126 CHAPTER 3 • BRAND POSITIONING

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BRANDING BRIEF 3-7

Disney Brand Mantra Disney developed its brand mantra in response to its incredible growth throwgh licensing and product development during the mid-1980s. In the late 1980s, Disney became con­

cerned that some of its characters, like Mickey Mouse

and Donald Duck, were being used inappropriately and becoming overexposed. To investigate the severity of the

problem, Disney undertook an extensive brand audit. As part

of a brand inventory, it first compiled a list of ali Disney products that were available (licensed and company manufactured) and all third-party promotions (complete with

point-of-purchase displays and relevant merchandising) from

stores across the country and all over the world. At the same

time, Disney launched a major consumer research study-a

brand exploratory-to investigate how consumers felt about the Disney brand.

The results of the brand inventory revealed some potentially

serious problems: The Disney characters were on so many prod­

ucts and marketed in so many ways that in some cases it was

difficult to discern the rationale behind the deal to start with.

The consumer study only heightened Disney's concerns. Because of the broad exposure of the characters in the mar­ketplace, many COJlsumers had begun to feel that Disney

Disney's brand mantra is "fun family was exploiting its name. In some cases, consumers felt that the

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Company offered its U.S. employees free personal computers to help them get online, it initiated a regular communication program with employees, now called "True Blue." Disney is seen as so successful at internal branding that its Disney Institute holds seminars on the "Disney Style" of creativity, service, and loyalty for employees from other companies.

In some cases, internal branding can both motivate employees and attract external cus­tomers. For example, to help create an expectation of trust with its customers, Midas ran an ad campaign showcasing its own employees as heros. Awareness of the Midas corporate brand rose 25 percent as a result.31 In short, internal branding is a critical management priority.

Brand Audits To learn what consumers know about brands and products so that the company can make infonned strategic positioning decisions, marketers should flrst conduct a brand audit to pro­flle consumer knowledge structures. A brand audit is a comprehensive examination of a brand to discover its sources of brand equity. In accounting, an audit is a systematic inspection by an outside firm of accounting records including analyses, tests, and confirmations.32 The outcome is an assessment of the flrm's flnancial health in the fonn of a report.

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BRAND AUDITS 127

characters added little value to products and, worse yet, involved children in purchase decisions

that they would typically ignore. Because of its aggressive marketing efforts, Disney had written contracts with many of

the "park participants" for co-promotions or licensing arrangements. Disney characters

were selling everything from diapers to cars to McDonald's hamburgers. Disney learned in

the consumer study, however, that consumers did not differentiate between all the product

endorsements. "Disney was Disney" to consumers, whether they saw the characters in films,

records, theme parks, or consumer products. Consequently, all products and services that

used the Disney name or characters had an impact on Disney's brand equity. Consumers reported that they resented some of these endorsements because they felt that they had a

special, personal relationship with the characters and with Disney that should not be

handled so carelessly.

As a result of the brand audit, Disney moved quickly to establish a brand equity team to

better manage the brand franchise and more carefully evaluate licensing and other third-party

promotional opportunities. One of the mandates of this team was to ensure that a consistent

image for Disney-reinforcing its key brand associations-was conveyed by all third-party

products and services. To facilitate this supervision, Disney adopted an internal brand mantra

of "fun family entertainment" to serve as a screening device for proposed ventures.

Opportunities that were not consistent with the brand mantra-no matter how appealing­

were rejected. For example, Disney was approached to co-brand a mutual fund in Europe that

was designed as a way for parents to save for the college expenses of their children. The

opportunity was declined despite the consistent "family" association, because Disney believed

that a connection with the financial community or banking suggested other associations that

were inconsistent with its brand image (mutual funds are rarely intended to be entertaining).

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A similar concept has been suggested for marketing. A marketing audit is a "compre­hensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a company's--or business unit's-marke~ing environment, objectives, strategies, and activities with a view of deter­mining problem areas and opportunities and recommending a plan of action to improve the company's marketing performance."33 The process is a three-step procedure in which the first step is agreement on objectives, scope, and approach; the second is data collection; and the third and final step is report preparation and presentation. This is an internally, com­pany-focused exercise to make sure that marketing operations are efficient and effective.

A brand audit, on the other hand, is a more externally, consumer-focused exercise to assess the health of the brand, uncover its sources of brand equity, and suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity. A brand audit requires understanding the sources of brand. equity from the perspective of both the firm and the consumer. From the perspective of the firm, what products and services are currently being offered to consumers, and how they

! are being marketed and branded? From the perspective of the consumer, what deeply held

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perceptions and beliefs create the true meaning of brands and products? I,

The brand audit can set strategic direction for the brand, and management should con­duct one whenever important shifts in strategic direction are likely.34 Are the current

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128 CHAPTER 3 • BRAND POSITIONING

sources of brand equity satisfactory? Do certain brand associations need to be strength­ened? Does the brand lack uniqueness? What brand opportunities exist and what potential challenges exist for brand equity? As a result of this strategic analysis, management can put a marketing program into place to maximize long-term brand equity.

Conducting brand audits on a regular basis such as annually allows marketers to keep their fingers on the pulse of their brands so they can more proactively and responsively manage them. Brand audits are thus particularly useful background for managers as they set up their marketing plans.

Brand audits can have profound implications on the strategic direction for brands and their resulting performance. As a result of a brand audit, luxury goods marketer Alfred Dunhill refined its classic "English" appeal-which has been especially valuable in Asia-to take on more of a dynamic, international flavor. In Europe, the results of a brand audit led Polaroid to try to change its conventional photography image to emphasize the

. "fun side" of its cameras. Polaroid learned from research that its cameras could act as a social stimulant and catalyst, provoking fun moments in people's lives, a theme that was picked up in advertising and suggested the creation of new distribution strategies.

The brand audit consists of two steps: the brand inventory and the brand exploratory. We'll discuss each in tum. Brand Focus 3.0 illustrates a sample brand audit using the Rolex brand as an example.

Brand Inventory The purpose of the brand inventory is to provide a current, comprehensive profile of how all the products and services sold by a company are marketed and branded. Proftling each product or service requires marketers to catalogue the following in both visual and written form for each product or service sold: the names, logos, symbols, characters, packaging, slogans, or other trademarks used; the inherent product attributes or characteristics of the brand; the pricing, communications, and distribution policies; and any other relevant marketing activity related to the brand.

The outcome should be an accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date profile of how all the products and services are branded in terms of which brand elements are employed and how, and the nature of the supporting marketing program. Marketers should also profile competitive brands in as much detail as possible to determine points of parity and points of difference.

Rationale. The brand inventory is a valuable first step for several reasons. First, it helps to suggest what consumers' current perceptions may be based on. Consumer associations are typically rooted in the intended meaning of the brand elements attached to t.lJ.em-but not always. The brand inventory therefore provides useful information for interpreting follow-up research such as the brand exploratory we discuss next.

- Although the brand inventory is primarily a descriptive exercise, it can supply some useful analysis too, and initial insights into how brand equity may be better managed. For

II example, marketers can assess the consistency of all the different products or services shar­ing a brand name. Are the different brand elements used on a consistent basis, or are there many different versions of the brand name, logo, and so forth for the same product-perhaps for no obvious reason--depending on which geographic market it is being sold in, which market segment it is being targeted to, and so forth? Similarly, are the supporting marketing programs logical and consistent across related brands? As firms expand their products geographically and extend them into other categories, deviations-sometimes significant in nature-commonly emerge in brand appearance and marketing. A thorough brand inventory should be able to reveal the extent of brand consistency.

BRAND AUDITS 129

At the same time, a brand inventory can reveal a lack of perceived differences among different products sharing the brand name-for example, as a result of line extensions-that are designed to differ on one or more key dimensions. Creating sub-brands with distinct positions is often a marketing priority, and a brand inventory may help to uncover undesir­able redundancy and overlap that could lead to consumer confusion or retailer resistance.

Brand Exploratory Although the supply-side view revealed by the brand inventory is useful, actual consumer perceptions, of course, may not necessarily reflect those the marketer intended. Thus, the second step of the brand audit is to provide detailed information about what consumers think of the brand by means of the brand exploratory. The brand exploratory is research directed to understanding what consumers think and feel about the brand and its corre­sponding product category in order to identify sources of brand equity.

Preliminary Activities. Several preliminary activities are useful for the brand exploratory. First, in many cases, a number of prior research studies may exist and be relevant. It is important to dig through company archives to uncover reports that may have been buried, and perhaps even long forgotten, but that contain insights and answers to a number of important questions or suggest new questions that may still need to be posed.

Second, it is also useful to interview internal personnel to gain an understanding of their beliefs about· consumer perceptions for the brand and competitive brands. Past and current marketing managers may be able to share some wisdom not necessarily captured in prior research reports.

The diversity of opinion that typically emerges from these internal interviews serves several functions, increasing the likelihood that useful insights or ideas will be generated, as well as pointing out any inconsistencies or misconceptions that may exist internally for the brand. Still, additional research is often required to better understand how customers shop for and use products and services and what they think of various brands. To allow marketers to cover a broad range of issues and to pursue some in greatei:.depth, the brand exploratory often employs qualitative research techniques, as summarized in Figure 3-6.

Interpreting Qualitative Research. In choosing the range of possible qualitative research techniques to include in the brand exploratory, Gardner and Levy note:

The emphasis in such research must necessarily be given to skill in interpretation and to reaching a coherent picture of the brand. The researchers must allow their

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Day/Behavior reconstruction PhotolWritten journal Participatory design Consumer-led problem solving Real-life experimenting Collaging and drawing Consumer shadowing Consumer-product interaction

Free association Adjective ratings and checklists Confessional interviews Projective techniques Photo sorts Archetypal research Bubble drawings Store telling

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Personification exercises Video observation

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130 CHAPTER 3 • BRAND POSITIONING

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respondents sufficient self-expression so that the data are rich in complex evalua­tions of the brand. In this way, the consumer's thoughts and feelings are given prece­dence rather than the preconceptions of the researchers, although these are present too in hypotheses and questions.35

Levy identifies three criteria by which we can classify and judge a qualitative research program: direction, depth, and diversity.36 For example, any projective technique varies in terms of the nature of the stimulus information (is it related to the person or the brand?), the extent to which responses are superficial and concrete as opposed to deeper and more abstract (and thus requiring more interpretation), and the way the information relates to information gathered by other projective techniques.

In Figure 3-6, the tasks at the top of the left-hand list ask very specific questions whose answers may be easier to interpret. The tasks on the bottom of the list ask questions that are much richer but also harder to interpret. Tasks on the top of the right-hand list are elaborate exercises that consumers undertake themselves and that may be either specific or broadly directed. Tasks at the bottom of the right-hand list consist of direct observation of consumers as they engage in various behavior.

According to Levy, the more specific the question, the narrower the range of informa­tion given by the respondent. When the stimulus information in the question is open-ended and responses are freer or less constrained, the respondent tends to give more information. The more abstract and symbolic the research technique, however, the more important it is to follow up with probes and other questions that explicitly reveal the motivation and reasons behind consumers' responses.

Ideally, qualitative research conducted as part of the brand exploratory should vary in direction and depth as well as in technique. The challenge is to provide accurate interpretation-going beyond what consumers explicitly state to determine what they implicitly mean.

Conducting Quantitative Research.. Qualitative research is suggestive, but a more definitive assessment of the depth and-breadth of brand awareness and the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations often requires a quantitative phase of research.

The guidelines for the quantitative phase of the exploratory are relatively straightfor­ward. Marketers should assess all potentially salient associations identified by the qualita­tive research phase according to their strength, favorability, and uniqueness. They should examine both specific brand beliefs and overall attitudes and behaviors to reveal potential sources and outcomes of brand equity. And they should assess the depth and breadth of brand awareness by employing various cues. Typically, marketers will also need to conduct similar types of research for competitors to better understand their sources of brand equity and how they compare with the target brand.

Much of the above discussion of qualitative and quantitative measures has concen­trated on associations to the brand name-for example, what do consumers think about the brand when given its name as a probe? Marketers should study other brand elements in the brand exploratory as well, because they may trigger other meanings and facets of the brand. For instance, we can ask consumers what inferences they make about the brand on the basis of the product packaging, logo, or other attribute alone, such as, "What would you think about the brand just on the basis of its packaging?" We can explore specific aspects of the brand elements-for example, the label on the package or the shape of the package itself-to uncover their role in creating brand associations and thus sources of brand equity. We should also determine which of these elements most effectively repre­sents and symbolizes the brand as.a whole.

REVIEW 131

Brand Positionhlg and the Supporting Marketing Program The brand exploratory should uncover the current knowledge structures for the core brand and its competitors, as well as determining the desired brand awareness and brand image and points of parity and points of difference. Moving from the current brand image to the desired brand image typically means adding new associations, strengthening existing ones, or weakening or eliminating undesirable ones in the minds of consumers. John Roberts, a leading marketing academic in Australia, sees the challenge in achieving the ideal positioning for a brand as being able to achieve congruence among what customers currently believe about the brand (and thus find credible), what customers will value in the brand, what the firm is currently saying about the brand, and where the firm would like to take the brand.

A number of different internal management personnel can be part of the planning and positioning process, including brand, marketing research, and production managers, as can relevant outside marketing partners like ad agency representatives. Once marketers have a good understanding from the brand audit of current brand knowledge structures for their target consumers and have decided on the desired brand knowledge structures for optimal positioning, they may still want to do additional research testing alternative tactical pro­grams to achieve that positioning.

Review

According to the customer-based brand equity model, deciding on a positioning requires determining a frame of reference (by identifying the target market and the nature of com­petition) and the ideal points of parity and points of difference brand associations. Marketers need to understand consumer behavior and the consideration sets that con­sumers adopt in making brand choices.

Points of difference are those associations that are unique to the brand, strongly held, and favorably evaluated by consumers. Marketers should find points o(difference associa­tions that are strong, favorable, and unique based on desirability and deliverability consid­erations, as well as the resulting anticipated levels of sales and costs that might be expected with achieving those points of difference. Points of parity, on the other hand, are those associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands. Category points of parity associations are necessary to being a legitimate and credible product offering within a certain category. Competitive points of parity associa­tions negate competitors' points of differences. The choice of these four ingredients deter­mines the brand positioning and the desired brand knowledge structures.

A broader set of considerations is also useful for positioning, especially for a more developed brand that spans multiple categories. A mental map accurately portrays in detail all salient brand associations and responses for a particular target market. Core brand asso­- ciations are those sets of abstract associations that characterize the 5 to 10 most important

• aspects or dimensions of a brand. Core brand associations can serve as the basis of brand positioning as they can represent points of parity and points of difference. Finally, a brand mantra is an articulation of the "heart and soul" of the brand, a three- to five-word phrase. that captures the irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand positioning and brand values. Its purpose is to ensure that all employees and all external marketing partners understand what the brand is, most fundamentally, in order to represent it with consumers

A brand audit is a consumer-focused exercise to assess the health of the brand, uncover its sources of brand equity, and suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity. It requires understanding brand equity from the perspective of both the firm and the consumer.

132 CHAPTER 3 • BRAND POSITIONING

The brand audit consists of two steps: the brand inventory and the brand exploratory. The purpose of the brand inventory is to provide a complete, up-to-date profile of how all the products and services sold by a company are marketed and branded. Profiling each prod­uct or service requires us to identify the associated brand elements as well as the supporting marketing program. The brand exploratory is research activity directed to understanding what consumers think and feel about the brand to identify sources of brand equity.

Once marketers have determined the brand positioning strategy, they can put into place the actual marketing program to create, strengthen, or maintain brand associations. Chapters 4 through 7 in Part III of the text describe some of the important marketing mix issues in designing supporting marketing programs.

Discussion Questions 1. Apply the categorization model to a product category other than beverages.

How do consumers make decisions whether or not to buy the product, and how do they arrive at their final brand decision? What are the implications for brand equity management for the brands in the category? How does it affect position­ing, for example?

2. Pick a brand. Describe its breadth and depth of awareness. 3. Pick a category basically dominated by two main brands. Evaluate the posi­

tioning of each brand. Who are their target markets? What are their main points of parity and points of difference? Have they defined their positioning correctly? How might it be improved?

4. Can you think of any negatively correlated attributes and benefits other than those listed in Figure 3-4? Can you think of any other strategies to deal with negatively correlated attributes and benefits?

5. Think of one of your favorite brands. Can you corne up with a brand mantra to capture its positioning?

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Rolex Brand Audit Brand Inventory "The name of Rolex is synonymous with quality. Rolex-with its rigorous series of tests that intervene at every stag~has redefined the meaning of quality"

-Rolex.com

History Rolex obtained the first official chronometer certification Rolex began when German-born Hans Wilsdorf and his for a wristwatch that same year. brother-in-law, William Davis, founded the London-based In 1912, Rolex moved its headquarters to Geneva, company Wilsdorf & Davis in 1905. Wilsdorf registered the Switzerland, where it remains today. In 1914, a Rolex brand, Rolex, in Switzerland in 1908 and in 1910 created a wristwatch obtained the first Kew "A" certificate after timepiece that was small enough to be worn on the wrist. passing the world's toughest timing test. Twelve years

later, Wilsdorf developed and patented the now famous Oyster waterproof case and screw crown. This mechanism revolutionized the watch industry as the first true protec­tion against water, dust, and dirt. 37

The Oyster was put to the test on October 7, 1927, when Mercedes Gleitze swam the English Channel wear­ing an Oyster. She emerged 15 hours later with the watch functioning perfectly, much to the amazement of all. Gleitze became the first of a long list of "ambassadors" Rolex uses to promote their wristwatches.

In 1931, Rolex pushed innovation in watches one step further by creating the Perpetual self-winding fotor mech­anism. This rotor keeps the watch at an optimal tension and activates with the slightest movement of the wrist, therefore eliminating the need to wind the watch.

Private Ownership Rolex is a privately owned company and has been controlled by only three peop1e in its 100-year history. This has enabled the company to maintain a consistent focus on its core business. Andre Heiniger, managing chairman of Rolex through the 1980s, stated, "Rolex's strategy is oriented to marketing, maintaining quality, and staying out of fields where we are not prepared to compete effectively."

BRAND FOCUS 3.0 133

Product-Related Attributes Throughout the years, Rolex timepieces have maintained the highest quality, durability, and prestige on which they origi­nally were founded. Each Rolex consists of 10 unique features that the company states as its "10 Golden Rules:,,38

1. Waterproof case 2. Perpetual rotor 3. The case back 4. The Oyster case 5. The winding crown 6. The finest and purest materials 7. Quality control 8. Rolex self-winding movement 9. Testing from the independent Controle Official Suisse

des Chronometres 10. Rolex testing

Rolex Brand Portfolio Rolex includes three family brands of wristwatches, called "collections," each with a subset of brands (see Figure 3-7).

• The Oyster Perpetual Collection includes the "traditional" Rolex wristwatch and has eight sub­brands that are differentiated by features and design.

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