SBM L3 - Choosing brand elements to build brand equity_779f930e4fa81301475586524b071c87

Learning Objectives

• Identify the different types of brand elements

• List the general criteria for choosing brand elements

• Describe key tactics in choosing different brand elements

• Explain the rationale for “mixing and matching” brand elements

Brand Elements

1. Brand Names

2. URLs

3. Logos & Symbols

4. Characters

5. Slogans

6. Jingles

7. Packaging

Criteria for Choosing Brand Elements

1. Memorability

   • Easily recognized within and across product categories

   • Easily recalled across geographic boundaries and cultures

2. Meaningfulness

   • Descriptive and persuasive

3. Likability

   • Fun, interesting, and aesthetically pleasing

4. Transferability

   • Strong across different product categories and cultures

5. Adaptability

   • Flexible and updatable over time

6. Protectability

   • Legally protectable and competitively viable

Options and Tactics for Brand Names

• Ideal Brand Element Characteristics

  • Easily remembered

  • Suggestive of product class and benefits

  • Inherently fun or interesting

  • Rich with creative potential

  • Transferable to different products and geographies

  • Enduring and relevant over time

  • Strong legal protection

• Importance of Brand Names

  • Captures central theme of a product in an economical way

  • Most challenging element for marketers to change due to strong consumer association

  • Can reinforce important attributes or benefits of the product

Brand Awareness

• Key Attributes

  • Simple, easy to pronounce or spell

  • Familiar and meaningful

  • Distinctive and unusual

• Simplicity and Pronunciation

  • Reduces cognitive effort for comprehension and processing

  • Encourages word-of-mouth marketing

Familiarity and Meaningfulness

• Taps into existing knowledge structures

• Brand names should be different, distinctive, and unusual

• Brand associations are critical, considering implicit and explicit meanings

URLs (Domain Names)

• Protect brands from unauthorized use

• Methods to protect:

  • Sue for copyright infringement

  • Purchase domains from current owners

  • Register variations ahead of time

• Cybersquatting:

  • Bad-faith registration to profit from someone else's trademark

Logos and Symbols

• Functionality

  • Indicate origin, ownership, or association

  • Recognizable and nonverbal, adaptable across cultures

• Benefits of Logos

  • Easy identification of products

  • Versatile and easily adapted over time

  • Expensive and time-consuming to change

Brand Characters

• Humanized brand symbols; plays a central role in advertising

• Attention-getting and enhances brand likability

• Transferable across product categories but must be updated to remain relevant

• Culturally specific characters may not have global appeal

Slogans

• Short phrases conveying descriptive or persuasive brand information

• Functions as hooks to help consumers understand brand meaning

• Build brand awareness and summarize marketing intent

• Designing and Updating Slogans

  • Contributes to brand equity in multiple ways

  • Retain necessary equities while introducing new meanings

Jingles

• Musical messages that enhance brand awareness

• Catchy and memorable; however, less transferable than other elements

Packaging

1. Purpose of Packaging

   • Identifies the brand

   • Provides information and protection

   • Aids in transport and storage

2. Packaging at Point of Purchase

   • Strong visual appeal to stand out on shelves

   • Innovations can reduce costs and increase demand

3. Legal Requirements and Costs

   • Subject to regulations; changes can be expensive but cost-effective compared to other marketing methods

Putting It All Together

• Role of Brand Elements

  • Each brand element contributes uniquely to building brand equity

  • Marketers mix and match elements to maximize impact

• Brand Identity

  • Total set of brand elements forming a coherent marketing strategy

Critique of Brand Element Options

Brand Element Criterion Overview

• Memorability: Enhances recall and recognition

• Meaningfulness: Reinforces various associations

• Likability: Evokes strong imagery and appeal

• Transferability: Varies across elements; generally excellent for logos

• Adaptability: Some are easy to redesign while others are difficult

• Protectability: Varies by element, generally strong in legal aspects, but vulnerable to copying in packaging.