CHAPTER 11
DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING
BRANDING STRATEGIES
11.1
Branding strategy
• Branding strategy is critical because it is the
means by which the firm can help consumers
understand its products and services and
organize them in their minds.
• Two important strategic tools: The brand-
product matrix and the brand hierarchy help
to characterize and formulate branding
strategies by defining various relationships
among brands and products.
11.2
Branding Strategy or Brand Architecture
• The branding strategy for a firm reflects the
number and nature of common or distinctive
brand elements applied to the different
products sold by the firm.
– Which brand elements can be applied to which
products and the nature of new and existing brand
elements to be applied to new products
11.3
The role of Brand Architecture
• Clarify: brand awareness
– Improve consumer understanding and
communicate similarity and differences between
individual products
• Motivate: brand image
– Maximize transfer of equity to/from the brand to
individual products to improve trial and repeat
purchase
11.4
Brand-Product Matrix
Products
1 2 3 4
A
Brands B
C
• Must define:
– Brand-Product relationships (rows)
• Line and category extensions
– Product-Brand relationships (columns)
• Brand portfolio
11.5
Important Definitions
• Product line
– A group of products within a product category
that are closely related
• Product mix (product assortment)
– The set of all product lines and items that a
particular seller makes available to buyers
• Brand mix (brand assortment)
– The set of all brand lines that a particular seller
makes available to buyers
11.6
Breadth of a Branding Strategy
• Breadth of product mix (number of product line)
– Aggregate market factors
– Category factors
– Environmental factors
• Depth of product mix (variety within each line)
– Examining the percentage of sales and profits
contributed by each item in the product line
– Deciding to increase the length of the product line
by adding new variants or items typically expands
market coverage and therefore market share but
also increases costs
11.7
Depth of a Branding Strategy
• The number and nature of different brands
marketed in the product class sold by a firm
• Referred to as brand portfolio
• The reason is to pursue different market
segments, different channels of distribution,
or different geographic boundaries
• Maximize market coverage and minimize
brand overlap
11.8
Brand Portfolio
11.9
Designing a Brand Portfolio
• Basic principles:
– Maximize market coverage so that no potential
customers are being ignored
– Minimize brand overlap so that brands aren’t
competing among themselves to gain the same
customer’s approval
11.10
Brand Roles in the Portfolio
• Flankers
Extension of an existing brand to create another product or brand
with increased market share. The new product may be a different
size, flavor, or type but still falls within the same category of
products. For example, Ocean Spray juice may create new fruit juice
flavors as a flanker brand.
• Cash cows
Well established brand, business unit, product, or service, that
generates a large, regular, predictable, and positive cash flow. Cash
cows are often 'milked' for developing, promoting, or supporting
new or struggling counterparts. See also portfolio planning matrix.
• Low-end entry-level
• High-end prestige brands
11.11
Brand Hierarchy
• A means of summarizing the branding strategy
by displaying the number and nature of
common and distinctive brand elements
across the firm’s products, revealing the
explicit ordering of brand elements
• A useful means of graphically portraying a
firm’s branding strategy
11.12
Brand Hierarchy Tree: Toyota
Toyota
Corporation
Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota Lexus
(Trucks) (SUV/vans) (Cars) Financial
Services
Corolla MR2
Camry Avalon Celica ECHO Matrix Prius
Spyder
Platinum
CE SE Edition
S LE XL SE
LE XLE XLS SLE
11.13
Brand Hierarchy Levels
Corporate Brand (General Motors)
Family Brand (Buick)
Individual Brand (Park Avenue)
Modifier: Item or Model (Ultra)
11.14
Corporate Brand Equity
• Occurs when relevant constituents hold
strong, favorable, and unique associations
about the corporate brand in memory
• Encompasses a much wider range of
associations than a product brand
11.15
Family Brands
• Brands applied across a range of product
categories
• An efficient means to link common
associations to multiple but distinct products
11.16
Individual Brands
• Restricted to essentially one product category
• There may be multiple product types offered
on the basis of different models, package
sizes, flavors, etc.
11.17
Modifiers
• Signals refinements or differences in the brand
related to factors such as quality levels,
attributes, functions, etc.
• Plays an important organizing role in
communicating how different products within
a category that share the same brand name
are
11.18
Corporate Image Dimensions
• Corporate product attributes, benefits or attitudes
– Quality
– Innovativeness
• People and relationships
– Customer orientation
• Values and programs
– Concern with the environment
– Social responsibility
• Corporate credibility
– Expertise
– Trustworthiness
– Likability
11.19
Brand Hierarchy Decisions
• The number of levels of the hierarchy to use
in general
• How brand elements from different levels of
the hierarchy are combined, if at all, for any
one particular product
• How any one brand element is linked, if at all,
to multiple products
• Desired brand awareness and image at each
level
11.20
Number of Hierarchy Levels
• Principle of simplicity
– Employ as few levels as possible
• Principle of clarity
– Logic and relationship of all brand elements
employed must be obvious and transparent
11.21
Levels of Awareness and Associations
• Principle of relevance
– Create global associations that are relevant across
as many individual items as possible
• Principle of differentiation
– Differentiate individual items and brands
11.22
Linking Brands at Different Levels
• Principle of prominence
– The relative prominence of brand elements affects
perceptions of product distance and the type of
image created for new products
11.23
Linking Brands Across Products
• Principle of commonality
– The more common elements shared by products,
the stronger the linkages
11.24
Brand Architecture Guidelines
• Adopt a strong customer focus
• Avoid over-branding
• Establish rules and conventions and be
disciplined
• Create broad, robust brand platforms
• Selectively employ sub-brands as means of
complementing and strengthening brands
• Selectively extend brands to establish new
brand equity and enhance existing brand
equity
11.25
Corporate Brand Campaign
• Different objectives are possible:
– Build awareness of the company and the nature of its
business
– Create favorable attitudes and perceptions of company
credibility
– Link beliefs that can be leveraged by product-specific
marketing
– Make a favorable impression on the financial community
– Motivate present employees and attract better recruits
– Influence public opinion on issues
11.26
Using Cause
Marketing to Build
Brand Equity
• The process of formulating
and implementing
marketing activities that are
characterized by an offer
from the firm to contribute a
specified amount to a
designated cause when
customers engage in
revenue-providing exchanges
that satisfy organizational
and individual objectives
11.27
Advantages of Cause Marketing
• Building brand awareness
• Enhancing brand image
• Establishing brand credibility
• Evoking brand feelings
• Creating a sense of brand community
• Eliciting brand engagement
11.28
Green Marketing
• A special case of cause marketing that is
particularly concerned with the environment
• Explosion of environmentally friendly products
and marketing programs
11.29
Crisis Marketing Guidelines
• The two keys to effectively managing a crisis
are that the firm’s response should be swift
and that it should be sincere.
11.30
• Corporate Umbrella branding/family brands
• Individual or separate family brand name
• House of brand vs Branded house
11.31