Main Elements of Brand Equity

A brand might be a first image of the product or service to show out to public in the market. Branding is one of differentiation to the company, products or service in the market. Building brand successfully could bring several advantages to companies, such as enhanced the competitive position and reinforce the retailers power. Also can against defending power of company and extend the market share.

A major part of building brand is building brand equity to a company. Brand equity is same to “brand valuation” or “brand value”. It is a value to the famous brand name, at the same time, it also have added-value to the brand. Basically it is structure by five basic assets of company — perceived quality, brand awareness, brand associations and brand loyalty.

Perceived Quality

Perceived quality is one of important element of brand equity. It is not real quality for product or services itself, that is about the consumer’s individual appraised to the product or services. The level of perceived quality might be affect by consumers’ individual feeling. Perceived quality can be related to with price premiums, price elasticities, usage of brand, and, remarkably, stock return. Actually, it can be treated as the brand image to the public. In high perceived quality of product or services, consumer is willing to purchase.

Perceived quality is the evaluation from customer about the product or service offerings.  Because perceived quality is a subjective evaluation from customer, customers are easy to influence by other factors except by the products or services’ real quality. The external factors such as price, brand name, warranties, and impartial quality information have been found to be related to perceived product quality and consumer’s product evaluations. For example, it is always have a dentist in the advertising for tooth paste products, and provide expert opinions. The promotional activities and advertising messages should be designed which are emphasize the product attributes and easy to catch consumers attention to enhance perceived quality of products and services. Moreover, retailers need to be care about the product attributes and external cues associated with perceived quality.

Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is one of the main components of brand equity. The majority of early loyalty definition as repeat to purchase of a special or standard brand service. Brand loyalty is the attachment that a customer-have to a brand. Another definition from mentioned brand loyalty is deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronise a preferred product or service consistently in the future, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having potential to cause switching behavior. Customer is tend to repeat purchase the product or service in a brand. In conclude to above definition, that the actual loyalty of customer to the brand as reflected in the purchase choices or behavioral purchase habit. The development and maintenance of consumer brand loyalty is placed at the heart of companies marketing plans, especially in the face of highly competitive markets with increasing unpredictability and reducing product differentiation.

The determinant of brand loyalty can be check with customer satisfactions; normally high customer satisfaction will have high brand loyalty. The brand loyalty is measured by an attitudinal perspective and consumer perceptions. Brand trust will influence the brand loyalty. The benefit of create the brand loyalty is easy to control the price tolerance, the loyal customer are less sensitive to price increase. For example, there are highest brand loyalties for Apple in the IT market and iPhone market. As Apple already create a bright image to the public — Apple are the innovator in the market. Apple brands also bring out the image of high technology leadership; customer will have a purchase to gratify the vanity.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is one of brand presence to consumers. It is an emotional feeling to individual customer. Brand awareness is an important component of brand equity. In different various levels of brand awareness, degree from mere recognition of the brand to the position in the market, which refers to the brand recollection by a consumer. Brand awareness was defined that the ability of consumers to identify or recognize the brand. Brand awareness can helps the brand to stand out from the others in the competitive market. Brand awareness is important as customers will not consider purchasing on the brand if they are not aware the brand. Brand identity is the outward expression of a brand, such as brand name, products trademark, communications, and company or products appears looking.

Basically brand identity is the image / information that the brand owner provided to its potential or target consumers. However, the development of product’s brand identity may evolve to a new trait from consumer perspective, it is not necessarily provided by brand owner percolates to targeted consumers. Therefore, it is need to have the brand associations for checking the consumer’s perception of the brand.

The brand name should be conceptually close to target with the product or services. Also the brand name should be attracted the target consumer. In fact, consumer will easy to remember the sustainable brand names, helps to transcend trends and provide a positive connotation to consumer. Brand identity is basic to consumer recognition and symbolizes the brand’s differentiation from competitors in the market.

Brand identity mainly focus on reliable qualities, real characteristics of the actual value and brand promise that provided and sustained by organizational and/or production characteristics. The success example is Disney World. Disney is successfully to provide a bright image to the public: a fantastic place where full of joy, exciting and fantasy. The invested a lots to build up the image, such as the training to employee to provide a good service to customer. Keep communication with the customer, set up a social net with public (i.e. Facebook), invited people provide comments to make a improvement. Also provide some new and funny facilities. Disney World provide a place is for all aged who wants to have experience on happy.

There are many marketing tools for brand awareness, such as advertising, public relations, packaging and word-of-mouth communication or referral. The goal at this stage should be to create or find out the brand identity. Brand identity  is very important to create and maintain brand awareness. To create brand awareness to the public, companies have to spend more effort to outstanding their products’ or services’ identities. It will have spent a lot in advertising, set up a promotion event. For example Apple, it is represented to high technology products. Before launch the new products, Apple will arrange a promotion event to promote the new products to the customer.

In order to maintaining the brand awareness, will use a several channel to achieve the goal — reinforce the brand image to customer. Normally changing packaging, produce advertising of products, send a messages to audience.

Brand Associations

Brand associations are the important component of brand equity. Brand associations are contain the meaning of the brand for consumers. The two most important types of brand associations are: brand personality and organizational associations. These two majorly types also can be influence the brands equity. Brand personality is a core component of brand equity, and it is defined to in terms of the various characteristics or traits that the brands can be presume to the perception of consumers. Brand personality is the association of human characteristics with the brand and a user personality can be use in brand image building strategy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *