Aaker on Branding. David Aaker

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СКАЧАТЬ the competition, the customers, the organization, and the brand.

      Fourth, the brand vision is aspirational and can differ from the current image. It is the associations the brand needs to have going forward, given its current and future business strategy. Too often a brand executive feels constrained and uncomfortable going beyond what the brand currently has permission to do. Yet most brands need to improve on some dimensions to compete, and add new dimensions in order to create new growth platforms. A brand that has plans to extend to a new category, for example, will probably need to go beyond the current image.

      Fifth, the brand essence represents a central theme of the brand vision and is optional. When the right brand essence is found, it can be magic in terms of internal communication, inspiration to employees and partners, and guiding programs. Consider “Transforming Futures,” the brand essence of the London School of Business, “Ideas for Life” for Panasonic, or “Family Magic” for Disneyland. In each case, the essence provides an umbrella over what the brand aspires to do. The essence should always be sought. However, there are times in which it actually gets in the way and is better omitted. One BtoB brand, Mobil (now ExxonMobil), had leadership, partnership, and trust as the core brand elements. Forcing an essence on this brand would likely be awkward. If the essence does not fit or is not compelling, it will soak up all the energy in the room. In these cases, the core vision elements are better brand drivers.

      Sixth, the brand position is a short-term communication guide that often expresses what will be communicated to what target audience with what logic. The current positioning often emphasizes the brand vision elements that will appeal and are now credible and deliverable. As organizational capabilities and programs emerge or as markets change, the positioning message might evolve or change. The centerpiece of the position is often a tagline communicated externally, that need not and usually does not correspond to the brand essence, which is an internally communicated concept.

       THE PROCESS

      The brand vision development process starts with context and strategy. An in-depth analysis of customer segments, competitors, market trends, environmental forces, the current brand strengths and weaknesses, and the business strategy going forward is required background. The business strategy, which includes the product-market investment plan, the value propositions, the assets and skills that will support, and the functional plan, is necessary because the brand strategy is both driven by and an enabler of the business strategy. If the business strategy is vague or nonexistent, it often will have to be developed or articulated as part of the brand vision development.

      The second step is to identify all aspirational associations. These items, which are often from fifty to a hundred in quantity, are then grouped, and each group is given a label. This grouping and labeling aspect is crucial and difficult. It can take weeks to get the right grouping and find just the right set of labels.

      Associations can take many forms including attributes, functional benefits, applications, user imagery, brand personality, organizational programs and values, and self-expressive, emotional, or social benefits. They should each resonate with customers, really matter to them, and reflect and support the business strategy going forward.

      Associations should also provide a point of differentiation that supports the value proposition or represent a point of parity. Although gaining differentiation, hopefully with some “must haves,” is important, achieving parity on a key dimension for which a competitor has a meaningful advantage can be decisive in gaining relevance and market success. The parity goal is to be perceived as “good enough” so that customers do not exclude your brand from consideration. In Chapter 15, gaining parity is shown to be one way to counter a relevance threat posed by being inadequate on a dimension.

      A vision should be inspiring to the firm’s employees and partners. It should make them care. Chapter 5, on organizational values, shows how a higher purpose can help, and Chapter 14, on internal branding, discusses how stories can bring a higher purpose to life. Additionally, an exceptional brand vision will precipitate brand-building ideas; in fact, they should just spill out. A vision in which brand-building programs are not apparent needs more work.

      Ajax, for example, is a global service company created from a set of a half-dozen acquisitions, each of which continued to operate somewhat autonomously. It was becoming clear, though, that customers preferred a single-solution firm with broad capabilities. The new Ajax strategy was to orient its service to broad customer solutions and to get its operating units to work together seamlessly. The strategy represented a significant change in culture and operations. With respect to the brand vision, the elements “Partner with Customers,” “Customized Solutions,” “Collaborative,” and “Close to Customers” were clustered and given the name Team Solutions, which became one of eight vision elements as shown in Figure 2. The brand goal was to provide a face to customers that matched this new strategy.

      The third step is to prioritize the brand vision elements. The most important and potentially most impactful, the core vision elements, will be the primary drivers of the brand-building programs. For Ajax, the core vision included the “Spirit of Excellence,” “Technology That Fits,” as well as “Team Solutions.” The remaining five vision elements make up the extended vision.

      THE BERKELEY-HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BRAND VISION

      The Berkeley-Haas School of Business created a brand vision that stimulated extensive changes in the school, helping them to refine the student body, the faculty, the research programs, and the curriculum. The four core brand vision elements are:²

      • Question the Status Quo. “We lead by championing bold ideas, taking intelligent risks, and accepting sensible failures. This means speaking our minds even while it challenges convention. We thrive at the world’s epicenter of innovation.” Captures the aspiration of big ideas and the vitality of the innovation process.

      • Confidence without Attitude. “We made decisions based on evidence and analysis, giving us the confidence to act without arrogance. We lead through trust and collaboration.” Highly differentiating.

      • Students Always. “We are a community designed for curiosity and the lifelong pursuit of personal and intellectual growth. This is not a place for those who feel they have learned all they need to learn.” Makes Berkeley-Haas relevant to alumni and executive programs.

      • Beyond Yourself. “We shape our world by leading ethically and responsibly. As stewards of our enterprises, we take the longer view in our decisions and actions. This often means putting larger interests above our own.” Describes a higher purpose.

      The essence, which nicely captures the four core elements, is “We develop leaders who redefine how we do business.” A different take on innovation and leadership, it aspires to redefine rather than simply refine the business.

      The fourth step is to create a brand essence, a single thought that reflects the core of the brand vision. For Ajax, “Commitment to Excellence—Anytime, Anywhere, Whatever It Takes,” as shown in Figure 2, was a punchy essence that captured for them their core identity.

      The final step is the brand position, The brand position for Ajax involved a difficult decision around aspirational associations. Should Ajax position around team solutions even though the firm could not yet deliver? Being ahead of what is being delivered could serve to motivate the employees by signaling that the future business strategy СКАЧАТЬ