The 9 Characteristics of a Strong Brand

A strong brand is defined and characterized by the following 9 dimensions:

   1. A brand drives shareholder value
   2. The brand is led by the boardroom and managed by brand marketers with an active buy-in from all stakeholders
   3. The brand is a fully integrated part of the entire organisation aligned around multiple touch points
   4. The brand can be valued in financial terms and must reside on the asset side of the balance sheet
   5. The brand can used as collateral for financial loans and can be bought and sold as an asset
   6. Customers are willing to pay a substantial and consistent price premium for the brand versus a competing product and service
   7. Customers associate themselves strongly with the brand, its attributes, values and personality, and they fully buy into the concept which is often characterized by a very emotional and intangible relationship (higher customer loyalty)
   8. Customers are loyal to the brand and would actively seek it and buy it despite several other reasonable and often cheaper options available (higher customer retention rate)
   9. A brand is a trademark and marquee (logo, shape, colour etc) which is fiercely and pro-actively protected by the company and its legal advisors

Sponsored By: The Blake Project - 2008 Brand Education Seminars

Comments

[Scott White]

How does a brand prove this?

4. The brand can be valued in financial terms and must reside on the asset side of the balance sheet

Since there is no brand equity formula (that anyone agrees to) please expand on how any brand can show their additional worth? I know many big brands who may disagree what their real brand was...AIG, WAMU etc.

You can't do this, if you really can't measure a brand in worth...

5. The brand can used as collateral for financial loans and can be bought and sold as an asset

I'm a branding guy, but brand equity measurement is not a fact. In fact many people disagree even on the elements of brand equity. So assigning a financial number to a brand is really quackery.

[Minter]

I enjoyed your post. A few thoughts.

For a super strong brand (where employees are apostles...), you could say for point 7 that Employees and Customers associate themselves with the brand (an extension of point 3).

I believe that points 6 and 8 tend to merge. And going further, I'd say in Point 8 that, not only will the customer seek the brand out to buy it, but they will defend it, talk passionately about it and, if the "brand" decides to change, will be the first to be up in arms... Brands are strongest when the customer base feels like they own it.