Three Complementary Models of Brand Planning

Posted: Feb 03, 2009 |Comments: 0 | Views: 662 |

Share
Think about any great brand. Disney, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Starbucks and Apple are just a
few examples. Great brands do not happen by accident; rather they are the result of careful and
creative brand planning and the timely execution of innovative marketing strategies.

Renowned brand expert, marketing professor and author Kevin Lane Keller has distilled strategic
brand planning into three complementary models that grow in scale and scope as they progress.
These models help in developing brand strategies and business marketing ideas. Keller's extensive
research into the understanding of consumer behaviour has improved the way many companies apply
their marketing strategies and the way they build, measure and manage brand equity.

Like a set of Russian nesting dolls - the three models are interlinked and build on each other. The first
is a component of the second and the second of the third. Keller sets out his three interconnected
models for strategic brand planning to establish a unique brand positioning, create intense and
actively loyal relationships with your customers and to allow you to better understand the financial
impact of marketing expenditure and investment in an eBook entitled Brand Planning.

Brand Positioning Model

The first model is the brand positioning model. Positioning is defining your offering and image so that
it occupies a distinctive placement in the minds of the target market.

Within the positioning model there are four distinct components which should be considered to create
superior competitive positioning for your brand. These can be summarised as follows:

1. Competitive frame of reference. This defines which other brands your brand is competing
against. It’s important to know which these are so that you may focus your analysis.

2. Points-of-difference. These are the attributes that set one brand apart from another. In
essence, these are benefits that customers strongly associate with a brand, and believe they could not
find with a competing brand.

3. Points-of-parity. The opposite of points of difference, points of parity are associations that are
not unique to a brand and may be shared with other brands.

4. A brand mantra. This is designed to give more focus to the brand’s intended positioning. A
brand mantra should articulate the “core brand promise” in three to five words. This should not be the
same as the ‘slogan’ used in advertising and is for internal use.

Brand Resonance Model

The second model is about creating loyal relationships with your customers. This model builds on the
brand positioning model, and also includes four steps which should be followed in sequence. Brand
resonance refers to the relationship and extent to which your customers feel that they connect and
have a relationship with your brand.
 Think about the following steps carefully and how you would build on each sequentially to build a
strong brand resonance with your customers.

1. Brand Identity - Who are you?

2. Brand Meaning - What are you?

3. Brand Responses - What about you? What do your customers think or feel about you?

4. Brand Relationships - What about you and me? How much of a connection, and what kind of
association do your customers want to have with you?

These are the stages of brand development - and the objectives at each stage are different starting
with deep and broad brand awareness ending with intense, active and loyal relationships.

Brand Value Chain Model

The third and final model is the brand value chain model that describes how to trace the value
creation process in order to better understand the financial impact of marketing costs and
investments.

At its core this model assumes that the value of a brand lies with its customers. Based on this, brand
value creation starts with a company investing in marketing to real or potential customers. This
marketing activity in turn affects the customer’s mindset with regard to the brand, when this mindset
is multiplied across a group of customers this results in certain outcomes for the brand in terms of its
performance.  In this way - the investment in marketing can be assessed.

Naturally this model also assumes that there a number of linking factors between each of the stages.
These links determine the extent to which the value created at a preceding stage is transferred (or
multiplied) to the next stage.

When these three models are combined, they provide crucial micro and macro perspectives that are
required for brand building. This enables marketers to create brand strategies that maximise profits
and long-term brand equity, while being able to track their progress as they implement these
strategies.

(ArticlesBase SC #753041)
 Determine what customers think the brand does best.
Determine what employees think they deliver best.

The unique brand promise, or Brand Truth , is found at the

TM

rational and emotional juncture of these two perceptions.

We identify and leverage the power within the unique experience of a brand by tapping into the
fundamental values of the organization and linking them with the psychosocial needs that the brand fulfills
for the target audience. This is the brand promise fulfilled, the Brand Truth—the rational and emotional
value that a brand delivers to the target audience.

We develop brand strategies by identifying and focusing on those elements of the Brand Truth that drive
attitudes, behavior and, ultimately, brand loyalty.

1. We assess the competitive and cultural environment of the brand.

 2. We uncover the unique brand identity—internally and externally—that resonates most strongly
with target audiences, motivates employees and stands out in the competitive marketplace.

3. We work with you to ensure that this identity and target audiences' psychosocial motivations are
fully leveraged in all marketing communications.

4. We help communicate the Brand Truth internally to create a more effective, efficient and unified
organization in which the brand promise is delivered at all customer touch-points.

5. If desired, we periodically assess your communications to ensure the brand positioning and
messaging strategy continue to be distinctive and relevant in light of competitive and cultural
trends.

These services ensure that advertising, direct marketing, public relations, interactive and internal
communications are truly integrated and have the greatest impact.