管理品牌资产.doc

标题：Managing Brand EquityLEVERAGING AND MEASURING BRAND EQUITY原文：4.1 Leveraging brand equity There are three ways to leverage brand equity: firstly building it, secondly borrowing it, or thirdly buying it. Increasingly, ”building” brand equity is not easy given the proliferation of brands and the intense competition that is prevalent in many industries. Within a given industry, there typically exist many high quality products and high levels of advertising, making it difficult to introduce superior quality brand and shape perceptions through advertising. Thus, the alternative to building brand equity is by borrowing or buying it. (Farquhar 1990, RC10RC11) 4.1.1 Building brand equity Brand equity is built firstly, by creating positive brand evaluations with a quality product, secondly, by fostering accessible brand attitudes to have the most impact on consumer purchase behaviour, and thirdly, by developing a consistent brand image to form a relationship with the consumer. (Farquhar 1990, RC8RC10) Of these three elements, positive brand evaluation may be considered the most important, and it is based on a quality product that delivers superior performance. The first element in building a strong brand is a positive brand evaluation. Quality is the cornerstone of a strong brand. A firm must have a quality product that delivers superior performance to the consumer in order to achieve a positive evaluation of the brand in the consumers memory.Three types of evaluations can be stored in a consumers memory: 1) affective responses, 2) cognitive evaluations and 3) behavioural intentions. Affective responses involve emotions or feelings toward the brand (e.g., the brand makes me feel good about myself, the brand is a familiar friend or the brand symbolises status, affiliation or uniqueness). Cognitive evaluations are inferences made from beliefs about the brand (e.g., the brand lowers the risk of something bad). Behavioural intentions are developed from habits or heuristic interest toward the brand (e.g., the brand is the only one my family uses or the brand is on sale this week). Efforts to create positive brand evaluations are usually aimed at one of these types. (Farquhar 1990, RC8RC9) The second element in building a strong brand is attitude accessibility. It refers to how quickly an individual can retrieve something stored in memory. Stored evaluations can be retrieved from memory in two ways. Automatic activation occurs spontaneously from memory upon the mere observation of the attitude object. Controlled activation requires the active attention of the individual to retrieve a previously stored evaluation or to construct a summary evaluation of the attitude object. The third element in building a strong brand is to have a consistent brand image. Consistency of the brands image is a part of managing the relationship between the consumer and the brand. A relationship develops between the personality of the brand and the personality of the consumer with each purchase. Building brand equity requires the creation of a familiar brand that has favourable, strong, and unique brand associations. This can be done both through the initial choice of the brand identities, such as the brand name, logo, or symbol, and through the integration of the brand identities into the supporting marketing program. The judicious choice of brand identities can contribute significantly to brand equity, but the primary input comes from supporting marketing activities for the brand. The product or service specifications themselves are the primary basis for the product-related attribute associations and determine a consumers fundamental understanding of what the product or service means. Similarly, the pricing policy for the brand directly creates associations to the relevant price tier or level for the brand in the product category, as well as its corresponding price volatility or variance, e.g., in terms of the frequency and magnitude of discounts. The marketing communication efforts by the firm, in contrast, afford a flexible means of shaping consumer perceptions of the product or service. Marketing communication may also be helpful in increasing user and usage imagery attributes. Word-of-mouth and other social influences also play an important role, especially for user and usage imagery attributes. (Keller 1993, 910) Investment to build or maintain strong brands can be difficult or impossible to justify when considering the short-term financial outlook. It is required a vision and a belief that such investments will pay off. A key to developing a vision and having faith in it is to understand the ways in which a brand can generate competitive advantage. With a vision established, it is necessary to be vigilant with brands. The temptation is put a priority in other areas, such as to correct a market-share problem or to pursue a cost reduction program. As a result, brand equity is temporarily put on hold. This temptation is particularly strong when the organisations structure and reward systems do not protect brand equity. (Aaker 1992, 32) 4.1.2 Borrowing brand equity Many firms borrow on the brand equity in their brand names by extending existing brand names to other products. Two types of extensions can be distinguished: a line and a category extension. The latter is frequently also called brand extension. A line extension is when a current brand name is used to enter new market segment in the existing product class. A category extension is when the current brand name is used to enter a different product class. (Aaker Keller 1990, 2728; Farquhar 1990, RC10; Farquhar Herr Fazio 1990, 856; Hankinson Cowking 1993, 7475; Keller 1998, 67) A line extension occurs when a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand name. A line extension often involves a different size, colour, flavour or ingredient, a different form or a different application for the brand. Products in line extensions are technically congruent, i.e., similar in many attributes. They belong to the same product category or subclass. The vast majority of new-product activity consists of line extensions. Excess manufacturing capacity often drives a company to introduce additional items. The company might want to meet the consumers desire for variety. The company may recognise a latent consumer want and try to capitalise on it. The company may want to match a competitors successful line extension. Many companies introduce line extensions primarily to command more shelf space from resellers. Line extensions involve risks. There is a chance that the brand name will lose its specific meaning. This is called the line-extension trap. The other risk is that many line extensions will not sell enough to cover their development and promotion costs. Furthermore, even when they sell enough, the sales may come at the expense of other items in the line. A line extension works best when it takes sales away from competing brands, not when it cannibalises the companys other products. (Keller 1998, 455 469; Kotler 1994, 452454; van Raaij Schoonderbeek 1993, 482) A category extension occurs when a company decides to use an existing brand name to launch a product in a new product category. Category extensions capitalise on the brand image of the core product or service to efficiently inform consumers and retailers about a new product or service. The potential benefits of category extensions include immediate name recognition and the transference of benefits associated with a familiar brand. A well-regarded brand name gives the new product instant recognition and earlier acceptance. It enables the company to enter into new-product categories more easily. Moreover, category extensions eliminate the high costs of establishing a new brand and often reduce the costs of gaining distribution. Category extensions also involve risks. The new product might disappoint buyers and damage their respect for the companys other products. The brand name may lose its special positioning in the consumers mind through over-extension. Brand dilution is said to occur when consumers no longer associate a brand with a specific product or highly similar products. Companies that are tempted to transfer their brand name must research how well the brands associations fit the new product. The best result would occur when the brand name builds the sales of both the new product and the existing product. An acceptable result would be when the new product sells well without affecting the sales of the existing product. The worst result would be when the new product fails and hurts the sales of the existing product. (Farquhar Herr Fazio 1990, 856; Hankinson Cowking 1993, 7482; Keller 1993, 1516; Kotler 1994, 454455; Loken John 1993, 7983) The relationship between the core product and the extended product may be based on technical attributes, benefits, or values and lifestyles. First, products may be technically related, based on physical attributes. Extensions based on technical attributes are often successful, if the products have a large set of similar attributes. Second, the extension may be based on product benefits, if a brand offers clear and distinguishing benefits. These extensions may have dissimilar attributes, but they are similar for one or more benefits, e.g., quality. Third, well-known brand names with a good reputation may extend to new products based on their associated value and lifestyle. The precondition is that the brand is already associated with a clear set of values. These extensions may be completely dissimilar in a technical sense, but similar in values and lifestyle for the target group and for usage situations. The core of these extensions is the set of values and the lifestyle of the target group. These brand names often have a connotation of high class or luxury. The new product may be technically different from the core product. Brand extensions based on values and lifestyle may enrich the associations of the core product. These extensions may also keep the brand name in the evoked set of consumers. If the schema of the core product is high in the hierarchy, i.e., associated with values and lifestyle, one could extend it to completely dissimilar products. The new products should, however, fit in the schema of the core product and appeal to the same values and lifestyle of the target group. Cross selling is possible, because these products are often complementary for the same lifestyle. Brands should avoid, however, becoming only associated with values that are too far away from the original product benefits. (van Raaij Schoonderbeek 1993, 482483) The relational model for category extensions includes three types of associations: brand to category, category to brand, and category to category. The strengths of these associations are called typicality, dominance, and relatedness, respectively. The possible asymmetry in the relationship between typicality and dominance is a distinguishing feature of the model. Typical brands in a product category are more easily extended to closely related target categories than to distant target categories. Furthermore, dominant brands are not easily extended to distant target categories, because of the exemplary nature of such brands in their original product categories. The relationship between typicality and dominance is of practical interest for exploring the limitations of category extensions. When the same brand has been extended to a wide variety of target categories, we do not expect the parent brands dominance in the original category to diminish, but we would expect a dilution of typicality. Furthermore, some brands are so typical in a particular target category that consumers mistakenly may believe that the brand extension exists when it does not. This spurious awareness of non-existent brand extensions might sound a blessing for marketers. To the extent that a strong association already exists, a firm might well consider a category extension to that target category. Less effort would be needed for creating awareness, and more could be spent on other activities. (Farquhar Herr Fazio 1990, 857859; Roux Lorange 1993, 495) The association network of the core product indicates how far one could stretch the brand. If the network of the core product is low in the hierarchy, i.e., only associated with technical and functional product attributes, one should not go beyond line extensions. On the other hand, brands develop over time. The typical history of a brand is that it starts narrowly with a complete overlap with the product. Then, line extensions of, e.g., flavour and colour variants may be developed. The brand becomes broader and obtains connotations of quality, design and other psychosocial attributes and benefits. Then, the brand may transcend the physical reality and become associated with values. This case provides the richest opportunities for brand extensions. However, not all brands develop according to these lines. (Van Raaij Schoonderbeek 1993, 483) Source:Pekka Tuominen. Managing Brand Equity(J). LTA 1/99.PP:65-100标题：管理品牌资产译文：4利用和测量品牌资产4.1利用品牌资产 利用品牌资产有三种方式：创建、利用、购买。越来越多的“创建”品牌资产并不不容易，这是由于在许多行业，增殖品牌和激烈的竞争普遍存在。在一个特定的行业，通常存在有许多高品质的产品和高水平的广告，因此很难通过广告引进优质品牌和塑造认知。因此，选择创建品牌资产可以通过利用或购买它。(Farquhar 1990, RC10RC11) 4.1.1创建品牌资产首先建立品牌资产，通过依靠优质的产品创建积极的品牌评估；其次是品牌培育易于接受的品牌态度，最大化地影响消费者购买行为；第三，通过发展统一的品牌形象，与消费者产生关系。(Farquhar 1990, RC8RC10)在这三个要素中，积极的品牌评估被认为可能是最重要的，它是基于一种提供优良性能的高质量的产品。(Barwise 1993, 96) 创建一个强势品牌第一要素是积极的品牌评估。质量是强势品牌的基石。一个公司必须有高质量的产品，提供卓越的性能给消费者，使得在消费者的意识中对品牌有正面的评价。在消费者的脑中有三种类型的评价：情感反应、认知评价和行为意图。情感反应包括对品牌的情感或感知（如感情，品牌让我的自我感觉良好，这个品牌是一个熟悉的朋友，或品牌的象征地位，从属关系或独一无二）。认知评价是对品牌的信念作出的推断（如品牌降低了某些不好的风险）。行为意图是从对这种品牌有探索性兴趣的习惯而产生的（例如，这个品牌是我的家庭唯一使用的或这个品牌这周会打折）。努力创造积极的品牌评估通常是针对这些类型中的一种。 (Farquhar 1990, RC8RC9)创建强势品牌的第二个要素是态度可及性。它是指一个人如何能迅速的重新获得藏在记忆中的东西。有两种方式能从记忆中重新获得储存起来的评价。一种是仅仅通过观察对象的态度使之从记忆中自然的自动激活，自发的态度仅仅是观察对象的记忆。第二种，控制性的激活需要积极关注个人以获得先前储存的评价，或者在态度对象里构建一个总结性的评价。在创建强势品牌的第三个要素是要有一个一致的品牌形象。品牌的形象的一致性是管理消费者与品牌关系的一部分。关系存在于品牌的个性化，以及消费者的每次购买中。创建品牌资产，需要创建一个熟悉的品牌，并且能够引起具有良好的，强大的和独特的品牌联想。这可以通过对品牌认同的最初的选择，如品牌名称，标志或符号，也可以通过把品牌认同与配套市场营销计划进行整合来实现。品牌认同的明智的选择可以极大地促进品牌资产的建立，但主要的投入来自于对品牌的配套的市场营销活动。规范的产品或服务本身就是相关产品的对关联有影响的的主要依据，并确定消费者对产品和服务的意义的基本理解。同样，品牌的定价策略直接对相关的价格层或该产品在品牌类别中的水平产生关联，以及其相应的价格波动或变化，例如，折扣的频率和幅度。营销传播由公司努力实施，相反的，针对塑造消费者对产品或服务的认知能提出灵活的应对措施。营销传播也可以对增加用户和使用图像属性的帮助。口头和其他社会影响也起着重要的作用,尤其是对用户和使用图像属性。(Keller 1993, 910)如果考虑到短期的经济前景，用于建设或维持强势品牌的投资可能很难或不能判断。这需要有远见和信念，相信这样的投资会得到回报。培养远见以及拥有信心的关键是要懂得能使一个品牌具有竞争优势的方法。有了既定目标，就必须要对品牌保持警惕。这种企图首先在其他领域表现出来，如纠正市场份额中的问题，或追求成本削减计划。这样的话，品牌资产的建设是暂时搁置的。当组织的结构和奖励制度不保护品牌资产的时候，这种企图是更强。 (Aaker 1992, 32) 4.1.2利用品牌资产许多公司在品牌名称上利用品牌资产，通过把现有品牌名称延伸到其他产品上。扩展可分为两种类型：产品线的延伸，范畴扩展。后者也常称为品牌扩展。产品线的延伸指在进入新的细分市场时，已经有的产品沿用现有的品牌名称。范畴扩展是指把现有的品牌名称用到不同的产品上。 (Aaker Keller 1990, 2728; Farquhar 1990, RC10; Farquhar Herr Fazio 1990, 856; Hankinson Cowking 1993, 7475; Keller 1998, 67) 产品线的延伸通常发生在公司用同一品牌使用到同一产品类别下的其他项目时。产品线延伸往往涉及到一个品牌的不同的尺寸推陈出新，从而推出新款式、新口味、新色彩、新配方、新包装的产品。产品在产品线的延伸中通常技术是不变的，即在许多属性上类似。它们属于同一个产品类别或子类。新产品的活动绝大部分构成了产品线的延伸。制造业产能过剩往往驱动公司引进其他项目。该公司可能是为了满足消费者的各种欲望。可能识别到了潜在的消费者需求并尝试利用它。也可能要与另一个公司成功的产品线的延伸匹敌竞争。许多公司引进产品线的延伸，主要为了在经销商那里有更多的的货架空间。产品线的延伸会涉及风险。一个风险是，品牌名称将失去其特定的含义。这就是所谓的产品线的延伸的陷阱。另一个风险是，许多产品线的延伸将不会足够的出售，以弥补他们的开发和推广成本。此外，即使他们卖得够多的话，销售可能会影响在这条线上其他项目中的费用。线的延伸在远离竞争性品牌而发生销售时发挥最大作用，而不是蚕食公司的其他产品。（凯勒1998年，455 - 469;科特勒1994，452-454;面包车Raaij - Schoonderbeek 1993年，482）范畴扩展通常发生在当一个公司决定使用现有品牌名称推出一个新产品类别的产品时。范畴扩展利用核心产品或服务的品牌形象，有效地告知消费者和零售商新产品或服务。范畴扩展的潜在好处包括即时知名度和与一个熟悉的品牌相关的利益转移。一个受到广泛关注的品牌名称能让消费者对新产品即时识别和尽快接受。它使