Brands and Brand Positioning

• http://www.managementstudyguide.com/brand-management.htm

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5BnnBOLOUU

• Brand is to be a source of value for an organisation

• Its positioning in the market and the minds of consumers will be critical to the actualvalue created.

• Positioning means owning a credible and profitable “position” in the consumer’s mind, either by getting there first, or by adopting a position relative to the competition, or by repositioning the competition.

Understandingall stakeholder needs and

desires

Opportunitymodelling

Brandplatform

Brandidentity

Brandarchitecture

Continuousevaluation anddevelopment

Positioning processPositioning process

Stakeholders

• The brand positioning process begins with identifying an organisation’s stakeholders, or audiences, assessing how important different stakeholders are, and defining the ideal relationship needed with each to enable business goals and objectives to be met.

• Different stakeholders will define the brand differently, according to their needs and their distinctive agendas.

Modelling the opportunity for positioning (I)

Relevance

Credibility Stretch

Differentiation

Brand Opportunity

Modelling the opportunity for positioning (I)

1. Relevance. Strong brands connect with customers. They meet functional needs and also tap into, and satisfy, emotional needs and desires.2.Differentiation. Strong brands add value, which makes them stand out from their competitors.3. Credibility. For customers to be loyal to a brand, the brand must be true to itself and keep the promises it makes.4. Stretch. A brand’s continued success lies in its ability not only to remain relevant in a changing world but also to foster innovation and to bring new products and line extensions into its value proposition.

Aspirationalbenefits

Emotional benefits

Functional benefits

Functional attributes

Generic, price of entry

Differentited

Increasing categorymaturity

Increasing marketsophistication

Increasing brandcompetition

The brand platform

BRAND PLATFORMBrand vision, mission

and values

Bringing the brand to life for all audiences

Products, services and behaviours

The ‘tone of voice’

Brand personality

Brand manifestation and area of competence

Brand communications

Seven Signs You’ve Developed a Brand Identity

• Brand Identity is clearly defined:– What is the brand’s particular vision and aim? – What makes it different? – What need is the brand fulfilling? – What is its permanent crusade?– What are its values?– What is its field of competence? Of

legitimacy?– What are the signs which make the brand

recognizable?

Relationship

Physique Personality

Reflection

Culture

Aspirational Self-Image

Brand Identity Prism - Elements

‘Brand Identity Prism’ by Jean-Noel Kapferer, The New Strategic Brand Management, 2012, p.156

Rallying Cry

Jean – Noel – Kapferer’s prism

• PHYSIQUE – this forms the basis of the brand.• PERSONALITY – personality here means personification

of the brand. The brand personality is perceived as a person or an animal.

• CULTURE – the country of origin of the brand that is seen as a product attribute forms the culture.

• RELATIONSHIP – it is the understanding between the consumer and the organization.

• REFLECTION – this is the consumer’s perception of the brand and its values.

• SELF-IMAGE – this is about what the consumer thinks about himself or herself.

This element answers the question: What do we do?

Many brands have problems with their physical facet because their functional added value is weak. Even an image-based brand must deliver material benefits. We focus on capabilities, which are about the brand’s value-added.

Example: Foster Farms Frozen Cooked Chicken

2 1.15 15

Prism Element: Physique

Capabilities:•Chicken – Highest quality•Cooking – Making perfectly cooked chicken•Resource – Helping you make successful dinners

This element answers the question: Who are we?

Strong brands are built on a strong culture and a clear set of shared values.

•Brand’s core beliefs and way of operating.

•Unwavering, and uncompromising.

According to Kapferer: “The cultural facet of brands’ identity underlines that brands are engaged in an Physique

ideological competition.”

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Prism Element: Relationship

Example: Nike

Nike champions ‘solo willpower’ with a dose of optimism, and addresses a major sociological insight:

Millions of people in the world today know that they can count only on themselves.

Brand as a religion

• http://www.verilliance.com/2010/01/26/apple-brand-cult-or-religion

This element answers the question: Why do we exist?

Strong brands are a vision of the world. The idea of ‘Being of Service’ underlies this facet of the Brand Identity prism. It is meant to be motivating to employees, and important to customers and other external stakeholders.

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Prism Element: Reflection

•Patagonia•Body Shop•Ben & Jerry•Newman’s Own•TOMS•Innocent

Examples:

Prism Element: Brand Personality

• This element answers the question: How do we deliver?

• Some brands are incredibly earnest, others are super smart. By communicating their personality, brands build character. Consumers identify with the brand’s personality or project themselves into it.

Prism Element: Culture

• This element answers the question: What do we have in common?

• Brand loyalty provides a sense of belonging. Whether it’s formal or grassroots, that connection provides a powerful bond and source of distinction.

• Example: Harley Davidson’s creation of a brand community was central to its turnaround – Created a group of ardent consumers organized around the

lifestyle, activities, and ethos of the brand– Retooled every aspect of the organization—from its culture to

its operating procedures and governance structure—to drive its community strategy.

– Made Harley into one motorcycle manufacturer that understood bikers on their own terms.

Prism Element: Aspirational Self-Image

• This element answers the question: What do customers want their use of the brand to say about them?

• Repeated use and reliance on a brand demonstrates its value to the user.

• Brand loyalty provides an emotional or self-expressive benefit.

• Use of the brand tells others something about the user, and it tells the user something about her/himself.

• Example: Lacoste– Users see themselves as members of a chic sports club – an

open club with no race, sex or age discrimination, but which endows its members with distinction.

– This works because sport is universal.

This element answers the question: what does all this add up to?

The Rallying Cry is 3-5 word shorthand encapsulation of your brand identity.

•Defines the category of business for the brand, sets boundaries and clarifies what is unique.

•Should be memorable, crisp and vivid.

•Stakes out ground that is personally meaningful and relevant to employees.

•Not an advertising slogan, and, in most cases, not used publicly.22

Prism Element: Rallying Cry

Emotional Modifier

Descriptive Modifier

Brand Category/Industry

+ +

Rallying Cry - Examples

Emotional Modifier

Descriptive Modifier

Brand Category/Industry+ +

Disney: Fun Family Entertainmenthttp://youtu.be/MAE_OgMrkaQ

BMW: Ultimate Driving Machinehttp://youtu.be/NJ81ivxPl20

Betty Crocker: Homemade Made Easyhttp://youtu.be/qm-_TIE2w2Q

Brand architecture

• Brand architecture orchestrates the relationship between the corporate brand and its businesses, product lines and product brands. Brand architecture creates value through clarifying all levels of branding based on:– the needs and priorities of target audiences;– expressing the breadth and depth of the offering;– generating economic efficiencies;– extending and transferring brand equity between corporate

and

product and sub-brands;- making brand strategy credible

Brand architecture structures (I)

• Masterbrand– A single brand spans a set of offerings

that operate only with descriptive offerings; continual product innovation, new releases, and so on.

– Ex.: GE, Cisco, 3Com

Brand architecture structures (II)

• Overbrand– Individual business unit or product

brands operate under a strong family brand. Dual level of communications: individual offering establishes a unique position while leveraging credibility of the source.

– Ex.: Microsoft, Kellogg’s.

• Freestanding brand– An organisation consists of independent standalone

brands, each maximising its impact on the market with little or no connection to its parent. There is a competitive need to develop distinct equities for line of business brands. Source brand does not fit or carries negative baggage.

– Ex.: Proctor & Gamble brands: Pringles, Old Spice, Luvs Diapers and Gillette

Brand architecture structures (III)

Brand architecture structures (IV)

• An endorser brand architecture is made up of individual and distinct product brands, which are linked together by an endorsing parent brand. The endorsing parent brand plays a supportive and linking role, and, in many respects, an endorser brand architecture can be seen as an inversion of a sub-brand brand architecture.

Continuous evaluation and development

• A well-thought-out brand positioning is as fundamental as a solid financial plan in creating long-term value for a business. It is the engine of sustainable brand value. This is particularly important as a result of the growth of intangible assets in business and the ability of competitors to mimic product developments more quickly.