Criteria for Selecting Brand Elements

Memorable

Brand elements must be inherently memorable, therefore enabling recall or recognition. An example is Absolut vodka. The company believes that the choice of vodka is quite often a recognition or memory choice. The bottle is designed to attract the attention of consumers browsing the vodka aisle or sitting at a bar looking at the vodka bottles on the shelf, trying to decide what to buy. Absolut developed a brand around the Absolut bottle for recognition and memorability, but not necessarily meaningfulness. There is nothing about an Absolut bottle that's meaningful to the taste of vodka, but there is something about the Absolut bottle and the way they built their brand around the bottle shape that is very memorable.

Meaningful

Strong brands have some inherent meaning that enhances the brand associations. Meaningful brands provide both general information about the nature of the product category and specific information about particular attributes and benefits of the brand. For example, the BMW slogan"the ultimate driving machine"is not the most memorable slogan, but it is meaningful. The tagline is simple, descriptive, to the point, and most important of all, it is identifiable with the brand. It differentiates the attributes and the associations that BMW builds around their brand. It resonates with customers ready to reflect their financial success and drive a fun, prestigious car.

The third criterion is transferability of the brand within and across product categories and across geographic boundaries. In other words, brand elements should be able to reach various product categories and stay the same across geographic and cultural regions. An example is Campbell's. The company name is based on one of the founder's names, but the name itself has no inherent meaning binding it to a specific

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Transferable type of food product. Therefore, it is appropriate for a large variety of products within the food category in the United States and other countries.

Adaptable

Consumer values and opinions change over time, so brands must be adaptable. The more adaptable and flexible the brand elements, the easier it is to update. Betty Crocker received eight makeovers through the years, and although she is 75 years old, she does not look a day over 35. Pepsi-Cola has also adapted over time. They have changed their logo and slogan numerous times over the years to adapt to their customers and cultural trends.

Protectable

Brand elements need to be protectable both in a legal and competitive sense. A brand must be protected by trademark, copyright, or other type of legally defensible registration. To be competitively protectable, competitors should not be able to easily imitate the name, package, or other attributes. If this occurs, much of the brand's uniqueness may disappear. An example is Intel's microprocessor. Originally the company produced chips called 286, 386, and 486, but these numbers are not protectable. A company cannot trademark 286, 386, or 486. When Intel was ready to produce the next generation of chip, they changed the name to Pentium instead of labeling the chip 586, which would have been the natural, more meaningful, and easily memorable label. Intel used the name Pentium not only because it was so unique but also because it was protectable.

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