Brand Equity: Consistency and Communication

Importance of Consistency

• Consistency builds brand equity
• Consistency reinforces brand identity, leading to stable user experiences
• Brand authenticity is achieved by being consistent, aligning with category standards, and building connections

Building and Maintaining Consistency

• Communication of brand identity internally (employees) and externally (customers, stakeholders) is key
• Brand audits should be used to identify user touchpoints and eliminate inconsistencies
• Internal branding will ensure employees understand and deliver on brand promises

Key Strategies

• Internal branding aligns internal operations, culture, and employee behaviors with the brand identity
• Brand audits assesses alignment across products, services, customer interactions, operations and partnerships

Communication and Storytelling

• Brand communication relies on storytelling
• Storytelling creates emotional connections and authentic experiences
• Signature brand stories support strategic goals, maintain engagement, and strengthen brand authenticity

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

• It integrates multiple channels (advertising, social media, sponsorships, events, direct marketing) across the customer journey
• It balances short term sales with long term brand building for sustained brand health

Managing Internal-External Gaps

• Firms must manage Identity–Image, Culture–Identity, and Culture–Image Gaps to achieve consistency
• Identity–Image Gap: Mismatch between intended brand identity and customer perceptions
• Culture–Identity Gap: Misalignment between employee behaviors and the desired brand identity
• Culture–Image Gap: Employees’ actions contradicting the brand’s external image or customer expectations

Tools for Consistency

• Stakeholder analysis, internal branding practices, and aligning employee incentives are essential tools
• Employee training, storytelling, and reward systems reinforce brand-aligned behaviors internally

Introduction to Brand Consistency

• Brand consistency maintains brand equity
• Must consistently deliver promises made to consumers
• Authenticity is essential when managing a brand
• Authenticity involves consistency, conformity, and connection

Importance of Consistency

• Consistency strengthens brand equity
• Consistency creates stability, making the brand trustworthy and reliable

Brand Consistency Over Time

• Brands must balance stability and freshness
• Brands adapt incrementally, termed brand ambidexterity
• Brand ambidexterity balances consistency and flexibility

Maintaining Internal and External Consistency

• Consistency requires alignment both internally and externally

Three Critical Gaps to Manage

• Identity–Image Gap: External stakeholders perceive the brand differently than intended; LEGO adapting products to represent diversity better
• Culture–Identity Gap: Arises internally when employees do not share or deliver the intended brand identity as seen during COVID-19 when companies failed to provide adequate employee protection
• Culture–Image Gap: Employees' perceptions of brand differ from customer perceptions, creating dissatisfaction, like Airline staff previously referring to passengers as “self-loading freight”

Tools for Ensuring Consistency

• Brand managers employ various strategic tools to manage consistency
• Brand audits evaluate a brand's activities, practices, products, and touchpoints to identify inconsistencies

Brand Audits Key areas include:

• Products and Services: Must align with the core brand identity (e.g., Apple's selective product range focused on innovation)
• Customer Touchpoints and Experiences: Use customer journey mapping to identify critical interactions impacting brand perception
• Operational Practices: Ensure ethical, environmental, and governance practices align with brand promises (e.g., Boeing's safety issues negatively impacting brand equity)
• Customers: Manage user base alignment to brand image (Abercrombie & Fitch paying celebrities to stop wearing their clothes)

Customer Journey Mapping

• This map documents interactions from a customer perspective that highlights pain points
• It highlights where brand authenticity is either experienced or undermined
• Mystery shopping ensures objective evaluation

Internal Branding

• Launch internally before external communication
• It involves ensuring employees deeply understand and commit to the brand promise
• Another aspect is hiring people who align with brand values (e.g., Southwest Airlines hiring process emphasizing a team-oriented mindset)
• Incentivizing behaviors consistent with brand identity, for example, Kraft changing incentives to encourage innovation in Vegemite

External Communication Strategies

• Strategies need to reflect the core brand identity consistently across channels
• IMC aligns all marketing activities throughout the consumer-decision journey stages

Communication Strategy

• These strategies include advertisement, sales promotions, sponsorship, direct marketing, and social media etc.
• Communications must utilize brand assets consistently
• Communications emphasize long-term brand-building efforts complemented by short-term tactical campaigns

Brand Storytelling

• Stories are fundamental to authenticity
• Stories allow users to project themselves into the brand narrative
• Signature stories (strategic, authentic narratives) help sustain emotional resonance and strengthen branding
• Successful stories share intrigue, emotional engagement, clarity and consistency

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

• It ensures consistency across multiple channels by aligning messages to the consumer journey
• This creates early communication, guides evaluation, and encourages repeat purchase and advocacy

Experiential Branding

• Branding offers immersive interactions that reinforce brand authenticity
• Brands craft experiences aligned with their identity use Pine & Gilmore’s experience economy model and Holbrook’s value typology
• This is achieved by designing store experiences aligned with brand positioning or creating user interactions that reinforce brand values

Authenticity through Strategic Campaigns

• The campaigns must align brand communications with user expectations about what is “real” and “genuine”
• Strategies include images of craftsmanship, empathy and connection, and cultural Alignment

Leveraging Endorsements and Sponsorship

• These build authenticity by transferring cultural meaning to the brand
• It enhances credibility and relevance

Managing the Tension between Consistency and Change entails

• Planning strategies while adapting to emerging trends
• Responding to stakeholder feedback to close authenticity gaps

Measurement and Evaluation

• Consistency’s effectiveness is measured via long-term metrics balanced with short-term performance indicators

Conclusion

• Brand consistency demands careful alignment internally and externally
• Alignment reinforces authenticity
• Successful brands continuously audit and refine their strategies to balance stable identity with incremental innovation

Quotes on Brand Value

• Roberto Goizueta; brand goodwill and knowledge outweigh physical assets
• John Stuart points out the advantage of brands, trademarks, and goodwill over physical assets

Definition of Brand Equity

• Brand equity is the value from consumer perceptions, attitudes, and loyalty toward a brand
• Brand equity is a critical intangible asset
• Market value has increased for intangible assets historically

Brand-as-Asset

• Intangible strategic assets generate cash flow, allow price premiums, and provides competitive advantage
• Examples include P&G's purchase of Gillette (97% value from brand assets), L’Oréal’s acquisition of The Body Shop (81% attributed to brand), and Apple’s brand-driven valuation

Brand Equity vs. Brand Valuation

• Brand equity focuses on consumer-focused value
• Brand valuation focuses on financial assessment of a brand’s economic worth

Stakeholders & Brand Equity Interaction

• Brand equity is influenced by customers, employees, investors, regulators & media
• Customers: Direct interaction impacts brand perception
• Employees: Influence brand experience and authenticity
• Investors: Decisions affected by perceived brand strength
• Regulators & Media: Affect brand’s public image

Principles for Building & Sustaining Brand Equity

• Consistency: Continuous, reliable delivery of brand promises
• Relevance: Staying meaningful and connected to consumer needs
• Distinctiveness: Clear differentiation from competitors
• Emotional Resonance: Creating emotional bonds and attachment
• Authenticity: Genuineness and truthfulness in brand actions

How Does Authenticity Create Brand Equity?

• Authenticity builds trust, enhances loyalty, and reduces consumer skepticism
• Passionbrands concept (Helen Edwards) displays strong customer connections and financial standing
• Polarizing, yet authentic brands, can increase favorability

Value of Brands in Market Context

• Resilient brands adapt and reinforce equity during crises
• Challenges: Economic downturns, Competition from store brands and "Marlboro Friday" (1993)

Frameworks for Understanding Brand Equity

• CBBE Framework was developed from Marketing Science Institute
• It emphasizes strong consumer-brand relationships, and reaches beyond loyal users for further growth
• Brands grow primarily by acquiring lighter, which suggests overly focusing on loyal users limits growth potential

Brand Equity Measurement & Challenges

• Equity measured is used for brand awareness, customer loyalty, and valuations
• The challenges in measurement quantifies emotional and financial elements

Branding with Purpose (Case Study: Passionbrands)

• Edwards & Day determined that brands supporting something outperform competitors with core pillars

Case Study: Kodak's Brand Renewal

• Kodak addressed identity gaps which revived the struggling brand

Building Brand Equity relies on

• Consistency
• Authenticity
• Distinctiveness
• Meaningful purpose

Key Dimensions of Brand Equity are

• Brand Loyalty
• Brand Awareness
• Perceived Quality
• Brand Associations
• Other Proprietary Brand Assets

1. The Role of Consumer Insights in Branding

• Brands are shaped by consumer perceptions and experiences, not just logos and advertising

How Brands Gather Consumer Insights

• Market Research
• Social Listening
• Behavioral Data
• Cultural Trends & Psychographics

2. Building Brand Trust requires

• Consistency
• Transparency
• Authenticity
• Customer Engagement
• Reliability

3. Branding for B2B (Business-to-Business)

• B2B differs from B2C in its factor, decision making, customer relationship, communication, and value proposition
• B2B building expertise and thought leadership, helps and develops strong relationships, while leveraging the use of case studies

4. Authenticity in Branding

• Authenticity matters because consumers distrust polished marketing, which makes authenticity a powerful differentiator

How Brands Can Be Authentic:

• Brand Heritage & Storytelling
• Genuineness in Messaging
• Purpose-Driven Branding
• Consistency Across Touchpoints

5. Can Everything Be Branded?

• Arguments are for, branding creates differentiation, luxury brands elevate everyday items, and services can be branded
• Arguments are against because some categories are hard to brand and over-branding can lead to consumer skepticism

There are final takeaways, such as

• Consumer insights drive branding decisions
• Trust and authenticity are critical for brand loyalty
• Brands must focus on distinctiveness and relevant matter