Unit 2

Building Strong Brand

Identifying and Establishing Brand Positioning – Brand Mantra – Building

Strong Brands – Brand Building Blocks - Brand Resonance Model – Brand
Value Chain.
 Strategic Brand Management Process

. STEPS KEY CONCEPTS

Identify and Establish
Brand Positioning and Values
Mental maps
Competitive frame of reference
Points-of-parity and points-of-difference
Core brand values
Brand mantra

Mixing and matching of brand elements

Plan and Implement Integrating brand marketing activities
Brand Marketing Programs Leveraging of secondary associations

Brand Value Chain

Measure and Interpret Brand audits
Brand tracking
Brand Performance
Brand equity management system

Brand-product matrix
Grow and Sustain Brand portfolios and hierarchies
Brand Equity Brand expansion strategies
Brand reinforcement and revitalization
 Associative Network Memory Model
(pp.45 - 47)
• How brand knowledge exits in customer
minds?
• ANMM views memory as a network of nodes
and connecting links, in which nodes
represent stored information or concepts and
links represent the strength of association
between the nodesl
Identifying and Establishing
Brand Positioning
Pages 53 – 73 (Chapter 2)
 Brand Positioning
• Positioning requires defining our desired or
ideal brand knowledge structures and
establishing points-of-parity and Points-of-
difference to establish the right brand identity
and brand image.
 Brand Positioning
• It is the act of designing the company’s offer
and image so that it occupies a distinct and
valued place in the target customer’s minds.

• Good positioning helps to guide marketing

strategy by clarifying what a brand is all about,
how it is unique and how it is similar to
competitive brands and why consumers
should purchase and use it.
• Positioning is not what you do to a product.
Positioning is what you do to the mind of the
prospect.
• Colgate – Protection
• Lux – beauty
• Axe – Sexual attraction

• Getting into consumers mind….

• https://www.slideshare.net/GrahamRobertso
n/defining-a-beloved-brand
• Competitors position is as important as your
own.
 Positioning Process
• Segmentation / Target Market
• Nature of Competition / Competitive Frame of
Reference
• Points of parity
• Points of differences
 Target Market
• A market is the set of all actual and
potential buyers.
• Market Segmentation divides the market
into distinct groups of homogeneous
consumers who have similar needs and
consumer behaviour. (Figure 2.3)
– Behavioral
– Demographic
– Psychographic
– Geographic
• Consumer oriented or product
oriented
 B-B Segmentation Bases
• Nature of Good
– Kind
– Where used
– Type of buy
• Buying Condition
– Purchase Location
– Who buys
– Type of buy
• Demographic (Descriptive)
– SIC Code
– Number of employees
– Number of production workers
– Annual sales volume
– Number of establishments
 Toothpaste
• Market Size - Rs 10,000-crore (BS, 2021)
• naturals segment - 5%
 Toothpaste Segments
• Protections – Gums, Cavity, Teeth
• Emotional Benefits -Freshness / Cool / Energy
• Healthy
• Tooth Decay
• Sensitive
• White / Smile
• Tasty
• Ingredients - Herbal – Clove, Tulsi,
• Antiseptic antibacterial
 Competitive Frame of Reference
• A brand’s frame of reference is the context in
which consumers view it. The first thing
consumers will try to figure out is the category
the brand belongs to.
• Pepsi belongs to the carbonated soft drink
category. Sub category is cola drink.
• It can be also categorized by benefits.
• The brands intended to move from more
crowded categories to a category of their own
creation in which they became the only
(category-of-one) brand.
 Competitive Frame of Reference
• It defines the competitors and target
consumers. Usually, the strategy aims at
identifying one or two competitors and
present their position better than them.
• Don’t Define competition too narrowly
• Competition often occurs at the benefit level
rather than the attribute level.
 Multiple Frame of Reference
• More than one frame of reference. Broader
category competition.

• Example Café Coffee Day – Coffee shop and

QSR

• Positioning will change as competitive frame

of reference change
 Points of Difference Associations
• Defined as attribute or benefits that
consumers strongly associate with a brand
positively evaluate and believe that they could
not find to the same extent with a competitive
brand.
• Performance Attribute (Feature/ character)
• Performance Benefit
• Imagery (eg. Luxury or status)
• Superior Quality or Low Cost
 Reasons to Believe / Proof Point
• Functional Design – Unique
• Key attributes
• Key Ingredients – Fluoride
• Key Endorsements – Recommendation (e.g.
United Kingdom Accreditation Service)
• Fast-food chain Subway offers healthier meals
than other quick-serve restaurants because its
sandwiches have fewer grams of fat.
• Here, the healthier benefit is supported by an
attribute “reason to believe”: fewer grams of
fat.
 Functional Benefits
• Works better • Variety
• Saves you money • Sensory Appeal
• Last longer • Comfort
• powerful • Efficient
• Good value • Easy to use
• Better Experience
• Healthier
 Emotional Benefits
• Happy • Respect
• Cool • Excited
• Successful • Trendy
• Smart • Friendly
• Trust • Inspired
• Honest • Intimate
• Down to earth • Attractive
 Points of Parity Associations
• Are not necessarily unique to the brand but
may in fact be shared with other brands.
There are three types
– Category POP
– Competitive POP – negate competitors POP
– Correlational POP – negatively correlated
attributes and benefits (Inexpensive and high
quality)
 Choosing POPs & PODs
• Decide on which level to anchor the brands
PODs
More
Brand Attractive
Benefits
Softer Skin

Brand One Quarter

Attributes cleansing
milk
What consumer What brand
wants does best

What your competitors

Does?
 Value Proposition
• A value proposition should be a clear
statement that explains how a brand solves a
pain point, communicates the specifics of its
added benefit, and states the reason why it's
better than similar products on the market.
• A successful value proposition has a bold
headline that communicates the delivered
benefit to the consumer.
 Value Propositions
• Domino’s – A good hot pizza, delivered to your
door with 30 minutes of ordering, at a
moderate price.
• For athletes, Gatorade is sports drink which
rehydrates, replenishes and refuels in ways
water can’t.
• Mountain Dew is the soft drink that gives
young, active consumers who have little time
for sleep the energy they need because it has
high level of caffeine.
 Positioning Statement…

For females ages 25-35, Pantene Pro-V is the

product of hair care that uses key nutrients to
create confidence by providing you with silky
smooth hair and a fresh scent for a clean, look
at me feeling.
 Straddle Positioning
• The Straddle Positioning is one of the
positioning strategy adopted by the marketers
to position their product in two categories
simultaneously.
• Two Frames of Reference with one set of POP
and POD
 Accenture
Straddle Positioning Strategy
• Accenture is the company that combines:
– Strategic insight, vision, and thought leadership
– Information technology expertise in developing client solutions
• This strategy permits:
– Points-of parity with its two main competitors, McKinsey & IBM
– While simultaneously achieving points-of-difference

41
 Accenture
Strategy Straddle Positioning
& Vision (WHAT they do)

Technology
& Execution
• Subway restaurants are positioned as offering
healthy, good tasting sandwiches.
 QSR

Dominos 30-minute guarantee / Taste / Quality

Pizza Hut Taste / Quality

Papa John's Pizza Better Ingredients

Pizza Republic All Fresh & Taste

Subway Fresh, Healthy affordable

KFC Finger Licking Good / Taste

McDonalds Family Friendly Low Cost / Fun

Burger King Have it your way (Customization) Taste is king

 Example
• Subway
– Healthy and Good Taste
– McDonalds vs POD – POD – health POP – Taste
– Healthy Restaurants – POD – taste POP – Health
• BMW
– Luxury and Performance
– Benz, Audi, Lexus
 Brand Mantra
• The brand mantra is a three- to five-word
(phrase) that captures the indisputable “heart
and soul”; the essence or spirit, of the brand
positioning.
• The brand mantra communicates what the
brand is and what it is not.
• Brand Essence / Core Brand Promise / Purpose
DESIGNING BRAND MANTRAS

Describes the nature of the product/service

BRAND or the type of experiences or benefits the
FUNCTIONS brand provides

DESCRIPTIVE Further, clarifies its nature / whom the brand

MODIFIER is basically for / Category

Provides another clarifier – how exactly

EMOTIONAL does the brand provide benefits and how?
MODIFIER how consumers should feel about the brand
 Examples
Emotional Modifier Descriptive Brand Function
Modifier
Nike Authentic Athletic Performance
Disney Fun Family Entertainment
Positioning Guidelines
• Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame of
Reference
• Choosing Points-of-Difference
• Establishing Points-of-Parity and Points-of-Difference
• Straddle Positions
• Updating Position Overtime
• Developing a Good Positioning
Defining and Communicating the Competitive Frame
of Reference
• Communicating category benefits:
– Marketers use product benefits to announce category
membership
• Exemplars:
– Well-known, noteworthy brands in a category can also be
used as exemplars to specify a brand’s category membership
• Product descriptor:
– Product descriptor that follows a brand name is often a very
compact means of conveying category origin
Choosing Points-of-Difference
• A brand must offer a compelling and credible reason for
choosing it over the other options:
– What attribute or benefit can serve as point-of-difference?
• Desirability criteria
• Deliverability criteria
• Differentiation criteria
Establishing Points-of-Parity and Points-of-
Difference
• The key to branding success is to establish both points-of-parity
and points-of-difference
• At times, an inverse relationship between P OP and POD may
exist in the minds of consumers:
– Approaches to address the problem of negatively correlated
POPs and PODs include:
• Separating the attributes
• Leveraging equity of another entity
• Redefining the relationship
Developing a Good Positioning
• A good positioning:
– Has a foot in the present and a foot in the future:
• Needs to be somewhat aspirational so that the brand has
room to grow and improve
– Is careful to identify all relevant points-of-parity:
• Don’t overlook or ignore crucial areas where the brand is
potentially disadvantaged
– Should reflect a consumer point of view in terms of the benefits
that consumers derive from the brand
– Recognizes that a duality exists in the positioning of a brand:
• Rational and emotional components
 Lifestyle Brands
• A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to
embody the values, aspirations, interests,
attitudes, or opinions of a group or a culture
for marketing purposes.