 Brand Image Constellation:- Brand equity is the value side of

the brand. Most often this value is monetized & defined in

economic terms: the incremental cash flows, which could be traced
to the brand name.

 A brand needs to be taken as more than a name. A brand is a

constellation of meanings and associations.

 These are not in the product that a brand enrobes; rather they all
are engineers in the prospect’s mind. They live, grow & die in the
mind. They also Add or Subtract value.

 Therefore, a brand is what it stands for in the consumer’s

perceptual space. It is an identity which is at the core of equity
creation.

 The key concept between brand and the equity is the brand
image.
 Brand
Perception
Brand Brand + Contribution / equity

Product - Contribution / equity

Revenue

Fig:- Brand Alters Revenue

 As depicted in the above figure, the perception of a brand can

adjust brand value upwards or downwards.
Ex:- A bottle of white petroleum jelly commands some monetary
price that customers would be willing to pay.
Now, if a label ‘Vaseline’ is put on the bottle, it would
immediately adjust the jelly’s worth upwards, as it acts as an
intervening concept in the customer’s mind, causing the value to
move upwards.
 Strong brands perform radical alterations while weak brands
do marginal ones.
Ex:- Imagine the radical value enhancements that brands like
Rolex, Mont Blanc & Armani create.
These alterations are affected by their image in the
customer’s mind.

 The Brand image is the driver of Brand equity. A customer who is

not familiar with a brand like Rolex, would assess the brand’s worth
on the basis of ‘thing’ rather than a brand.

 There is no intervening variable between the brand & the valuation.

Brand image is a customer concept that drives customer
behaviour.

 Brand equity is based upon the attitudes that customer hold

about a particular brand. Attitude is one of the most important
concept as far as consumer behaviour is concerned.

 The movements in a brand’s performance signal attitudes that

customers have toward it.
 For instance, a brand which is experiencing declining sales, indicates
that customers are not holding a good attitude towards it.

Brand
Image

All non-image Brand Market Value

Factors contributing Equity Of a Brand
To Brand Equity

Fig:- Brand Image / Brand Equity Relationship

 Attitude represents our evaluation of brand. Attitudes are

background to action. Consumers hold attitudes towards product
categories.
Ex:- ‘I do not like potato wafers’.
 Consumers also hold attitudes towards brands.
Ex:- ‘I like to buy Thumps-Up whenever I feel like having a soft
drink’.

 It is this hidden attitude that determines whether a customer

would steer towards or away from the brand in question.

 In the context of brand management, customer behaviour or

action have typically engaged brand marketers. The feelings &
evaluations that customers hold about a brand are critical.

 From the customers’ perspective, brand equity involves a strong,

positive brand attitude based on consistent meanings & beliefs
which are accessible in memory.

 Hence, the beliefs or cognitions – what a customer thinks about a

brand – are the determining variables.

 A customer may think about a brand in terms of its attributes,

benefits, ingredients, uses etc.
 The issue: ‘What is associated with the brand in the customers’
mind’ is the fundamental driver of brand equity.

 A positive image of a brand makes customers favorably

inclined towards brand promotions and resist competitive
activities.

 A closer look at marketing efforts like advertising, promotions,

distribution, event sponsorships etc, would reveal a brand
manager’s design to create appropriate sets of associations
linked to the brand.

 The brand equity which implies greater profits, more cash flows and
market share hinges on brand image that resides in the customer’s
mind and drives behaviour.

 Brand reside in a customer’s memory in the form of a network

association. Brand name represents the central mode to which a
variety of informational nodes are connected.
The nodes connected to brand name, store information about
attributes, benefits, typical user profile etc.
 Hence, the brand name is more than simply a label employed by
the marketer to differentiate a product among a plethora of
others.

 ‘It is a complex symbol that represents a variety of ideas and

attributes: It tells the consumers many things, not only by the
way it sounds (and its literal meaning, if it has one) but more
importantly, via the body of associations it has built up and
acquired as a public object over a period of time’.

 Brand image can be defined as ‘perceptions about a brand as

reflected by the associations held in consumer memory’.
It can also be conceptualized as ‘culture of attributes and
associations that consumers connect to the brand’.
That is, the totality of associations that are held in a
consumer’s mind and connected to a brand is called the Brand
image.
 The image that a consumer hold about brands does not tend to
be uniform.
The image of a product associated with the brand may be clear
cut or relatively vague; it may be varied or simple; it may be intense
or innocuous.

 Sometimes, the notions people have about a brand do not even

seem very sensible or relevant to those who know what the
product is ‘really’ like.
But they all contribute to the customer’s decision whether or not
the brand is the one ‘for me’.

 Brand Image Dimensions:- A brand in a consumer’s mind is a

complex network of associations.
Biel proposes that these associations can be of two types:-

1. Hard Associations:- Hard associations refer to the perception of

tangible / functional attributes of a brand.
Ex:- Hard associations in case of a car brand may revolve around
Speed, Price, Fuel economy & Colour.
2. Soft Associations:- The soft associations are more emotional.
Ex:- A car brand can be visualized as exciting, vibrant & youthful.

 The soft association can be negative also.

Ex:- The public air carrier – Air India is associated with
inefficiency, dull, old, unchanging and cold.

 A brand image is a composite concept. It carries with it other

sub–images.

 The three contributing sub–images in a brand are:-

i. Image of the Company:- Every brand carries an invisible shadow

of its manufacturer. Like brands, companies also live in
customers’ mind as a network of associations.
Ex:- What does the name ‘DCM’ spell in mind? Nothing much
would get connected with DCM. It suggests DCM to be a weak node
in memory. At the same time, many terms like: old, cloth,
conventional, unchanging, unexciting might surface.
 Contrast it with a company like ‘WIPRO’. The associations
surrounding WIPRO may be leader, technology savvy, modern,
innovations, cash rich, diversified, growth, etc.
 An inappropriate corporate image may act as a burden on an
otherwise good product.
 The corporate image is capable of providing both strength &
weakness to a brand.
 That is why the good companies, when the need arises, perform a
marketing communication exercise to keep it relevant, so that it
provides a lift to the company’s brands rather than becoming a
burden on them.

ii. Image of the User:- Think about ‘Pepsi’ or ‘Coke’. It clearly spells a
profile in the mind about the user. The brands have an
unambiguous definition of its users. The brands user profile may
contain signals about a user’s Sex, Age, Occupation, Life-style,
Activities, Mindset etc.
Ex:- The user image in case of ‘Pepsi’ is embodied in its slogan
‘Choice of the new generation’ or ‘Generation next’.
iii. Product Image:- A brand’s image is also determined by the
image of the product it carries. All products have dimensions like
Functionality & Emotionality, Technology intensiveness, Old &
Young, inherent to them.
Ex:- Products like perfumes, chocolates, champagne, whiskey,
high end clothing tend to be associated with emotions & a lot of
symbolism.
On the other hand, products like house cleaners, headache
remedies, dishwashing liquids & domestic insecticides tend to be
driven by functionality & reason.

 This means, a brand image would always have to fall in line

with the product image.

 The user component of a brand translates into brand

personality. Customers tend to ascribe various personality–like
traits to brands.
Ex:- A brand may be taken as feminine or masculine.
 This gender based classification may even operate at a product
level also.
Ex:- Beer, Car, Cigarettes, Credit Card, Hair Cut, Legal Services,
Sneakers, etc. were found to be masculine products in a study.
Products, which were perceived to be feminine include Wine,
Bath Soaps, Cloth Dryers, Dishwashing Liquid, Shampoo, Facial
Tissue etc.

 Brands acquire personality characteristics by the way they are

promoted. The importance of Brand Personality lies in its
capacity to influence buyer behaviour.
‘Brands are bought for who they are as well as what they
are’.

 Customers are seekers of consistency. Accordingly, they are

attracted towards brands, which implicitly posses personality
which is in synchronization with the user.
 Brand Image:- The image of a brand is how it is perceived by the
consumer. i.e., The totality of associations that are held in a
consumer’s mind and connected to a brand.

 Hence Brand Image can be defined as “Perceptions about a brand

as reflected by the associations held in consumer memory”.

 It can also be conceptualized as “Culture of attributes &

associations that consumers connect to the brand name”.

 Brand Image is the totality of associations that surround the

brand. It is a perceptual concept.

 The image of a brand may contain different types of associations in

the memory: Attributes, Benefits, and Attitudes.

i. Attribute Associations:- Attributes are descriptive features

which are used to characterize a product or service.
 For instance, How is a refrigerator described? – It can be described as
a cooling machine, comes in different size, meant for home or office,
expensive, runs on electricity, has a compressor etc.
Here compressor, shelves, body etc. are product related attributes
in a refrigerator, while the external aspects are considered to be non-
product related attributes.

 Four non-product related attributes are: Price Information,

Product Appearance or Packaging, User Imagery (the type of
person who uses the product) and Usage Imagery (indicating the
situations where the product is used).

ii. Benefit Associations:- Consumers are not as much interested in

product attributes as they are in benefits.
Ex:- If an Air Conditioner has four condenser coils instead of two,
it matters little. But the same attribute would become valuable once
it is establish, what it would do to the consumer (for example, Faster
cooling – Samsung).
 Benefits are suggestions as to what a product or service can do
for them.

 The Functional Benefits are the outcomes of functions

performed by a product or service. These are intrinsic
advantages of consuming a product or service.
Ex:- The functional advantage of a refrigerator is that it prevents
food from getting spoilt.

 The second category of benefits is Experiential Benefit. These

benefits occur to the user in the form of feelings.

iii. Attitude Associations:- Attitude is an important psychological

construct. Attitudes determine buying decisions and also refers
to overall evaluation of a concept like: Person, Product, Object or
a Brand.

 There are three components in attitude: The Cognitive, Affective &

Conative Component.
 The Cognitive component is the knowledge perception that a
person has about a brand. These are acquired from direct
experiences or information from other sources.
The knowledge and resulting perception take the form of
beliefs.
 The Affective component consists of emotions or feeling that
someone has toward a brand.
 Finally, the Conative component is behavioural or action
oriented. It refers to the intention to behave in a particular
manner.
Ex:- The likelihood of buying the brand.

 Brand Report Card:- Brand Equity has received a lot of attention

from managers stewarding brands of all kinds. Be it consumer or
service or local or international, brand managers have realized
the importance of brand in overall success of the business.
 Companies that generate superior returns are able to do so primarily
on the strengths of strong brands, as Brand Equity generates much
desired marketing outcomes like Price premium, Loyalty & Profits.
 On the basis of the attributes shared by the world’s top brands,
a Brand Report Card can be constructed, so that a brand’s
performance could be systematically assessed across all these
dimensions, and a brand’s area of strengths & weaknesses could be
identified.
 It can also be used for analyzing a company’s brand in conjunction
with competing brands for generating a relative picture and
developing appropriate strategic response.
 Ten Attributes shared by world’s top brands are:-

i. Excellent Delivery of Desired Benefits:- All the top brands of the

world always deliver the desired benefits to their customers
without fail.
Ex:- Starbucks is not simply a cup of coffee. It is an experience for
the five senses, which includes the aroma of coffee beans, rich taste,
sight of art work and product displays, background music, cozy and
clean feel of tables & chairs.

• Strong brands offer an excellent product package to deliver

benefits that customers want.
ii. Staying Relevant:- Strong brands change with time and evolve
both their intangible & tangible aspects in line with the
emergent environment.
Ex:- Gillette is probably the strongest brand in the razor blades
category world wide. It has got products those have evolved with
time (Sensor, Sensor Excel, Mach 4 etc).
The brand’s communications including advertising, creates
image, evoke feelings and relationship associations to match the
aspirations of the target customers.

iii. Pricing Reflects Value:- Strong brands enjoy a perception of

good value that matches customer expectations. But, at the
same time, it requires perfect balancing between the product
quality, image, & features on one hand and consumer costs &
prices on the other.
Ex:- P&G resorted to cost-cutting in order to adopt value pricing
for their Cascade brand of dishwashing solution.
This affected the product quality & ultimately dented customer
perceptions of value.
iv. Proper Positioning:- Proper positioning in the customer’s mind
is essential for a brand to be successful. Strong brands enjoy
distinct positions.

• They achieve Point of Parity with competitors in their areas of

advantage & create Point of Difference to gain advantage over
them.
Ex:- Brand like Sony & Mercedes match competing brands to
neutralize the superiority of those competitors in their areas of
advantage, thus attaining a clear advantage in the area of product
superiority over competitors to gain differentiation.

v. Consistency:- Brands have to strike a right balance between

change & continuity.

• Strong brands maintain continuity in their marketing activities,

yet execute changes to stay relevant with the time.
• Frequent & Uncalculated changes can create confusion and
spoil the image of a brand.

Ex:- A strong brand like Michelob lost ground when it was

promoted using campaigns that left the customers confused.
The ads initially featured young professionals; then the brand
promoted the idea of weekends. Further, to arrest decline in sales,
their market communication started urging people to ‘put a little
weekend in the week’. Later, the brand started talking about special
nights & special days.
There was no consistency ……………… only confusion.

vi. Brand Portfolio & Hierarchy:- Most firms evolve into multi–
product & multi–brand business. When a firm has many brands
in its portfolio, each brand bearing connection with its name
can add to or dilute its equity.
 It is for this reason that brands in the company portfolio must
form a pattern to strengthen equity. Firms often dent their
equity by creating conflicting brand structures.

 There are different branding strategies: One brand for all

offerings (Nirma); Different brands for different market
segments (Surf excel chain, Park Avenue formal executive wear &
Parx informal wear for young); Different brands in one line
(P&G’s Shampoo brands – Pantene, Head & Shoulder), Brands with
corporate endorsements (Maruti 800, Zen, Alto, Swift, Desire,
SX4, Indica, Indigo, Safari, Zest, i20,).

vii. Coordinated Support of all Marketing Activities:- Strong

brands are not created out of the support on one or two
marketing activities.

 Instead they make use of all marketing activities to perform well

carved out roles in the brand building effort.
• At the basic level, brand elements like logos, symbols, slogans,
packaging & signage are coordinated to create awareness and
the desired image.

viii. Understand Brand Meaning:- Managers create strong brands

by undertaking conscious & deliberate brand building efforts.

• This requires comprehensive understanding of what customers

think & feel about their brands. What beliefs, image, attitude &
behaviour are associated with the brand? What forms the core
of the brands and what is liked & disliked?
This way, managers can assess the potential effect of their
decision on the equity of the brand.
Ex:- Singer, a powerful sewing machine brand in India, ventured
to market televisions, only to experience failure, because brand
Singer was too closely (and exclusively) linked to sewing machines
(Isaac Singer invented sewing machine), and over three generations
of exclusive association of the name ‘Singer’ with sewing machine
apparently shut out all possibilities of hasty brand extension. Even
their kitchen gadgets are not doing well.
ix. Long-term Support:- Building equity, require careful attention
& management of issues that create strong brands.

• For this, two things are essential:-

o Firstly, Brand Awareness; and,
o Secondly, Brand Image.

• To begin with, a brand must have Depth & Breadth of

awareness. Then it should be topped up with image, consisting
of strong, favorable and unique associations.

• Often, brand equity suffers when managers over-invest in

peripheral aspects of brand and ignore the vital aspects.

x. Maintaining Sources of Equity:- Brands operate in a dynamic

environment. They are exposed to customer & competitor changes.

• This necessitates monitoring the sources of equity. Accordingly,

a strong brand deploys a variety of measures to gauge its health.
• These include Brand Audits & Brand Tracking studies.

• The Internal studies reveal how the brand has been marketed;
where as, the External studies are aimed at capturing the Brand
Image and Meaning, that resides in the minds of the customers.

• Through Brand Tracking, the effects of marketing efforts &

their effects on consumer perceptions, beliefs, attitude & behaviour
are discovered.

 These attributes shared by the world’s strongest brands guide

managers on all areas they should pay attention to, as a
brand’s strength lies in the minds of customers. The brand
knowledge installed in their minds is the foundation of brand equity.

 The Ten Attributes framework draws attention to specific areas

where managers must seek to maximize performance.

 At the same time, it is not easy also as there may be trade offs
involved. Improving performance in one area may potentially
decrease performance in others.
 The key is to evaluate potential trade offs and take decisions
that have equity maximizing effects.

 Brand Over Time:- We know that the products are subject to a

life-cycle, implicit in this is that brands would also be subjected
to a life-cycle.

 The attention of the thinkers seems to have been too much

focused on tangible marketing mix manipulation and very
little attention has been paid to managing brands over time.

 There are many successful brands which have defied the

concept of time and life-cycle.
Ex:- Lifebuoy, Lux, Marlboro, Coke etc.

 These brands still enjoy consumer fascination and support. But,

at the same time, just contrast with these brands, there were
ones, which once enjoyed good market following but have now
fallen by the wayside.
• Forces Affecting Brands:- Like all other things, brands are also
part of the environment. They cannot escape from the impact of
forces contained therein, due to which brands sometimes ride high
on a wave of fortunes & sometimes they are forced to bite the dust.

 A brand, how strong & powerful, is at a risk of loosing its

status as waves of change hit it. Maintaining leadership
requires continuous monitoring & innovative response to the
changes unleashed by environmental shifts.

 The following forces affects the brand’s fortune:-

i. Demographic Shifts:- Demographic environment is concerned

with the population & its related variables. The brand manager
must keep an eye on demographics like population growth rates,
population in served market (city, country or regions), the
population age mix, the male-female ratio, ethnic groups & literacy
levels.

o All these factors constitute a dominant reality of the demand

side. The inability to proactively monitor & respond to
demographic changes may hurt a brand badly.
o Depending on the target audience, the essential task is how to
keep it relevant. The brand’s associations & image need to be
continuously adapted to maintain customer focus.
Ex:- Levi’s and Pepsi commercials drive brand images by using
digital imagery and computeronics to appeal to ‘Generation Next’.

ii. Economic Shifts:- Brands find a market in customers who buy

them, and are guided by the financial circumstances of people
in the markets.
Ex:- In Western countries a dominant set of brands exist, which
people in Asia & African countries label as ridiculously expensive, as
in many of the developing countries in East & South–Asia, a large
proportion of brands fall in the ‘value-for-money’ category.

o Marketers often move across borders in search of new markets.

The initial experience of brands like Levi’s, Lee, Nike, and Reebok
were not very encouraging as these brands were perceived to be
priced beyond the reach of the targeted customer.
o That’s why, in spite of brand pull, the symbolism & charizma
associated, markets didn’t respond favorably. And because of
these, the brand associations were altered to signify their
appropriateness.

o Most of these brands have to stretch downwards with changed

price structure and launched variations to get people into the
brand user category.

o The challenge for marketers is to maintain a brand’s equity &

make sure that it continues to drive customer buying.

o The rise and fall of the population’s income levels need to be

m0nitored on a continuous basis. There are both millionaires as
well as people who are not able to manage two square meals a
day. This is a tragic reality on which the brand marketers have to
work out their strategies.

o The marketers are either launching new brands or stretching

their existing brands to cater to top bracket, middle & lower
income segment customers.
o The rise in income levels causes customers to move up the
brand hierarchy. The impending challenge for the marketers is
to give customers a variety of options, so that they move up the
hierarchy.
Ex:- Whirlpool – ‘Quick Chill’ & ‘Ice Magic’, so that people trade
up their existing refrigerator in favour of new ones.

iii. Other Shifts:- The Indian car market leader, Maruti was dealt a
heavy blow, when the Supreme Court enforced the new pollution
emission norms, i.e., MPFI obligatory; which means that before a
vehicle could obtain institutional clearance, it has to conform to
Bharat III norms (equal to Euro II norms).
This decision took the company by surprise, and Maruti lost a fair
amount of its Market share to rival brands like Santro & Matiz and
overnight Maruti’s brand equity suffered a major setback.

o Globally, the concern for the environment has become a

powerful movement. It is therefore an imperative for Marketers
to keep abreast of western trends, for these can be indicators
for similar trends creeping into India.
 Ex:- The Apex Court’s order for CNG buses & Auto-Rikshaws was
a bonanza for conversion outfitters and a headache for
manufacturers.

With Petrol and Diesel prices shooting up to record levels, in step

with global prices of crude oil, and now fluctuating regularly, electric
/ solar powered cars can become a major player a decade down the
line.

In the 90’s, the concern about ozone layer hole & green house
effect forced governments to enact provisions checking the use of
CFCs. Many brands of air-conditioners & refrigerators which relied
on CFC technology witnessed their weakening control over the
markets and their brand equity suffered a great deal.

Similarly, Nirula’s – Fast food chain – promotes the concept of

‘ecological’. This certainly has enriched associations connected with
the Nirula’s name in a customer’s mind and has strengthened its
equity among green consumers.
o Sometimes, sudden developments also influence a brand’s
fortune adversely.
Ex:- ‘Dropsy’ controversy damaged even the branded mustered
oils’ brand equity and it took some time for the brand makers to
reestablish faith of the consumers in their brands.

o It is not just that the external factors have an impact on a brand’s

equity. Sometimes, companies driven by the need to generate
superior short-term performance (in response to Board &
Shareholder pressure) adopt practices that seriously damage
equity.
Ex:- TIMEX, in India. – Soon after their breakup with Titan, the
company was left high & dry without any distribution infrastructure
in place. The company failed in the retail market, as developing a
distribution system independently is not an overnight job.
In order to meet targets, TIMEX aggressively pushed its sale in
the institutional buyer’s segment. One of the heavy buying segments
of TIMEX comprised of companies which used TIMEX watches to
promote their sale.
 Suddenly, in most of the deals announced, ranging from
newspaper subscriptions to tyre fitments, to computer purchase,
TIMEX brand was a permanent brand offered as a lure.
The result: The market image of the brand got seriously
damaged, and now it is finding it really difficult to maintain a
constant inflow of customers to the brand’s outlets.

 Challenges Facing Brands:- “Brands are manufactured in

factories, made available on retail shelves & consumed by
consumers”.
This statement views the brand in a physical sense. If a brand is
taken as a physical entity, its management over time would
revolve around maintaining a brand’s physical health.

 Though this may sound very logical & correct, the perspective
is myopic. It misses the fundamental essence of a brand.

 A brand is not a physical entity, rather it is an intangible

occupant of perceptual space. A brand may be legally owned by
the company, but it is possessed by the people.
 A brand is what it means to customers.

 A strong brand implies strong & valid associations that are

linked to the brand node in a customer’s memory. It is these
associations which create equity.

 The difference between the response of the customers between

an unbranded and branded product is Brand’s Contribution.
Strong brands add greater value.

 Managing a brand over time necessarily means protecting,

preserving, & enhancing what the brand stands for in a
consumer’s mind – the network of associations that connect with
the brand node.

 Some brands which once had the supreme positions in the Indian
market have now lost their luster. Their equity has become weak or,
in some cases, even negative. The market no longer loves & respects
these brands.
 This implies that the brand’s associations have either become
obsolete, weak or inconsistent.
Ex:- Dalda, Rath, Boroline, Air India, Philips, HMT etc.

 Maintaining Desired Brand Associations:- The above list of

brands shows that the brand associations have moved away in
undesired directions. Let us look at some cases to understand why
it has happened:-

 Philips:- What does the brand exactly stands for? Is it television,

lighting systems, computer monitors, or medical equipments? Does
it offer range, innovation, quality, availability or service? How does it
compare with competition?

 HMT:- What is the brand’s core competence area? Is it watch or

something else? What needs does the brand seek to satisfy –
economy, style, patriotism, technology, or availability? Why is the
HMT brand no longer unique & superior? Is there any compelling
reason to buy HMT over other brands in the fray?
 A strong brand enjoys a strong network of associations –
attributes, benefits, personality etc. – which bestow the brand equity
advantages.
 These associations are to be cultivated & maintained by
following consistent policies in various marketing areas which
support the brand.
 The brand image needs to be reinforced all the time, because if
left to chance or incoherent actions, deviations occur which reduce a
brand’s appeal & equity advantages.
Once the leading brands, Philips & HMT now suffer from the
same drawback. Their brand associations have become fuzzy,
common & do not have value from the customers’ point of view.
 Consistency:- Unfailing loyalty to their core concept is the only
common thing to brands which have defied the vagaries of
time.
Ex:- Lux has never exhibited any compromise on its single–
minded devotion to its beauty proposition. The brand associations
have been enforced and reinforced by advertising, promotions,
sponsorships and events. The brand’s dedication (to beauty) is
unwavering.
o Similar is the case with other brands like Johnson & Johnson baby
care products, Amul, Nirma, Bournvita, Complan & Horlicks.
All these brands have maintained their image and the image
of these brands are vividly embedded in the consumers’ minds.
o Consistency is the product of continual adherence to a brand’s
core idea. But the desired fixedness to an idea is difficult to
maintain, given the instability within the brand management system
(Tenure of brand managers, performance pressure etc.) and
ultimately if the consistency is not maintained, it is the brand
image which begins to lose its alignment with intentions.
o The quest to maintain desired brand image consistently over
time does not imply that the marketing system must become
rigid. The brand must respond to changing market conditions
by adopting & evolving, and at the same time should also
maintain consistency in its focus & positioning.

o The brand’s focus & position does give it the freedom to execute
changes in prices, quality, attributes, advertising, execution
styles & formats, packaging etc.
 The advertising message strategy & execution could also be
made to accommodate pressures, but, the change must occur
within the chosen concept of the brand as incoherence among
various mix elements, as, inconsistency of actions in an area
over time endangers brand equity by making brand
associations weak, diffused & undesirable.

Ex:- Bournvita, which has been formulated to compensate for the

nutritional deficiency which children suffer from because of their
usual eating habits, has been established as a daily supplement that
children need.
Bournvita has been able to maintain its relevance in the
consuming population by consistently sticking to its core properties
& associations.
Its not that the brand has not changed at all; but it has been able
to maintain stability amidst change.
In the mid 90’s, the brand was loosing market to the white
beverage segment. In order to arrest its decline, Cadbury re-
launched Bournvita in 1999.
 The brand’s packaging was made more contemporary &
appealing, even product ingredients were improved to reinforce its
commitment to nutrition.
Now, the brand boasts of its unique RDA – Recommended
Dietary Formula – which takes care of the daily requirements of
essential Vitamins & Minerals, that the growing children need.
The company has also set up a Bournvita Nutrition Centre. This
also strengthens what the brand really stands for.
The brand’s evolution without compromising its core values is
even reflected in the slogans – “Brought up right, Bournvita Bright”,
“Extra Taste, Extra Energy”, “Shakti har din ke Champions ki” and
“Bournvita Nutrition, Balanced Nutrition”.

 Brand associations are a source of brand equity. These

associations must be protected, maintained & nurtured.

 Brands may differ significantly in terms of the kind of associations

they have. Functional brands have product related attributes,
and functional benefits or associations.
 In such situations, the brand must possess superior benefits,
functional excellence & innovations in order to strengthen its
equity.
Ex:- Car brands launch extensions which deliver superior delivery
in all aspects of car performance to protect & nurture brand
associations.

 Innovations & Improvement do not imply that the brand must

go out of its core & add on inconsistent associations. A clear
hold over a brand’s direction must be maintained.

 Many brands tend to be symbolic or experiential. In such cases

non-product associations drive the brand’s equity.
Since, these brands are imagery based, images can easily be
changed by inconsistent marketing moves or campaigns.

 Even when, the brand attempts to reposition itself, the core

image must be carried over.
Ex:- Thumps Up is now repositioned as a more mature drink. The
campaigns seek to reposition Pepsi as a frivolous cola for kids.
 The Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar campaigns maintains
continuity of imagery established by the earlier brand campaigns –
‘Taste the Thunder’ and ‘I want my Thunder’.