in translating their brand names, slogans, and packages into other languages and cultures over the years have become legendary. Adaptability The fifth consideration concerns the adaptability of the brand element over time. Because of changes in consumer values and opinions or simply because of a need to remain contemporary, brand elements often must be updated over time. The more adaptable and flexible the brand element, the easier is to update it. For example, logos and characters can be given a new look or a new design to make them appear more modern and relevant. Protectability The sixth and final general consideration concerns the extent to which the brand element is protectable – both in a legal and competitive sense. In terms of legal considerations, it is important to (1) choose brand elements that can be legally protected on an international basis, (2) formally register them with the appropriate legal bodies, and (3) vigorously defend trademarks from unauthorized competitive infringement. The necessity of legally protecting the brand is dramatized by the billions of dollars in losses in the United States alone from unauthorized use of patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

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A closely related consideration is the extent to which the brand element is competitively protectable. Even if a brand element can be protected legally, it still may be the case that competitive actions can take away much of the brand equity provided by the brand elements themselves. If a name, package, or any other attribute is too easily copied much of the uniqueness of the brand may disappear. Options And Tactics For Brand Elements The value of choosing brand elements strategically to build brand equity can be seen by considering the advantages of having chosen “Apple” as the name for a personal computer. Apple was a simple but well–known word that was distinctive in the product category–factors facilitating the development of brand awareness. The meaning of the name also gave the company a “friendly shine” and warm brand personality. Moreover, the name could be reinforced visually with a logo that could easily transfer across geographic and cultural boundaries. Finally, the name could serve as a platform for sub brands (for example, as with the Macintosh), aiding the introduction of brand extensions. Thus, as the Apple example illustrates, the judicious choice of a brand name can make an appreciable contribution to the creation of brand equity. What would an ideal brand element be like? Consider brand names perhaps the most central of all brand elements. Ideally, a brand name would be easily remembered, highly suggestive of both the product class and the particular benefits that served as the basis of its positioning, inherently fun or interesting, rich with creative potential, transferable to a wide variety of product and geographic settings, enduring in meaning and relevant over time, and strongly protectable both legally and competitively. Unfortunately, it is difficult to choose a brand name – or any brand element, for that matter – that would satisfy all of these different criteria. For example, as noted earlier, the more meaningful the brand name, the more likely it is that the brand name will not be very transferable to other cultures due to translation problems. Moreover, brand names are generally less adaptable over time. Because it is virtually impossible to find one brand element that will satisfy all the choice criteria, multiple brand elements are typically employed. The following sections outlines in detail the major considerations for each type of brand element. The chapter concludes by discussing how to put all of this together to design a set of brand elements to build brand equity. Brand Names The brand name is a fundamentally important choice because it captures the central theme or key associations of a product in a very compact and economical fashion. Brand names can be an extremely effective shorthand means of communication. Whereas the time it takes consumers to comprehend marketing communications can range from a half a minute (for an advertisement) to potentially hours (for a sales call), the brand name can

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be noticed and its meaning registered or activated in memory within just a few seconds. The brand name becomes so closely tied to the product in the minds of consumers, that it becomes the most difficult brand element for marketers to subsequently change. Consequently, brand names are often systematically researched before being chosen. Logos and Symbols Although the brand name typically is the central element of the brand, visual brand elements often play a critical role in building brand equity, especially in terms of brand awareness. Logos have a long history as a means to indicate origin, ownership, or association. For example, families and countries have used logos for centuries to visually represent their names (for example, the Swastika used for the Nazis). There are many types of logos, ranging from corporate names or trademarks (that is, word marks) written in a distinctive form, on one hand, to entirely abstract logos, which may be completely unrelated to the word mark, corporate name, or corporate activities, on the other hand. Examples of brands with strong word marks (and no accompanying logo separates it from its name) include Coca–Cola, Kit–Kat. Examples of abstract logos include the Mercedes star, Nike swooshes, and the Olympic rings. These non–word mark logos are also often called symbols. Many logos fall between these two extremes. Often logos are devised as symbols to reinforce or embellish the brand meaning in some way. Some logos are literal representations of the brand name, enhancing brand awareness (for example, the Cadbury’s milk canisters, Red Cross, and Apple logos). Logos can be quite concrete or pictorial in nature (such as, Reliance logo, SBI logo). Certain elements of the product or company can become a symbol (for example, McDonald’s golden arches) The importance of logos and symbols can be seen from the results of a study that asked 150 consumers their impressions of companies based on their names alone and also when their logos were present. Clearly, logos have meaning and associations that change consumer perceptions of the company. Like brand names, logos can acquire associations through their inherent meaning as well as through the supporting marketing program. In terms of the inherent meaning, even fairly abstract logos can have different evaluations depending on the shapes involved. As with names, abstract logos can be quite distinctive and thus recognizable. Nevertheless, because abstract logos may lack the inherent meaning present with a more concrete logo, one of the dangers of an abstract logo is that consumers may not understand what the logo is intended to represent without a significant marketing initiative to explain its meaning. Characters

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Characters represent 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 these and subsequent ad campaigns and package designs. Like other brand elements, broad characters come in many different forms. Some brand characters are animated (for example, Pillsbury’s Fresh Doughboy, the Amul Moppet), whereas others are live-action figures (like the Marlboro Cowboy or Ronald McDonald) Brand characters can provide a number of brand equity benefits. Because they are often colourful and rich in imagery, they tend to be attention getting. Consequently, brand characters can be quite useful for creating brand awareness. Brand characters can help brands break through the marketplace clutter as well as help to communicate a key product benefit. Slogans Slogans are short phrases that communicate descriptive or persuasive information about the brand. Slogans often appear in advertising but can play an important role on packaging and in other aspects of the marketing program. For example, “Hungry Kya?” for Dominoes Pizza or “Thanda Matlab Coca Cola”. Slogans are powerful branding devices because, like brand names, they are an extremely efficient and quick means to build brand equity. Slogans can function as useful “hooks” or “handles” to help consumers grasp the meaning of a brand in terms of what the brand is and what makes it special. They are an indispensable means of summarizing and translating the intent of a marketing program in a few short words or phrases. Slogans are essentially the closest you can get to the brand identity, since they are a translation of the brand’s identity in some ways. Slogans often become closely tied to advertising campaigns and can be used as tag lines to summarize the descriptive or persuasive information conveyed in the ads. For example, DeBeers diamonds’ “A Diamond Is Forever“ tag line communicates the intended ad message that diamonds bring eternal love and romance and never lose value. Slogans can be more expansive and more enduring, however, than just ad tag lines. Campaign–specific taglines may reinforce the message of a particular campaign instead of the brand slogan for a certain period of time. For example, Nike has used ad tag lines such as “I Can” and “What Are You Getting Ready For?” for ad campaigns instead of their well–known brand slogan, ”Just Do It.” Such substitutions can be a means to give the brand slogan a rest so that it remains fresh. Jingles Jingles 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 listeners – sometimes whether they want them to or not! For example, the distinct Titan tune or the Nirma tune.

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Jingles can be thought of as extended musical slogans and in that sense can be classified as a brand element. Because of their musical nature, however, jingles are not nearly as transferable as other brand elements. Jingles can communicate brand benefits, but they often convey product meaning in a non-direct and fairly abstract fashion given their musical foundation. The potential associations that might occur for the brand from jingles are probably most likely to relate to feelings and personality and other such intangibles. Jingles are perhaps most valuable on terms of enhancing brand awareness, Often, the jingle will repeat the brand name in clever and amusing ways that allow consumers multiple encoding opportunities. Because of their catchy nature, consumers are also likely to mentally rehearse or repeat the jingle even after seeing or hearing the ad, providing even additional encoding opportunities and increasing memorability. A classical example of the power of the jingle was in the Pepsodent toothpaste’s jingle of late 1960,s “You will wonder where the yellow went?” referring to the yellow stains removing property of the toothpaste. However the reason why Pepsodent toothpaste lost was because the consumers who were loyal to sweet taste of Colgate toothpaste did not like Pepsodent’s taste. Packaging Packaging involves the activities of designing and producing containers or wrappers for a product. From the perspective of both the firm and consumers, packaging must achieve a number of objectives:

o Identify the brand o Convey descriptive and persuasive information. o Facilitate product transportation and protection o Assist at – home storage o Aid product consumption

To achieve the marketing objectives for the brand and satisfy the desires of consumers, the aesthetic and functional components of packaging must be chosen correctly. Aesthetic considerations relate to a package’s size and shape, material, color, text and graphics. Innovations in printing processes now permit eye–catching and appealing graphics that convey elaborate and colorful messages on the package at the ”moment of truth “ at the point of purchase. Packaging can have important brand equity benefits for a company. Often, one of the strongest associations that consumers have with a brand relates to the look of the packaging. For example, if you ask the average consumer what comes to mind when they think of Parachute coconut oil, a common response is its “blue bottle.” The package appearance can become an important means of brand recognition at the shop display. Moreover, the information conveyed or inferred from the package can build or reinforce valuable brand associations.

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CHAPTER 6

EXECUTING BRAND IDENTITY

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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Brand Building Strategy In principle, the brand building strategy generally follows from the marketing strategy. But in reality, the brand building efforts are most often made before an advertisement is to be released or at the product manager’s level, while positioning is done. However, brand building, though it may often be relegated to a lower status, does provide as an umbrella or binder between the other P’s of the marketing strategy. Consider the diagram below: Product Strategy The product itself is at the heart of brand building because it is the primary influence on what consumers experience with a brand, what they hear about a brand from others, and what the firm can tell customers about the brand in their communications. In other words, at the heart of a great brand is invariably a great product. Designing and delivering a product or service that fully satisfies consumer needs and wants is a prerequisite for successful marketing, regardless of whether the product is a tangible good, service, or organization. To create brand loyalty, consumers’ experiences with the product must at least meet, if not actually surpass, their expectations. Perceived Product Quality and Value Perceived quality has been defined as customers’ perception of the overall quality of superiority of a product or a service relative to relevant alternatives and with respect to its intended purpose. Thus, perceived quality is a global assessment based on customer perceptions of what constitutes a quality product and how well the brand rates on those dimensions. Achieving a

Scanning the Environment

Market Segmentation and TG Selection

Positioning

Marketing Strategy

Product Price Place Promotion

Brand Building Strategy

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satisfactory level of perceived quality has become more difficult as continual product improvements over the years have led to heightened consumer expectations regarding the quality of products.

o Performance: Levels at which the primary characteristics of the product operate (e.g., low, medium, high, or very high)

o Features: Secondary elements of a product that complement the primary characteristics

o Conformance quality: Degree to which the product meets specifications and is absent of defects.

o Reliability: Consistency of performance over time and from purchase to purchase

o Durability: Expected economic life of the product o Serviceability: Ease of servicing the product o Style and design: appearance or feel of quality

Consumer beliefs along these dimensions often underlie perceptions of the quality of the product that, in turn, can influence attitudes and behavior toward a brand. Pricing Strategy Price is the one revenue- generating element of the traditional marketing mix, and price premiums are one of the most important brand equity benefits of creating brand awareness and strong, favorable, and unique brand associations. Consumer Price Perceptions The pricing policy for the brand can create associations in consumers’ minds to relevant price tier or level for the brand in the category, as well as to its correspondence price volatility or variance (in terms of the frequency or magnitude of discounts, etc.). In other words, the pricing strategy can dictate how consumers categorize the price of the brand (for example, as low, medium, or high priced) and how firm or flexible consumers see that price (as frequently, or infrequently discounted). Consumers often rank brands according to price tiers in a category. For example, in the Shirts market, Arrow is perceived as a premium brand followed by Allen Solly and Van Heusen. Peter England is clearly perceived as an affordable value for money brand. Besides these descriptive “mean and variance” price perceptions, consumers may have price perceptions that have more inherent product meaning. In particular, in many categories, consumers may infer the quality of a product on the basis of its price. As noted earlier, consumers may combine their perceptions of the quality of the product with their perceptions of the price of the product to arrive at an assessment of its perceived value. Consumer associations of perceived value are often an important factor in their decisions. Accordingly, many marketers have adapted value- based pricing

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strategies - attempting to sell the right product at the right price – to better meet consumer wishes, as described in the next section. Channel Strategy The manner by which a product is sold or distributed can have a profound impact on the resulting brand equity and ultimate sales success of the brand. Marketing channels are defined as “sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption.” Channel strategy involves the design and management of intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors, brokers, and retailers. This section considers how channel strategy can contribute to brand building. Channel Design A number of possible channel types and arrangements exist. Broadly, they can be classified into direct and indirect channels. Direct channels involve selling through personal contacts from the company to prospective customers by mail, phone, electronic means, in – person visits, and so forth. Indirect channels involve selling through third party intermediaries such as agents or broker representatives, wholesalers or distributors, and retailers or dealers. Much research has considered the pros and cons of selling through various channels. Although the decision ultimately depends on the relative profitability of the different options, some more specific guidelines have been proposed. Pull and Push Strategies Beside indirect means of image transfer, retailers can directly affect the equity of the brands they sell. The actions retailers take in stocking, displaying, and selling products can enhance or detract from brand equity, suggesting that manufacturers must take an active role in helping retailers add value to their brands. Yet, at the same time, a battle has emerged in recent years between manufacturers and retailers making up their channels of distribution. Because of factors such as greater competition for shelf space among what many retailers feel are increasingly undifferentiated brands, retailers have gained in power and are now in a better position to set the terms of trade to the manufacturers. Increased power means that retailers can command more frequent and lucrative trade promotions. Increasingly, supermarket retailers are demanding compensation to stock a new brand in the form of cash payments for the shelf space itself (slotting allowances), introductory deals (such as, one free with three), postponed billing or extended credit (dating), payment for retailer advertising or promotion in support of the new brand, and so on. Even after stocking brands, retailers can later require generous trade promotions to keep them on the shelf. Outside the supermarket, department stores are requiring that suppliers guarantee their stores ’profit margin’ and insist on cash rebates if the guarantee is not met. For all such reasons, manufacturers are vulnerable to retailers’ actions.

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Retailers have thus increased their power over manufacturers. One way for manufacturers to regain some of their lost power is by creating strong brands through some of the brand building tactics described in this book, for example, by selling innovative and unique products-properly priced and advertised –that consumers demand. In this way, consumers may ask or even pressure retailers to stock and promote manufacturer’s products. By devoting marketing efforts to the end consumer, a manufacturer is said to employ a pull strategy, since consumers use their buying power and influence on retailers to “pull” the products through the channel. Alternatively, marketers can devote their selling efforts to the channel members themselves, providing direct incentives for them to stock and sell products to the end consumer. This approach is called a push strategy, since the manufacturer is attempting to reach the consumer by “pushing” the product through each step of the distribution chain. Although certain brands seem to emphasize one strategy more than another (like, push strategies are usually associated with more selective distribution, and pull strategies with broader, more intensive distribution, in general), the most successful branding programs often skilfully blend push and pull strategies.

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CHAPTER 7

EXTENDING BRAND IDENTITY

Brand Extensions HLL markets a large number of brands. Most of its brands have been around for a long period of time, and have evolved over the years to a great extent. Lifebuoy, which was earlier launched as a low-end carbolic soap has today evolved into a brand, which is marketed on the ‘health’ platform instead. It has various products under its brand name today. This example illustrates a typical growth plan that a brand follows in the present day market conditions. Today, more and more companies are launching new products and getting into newer markets. When a firm introduces a new product, it has three main choices as to how to brand it:

1. It can develop a new brand, individually chosen for the new product 2. It can apply, in some way, one of its existing brands 3. It can use a combination of a new brand with an existing brand.

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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A brand extension is when a firm uses an established brand name to introduce a new product

(approaches 2 or 3). When a new brand is combined with an existing brand (approach 3), the brand extension can also be called a sub-brand. An existing brand that gives birth to a brand extension is referred to as the parent brand. If the parent brand is already associated with multiple products through brand extensions, then it may also be called a family brand. Brand extensions can be broadly classified into two general categories: Line Extensions Line extension: The parent brand is used to brand a new product that targets a new market segment within a product category currently served by the parent brand. A line extension often involves a different flavor or ingredient variety, a different form or size, or a different application for the brand. For example, Bisleri launching in different sizes of bottles, or Sunsilk launching in different colours of shampoo or Rasna launching in different flavours of soft drinks. Line extension strategies suggest that a company is entering into an existing product category by using the same brand name, through innovations in colour, size, flavour, form etc. The two things, which remain constant in a line extension strategy, are the product category, and the brand name. What is variable are:

o Product Size: Pepsi Can- Pepsi 200ml- Pepsi 1litre-Pepsi 1.5litre o Colour: Sunsilk Pink- Sunsilk Black- Sunsilk Yellow o Flavours: Mirinda Orange- Mirinda Lemon o Ingredient: Colgate CDC-Colgate Total- Colgate Whitening- Colgate

Herbal o Form: Vim Bar- Vim Liquid- Vim Powder

Most new products are line extensions-typically 80 percent to 90 percent in any one year. Moreover, many of the most successful new products, as rated by various sources, are extensions (examples: Tata Indigo car, Nokia cell phones, LG Consumer Care) Category Extensions versus Brand Extensions Category extension: The parent brand is used to enter a different product category from that currently served by the parent brand (for example, Denim). Consider the examples below:

o LG - Televisions, Refrigerators, Microwave Ovens, Air-conditioners, Consumer Products

o Ponds - Cold Cream, Talc, Lotion, Face Wash o Amul - Butter, Cheese, Condensed Milk, Chocolates, Ice Cream

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Several companies prefer brand extensions since there is an unambiguous shift towards leveraging the brand strategy both for seeking growth within the category and outside. Evaluating Brand Extension Opportunities Academic research and industry experience have revealed a number of principles concerning the proper way to introduce brand extensions. Brand extension strategies must be carefully considered by systemically following the following steps. Managerial judgment and consumer research should be employed to help make each of these decisions. 1. Define Actual and Desired Consumer Knowledge about the Brand It is critical to fully understand the depth and breadth of awareness of the parent brand and the strength, favourability, and uniqueness of its associations. Moreover, before any extension decisions are contemplated, it is important that the desired knowledge structures have been fully articulated. Profiling actual and desired knowledge structures help to identify possible brand extensions as well as to guide decisions concerning their likely success. In evaluating an extension, a company must understand where it would like to take the brand in the long run. Because this introduction of an extension potentially changes brand meaning, consumer response to all subsequent marketing activity may be affected as a result. 2. Identify Possible Extension Candidates With respect to consumer factors when identifying potential brand extensions, marketers should consider parent brand associations-especially as they relate to brand positioning and core benefits-and product categories that might seem to fit with that brand image in the minds of consumers. Possible category extension candidates can be generated through managerial brainstorming sessions as well as consumer research Although consumers are generally better able to react to an extension concept than to suggest one, it still may be instructive to ask consumers what products the brand should consider offering if it were to introduce a new product. One or more associations can often serve as the basis of fit. Consider the diagram below:

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3. Evaluate the Potential of the Extension Candidate

In forecasting the success of a proposed brand extension, it is necessary to assess through judgement and research – the likelihood that the extension would realize the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of brand extensions. As with any new product, analysis of consumer, corporate, and competitive factors can be useful.

Consumer Factors

Evaluating the potential success of a proposed brand extension requires an assessment of its ability to achieve its own brand equity, as well as the likelihood of it affecting the existing brand equity of the parent brand. First, marketers must forecast the strength, favourability, and uniqueness of all associations to the brand extension. In other words, what will be the salience, favourability, or uniqueness of parent brand associations in the proposed extension context? Similarly, what will be the strength, favourability, and uniqueness of any other inferred associations? To narrow down the list of possible extensions, consumer research is often needed. Consumers may be probed directly (like "How well does the proposed extension fit with the parent brand?" or "Would you expect such a new product from the parent brand?"). Consumers may even be asked what products they believe are currently attached to the brand: If a majority of

Maggi

Fast

Kids

2 min

Chinese

Ready To Eat food

Fast food restaurant

Toys

Amusement Park/Club

Instant Food

Games

Instant Rice Dishes

Soups

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consumers believe a proposed extension product is already being sold under the brand, then there would seem to be little risk involved in introducing it, at least in terms of initial consumer reaction. To better understand consumers' perceptions of a proposed extension, consumer research is often employed using open-ended associations (for example, "What comes into your mind when you think of the brand extension?" or "What are your first impressions on hearing that the parent brand is introducing the extension?") as well as ratings scales based on reactions to concept statements. Several common pitfalls must be avoided when evaluating, brand extension potential. One major mistake in evaluating extension opportunities is failing to take all of consumers' brand knowledge structures into account. Often marketers mistakenly focus on one or perhaps a few brand associations as a potential basis of fit and ignore other, possibly more important, brand associations in the process. For example, when Ponds introduced their toothpaste on the association of ‘freshness’, the brand failed, invariably because other more overpowering associations were that of ‘floral’, ‘talc’ and ‘feminine’ which made a toothpaste seem inappropriate. Another major mistake in evaluating brand extensions is overlooking how literal consumers can be in evaluating brand extensions. Although consumers ultimately care about benefits, they often notice and evaluate attributes - especially concrete ones -in reacting to an extension. Brand managers, though, tend to focus on perceived benefits in predicting consumer reactions and, as a result, may overlook some potentially damaging attribute associations. Corporate and Competitive Factors Marketers must not only take a consumer perspective in evaluating a

proposed brand extension but must also take a broader corporate and competitive

perspective. How effectively are the corporate assets leveraged in the extension setting? How

relevant are existing marketing programs, perceived benefits, and target customers in

the extension context? What are the competitive advantages to the extension as

perceived by consumers and possible reactions initiated by competitors as a result?

Too many extension products and strongly entrenched competition can put a strain on company resources. 4. Design Marketing Programs to Launch Extension Often extensions are used as a shortcut means of introducing a new product, and insufficient attentions paid to developing, a branding and marketing strategy that will maximize the equity of the brand extensions as well as enhance the equity of the parent brand. As in the case with a new brand,

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building brand equity for a brand extension requires choosing brand elements, designing the optimal marketing program to launch the extension, and leveraging secondary associations. Choosing Brand Elements By definition, the brand extension retains one or more elements from an existing brand. Marketers should realize that brand extensions do not necessarily have to leverage only a brand name but can use other brand elements too. In some cases, packaging is such a critical component of equity for the brand that it is hard to imagine an extension without the same package design elements. Brands in such cases are in a real dilemma because if they choose to use the same type of packaging, they run the risk that the extension will not be well distinguished. On the other hand, if they choose to use a different type of packaging, a key source of brand equity may be left behind. Thus, a brand extension can retain or modify one or more brand elements from the parent brand as well as adopt its own brand elements. Designing Optimal Marketing Program The marketing program for a brand extension must consider the same guidelines in building brand equity. In terms of designing the supporting marketing program, product – related associations often must be created, consumer perceptions of value must guide pricing decisions, distribution strategies must blend push and pull considerations, and marketing communications must be integrated by mixing and matching communication options. In terms of properly positioning a brand extension, the less similar the extension is to the parent brand, the more important it typically is to establish necessary and competitive points of parity. The points of difference for a category extension in many cases directly follow from the points of difference for the parent brand and are easily perceived by consumers. Thus, when Ivory extended into shampoo and conditioners, its key “gentleness’ points of difference presumably transferred easily. It would seem that the bigger challenge would have been to reach parity in the minds of consumers with category considerations related to glamour and how the shampoo made one look and feel. Thus, with category extensions, points of parity are often critical. With line extensions, on the other hand, it is often the case that a new association has to be created that can serve as an additional point of difference and help to distinguish the extension from the parent brand too. For line extensions, it is important that consumers understand how the new product relates to existing products in order to minimize possible cannibalisation or confusion. Leveraging Secondary Brand Associations

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In general, brand extensions will often leverage the same secondary associations as the parent brand, although there may be instances in which competing in the extension category requires some additional fortification such that linking to other entities may be desirable. A brand extension differs in that, by definition, there is always some leveraging of another brand or company. The extent to which these other associations become linked to the extension, however, depends on the branding strategy that is adopted and how the extension is branded. As noted earlier, the more common the brand elements and the more prominence they receive, the more likely it is that parent brand associations will transfer. Evaluate Extension Success and Effects on Parent Brand Equity The final step in evaluating brand extension opportunities involves assessing the extent to which an extension is able to achieve its own equity as well as contribute to the equity of the parent brand. A number of decisions have to be made concerning the introduction of a brand extension, and a number of factors will affect the brand's success. To help interpret that success, brand tracking based on the customer-based brand equity model or other key measures of consumer response can be employed, centered on both the extension and the parent brand as a whole. Types of Brand Extension Strategies 1. Product Branding Product Branding is one extreme of the branding continuum. The concept of singularity applies in this case. In this type of a strategy, the brand is promoted exclusively so that it acquires its own identity and image. The thrust is on making the brand acquire its own set of associations and stand on its own. The company brand name is not emphasized upon and the brand gains no benefits from the company name. For example, companies such as P&G or HLL follow this kind of strategy. Consumers have no idea that the brand is owned by a P&G or an HLL.

P&G

Ariel Tide Vicks Pantene Whisper

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2. Line Branding Line branding essentially starts with one product to cater to a consumer group, and later extends on to other products to cater to the needs of the same customer group. Complementary products eventually combine to form a complete whole. The products in the line draw their identity from the main brand. Marketing products as a line under a common brand improves the brands marketing power rather than selling them as individual brands. For example, Lakme consumers felt the need to have other beauty related products other than lipsticks, so the brand now encompasses lotions, eye make up, face make up, nail polishes etc. 3. Range Branding Line branding is restrictive since it restricts the brands extension into nearby territories of complementary products. Range branding is not restrictive, where the brand can move beyond product complementarities. Products however, emanate out of some common competence or expertise. All the products share a common promise, which stems from the firm’s or range brand’s area of competence. One of the benefits of a range brand strategy is the formation of brand equity on a common competence.

LAKME

Lakme Lipsticks

Lakme Moisturisers

Lakme Beauty Salons

Lakme Cleansers

“Source of Radiant Beauty”

Himalaya Drug

Ayurveda

Health Care Body Care Ayurveda Skin Care

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4.Umbrella Branding Umbrella branding is on the other end of the continuum, where a single brand name is used on all products. Companies such as LG, Philips, Mitsubishi all follow this strategy. Investing in a single brand is less costly than trying to build a number of brands. By leveraging a common name across a variety of products, the brand distributes its investment. 5. Source/Double Branding Source branding combines the firm’s name with the product brand name. It is a hybrid of umbrella brand and product brand strategy. The product is given a brand name and it is combined with the name of the firm. Bajaj is the name of the firm, and Pulsar is the name of the motorcycle. Hence Bajaj Pulsar is the final brand name. Both the names enjoy equal status. By doing this, the firms name is also gaining equity, and secondly, the product also stands to benefit from the parent brand.

LG

Televisions Microwaves Refrigerators Washing

Machines Consumer Products

Maruti

Maruti 800 Maruti Alto Maruti Zen Maruti Wagon R Maruti

Baleno

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6. Endorsement Branding Endorsement branding is a modified version of double branding, where the product brand name becomes more significant, and the company brand name becomes less significant. The umbrella brand is made to play an indirect role of passing on certain common generic associations. It is only mentioned as an endorsement to the product brand.

Cadbury’s

Cadbury’s Eclairs Cadbury’s Perk Cadbury’s

Dairy Milk Cadbury’s Five Star

Cadbury’s Crackle

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CHAPTER 8

REVIEWING BRAND IDENTITY

Brand Equity Having built the brand, it is essential now to understand the concept of brand equity and its importance in keeping a brand strong over longer period of time. Different authors have defined brand equity differently. For example: Brand Equity is a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to the firm’s customers (Aaker, 1991) Brand equity can be thought of as the additional cash flow achieved by associating a brand with the underlying product or service (Biel, 1992) Brand equity is defined in terms of marketing effects uniquely attributable to the brands- for example, when certain outcomes result from the marketing of a product or service because of its brand name that would not occur if the

same product or service did not have a name (Keller, 1993)

Consumer Insights

Brand Positioning Defining the Frame of Reference

Brand Identity Deriving the Core Brand Values

Articulating Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Executing Brand Identity Expressing through Brand

Marketing Programs

Extending Brand Identity Creating Brand Extensions

Reviewing Brand Identity Evaluating Brand Equity

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In general, to understand brand equity, one must essentially understand what the consumer thinks of your brand and what kind of knowledge structure exists in the consumer’s mind. Keller proposed the Customer Based Brand Equity Model (CBBE Model) to try and understand brand equity from the perspectives of the consumer- whether it is an individual or an organization. Understanding the needs and wants of consumers and devising products and programs to satisfy them are at the heart of successful marketing. In particular, two fundamentally important questions faced by marketers are: ‘what do different brands mean to consumers?’ and ‘How does the brand knowledge of consumers affect their response to marketing activity?’ The basic premise of the CBBE model is that the power of the brand lies in what customers have learned, felt, seen, and heard about the brand as a result of their experiences over time. In other words, the power of a brand lies in what resides in the minds of customers. The challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is ensuring that customers have the right type of experiences with products and services and their accompanying marketing programs so that the desired thoughts, feelings, images, beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and so on become linked to the brand. Building and evaluating a strong brand, according to the CBBE model, can be thought of in terms of a sequence of steps, in which each step is contingent on successfully achieving the previous step. All the steps involve accomplishing certain objectives with customers- both existing and potential. The steps are as follows: 1. Ensure identification of the brand with customers and association of the

brand in customers’ minds with a specific product class or customer need.

2. Establish finally the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by strategically linking a host of tangible and intangible brand associations with certain properties.

3. Elicit the proper customer response to this brand identification and brand meaning.

4. Convert brand response to create an intense, active loyalty relationship between customers and the brand

The four steps can be represented in the form of a model as follows:

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These four steps represent a set of fundamental questions that customers invariably ask about brands- at least implicitly if not even explicitly- as follows (with corresponding brand steps in parentheses).

1. Who are you? (brand identity) 2. What are you? (brand meaning) 3. What about you? What do I think or feel about you? (brand

response) 4. What about you and me? What kind of association and how much of a connection would I like to have with you? (brand relationship) There is an obvious ordering of the steps in this “branding ladder,” from brand identity to brand meaning to brand responses to brand relationships. That is, brand meaning cannot be established unless brand identity has been created; brand responses cannot occur unless the right brand meaning has been developed; and a brand relationship cannot be forged unless the proper brand responses have been elicited. An example of the type of questions that can be asked are as follows: Salience � What brands of product or service category you can think of? � (using increasingly specific category cues) � Have you ever heard of these brands? � Which brands might you be likely to sue under the following situations…? � How frequently do you think of this brand? Performance � Compared with other brandies in the category, how well does this brand

provide the basic functions of the product or service category? � Compared with other brand sin the category, how well does this brand

satisfy the basic needs of the product or service category?

Salience

Performance Imagery

Judgement Feeling

Relationship

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� Tow hat extent does this brand have special features? � How reliable us this brand? � How durable is this brand? � How easily serviced is this brand? � How effective is this brand’s service? Does it completely satisfy your

requirements? � How efficient is this brand’s service in terms of speed, responsiveness,

and so forth? � How courteous and helpful are the providers of this brand’s service? � How stylish do you find this brand? � How much do you like the look, feel, and other design aspects of this

brand? � Compared with other brands in the category with which it competes, are

this brand’s prices generally higher, lower, or about the same? � Compared with other brandies in the category with which it competes, do

this brand’s prices change more frequently, less frequently, or about the same amount?

Imagery � To what extent do people you admire and respect use this brand? � How much do you like people who use this brand? � How well do the following words describe the brand: down – to- earth,

honest, daring, up- to- date, reliable, successful, upper class, charming, outdoorsy?

� What places are appropriate to buy this brand? � How appropriate are the following situations to use this brand? � Can you buy this brand in a lot of places? � Is this a brand that you can use in a lot of different situations? � To what extent does thinking of the brand bring back pleasant memories? � To what extent do you feel you grew up with the brand? Judgements Quality � What is your overall opinion of this brand? � What is your assessment of the product quality of this brand? � To what extent does this brand fully satisfy your product needs? � How good a value is this brand?

Credibility � How knowledgeable are the makers of this brand? � How innovative are the makers of this brands? � How much do you trust the makers of this brand? � To what extent do the makers of this Brandi understand your needs? � To what extent do the makers of this Brandi care about your opinions? � To what extent do the makers of this Brandi have your interests in mind? � How much do you like this brand? � How much do you admire this brand? � How much do you respect this brand?

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Consideration � How likely would you be to recommend this brand to others? � Which are your favorite products in this brand category? � How personally relevant is this brand to you?

Superiority � How unique is this brand”? � Top what extent does this brand offer advantages that other brands

cannot? � How superior is this brand to others in the category? Feelings � Does this brand give you a feeling of warmth? � Does this brand give you a feeling of fun? � Does this brand give you a feeling of excitement? � Does this brand give you a feeling of security? � Does this brand give you a feeling of social approval? � Does this brand give you a feeling of self- respect? Resonance Loyalty � I consider myself loyal to this brand. � I buy this brand whenever I can. � I buy as much of this brand as I can. � I feel this is the only brand of the product I need. � This is the one brand I would like to buy/see � If this brand were not available, it would make little difference to me if I had

to use another brand. � I would go out of my way to use this brand.

Attachment � I really love this brand. � I would really miss this brand if it went away. � This brand is special to me. � This brand is more than a product to me.

Community � I really identify with people who use this brand. � I feel like I almost belong to a club with other users of this brand. � This is a brand used by people like me. � I feel a deep connection with other’s who sue this brand.

Engagement � I really like to talk about this brand to others. � I am always interested in learning more about this brand. � I would be interested in merchandise with this brand’s name on it. � I am proud to have others know I use this brand. � I like to visit the Web site for this brand. � Compared with other people, I follow news about this brand closely.

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Guidelines for In-Depth Elicitation of Brand Associations

1. Include at least one visual technique (e.g., moodboard technique of

selecting pictures from magazines or newspapers). 2. Include at least one object-projective technique (e.g., describing brand as

a car, animal, fabric, vegetable, celebrity, etc.). 3. Probe for secondary associations (e.g., use primary associations as

stimulus words for subsequent probing, such as “what do you associate with quality?”).

4. Probe for relevant situations in which individuals have experienced the brand or drawn on knowledge about the brand.

5. Address sensory associations directly (e.g., evoke product-related associations of appearance, sound, taste, smell, or feel).

6. Use real stimuli when practically possible (e.g., let consumers sample products or be exposed to a broad set of brand elements).

7. Use established scales for emotional and personality associations. 8. Instruct respondents to take their time and create acceptance for pauses. 9. Assure confidential treatment of responses. 10. Use person-projective techniques (e.g., to mitigate censoring effects, have

respondents report associations on behalf of some person or figure belonging to the same group as the respondent).

11. Validate minority associations on a subset of the majority (ensure that responses from verbal respondents are also valid for less verbal respondents by follow-up interview).

12. Criteria of salience and frequency should not be used uncritically (recognize that some words or phrases are easier to report and come to mind more quickly and that this may not always reflect the strength of brand associations).

13. Use a follow-up survey or other methods to determine relationships between strength, favorability, and uniqueness of associations).

14. Elicit associations from different types of customers and from the advertising people (e.g., heavy users, average users, light users, and nonusers).

15. Divide the sample into two and include both users and nonusers (i.e., avoid respondent fatigue and potential “halo” effects).

16. Start with thorough instructions and visual techniques (verbalizations may disrupt visualizations).

17. Adapt to individual diff 18. erences in response styles and response attitudes (i.e., make sure that

the measures fit the sample appropriately).

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CONCLUSION

All successful brands have followed a well-defined strategy. Brands are not built overnight, and brand equity cannot be achieved through a single advertising campaign. Brands that have reached the ‘relationship’ stage in the consumer’s mind have continually evolved, and have proactively built their strategy through meaningful consumer insights. With the previous discussion as a background, to create a strong brand, one must look at the following:

1. Understand consumer behaviour, trends, motivations, needs and aspirations

2. Properly position the brand 3. Provide a superior delivery of desired benefits through a crisp and

sound brand identity 4. Employ a full range of complementary brand elements to provide

totality to the brand identity 5. Integrate the brand identity effectively with the marketing activities,

including pricing, product development, distribution and promotion 6. Maintain consistency in communication and each and every consumer

touch-point or interface 7. Maintain the brand image over time through extending brand identity to

related products 8. Implement a brand equity measurement system to track the brand over

a period of time 9. Incorporate the changes in consumer trends into the brand identity to

keep the brand relevant at all points of time

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LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Kevin Lane Keller, “Strategic Brand Management- Building, Measuring

and Managing Brand Equity”, Pearson Education, (2004) 2. Al Ries, Jack Trout, “Positioning- The Battle for your Mind”, Warner

Books, (1986) 3. Harsh Verma, “Brand Management”, Excel Books, (2002) 4. Rajeev Batra, John G.Myers, David A. Aaker, “Advertising

Management”, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, India (1996) 5. Jean Noel Kapferrer, “Strategic Brand Management- New Approaches

to Creating and Evaluating Brand Equity”, Free Press (1992) 6. David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler, “Brand Leadership”, Free

Press (2000) 7. Philip Kotler, “Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning,

Implementation and Control, Prentice Hall 8. Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazer Kanuk, “Consumer Behaviour,

Prentice Hall, (1997) 9. David Aaker, “Brand Extensions: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly”, Sloan

Management Review, (1990) 10. Al Ries, Laura Ries, “The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding”, Harper

Collins, (1988)