1 Brand Key Type of model:Brand model (structure and process model) Author(s):Unknown Domain:Positioning Figure 1: The eight brand positioning steps as per the Brand Key model TheBrandKeyisamodelthatcanbeusedtopositionbrands.Thismodelis used in a range of different organisations, comes in different shapes and sizes, andhasdifferentnames(suchasBrandBox),makingitsoriginnotentirely clear. At Unilever, they use the model in the form presented in this article. The modelnameseightsteps/stagesthatcanleadtodifferentiatingandrelevant brand positioning: (1) competitive environment, (2) target, (3) consumer insight, (4)benefits,(5)values&personality,(6)reasonstobelieve,(7)discriminator and(8)brandessence.TheBrandKeyisallabouttakingstockofallrelevant

2 The market and alternative choices asseenbytheconsumerandthe relativevaluethebrandoffersin that market. The person and situation for which thebrandisalwaysthebest choice,definedintermsoftheir attitudesandvalues;notjustde-mographics. That element of all you know about thetargetconsumerandtheir needs(inthiscompetitiveenvi-ronmentuponwhichthebrandis founded). information for these eight subjects, by putting some succinct points to paper for each(intotalaboutoneA4).Indoingso,youcan makea distinctionbetween describingthecurrentsituation(ist,whichisreferredtoasthemasterkeyin thismodel)and aseparatedescriptionof thefuture,desiredsituation(soll;in thismodelthevisionkey).AtUnilever,aseparatebrandkeyiscompletedfor eachextension.Inthefollowingwewillfurtherexplaintheeightstagesofthe BrandKey,includingindicationsofthemodelsshortcomings,andfinallypre-sent another model that was derived from this one. The Brand Key model works on the assumption that a brand manager takes the following eight steps in a brand positioning process:1.Competitive environment: the first step on theroadtoclearpositioninginvolves mappingthecompetitionsituation.This meanstakingstockofthebrands/prod-uctsthatacustomercanconsiderwhen makinghis/herpurchase decision. These can include direct competitors in the sense that Pepsi-Cola is a re-al competitor of Coca-Cola but also less obvious competitors that, for ex-ample, tailor to the generic need for the quenching of thirst. At this stage, the brand manager will not only have to identify competing brands, but also con-siderhowthesepositionthemselvesinthemarket,andwhichassociations customers/consumershavewiththesebrands.Ahandyaidforthetaking stock of competitors is Porters Five Forces Model. 2.Target: this step consists of identifying the (desired) target group; not only in terms of demographics,butalsointermsofatti-tudesandvalues.This,inprinciple, meansansweringthequestionwhythe brandinquestionmakesthebestchoiceforacertainpersonand/orina certain situation. 3.Consumerinsight:forabrandtobesuc-cessfulinamarket,itwillhavetotiein witharelevantconsumerinsight.Acon-sumerinsightconcernsalatentpurchase motiveinthetargetgroupwithrelationto theproduct.Aconsumerinsightdoesnotmerelyanswerthequestionwhy consumers buy a certain product, but rather lays bare the latent needs driv-ing consumers to buy a certain product. This is not just about finding out why consumers buy a certain product, but also about finding out why they would not buy it. By way of example, we can refer to the consumer insight behind

3 Thedifferentiatingfunctionaland emotionalbenefitsthatmotivate purchase. The brand values what the brand standsforandbelievesinand/or its personality. the Coca-Cola Zero launch. Research had shown that men found Coca-Cola Lighttoofeminine.TheCoca-ColaCompanycounteredthatbylaunching Coca-ColaZero,amoremanly-lookingsoftdrink,whichdidtieinwitha more male experience framework in terms of name and look & feel. The sig-nificantinsightherewasthereasonwhymenwouldnotbuyCoca-Cola Light;Coca-ColaZerowas,eventually,basedonthatinsight.Thedescrip-tionofrelevantinsightsforabrandcansometimesoverlapwiththetarget group description (in particular when it concerns values and attitudes). Coca-Cola Zero is intended for men who are looking for exquisite taste, butwithoutthesugar.Coca-Colaislookingtoappealtomenwitha carefree lifestyle with all that entails, who do not want to settle for pos-sibledownsides(nocompromisingontaste).TheZeromessageis therefore: Great life without downsides. In order to make this message hit home with the target group, Coca-Cola looked into their passions. In theNetherlands,racingandgamingwereidentifiedastheirpassions. Basedon these drivers, Coca-Cola subsequently set up targeted mar-keting communication campaigns for the Zero target group. 4.Benefits: where steps 1 to 3 were outward looking(competition,targetgroupand consumer insights), step 4 is the first of a seriesofmoreinward-lookingstepswithafocusonthebranditself.This stageinvolvesidentifyingthebenefitsofferedbythebrand.Thesebenefits canbe bothof a functionalnature(forexample:emphasizingthepresence ofcertainingredientsinamargarinebrand),andofapsycho-socialnature (by margarine appealing to the value of motherly care). 5.Values&personality:thecentralquestion in this phase is what values a brand has to appealto(whatdoesthebrandstand for, andwhatdoesitbelievein?).Brandsappealingtovaluesaresupposedto clickwiththeconsumer.This does notonlymeanbetterbrandrecognition, but also a greater degree of appreciation by the consumer. Well-known val-uesystemsareMitchellsVALStypology,andRokeachsRVStypology. When designating values, two aspects come into it: (a) values should not be communicated directly, but should in the end still resound in the advertising message,and(b)valuesgenerallydonotmakereferencetothepointson which a brand differentiates itself. Where the latter is concerned, it should be notedthatthedifferencebetweenbrandsmainlyliesinthequestionhow valuesareconvertedintopracticalconsequences.Valuescanalsobeper-sonified;describingthebrandintermsofpersonal(ity)characteristicsor traits.Awayofdoingthatinmarketingcommunicationisusingcelebrities

4 Theproofweoffertosubstantiate the positioning. Singlemostcompellingandcom-petitivestatementthetargetcon-sumerwouldmakeforbuyingthe brand. Thedistillationofthebrandsge-netic code into one clear thought. withthesecharacteristicsinadvertising(suchasGeorgeClooneyinthe Nespresso ads). 6.Reasontobelieve:atthisstageofthe process,theideaistoformulateargu-ments based on which the target group will believe the brand is the best op-tion for them. This preference can mostly be captured in sentences such as: I buy brand X because... . These arguments can be used in advertising, but actual customer contacts can also be set up in such a way that they prove toconsumersthatthebrandactuallystandsforwhatitclaimstostandfor. Forexample:atravelagencyclaimingtobeverycheapwillbettersupport thatimagebyhavingausteredecorationthanwithlotsofluxuryandsleek style in their agency interiors. One example is the case of a certain scientific searchenginebuildingadelayintotheprogram,becauseusershadlittle confidence in its accuracy due to the rapid return of search results. 7.Discriminator: in this penultimate step, the brandmanagerwillhavetoconcisely statewhattheactualdifferenceisbe-tweenthebrandinquestionandother brands. This difference can mostly be captured in sentences such as: Only brand X has.... 8.Thebrandessence:thisisasummaryof stages4to7.Theideahereistocatch the brands essence in one or two words; such as motherly care in case of Blue Band margarine, and driving enjoyment for BMW. In a later version of this model, marketing staff at Unilever added one more step to theBrand Keyin the form of the brands root strengths. This stage involves pinpointing what has made the brand what it is, what it can build on. Describing root strengths should be done prior to the eight above steps. The advantage of the Brand Key is that it profiles virtually every single relevant stepinapositioningprocess;butthedownsideisthatitoveremphasizesthe outside-inapproach,makingthemodellesssuitableforbrandswherethein-side-outapproachisrelevant(suchasinthecaseofserviceproviders).The outside-in emphasis particularly comes to the fore in the fact that values & per-sonalityfeaturesratherlateoninthemodel(stage5).Whenpositioninga brandthatstronglydependsonaninside-outmovement,values&personality tend to be a fact that serves as the basic principle of positioning: it is therefore rather tricky to apply this model for service providers, for example. The diagram belowisarejiggedversionofthebrandkeymodel,withthenewnameBrand Box, which does indeed identify the same phases as the Brand Key.

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