Brand Elements

Choosing Brand Elements to Build Brand Equity

Purpose of the Presentation

What are brand elements? What are the criteria for choosing brand elements? How are brand elements used as tactical tools to enhance brand equity? What are the legal issues for branding?

Brand Elements
Brand Elements are those trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand. The main ones are brand names, URLs, logos, symbols, characters, spokespeople, slogans, jingles, packaging etc.

Why Brand Elements?

The customer based brand equity model suggests that marketers should choose brand elements
To enhance brand awareness Facilitate the formation of strong and unique brand associations Elicit positive brand feelings

Criteria for Choosing Brand Elements

Offensive Strategies
Memorable
Easily Recognized Easily Recalled

Meaningful
Descriptive Persuasive

Likable
Rich visual/verbal imagery Aesthetically Pleasing

Criteria for Choosing Brand Elements Contd.

Defensive Strategies
Transferable
Within and across product categories Across geographic boundaries

Adaptable
Flexible Update-able

Protectable
Legally Competitively

Memorability
To build brand equity, the brand element should:
Facilitate recall Gain attention quickly Have high level of brand awareness

Memorability Exercise

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Office 2007

Meaningfulness
Brand elements should convey:
General information about the nature of the product
Brand element suggest something about the product category

Specific information and benefits of the brand

Brand element shows its key attributes or benefits

Examples of Meaningfulness

Meaningfulness of Google
The word google is a modification of the word googol which means one followed by a hundred zeros Thus it refers to the immensity of google. Google s core competency is web-searching Hence the brand name refers to the huge quantity of data that it can search

Meaningfulness of Intel
The word Intel is a portmanteau of the words intelligent electronics . The name suggests that it is an electronics company that delivers better, even intelligent products

Meaningfulness of Vodafone
The word Vodafone is a portmanteau of the words voice data fone The word refers to the capability of Vodafone to deliver voice and data through phone lines, which was its initial services

Likability
The brand element should be
Aesthetically pleasing Convey a rich verbal/visual imagery Fun and interesting

Examples of Likability

Transferability
The brand element should be able to:
Reach various product categories Add to line extensions Stay the same for geographic and cultural changes Eg: Chevrolet, Lifebouy, Exxon

Adaptability

Protectability
Brand elements should be such that they can be:
Legally protected internationally, via use of trademarks/copyrights Formally registered with appropriate legal bodies Defend trademarks from unauthorized infringement

Protectability Example

Brand name
The brand name is central to all brand elements. It should be easily remembered, highly suggestive, interesting, compact. Has the least response time of all informational elements. Contain all the factors of a proper brand element

Naming Guidelines of a Brand Name

Ease of pronunciation and spelling
Short names are easier to recall
Chevrolet has become Chevy

Easy to pronounce, using alliteration and consonance

Coleco, Hamburger Helper

Familiarity
Familiarity helps to tap existing knowledge structure having a concrete or abstract meaning
Newsweek, Dodge Viper

Naming Guidelines of a Brand Name Contd.

Differentiated and Unique
Makes the brand unique, usually atypical words for product category
Apple Computers, Shell Oil

Use of made-up words or mashed-up words

Exxon, Xerox, Microsoft, RedHat

Use of foreign or uncommon words

Pajero, Acura, Solaris

Naming Procedures of a Brand

Define Objectives
Convey the general meaning that the brand should convey

Generate names
Create as many names and concepts as possible Use help from employees, customers, consultants, ad agencies etc.

Screen Initial Candidates

Screen all names which has relevance with the objectives of the brand

Naming Procedures of a Brand Contd.

Study Candidate Names
Make legal search of which brand names are available, in each state and country to avoid trademark issues

Research Final Candidates

Make consumer survey as to how customers might accept the brand name

Select the final name

From previous research, the name chosen should be formally registered and trademarked

Brand Associations
Brand name used to reinforce perceptions about the product
Metaphors and imagery used to enhance brand association with product
Addiction Perfume, CloseUp Toothpaste

Alphabets used to denote characteristics

X denotes extreme, youthful, risk-taking
ESPN s X-Games

Z denotes a sense of speed

Hero Honda s CBZ and Karizma

Logos and Symbols

Along with brand names, visual elements have a critical role in building brand equity, especially brand awareness Logos have been used since the middle ages to denote names of Kings in the form of a Coat of Arms and Emblems

Example of Logos

Name Only Motorola Buick US West Mercury Cadillac Nike Texas Instruments Fuji Land O Lakes Infiniti Minolta Continental Insurance 29 30 29 31 53 57 59 44 59 44 62 15

Full Logo

Percentage Points 45 46 37 38 62 66 53 39 52 37 51 11

Score Decreased 10% 11% 12% 16% 18% 27%

Score Increased 55% 53% 28% 23% 17% 16% -

Benefits of Logos and Symbols

Due to the non-verbal and abstract nature of logos, they transcend across geographies and cultures Logos serve as an umbrella as a wide range of products The increase brand awareness and recall by leaps and bounds

Characters
Characters are human or life-like brand symbols that take the characteristics of the brand. They are usually introduced through advertising campaigns Brand characters play a central role in brand campaigns and package designs Brand characters can also be negative in the sense that they dominate other brand elements and decrease brand awareness

Examples of Brand Characters

Slogans
Slogans are short phrases that communicate descriptive or persuasive information about the brand They often appear in advertising They function as hooks to help consumers understand the meaning of the brand Eg: Hungry Kya? by Domino s Pizza Eg: Isse sasta aur achcha kahin nahi by Big Bazaar

Benefits of Slogans
Slogans play with the brand name to build both brand awareness and image Create strong links with the brand and the product category The brand is exaggerated to leverage maximum brand equity. Eg: It s not TV, It s HBO by HBO; The Citi Never Sleeps by CitiBank The brand is made an aspirational product Just Do It by Nike

Jingles
Jingles are musical messages written around the brand Usually composed by professional songwriters and musicians Successful jingles are registered in the minds of the listeners It was popular in the early 20th century when the primary broadcast medium was radio Convey brand benefits and product meaning in a fairly abstract manner

Packaging
Packaging is the activity of designing and producing containers or wrappers for a product It should be both aesthetic as well as functional
Aesthetic: It conveys the size, shape, colour and material of the package Functional: It conveys structural designs of the package, thus it becomes more convenient to use

Objectives of Packaging
Packaging must achieve a variety of objectives. Some of them are:
Identify the brand Convey the descriptive and persuasive information Facilitate product transportation and protection Assist home and store-shelf storage Aid product consumption

Benefits of Packaging
It protects the product It helps in brand recognition It is a differentiating factor between similar products It has the ability to grab the attention of the customer at the moment of truth when the customer buys the product Packaging can help in capturing different market segments

The Psychology of Packaging

According to Brian Wansink of has Cornell University, the aim of marketers is to encourage through packaging. Here s how it is done:
Packaging can influence taste Packaging can influence value Packaging can influence consumption Packaging can influence how a person uses a product

How to Create High-Impact Packaging

Know Your Consumer ..
Know the motives of purchase by your consumers

Take the ig Picture approach

Most successful packaging borrow packages from multiple sources and mash them up

Aesthetics and Functionality are critical

Packages should be able to be identifiable amongst a sea of products. It should ensure purchase and even repeat purchases

Distribution
Packaging should be viable and functional for distributors and retailers too

Branding elements A pictorial Overview

Brand Names URLs Logos and Symbols Characters Slogans Packaging Brand Associations Brand Awareness

Brand Identity

Legal Branding Issues Faced Globally

Counterfeit and Imitator Brands
Major brands and products are being counterfeited worldwide 5% of all products sold worldwide are counterfeit

Trademark issues Concerning Brands

Without adequate trademark, brand names can become generic, eg: vaseline, escalator Generic terms are never protectable under trademark

Trademark issues Concerning Packaging

Shape and size of containers do not constitute a trademark, nor does the product s colouring

No uniform trademark rules suitable for a globalized market

Summing it Up

..

Each brand element combined together forms the brand identity. Stronger brands have larger number of brand elements that work together cohesively Rich concrete visual imagery enhances brand identity, which is linked to brand awareness.

Thank You