CUSTOMER-BASED EQUITY &

BRAND POSITIONING
Learning Objectives
 Define customer-based brand equity
 Outline the sources and outcomes of customer
based brand equity
 Identify the four components of brand positioning
 Describe the guidelines in developing a good brand
positioning
 Explain brand mantra and how it should be
developed
Customer-Based Brand Equity
Defining Customer Based Brand
Equity (CBBE)
Brand Equity as a Bridge
To Sum up ...
Brand Knowledge
 Key to create brand equity
 Creates the differential effect that drives brand equity

 Marketers need an insightful way to represent how

brand knowledge exists in consumer memory

Response to the
Differential Brand marketing
effect Knowledge program
Associative Network Memory Model
 Possible Apple Computer Associations
B Awareness

B
Knowledge

B Image
LVM
H
Components of Brand Knowledge
Source of brand equity/CBBE :
Brand Awareness

Brand Image
Brand Awareness

Recognition or
recall ??????????
Advantages of Brand Awareness
ELM- Elaboration likelihood model
Establishing Brand Awareness
 Brand Image: linking strong, favourable, unique
associations with the brand

Creating Brand image takes marketing programs that create strong, favourable,
and unique associations to the brand in memory Brand associations can be
attributes or Benefits
Brand Image for brand equity
Relevance

Consistency
To Sum up...
 To create brand equity, marketers should:
 Create favorable consumer response i.e. brand
awareness
 Create positive brand image though brand associations
that are strong, favorable, and unique
Identifying and Establishing Brand
Positioning
Basic Concepts
 Target Frame of reference (Tgt mkt +Nature of competition)
Statement of tgt’s goal served by consuming brand i.e.
brands that claim to serve the same goal

We are determined to spread this happiness even to

the last person in the most distant village of India Point of difference
with the help of our vast distribution network
developed over the decades… Reason to
believe
Target Market
 Market segmentation: Divides the market into
distinct groups of homogeneous consumers who
have similar needs and consumer behavior, require
similar marketing mixes. Fine segmentation offers
trade off option between costs and benefits.
 Involves identifying segmentation bases and criteria
 Criteria
 Identifiability
 Size
 Accessibility
 Responsiveness
Consumer Segmentation Bases
 Nature of Competition
 Competitive analysis (resources, capabilities, & likely intentions
of other firms)

 Indirect competition (narrowly and broadly defined competition;

compelling threats and opportunities)

 Multiple frames reference (broader category competition; same

function but different products)

 Positioning caution: don’t try to be all the things for all the
people.
Business class
travel
Points of Difference
Points-of-difference: Indicative of why the brand is
superior means of achieving a goal?

Deeper, Closer, more comfortable shave – Superior

Performance

More convenient and less expensive shave- Superior

Economy
Question

 What comes first? POP Vs. POD

 What is easier to achieve ?

Positioning Guidelines
Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame of
Reference
-Claim Category membership
-Reinforce cat. membership if cms are less convinced about
brand’s cat membership
“Customer need to know what a product is and what function it
serves before they can decide whether it dominates the brands
against which it competes”
A. Communicate category benefits
B. Use Exemplars to specify brand’s category membership
C. Product descriptors
Choosing POD
Key considerations for brand associations as POD:

Desirability criteria: Personal relevance and importance of POD

Just being different is not enough –it shall matter to consumers

Deliverability: company’s ability to make the product

(feasibility) and their effectiveness in convincing customers
of their ability to do so (communicability) = P & Mktg must
be designed to support the desired association

Differentiation criteria: Pod must be seen as distinct and

superior; is the positioning defensible & brand associations
can be reinforced and strengthened over time?
Establishing POP & POD
Inverse relationship may exist in consumers’ minds and they try
to maximize the both (unfortunately); on the top competitors try
to build their POD on an attribute that is –vely correlated with the
POD of target brand

Separate the attributes: Launch two different marketing

campaigns-each devoted to a different brand attribute of benefit

Leverage equity of other entity

Redefine the relationship

Straddle positions
Updating positioning over time
With an established brand how often to update positioning? –
very infrequently & only when circumstances make POPs and
PoDs less effective
Laddering: Deepen the meaning of brand to
permit further expansion
Attributes benefits Abstract values or
Motivations

Reacting:
 Do nothing

 GO on the defensive- add more reassurance in P or advt. to

strengthen POP and POD
 Go on the offensive –reposition to address threat
Developing a good positioning
A good product positioning should:
 Think about the “present” and “the future”

 Identify all relevant points-of-parity

 Reflect a consumer point of view in terms of the benefits

that consumers derive
 Contain points-of-difference and points-of-parity that
appeal both to the “head” and the “heart”
Brand Mantra
 Brand Mantra
a short, three- to five-word phrase that captures the irrefutable
essence or spirit of the brand positioning. It’s similar to
“brand essence” or “core brand promise,” and its purpose
is to ensure that all employees and external marketing
partners understand what the brand most fundamentally is
to represent to consumers
Examples: McDonalds: Food Folks, & Fun
Nike: Authentic athletic performance
Disney: Fun family entertainment
To Sum up...
 A good brand mantra should:
 Communicate the category of the business to set the
brand boundaries and clarify what is unique about the
brand
 Be simple, crisp, and vivid
 Stake out ground that is personally meaningful and
relevant to as many employees as possible