1
ISC 161 Exam 2 Notes 1 Notes 2/22/18 University of
Kentucky
Branding- What examples of strong brands come to mind?
Some TerminologyBrand-
• “A brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible, and intangible, symbolized in a trademark,
which, if managed properly, creates value and influence”
• “Brands offer customers a means to choose and enable recognition within cluttered
markets” Brand equity-
• “The sum of all distinguishing qualities of a brand, drawn from all relevant stakeholders,
that results in personal commitment to and demand for the brand; these differentiating
thoughts and feelings make the brand valued and valuable”
• Stakeholders- audience
• Higher brand equity is good
Brand image-
• “The customer’s net ‘take-out’ from the brand. For users this is based on practical
experience of the product or service concerned (informed impression) and how well this
meets expectations; for non-users it is based almost entirely upon uninformed
impressions, attitudes and beliefs”
Brand essence-
• “The brand’s promise expressed in the simplest, most single-minded terms. For
example, Volvo=safety.”
• “The most powerful brand essences are rooted in a fundamental customer need”
How brands help consumers
• Provides confidence regarding purchase decision
• Gives assurance about the purchase when the buyer has little or no previous experience
• Reduces search time in the purchase decision
• Provides psychological reinforcement and social acceptance of the purchase
How brands help companies
• Extension of positive customer feelings to new products (new iPhones)
• Ability to charge a higher price or fee (lululemon leggings)
• Consumer loyalty leading to a more frequent purchase
• Positive word-of-mouth endorsements
• Higher level of channel power
• Ability to attract quality employees
• More favorable ratings by financial observers and analysts
Some approaches to branding and determining brand value-
• Young & Rubicam Brand Asset Valuator
Two elements Brand
strength
Brand stature
pg. 1
,2
BAV: Brand Strength
• Differentiation
-Innovation
-Ability to stand out
-Pricing power
-Ability to create and sustain competitive advantage
• Relevance
-Brand’s ability to be personally meaningful
-Needed for consideration and trial
BAV: Brand Stature
• Esteem
-Extent to which customers like and respect the brand
• Knowledge
-Level of intimacy the customer has with the brand
-Tied to top of mind awareness and saliency
BAV
• Brands high on strength and stature are leadership brands or mass market brands,
depending on differentiation
• Brands high on strength but low on stature are niche brands or have unrealized
potential (Halo Top healthier alternative to ice cream)
• Brands high on stature but low on strength are commodity or eroded brands
• Brands low on both are new, unfocused or unknown
Interbrand’s top brands: methodology
• Financial performance
• Role of brand in purchase decision
• Brand strength
Role of brand
• The portion of the decision process attributes to the brand
• Excludes price or features
• What demand is vs. what it would be for the same product or service if It were
unbranded
Brand strength
• 10 components, each ranked on a 0-10 scale
• Based on comparison to other brands in the category
The components
• Clarity: how well the brand’s values, positioning and proposition are articulated
• Commitment: how strongly an organization commits to supporting its brand (time,
influence, investment)
• Governance: the brand’s basics, including leadership’s skills, operating models and
processes
• Responsiveness: how well the brand adapts to change, challenges and opportunities
• Authenticity: how soundly the brand is based on its internal capability and heritage
pg. 2
, 3
• Relevance: how well the brand fits customer needs, desires and decision criteria
• Differentiation: distinctive proposition, creative expression, and unique experience
• Consistency: how well the brand delivers a similar experience across time and situations
• Presence: the extent to which the brand feels omnipresent and how positively it is
discussed in both traditional and social media
• Engagement: long-lasting, profitable relationships though emotional bonds, keeping
promises and meeting expectations (Drive in ISC)
The 2017 Top 100
• http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2017/ranking/
Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index
• Identifies and examines loyalty drivers for individual product categories
-Values
-Benefits
-Features
• These drives purchasing define brand equity and bond customers to the brand
Brand Keys
• Makes it possible to identify and compare:
-the category “ideal”
-Your brand
-Competitor’s brands
• You need to know, or find out
-What people really think
-What customers’ expectations are
-How purchase decisions are really made
-How customers will behave in the marketplace
Some top brands, and category drivers
• Athletic footwear
-Driver: personal innovation
-Top brands: New Balance, Nike
• Automotive
-Driver: my life is always connected
-Top brands: Hyundai, Ford
• Fast casual restaurants
-Driver: customization and well-being
-Top brands: Panera, Shake Shack
• Online retailers
-Drivers: immediate gratification
-Top brand: Amazon
• Social networking
-Driver: personal connectivity and influence
-Top brand: Facebook
• Smartphones
pg. 3
, 4
-Driver: I can do anything!
-Top brand: Apple
How do we develop a brand?
• Brand Building Requirements
-Trust between brand and consumer
-Common identify between brand and consumer (visual)
Point of difference between brands in a set
Ways to position the brand
• Functional
-Solve problems
-Provide benefits
• Symbolic
-Self-image enhancement
-Ego identification
-Belongingness
• Experiential
-Provide sensory or cognitive stimulation
Writing a positioning statement
• Describe your customers (current and potential)
• Define yourself in terms of your competition
• Explain your greatest benefit
• The combination is your positioning statement
Positioning statement format
• For (target audience), (brand name) offers (competitive frame of reference) that
provides (greatest competitive advantage)
• Example- “For small businesspeople, Web Marketing Today is an online information
resource that offers weekly Web marketing advice from experts
• A positioning statement is similar to mission, but also considers customers and
competition
• A mission statement only considers YOUR brand
• A positioning statement- competition and customers
• USP- unique selling proposition
• Similar to unique selling proposition, but also considers target audience
• “Building Your Brand. Part 2: How to Write a Brand Positioning Statement,” Dan
Wilson, MarketDifference Communications
Group.http://www.wilsonweb.com/tools/danwilson-positioningstatement.htm
Another way to think about this
• If your brand were a person, how would that person be described?
• What would it do in its free time?
• Who would its friends be?
• If you can answer those questions, then you have a clear brand position
pg. 4
ISC 161 Exam 2 Notes 1 Notes 2/22/18 University of
Kentucky
Branding- What examples of strong brands come to mind?
Some TerminologyBrand-
• “A brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible, and intangible, symbolized in a trademark,
which, if managed properly, creates value and influence”
• “Brands offer customers a means to choose and enable recognition within cluttered
markets” Brand equity-
• “The sum of all distinguishing qualities of a brand, drawn from all relevant stakeholders,
that results in personal commitment to and demand for the brand; these differentiating
thoughts and feelings make the brand valued and valuable”
• Stakeholders- audience
• Higher brand equity is good
Brand image-
• “The customer’s net ‘take-out’ from the brand. For users this is based on practical
experience of the product or service concerned (informed impression) and how well this
meets expectations; for non-users it is based almost entirely upon uninformed
impressions, attitudes and beliefs”
Brand essence-
• “The brand’s promise expressed in the simplest, most single-minded terms. For
example, Volvo=safety.”
• “The most powerful brand essences are rooted in a fundamental customer need”
How brands help consumers
• Provides confidence regarding purchase decision
• Gives assurance about the purchase when the buyer has little or no previous experience
• Reduces search time in the purchase decision
• Provides psychological reinforcement and social acceptance of the purchase
How brands help companies
• Extension of positive customer feelings to new products (new iPhones)
• Ability to charge a higher price or fee (lululemon leggings)
• Consumer loyalty leading to a more frequent purchase
• Positive word-of-mouth endorsements
• Higher level of channel power
• Ability to attract quality employees
• More favorable ratings by financial observers and analysts
Some approaches to branding and determining brand value-
• Young & Rubicam Brand Asset Valuator
Two elements Brand
strength
Brand stature
pg. 1
,2
BAV: Brand Strength
• Differentiation
-Innovation
-Ability to stand out
-Pricing power
-Ability to create and sustain competitive advantage
• Relevance
-Brand’s ability to be personally meaningful
-Needed for consideration and trial
BAV: Brand Stature
• Esteem
-Extent to which customers like and respect the brand
• Knowledge
-Level of intimacy the customer has with the brand
-Tied to top of mind awareness and saliency
BAV
• Brands high on strength and stature are leadership brands or mass market brands,
depending on differentiation
• Brands high on strength but low on stature are niche brands or have unrealized
potential (Halo Top healthier alternative to ice cream)
• Brands high on stature but low on strength are commodity or eroded brands
• Brands low on both are new, unfocused or unknown
Interbrand’s top brands: methodology
• Financial performance
• Role of brand in purchase decision
• Brand strength
Role of brand
• The portion of the decision process attributes to the brand
• Excludes price or features
• What demand is vs. what it would be for the same product or service if It were
unbranded
Brand strength
• 10 components, each ranked on a 0-10 scale
• Based on comparison to other brands in the category
The components
• Clarity: how well the brand’s values, positioning and proposition are articulated
• Commitment: how strongly an organization commits to supporting its brand (time,
influence, investment)
• Governance: the brand’s basics, including leadership’s skills, operating models and
processes
• Responsiveness: how well the brand adapts to change, challenges and opportunities
• Authenticity: how soundly the brand is based on its internal capability and heritage
pg. 2
, 3
• Relevance: how well the brand fits customer needs, desires and decision criteria
• Differentiation: distinctive proposition, creative expression, and unique experience
• Consistency: how well the brand delivers a similar experience across time and situations
• Presence: the extent to which the brand feels omnipresent and how positively it is
discussed in both traditional and social media
• Engagement: long-lasting, profitable relationships though emotional bonds, keeping
promises and meeting expectations (Drive in ISC)
The 2017 Top 100
• http://interbrand.com/best-brands/best-global-brands/2017/ranking/
Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index
• Identifies and examines loyalty drivers for individual product categories
-Values
-Benefits
-Features
• These drives purchasing define brand equity and bond customers to the brand
Brand Keys
• Makes it possible to identify and compare:
-the category “ideal”
-Your brand
-Competitor’s brands
• You need to know, or find out
-What people really think
-What customers’ expectations are
-How purchase decisions are really made
-How customers will behave in the marketplace
Some top brands, and category drivers
• Athletic footwear
-Driver: personal innovation
-Top brands: New Balance, Nike
• Automotive
-Driver: my life is always connected
-Top brands: Hyundai, Ford
• Fast casual restaurants
-Driver: customization and well-being
-Top brands: Panera, Shake Shack
• Online retailers
-Drivers: immediate gratification
-Top brand: Amazon
• Social networking
-Driver: personal connectivity and influence
-Top brand: Facebook
• Smartphones
pg. 3
, 4
-Driver: I can do anything!
-Top brand: Apple
How do we develop a brand?
• Brand Building Requirements
-Trust between brand and consumer
-Common identify between brand and consumer (visual)
Point of difference between brands in a set
Ways to position the brand
• Functional
-Solve problems
-Provide benefits
• Symbolic
-Self-image enhancement
-Ego identification
-Belongingness
• Experiential
-Provide sensory or cognitive stimulation
Writing a positioning statement
• Describe your customers (current and potential)
• Define yourself in terms of your competition
• Explain your greatest benefit
• The combination is your positioning statement
Positioning statement format
• For (target audience), (brand name) offers (competitive frame of reference) that
provides (greatest competitive advantage)
• Example- “For small businesspeople, Web Marketing Today is an online information
resource that offers weekly Web marketing advice from experts
• A positioning statement is similar to mission, but also considers customers and
competition
• A mission statement only considers YOUR brand
• A positioning statement- competition and customers
• USP- unique selling proposition
• Similar to unique selling proposition, but also considers target audience
• “Building Your Brand. Part 2: How to Write a Brand Positioning Statement,” Dan
Wilson, MarketDifference Communications
Group.http://www.wilsonweb.com/tools/danwilson-positioningstatement.htm
Another way to think about this
• If your brand were a person, how would that person be described?
• What would it do in its free time?
• Who would its friends be?
• If you can answer those questions, then you have a clear brand position
pg. 4
