Brands and Brand Positioning

Brands and Brand Positioning

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/brand-management.htm • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5BnnBOLOUU

Brand is to be a source of value for an organisation • Its positioning in the market and the minds of consumers will be critical to the actual value created.

Positioning means owning a credible and profitable “position” in the consumer’s mind, either by getting there first, or by adopting a position relative to the competition, or by repositioning the competition.

Positioning process Understanding all stakeholder needs and desires Opportunity modelling Brand platform Brand identity Brand architecture Continuous evaluation and development

Stakeholders • The brand positioning process begins with identifying an organisation’s stakeholders, or audiences, assessing how important different stakeholders are, and defining the ideal relationship needed with each to enable business goals and objectives to be met. • Different stakeholders will define the brand differently, according to their needs and their distinctive agendas.

Modelling the opportunity for positioning (I) Relevance Brand Opportunity Credibility Stretch Differentiation

Modelling the opportunity for positioning (I) 1. Relevance. Strong brands connect with customers. They meet functional needs and also tap into, and satisfy, emotional needs and desires. 2.Differentiation. Strong brands add value, which makes them stand out from their competitors. 3. Credibility. For customers to be loyal to a brand, the brand must be true to itself and keep the promises it makes. 4. Stretch. A brand’s continued success lies in its ability not only to remain relevant in a changing world but also to foster innovation and to bring new products and line extensions into its value proposition.

Differentited Increasing brand competition Increasing market sophistication Increasing category maturity Generic, price of entry

The brand platform Brand communications Brand manifestation and area of competence Brand personality BRAND PLATFORM Brand vision, mission and values The ‘tone of voice’ Products, services and behaviours Bringing the brand to life for all audiences

Seven Signs You’ve Developed a Brand Identity • Brand Identity is clearly defined: • What is the brand’s particular vision and aim? • What makes it different? • What need is the brand fulfilling? • What is its permanent crusade? • What are its values? • What is its field of competence? Of legitimacy? • What are the signs which make the brand recognizable?

Brand Identity Prism - Elements Physique Personality Relationship Culture Rallying Cry Reflection Aspirational Self-Image ‘Brand Identity Prism’ by Jean-Noel Kapferer, The New Strategic Brand Management, 2012, p.156

Jean – Noel – Kapferer’s prism • PHYSIQUE – this forms the basis of the brand. • PERSONALITY – personality here means personification of the brand. The brand personality is perceived as a person or an animal. • CULTURE – the country of origin of the brand that is seen as a product attribute forms the culture. • RELATIONSHIP – it is the understanding between the consumer and the organization. • REFLECTION – this is the consumer’s perception of the brand and its values. • SELF-IMAGE – this is about what the consumer thinks about himself or herself.

Prism Element: Physique This element answers the question: What do we do? Many brands have problems with their physical facet because their functional added value is weak. Even an image-based brand must deliver material benefits. We focus on capabilities, which are about the brand’s value-added. Example: Foster Farms Frozen Cooked Chicken • Capabilities: • Chicken – Highest quality • Cooking – Making perfectly cooked chicken • Resource – Helping you make successful dinners 2 1.15 15

Prism Element: Relationship • This element answers the question: Who are we? • Strong brands are built on a strong culture and a clear set of shared values. • Brand’s core beliefs and way of operating. • Unwavering, and uncompromising. • According to Kapferer: “The cultural facet of brands’ identity underlines that brands are engaged in an Physique • ideological competition.” Example: Nike Nike champions ‘solo willpower’ with a dose of optimism, and addresses a major sociological insight: Millions of people in the world today know that they can count only on themselves. 1.16 16

Brand as a religion • http://www.verilliance.com/2010/01/26/apple-brand-cult-or-religion

Prism Element: Reflection This element answers the question: Why do we exist? Strong brands are a vision of the world. The idea of ‘Being of Service’ underlies this facet of the Brand Identity prism. It is meant to be motivating to employees, and important to customers and other external stakeholders. Examples: • Patagonia • Body Shop • Ben & Jerry • Newman’s Own • TOMS • Innocent 1.18 18

Prism Element: Brand Personality • This element answers the question: How do we deliver? • Some brands are incredibly earnest, others are super smart. By communicating their personality, brands build character. Consumers identify with the brand’s personality or project themselves into it.

Prism Element: Culture • This element answers the question: What do we have in common? • Brand loyalty provides a sense of belonging. Whether it’s formal or grassroots, that connection provides a powerful bond and source of distinction. • Example: Harley Davidson’s creation of a brand community was central to its turnaround • Created a group of ardent consumers organized around the lifestyle, activities, and ethos of the brand • Retooled every aspect of the organization—from its culture to its operating procedures and governance structure—to drive its community strategy. • Made Harley into one motorcycle manufacturer that understood bikers on their own terms.

Prism Element: Aspirational Self-Image • This element answers the question: What do customers want their use of the brand to say about them? • Repeated use and reliance on a brand demonstrates its value to the user. • Brand loyalty provides an emotional or self-expressive benefit. • Use of the brand tells others something about the user, and it tells the user something about her/himself. • Example: Lacoste • Users see themselves as members of a chic sports club – an open club with no race, sex or age discrimination, but which endows its members with distinction. • This works because sport is universal.

Prism Element: Rallying Cry • This element answers the question: what does all this add up to? • The Rallying Cry is 3-5 word shorthand encapsulation of your brand identity. • Defines the category of business for the brand, sets boundaries and clarifies what is unique. • Should be memorable, crisp and vivid. • Stakes out ground that is personally meaningful and relevant to employees. • Not an advertising slogan, and, in most cases, not used publicly. Descriptive Modifier Brand Category/Industry Emotional Modifier + + 22

Rallying Cry - Examples Emotional Modifier Descriptive Modifier Brand Category/Industry + + Disney: Fun Family Entertainment http://youtu.be/MAE_OgMrkaQ BMW: Ultimate Driving Machine http://youtu.be/NJ81ivxPl20 Betty Crocker: Homemade Made Easy http://youtu.be/qm-_TIE2w2Q

Brand architecture • Brand architecture orchestrates the relationship between the corporate brand and its businesses, product lines and product brands. Brand architecture creates value through clarifying all levels of branding based on: • the needs and priorities of target audiences; • expressing the breadth and depth of the offering; • generating economic efficiencies; • extending and transferring brand equity between corporate and product and sub-brands; - making brand strategy credible

Brand architecture structures (I) • Masterbrand • A single brand spans a set of offerings that operate only with descriptive offerings; continual product innovation, new releases, and so on. • Ex.: GE, Cisco, 3Com

Brand architecture structures (II) • Overbrand • Individual business unit or product brands operate under a strong family brand. Dual level of communications: individual offering establishes a unique position while leveraging credibility of the source. • Ex.: Microsoft, Kellogg’s.

Brand architecture structures (III) • Freestanding brand • An organisation consists of independent standalone brands, each maximising its impact on the market with little or no connection to its parent. There is a competitive need to develop distinct equities for line of business brands. Source brand does not fit or carries negative baggage. • Ex.: Proctor & Gamble brands: Pringles, Old Spice, Luvs Diapers and Gillette

Brand architecture structures (IV) • An endorser brand architecture is made up of individual and distinct product brands, which are linked together by an endorsing parent brand. The endorsing parent brand plays a supportive and linking role, and, in many respects, an endorser brand architecture can be seen as an inversion of a sub-brand brand architecture.

Continuous evaluation and development • A well-thought-out brand positioning is as fundamental as a solid financial plan in creating long-term value for a business. It is the engine of sustainable brand value. This is particularly important as a result of the growth of intangible assets in business and the ability of competitors to mimic product developments more quickly.

Brands and Brand Positioning