Branding Strategy Insider

Branding: Just Ask...

Richard, a Marketing VP in San Diego asks:

"What are your thoughts on when a brand name like Xerox becomes the generic term for photocopying?"

Richard, thanks for asking. That a brand name becomes the category descriptor is a double edged sword. While it is flattering that the brand has such a presence in the market that it becomes the name for the category, this also makes its name much more difficult to protect legally. Also, the brand's points of difference disappear as the category becomes synonymous with the brand. The way to address this is to always say "Kleenex branded facial tissue," "Xerox branded copiers," "Band-Aid branded adhesive bandages," etc. Question 14 in appendix C in Brad's book Brand Aid lists many brands that have become category generic descriptors.

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Branding: Just Ask...

Sylvia, a brand manager in Frankfurt asks:

What are your thoughts on the employee discount craze by GM and other auto manufacturers that took place in the US market? Do you think these measures will have a long-term impact on sales and market shares of these companies? Will these discounts and others like them be able to influence the market dynamics and halt the growth of Japanese auto sales?

Sylvia, thanks for asking. The employee discount promotion by GM and other USA auto manufacturers which began in 2005 is indicative of a fundamental problem in the demand for these cars. (Honda and Toyota have better met the needs of the USA market with their automobiles.) Price discounts never help brands. They may sell more cars in the short term but they erode the value of brands.

Any type of price promotion makes consumers more price conscious and less brand loyal unless the marketer is able to increase the perceived value by adding something of value to the offering for the same price rather than decreasing the price. While employee discounts and zero percent financing are valuable to consumers, they also seem to be somewhat desperate moves by the manufacturers.

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Branding: Just Ask...

Shelly, a marketer in Cleveland shared this situation:

"I am currently in the process of helping my company develop and implement the concept of Branding. Please know that this company is a quickly growing B2B organization that has previously lacked a marketing or brand focus. As a result of this I am encouraging all senior level members to become actively involved in the development process. This is quickly being met with opposition.

Could you please provide your advice to what parties you would feel are absolutely necessary to include in the brand strategy development process? My specific struggle is determining how much I should push the opposition of participation from other Senior VP's or influential members from areas like our Operations, Finance, and Analytics departments."

Shelly, thanks for asking. Let me begin by saying you absolutely need top management committed to this process. Without this your brand will never reach its full potential.

In selecting this group, you can begin by eliminating anyone who is not a key stakeholder or influencer in the company. (I define an influencer as a colleague who most likely is junior but is an opinion leader in your organization.) For instance, if an analytics colleague is very influential yet is junior to others, they should be included. Generally with the CEO, the CFO, VP of Marketing, and VP of HR should be involved in the process.

As we know, the goal is maximum buy-in, and while there may be those you would like to exclude, the greatest unity can only be forged through maximum participation. Converting those standing in the way is rarely easy, but there is no chance if they are not included in the process. In fact, their resistance will most likely increase.

Shelly, I'll have more thoughts for you later in the week when I touch on this again in an answer to a related question on the brand positioning process.

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Branding: Just Ask

Natalya, a brand manager in Moscow asks:

"Have you ever encountered a product in which meaningful branding is not possible? For example, plastic buttons. Their cost and perceived value is so minimal that building any level of consumer loyalty is out of the question. Can a product like this even be branded?"

Natalya, thanks for asking.

Our strongly held opinion is that anything can be branded. Think about vodka, a relatively colorless, odorless liquid. We imagine that people who were never exposed to vodka brands might think that vodka could not be branded, but we all know that there are numerous brands of vodka, some of which command quite a price premium. The same is true of bananas, chicken and water. If these items can be branded, anything can. Whenever a potential client tells us that their company is in a commodity industry, we tell them that they are just not thinking about the product category or their product/service offering properly.

Any product or service can be turned into a brand even in the most price-sensitive categories in which all manufacturers’ products seem to be the same. It just becomes a matter of carefully transforming that product or service into a brand through a brand development process based upon extensive customer research.

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Branding: Just Ask

This question came to us from Karen, a marketer in Philadelphia:

"In Brand Advertising which should be emphasized - Reach or Frequency?"

Karen, thanks for asking. Many will say that it is more efficient to focus on reach (versus frequency) because there are diminishing returns with each new ad exposure. That is, the advertising response curve is usually concave. This is particularly true if your goal is to create an immediate sale of a ubiquitously purchased consumer product. In that situation, reach almost always delivers "more bang for your buck." However, if your funds are limited and your audience is highly targeted, you would do better to focus on a reach schedule of 3+, seeking out media with significant audience overlap.

For brand building purposes, we usually focus on advertising frequency targeted at those that are most likely to influence the remainder of the market: primary target opinion leaders and "hard core" users.

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Branding: Just Ask...

This branding question came to us from Dan, a marketer in St. Louis:

"What is your definition of Conjoint Analysis?"

Dan, thanks for asking.

In conjoint exercises, respondents express their preferences for products described by varying levels of attributes.  By observing how respondents evaluate products in response to underlying changes in attribute levels, we can estimate the impact (utility) each attribute level has on overall product preference.  Once we learn respondents’ preferences for the various attribute levels, we can predict how buyers might respond to any combination of levels in our study, whether or not that actual product was ever displayed during the interview.

Traditionally used for pricing research, conjoint analysis is very applicable for brand research as well.  Respondents rate their buying intent for products comprised of various combinations of attributes (including product, service, sales terms, price and brand attributes).  Brand name is one of the attributes.  Not only is this an excellent approach to measure the overall equity of your brand name vis-à-vis competitors, but it also allows you to measure the interactions/relationships of your brand name with other attributes.  Simulation exercises also allow you to project the impact on share of preference for various attribute combinations (what-if exercises).

You can find more on this topic here.

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Branding: Just Ask...

This branding question came to us from Makkie, a marketing major in Quezon City, Manila, Phillippines:

"I am writing a paper about the differences between a product manager and a brand manager's duties and responsibilities. What are the major differences between these two jobs?"

Makkie, thanks for asking. We define these roles this way...

A Brand Manager is responsble for:
brand equity preservation/building
brand identity consistency
brand marketing (most of the time)
brand market share (much of the time)
brand revenues (much of the time)
brand marketing strategy (distribution, pricing, etc.) (much of the time)
brand product range and extension (much of the time)

A Product Manager is responsible for:
product research
product design, functions and features
new product development and launch (much of the time)
product line P&L management
Sales/revenues
product profitability
product pricing
product packaging
product range

These two functions can be overlapped in consumer product firms such as P&G and Unilever. In companies for which there is one primary brand (such as GE, HP, Kodak, Xerox, etc.), product managers manage product lines, while brand management directors or VPs manage the corporate brands at high levels, mostly focusing on brand equity measurement and management and brand identity management. Those brands will span almost all, if not all, product lines.

Makkie, good luck with your paper. Let us know how we did.

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Branding: Just Ask...

Nicole, a marketer in Montgomery emailed us this question:

"What is the difference between an advertising agency and a brand consultancy?"

Thanks for asking. Having worked at leading agencies (global and regional) and as part of The Blake Project, a brand consultancy, my experiences lead me to define the two like this:

Advertising Agencies traditionally focus on the execution of creative strategies. That is, they will determine the best marketing vehicle to reach your target audience and will use compelling creative to make a connection and entice a reaction. The best ones are strategic in nature and see tactics as a second step.

A Brand Consultancy traditionally lives by this philosophy: Instead of trying to communicate a brands' features and benefits, they recommend studying the minds of the target audience first and then try to "position" the brand in the mind, taking advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of the brand and competing brands. This process ensures that your brand has selected the most powerful benefits to own and that it has developed the proof points and reasons to believe for those benefits. Brand consultancies also aid companies in any strategy-related brand decisions from brand equity measurement and management to brand extension.

Advertising Agencies and Brand Consultancies both strive to create brand insistence - creating a 'category of one' brand with no substitutes.

From time to time each will work together for the good of the client.

Nicole I hope this brings some clarity.

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Branding: Just Ask...

This branding question came to us from Rich in Seattle:

"Please describe the difference between brand essence and brand promise"

Rich, thanks for asking. We believe there are four critical elements to a well-positioned brand:

(1) target consumer, (2) brand essence, (3) brand promise and (4) brand personality. 

Here are the differences between the two you asked about...

The Brand Essence is a two to three word phrase (typically in the format “adjective adjective noun”) capturing the “heart and soul” of the brand.  The Brand Essence is simple, concise, aspirationally attainable, timeless, enduring and extendable.  Examples include “fun family entertainment” (Disney), “genuine athletic performance” (Nike), “saving great places” (The Nature Conservancy) and “caring shared” (Hallmark).  It is not a tagline or slogan, but rather the first thing an employee might say to quickly describe the brand to another in an elevator conversation (“This brand is all about…”).  While a brand’s positioning might differ slightly from country to country and while its advertising campaigns might change over time, like a person’s character, the brand’s essence will largely remain unchanged.

The Brand Promise is a sentence that communicates the one thing that the brand intends to own in the target consumer’s mind.  I prefer to express it in the following form: “Only (brand) delivers (unique benefit) to (target consumer).”  A brand promise must be understandable, believable, unique/differentiating, compelling, admirable and endearing.  The ideal benefit to claim in a brand promise has the following three qualities: (1) it is extremely important to the target consumer, (2) the brand’s organization is uniquely suited to delivering it and (3) competitors are not addressing it.  As an example, Harley-Davidson’s brand promise might read as follows: “Only Harley-Davidson delivers the fantasy of complete freedom on the road and the comradeship of kindred spirits to avid cyclists.”  The brand’s promise should drive everything an organization does and be manifest at each point of contact the brand makes with the consumer.

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