Brand Management

What is a brand =

• Identification: It’s the name, logo, and colors that tell you who made the product.

• Differentiation: It’s what makes the brand unique so you don’t confuse it with competitors.

• Mental Construct: It’s the collection of thoughts and feelings that pop into your head when you hear the brand's name.

• Relationship Partner: It’s the trust and loyalty you feel, like you have a personal connection with the company.

• Driving Force: It’s the "soul" or purpose of the company, the big idea that explains why they exist.

Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Pyramid:

• Layer 1: Brand Salience: You want your brand to pop into their minds easily. So you have to built brand awareness.

• Layer 2: Brand Meaning: The associations with a brand, built by: own experience, experience of others (WOM) & advertising. → This has two parts: brand performance & brand imagery

• Layer 3: Consumer Response: How do consumer think & feel about the brand? → This has two parts: Judgements & feelings

• Layer 4: Brand Resonance: What relationships do consumers (want to) have with the brand? → Intensity: how strong are the feelings? Activity: Do consumer act on their feelings?

Distinctive brand asset

• Anything (besides the name) that helps a customer recognize a brand. It is measured by:

  • Fame: How many people know that this asset belongs to the brand.

  • Uniqueness: Does it remind people only of your brand, or could it be a competitor?

Distinctive asset grid

• Green (Use or Lose): Everyone knows it, and it’s only yours. This is your best asset—use it constantly!

• Pink (Avoid Solo Use): Everyone knows it, but others use it too (like the color Red). Never use it without your brand name.

• Orange (Investment Potential): It is unique to you, but not famous yet. Spend money to make people recognize it.

• Blue (Ignore or Test): No one knows it and it looks like everyone else. It is useless; get rid of it.

General tips for building awareness:

• More exposure is better so budget is key.

• Be consistent: Keep the logo and keep the name of a brand.

• Always establish link to product need.

• Ensure sufficient exposure to package (two second rule) for recognition.

• Create a personal connection (use a presenter who establishes this).

• Use mnemonic devices (music, sound, imagery).

Layer 2: Brand Meaning - 2 parts:

1. Brand performance: What does the product actually do? (Is it fast? Is it cheap? Is it reliable?)

• Primary characteristics & secondary features: (e.g., low sugar, high engine power)

• Product reliability (consistency), durability & serviceability

• Service effectiveness (level of satisfaction), efficiency (speedy & responsive) & empathy (trusting, caring)

• Style & Design

• Price

2. Brand Imagery: What is the "vibe" or personality? Who is the product for? (Is it for cool teenagers? For busy professionals? For adventurous people?)

• User profile(s): what kind of people use the brand?

• Purchase & Usage Situation: when do you buy/use the brand?

• Personality & Value

• History, Heritage & Experience (both shared & individual)

Layer 3: Consumer Response. How do consumer THINK & FEEL about the brand? 2 parts:

• Customer Judgments: 

  • Quality

  • Qredibility (= trustworthiness, expertise, likability)

  • Consideration (would I buy this brand?)

  • Superiority (better than the others?)

• Customer Feelings:

  • Warmth, fun, excitement

  • security, social approval, self-respect

What is brand purpose?:

The "Big Why" behind a company. It is a long-term goal that goes beyond just making money. It is the reason the brand exists and how it aims to make the world better.

1. Long-term goal: It isn't a temporary trend; it’s a permanent goal.

2. Central to brand identity: It is the core of who the brand is.

3. Goes beyond profit generation: It focuses on helping people or the world, not just bank accounts.

4. Acts across the brand’s organization: It affects everything the company does, from top to bottom.

5. Stimulate goals, provides a framework for actions, and motivates the allocation of resources: It provides a framework for how the company spends its time and money.

How can you find brand purpose?

• Proactive: By exploring the world and thinking deeply about who you are.

• Re-active: By responding to a major event or change in the world.

• Social learning: By looking at role models and learning from others.

Eudaimonic Well-being.

It means living a life of purpose and personal growth. Instead of just seeking fun, you seek meaning.

To achieve this, you need three basic things:

• Relatedness (connections with others)

• Competence (feeling capable and effective)

• Autonomy (making your own choices)

Every brand needs a "Why." This usually falls into one of three categories:

• Competence-based: Focuses on what the product actually does (e.g., FedEx provides fast, reliable delivery).

• Culture-based: Focuses on how the company works internally (e.g., Coolblue focuses on employee happiness to drive customer smiles).

• Cause-based: Focuses on a social goal or "The Big Ideal" (e.g., Patagonia exists to save the planet)

Associative network theory rules

• Brains take shortcuts: You will always remember the strongest, most obvious connection first.

• Repetition is key: Every time you think of a link, that "pathway" in your brain gets thicker and stronger.

• If you saw a brand recently, you are much more likely to remember it.

• Ideas don’t run out: Remembering an idea doesn't remove it from your head; it stays there to be "picked" again and again.

• The more connections a brand has (and the stronger they are), the easier it is to remember.

Priming/Spreading activation:

Enhancing the accessibility of a concept by exposing people to another concept that is associated with it in people’s mind.

Fluency effect:

• If something comes to mind easily, you like it more.

• We have a positive response to things we saw before (even if we don’t remember)

• Because its easier to process concepts that were processed before, which creates a favorable sensation, that is mis-attributed to the object.

Discrepancy attribution:

If you realize why something is easy to process (e.g., clear font or recent exposure), you won’t mistake that ease for "liking" the object.

A brand can successfully launch a new, different product (Brand Extension) based on two types of "fit":

1. Similarity: The new product is physically like the old one.

2. Relevance: The brand’s "vibe" or "promise" works for the new product, even if the items are totally different:

   • Functional: The brand is known for a specific benefit. (e.g., "EasyJet" means cheap travel, so "EasyCar" means cheap car rentals).

   • Symbolic: The brand represents a lifestyle. (e.g., People buy Harley-Davidson perfume to feel like a "rebel," even though it’s not a motorcycle).

Brand Extension Authenticity (BEA) (4 dimensions):

1. Maintaining brand styles & standards: Maintain consistency in design/style, but also in quality/attributes.

2. Honoring brand heritage: stay connected to your roots/origin/culture.

3. Preserving brand essence: make sure that extensions contain the things that make the brand unique.

4. Avoid exploitation: beware of commodification! don’t go for “cheap wins”.

Three steps in brand extension:

1.Define Brand Potential

• Vision: Find your higher-order purpose (reason for being).

• Boundaries: Use key associations and coverage vs. costs to decide what not to do.

• Positioning: Establish PoP (market basics) and PoD (uniqueness).
  

2. Identify Opportunities

• Principles: Ensure Survival (consumer value) and Synergy (reputation boost).

• Evaluation: Use a Scorecard to grade and filter new ideas.
  

3. Brand New Products

• Architecture: Choose a Branded House (one name for all) or House of Brands (different names).

• Design: Focus on Simplicity, Relevance, Prominence, and Commonality (shared elements).

Three types of Points of Parity (PoP):

• Category PoP (The "Entry Ticket"): The basic features you need just to be in the game. (Example: A smartphone must have a camera).

• Competitive PoP (The "Catch Up"): Features you add so your competitors don't have an unfair advantage. (Example: If all other banks offer "free apps," you must offer one too).

• Correlational PoP (The "Trade-off"): Proving you can have two things that usually don't go together. (Example: Showing your food is "Healthy" and "Delicious," since people usually think healthy food tastes bad).

A good Point of Difference (PoD):

• Desirable to the consumer.

  • Is it relevant to consumers & believable?

• Deliverable by the company.

  • Can you deliver the PoD and still make a healthy profit?

• Differentiate from competitors.

  • Distinctive? Superior? (in the eyes of customers)?

Antropomorphism/Animism:

The psychological tendency to see human characteristics (like faces or personalities) in non-human objects. This makes products feel more relatable, approachable, and memorable.

Stereotype content model (SCM) for people:

Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF) for brands.

1. Admiration (Top Right): Brands seen as both friendly and capable. This is the "sweet spot" for most brands (e.g., Apple, Coca-Cola).

2. Sympathy (Top Left): Brands with good intentions but seen as less efficient or struggling (e.g., USPS, Public Transport).

3. Envy (Bottom Right): Highly successful brands that are seen as cold, arrogant, or greedy (e.g., Rolex, Meta, Goldman Sachs).

4. Contempt (Bottom Left): Brands seen as having both bad intentions and poor performance (e.g., BP, Marlboro).

We judge brands the same way we judge people, using two main traits:

• Warmth (good or bad intentions?) Do they have good intentions? (Are they friendly and trustworthy?)

• Competence (able to achieve these intentions?) Are they capable? (Are they actually good at what they do?)

Brand loyalty

is defined as a combination of behavior (how often someone buys) and attitude (how they feel about the brand).

Why brand for your employees?

• Employee focus: improve well being, satisfaction, productivity.

• Build employer brand: strengthen brand, recruitment (quality up, cost down).

• Improve customer contact: client contact, collaboration, service.

• Use employees as ambassadors: spread & amplify campaigns.

Employee behaviors that contribute to the organization’s branding efforts:

• On the Job:

1. Brand-Congruent Behavior: Looking and acting the part (e.g., an Apple employee acting trendy and casual).

2. Customer-Oriented Behavior: Genuinely trying to solve customer problems, not just reciting a script.

• Off the Job:

3. Participation in Brand Development: Giving management ideas on how to improve the brand, even if they aren't paid extra for it.

4. Positive Word of Mouth (WOM): Bragging about the company to friends and family in their free time.

Social Identity Theory:

("I am the company"): The employee deeply identifies with the company's values. (Internal motivation)

Drivers of identification:

• Employee-Brand fit: perceived congruence between the values of the employee and the brand

• Brand knowledge: understanding of brand identity and brand promise

• Belief in the brand: perceived status and prestige, ability to “bask in reflected glory”

Social Exchange Theory and Reciprocity.

Essentially, if an employee feels that the company supports them, cares about their well-being, and treats them well, they feel a natural urge to "pay it back."

Drivers of EBB (Employee Brand-Building Behaviors):

• Identification: I help the brand because this company is WHO I AM.

• Support: I help the brand because the company is NICE TO ME.

Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSiR):

When people look at a company and judge it as being socially irresponsible.

For an action to be considered "Irresponsible" (CSiR), a person (the stakeholder/customer) must believe this happened:

• It was Immoral: They did something "wrong" in the eyes of society.

• It Caused Harm (Causes Stakeholder Harm): Someone or something actually suffered because of the company.

• It Was On Purpose: The customer believes the company had a choice.

Deonance Theory:

This theory explains why we punish bad companies. It says that when we see a company doing something wrong (CSiR), we don't calculate the math in our heads, we react based on emotion.

Employees can help build a company's reputation (brand equity) in two main ways:

1. Making the Brand Unique (Brand Differentiation): Employees do the actual work that gives a company its quality and "substance." The good job they do makes the company stand out from competitors.

2. Acting as Cheerleaders (Brand Ambassadors): How employees feel and talk about their workplace matters. When happy employees say good things about the company to others, it builds a positive reputation.

Corporate social responsibility pyramid

• Economic responsibility (Make Money): A business must make a profit first. If it doesn't, it goes bankrupt and cannot hire workers or provide goods to people.

• Legal responsibility (Follow the Law): While making a profit, the business must obey the rules, like paying taxes and keeping workers safe.

• Ethical responsibility (Do the Right Thing): This goes beyond just following laws. It means being fair, honest, and making sure the business doesn't harm people or the environment.

• Philanthropic responsibility (Give Back): Once a business is successful, legal, and ethical, it should help the community by donating money, goods, or supporting good causes.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vs Brand Activism

• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Like donating quietly to a food bank.

• Brand Activism: It’s when a brand (or its CEO) publicly picks a side on a highly controversial, hot-button political or social issue.

Aligned Activism Model (If a brand wants to speak out without destroying their business, they have to hit the "A-Spot" in the middle of all three circles):

1. Brand-issue alignment: The issue has to make sense for the company.

• The Danger (Negativity Bias): The people who hate the brand’s stance will react much more aggressively than the people who like it. Anger is a stronger motivator than happiness.

2. Consumer-issue alignment: The brand's target audience must actually care about the topic.

3. Perceived authenticity: If they think the brand is just faking it to sell more stuff, it will backfire.

• Activism is authentic if there is:

  • Fit with the brand

  • Alignment with corporate practice

Even though angry haters usually react much stronger than happy fans (which is called "negativity bias"), a brand can still win because of two things:

1. Deep Loyalty (Involvement): If the customers who agree with the brand care deeply about the issue, they will go out of their way to buy the product. Their extreme loyalty cancels out the people who are boycotting.

2. Being a Niche Brand (Market Share): This strategy works best for smaller brands. They can afford to make half the country mad, as long as they capture a super-loyal cult following from the other half. Giant brands (like Walmart) cannot afford to make that many people mad.

BICoC (Brand Image Cocreation)

Instead of a company just telling the world what their brand stands for, they invite customers to help shape it by interactive opportunities.

• The secret to success isn't just making an activity "fun", it's about forcing the consumer to think about what the brand actually means.

Co-creation doesn't just help the person doing the work; it also makes the product more attractive to other customers. Why does this happen?

• Identification: Customers feel a stronger connection to the brand when they see "real people" are involved in the process.

• Empowerment: It makes customers feel like they have a say and that the company listens to them.

An influencer "assemblage" includes:

• The Influencer: The person at the center.

• Other People: The followers (fans), the brand managers, and the marketing agencies.

• Objects: The products being sold and the videos or photos (branded content) being made.

What makes an influencer feel "real" or Authentic:

1. Expertise: They know what they are talking about. They are seen as experts in their specific field (like gaming, makeup, or fitness).

2. Originality: They have their own unique style. They don't just copy others; they tell their own personal stories.

3. Connectedness: Followers feel like they actually know the influencer. There is a strong bond, and the influencer might even inspire the fan to change for the better.

4. Transparency: They are honest. They share both the "good and the bad" parts of their lives, not just a perfect, fake version.

5. Integrity: They care about their fans' best interests. People believe the influencer is doing it because they love it, not just for a paycheck.

Advice for Influencers (How to stay "Real"):

• Pick a Niche: Don't try to talk about everything. Be an expert in one specific area so people trust your Expertise.

• Talk to Your Fans: Build a community, not just a following. Show Integrity by picking brands that actually fit your style.

• Keep Your Style: Don't change who you are for a paycheck. Be Original and always tell the truth (Transparency) about your ads.

• The "Genuine" Test: Only work with brands you actually use. Tip: Post about brands you aren't being paid by, too, so fans know your taste is real.

Advice for Brands (How to pick the right partner):

• Experts Over Models: Don't just pick the prettiest person; pick the one who actually knows your industry.

• Look Beyond Likes: High "likes" can be fake. Look for genuine interactions, are fans actually talking and asking questions?

• Avoid "Sell-outs": If an influencer promotes a different brand every single day, their fans won't believe them when they promote your brand.

• Loose Reins: Give them a goal, but don't give them a script. If you force them to say exactly what you want, you kill their Originality and the ad will fail.

Cobra’s - Consumer’s online brand related activities pyramid (consumers act in 3 ways):

1. Consuming (Low Engagement): This is passive. You are just looking, watching, or reading. You aren't talking back or making anything.

2. Contributing (Medium Engagement): This is interactive. You are joining the conversation or adding a small piece of input.

3. Creating (High Engagement) This is active. You are actually making something new about the brand. This takes the most effort and shows you are a "super fan" (or a super hater). Fewest people do this.

3-step process for companies to handle customer engagement (what customers are saying or doing):

• Step 1: Identify: Figure out Who is talking, Where they are doing it (social media, blogs, in-store), and How they are doing it.
  

• Step 2: Evaluate: Decide if the behavior is Good (Positive) or Bad (Negative). Also, figure out how many people are seeing it and if it will hurt/help the brand in the long run.

• Step 3: Act. This step uses the box chart (Matrix) to decide what to do based on if the feedback is Good (+) or Bad (-), and if the company needs to fix things Inside (Internal) or communicate Outside (External).

Companies can't just sit back. They have to actively manage what people are saying.

• If the engagement is GOOD (+):

• Leverage (Internal): Use the praise to boost employee morale or help R&D make better products.

• Stimulate (External): Encourage the fans to talk more! (e.g., "Thanks for the post! Share this for a discount!").

If the engagement is BAD (-):

• Mitigate (Internal): Fix the problem inside the company so it doesn't happen again.

• Neutralize (External): Try to stop the damage publicly (e.g., apologize or clarify the facts to calm people down).

Be Authentic (The Matching Rule)

• Information and entertainment

To get engagement, a brand must act like itself.

• The Golden Rule:

  • Information works for every brand (everyone likes useful facts).

  • Entertainment only works for warm/friendly brands. (Serious brands should avoid trying to be funny, or it looks fake).

Byron Sharp - You just need to make your brand easy to buy by focusing on two things:

1. Mental Availability: This is about being top-of-mind. You want people to think of your brand the moment they have a need.

• CEPs (Category Entry Points): Connecting your brand to specific situations (e.g., "I'm tired" → Red Bull).

• Distinctive Assets: Using unique colors, logos, or sounds so people recognize you instantly (e.g., McDonald's Golden Arches).

2. Physical Availability: This is about being easy to find and grab (= breadth & depth of the brand’s distribution). If a customer wants you but can’t find you, they will buy a competitor.

• Presence: Being in as many stores or websites as possible.

• Prominence: Standing out on the shelf so you are hard to miss.

Mental Availability is built in two ways:

1. Category Entry Points (CEPs) – The "Triggers". These are the mental "hooks" that link your brand to specific situations. A brand grows by being linked to many different triggers:

• Reasons to buy the brand

  • Example: Volvo: "I want the safest car for my family." (Focus on a specific benefit: Safety).

• Places where the brand is bought

  • Example: KitKat: "I’m at the grocery store checkout and want a quick snack." (Focus on convenience/location).

• Other products that the brand relates to

  • Example: Guinness: "I’m ordering a steak dinner and want a drink that matches it." (Focus on food pairing).

• Occasions to use the brand

  • Example: Icecream: "I’m at the beach on a hot summer day." (Focus on a specific time or weather).

• People with whom they use the brand

  • Example: Domino’s: "I’m hosting a movie night with a big group of friends." (Focus on the social setting).
    
    

2. Distinctive Brand Assets – The "Look". These are unique things that make your brand instantly recognizable without even reading the name.

Mental Market Share:

This measures what percentage of all brand-related thoughts you own compared to your competitors.

Mental Penetration:

This measures how many people know your brand for at least one reason - link it to at least one CEP.

Network Size:

This measures how many different reasons a single person has to think of you.

Physical Availability is about making your brand as easy to find and buy as possible. It is broken down into three parts:

1. Presence: Being in as many stores or websites as possible.

2. Prominence: Standing out more than your competitors once you are in the store.

3. Relevance: Having the right version of your product for what the customer needs right now.

Assemblage Theory

This theory argues that an influencer isn't a standalone person; they are an "assemblage" (a connected ecosystem) (influencer, people, product).

Branded Service Encounter

When a frontline employee's behavior is strategically matched to the brand’s personality.

The Alignment Effect:

If an employee's behavior matches the brand personality, customers will evaluate the brand more highly.

• Why: Conceptual Fluency (Alignment works because it makes the brand easier to understand)

The Familiarity Factor:

This alignment will matter way more for new or unfamiliar brands.

Customers already know what famous brands stand for. But for new brands, customers are looking closely at the employee for clues about what the brand represents.

Benevolent Halo Effect.

When a company does good things, consumers subconsciously view the company as highly moral. This warm, positive feeling (the "halo") spills over and actually alters the way consumers physically experience and evaluate the company's products, making them believe the products perform better.

• When consumers think a company is just giving to

  charity to look good, the functional product boost disappears entirely.

• When consumers learned about the charity from an independent news source, they assumed the company was genuinely benevolent.

Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ) model (the strongest brand relationships possess six specific traits):

1. Love/Passion: The consumer feels genuine affection for the brand and would feel separation anxiety if it disappeared.

2. Self-Connection: The brand reflects the consumer's deep identity, life goals, or heritage.

3. Interdependence: The brand is deeply woven into the consumer's daily routines and rituals.

4. Commitment: The consumer has the active intention to stick with the brand through hard times.

5. Intimacy: The consumer knows the brand's history, holds deep beliefs about how it works, and may even have a nickname for it.

6. Brand Partner Quality: The consumer trusts that the brand cares about them, listens to them, and will consistently deliver on its promises.

(DEI)

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Net Promoter Score" (NPS)

Measures likelihood to recommend a company’s product or service.

The NASCAR Effect:

High-tech companies often make the mistake of "over-branding" every single ingredient or feature. If your product looks like a race car covered in 20 different logos, the consumer gets overwhelmed.

Extend your brand: Two principles to watch

- The principle of survival: extension can only survive if

it has equity in its own category:

=> Does it provide real value to consumers?

- The principle of synergy: extension should enhance

the equity of the parent brand (“give vs take”)

Brand personality - five dimensions:

1. Sincerity

2. Excitement

3. Competence

4. Sophistication

5. Ruggedness

Spurious loyalty

Availability (a lot seen in supermarket; people go to the supermarket that is close to them) because you don’t really care that much. There is a threat; albert Heijn is very confident, until Jumbo is opening a store next door, and they lose their customers. It depends on the location where the supermarket is, not the store.

Latent loyalty

Case where you like the product a lot, but hardly never buy it. Expensive luxury products or concert tickets (is the opposite of spurious loyalty)

Effects of strong brand relationships – when Brand Relationship Quality is high, consumers tend to:

1. Accommodation: they adapt to the brand and accept minor defects. don’t want the brand to service you, but come the brand into your life.

2. Tolerance/Forgiveness: They forgive mistakes made by the brand and remain loyal. A good relationship with your bank, but they messed up, you forgive then ‘’this happens’’

3. Biased Partner Perceptions: good relationship, connected and committed, you are biased that it is good, but in real life it isn’t that much at all. Devaluation of Alternatives; alternatives are less good, you’re brand goes up, other goes down a little.

4. Attribution Biases: everything good that happened because it is fantastic, everything bad that happens because the world sucks.

CEP’s = cues that make consumers think of your brand.

• WHY do consumers buy this brand?

• WHERE do they buy it?

• With WHAT do consumers use it?

• WHEN do consumers buy/use it?

• With WHOM do they use it?

The role of brand architecture is twofold:

• Clarify (Awareness): Help customers understand the similarities and differences between your products.

• Motivate (Image): Make it easier for the "good feelings" of a famous brand to rub off on a new product (and vice versa).