measure your distinctive assets · measure your distinctive assets. understanding distinctive...
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MEASURE YOUR DISTINCTIVE ASSETS
U N D E R S TA N D I N G D I S T I N C T I V E A S S E T S
BRAND IDENTITY ELEMENTS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKSBrand identity elements are anything that signal the brand
name to consumers.
Examples of elements are:
• Colours
• Slogans
• Music,SoundsandJingles
• StyleofAdvertising
HOW DO ELEMENTS BECOME DISTINCTIVE ASSETS?Anelementisonlyanassetifitfulfillsthefollowingcriteria:
• UniqueTheelementevokesthebrand,andnotcompetitors.
• FamousMost,ifnotallconsumersshould
knowtheelementrepresentsthebrandname.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DISTINCTIVE ASSETSForanypieceofbrandcommunicationtowork,people
mustbeabletoidentifythebrandthatisbeingadvertised.
Thisisavitalgoalofanyexecution,yetfiguresroutinely
showthatonaverage1/2thepeoplewhoseeanadvertisement
failtocorrectlyidentifythebrand.Howeverthereisoften
resistance to increasing the direct presence of the brand.
Distinctiveassetsprovideanother,creative-friendlyway
of signalling the brand.
ExamplesofdistinctiveassetsaretheCoca-Colabottleshape,
theMcDonald’sGoldenArches,theM&Mscharactersand
theGarnierFructisfluorogreencolouring.
Developingadistinctiveassetrequiresacommitmentfrom
marketerstokeeptheseelementsconsistent.Distinctiveelements
donotbecomeassetsovernight.Instead,consumersneedto
learnthelinkbetweentheelementandthebrand.Thisrequires
reinforcementandrefreshmentovertime.
Ourapproachtomeasuringthestrengthofdistinctiveassetsis
consumer-based,asonlyconsumerscantellyouwhat,ofallthe
brandelementsyouhaveused,areimprintedintheirmemory.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF DISTINCTIVE BRAND ASSETS• Increasethebrandfootprintinanadvertisement.
• Provideamorecreativealternativetodirectlyshowing
the brand name.
• Createamoreneuro-richbrandwithinthead.
• Improveyourin-storeperformancebylinkingadvertising
distinctiveassetstothatusedonpackaging.
WHY ASSESS DISTINCTIVE ASSET STRENGTH?Ourapproachprovidesanevidence-based,quantitative
assessmentofthestrengthofyourdistinctiveassets.
This can be used to:
1. Identifythedistinctiveassetsyoucanuseimmediately.
2.Identifyelementswithpotentialtobuildintoassets.
3.Providebenchmarkstoassesstheeffectiveness
ofdistinctiveassetbuildingactivity.
4.Identifyweakorsharedelementstoavoid.
• LogoorSymbols
• Characters
• Celebrities
• PackShapes
“ When brand owners ask me what market research they should be doing, I always reply ‘first measure your
brand’s distinctive assets... Find out what they really are and how strong they really are... Don’t assume.’ ”
Professor Byron Sharp
D I S T I N C T I V E A S S E T G R I D
D I S T I N C T I V E A S S E T A S S E S S M E N T
TheEhrenberg-BassInstitutehasanempiricallyvalidated
approachtoassessingthestrengthofpotentialdistinctiveassets.
Youshouldbebenchmarkingyourdistinctiveassetsifyouare:
1. Thinkingofchangingorupdatingyourbrand’sidentity,
andwantguidanceonwhattokeep.
2.Unhappywithyourcorrectbranding/brandlinkagescores,
andwanttoimprovethem.
3.Planninganewcreativepathforthebrand’sadvertising,
andwanttoassessthepotentialofnewelements.
4.Consideringbringingbackahistoricbrandelement,
butareunsureifitisstillrelevant.
Distinctiveassetmeasurementcanhelpinallofthesesituations
byprovidingaquantitativebenchmarkandframeworkfor
assessingthecurrentstrengthofpossibledistinctiveassets.
TYPICAL RESEARCH STAGES
Stage 1: Audit of Brand Elements
Stageoneinvolvesanauditofthebrandcommunication
materialsintheproductcategory.Thisstagewouldalso
involveconsultationwithyourmarketingteam.
Fromthisbrandelementaudit,wethencompilealist
ofpotentialelementstobetested.Tothislistwealsoadd:
• Historicalelements-long-termpackagingdesignorcoloursthat
havebeenusedextensivelyinthepastbutrecentlyreplacedor
altered.Thismayuncoversomehiddengemsworthrevitalising.
• Ideasforthefuture-designelementsthatyouwouldliketo
testintermsoftheirfeasibilityofbecomingadistinctiveasset.
Stage 2: Online Data Collection
Themethodinvolvesaskingcategoryuserswhichbrands
fromacategorytheylinktoeachbrandelement.Wecollect
thedatatoassessthestrengthofthelinkbetweentheelement
andeachbrandwithoutprimingrespondentsorencouraging
guessing games.
Consumer’sexperienceusingthebrandandthecategory,
aswellasbasicdemographicinformationarealsocollected.
Thesevariablesaddfurthercontexttofindings.Thisapproach
canalsobecombinedwithabrandhealthassessmentifyou
arelookingforamorecomprehensivereadonbrandequity,
including salience and positioning.
Stage 3: Interpretation of Findings and Recommendations
WeplottheFameandUniquenessscoresonourDistinctive
AssetGrid(seenextpage)developedbyAssoc.ProfessorJenni
Romaniuk.Onthisgrid,wecreatebothbrandandelementprofiles.
Brandprofilesexaminedifferenttypesofpotentialassetsfor
asinglebrand.Elementprofilescomparecompetitivebrandson
specificelements,suchascolours.Thesedifferentperspectives
thenfeedintotherecommendationsforusing,avoidingand
investingtobuilddistinctiveassets.
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE
Acomprehensivereportdiscussingtherelativemerits
ofbrandelementsacrossthecategory,andtailoredadvice
dependingontheobjectiveforthedistinctiveassetmeasurement.
This can include:
1.Alistofdistinctiveassetsthatcanbeusedinadvertising
to replace the brand name.
2.Alistofinvestibleelementsandtheirbenchmarkposition,
withadviceonhowtobuildthem.
3.Alistofelementstoavoidandwhereinyourcurrent
communications these might need to be replaced.
4.Thenon-negotiableelementsofpackagingthatshould
not be changed.
Fam
e
Low 0%
High 100%
(% of all links to element)
AvoidHighly likely to evoke
competitors, so best avoided. If it must be used,
it needs a very strong direct brand accompaniment.
Ignore or TestNot known at all in the market.
Needs considerable work to develop any value.
Use or LoseCan be used to supplement or potentially replace the
brand name in advertising. But don’t neglect further
building and watch out for decay if you don’t use it.
Invest PotentialHas potential but needs wider,
more consistent use and linkage to the brand name.
Monitor for competitor ambushing.
Low 0%
High 100%
( % o
f con
sum
ers
linki
ng b
rand
to e
lem
ent)
Target point
Uniqueness
© E
hren
berg
-Bas
s In
stitu
te 2
011
J O H N N I E WA L K E R R E D : I T’S N OT A L L I N A N A M EFa
me
UniquenessLow 0%
High 100%
(% of all links to element)
Avoid
Ignore or Test
Use or Lose
Invest Potential
Low 0%
High 100%
( % o
f con
sum
ers
linki
ng b
rand
to e
lem
ent)
Fame = 33%Unique = 45%
Red“Keep Walking”
Fame = 29%Unique = 77%
Fame = 53%Unique = 77%
Fame = 57%Unique = 79%
JohnnieWalkerisaglobalwhiskybrand,withacampaignthat
encourageswhiskydrinkersto“KeepWalking”.Weexamined
howthiscampaigntranslatedintodistinctiveassetsforthebrand
inaEuropeanmarket.
Ourassessmentfoundthatthestrongestdistinctiveassetisthe
bottlelabel,whichislinkedtoJohnnieWalkerRedby57%ofwhisky
drinkers,atalevelof79%uniqueness.Thisisareflectionofbrand
historyandconsistency.Theimageofthemanwalkingisaclose
second,with53%fameand77%uniqueness.
ThesearethetwousableassetsforJohnnieWalker
inthismarket.
“KeepWalking”asataglineisintheinvestiblecategory.
Ithasgooduniqueness(77%)butlacksfame(29%).
Therefore this is not yet ready to replace the brand name.
Despitethename,thecolourredlackedastrongpresence
forthebrand.Itlacksuniquenessandthereforeisbest
avoidedasabrandingelement.
SHAPE AS A DISTINCTIVE ASSET
DO YOU KNOW THE STRENGTH OF YOUR BRAND ELEMENTS?
Thephysicaldimensionsofaproductoritspackaging
can be particularly useful for brand recognition.
ExamplesincludeToiletDucktoiletcleanerwithits
‘beaklike’bottleneckorthetriangularTobleronebox.
Havingadistinctiveshapehelpsconsumersidentify
thebrandonourveryclutteredsupermarketshelves.
Canyounamethesethreebrandsbasedpurely
ontheproduct’sshape?
Brand elements and distinctive assets play an important role
in determining a brand’s long-term health. These elements
should be nurtured over time and not left to chance or intuition.
Take guesswork out of the equation and let our team analyse
your brand’s distinctive assets.
1. Absolut Vodka, 2. Coca-Cola, 3. Frangelico
1. 2. 3.
For more information about
Distinctive Asset research contact:
Assoc. Professor Jenni Romaniuk,
International Director
[email protected] www.MarketingScience.info