CHAPTER 5:
CHOOSING BRAND ELEMENTS TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY
Lecture 6
4.1
Building
Customer-Based Brand Equity
• Brand knowledge structures depend on:
– The initial choices for the brand elements
– The supporting marketing program and the manner
by which the brand is integrated into it
– Other associations indirectly transferred to the
brand by linking it to some other entities
4.2
Criteria for Choosing Brand Elements
• Memorability
Marketer’s offensive strategy
• Meaningfulness and build brand equity
• Likability
• Transferability
• Adaptability Defensive role for leveraging
and maintaining brand equity
• Protectability
4.3
Memorability
• Brand elements should inherently be
memorable and attention-getting, and
therefore facilitate recall or recognition.
• For example, a brand of propane gas cylinders
named Blue Rhino featuring a powder-blue
animal mascot with a distinctive yellow flame
is likely to stick in the minds of consumers.
4.4
Meaningfulness
• Brand elements may take on all kinds of meaning,
with either descriptive or persuasive content.
• Two particularly important criteria
– General information about the nature of the product
category
– Specific information about particular attributes and
benefits of the brand
• The first dimension is an important determinant of
brand awareness and salience; the second, of brand
image and positioning.
4.5
Likability
• Do customers find the brand element
aesthetically appealing?
• Descriptive and persuasive elements reduce
the burden on marketing communications to
build awareness.
4.6
Transferability
• How useful is the brand element for line or
category extensions?
• To what extent does the brand element add to
brand equity across geographic boundaries
and market segments?
4.7
Adaptability
• The more adaptable and flexible the brand
element, the easier it is to update it to
changes in consumer values and opinions.
• For example, logos and characters can be
given a new look or a new design to make
them appear more modern and relevant.
4.8
Protectability
• Marketers should:
1. Choose brand elements that can be legally
protected internationally.
2. Formally register chosen brand elements with
the appropriate legal bodies.
3. Vigorously defend trademarks from
unauthorized competitive infringement.
4.9
Tactics for Brand Elements
• A variety of brand elements can be chosen that
inherently enhance brand awareness or facilitate the
formation of strong, favorable, and unique brand
associations.
– Brand names
– URLs
– Logos and symbols
– Characters
– Slogans
– Packaging
4.10
Brand Names
• Like any brand element, brand names must
be chosen with the six general criteria of
memorability, meaningfulness, likability,
transferability, adaptability, and protectability
in mind.
4.11
Brand Naming Guidelines
• Brand awareness
– Simplicity and ease of pronunciation and spelling
– Familiarity and meaningfulness
– Differentiated, distinctive, and uniqueness
• Brand associations
– The explicit and implicit meanings consumers
extract from it are important. In particular, the
brand name can reinforce an important attribute
or benefit association that makes up its product
positioning.
4.12
Brand Naming Procedures
• Define objectives
• Generate names
• Screen initial candidates
• Study candidate names
• Research the final candidates
• Select the final name
4.13
Packaging Can Influence How a Person
Uses a Product
• One strategy to increase use of mature
products has been to encourage people to use
the brand in new situations, like soup for
breakfast, or new uses, like baking soda as a
refrigerator deodorizer.
• An analysis of 26 products and 402 consumers
showed that twice as many people learned
about the new use from the package than
from television ads.
4.14
Putting It All Together
• The entire set of brand elements makes up the
brand identity, the contribution of all brand
elements to awareness and image.
• The cohesiveness of the brand identity
depends on the extent to which the brand
elements are consistent.
4.15
