branding ch.2

Two key issues in arriving at the optimal competitive brand positioning are

(1) defining and communicating the competitive frame of reference (2) choosing and establishing pointsof-parity and points-of-difference.

3 parts of brand equity

(1) differential effect (2) brand knowledge (3) consumer response to marketing

Brand Equity as a Bridge

-Reflection of past investments in the marketing of a brand -Direction for future marketing actions or programs

Consumer purchase ability

: Consumers in some product categories just do not have the necessary knowledge or experience to judge product quality even if they so desired.

positive brand customer based brand equity

A brand has positive customer-based brand equity when consumers react more favorably to a product and the way it is marketed when the brand is identified than when it is not (say, when the product is attributed to a fictitious name or is unnamed). Thus, customers might be more accepting of a new brand extension for a brand with positive customer-based brand equity, less sensitive to price increases and withdrawal of advertising support, or more willing to seek the brand in a new distribution channel.

Brand Positioning

A branding strategy in which marketers create a certain image or impression of a brand as compared to those of competitors' brands.

brand mantra

A short, three to five word phrase that captures the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand positioning

consumer purchase motivation:

Although products and brands may be critically important to marketers, choosing a brand in many categories is not a life-or-death decision for most consumers.

Points of Parity

Associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may be shared with other brands

category points of parity

Attributes or benefits that consumers view as essential to a legitimate and credible offering within a certain product or service category

advantages of brand awareness

Brand awareness influences the formation and strength of the associations that make up the brand image. To create a brand image, marketers must first establish a brand node in memory, the nature of which affects how easily the consumer learns and stores additional brand associations. The first step in building brand equity is to register the brand in the minds of consumers. If the right brand elements are chosen, the task becomes easier.

consideration advantages

Consumers must consider the brand whenever they are making a purchase for which it could be acceptable or fulfilling a need it could satisfy. Raising brand awareness increases the likelihood that the brand will be a member of the consideration set, the handful of brands that receive serious consideration for purchase. Much research has shown that consumers are rarely loyal to only one brand but instead have a set of brands they would consider buying and another—possibly smaller—set of brands they actually buy on a regular basis. Because consumers typically consider only a few brands for purchase, making sure that the brand is in the consideration set also makes other brands less likely to be considered or recalled

good brand positioning

Good brand positioning helps 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 it.

reflection of past investments in the marketing of a brand

If not properly designed and implemented, these expenditures may not be good investments, in that they may not have created the right knowledge structures in consumers' minds, but we should consider them investments nonetheless. Thus, the quality of the investment in brand building is the most critical factor, not the quantity beyond some minimal threshold amount. In fact, it is possible to "overspend" on brand building if money is not being spent wisely.

personal relevancy

In general, direct experiences create the strongest brand attribute and benefit associations and are particularly influential in consumers' decisions when they accurately interpret them

consistency in which an info is presented over time

On the other hand, company-influenced sources of information, such as advertising, are often likely to create the weakest associations and thus may be the most easily changed. To overcome this hurdle, marketing communication programs use creative communications that cause consumers to elaborate on brand-related information and relate it appropriately to existing knowledge. They expose consumers to communications repeatedly over time, and ensure that many retrieval cues are present as reminders.

Points of Parity vs Points of Difference

POP=Demonstrate category credentials Negate competitor points-of-difference POD=Desirable to consumer Deliverable by the brand Differentiating from competitors

brand knowledge

Second, these differences in response are a result of consumers' knowledge about the brand, that is, what they have learned, felt, seen, and heard about the brand as a result of their experiences over time. Thus, although strongly influenced by the marketing activity of the firm, brand equity ultimately depends on what resides in the minds and hearts of consumers.

Uniqueness of Brand Associations

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 it. Marketers can make this unique difference explicit through direct comparisons with competitors, or they may highlight it implicitly. They may base it on performance-related or non-performance-related attributes or benefits

defining and communicating the competitive frame of reference

The preferred approach to positioning is to inform consumers of a brand's membership before stating its point-of-difference in relationship to other category members. Presumably,consumers need to know what a product is and what function it serves before they can decide 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,one of which 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.

Choice Advantages

The third advantage of creating a high level of brand awareness is that it can affect choices among brands in the consideration set, even if there are essentially no other associations to those brands. For example, consumers have been shown to adopt a decision rule in some cases to buy only more familiar, well established brands.

shared association

These beliefs might include many of the relevant performance-related attributes for brands in the category, as well as more descriptive attributes that do not necessarily relate to product or service performance, like the color of a product, such as red for ketchup. Consumers may consider certain attributes or benefits prototypical and essential to all brands in the category, and a specific brand an exemplar and most representative.

competitive point of parity

They exist minimally at the generic product level and are 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, traveler's checks, and other such services; and had convenient hours and automated teller machines. may change over time because of technological advances, legal developments, and consumer trends, but these attributes and benefits are like "greens fees" to play the marketing game.

communicating category benefits

To reassure consumers that a brand will deliver on the fundamental reason for using a category, marketers frequently use benefits to announce category membership. Thus, industrial motors might claim to have power, and analgesics might announce their efficacy. These benefits are presented in a manner that does not imply brand superiority but merely notes that the brand possesses them as a means to establish category POPs. Performance and imagery associations can provide supporting evidence. A cake mix might attain membership in the cake category by claiming the benefit of great taste and might support this benefit claim by possessing communhigh-quality ingredients (performance) or by showing users delighting in its consumption (imagery).

Exemplars

Well-known, noteworthy brands in a category can also be used as exemplars to specify a brand's category membership.

Negative Customer-Based Brand Equity

a brand has negative customer-based brand equity if consumers react less favorably to marketing activity for the brand compared with an unnamed or fictitiously named version of the product.

point of difference

a unique product characteristic or benefit that sets it apart from a competitor

consumer response to marketing

are reflected in perceptions, preferences, and behavior related to all aspects of brand marketing, for example, including choice of a brand, recall of copy points from an ad, response to a sales promotion, and evaluations of a proposed brand extension.

Brand benefits

are the personal value and meaning that consumers attach to the product or service attributes.

Brand attributes

are those descriptive features that characterize a product or service.

Sources of Brand Equity

brand awareness brand image

differential effects

brand equity arises from differences in consumer response. If no differences occur, then the brand-name product can essentially be classified as a commodity or a generic version of the product. Competition, most likely, would then just be based on price.

brand awareness

brand recognition brand recall

three main ways to convey a brand's category membership:

communicating category benefits, comparing to exemplars, relying on a product descriptor

elaboration likelihood model

consumers may make choices based on brand awareness considerations when they have low involvement.

brand recall

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

favorable brand associations

convincing consumers that the brand possesses relevant attributes and benefits that satisfy their needs and wants, such that they form positive overall brand judgments

The product descriptor that

follows the brand name is often a concise means of conveying category origin.

Brand recognition

is consumers' ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue.

advantages of brand awareness

learning advantages, consideration advantages, choice advantages

establishing brand awareness

means increasing the familiarity of the brand through repeated exposure, although this is generally more effective for brand recognition than for brand recall

2 factors that strengthen brand associations

personal relevancy consistency in which an info is presented over time

correlational points of parity

potentially negative associations that arise from the existence of positive associations for the brand

Low involvement

results when consumers lack either purchase motivation (they don't care about the product or service) or purchase ability (they don't know anything else about the brands in a category).

customer brand equity

the value customers receive