Ashesi University

COURSE TITLE : STRATEGIC BRAND

MANAGEMENT
SEMESTER : SECOND, 2010/2011
MODULE 9: Designing and
Implementing a Branding Strategy
I: Brand Architecture, BrandProduct Matrix, Brand Hierarchy
Lecturer: Ebow Spio

Learning Outcomes
Explain how to maximize brand equity across
all the different brands and products of the firm
Appreciate how a firm determines which brand
elements to choose to apply across the
products it offers for sale (Branding Strategy
or brand architecture)
Explain brand terminologies and concepts
such as brand architecture, brand-product
matrix, brand portfolio, brand hierachy,
Explain how cause marketing can build brand
equity

Branding strategy
Branding strategy is critical because it is
the means by which the firm can help
consumers understand its products and
services and organize them in their minds.
Two important strategic tools: The brandproduct matrix and the brand
hierarchy help to characterize and
formulate branding strategies by defining
various relationships among brands and
products.
11.3

Branding Strategy or Brand

Architecture
The branding strategy for a firm
reflects the number and nature of
common or distinctive brand
elements applied to the different
products sold by the firm.
Which brand elements can be applied to
which products and the nature of new
and existing brand elements to be
applied to new products
11.4

The role of Brand

Architecture
Clarify: brand awareness
Improve consumer understanding and
communicate similarity and differences
between individual products

Motivate: brand image

Maximize transfer of equity to/from the
brand to individual products to improve
trial and repeat purchase

11.5

Brand-Product Matrix
1

Products
2
3

A
Brands

B
C

Must define:
Brand-Product relationships (rows)
Line and category extensions

Product-Brand relationships (columns)

Brand portfolio
11.6

Important Definitions
Product line
A group pf products within a product
category that are closely related

Product mix (product assortment)

The set of all product lines and items that
a particular seller makes available to
buyers

Brand mix (brand assortment)

The set of all brand lines that a particular
seller makes available to buyers
11.7

Breadth of a Branding Strategy

Breadth of product mix
Aggregate market factors
Category factors
Environmental factors

Depth of product mix

Examining the percentage of sales and profits
contributed by each item in the product line
Deciding to increase the length of the
product line by adding new variants or items
typically expands market coverage and
therefore market share but also increases
costs
11.8

Depth of a Branding Strategy

The number and nature of different
brands marketed in the product class
sold by a firm
Referred to as brand portfolio
The reason is to pursue different
market segments, different channels
of distribution, or different geographic
boundaries
Maximize market coverage and
minimize brand overlap
11.9

Ford Brand Portfolio

11.10

Designing a Brand Portfolio

Basic principles:
Maximize market coverage so that no
potential customers are being ignored
Minimize brand overlap so that brands
arent competing among themselves to
gain the same customers approval

11.11

Brand Roles in the Portfolio

Flankers
Cash cows
Low-end entry-level
High-end prestige brands

11.12

Brand Hierarchy
A means of summarizing the
branding strategy by displaying the
number and nature of common and
distinctive brand elements across the
firms products, revealing the explicit
ordering of brand elements
A useful means of graphically
portraying a firms branding strategy

11.13

Brand Hierarchy Tree: Toyota

Toyota
Corporation
Toyota
(Trucks)

Corolla
CE
S
LE

Toyota
(SUV/vans)

Camry
SE
LE
XLE

Avalon
Platinum
Edition
XL
XLS

Toyota
(Cars)

Celica

Toyota
Financial
Services

ECHO

SE
SLE

11.14

Matrix

Lexus

MR2
Spyder

Prius

Brand Hierarchy Levels

Corporate Brand (General Motors)
Family Brand (Buick)

Individual Brand (Park Avenue)

Modifier: Item or Model (Ultra)

11.15

Corporate Brand Equity

Occurs when relevant constituents
hold strong, favorable, and unique
associations about the corporate
brand in memory
Encompasses a much wider range of
associations than a product brand

11.16

Family Brands
Brands applied across a range of
product categories
An efficient means to link common
associations to multiple but distinct
products

11.17

Individual Brands
Restricted to essentially one product
category
There may be multiple product types
offered on the basis of different
models, package sizes, flavors, etc.

11.18

Modifiers
Signals refinements or differences in
the brand related to factors such as
quality levels, attributes, functions,
etc.
Plays an important organizing role in
communicating how different
products within a category that share
the same brand name are

11.19

Corporate Image Dimensions

Corporate product attributes, benefits or
attitudes
Quality
Innovativeness

People and relationships

Customer orientation

Values and programs

Concern with the environment
Social responsibility

Corporate credibility
Expertise
Trustworthiness
Likability
11.20

Brand Hierarchy Decisions

The number of levels of the hierarchy
to use in general
How brand elements from different
levels of the hierarchy are combined,
if at all, for any one particular product
How any one brand element is linked,
if at all, to multiple products
Desired brand awareness and image at
each level
11.21

Number of Hierarchy Levels

Principle of simplicity
Employ as few levels as possible

Principle of clarity
Logic and relationship of all brand
elements
employed must be obvious
and transparent

11.22

Levels of Awareness and

Associations
Principle of relevance
Create global associations that are
relevant across as many individual items
as possible

Principle of differentiation
Differentiate individual items and brands

11.23

Linking Brands at Different

Levels
Principle of prominence
The relative prominence of brand
elements affects perceptions of product
distance and the type of image created
for new products

11.24

Linking Brands Across Products

Principle of commonality
The more common elements shared by
products, the stronger the linkages

11.25

Brand Architecture
Guidelines

Adopt a strong customer focus

Avoid over-branding
Establish rules and conventions and be
disciplined
Create broad, robust brand platforms
Selectively employ sub-brands as means of
complementing and strengthening brands
Selectively extend brands to establish new
brand equity and enhance existing brand
equity
11.26

Corporate Brand Campaign

Different objectives are possible:
Build awareness of the company and the nature of
its business
Create favorable attitudes and perceptions of
company credibility
Link beliefs that can be leveraged by productspecific marketing
Make a favorable impression on the financial
community
Motivate present employees and attract better
recruits
Influence public opinion on issues
11.27

Using Cause Marketing to Build

Brand Equity
The process offormulating and
implementing marketingactivities
that are characterized by an offer
from the firm to contribute a specified
amount to a designated cause when
customers engage in revenueproviding exchanges that satisfy
organizational and individual
objectives
11.28

Advantages of Cause
Marketing

Building brand awareness

Enhancing brand image
Establishing brand credibility
Evoking brand feelings
Creating a sense of brand community
Eliciting brand engagement

11.29

Green Marketing
A special case of cause marketing
that is particularly concerned with
the environment
Explosion of environmentally friendly
products and marketing programs

11.30

Crisis Marketing Guidelines

The two keys to effectively managing
a crisis are that the firms response
should be swift and that it should be
sincere.

11.31

Key Points
1. Branding strategy is important as a means of
enabling consumers to understand and
connect with the brand, since it can help
consumers organize a companys products
and services in their minds.
2.
Designing a brand strategy involves
decisions regarding
the number of levels
to use, how brand elements at different
levels will be combined for a given product,
and how brand elements will be linked to
multiple products.
3. Each successive level in a brand hierarchy
allows the firm to communicate additional,
specific information about products.
4. In general, associations for a higher-level
brand should be relevant
to as many

Tutorial
1. Assign students the task of
identifying pairs of competing
brands with different branding
strategies
2. Contrast the branding strategies
and brand portfolios of market
leaders in two different industries