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Chapter 2
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
CHALLENGES: ENHANCING BRAND
EQUITY, INFLUENCEING BEHAVIOR, AND
BEING ACCOUNTABLE
Chapter Objectives




Explain the concept of brand equity from both the company’s and the customer’s
perspectives.
Describe the positive outcomes that result from enhancing brand equity.
Appreciate a model of brand equity from the customer’s perspective.
Understand how marcom efforts must influence behavior and achieve financial
accountability.
Chapter Overview
The basic issues addressed in this chapter are these: What can marketing communicators
do to enhance the equity of their brands and, beyond this, affect the behavior of their
present and prospective customers? Also, how can marketing communicators justify their
investments in advertising, promotions, and other marcom elements and demonstrate
financial accountability?
The concept of brand equity is explained from both the company’s perspective and the
consumer’s perspective. The firm-based viewpoint of brand equity focuses on outcomes
extending from efforts to enhance a brand’s value to its various stakeholders and
discusses various outcomes: (1) achieving a higher market share, (2) increasing brand
loyalty, (3) being able to charge premium prices, and (4) earning a revenue premium.
From the perspective of the customer, a brand possesses equity to the extent that they are
familiar with the brand and have stored in their memory favorable, strong, and unique
brand associations. Brand equity from the customer’s perspective consists of two forms
of brand-related knowledge: (1) brand awareness and (2) brand image. The chapter
covers three ways by which brand equity is enhanced and labels these the (1) speak-foritself approach, (2) message-driven approach, and (3) leveraging approach. The chapter
then discusses ten traits shared by the world’s strongest brands.
The latter portion of the chapter covers the concept of ROMI, or return on marketing
investments. Several difficulties of measuring marcom effectiveness are discussed: (1)
choosing a metric, (2) gaining agreement, (3) collecting accurate data, and (4) calibrating
specific effects. The chapter then discusses marketing-mix modeling (i.e., multivariate
regression analysis) and how it can assist managers in determining the effect of each
marcom element on sales volume.
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When Polls Fail to Reveal the Complete Picture
Marketing researchers and pollsters are constantly surveying people about their likes and
dislikes, their voting intentions, their thoughts about which actors should win Academy
Awards, and on and on. Pollsters also investigate consumers’ thoughts and feelings
toward brands. In a recent online poll 2,400 adults were asked to spontaneously identify
up to three brands that they personally regarded as the “best.” Coca-Cola, Sony, Toyota,
Dell, Ford, Kraft Foods, Pepsi-Co, Microsoft, Apple, and Honda were identified as the 10
“best” brands. Critics suggest that such polls are not true indicators of the equity of a
brand, as Ford Motors is anything but one of the world’s best brands in terms of
profitability, market share, sales growth, and consumer confidence. “Best brands” surveys
are more a measure of brand awareness than of brand equity.
The World’s Perception of America
Nations can be thought of as brands. Firms that use “country of origin” labels are affected
by the positive or negative image of that country. Many countries actively market
themselves with the goal of forging favorable and strong associations in the minds of
people around the world. The Nations Brand Index (NBI) is a barometer of global opinion
toward over 35 countries. Each quarter, 25,000 people are surveyed on their perceptions
of these countries. Respondents are asked questions about each country in six areas:
1. Exports—satisfaction with products and services produced
2. People—thoughts and feelings about the people
3. Governance—perceptions of whether the country can be trusted to make responsible
decisions and to uphold international peace and security.
4. Tourism— perceptions of a country’s natural beauty and historical heritage
5. Culture and Heritage—perceptions and feelings of a country’s heritage and its culture
6. Immigration and Investment—willingness to live, work, and/or pursue education.
A nation’s “brand” image is the sum of its scores on these six dimensions. The countries
rank the best overall are: UK, Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Australia, Italy,
Sweden , Japan, and the Netherlands. The US is ranked 11th.
Many people outside the United States regard America as relatively uncultured, and given
the recent US war mongering the poor performance on the governance dimension is
hardly surprising given the widespread opposition to the war in Iraq, the U.S. government’s recent record on treatment of enemy combatants (think Abu Ghraib and
Guantanamo Bay), its saber-rattling posture toward Iran and North Korea, and
so on.
A country’s image, like any brand image, can be changed. It is important as a matter of
international relations and economics that a country has a positive image.
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Neuromarketing and the Case of Why Coca-Cola Outsells Pepsi
The infamous “Pepsi Challenge” was conducted with the use of neuromarketing, which is
a specific application of the field of brand research called neuroscience. Functional
magnetic resonance images (fMRIs) can scan the brains of individuals employing their
various senses upon exposure to stimuli. Brain scans reveal which areas of the brain are
most activated in response to external stimuli. In the new-fangled Pepsi Challenge, the
reward center of the brain revealed a much stronger preference for Pepsi versus Coke
when study participants were unaware of which brand they had tasted. However, the
result was opposite when participants knew the name of the brand they were about to
taste. In the non-blind taste test, a different region of the brain was more activated and
Coca-Cola was the winner. Activation of the area of the brain associated with cognitive
functions revealed that participants now preferred Coke. The inferred explanation is a
difference in brand images, with Coke possessing the more attractive image earned
through years of effective marketing and advertising effort.
Chapter Outline
1. Introduction
 Recall from Chapter 1 the framework for thinking about all aspects of the marcom
process (Figure 1-3):

Fundamental decisions (positioning, targeting, objective setting, and budgeting)

Implementation decisions (mixing elements, creating messages, selecting
media, and establishing momentum)

Outcomes (enhancing brand equity and affecting behavior)

Program Evaluation
 This chapter focuses on the desired outcomes of marcom efforts.
2. Brand Equity
 A brand represents a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of
them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers
and to differentiate them from those of competition.”
 Without a recognizable brand, a product is but a mere commodity.
 It’s more than just a name, term, symbol, etc. – a brand is everything that one
company’s particular offering stands for in comparison to other brands in a category of competitive products.
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 Brand equity can be considered either from the perspective of the organization
that owns a brand or from the vantage point of the customer.
A Firm-Based Perspective on Brand Equity
 Focuses on outcomes extending from efforts to enhance a brand’s value to its
various stakeholders.
 As the value, or equity, of a brand increases, various positive outcomes result:

achieving a higher market share

increasing brand loyalty

being able to charge premium prices

earning a revenue premium, which is defined as the revenue differential
between a branded item and a corresponding private labeled item
A Customer-Based Perspective on Brand Equity
 Brand equity exists to the extent that consumers are familiar with the brand and
have favorable, strong, and unique associations with the brand.
 Brand equity has two main forms of consumer knowledge: brand awareness and
brand image.



Figure 2.1 portrays the two dimensions of brand knowledge and delineates
each dimension into its specific components.
Brand awareness: when a consumer thinks about a product category and a
brand name comes to mind. Awareness is the basic dimension of brand equity
and has three dimensions:

Brand recognition: consumer is able to identify a brand if it is presented to
them on a list or if hints/cues are provided.

Brand recall: consumer can retrieve a brand name from memory without
any reminders.

Top-of-mind-awareness (TOMA): brand is first that consumer thinks of
when asked about product category.

The failure of dot-coms can be seen in part as a failure of not building successful brand equity such that consumers could remember and know what
their businesses did. Indeed, the dot-coms assumed that basic brand
awareness was all they needed, when in fact the brand must ultimately be
tied to some benefit.
Brand Image: the types of associations that come to mind when contemplating a particular brand.

An association is simply the particular thoughts and feelings that a consumer has about a brand.
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

Associations can be based on attributes (product-related and
non-product-related), benefits, and overall evaluation (attitude).

Associations derived from brand benefits stem from functional,
symbolic, or experiential needs. (Note: These needs are explained in Chapter 5)
Four main kinds of associations are type, favorability, strength, and
uniqueness.
 Five dimensions have been identified for different brands’ “personalities.”
1. Sincerity—brand is seen as down to earth, wholesome and cheerful (e.g., Mr.
Goodwrench).
2. Excitement—brand is seen as daring, spirited, imaginative, and up-to-date
(e.g., Hummer).
3. Competence—brand is seen as reliable, intelligent, and successful (e.g.,
Toyota).
4. Sophistication—brand is seen as upper class and charming (e.g., Rolex).
5. Ruggedness—brand is seen as tough and outdoorsy (e.g., Timberland)
Enhancing Brand Equity
 Efforts to enhance a brand’s equity are accomplished through the initial choice of
a positive brand identity but mostly through marketing and marcom programs that
forge favorable, strong, and unique associations with the brand in the consumer’s
mind.
 Three ways by which brand equity is enhanced: (1) speak-for-itself approach, (2)
message-driven approach, and (3) leveraging approach.
1. Enhancing Equity by Having Brand Speak for Itself - by trying and using
brands, consumers learn how good (or bad) they are and what benefits they are
(in)capable of delivering. Marketers help the brand to speak for itself through
point-of-purchase materials and appealing sales promotions.
2. Enhancing Equity by Creating Appealing Messages - marcom practitioners
can build advantageous associations via the dint of repeated claims about the
features a brand possesses and/or benefits it delivers. This tack is effective if
the marcom message is creative, attention getting, and believable.
3. Enhancing Equity via Leveraging - brand associations can be shaped and
equity enhanced by leveraging positive associations already contained in the
world of people, places, and “things” that are available to consumers.
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TEACHING NOTE: When using the leveraging approach, three factors
influence the result (from Keller 2003, chapter endnote #21):
o What is the consumer’s knowledge of the other entity (i.e., person,
place, or thing)?
o How meaningful is that knowledge?
o How likely is it that that knowledge will actually affect what they
think of the brand?
 Leveraging Associations from other Brands – alliances between two
brands can enhance both brands’ equity and profitability.
o Co-branding: two brands enter into an alliance that potentially
serves to enhance both brands’ equity and profitability. Brands
that enter into alliances do so on grounds that their images are similar, that they appeal to the same market segment, and that the cobranding initiative is mutually beneficial. Most important requirement for success is that brands possess a common fit and that
the combined marcom efforts maximize the advantages of the individual brand while minimizing the disadvantages.
TEACHING NOTE: A recent study examined the impact of cobranding on consumers’ perceptions of brand equity for the co-branded
product and the two brands that comprised it and concluded that cobranding represents a “win/win strategy” for both partners. The study
found that while low equity brands benefit most from co-branding, the
brand equity of the high equity brand was not denigrated even when
paired with a low equity partner brand. So the worst case scenario of a
high equity brand paired with a low-equity partner results in no loss of
equity for the higher equity brand, and the best case scenario is one in
which both partners experience substantial benefits from the alliance.
(Source: Washburn, Judith H., Brain D. Till, and Randi Priluck (2000),
“Co-Branding: Brand Equity and Trial Effects,” Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 17(7), 591-604.)
o Ingredient branding: pairing a branded ingredient to build equity
in a brand (e.g., “Intel Inside”).
TEACHING NOTE: Another example of ingredient branding is
The Solae Company, which is trying to increase consumer awareness of its
soy protein and products that include it. This company, along with General Mills, created 8th Continent Soymilk, and the Solae soy protein
ingredient is prominently featured in the product’s advertising. The man-
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ufacturers believe that touting the fact that Solae soy protein is an ingredient is a smart strategy because they can provide consumers taste
assurance and years of nutritional research backing its nutrition claims.
This example, as well as a few others, led the author to suggest three
things that should be kept in mind when considering ingredient branding:
o the ingredient brand and the finished product should each support
the other’s positioning,
o functional claims need to be backed by research, and the host
brand should receive incremental marketing value from the relationship, and
o all marketing activity should convey a consistent message to consumers.
(Source: “Branding Partnerships: The Combination of Branded Products With Branded Ingredients Can Create Consumer Pull,” (2005),
Beverage Industry, (June), 59-62.)
 Leveraging Associations from People – aligning a brand with people,
such as employees or endorsers, can be both advantageous and disastrous as the brand is linked with their reputation. Companies that
cannot manage the reputation of the people with whom they have
linked their brand may suffer if the person becomes discredited.
 Leveraging Associations from Things – events and causes provide
opportunities for linkages with brands.
 Leveraging Associations from Places – the channel through which a
brand is carried (Wal-Mart vs. Nordstrom) or country-of-origin both
serve as possible associations through which a brand can enhance their
image. “Made in” labels have varying influence on consumers dependent upon the associations of the target market with the particular
country.
What Benefits Result From Enhancing Brand Equity?
 brand loyalty determines the long-term growth and profitability of a brand

insulates the brand from price competition

consumers expectations and adoption of brand extensions influence their
loyalty
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TEACHING NOTE: Marketers should be aware, however, that care must be
taken when enhancing brand equity to avoid the situation called trademark cancellation, or “genericide.” This is a condition in which a manufacturer’s brand
represents a product category in consumers’ minds, and consequent legal action may
result in that brand name being declared a generic term. Examples of brands that
have suffered from genericide are aspirin, thermos, yo-yo, shredded wheat, escalator,
and trampoline. If this is the case, that brand’s mark can be used by competitors.
Taylor and Walsh (2002) reviewed court cases and offer ways to avoid a finding of
genericness:
 select a distinctive, nongeneric name when the product is introduced,
 monitor employees’ and advertising’s use of the trademark,
 monitor competitors’ and others’ use (i.e., trade) of the trademark,
 make use of appropriate survey evidence when a case comes about, and
 make use of expert witnesses (p. 165).
While marketers want their brand to dominate a product category, it is imperative
that a brand’s owner takes actions to preserve the legal protection of the brand’s
equity. For more information on this issue, see Oakenfull, Gillian and Betsy Gelb
(1996), “Research-Based Advertising to Preserve Brand Equity But Avoid ‘Genericide’,” Journal of Advertising Research, (Sept/Oct) 65-73 and Taylor, Charles R. and
Michael G. Walsh (2002), “Legal Strategies for Protecting Brands from Genericide:
Recent Trends in Evidence Weighted in Court Cases,” Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing, 21 (Spring), 160-167.
Characteristics of World-Class Brands
 The biannual EquiTrend survey uses three main dimensions to determine highly
successful brands: familiarity with a brand, quality and likelihood of purchasing a
product.

Combining the three dimensions gives a brand equity score.

10 world class brands identified in Table 2.2: Reynolds Wrap, Ziploc, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, Kleenex Facial Tissues, Clorox Bleach, WD40,Heinz, Windex, and Campbell’s Soup.

All these brands had a straightforward promise of what they deliver, have consistently delivered it, and have positive associations in consumers’ memories.
 The annual Interbrand ranking determines 100 top global brands by using: (1)
the percentage of a company’s revenue that can be credited to a brand, (2) the
strength of a brand in terms of influencing customer demand at the point of purchase, and (3) the ability of the brand to secure continued customer demand.
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
Top brands identified in Table 2.3: Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE,
Nokia, Toyota, Intel, McDonald’s, Disney, and Mercedes.
3. Affecting Behavior and Achieving Marcom Accountability
 Marcom efforts should be directed, ultimately, at affecting behavior rather than
stopping with enhancing equity.
 Marcom’s objective is to ultimately affect sales volume and revenue.
 ROMI: return on marketing investment.
TEACHING NOTE: For a good overview of ROMI and marketing mix
modeling, see Cook, William A. and Vijay S. Talluri (2004), “How the Pursuit of
ROMI is Changing Marketing Management,” Journal of Advertising Research, 44
(Sept/Oct), 244-254. This article discusses ROMI’s importance, benefits, requirements, integration with core business processes, and barriers to success as well as
the role of marketing mix modeling. Another good example that shows the genesis of
this approach can be found in Stone, Randy and Mike Duffy (1993), “Measuring the
Impact of Advertising,” Journal of Advertising Research, 33 (Nov/Dec), RC-8-RC-12.
It provides a case discussion of how Kraft began employing these methods in the
early 1990s. It is interesting to note that Kraft was featured as a “best-practice” firm
in the Advertising Research Foundation’s benchmarking study (2001) as a company
recognized for implementing a successful program to improve their ROMI. The ARF
benchmarking studies (2001 and 2003) as well as several others are discussed extensively in Cook and Talluri (2004).
 Motivations underlying the increased focus on measuring marketing performance:
 demands for accountability from the CEO, the Board, and other executives
 imperative for CMOs to get better at what they do in light of budget battles
TEACHING NOTE: Another pressure on marketing accountability is the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Sarbox), which was passed in 2002. In the aftermath of corporate scandals such as WorldCom and Enron, this legislation tightens corporategovernance and reporting requirements, and it requires CEOs and CFOs to sign off
on the validity of corporate accounts. Some claim the impact on marketing could be
substantial. First, the additional auditing fees necessary to comply with the act will
have to come from budget cuts somewhere else, and marketing is a likely target.
Second, corporate boards tend to be made up of finance and audit experts, so more
energy may be focused on complying with Sarbox than focusing on marketing and
customers. Third, marketing expenditures have been suspect as some marketing
service providers have been overbilling clients. In this climate, marketing requires
good management and measurement to build credibility. (Source: McGovern, Gail
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and John Quelch (2005), “Sarbox Still Putting the Squeeze on Marketing,” Advertising Age, (September 19), 28.)
Difficulty of Measuring Marcom Effectiveness
 Several reasons account for the complexity of measuring marcom effectiveness:
 Choosing a Metric: brand awareness, attitudes, purchase intentions, and
sales volume.
 Gaining Agreement: individuals from different backgrounds and with varied
organizational interests often see the “world” differently or operate with varying ideas of what best indicates suitable performance.
 Collecting Accurate Data: data must be reliable and valid.
 Calibrating Specific Effects: identify the relative effectiveness of individual
program elements.
Assessing Effects with Marketing-Mix Modeling
 Employs well known statistical techniques (e.g., multivariate regression analysis)
to estimate the effects that the various advertising and promotion elements have in
driving sales volume.
 Relatively long series of longitudinal data (i.e., two years) is required.
 Data for each period would include the level of sales during that period (i.e,
dependent variable) along with corresponding marcom expenditures for each program element (i.e., independent variables).
 Can learn which elements outperform others and can shift budgets accordingly.
 Widely used by consumer package good companies (e.g., P&G, Clorox), but it is
also being used increasingly by other B2C and B2B companies.
TEACHING NOTE: Advertising agencies are adopting this approach as
well. For example, one of the world’s largest ad companies, WPP Group, is applying
econometrics to help measure the effectiveness of an ad. Changes in media technologies making traditional TV advertising less effective and demands by corporate
managers for accountability have put pressure on agencies to show that ads produce
sales. WPP is putting resources into econometrics by increasing the number of
employees working on econometric models to 150, up from just 20 employees five
years ago. Omnicom Group, another large agency holding company, is also devoting
more resources to this type of effort by increasing its staff devoted to econometric
modeling to 45 from six just three years ago. Not everyone in the agency world is
jumping on this bandwagon, though. For example, at an advertising conference in
Cannes, France, one CEO of another agency told WPP Group’s CEO, Sir Martin
Sorrell with whom he was sharing the stage, that he didn’t understand what Sir
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Martin was talking about, and the audience reacted with cheers and clapping. So
there might be a long way to go before econometrics is readily accepted in the advertising world. (Source: Patrick, Aaron O. (2005), “Econometrics Buzzes Ad World As
a Way of Measuring Results,” The Wall Street Journal, (August 16), B8.)
Answers to Discussion Questions
1. With reference to the Marketing Insight segment that opened the chapter and in view
of the detailed section on brand equity later in the chapter, explain why brand awareness is a necessary but insufficient indicator of brand equity.
Answer:
Brand equity consists of two forms of brand-related knowledge: brand awareness and
brand image. Without awareness consumer cannot form opinions about a brand. The
opinion, or brand image is based upon the favorablity, the strengths, and the uniqueness of the associations consumers have of a brand. Those associations maybe based
on the actual attributes of the brand, the benefits they receive from it, and their overall
evaluation or attitude toward the brand.
2. Using the framework in Figure 2.1, describe all personal associations that the
following brands hold for you: (a) Harley-Davidson motorcycles, (b) Hummer vehicles, (c) Red Bull energy drink, (d) The Wall Street Journal newspaper, (e) entertainer
Paris Hilton, and (f) the Prius hybrid automobile
Answer:
Brand image can be thought of in terms of the types of associations that come to the
consumer’s mind when contemplating a particular brand. An association is simply
the particular thoughts and feelings that a consumer has about a brand, and students’
answers will vary for this question. These associations can be conceptualized in
terms of type, favorability, strength, and uniqueness. The type of brand associations
can be based on the brand’s attributes, both product-related (e.g., color, size, design
features) and non-product-related (e.g., price, packaging, user and usage imagery), the
brand’s benefits (e.g., functional, symbolic, experiential), and consumers’ overall
evaluation, or attitude, toward the brand.
3. An ex-CEO of PepsiCo, was quoted in the text as saying, “In my mind the best thing a
person can say about a brand is that it’s their favorite.” Identify two brands that you
regard as your favorites. Describe the specific associations that each of these brands
holds for you and thus why they are two of your favorites.
Answer:
Students should realize that associations are not just with immediate obvious product
benefits (most will probably name some snack food as one) such as taste, but also
with other product benefits such as packaging (a water bottle with a sports cap),
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accessibility or convenience (e.g., a candy machine near their dorm room or class),
price (e.g., they can afford it), and usage context (e.g., coffee with friends). The
ability of products to make the consumer an "expert" is also an interesting benefit for
students who name some health and beauty aid, such as a hair shampoo, and give a
very specific benefit of how the product works for them (e.g., helps relax tangled
hair).
4. Provide examples of brands that in your opinion are positioned in such a way as to
reflect the five personality dimensions: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness.
Answer:
Examples:
Sincerity: Hallmark Greeting Cards
Excitement: Victoria’s Secret
Competence: Norton Anti Virus
Sophistication: Talbots
Ruggedness: Timberland boots
5. Provide several examples of co-branding or ingredient branding other than those
presented in the chapter.
Answer:
Some examples of co-branding include: Hershey Foods and General Mills making the
breakfast cereal “Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs,” MicroSoft and NBC (MSNBC), Visa
and the United Airlines Mileage Plus Program. Some examples of ingredient branding include: Gore-Tex material in sport and outdoor clothing, Splenda in the new
Coke Zero, Teflon in cookware, Thinsulate in clothing, Kevlar in clothing, and NutraSweet in soft drinks.
6. When discussing brand equity from the firm’s perspective, it was explained that as the
equity of a brand increases, various positive outcomes result: (1) a higher market
share, (2) increased brand loyalty, (3) ability to charge premium prices, and (4) capacity to earn a revenue premium. Select a brand you are particularly fond of and explain
how its relatively greater equity compared to a lesser brand in the same product
category is manifest in terms of each of these four outcomes.
Answer:
Students can select any number of brands to answer this question, and one they might
select is Coca-Cola soft drink. Coke has the highest market share in the cola category, some consumers will only purchase Coke instead of other brands of cola, even if
they are on sale, Coke is more expensive than lesser brands, such as RC Cola and
store brands, and thus, Coke enjoys a revenue premium. Revenue premium is defined
as the revenue differential between a branded item and a corresponding private labeled item, so students should discuss the brand they selected with respect to private
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label, or store, brands. With revenue equaling the product of a brand’s net price x
volume, a branded good enjoys a revenue premium over a corresponding private
labeled item to the degree it can charge a higher price and/or generate greater volume.
7. Compare and contrast the speak-for-itself and message-driven approaches to
enhancing brand equity,
Answer:
With the “speaks for itself” approach, consumers form brand-related associations
(positive or negative) merely by consuming a brand absent any significant brand
knowledge prior to the usage experience. Thus through the consumption experience,
the brand informs consumers of its quality, desirability, and suitability for satisfying
their consumption-related goals.
With the “message-driven approach” marcom practitioners attempt to build positive
brand-related associations through creative messages that are attention getting, believable, and memorable.
Each of these approaches should be independent. Through a consumers first-hand
experience with a brand it should “speak for itself” with a message consistent with the
“message-driven approach.”
8. Select a brand of vehicle (automobile, truck, motorcycle, SUV, etc.) and with this
brand illustrate the meaning to you personally of type, favorability, strength, and
uniqueness of brand associations.
Answer:
Students should answer this question along the lines of the illustration given in the
chapter of Henry and the McDonald’s fast-food chain.
9. What are your reactions to the application of neuroscience to marketing (neuromarketing) that was described in the IMC Focus? Do you consider this technique ethical?
Do you fear that with the knowledge obtained from its application marketers will be
able to manipulate consumers?
Answer:
The application of neuroscience to marketing described in the IMC Focus really
serves to illustrate the importance of building brand equity through various marketing
and marcom processes. It seems to validate that consumers’ preferences can be
influenced by these activities. The IMC Focus illustrated that consumers preferred
Pepsi when they did not know the brands they tasted, but they preferred Coke when
they did know, seemingly because of all the strong and positive associations they had
with the Coke brand. The real ethical question comes down to whether or not it is
ethical for marketing to influence consumers’ preferences for a brand they would not
have chosen based on actual experience but no knowledge of brand associations.
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10. Describe the leveraging strategy for enhancing brand equity. Take a brand of your
choice and, with application of Figure 2.8, explain how that brand could build positive associations, thereby enhancing its equity, by linking itself to (a) places, (b)
things, (c) people, and (d) other brands. Be specific.
Answer:
The leveraging strategy for enhancing brand equity holds that brand associations can
be shaped and equity enhanced by leveraging positive associations already contained
in the world of people, places, and “things” that are available to consumers. The
culture and social systems in which marketing communications takes place are loaded
with meaning. Through socialization, people learn cultural values, form beliefs, and
become familiar with the physical manifestations, or artifacts, of these values and
beliefs. Marcom practitioners can leverage meaning, or associations, for their brands
by connecting them with other objects that already possess well-known meaning.
Students can select any brand to answer this question, and they should be aware that
(a) “places” can refer to country of origin or channels, (b) “things” include events,
causes, and third party endorsements, (c) “people” refers to employees and endorsers,
and (d) “other brands” includes things such as alliances, ingredients, company, and
extensions.
11. What does it mean to say that marketing communications should be directed,
ultimately, at affecting behavior rather than merely enhancing equity? Provide an
example to support your answer.
Answer:
Marketing communications are directed communications from a marketer to a target
audience with a goal of changing or affecting behaviors. While enhancing equity is
important as it implies that consumers have awareness of, and favorable attitudes
toward a brand, it does not necessarily mean that consumers will act. As with the
example in the text, consumers are aware of the dangers of smoking, and believe that
smoking is bad for them; yet, new consumers take up smoking every year. The real
goal of anti-smoking campaigns is to convince people to either quit smoking or not to
take up smoking at all.
12. Why is demonstrating financial accountability an imperative for marcom practitioners?
Answer:
Two primary motivations underlie the increased focus on measuring marketing performance. The first is from the CEO, the Board, and other executives putting greater
demand for accountability on the marketing function. A second reason is that CMOs
must get better at what they do because it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify
expenditures without knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
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Chapter 2
13. Assume that your college or university has had difficulty getting nonstudent residents
in the local community to attend football games. Your school’s athletic director
requests that an organization you belong to (say, a local chapter of the American
Marketing Association) develop an advertising program that is to be targeted to local
residents to encourage them to attend football games. What measures/metrics could
you use to assess whether the advertising program you developed has been effective?
How might you assess the ad campaign’s ROMI?
Answer:
One metric could be the number of non-student tickets sold for each game throughout
the season. One way to assess the effects of the marcom program is to use marketingmix modeling. The data for each period could be the non-student attendance at each
game along with corresponding advertising and promotion expenditures for each
program element during the time leading up to a given game. While just looking at
game attendance will let you know how successful the over-all marcom program was,
marketing mix modeling will allow you to determine the relative effectiveness of each
marcom element.