George rossolatos seminar on branding, brand equity, brand semiotic models and research methods part...

George Rossolatos MSc, MBA, PhD//disruptiVesemiOtics// email: [email protected]://uni-kassel.academia.edu/georgerossolatos

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Agenda- Day 1• Key branding concepts• What is brand planning?• Marketing brand planning conceptual models• Branding research methods• Emerging marketing perspectives and research methods in branding

research• Brand equity in focus: Concepts and research methods• Semiotic perspectives on branding• Literature gaps in brand equity research and the contribution of the brand

trajectory of signification• Q&A


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Agenda- Day 2• Literature gaps in brand equity research and the contribution of the brand trajectory of

signification• From the generative trajectory to the brand generative trajectory

of signification• The levels, morphology and syntax of the generative trajectory

of signification• The brand generative trajectory of signification• Rhetorical operations and figures: The missing links in the brand trajectory of signification• Brand equity semiotically revisited: Linguistic value as the semiotic counterpart of brand

equity• Methodology: A qualitative research design facilitated by quantitative content analysis and

multivariate mapping techniques• 9-step methodological framework for projecting a brand equity structure at the encoding

stage of an ad filmic text• Content analysis• Case-study: Projecting the brand equity structure of the major UK Cereals brand players• Consolidated equity metrics• In quest for patterns of differential semic-cum-rhetorical ad textual configurations• Areas for further research• Q&A


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What are brands? The marketing perspective A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them,

intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group ofsellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors (AMA)

Intangible assets that produce added benefits for the business(Kapferer)

Powerful entities because they blend functional, performance-basedvalues with emotional values (De Chernatony)

A complex symbol, the intangible sum of a product’s attributes, itsname, packaging and price, its history, reputation, and the way it isadvertised (Ogilvy)


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What are brands? The semiotic perspective

• “A brand is a sign in the semiotic sense. It stands for something other

than itself in some meaningful way” (Danesi)

• Logico-semantic simulacra (in line with Greimas)

• Constellations of different morphological components

• Motivated signs hanging together in self-referential discourses

through unique syntactical configurations

Rossolatos

A brand is more than a product

Aaker


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Key branding concepts: Brand identity Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that the

brand strategist aspires to create or maintain.

A brand identity structure consists of a core and an extendedidentity Core identity The central, timeless essence of the brand or least likely to undergo

changes in line with shifts in market / competitive dynamics The locus of core brand associations Enduring meaning patterns

Extended identity Peripheral brand associations More likely to change in line with or in response to shifting market and

consumer dynamicsAaker

Examples of core brand identity

McDonald’s: Consistent product quality and customer serviceacross selling points on a global scale

Coca-Cola: Quenches thirst

Michelin: Advanced-technology tires for the driver who isknowledgeable about tires

Johnson & Johnson: Trust and quality in OTC medicine


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Key branding concepts: Brand personality A metaphorical way of conceptualizing a brand

“The set of human characteristics associated with a given brand,from gender, age to warmth, concern” (Aaker)

Who would a brand be if it were a person? An animal? A car?

Forging closer bonds with consumers by attributinganthropomorphic features to a brand Example: Tony the tiger (Kellogg’s Frosties)

User personality (existing or ideal) Example: Marlboro man, endorsers

Key branding concepts: Brand personality A metaphorical way of conceptualizing a brand

“The set of human characteristics associated with a given brand,from gender, age to warmth, concern” (Aaker)

Who would a brand be if it were a person? An animal? A car?

Forging closer bonds with consumers by attributinganthropomorphic features to a brand Example: Tony the tiger (Kellogg’s Frosties)

User personality (existing or ideal) Example: Marlboro man, endorsers


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Key branding concepts: Intended vs. (pe)receivedpositioning

• Positioning is not what you do to a product, but what

you do to the mind of the prospect (Ries & Trout)

• Intended brand positioning is equivalent to the

projection of brand associations

Key branding concepts: Brand Image• “Despite research agreement on the importance of image, the term is used soinconsistently that no two researchers are necessarily talking about the samephenomenon” (Stern).

•“Inconsistent usage is the root of gaps between construct definition, methodologicalprocedure, and focused theory development” (Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Keaveney and Hunt,1992; Villanova et al., 1990).

• “Image is generally conceived of as the outcome of a transaction whereby signals emittedby a marketing unit are received by a receptor and organized into a mental perception of thesending unit”

“It can refer to a real-world sending entity such as a firm, product/brand, or store; it can alsorefer to a psychological entity such as a pattern of beliefs and feelings in a consumer’s mindstimulated by associations with the real-world entity; or it can refer to advertising or publicrelations messages”

Consequently, the term refers to three different domains of reality- the external world- the consumer’s mind- the textual intermediary between the two

•


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Key branding concepts: Brand Image• Marketing disciplines use the same or cognate words to refer to threedifferent reality domains (Stern)

• tangible entities in the physical world (i.e., brands as physical entities)• verbal and pictorial representations in the media• mental pictures in the consumer’s mind (i.e., brand associations)

• Brand image as specific attributes that reflect brand associations• Are these unidimensional or gestaltic constructs?

• Category image: Key image drivers, perceptual KPIs, points of parity• Brand-specific image: Points of differentiation, unique territories for attainingdifferential advantage

• Positioning = nexus of associations about a brand’s semic universe inconsumer memory linked to an expressive inventory (Rossolatos)

Key branding concepts: Core vs. peripheral brandimage attributes

• Core brand image: Attributes that a brand will always uphold, regardless of

environmental/cultural changes

• Peripheral brand image: Secondary attributes that are less important to a

brand, but essential for its enrichment

• without mitigating the integrity of core brand image


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The branding challenge

De Chernatony

Correctly identifying and relating the two parts of the iceberg

Need for a brand grammarthat may account for how

multimodal rhetoricaltransformations occur at theintersection between these

two layers

Key branding concepts: Brand Equity (the pinnacle ofbranding)

“A set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name andsymbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product orservice to a firm and/or that firm's customers” (Aaker/AMA)

“Customer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer has a highlevel of awareness and familiarity with the brand and holds somestrong, favorable and unique brand associations in memory” (Keller)


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Key branding concepts: Brand Equity (the pinnacle ofbranding)

“A set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name andsymbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product orservice to a firm and/or that firm's customers” (Aaker/AMA)

“Customer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer has a highlevel of awareness and familiarity with the brand and holds somestrong, favorable and unique brand associations in memory” (Keller)

BRAND EQUITYTHE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF BRANDING

Building and maintaining strong brands throughstrong, unique, favorable brand associations in

consumers’ minds.

Nestle in 1988 paid 8 times the net assets worth of Rowntree for acquiringthe brand

Why brand strength matters? A strong brand can drive sales growth by increasing the ability of a business to

attract new customers and to retain existing ones. A strong brand can increase margins by commanding a price premium over

competitors (Starbucks and Pringles). Brands with strong bonds to consumers create barriers for entry to competitors;

consumers will be reluctant to switch to new players, even when their products andservices are of equal or higher quality.

A strong brand can ease entrance into new categories. Consumers know what toexpect from a product with a brand name like GE or Samsung. They will recognizeand trust the brand name in a new context.

Suppliers are more willing to work with companies that have a strong brandreputation.

Companies with strong brands have the option to minimize investment costs andrisks when extending into new areas by licensing the brand to a third party andgetting royalties in return (The Gap).

A strong brand can protect against downturns. Brand loyalists are more likely tostay with them through tough times. The reputation of brands such as Coca-Cola andJohnson & Johnson’s Tylenol enabled them to recover quickly from adverse publicity.(Hollis)

George rossolatos seminar on branding, brand equity, brand semiotic models and research methods part...

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