Branding Strategy Insider

Ad Copy Testing Defined

Today we're taking a marketing research question from James in Dallas, Texas. He asks...

"Please define Ad Copy Testing and other relevant measures for advertising performance."

James, Thanks for asking. As you likely know, this has been a perennially controversial area of marketing research. The importance and effectiveness of and the most productive approaches to copy testing have been much debated over time. For instance, many have questioned the usefulness of advertising recall as a measure. Current methodologies are fraught with issues. I am providing a simple summary of a fairly comprehensive approach to this below, however, the chosen approach will vary greatly depending on what specifically is to be tested.

More sophisticated approaches have been used (galvanic skin response, MRI, etc.), however these tend to be quite expensive. People have also used pulse and heart rate, facial expression and other physiological indicators of mental states as measures of advertising effectiveness. Some research orgnizations like Millward Brown and Ipsos-ASI will argue the importance of validated predictive metrics and normative databases in this area of research because they have these.

Ad Copy Testing
More aptly named pre-testing, copy testing is the study of advertising (print, TV, radio, billboards, Internet, etc.) prior to launching it. It predicts how effectively an ad will perform, based on the analysis of feedback gathered from the target audience. Each test will either qualify the ad as strong enough to meet company action standards for airing or identify opportunities to improve the performance of the ad through editing.

How Far Can The Marlboro Brand Stretch?

Today another question from the BSI Emailbag. Martin, a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School writes...

"Dear Mr. VanAuken, before I ask my TWO questions (I hope I’m not being greedy) I’d like to thank you and your co-authors for Branding Strategy Insider – this is what I check first thing in the morning with the coffee (I read my emails on my Blackberry in the car). Here come the questions:"

Question 1

"Is there a way for a brand such as Marlboro to extend to products that are socially acceptable? A line of outdoor lifestyle products probably? Would that create outrage? What would be the way to go about it?"

This is a very interesting question, Martin. Given its strong image and personality (masculine, rugged individualism, independent spirit, etc.), I suspect the Marlboro brand is capable of being extended into a variety of new product categories. For instance, I could imagine Marlboro jeans and hats and belts could be successful. There are several things I would consider before I pulled the trigger on this, however. First, I would perform typical brand extension research to understand how the brand’s associations transferred to the new product categories and vice versa.

I would also try to understand current Marlboro consumers, the consumers of the intended new product categories and the general public felt about moving the Marlboro brand into those product categories. It would also be important to determine if extending the brand into new product categories would be perceived to be a move to market Marlboro tobacco products to youth, and if it would actually make the brand more appealing to youth. If so, there would likely be a public backlash, not to mention possible legal actions against such a move. I suspect that these brand extensions would be much more palatable should Phillip Morris decide to discontinue tobacco-related products under the Marlboro brand first. Having said all of this, I think the Marlboro brand is quite strong and could be extended into a variety of product categories for which Marlboro’s distinct brand image and personality would seem to be a draw.

Question 2

What Are Brand Attributes?

Today we're taking another branding question. Feyza, a marketer in Istanbul, Turkey asks...

"What are brand attributes? Please describe the difference between brand essence and brand attributes!"

Feyza thanks for your question. Attributes are more often used when referring to products than brands. A product's attribute might be a function or a feature. These functions and features often lead to consumer benefits. However, brands can have attributes too. The attributes may be personality attributes or they may be derived from the brand's products' attributes.

A brand's essence, on the other hand, has a very specific meaning. A brand's essence is its "heart and soul," its timeless quality. It describes who it is at its core. I like to express a brand's essence as [adjective adjective noun], so for Nike, it is "Authentic athletic performance" and for Starbucks it is "Rewarding everyday moments." Disney's essence is "Fun family entertainment."

Feyza, we also have a whole category on brand essence here.

Have a question related to branding? Just Ask…

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How Do I Judge Marketing Firms?

Today we take another question from a BSI reader like you...

Roy, an executive in St. Louis asks...

"I am on a search committee to select a company to help our organization with Branding. What are the questions or insights needed in judging various companies?"

Roy, thanks for your question. Different companies have different types of branding expertise. For instance, we (a brand consultancy) primarily focus on market research informed brand positioning, strategy development and brand equity measurement. We want to help organizations differentiate themselves in meaningful ways. That requires a deep understanding of marketing research, consumer behavior and marketing strategy as it relates to business strategy.

Some companies focus on brand identity development. For the majority of people, this translates to names, logos and taglines.These deliverables require strong graphic design and copy writing abilities. They also require deep brand identity experience if the name, logo and tagline are to work in all situations over time. Some companies  call themselves branding houses, but they are primarily good at developing creative (graphics and copy) for marketing communications materials and campaigns. At their core - they are advertising agencies. Many of those agencies are better in some media than others, for instance print versus television versus web-based. Few agencies have the strategic abilities needed for the development of robust brand strategies based on deep consumer insight. Other branding companies (mainly consulting firms) focus on brand equity measurement (quantitative research), brand asset valuation or inside-out branding, all of which require an entirely different set of skills, including OD (organization development/design) skills for inside-out branding.

So how does one determine which organization would best serve your needs? First, you must carefully assess your needs so that you know what you are seeking. Once you have done that, you should make your selection based on the following:

Testing Marketing Competence

It has been my experience that "marketers" are quite varied in their ability - from "clueless" to "brilliant." The problem is that many people can't tell the difference between these two extreme ends of the continuum. Here is a list of questions that should help you sort the wheat from the chaff. Ask these of the person in question. His or her answers should help you make up your mind where he or she belongs on the scale of marketing competency.

·Who is your primary target audience and why?

·What are the most efficient media and other vehicles to reach this audience?

·What is the best way to segment this market?

·What is your brand's top-of-mind unaided awareness among its primary audience?

·What is your brand's primary point of difference? Explain why it is compelling to your brand's target audiences.

·Why will your target audiences choose your brand over competitive brands?

·What are your brands "proof points" or "reasons to believe"?

·Please list or articulate your marketing strategies and tactics in decreasing order of effectiveness? That is, which would you invest in first, second, third, etc.?

·How much do you spend on PR as a percentage of paid media spend?

·Describe some of the insights that you have gained from research about your target audiences. What are their hopes, fears, anxieties, attitudes and values? Are there any insights that lead to a "hook" or "way in" to the target audience?

The Power of Brand Consistency

“We thought we’d update the logo a little.” “It’s not a new tagline. It’s just a catchy phrase that we are using instead of the tagline.” “We thought the icon would make a great decorative element.” “We are thinking about creating a new name for the organization.” “We developed a new product so we created a new brand for it.” “We created a different tagline for each audience. Pretty clever, huh?” “We were getting so tired of the old logo.” “It’s more fun to present the brand in a wide variety of colors.” “There was no room for the icon so we left it off.” “This is a funky stylized version of the logo targeted at younger audiences.”

What is it about marketers that cause them to want to create something new all of the time? I have been told that I am a creative, out-of-the-box thinker, but when it comes to brand identity, I learned a long time ago that consistency is the secret to success.  With enough repetition, people encode the brands identity (usually not as read words but as the recognized look, shape and feel) in their brains, preferably linked to things that matter to them. If you mess with the overall look and feel of the brand, these linkages and associations are likely to break down.

So, how does one combat these tendencies? In the following ways…

·         Develop a sound brand strategy and identity from the start

·         Base them on deep customer insight

·         Carefully think through your brand’s architecture and identity system, anticipating as many new products, services, media and other applications as possible

Can Marketers Increase Share Price?

We're happy to answer marketing questions from BSI readers like you...

Maria, a Marketing VP in Australia writes:

"I have a question for you relating to the correlation between brand value and share price. Do you think that marketers could aim at increasing share price directly through marketing campaigns? I recognise that PR definitely can but I do not understand where marketing fits in."

Maria, thanks for asking. Indirectly, brand marketing affects share price, especially over time. For instance, by building brand awareness or reinforcing a unique and compelling brand benefit, marketing can increase three items that can lead to higher share price in the future:

•    Customer loyalty
•    Product/service sales
•    Ability to charge a price premium

Strong brands also help attract and retain competent employees, sometimes at a salary discount, if the brand’s reputation is strong enough.  This, in turn should lead to increased sales and profitability in the long run.

I think it is overly ambitious to think that a brand marketing campaign could increase share price in the short term unless its message was similar to that of a press release targeted at the financial community. But, that would be more of a financial analyst campaign then a traditional brand marketing campaign.

Have a question related to branding? Just Ask…

Sponsored By: Brand Aid

Building Your Brand in Difficult Economic Times

Often, brand marketing budgets are the first to be cut in difficult economic times. This means you must increase the efficiency of your spend or suffer reduced brand awareness, preference and loyalty building. Assuming that your spend was already efficient, this means you will likely sacrifice brand equity building until the difficult economic times have passed.

There is something else that you can do in these times. You can create new brand proof points at each point of customer contact. The way to get there is through touchpoint management design. The Blake Project offer’s a one-day workshop in which the participants generate hundreds of ideas for bringing the brand to life at each point of customer contact. The workshop is highly facilitated with numerous ideation techniques interspersed with many creativity exercises. We follow it up with a culling process that identifies those ideas that are very powerful in reinforcing the brand’s promise but also quick, easy and inexpensive to implement. That is, the final output is a handful of ideas (or more) that deliver a high return on investment (ROI).

While marketing communications, if effective, promise relevant differentiated benefits on behalf of the brand, the output of the customer touchpoint design workshop helps your brand actually deliver on its promise at each point of customer contact.  This is important not only in difficult economic times, but all of the time.

Obama, McCain: Political Brand Analysis Results

Brands are positioned in the minds of their target audiences. While brand managers (in this case, political strategists) can work hard to influence how those brands (theirs and their competitor’s) are perceived, ultimately brands are what the target audiences think they are. The most important benefits for a brand to “own” are those that are extremely compelling to their target audiences, especially if the brand in question (in this case, a presidential candidate) can uniquely own those benefits. With this in mind, we created a survey to understand what was most important to American citizens when selecting a president. We then asked how well John McCain and Barack Obama delivered against these benefits. By comparing the most compelling benefits to the perception of each presidential candidate we are able to determine who is best positioned to be elected president.

Between October 28 and October 31, we surveyed readers here on Branding Strategy Insider regarding the McCain and Obama brands. 100 people responded to the survey. Those people represent 29 states and DC, with a heavier mix from NY, CA and FL. 59.6% were male, while 40.4% were female. Ages ranged from 18 years old to 74 years old. 61.2% were married. The average household income skewed high. The mode was $100,000-$149,999. Political party registration was as follows: 35.4% Democratic, 21.2% Republican, 21.2% none, 18.2% Independent, 4% other. Given the respondent mix and the ending sample size, the data is directional but not projectable.

We explored 27 personality attributes and 35 platform issues. The personality attributes included those most often associated with strong brands (trustworthy, reliable, etc.) and those most often used by the candidates in describing themselves and each other. The 35 platform issues were taken from the platforms of the five largest political parties.

We first wanted to understand which personality attributes and platform issues were the most desired in selecting a president. They are as follows: (Please note: you can click to enlarge all tables)

Related to that, we wanted to understand the least desirable attributes. They are as follows:

Overcoming Common Brand Problems - 40

As we round out our list of the 40 Most Common Brand Problems we see one that the human resources department is called on to avoid...

Common Brand Problem Number 40: Since branding has become widely known and embraced, I increasingly encounter people who can talk the talk, follow the steps in the brand management process and generally take a number of actions on behalf of the brand. What I often find missing though is a true deep-down understanding of what makes the customer tick and a passion for exceeding customer expectations in unique and compelling ways. That is, I see allot of people going through the motions without the depth of insight and the passion for excellence and differentiation. People often think that a new logo, tagline and brand style guide will “do the trick.” Usually, these are not based on deep customer insight and a carefully crafted compelling point of difference. And just as often, business managers are not willing or able to make the changes necessary to actually interact with the customer differently based upon the new brand promise.

Analysis: The art and science of branding is much more difficult than it first appears to be. While many people are labeled brand managers, only a small fraction of them have what it takes to really build strong brands: the research tool set, the deep understanding of human motivation, the intuition, the analytical rigor and the driving passion and savvy to influence the entire organization. Organizations should be much more careful in selecting their brand managers. Good ones are very hard to find and worth every penny you pay them. Mediocre ones are ubiquitous and often not worth the price.

Key Point: I would recommend behavioral interviewing as one of the most effective ways to assess skills and abilities. Ask the brand manager candidates to walk you through specific case studies from their past work experiences. Probe on challenges and how they overcame them, consumer insights that led to breakthroughs, significant accomplishments and stories of how they persuaded others to join them in championing the brand.

Click here to explore the other 39 most common brand problems in our countdown.

Sponsored By: Brand Aid