.

'

.·· I Phase Two

Determining
Your BrandPicture . ·
 iDeveloping a Brand Vision
l

.., of a bran
e
Step Two
-} vision
,lJ~•-:.!<J,!:.d,,} .~~ :~ :,h

Determining Your
~ Determining Your BrandPicture Brand~s Image
;,.,-=-=-~=~
~· e ~. The BrandPicture lays the foundation for building and leveragi1:;
r your brand's t ., your brand and for Brand Asset Management to take hold at your
\ image ? contract r cmto !
company. A well-crafted BrandPicture \.\ill guide your company co
~:k::~!==~
=
T~.=
.~
, =
.,~'~=
"""~~~~=
~~:d~~;';~-,~"-~"- ;:~
(~~=·.~=
~=:,. =.;~:=:•.:~=t=~~
~-':~!"~'".:-~
:.:..,.,
,.,...=~?'""
.'··=
,. . . ==""'=="' l develop the righ t strategies and achieve the Bran d Vision discussed
in Step One. 'Without the BrandPicture, you may make decisio ns
· ¥"'-
~ ~;,,--
about your brand tha~ do not fully leverage your strengths or thaE
~
~ Developing a Brand Asset Management Strategy
.
actually damage your brand over time.
Your Brand.Picture is externally driven, reflects your brand 's
image from your customers' perspective, and looks at the promises
the brand makes to customers. It also helps you determine how your
. ''I

~Ji · Extending •~ · Communicating brand stacks up to the competition , how purchase decisions are
•~ your your brand's made in your category, and where yow- brand might be. extended.
ff. brand positioning The Brand.Picture is basically a snapshot of your brand today.
"ii !i
Determining yow· BrandPicture involves three tasks : under-
,)r,-r,-=_-:"< • '~,TC :,Ir.;=,~= •::'•?:;i:,~===-;-;;!}'
_ =_,~-,- ~ ,~•~ ~ - ,,
standing your brand's image, unders tanding the contract your
brand has ·with its customers, and deriving a customer model that
gets at perceptions and perspectives of your bran d and the cate-
J Supporting a Brand Asset Management Culture gory. This chapter discusses the fi rst of the th ree (see the illustra-
tion facing this page) .
Brand image has two components: the associations customers
ascribe to the brand and the brand's "persona" (see Figure 2. 1).
our Return ' Br3:11~ associations help you understand the b~n~fits your brand
On Brand ::'. · culture
delrveb to custome rs and the role it plays in their lives. Brand P~-
'i Investment ·.- sona is a description of the b rand in terms of hum an ch arac tens-
.,;... cs,· tlus
· also helps you better understan d th e brand
. 's strengths and
¼ ~~:.~::, . . It
Weaknesses as well as the best ways to position ·

:-;i; .
'.-'J:~ -
----.
I
j
· 54 B RAND AssET ::v1ANAGEMENT

l
' Figure 2.1. Two Components of Brand Image
DETERMINING YOUR .BRAND'S IMAGE 55

,'::~i..':.:~:~These emotional values help the Ralph Lauren brand tran~cend

.! ',:.;. ,~ other brands. Although attributes and benefits can be replicate~
~~'.':: by a competitor, emotional values are virtually ~ntouchable . This
l - ~ ~-~~~~~~~~-----==--~j · ~- , · is why the Lauren brand is so powerful and why 1t transcends even
Brand Brand persona 1· its closest competitors. · . . .
associations · ,
j
Any brand that reaches this level of associauon and value with
~ consumers is at the brand pinnacle-the place where every brand
'l
1 should strive to be. Regardless of industry, if you have a brand you
(' c:·,.~- have the opportunity to reach the pinnacle within your category.

Product, service,
~ !
· ioa i The Brand Value Pyramid
and organization , Human jf The Brand Value Pyramid (Figure 2.2) best demonstrates the
characte ristics ~ characteristics 1! power of brand associations. The further up the pyramid you go,
_ _:::.:7-_~----~-~~-~ J .~:~~~=:--:~-~ the more powerful your brand and the harder it is for competitors
to usurp your position and strengths. ,
The pinnacle of the Brand Value Pyramid is as good as•, it gets,
Brand Associations nearly an unassailable position. The concept of the Brand Value
Pyramid is often the missing link for companies trying to better
Brand associations are part of a laddering approach that allows you
to determine the power of the benefits your brand offers and, ulti-
Figure 2.2. Brand Value Pyramid
mately, how valued your brand is. Laddering has been used by
advertising agencies for years to develop creative ads; now it is
,i~ \\ 0. c.,"-Q_ Most meaningful
being used to help determine long-term brand strategie~. ·_ .:5,0,-<::'P and most
Features and attributes of a product or service are',undifferen- \ difficult to
tiated unless they translate into a higher order of perceived bene- imitate, but
fits to the customer. Similarly, benefits are relatively weak unless The emotional, spiritual hardest to
cultural values being deliver
they link to the customer's central values and beliefs. addressed
For instance, Ralph Lauren has laddered up to the highest
point of brand value in consumers ' minds. M4Ily designers offer a
variety of high-quality, durable, classic-looking clothes, but few of
The functional or
them can say their clothes allow· customers to make a statement. emotional benefits Benefits
Wearing Polo Ralph Lauren clothes (Polo Sport; Polo Jeans, and provided tq customers
other lines) , however, is.like driving a Lexus in its appeal to social
status. Lauren apparel becomes part of who the customer is by 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - ~\ Easiest to
Features or . \ deliver,
striking an emotional chord with that customer and having beliefs processes but least
and values that he or she finds desirable. that must be Features and attributes '-, meaningful and
Ralph Lauren helps its customers fe el better about themselves, demonstrated most easily
to customers ·
more confident and secure-even more fulfilled and more happy.
'----~~------------ imitated
 DETERMINING YOUR BR.A.No's r~
. ilA(.;_
S(i HnANn AssE r MANAGEW:NT

Figure 2.3. Ralph Lauren's Brand Value Pyramid

unclcrst~md and. leverage their brands for n1aximum strength. At
the pi.unadc of Ralph Lauren's Brand Value Pyramid, I believe, is
sdkstccm and sdt~wortJ1. By being associated with lfalph Lauren,
Cl)t1sumers feel better and more secure about themselves (see Fig- High self-worth and self-esteem
ure 2.3) .
Other brands have also reached the pinnacle of the Brand
V:ilue Pyramid. Among them are Saturn, Nordstrom's, American Proud
Express, Disn<.:y, Hallmark, Ben & J erry's, Federal Express, Intel, Beliefs Self-esteem
G.E. ,John Deert\ and Caterpillar. AOL, Yahoo!, and the.Southern and Confident
values Happiness
Company are getting there. Fulfilled
Brands at the top of the Brand Value Pyramid enjoy incredible
customer loyalty._an ability to charge price premiums, and an abil-
ity to sell new products and services throuo-h the brand's endorse-
mentp § Also, word..of-mouth referrals-maybe the-ultimate Associated with
most respected designer
sign of brand value-=b ~·t11e norm. In the end, this all trans- Benefits High status
lates to bottom-line growth and increases the asset value of the Customers feel like they are in style
brand. In short, features-unlike values, in general-can be dupli-
cated and should only serve to bring your benefits and values to
life. This is a position to own, nurture, and cherish. Wide variety of clothes and accessories
Features Highest quality and durability
Case Study: Sears and Classic looking
For several years, Sears had tried to find its value in the minds of its customers. Competitively priced
Serves multiple types of customers
After years of struggling, it finally learned that customers thought of it as a
supplier of appliances and durables. They had forgotten that Sears is also
a m·ajor purveyor of apparel and other soft goods.
The repositioning of Sears to the "softer side" helped it focus on what it Not anymore. What previously were values and benefits are now simply
wanted to be associated with in customers' minds and also helped it realize attributes and thus are just the price of entry into the natural water industry.
that its forays into real estate, insurance, and credit would probably dilute the Crystal Geyser, Aquafina, Poland Springs, and others mm the same attributes
positioning it strived for. Although struggling a bit nO\V, for several years in that were Evian's exclusivelyafew yea.rs ago (except when E,~an owned them,
the 1990s Sears did find itself back on top of the Brand Value Pyramid. they were values). Coke's bottled water, Dasani, threal'ens to shift the entire
category to one that is based primarily on price and distribution-the lowest
Case Study: Evian level of the Brand Value Pyramid-and will most likely pave the way for many
Evian is a brand that was at the pinnacle but lost its position. In the early of the brands just mentioned to disappear \\~thin the next fewyears.
1990s Evian owned a unique set of brand associations: bottled water as a con-
venient, healthy, and natural way to quench your thirst These associations Deternµning Your Attributes, Benefits, and Values
. >
went beyond benefits and became values, which allowed Evian to temporarily
get to the pinnacle of the Brand Value Pyramid. The values associated with Start bj following a rule that is applicable to all three parts of the
Evian included "helps me feel better about myself," "helps me cleanse my BrandPicture: ~ t research on competitive brands at th~ e
body," and "helps.me be the healthiest I can be." time you conduct research on your own.
 If your customer research d .
DETERMINING YOUR BRAND 'S 1'.·IAGE · 59
· b
compeung rands compeu·t
oes not comp
are your brand to
. .' ors may be 2ble to cl · · For instance, in the veal industry, lost customers, or forgotten
efits an~ assoc1auons as you. Thi · . aim the same hen-
na sus tamability because s ~ay :r:esult m a strategy that has users, are attractive segments to pursue. These are ~di~duals who
. · a compeutor cai dil . grew up eating veal but as adults have no~ be~n buymg 1t or or~er-
As mentioned earlie h 1 _rea y duphcate it.
· cl , r, w en research1 . ing it in restaurants. The industry question 1s w~ether these ex-
m ua ; ur two rim . · ng competitors try to
.- competitors and l users" can be brought back into the fold and agam look to veal as
1s new to the industry or d one u -and-comerwho
, pro uct category Th a staple in the family diet. · · .
be a new company or an ta.bl. h · e up-and-comer may
• · es IS ed on b · · · In the telecommunications industry, a popular market segment
potennal source of comp u· . e, ut m either case it is a
e llve trouble· d is "Fortune 500 Wannabes." These are smaller organizations that
what level of benefits it Id h. 'you nee to understai1d
. cou ac ieve and b think they can become much larger and want to start acting b_ig-
where 1t is with its brandin e:ffi , as est as possible,
F .. g orts. ger now-companies that are proactive about the future. Amenca
or instance, Motorola may consider . . Online was not always as big as it is today.
to be Ericsson and Nokia An d Its top two competitors
Regardless of the industry you are in, it is important to include
tigate is Lucent Technolo. o-i up-h~ h~omer that it should inves-
_,~es, w 1c 1s starti t other category influencers in your research. These may mclude--
share, owns Bell Labs and has d ng o steal market industry experts, channel members such as brokers, distributors,
. ' Sta.rte to create an f •
everythmg right-the darling of W II S aura o domg and retailers, as well as (when possible) competitors. These addi-
cutting 'edge. a treet and of those on the
tional interviews add value to your research, make you!i. findings
Customer segmentation research is another. . more robust, and force you to look at the big picture. \
de termmmg · · your bran s associatr . 1m. · ortan t art of Once you understand who to conduct the research with, take
- r::::::-:r-=:-:-=--~ ~-:-- -:-=-.:::::..:: ons. egmentatron can b ··
sidered, researched and analyznecfi-n b f e con- those customers·and influencers through a series of questions and
. ' a num er o v.iays such as b
demo.graphics, psychographics, geography (zip codes), or need[ exercises that will help you determine the level of associations that
I recommend needs-based se!!mentati·on b . all . · they declare your brand owns:
. " ecause 1t ows you to
focus on customers' needs and wants ·and t . al.
. . . . mos c1ose1y 1gns you Brand Association Questions
with strategies that are likely to succeed. ·
Within .the population you want to target, talk to numerous • When I say the name of our brand, what is the first thing
types of customers: that comes to mind? Why?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of our brand?
e Current customers
• What factors have contributed to your perceptions of
• Customers of competiti\ie brands· .
these strengths and weaknesses?
• Forme: customers (who now use competitive brands) • What brands did you consider before you bought our brand?
• Potennal customers (those who are about to make a decision • What are your perceptions of the other brands you considered
to buy in your category)
(strengths and weaknesses, attributes)?
• New customers (those who are using your hr.and for the first • Why did you choose our brand?
time) ·
• Has our brand met your needs and expectations?
• Your competition 's new customers (those using a competitor's • What benefits has our .brand provided you? Does it meet
.braJ.1d for •the first time) · I
• Loyal customers (those who have been using your brand for a
long time) · - ·
I·· your expectations? _ _
• Describe the experience you had with our brand before you
made the purchase ... as you used the product ... after

t"''
• Disgruntled users (customers you are in danger ·o f losing soon) you used it.
 DETE.RMINING YOUR BRAND'S1',iACF. (
1

60 BRANO Assn· .tv1ANAGEMENT

,j

.Here are a few more brand value pyramid examples.

• Describe exactly what you bought when yo~ purc~used
our product or service (benefits, hopes, and t~e lik~) • Case Study:JohnDeere
• v\Then describing· our brand to another potential buyer The J~hn Deere brand has reached t~e highest level of associations and rests
or a friend , how would you describe it? on the top of the Brand Value Pyramid (seeFigure 2.4). Customersstate that
• Why would you recommend our brand to another person .at the attribute level, John Deere provides the highest-quality, reliable, and
(or why ·wouldn't you)? dependable products, all helping to address their diverse needs.Just at the
• Does one brand make you feel differently about yourself attribute level,John Deere is apowerful brand. ·
(or reflect differently 011 you) than another? Talking to users and nonusers shows that John Deere has ascended up
• Describe the staff and service providers and how they the Brand Value Pyramid by providing its customers with manybenefits:
interacted with you. How did they make you feel? dependability, the best-cut lawns available, high resale value, and great service
support (customers kriow if there are problems,John Deere is there to back up
As you can tell, these questions are aimed primarily at finding
its products).
out the benefits and associations a current customer has received
Because customers receive such benefits, John Deere has reached the
as a result of having purchased your brand. This set of questions, highest level of value. Customers know that they have bought the best, think
although not comprehensive, is fairly typical of the questions you
need to ask the segments you are researching. Of course, the ques-
tions would have to change if you are talking with competitors'
Figure 2.4. John Deere's Brand Value Pyramid
users or nonusers.
e ultimate goal is understanding where your brand is
B_rand Value Pyramid. ou se · e data you collect to draw
conclusions and find patterns of associations that you can ascribe
to your brand and competing brands. The point of this analysis is Beliefs,,.,.:": ..
t6aiscern\vhether your customers believe you have achieved the and
highest._level of associations-beliefs and values. If the answer is values Proud
yes, what-..will it take for you to maintain that position? If the answer · Self-esteem
is no, there are three questions to answer: Why is another brand at Best money can buy
Envied by neighbors
the top? Why is your brand not at the top? What can you do to help
your brand move up the Brand Value Pyramid? ·
There are three keys to success in using brand associations and
Best lawn cut available
the Brand Value Pyramid:
High resale value
Benefits
Dependable
1. Understand that there is an incremental movement up the Backs up their products
Brand Value Pyramid~ach layer you move up is dependent
on fully achieving the previous layer.
2. Look for alignment across attributes, benefits, and values-the Highest quality machinery
best brands have aligned associations, each fitting together and Featurts Premium priced
and
supportive of one another. Reliable
attributes Great sernce support
3. Make sure that this alignment is meaningful to your customers
and difficult for competitors to imitate.
 62 BRAND ASSET MANAGEMENT

DETERMINING YOUR BRAND'S IMAGE 63

that they have status that their nonown 'ghb
about themselves because th e_r nei . ors do not, and feel good
, ey are associated with the best that mon ·c anxiety of a first-time or female car buyer. At the benefit level, Saturn provides ·
buy. Deere s recent commercial of a f th .. ey an customers with a friendly, no-hassle experience filled with information,
set of keys to his new tractor from h' af er_lrece1:mfig aJohn Deere hat and a education, no haggling, and no pres.5ure. This has all helped translate to the
15 am1 Ytypr es these values.
highest level of value for customers, whom Saturn treats with respect and as
Case Study: Saturn
a friend. Saturn has reached the pinnacle of the Brand Value Pyramid.
Saturn has risen to the high t 1 1 It will be interesting to watch as Saturn tries to stay at the highest level_of
F' S) b es eve of the Brand Value Pyramid (see
igure 2. ecause it has touched a customer value that no other car the Brand Value Pyramid as it comes out with higher-end cars at higher prices.
ma~ufat~~rer h~. It created an automobile that is as much about service Will Saturn be able to capture the next level of car owners, those looking to
as a o~ e q~a ity of the car itself. Buying a Saturn is a unique experience trade up to an SUV or a sedan? In addition, the 1998 strike at Saturn may
J,. '. the attnbute level, Saturn promises high-quality cars fair prices . have tarnished its aura; how will it repair the damage? Saturn is still owned by
comm1lled and noncommis · d 1 ' ' General Motors;will GMallow it to stay entrepreneurial and customer focus2d?
swne emp oyees, and an appreciation of the
Case Study: Dove Soap
Figure 2.5. Saturn's Brand Value Pyramid
Barry Krause, president of Publicis & Hal Riney, believes that all attributes of
a given product or service are able to ladder up and be translated into human
benefits: "Look at Dove soap. They.talked about one-quarter cleansing cream.
They laddered up to talk about the benefit of softer skin. They laddered softer
skin into the benefit of being more attractive. They laddered this up to an
ultimate human.value-which is love. Love is on the top of everyone's
emotional benefits list."

Case Study: Snackwells

Nabisco·built Snackweils' value on low fat (and average taste) to meet a growing
Beliefs Treat
and customers trend. Unfortunately, the trend has shifted to food that is overall healthier and
values with respect good for you: Some would also say that decadence is back. Snackwells did not
and as a friend stay up to date and adapt their brand away from low-fat toward good-for-you; as
a result; revenues have decreased from their incredible case sales of the early to
mid-1990s, and Nab.isco is having a hard time finding Snackwells' value again.
No pressure
Informative
Friendly
l
.J_:___ _ Case Study: Virgin
Benefits
No-haggle pricing 1 -· Virgin and its founder Richard Branson has tried to start at the top of the Brand
No hassles · :J~ Value Pyramid. Branson claims that customers who, like himself,want to be
Quality world-class car associated with an irreverent icon will want to be associated with Virgin. As you
can imagine, not too many brands start at the top and fill in the layers below.
Great value
I believe he_will be hard pressed to make this work, at least in the United States.
Features · Fair pricing
and Nice sales representatives Case Study: Planet Hollywood
attributes Committed employees
Variety of colors and styles Similarly, Planet Hollywood, whose stock recently dropped to 83 cents from a
high of $24 ·a few years ago, thought the entertainment value of its restaurants
 . l.
,f
DETF.RMININGYouR BRANn 's Jl, ,
64 BRA,'ID Assrr MANAGEMENT
"iitCE 6)
Similarly, co~sumers decide whether they want to be associated
would be enough to take it to the top of the Brand Value Pyramid. To get there,
with a brand m much the same way and for the same reasons th
though, the food and service have to be good and the experience h~ to be
they warit to associate wi~ some pe?~le and not others. Person:
exciting and differentiated. None of this ever took hold.
can be translated into selling propos1t.1ons when they are attracti .
Rather, the focus appeared to be on customers' desires to be linked to • • , Ve,
"the stm." Not a bad way to get them to try Planet Hollywood once, but If a persona is unattract.J.ve, however, 1t_s necessary to fix the bra .
. d .th . na
not great for repeat business or word-of-mouth recommendations. Planet so that customers do want to be associate WI 1t.
HoUywood recently filed for Chapter 11 and is closing down several of its Oprah Winfrey, for example, is a ~erson.tha~ ~any people want
restaurants. to be associated with. Her persona 1s warm, g1vmg, empatheti
human, and nice. She has a good sense of humor, represents mu~'.
Again, you have to work your way up the Brand Value Pyramid, tiple interests, and is willing to try new things. She ac ts like a good
earn each level, and strive to reach that emotional or spiritual value friend to television viewers, and she shops a~ stores where we shop
connection 'With customers at the pinnacle. This connection is pow- (such as Filene's Basement). She loves dogs, IS always publiclyfight-
erful; it helps customers avoid going through a lengthy process ing her weight, and is a Midwesterner with high values. These char-
every time a purchase is made and it allows a company that owns . acteristics make her a strong person that we want to be associated
the brand the opportunity to experience all the brand benefits _with. Oprah is actually a very strong brand. As a result, she has
mentioned in the first chapter of this book. been able to leverage her persona into every entertainment
One last point about brand associations: over time, values can medium-from television to her own magazine-and contiriues to
become benefits and benefits can become attributes. This is espe- of
be one the most admired people in America.
cially true of the high-technology world. Intel's bendit of highest- Consider John Deere again. In classes I have taught, students
speed processing used to provide top-of-the-pinnacle value as it described its persona with words and phrases such as the follow-
allowed us to work as fast and efficiently as possible. Now Intel is ing: hard working; rugged; Midwesterner; great values; depend-
challenged by the competition to the point where speed is part of able; family oriented; male; college educated; someone who saves
the price of entry to the microprocessor chip world. a lot of money; wholesome; trusting; likes to wear green. This list
describes a person you would very likely seek out as a friend and
want as a neighbor-someone you can connect with and.trust.
Brand 'Persona
Thus you see the type of value the John Deere brand has, the
Brand associations and the Brand Value Pyramid are half of strong potential it has to connect with its customers, the dollar
your brand image. Brand persona is the other half. Independently, value customers may associate with John Deere, and the likelihood
the halves provide little value. Together they provide you a deep of customers wanting to be involved with it.
understanding of your brand's image, its strengths and weaknesses, My branding classes were also easily able to describe the Ralph
and its points of differentiation. A well-understood brand image Lauren persona: classy; stylish; comfortable; fami ly oriented;
ultimately leads to a positioning that is valued, unique, credible, rugged; cool; male and female ; graduate school; all-Ame1ican; in
and sustainable. good shape; fun; strong family values. This makes it obvious why
B~ .onais..JJ1e~ f human characteristics that con- this brand has crossed so many boundaries and categories, from
sumers -associate with the brand, such as personality, aR_p~ paints t9 furniture to men's and women 's fashio ns to baby clothes.
v a 1 u ~ ~ r ; = s [ze~ ~e, ethnicity,__i_n_telligence, From both the Deere and Lauren personas you can imagine how
socioeconomic class, and education. These bring the brarid-t<Y life- they translate into communications, new offerings, higher prices,
and allow consumers to describe it to others as they would a friend. and the like.
 66 BRAND AsSET MANAGEMENT
DETERMINING YOl,TR BRAND 'S IMAGE 67
Brand Persona Questions Sophistication (Lexus, Mercedes, Revlon)-upper class, charming
How do you find out your brand's ersona? . Ruggedness (Levi's, Marlboro)-outdoorsy, tough.
co~plement_ those you asked to unc!er brand~~o~~a~::t;~hat
This is a great starter list, but as with humans there are many
typical quest10ns might include the following: l. me
ways to describe a brand and some characteristics are more obvi-
. ~ . ~

ous than others. But all characteristics should be used togel:!Ier to

• Why do you consider -brand X to be better than oth ;i most comprehensively build a brand's persona. Some characteris-
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of brand X? ers.
. tics may lead to the right approach to position a brand; others may
How about relative to the competition? . serve as points of differentiation and ways to sell your brand to dif-
• If yuu s~w a person using brand X, what would you know ferent targets.
~bout him or her (age, gender, personality, education,
mcome level)?
• If brand X were a car, what kind of car would it be and
Comparing Competing Brand Personas
' .

why? (Cars typically used for this question are Chevy, Lexus, As mentioned earlier, this type of research.must be conducted rel-
Saturn, Mercedes, and Volvo.) ative to key competitors. Done in a vacuum, brand persona
• Ifbran'd X were one of the following places, which would research leaves you with some good information about yours,e lfbut
it be and why? (Typical cities or geographical areas used here very little about the opportunities available to you. _\
are Silicon Valley [cutting edge] , NewYork [cosmopolitan], For example, consider the way participants in the BAM courses
Paris [fashionable] , Omaha [traditional].) I teach describe Fed.Ex and its perceived closest delivery competitors:
• If brand X were a department store, what store wouid it be _FedEx U.S. Post Office UPS
and why? (Typical stores used here are Nordstrom 's [high Male or female Male Male
service] , Sears [traditional], Wal-Mart [price focmied], Young . Older Middle-aged
Niemann Marcus [higher-end].) Athletic Evolving
Grumpy
• What kind of animal best describes this brand? (A jaguar Inconsistent
Friendly Notreliabk
would be fast and nimble, a turtle would be slow an:d i
Prompt Low technology Friendly
deliberate.) · Dependable Unsophisticated Brown uniforms
Some of these questions may se·e m silly at first, but they are Energetic Overweight Unionized ·~

good ways to uncover characteristics of your brand that you prob- High technology .. Complacent Okay service
ably never knew existed. The bottom line is that powerful brands Problem solvers .Slow Professional
have easily identifiable characteristics. · · Motivated Rigid International
David Aaker, in Building Strong Brands, identified five hu1?an Professional Problem makers Problem solvers
characteristics to which he claims 93 percent of all brands a5.pire:

Sincerity (Campbell 's, Hallmark, Kodak)-down-to-earth, honest, As an "up-~nd-comer," Exact Express, the new offering from
Yellow Freight, may also be able to challfnge FedEx's position. It
wholesome offers seven-day deliveries, same-day deliveries, and a 100 percent
Excitement (Porsche, Absolut)--,-daring, spirited, imaginative, up- · satisfaction guarantee. These benefits certainly make Exact Express
to-date an interesting new choice in the overnight delivery competitive set.
Competence (AMEX, CNN, IBM)-reliable, intelligent, successful
,
•
68 BRAND As.5ET ?viANAGEMENT
DETERMINING YOUR BRAND '

With this Brand Persona exercise, our client realized it needed to

s h!Act r

As this book goes to press, UPS has launched a new ad and integrate its reputation for caring with new expertise that could be develo d
brand campaign that may shift the dynamics in this competitive · t . d pe
over time. It became obvious th at carm~, nur unng, an em~athy cannot be
market yet again. The campaign says, "At UPS, we· deliver more bought by a competitor. However, our cltent could start lo build expertise b
than boxes. 'iVe deliver ideas on how to bring yom products to mar- recruiting doctors from the best schools and hi~ing them away from estab.y
ket faster, more efficiently. Customized solutions from inventory lished hospitals, and by investing in the latest technology.
financing to managing your call centers to reengineering your The ho~rib.l :"e!1tu2.Uy became known as the "caring experL:i"- a~,,.
..
.
global supply chain. Of course, if you need a 2,000-pound orca
sona and positioning that is both valuable and unique. The end results speak
whale delivered overnight, we can handle that too."
for themselves: market share is u~ dramatically a~d the image of the hospital
The descriptions of UPS, Exact Express, and the U.S. Post
has improved tremendously relative to the competing hospital.
Office should help FedEx see ,vhere it stacks up, falls short, and is
1~ost rnlnerable. ~qually important, the compaiison should help Often a picture is the best way to describe a brand person 1,
Fed.Ex see where lt has the most opportunity to grow. · you do believe that a persona is representative of a hun1an bea.n,,'' 1

Case Study: A Midwest Hospital Persona you should be able to create a picture of that person. Fio-ure :i ~
illustrates the personas of four different brands in a servic;s ind~.~·
A.Midwest hospital was seeking to compete more aggressively against its major
try my company has done work for. You can immediately see 1;:.
com~titor. B~ deriving brand personas for both, my company came up with
differences and the strengths and weaknesses of each. ·
many mterestmg characteristics:
Client Hospital Competitor Hospitai
Female or male Male .Figure 2.6. Four Competitors' Personas
Dres.sescasually Wears a blue suit
Company 1 . Company 2 Company] Company 4
Middle-upper aged Middle-aged ·
Middle class Upper middle class
Clean but not polished Professional
0icier feel.ing Contemporary
Warm, afoend Cold
Caring .Superficial 50-60 Late 40s 40-50 35-50
Not money hungry Expensive but worth it years old years old years old
Best available in Midwest · Best available in the country Male
Male Male Male
Experience Expertise
Community ·High school Graduate Ph.D.

There ~vere obvious differences in personas between these two hospitals. college education education
education
Our client was an older, "been-there-since-you-were-a-kid," Catholic1 trusted
. hospital. The competitor was more about state-of-the-art equipment, top-llight Attire a Not professionally Professional Medical atcir~,
ste th OSCO pe
doctors, :'°d the best money could buy. We assumed that patients would choose little dated
\
dressed attire
the hosp~tal that _they believed would give them the best possible treatment Clean-cut
Friendly Auctioneer Technical,
There rmght be lmgering loyalty to our older hospital, but in the end sickness
and caring mentality, anything experienced
and health know no loyalty. for a sale

,..,;
J1· :,
7 -•
 70 BRAND AsSET IvlANAGEMENT
DETERMINING YOUR BRAND ' S IMAGE 71
Shiftin~ Brand Images over Time ·- Other companies have had mixed success. Quake~ Oats, for
Can a brand's persona be changed? If so, how gr_eat and how credi- · example, changed the image of its oatmeal over a few years from
?le can the change be? I ?elieve a brand _can change just as a person ·. a hot meal on a cold day to a healthy part of daily life. It never lost
the former association, but added the latter. But another former
1s able _to change. However, Woody Allen is not going to b~come an
operatlc soprano tomorrow, and Cindy Crawford is not gding to be Quaker product fared less well. When Quaker_bought Snapple, it
ugl~ next week. It is all about degree of change. The easiest changes thought it had acquired the perfect complement to Gatc:rrade.
are mcremental and are begun well in advance of the need. Snapple was cool, hip, and an up-and-coming ~rink that reli:d on
its quirky image, its spokesperson Cathy, and Its all-natural mgre-
Often crisis is a catalyst to refocus or dramatically change a
dients. But it took Quaker only a year to undo most of the good
brand's persona. K-Mart, for example, came close to Chapter 11
that Snapple's previous owner created. Quaker was obsessed with
bankruptcy a few years ago. But it has recently come back strong and
using the Gatorade channel to also sell Snapple, as opposed to con-
is probably one of four major retailers that will survive over the next
tinuing to build and enhance the Snapple persona that had been
five years. K-Mart realized that its "blue-light special" image had been developed over time. Within a couple of years, Quaker sold Snap-
lost to Wal-Mart, that a slew of new stores like Target had come on ple to Triarc for a.big loss. Triarc has since refocused on Snapple'.s
strong, and that old stalwarts like Sears were not going away. strengths and has helped Snapple regain the persona that made It
Th~ shift in K-Mart's persona has gone way beyond the name so strong to start with. ·
change from K-Mart to Big K Its old and new personas probably
look like this: Case Study: The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is in the process of changing its brand persona. For
The Old K-Mart Persona The New K-Mart Persona more than a century and a half, the Tribune has led the local newspaper
scene thanks to its focus on editorial integrity and coverage that was both
Older Younger, hip, and modern broad and deep. But in all that time, it never_consciously pursued a particular
Dilapidated Well-designed stores, attractive brand position, leaving itself to be positioned by"the nature of its c?ntent or
Blue-light specials Great values and brands th; perceived profile of the people putting it together. Recently, the onset of the
Unorganized/unkempt Organized into stores within Internet, the explosion of media choices, the decline of time people devote to
the store reading newspapers, and a trend of softening circulation forced senior man-
agement to rethink the Tribune's image and content offering. ..
Poor service H~gh levels of customer service The Tribune went through the BAM process we have been descnbmg.
Lower to middle class All classes It learned a lot about the newspaper's relative strengths and weaknesses, ·
Competes with Woolworth's Competes ~th many retailers how readers described the Tribune's associations and persona, and, most of·
(such as Target) all what readers wanted from it.
' The Chicago Tribune-uncovered a generally held image of its persona
as conservative, middle to upper-class, male~oriented, and even aloof_, ~d
. To com ete more eff~ctively, K-Mart decided to shift its fo~us ,
recognized this would not help it thrive in the future. It ne:ded t~ shift its_
. b p d (such ·as Martha Stewart)' redesign its stores, bnng
~o name ran s ( h as Rosie O'Donnell)' leverage a
image to change the marketplace's perceptions and the Tribunes potential
· m ·respected spokespersons sue d t a. maiot advertising for even greater readership market share.gains. ·
(B . K) and develop an execu e ::i
Readers wanted a newspaper that spoke to their needs. They wanted a
new name ig . , h th K-Mart. The result is
and public relations push to rela~nc e .new . . paper that was personally relevant to their lives. They wanted a more balanced
that K-Mart is back and performmg very well. ..
72 BRAND AssET MANAGEMENT h
. h y spent so muc
kn wthe columnists t e d
approach to reporting and to get to . o f the paper such as Family an
O
time reading. They wanted new sectionsd business coverage
'
andbetter
Home & Garden. They wanted en1~anc~ s
organized local, regional, and nat1ona new ;eaders got all this and more
Within six months of t~e B~ proces;~dvertising dollars have all
and the Tribune's image, circulation, an
improved fairly dramatically. . . .dent of sales and marketing,
. Dave Murphy, the-Tribune's semor vice pr:: anization participated .
says "We discovered that when all areas of our gd s more intimate with our
, d · ly ·n a process that ma· e u d,
meaningfully an genume 1 .nf rmation that we coul n t
customers, we learned and put to effective use ~ or we·are oGnsistently asking,
have gotten any other way. Today at.the newsp _pe rove their relationship with
Is this what customers want? and, How can we unp . _ , rowth
us? This BAM process helped us truly see our potential forlong term g
and how we can get there."

Summary
Br~nd associations and the brand persona are the sources of a
brand's image. Identifyi~g both elements clearly can help yo~r
company make dramatic changes that will enhance your bra~d s
image and its performance in the marketplace. ~nder~tand1n_g
your brand's image allows you to better control its destiny. This
req4ires that you look outside to deten!line what you have to do
to co.pipet~ more effectively.
- By understanding your brand's image, your company can bet-
ter choose strategies to either take advantage of the image or fix
it. A well-developed brand image may lead to action steps such as
increasing the brand's importance to desired target segments,
increasing the value that_customers ascribe to a brand, better cap-
turing customers through skillful laddering, and the like.
Step Three deals with brand contracts. That discussion will
help you ~etter understand the makeup of the brand, including
the promises the brand makes. and the expectations customers
have.when they think about one brand relative to another.