Choosing Brand Elements to build Brand Equity

What are Brand Elements?

Brand elements are those trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand

Why are brand elements so carefully chosen?

Enhance brand awareness Facilitate brand associations Elicit positive judgments and feelings

Criteria for choosing brand elements

Memorable
Easily recognized Easily recalled

Transferable
Within/across categories

Meaningful
Descriptive (Product

category) Persuasive (Attributes and benefits)

(Line and Brand extensions) Across geographies/cultures (Non-meaningful names like Exxon translate well) (Nova)

Adaptable
Flexible Updatable

Likable
Fun/interesting Rich imagery Aesthetically pleasing

Protectable
Legally Competitively (Should not

be easily copied)

Brand elements

Name

How is this for a name?

Very popular outlet in Kanpur. Shown in Bunty aur Babli

This?

This?

Or these names?
MTV Bakra Soul Fry Mouthshut.com Monster.com Coke FCUK

Any name can be used.

Provided that there is a consistent effort over time to give meaning to this name.
Kapferer

Savour this.
. curiously, history teaches that the choice of succesful brand names owes more to intuition, misplaced belief and naivety than to meticulous strategic planning
(SONY, Volkswagen)
Barrie Blake Coleman Brand Names & Product Dynasties

The Frooti dilemma

The Pizza Hut dilemma?

The Pizza Hut dilemma?

Brand Naming Guidelines

Brand awareness Simplicity and ease of pronunciation and spelling Familiarity and meaningfulness Differentiated, distinctive, and uniqueness

Brand Naming Guidelines

Brand associations The explicit and implicit meanings consumers extract from it are important. In particular, the brand name can reinforce an important attribute or benefit association that makes up its product positioning

Brand Naming Procedures

Define objectives Generate names Screen initial candidates Study candidate names Research the final candidates Select the final name

Brand elements

Logos & Symbols

Also called Symbols

Characters

Brand elements
Numbers (Maruti 800, Levis 501, James Bond 007, Nokia 1100) Packaging

Brand elements

Sound: Harley Davidson

Brand elements
Sensation: Dettol - burning sensation and smell Slogan (Connecting people, Kuch meetha ho jaye) URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Domain name e.g. Amazon.com Spokespeople Jingles

Putting It All Together

The entire set of brand elements makes up the brand identity, the contribution of all brand elements to awareness and image The cohesiveness of the brand identity depends on the extent to which the brand elements are consistent

Reading

Strategic Brand Management by Kevin Lane Keller. Chapter 4