Theory Building Brands for Impact
Week 1 - What is a brand & why does it matter?
What is a brand?
Two perspectives on brands
1. Company’s perspective = most valuable resource o reputation/credibility and power
which attracts consumers in a unique way and provides sustainable profit; purely
economical, functional and rational
- intangible assets that need to be nourished and leveraged
- power of brand (brand equity) derives CLV and predicts customers acquisition,
retention and loyalty
2. Consumers perspective: emotionally, symbolically and psychological
consumers are the ultimate users of a brand so the core of brand management
programs is to understand how customers perceive, feel and think about brands
Brands as symbols and relational tools
- Consumers not only buy products for utilitarian motives (what it does), but also
symbolic (what it means)
→ symbolic feeling-based decisions are driven by: Self-concept, goals, feelings,
thoughts/Self-signaling motives/Using symbols to distinguish ourselves
- Relational view of self-brand connection= customers have relationship with brands
→ influenced by brands personality and associations
- Brands should bring meaning to consumers’ life
→ companies should create positive, strong and favorable brand associations and
plant them in heart and mind of consumers
Brand = name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify
the goods or services of one seller/group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competition.
Customer-based brand equity
Customer-based brand equity = differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer
response to the marketing of the brand
→ difference in what the customer is willing to pay for a branded product, compared to an
unbranded identical equivalent of the same product
- Brand knowledge (positive associations) are the building blocks of CBBE
- Activated brand knowledge can automatically influence consumers decision making
and behavior
Primary functions of brands
1. Navigation = brands help consumers choose from bewildering array of choices and
reduce search cost
, 2. Reassurance = brands communicate the intrinsic quality of product/service and
reassure consumers that they have made the right choice; brands encourage
multiple product use through extensions
→ stong brands communicate quality and facilitate product extensions
3. Engagement = brands use symbolic and imagery language and feeling-based
associations to encourage consumers to identify with them
→ symbolic values
Week 2 - Brand Elements
Brand elements
Brand elements (brand identities) = trademark-able devices that serve to identify and
differentiate the brand
- Examples: brand names, symbols, logos, URLs, slogans, packages, color, endorser, smell,
language by which you communicate with the consumer, employees, product prices,
discounts, and competitive narrative
→ all these aspects should reinforce each other
- Identifiers of the brand = activate (prime) mental associations of a consumer
- Differentiate = brand elements should stand out and must be sticky!
Designing effective and sticky brand elements
Kellers’ elements for designing effective brands
1. Memorable = remain on top of peoples mind → fluency!
2. Meaningful = significant role in peoples life on a deeper level
3. Likabale =
4. Transferable = brand elements should be transferable across product categories
5. Adaptable = able to expand to different markets
6. Protectable = legal register products to your own brand (legal domains like laws and
regulations)
Criteria for sticky content/brand elements (Heath & Heath, 2008)
1. Simple = simplicity always works best
2. Unexpected = surprise customers (works memorable)
3. Concrete = keep it to the point
4. Credible = claim something that you can proof
5. Emotional = use different emotions depending on the context
6. Stories = storytelling
Leveraging brand elements
The role of feelings in our decisions
Feelings = sources of information for us to make decisions; inform us about how positive or
negative a stimuli, object or environment is; based on how we feel towards a target), we form a
(dis)favorable judgement
- We tend to (unconsciously) misattribute our feelings when judging independent objects,
people or environments
→ eg a sunny day (vs a rainy day) and life satisfaction
Week 1 - What is a brand & why does it matter?
What is a brand?
Two perspectives on brands
1. Company’s perspective = most valuable resource o reputation/credibility and power
which attracts consumers in a unique way and provides sustainable profit; purely
economical, functional and rational
- intangible assets that need to be nourished and leveraged
- power of brand (brand equity) derives CLV and predicts customers acquisition,
retention and loyalty
2. Consumers perspective: emotionally, symbolically and psychological
consumers are the ultimate users of a brand so the core of brand management
programs is to understand how customers perceive, feel and think about brands
Brands as symbols and relational tools
- Consumers not only buy products for utilitarian motives (what it does), but also
symbolic (what it means)
→ symbolic feeling-based decisions are driven by: Self-concept, goals, feelings,
thoughts/Self-signaling motives/Using symbols to distinguish ourselves
- Relational view of self-brand connection= customers have relationship with brands
→ influenced by brands personality and associations
- Brands should bring meaning to consumers’ life
→ companies should create positive, strong and favorable brand associations and
plant them in heart and mind of consumers
Brand = name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify
the goods or services of one seller/group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competition.
Customer-based brand equity
Customer-based brand equity = differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer
response to the marketing of the brand
→ difference in what the customer is willing to pay for a branded product, compared to an
unbranded identical equivalent of the same product
- Brand knowledge (positive associations) are the building blocks of CBBE
- Activated brand knowledge can automatically influence consumers decision making
and behavior
Primary functions of brands
1. Navigation = brands help consumers choose from bewildering array of choices and
reduce search cost
, 2. Reassurance = brands communicate the intrinsic quality of product/service and
reassure consumers that they have made the right choice; brands encourage
multiple product use through extensions
→ stong brands communicate quality and facilitate product extensions
3. Engagement = brands use symbolic and imagery language and feeling-based
associations to encourage consumers to identify with them
→ symbolic values
Week 2 - Brand Elements
Brand elements
Brand elements (brand identities) = trademark-able devices that serve to identify and
differentiate the brand
- Examples: brand names, symbols, logos, URLs, slogans, packages, color, endorser, smell,
language by which you communicate with the consumer, employees, product prices,
discounts, and competitive narrative
→ all these aspects should reinforce each other
- Identifiers of the brand = activate (prime) mental associations of a consumer
- Differentiate = brand elements should stand out and must be sticky!
Designing effective and sticky brand elements
Kellers’ elements for designing effective brands
1. Memorable = remain on top of peoples mind → fluency!
2. Meaningful = significant role in peoples life on a deeper level
3. Likabale =
4. Transferable = brand elements should be transferable across product categories
5. Adaptable = able to expand to different markets
6. Protectable = legal register products to your own brand (legal domains like laws and
regulations)
Criteria for sticky content/brand elements (Heath & Heath, 2008)
1. Simple = simplicity always works best
2. Unexpected = surprise customers (works memorable)
3. Concrete = keep it to the point
4. Credible = claim something that you can proof
5. Emotional = use different emotions depending on the context
6. Stories = storytelling
Leveraging brand elements
The role of feelings in our decisions
Feelings = sources of information for us to make decisions; inform us about how positive or
negative a stimuli, object or environment is; based on how we feel towards a target), we form a
(dis)favorable judgement
- We tend to (unconsciously) misattribute our feelings when judging independent objects,
people or environments
→ eg a sunny day (vs a rainy day) and life satisfaction
