STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
Ananda Hussein Ph.D
STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT
• A product is anything that is potentially valued by a target market for the benefits or satisfaction it provides, including objects, services, organizations, places, people, and ideas
What is Brand?
• A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.
Strategic Role of Brands
• FOR BUYERS, BRANDS CAN:
• reduce customer search costs by identifying products quickly and accurately,
• reduce the buyer’s perceived risk by providing an
assurance of quality and consistency (which may then be transferred to new products),
• reduce the social and psychological risks associated with owning and using the “wrong” product by providing
psychological rewards for purchasing brands that symbolize status and prestige.
Strategic Role of Brands
• FOR SELLERS, BRANDS CAN FACILITATE:
• repeat purchases that enhance the company’s financial performance because the brand enables the customer to identify and re-identify the product compared to alternatives,
• the introduction of new products, because the customer is familiar with the brand from previous buying experience,
• promotional effectiveness by providing a point of focus,
• premium pricing by creating a basic level of differentiation compared to competitors,
• market segmentation by communicating a coherent message to the target audience, telling them for whom the brand is intended and for whom it is not,
• brand loyalty, of particular importance in product categories where loyal buying is an important feature of buying behavior.
Brand Management Challenges
• Intense price and other competitive pressure
• Fragmentation of markets and media
• Complex brand strategies and relationship
• Pressure to invest elsewhere
• Short-term pressure
Strategic Brand Management
Brand Identity Strategy
Identity Implementation
Brand Strategy Over Time
Managing the Brand Portfolio
Leveraging the Brand
BRAND EQUITY MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC BRAND ANALYSIS
Strategic Brand Analysis
• Strategic brand analysis includes market and customer, competitor, and brand analysis
• Tracking brand performance to guide decision on new products, modified products, and eliminating products.
Product Life Cycle
Relevant issues in PLC analysis include:
• Determining the length and rate of change of the PLC
• Identifying the current PLC stage and selecting the product strategy that corresponds to that stage
• Anticipating threats and finding opportunities for altering and extending the PLC
Brand Equity
• Effective strategic brand management requires that we understand brand equity and evaluate its impact when making brand management decisions:
“Brand equity is a set of brand assets and liability linked to a brand, its name,and symbol, that add to or subtract from
the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’scustomers.”
Measuring Brand Equity. Several measures are needed to capture all relevant aspects of brand equity.**
* loyalty (price premium, satisfaction/loyalty),
* perceived quality/leadership measures (perceived quality, leadership/popularity),
* associations/differentiation (perceived value, brand personality, organizational associations),
* awareness (brand awareness), and
* market behavior
BRAND IDENTITY STRATEGY
Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or
maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organization members.*
Four Brand Identity Perspectives Product
Organization Person
Symbol
* David A. Aaker, Building Strong Brands, 1996, 68.
Strategies for Improving Product Performance
Product line Strategy
Add new
product(s) Cost reduction
Product
improvement Alter marketing
strategy Eliminate
specific product(s)
MANAGING THE BRAND PORTFOLIO
Leverage
Commonalities to Generate Synergy Allocate
Resources Reduce
Brand Identity Damage
Facilitate Change
and Adaptation Achieve Clarity
of Product Offerings
Source: David A. Aaker, Building Strong Brands, New York: The Free Press, 1996, 241-242.
BRAND PORTFOLIO OBJECTIVES
BRAND
EXTENSION LINE
EXTENSION
Extensions of the brand name to other product categories
--Similar
--Dissimilar
Minor variants of a single
product are marketed under the same brand name
BRAND LEVERAGING STRATEGY
CO-BRANDING
Co-branding (dual branding) involves two or more
established brands making a joint offer of their product brands —
The participant’s brand names are identified on the good or service.
Several different forms – Component co-branding
(Volvo and Michelin)
Same company co-branding Alliance co-branding
(Delta and American Express) Ingredient co-branding
SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF BRAND MANAGEMENT*
Failure to fully understand the meaning of the brand.
Failure to live up to the brand promise.
Failure to adequately support the brand.
Failure to be patient with the brand.
Failure to adequately control the brand.
Failure to properly balance consistency and change with the brand.
Failure to understand the complexity of brand equity measurement and management.
*Kevin Lane Keller, Strategic Brand Management, Prentice Hall, 2003, 736.
