Brand salience and its implication for marketers

Today let's talk about the term Brand Salience!

So what exactly is brand salience?

Brand salience is essentially defined as the tendency of a particular brand to be in consideration of or noticed in buying situations and usually what people think about brand is measured by considering the attributes which are associated with brands and these attributes can be in terms of popularity or value for money. Measuring brand salience involves the use of a representative range of cues that are descriptive and most importantly in a competitive context. Brand salience emphasises on association and not evaluation. Again, I'll make it very straight forward and simple to you by using an example we used in the class, that is,

I've created a simple survey on measuring the brand salience of Qantas with a range of cues against their competitor brands.

Here's the link to my survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7FGGJJD

Pls feel free to attempt the survey if you have the time. This survey will give you a clear understanding of what brand salience is all about. Note that you are allowed to choose more than 1 brand in the survey questionnaires. This indicates that Qantas may not be the only brand you consider given that situation or a particular experience.

The difference in brand salience as compared to brand awareness and top of mind awareness is that brand salience is the brands that come into a consumer's mind when he/she is in a purchase situation, while brand awareness is noticing and recognising the brand and brand awareness is measured with a range of brand attributes, not just the product category cues, while brand salience is only measured using a wide range of cues. Furthermore, Top of mind awareness is simply a brand that comes into a consumer's mind when he/she is asked to recall a brand within a category, and it is typically linked to past behaviour.

Implications for Marketers

In order for a brand to have a huge chunk of the "mental availability" of consumers, it is crucial for marketers to:

1. Reach as many consumers as possible
2. Maximise consumers' share of mind, which is the number of associations and attributes that can be linked to consumers
3. Consistency is the key - being consistency in terms of brand attributes, brand communication strategy,    brand logo as well as  advertising is one of the key to building successful brand equity. Cadbury Dairy Milk is an ideal example of brand consistency.

How are brands being stored in a consumer's memory?

Today I'm gonna talk about a topic which involves 2 Bs: how a Brand is being stored into a consumer's Brain, or in a laymen term, memory. Interesting isn't it? YES thats right! Finally something a topic that excites you in my blog? Aww come on I'm not that boring am I?

Anyway, before I begin the topic, I'm gonna use a good example of a brand to describe how everything works. Here's the example I'm gonna use:

Prada, one of women's favourite brand of leather goods and designer wears

So there are basically 3 processes for a brand to be stored into memory: Encoding, Maintenance, and Retrieval.

Encoding

Firstly, when we encode information of the brand into our memory, we tend to form links with information already in our memory or we reinforce existing knowledge. For example, in our memory, we know that  the brand Prada produces leather goods and designer wears. However, one day there is an advertisement on Prada which shows the brand introducing their new product line: hand phones. So this is reinforcing that existing memory or information that a consumer has in his/her memory and now the consumer would be aware that Prada sells hand phones too. When encoding such information into memory, we tend to filter out many information which we came across, and only to take in things which are of interest to us as consumers.

Maintenance

The second process is maintenance, the way we store information into our memory and this is usually done by rehearsal or by repeating the information over and over in our brain. For example, now that we know Prada sells hand phones, we tend to share this information with buyers of Prada and usually they would be our friends and family. So by sharing this information we are repeating this over and over again, thus this information will be kept in our memory.

Retrieval

The third process is retrieval which is cue based, so we tend to use particular set of associations and cues which can be anything like colours, our five senses etc and this linked information can be retrieved and used as a retrieval cue for further information. Going back to the Prada example, when we think about wallets, we will think about Prada as their wallets are both trendy and durable and such information are linked and retrieved automatically from our memory. This process is crucial for brand managers who want to achieve greater brand salience. However, retrieval can be affected by mood.

The thing about consumers is that we tend to only store information which are useful, important, or relevant to our brains. We usually narrow down information which are extraordinary, and which we frequently use.

What are the criteria for making a good brand logo?

Today lets talk about "what makes a good brand logo?" 

In fact, Brand management has taught me 4 fundamental criteria for making a good brand logo.

Criteria 1

It must be recognizable; logos should boost recognition of a company or brand, this is particularly important in stores as a means of speeding recognition of products.  Logo recognition occurs in two levels: first level is where consumers must remember seeing the logo and second level is where the logos help create a memory into a consumer's mind and these logos would remind consumers about the brand. This is also called correct recognition. False recognition occurs when people believe that they had seen the logo but actually they had not. False recognition induces a sense of knowing that might affect choice among unknown competitors.

Criteria 2

It must hold a meaning in the market; logos should evoke the same intended meaning across people. This logo or marketing stimuli should communicate one clear message that is difficult to misinterpret. If a logo has a clear meaning towards consumers, it can be more easily linked to the company or product the logo represents. However, a clear meaning may not specify or constrains the nature or content of the meaning communicated and this enables the company to choose a design best communicates the most desirable message to their customers.

Criteria 3

It must evoke positive affect; positive effective reactions are crucial to a logo’s success as this affect is transferrable from the logo to the product or company. Positive affect can be in terms of evaluation of the company. Positive effect can develop over time with increases exposure but can also be evoked by the design of the logo.

Criteria 4

It must be familiar; logos create a sense of familiarity even when they have never been seen before. This perception or familiarity, whether or not it is based on previous exposure, is called subjective familiarity. This familiarity could result from a logo brought to mind a familiar meaning or from the design being similar to well known symbols. Subjective familiarity can increase affect and create more consensual meanings. In addition, familiar looking stimuli tend to be perceived and processed faster, which is particularly important for logos.

Now for the interesting part. Here are some very good examples of a brand logo that has fulfilled all 4 criteria in fact they have way exceeded them and have made themselves very successful in terms of brand equity as well as brand salience:

I realised that almost every post I created, I used Apple as an example to explain the various concepts. The reason is simply because Apple is so successfully that the brand has captured almost every theoretical aspect of branding and I find that using Apple as an example makes my viewers comprehend whatever concepts I try to explain. I'm sure that everyone has been exposed to the brand Apple and can somehow associate with the Apple's brand experience. 

As usual, feel free to comment on my post and provide any feedback on my posts if you wish.

Brand Authenticity

Today, lets talk about Brand Authenticity.

Brand authenticity may sound like its a mouthful, but its actually very simple to understand. The word authentic simply means original or genuine. Hence, authentic brand is defined as brands that are trustworthy, and are neither false nor unoriginal, in short, genuine and original.

So why does authenticity matter?

In this era where consumers are given an abundance of choices with regards to products and brands, consumers are constantly drawn towards brands with an original story, and a sincere commitment to deliver what they promise. Essentially, authenticity is about practising what you preach; being clear about who you are and what you do best.

Authenticity Drivers

In the context of branding, I have identified 7 key drivers of brand authenticity:

Originality - The extent to which a brand has brought something new or different into the market

Personal Utility - The extent to which a brand delivers real utility to users that they feel they cannot live without

Declared Believes - The extent to which a brand stands out for more than just making profits

Sincerity - The extent to which a brand tries hard not to let people down

Familiarity - The extent to which a brand is widely known to everyone

Momentum - The extent to which a brand has an aura of becoming more popular

Heritage - The extent to which a brand has a relevant and engaging story.

Sometimes I find that some theories are very difficult to understand, therefore I find the use of examples very useful in explaining complicated theories and concepts, which is why I always make an attempt to include examples in my posts. Having said that, I came up with an example for every driver of authenticity:

Brand with an originality

Apple is a great example of a brand of originality.  Not only have they consistently introduced new products into the market, they are provided quality is every aspect of their brand, which makes them the passionate artisans behind that original brand.

Brand with a personal utility

Google is the best example of the brand with a personal utility.  In  this age where everyone is heavily reliant on internet, it is very obvious why Google is the best search engine and why people cannot live without it.

Brand with declared believes

The body shop brand really stands out for more than just making profits. They position themselves as a  highly ethical business who sells products which are 100% free of animal testing, 100% environmental friendly, 100% community fair trade, and the company 100% defends human rights. This is why they stand out.

Brand with sincerity

Qantas is a good example of a sincere brand.  They are always trying their best  not to let  their customers down.  They have been constantly providing high quality air line services.

Brand with familiarity

Im pretty sure this brand is familiar to everyone, and  I mean EVERYONE. Coca Cola has reached global presence and its been an all time favourite classic drink for consumers.

Brand with momentum

Volkswagen is increasingly becoming very popular thanks to its marketing and brand building efforts. Volkswagen consumers have strongly associated themselves of being satisfied with the cars they buy (high technology, great quality, affordable price). Volkswagen is now a leading brand within the car market for this simple reason: It has a history behind it and also a great product portfolio. This brand is growing and its growing BIG!

Brand with a heritage 

Indeed, Campbell's brand is a brand with a heritage.  Campbell's long history of producing canned products can be backdated to its inception year in 1869 when the company first produced canned tomatoes and vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments and minced meats. Then in 1897, Campbell's invented the condensed soup and this invention revolutionised soup. Engaging story indeed!

Hope you''ll find this post very interesting and give you an insight of the authentic brands you've been purchasing and believing all these while. Feel free to add any comments or include any other brands you find fits the authentic brand category and we can definitely talk about it.

Cheers for now.

Sources of Brand Equity: Cadbury Dairy Milk

Today lets talk about brand equity! So what exactly is brand equity and what does it do? if you're reading this, you might prolly go "huh? what? what the ding dang dong is brand equity?". Theoretically, brand equity can be divided into 2 main categories: Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) and Financial -Based Brand Equity (FBBE). Put simply, CBBE refers to the value of brands to customers, while FBBE refers to the financial value of brands to firms; The former measures the impact of marketing activity on consumers while the latter is a measure of business performance. Today I shall focus on CBBE because this is actually more interesting and engaging than FBBE (Trust me). 

By definition, CBBE is the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of a particular brand. A brand experiences positive CBBE when consumers react more favourably to a product and the way it is marketed when the brand is identified rather than when it is not. In other words, a brand is successful when consumers have a positive brand evaluation on the brand, when consumers have a strong and positive attitude towards the brand, as well as value created by providing a consistent brand image to consumers. So the next question is : What makes a strong brand?

Brand knowledge is the driver to making a strong brand, and also the key to creating brand equity. Brand knowledge, as the name suggests, is the knowledge of a brand that exists in a consumer's memory. Brand knowledge has 3 components, which are also sources of building a strong brand equity: Brand awareness, Brand image, as well as Uniqueness. 

The story of Cadbury Dairy Milk and its brand equity

Ok enough of the boring theories of brand equity. Lets take a look at a real life example of a brand with a very successful CBBE: Cadbury Dairy Milk. So here's the distinctive logo of Cadbury:

and here are some of the many products they sell:

Drooling much? :D

Cadbury's Brand Awareness:

Brand awareness consists of both brand recognition and brand recall. 

Brand recognition is consumers' ability to confirm their prior exposure to the brand when prompted the brand as a cue. For instance, when you visit the supermarket and came across Cadbury, will you be able to recognize the brand as one you have already been exposed?

Brand recall is the consumers' ability to retrieve the brand from their memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase or usage situation as a cue. For instance, when you think purchasing a milk chocolate, does the brand Cadbury comes into your mind?

So how did Cadbury successfully established its brand awareness? Personally, I feel that they created the ultimate customer's brand experience in 3 ways: Making customers see it, hear it, and think about it. This is how they did it:

Seeing it

They make sure customers can visibly see their chocolates bars in every supermarkets, especially displaying them at the checkout counters for brand recall purposes. They make sure you see them before you check out and make your purchases and they make sure you recall their brand when you are thinking of purchasing chocolates.

Hearing it

They make sure consumers hear their unique catchy song from the advertisement which makes them  recognise their brand whenever they see or hear it anywhere.

Thinking about it

This unique advertisement makes you think about what Cadbury has to do with moving eyebrows and sounds from a balloon. Well personally when I first saw this ad I had no idea it was from Cadbury until I thought about I went to youtube to watch it the second time. 

Cadbury's Brand Image and Uniqueness:

Creating a positive brand image takes marketing programmes that link strong, favourable, and unique associations to the brand in memory. Cadbury has not doubt built a very successful brand image. from how they communicate their brand identity through the packaging with the Cadbury "glass and a half" corporate purple and swirling chocolate image to the consistency of their brand attributes in terms of TV advertisements and other advertising campaigns, and of course most importantly, they have successfully built their brand image of being the "family brand and a chocolate to be shared for every occasion" as well as being the creative brand. Honestly, Cadbury has never failed to amaze me (and all their customers) with their creativity in their advertisements as well as their product packagings. Cadbury fans have not only developed a liking for Cabury, they have also built strong associations with the brand.

Thanks for viewing and feel free to give a comment!

Perspective on Brands: Price Marks, Trust Marks, Love Marks

As a consumer, have you ever thought about this question: "what exactly are brands?". Some may say "Gucci, Chanel, Prada, etc", others may say "the name of the product I purchase...etc". Well you are definitely not wrong to say that yes a brand is Gucci, and yes a brand is the name of a product. However, there are a lot more to brands than just the above mentioned. To me as a marketer, branding is a crucial component that contributes to the value creation as well as the success of a company. Here is a simple explaining from Forbes about why brands are important to businesses: 

"Brands are psychology and science brought together as a promise mark as opposed to a trademark. Products have life cycles. Brands outlive products. Brands convey a uniform quality, credibility and experience to customers. Brands are valuable. Many companies put the value of their brand on their balance sheet."

Brand not only provides an identity for the product, its also shapes the value and creates attitudes, perceptions, as well as attachments from customers' experience with the brand. Branding is the key to making a distinctive or differentiated product, and branding is the key to how consumers associate and interact with the products. I call branding the "X-Factor". 

According to the book "Perspectives on Brand Management" by Uncles, there are 3 perspectives on brands:

Perspective 1: Price Marks

Here's an example of a price mark brand:

Indeed, Louis Vuitton is an upscale example of  a price mark brand. By using this example, it is pretty clear that the focus is on price itself. Generally, when consumers buy on price their behaviour tend to be promiscuous in that they simply choose the best buy at a particular point in time. It is arguable that this can be a form of branding. Take for example Wal-Mart. 

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer as well as the largest company with over 2 million employees worldwide, brands itself as the "everyday-low-prices" discount store, consistently offering products at low prices everyday.

Perspective 2: Trust Marks

Here's an example of a trust mark brand:

Yes that's right, it's Cadbury Dairy Milk brand. Trust mark brands are products that are identified by their names, logos, symbols, slogans, jingles, and designs, thereby helping to distinguish one provider's offering from another. Personally I feel that Cadbury is the best example to explain what trust marks is all bout and I'm pretty sure the "wouldn't it be nice" jingle or the animated brown characters made you go "ahhh isn't that Cadbury?".

Perspective 3: Love Marks

Here's an example of a love mark brand:

oh wait no not this love mark (i.e love bites)! But this...

Apple Inc.

Apple is one excellent example that says all about a love mark brand. Love mark brands create symbols that represent and convey a meaning. Consumers connects with the brand i.e "I am the brand, the brand is me" and they assist in building the personality of the brand. Therefore Apple is the iconic brand, where they sell aspirations. This is especially true to apple consumers, and I have to agree to that.

Feel free to leave a comment or share your opinions on the importance of branding as well the your perspective of brands! Thanks.

The best of Adelaide 2: Adelaide's Korean Charcoal BBQ

Just yesterday I went for a Korean bbq restaurant at 373 Glen Osmond road with a group of friends. It was a place that was recommended by my Korean friend.  After trying that I do not think I would ever go to any other the other Korean bbq restaurants unless there is another restaurant which is better and I doubt it. The price range is acceptable about 50 bucks per head. The wagyu steak was the freshest that I have ever had. Be it medium rare or well done it was fantastic mostly due to the freshness of the steak. They provided a sauce for each individual person for the meat. The sauce had somewhat of a sweetness to it and infused with the wagyu it just tasted spectacular. The beef bulggoi did not taste as heavy as those in other restaurants. It was light, a little sweet and slightly chewy yet it was capable of melting in your mouth. The kimchi pancake did not have a strong kimchi taste which I was a fan of since I do not like the taste of kimchi by itself. The marinated chicken ribs were fantastic as well. The sauce that they used to marinate the chicken was astoundingly surplus my expectation.

Another bonus your clothes would not smell. Usually in Korean bbqs the smell sticks onto your clothes but at this place thanks to the suction exhaust fan located at every single table you would smell good even after a Korean bbq. Value for cost, coisy ambience, friendly staff and exceptional food! A MUST GO!

Food Rating: 5/5
Ambiance Rating: 3/5

Here are some of the photos:

the charcoal bbq 

thats right... charcoal grill lol

the traditional Korean entrees dishes

Kimchi pancake, the best I've ever tried. Definitely a must try!

Here comes the wagyu!

Korean rice balls that comes along with the bbq set. very unique taste indeed

Korean bean paste soup

Beef ribs cooked to perfection

How to eat Korean bbq? dip your meat with this sauce along with the refresing  onions. Tastes really delicious trust me!

Last but not least, the healthiest Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup. Definitely a must try!