MSMK7001 Chap.10 Brand Equity and Branding Strategy
Brand Equity and Branding Strategy
A name that changes the product
A brand is whatever name, term, sign or design tells a buyer who makes or sells a product. The lecture's cola taste test shows why it matters: blind, people often prefer the rival, yet with names shown they overwhelmingly pick the leader.
Strong brands help consumers identify products, signal quality and consistency, give legal protection and help firms target segments.
Measuring what the name adds
Brand equity is the difference that knowing the brand name makes to customer response.
It is positive when buyers respond more favorably than to an unbranded version and negative when they respond less favorably; brand value is the total financial worth of the brand. High equity brings awareness and loyalty, bargaining power with resellers, easier extensions and defense against price competition.
Building a strong brand
The course sets out four decisions.
Positioning can rest on attributes, benefits, or beliefs and values, with the deepest positions going beyond attributes. A name should suggest benefits, be easy to say and remember, be distinctive, extendable and translatable, and be legally protectable.
Sponsorship can be a manufacturer's brand, a store brand, a licensed name or character, or co-branding with another company.
Growing the brand
Development runs along two questions: whether the category is new and whether the name is new.
That gives line extensions, brand extensions, multibrands and new brands, each with its own advantages and risks, from cannibalization and confusion to harm to the core brand and resources spread too thin.
What this chapter covers
- 01
What a brand is and what it adds
- 02
Brand equity and brand value
- 03
Positioning a brand beyond attributes
- 04
Six qualities of a good brand name
- 05
Manufacturer, store, licensed and co-brands
- 06
Line extensions and brand extensions
- 07
Multibrands and new brands
Worked example · free
Choose a development route and name its main risk
- 2Classify the reduced-salt soy sauce.
- 2Classify the instant noodles.
- 2Classify the premium restaurant brand.
Key terms
- Brand
- Any name, term, sign or design, used alone or together, that tells buyers who made or sells a product or service.
- Brand Equity
- The difference that recognizing a brand name makes to how customers react to a product and to its marketing.
- Brand Value
- The whole monetary worth of a brand as an asset.
- Store Brand
- A brand that a retailer or other reseller creates and owns, also called a private brand.
- Co-Branding
- Putting two separate companies' established brand names on a single product.
- Line Extension
- Using an existing brand name for new flavors, sizes, colors, forms or ingredients in a category the brand already sells in.
- Brand Extension
- Taking an established brand name into a product category it has not sold in before.
- Multibrands
- A strategy of launching several different brands within the same product category.
Brand Equity and Branding Strategy FAQ
What is the difference between brand equity and brand value?
Equity concerns customer response: the extra favorability, or disfavor, that the name produces compared with an unbranded version of the same product. Brand value is financial: the total monetary worth of the brand. Equity is what builds value, which is why the lecture ties high equity to loyalty and pricing power.
When is a brand extension a good idea?
When the new category draws on the same benefit the brand already stands for. The lecture's examples, a fashion label moving into bedding and a baking-soda brand moving into laundry and oral care, share that fit. An extension gives instant recognition and saves advertising, but a poor fit can confuse the core brand's meaning.
What makes a good brand name?
The lecture lists six qualities. A good name suggests the product's benefits and qualities, is easy to pronounce, recognize and remember, is distinctive, can be extended to other products, translates well for global markets, and can be registered and legally protected. Names that fail the translation test can cause problems abroad.
Assessment move
Decide your group's brand route before you design the product slides: extension under the company's name or a new brand. Write two sentences on why, using the fit test for extensions or the waning-name and portfolio-gap reasons for new brands. Audiences routinely ask why the new product carries, or does not carry, the parent name.
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