Taught by: Peeter Verlegh
Table of Contents
Lecture 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 2
Lecture 2: Branding with purpose .............................................................................................. 4
Lecture 3: Brand associations ...................................................................................................... 7
Lecture 4: Brand extensions: managerial perspectives ........................................................... 12
Lecture 5: Brand personality & relationships.......................................................................... 13
Lecture 6: Brand experience ...................................................................................................... 18
Lecture 7: Engagement............................................................................................................... 20
Lecture 8: Brands & employees................................................................................................. 27
Lecture 9: Branding for good – brand activism....................................................................... 30
Lecture 10: A primer on brand growth .................................................................................... 36
Exam preparation ....................................................................................................................... 40
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,Lecture 1: Introduction
What is a brand?
- Identification – name, term, sign, symbol, design, or any
combination of those, used to identify the goods and services
of one seller of group of sellers.
- Differentiation – distinguishing name or symbol intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller, and to differentiate those goods and services
from those of the competitor.
- Mental construct – brands are mental containers of meaning
and serve as internal information sources for buyers. Brands
are networks of associations.
- Relationship partner – brands can and do serve as a viable
relationship partners and consumer brand relationships are valid at the level of lived
experience.
- Driving force – brands are the mechanism that connects organizations and people, they are
also the cultural forms that allow us to express who we are and the soul of corporations,
organizations and movements.
Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Pyramid (Keller, 2001)
4 questions (consumers ask about your brand):
1) Who are you? (identity)
2) What are you? (meaning)
3) How do I think & feel about you?
4) What is our relationship?
Layer 1: Brand salience
Before anything else, you need to create brand salience → the brand must come to mind easily.
This means you have to build brand awareness: the ability to recall and recognize the brand (in
relation to the needs it satisfies).
Two types of brand awareness: recall vs. recognition
Recall: the brand comes to mind spontaneously → top of mind awareness (TOMA). “What
brand(s) of [category] can you think of?”
Recognition: the brand is recognized from relevant cues (e.g., name, logo, packaging, design) →
aided recall. “Which of these brands do you know/recognize?”
Depth: how easily do you recall/recognize the brand?
Breadth: in which situations does the brand come to mind?
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,General tips for building awareness:
- More exposure is better (low involvement learning is based on repeated exposures), so
budget is key, but also:
- Be consistent (think 10 times before changing logo / name / packaging)
- Always establish link to product need
- Ensure sufficient exposure to package (two second rule) for recognition
- Create a personal connection (use a presenter who establishes this)
- Use mnemonic devices (music, sound, imagery)
Layer 2: Brand meaning
Brand meaning: the associations with a brand, built by own experience, experience of others
(WOM), and advertising.
Good associations:
- Favorable
- Strong link to the brand
- Unique (distinct from other brands in category)
Two types of associations:
- Functional, performance-related
- Imagery-related (often more abstract)
Brand meaning I – brand performance
- Primary characteristics & secondary features: (e.g., low sugar, high engine power)
- Product reliability (consistency), durability, and serviceability
- Service effectiveness (level of satisfaction), efficiency (speedy & responsive), and empathy
(trusting, caring)
- Style & Design
- Price
Brand meaning II – brand imagery
- User profile(s): what kind of person(s) use(s) the brand?
- Purchase & Usage Situation: when do you buy/use the brand?
- Personality & Values:
- History, Heritage & Experience (both shared & individual)
Layer 3: Consumer responses to the brand
How do consumers think and feel about the brand?
Judgments:
- Quality
- Credibility (= trustworthiness, expertise, likability)
- Consideration (would I buy this brand?)
- Superiority (better than the others?)
Feelings:
- Warmth, fun, excitement
- Security, social approval, self-respect
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, Level 4: Consumer-brand relationships
What relationships do consumers (want to) have with the brand? Does the brand resonate with
customers? (Brand resonance)
- Loyalty (behavioral loyalty & attitudinal attachment)
- Sense of community
- Active engagement
Two dimensions:
- Intensity: how strong are the feelings?
- Activity: do consumers act on their feelings?
Summary
- Brands: enable identification & differentiation, create meaning (associations) for
consumers, help consumers to build relationships with organizations & products, and serve
as a driving force for organizations.
- Brand Equity: understood through Keller’s pyramid: (1) build brand salience, (2) create
associations on performance and imagery, (3) foster favorable judgment and feelings, (4)
develop strong and meaningful relationships with customers (resonance).
Lecture 2: Branding with purpose
“Customers want to see and hear what you stand for, as they increasingly look to do business with
companies that share their values.”
3 ways of thinking about the purpose.
Why – branding at value level. “We challenge the status quo, that sounds
just like me.” It unifies all the products that are from that company.
How- branding at benefit level. “We make them look great and easy to
interact with, you want them”.
What – branding at product level. “We make great computers, buy one?”
Article Knowles et al., 2022
3 types of purpose:
- Competence-based purpose
o Expresses a clear value proposition to customers
(and internally, to employees who are responsible
for delivering this proposition). It expresses what
the company stands for.
o Comparable to the “What” of Sinek’s Golden
circle.
o Example: FedEx - “Always first”
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