ABSTRACT

Brand Equity is a concept developed in the 1980s

that looks at the marketing effects that is uniquely
attributable to a Companys brand noting that
different outcomes arise as the result of marketing of

THE CONCEPT OF a product/service because of its brand name. The

Aon brand was born around the same time as the
brand equity concept was developed. Over time, the
development of the brand has resulted in Aon Plc

BRAND EQUITY AND being a leader in its industry as they strive to

empower results for clients worldwide via innovative
and effective risk and people solutions.

ITS APPLICATION AT
AON PLC
By: Adeola Doherty
Most, if not all goods or services are branded in one way or another. The brand is
the name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's
good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." (AMA Dictionary, (1995)).
This differentiation not only helps consumers in their decision-making, but to an
extent also plays a part in influencing how much consumers pay for a
product/service.

The brand is a companys intellectual property (IP) that legally protects the unique
features of a product/service that can lead to competitive advantage in the
marketplace. In most cases the brand can be a key driver of a companys financial
value.

Brand Equity ...builds on the principles of brand management (Keller et al, 2012).
The concept looks at the marketing effects that is uniquely attributable to a
companys brand noting that different outcomes arise as the result of marketing of a
product/service because of its brand name, as compared to if the same
product/service did not have that name. A customers behaviour may change
depending on the preconceptions held about the brand. Brand equity examines this
behaviour and notes that strong brand equity exists when there is both strong,
favourable, and unique brand associations, in addition to a high level of awareness
and familiarity.

The building blocks of a strong brand equity is based on: selecting the appropriate
brand element to enhance the brand, whether it be a name or symbol; integrating the
brand into the companys marketing campaign(s)/activities; and the exploitation of
secondary associations such as sponsorship of sporting events as successfully
employed by Aon Plc (Aon) by being the global shirt sponsor of Premier League
team Manchester United F.C. from 2010 until 2014.

Brand Equity Pyramid Model

The Brand Equity Pyramid Model (the pyramid) looks at the development of brand
equity as a four-stage hierarchical process and anatomy. The base of this anatomy
is the salience, which looks at development of brand identity with customers.
Customers need to know who the company behind the brand is to be able to
determine what their initial feelings/thoughts towards the brand is.

The performance and imagery stage of the pyramid, being immediately above the
salience stage, looks to explain the brand meaning in the mind of customers from an
emotional and rational perspective. The company will need to consider what they
stand for and amplify this through the brand to help influence and shape the
customers response. This leads to the judgement and feelings stage, which looks at
how customers respond to the brand. The expectation being that the work done at
the previous stage should help elicit the desired customer responses.

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The apex of the pyramid is referred to as the resonance stage. At this stage the
company assesses that strength of the relationship the customer has with the brand.
Customers can have various types of relationships with the brand from an active
engagement through strong customer loyalty to an attitudinal attachment (where the
customer finds it too cumbersome to change brands).

Brand Equity at Aon

Aon is a leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance

brokerage, human resourcing solutions and outsourcing services. The Aon brand
was born around the same time as the brand equity concept was developed with the
name meaning oneness in Gaelic. Over time, the development of the brand has
resulted in Aon Plc being a leader in its industry as they strive to empower results for
clients worldwide via innovative and effective risk and people solutions.

The concept of oneness still stands true for Aon today. Despite the Aon brand being
split into the three-primary business of: Aon Hewitt, Aon Benfield, and Aon Risk
Solutions, all these businesses operate closely and leverage on each other to
provide the best service for clients. The strength of the brand equity is amplified by
the high level of awareness of the brand achieved predominantly through its
partnership with Manchester United F.C., but also through its Empower Results
day, where Aon staff across the world dedicate a day to volunteering in the local
community to help make a difference.

As the Brand Ambassador for the Aon Cayman office I found the pyramid model a
useful tool to help develop stronger brand equity for Aon that in turn helped promote
its captive management services during a time when we were seeing a gradual
increase in the number of captive management providers. The aim of the Empower
Results campaign that was launched in 2014 was to send an important message to
customers that Aon is not only still around, but remains client-focussed.

From a performance perspective, the Empower Results slogan means that the
Company is available to help customers achieve their own business goals by making
available Aons global resources and technical expertise. Customers can easily
relate to the slogan due to the reputation Aon has as an industry leader. Aons
secondary association with Manchester United F.C. (one of the top performing
Premier League football clubs) portrays an image that the Company will only put its
brand on what it considers as the best.

The performance and imagery of the Aon brand through the Empower Results
slogan become persuasive in helping customers make positive judgements about
the quality and credibility of the brand. The campaign is also likely to have attracted
new customers that not only see the Aon brand as being superior to those of its
competitors but also feel that there is a high level of social approval for the brand.

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One of the various programs to help Empower Results for customers and build a
stronger relationship between Aon and its customers is the Aon Client Promise. The
promise being a commitment to ensure customers receive value and personal
service to help develop and execute shared objectives to achieve the customers
desired outcomes by engaging in two-way dialogue.

Conclusion

Brand equity remains an important concept in marketing that is applicable to most if

not all companies; its relevance should not be understated. From an Aon conducted
survey of 1,418 risk decision-makers from 60 countries across the world, damage to
reputation/brand was voted the No.1 risk by 50% of those surveyed. In an age of
24-hour news cycles and instant social media, crises could spread globally within
hours and minutes. The response to reputational crises must be swift and on point.
(Aon Global Risk Consulting et al. (2015)). Companies with the strongest brand
equity not only command high levels of love and respect between themselves and
their customers, but also benefit from a relationship with the customer that results in
active engagement with its brand and behavioural loyalty.

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Reference List

1. American Marketing Association [AMA] Dictionary (1995). Available from:

https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B&dLetter=B
[Accessed November 30, 2016]
2. Keller et al. (2012) Strategic Brand Management A European Perspective
2nd edition. FT Prentice Hall. Pearson Education Limited.
3. Duncan, K. (2010) Marketing Greatest Hits: A Masterclass in Modern
Marketing Ideas. A&C Black Publishers Ltd.
4. Aon Global Risk Consulting et al. (2015) Global Risk Management Survey.
Aon Plc. Available from: http://www.aon.com/2015GlobalRisk/default.jsp
[Accessed November 30, 2016].

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