Where is the Brand going?

Living the Brand with Joy

"Living the Brand"! In how many organisations is the brand as pervasive and integral as the air the employees breathe? Not many! It's not that organisations don't want to be 'brand-centric'; they just don't know how to go about it. After concepts such as brand image, brand identity, brand signage, brand relationship management et al, it is now the turn of "Brand Stewardship". What exactly is brand stewardship?

Brand stewardship refers to leadership and accountability for the long-term well being of the organisation's brand. When we say "organisation's brand equities", it refers to various brands (including the organisation itself as a brand). The organisation has to manage a variety of portfolios whose equity standards have to be maintained or increased. For instance, P&G has to manage and ensure that the equities of its numerous brands are enduring.

With the arrival of the 'new economy', executives are scrambling to cope with what is most dreaded - Change! The challenge for new economy organisations is to quickly revamp their structure including brands. Marketplace dynamics and relationships with consumers are being redefined by the renewed onslaught of "relationship marketing" and "customer relationship management". Consumer perception is reinforced if service and relationship building are par excellence. For instance, if consumers are constantly reading about the kind of service Amazon provides or for that matter hears about Starbuck's much touted service quality, it is only natural that they will perceive the organisation favourably.

Strong brands, today, are essential more than ever. Brand Stewardship is a process that blends two compelling concepts:

1. Keeping the Brand - Effective brand management is the responsibility of both marketing communication and the brand management department. This is referred to as "Keeping the Brand". For instance, the functional activities directed towards increasing brand loyalty at Starbucks are indicative of keeping the brand.
   
2. Living the brand - The company must focus, align and motivate the entire organisation to embrace a set of contemporary beliefs that support brand values. Living the brand requires the organisation to keep stretching for more, to create internal brand loyalty.
   

Brand Math

The role of the living brand can be easily understood by unraveling its brand arithmetic. For this, let's start defining some terms:

WV = Working Values refer to cultural values that govern an organisation's behaviour or course of action. Simply put, it means how employees treat each other. For instance, the behaviour of employees at McDonald's convey an inviting and customer-friendly ambience indicative of good inter-personal relations and hard work.

CBV = Core Brand Values are values that consumers or people external to the organisation associate with the brand, which forms a crucial base for fostering brand equity. For instance, consumer perception of Calvin Klein is not only because of the inherent product benefits, but also because of the communications deployed to leverage the image, leading to equity formation in the consumers' mind.

PBV = Preferred Brand Values refer to attributes that consumers regard as important for a brand in a given category. For instance, research conducted by HLL (shortly before the launch of Surf Excel), identified consumer responses with respect to what a detergent brand should ideally possess. Subsequently, HLL tried to implement them wherever possible. Preferred brand values are reflective of the most valuable brand in a given category.

Having defined the concept, brand arithmetic is based on the following assumptions:

i) WV = CBV
ii) CBV = PBV
iii) WV = PBV

On further scrutiny, it can be seen that the first equation is based on the assumption that employee interaction influences consumers' valuation of a brand. The second equation is a brand-management axiom. It implies that for a brand to be preferred in its category, its associations or attributes must mirror those that consumers have conceived in their minds. For instance, for a toothpaste brand to be preferred in its category, it must have at least a few of the common brand attributes that consumers associate with a toothpaste. In this case, the emphasis is more on the emotional rather than functional attributes.

Now, on equating we can observe the following changes:

i) WV = CBV = PBV
ii) Hence WV= PBV

The essence of brand management is thus reflected in the second equation i.e. WV = PBV. Values, which consumers say are most important for the brand, are what matters. This leads to the employees working toward making consumers' perceptions gain reality. The preferred values must be incorporated into the brand for it to become a success.

Brand-building is everybody's job in an organisation. From front-line workers to those behind the desks, everybody is a" brand torch-bearer". Brand momentum is not something that can be built overnight. Building a brand requires sharp focus and extra-ordinary commitment. Great brands are those that set high expectations and deliver on their promises!

Related Reading:

1. "Clients learn value of brand guidance"; Kemp, Gail; Marketing; Feb 2001
2. "Beyond Stewardship to Brand Infusion"; Speak, Karl D; Design Management Journal; Winter 2000
3. "Living the Brand"; Allen, Dave; Design Management Journal; Winter 2000