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Article information:
To cite this document: Brian D. Till, Daniel Baack, Brian Waterman, (2011),"Strategic brand association maps: developing brand
insight", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 20 Iss: 2 pp. 92 - 100
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10610421111121080
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Daniel Baack
Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA, and
Brian Waterman
Waterman Research Solutions, LLC, St Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract
Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to illustrate a new methodology for gaining actionable, strategic insight into a brands associations and
its competitive uniqueness vis-a`-vis key competitors.
Design/methodology/approach The authors integrate free association protocols, response latency, and more conventional scale items to develop a
strategic overview of a brands associations and to depict brands strategic meaning in a comprehensive visual presentation.
Findings The authors show, via an example featuring peanut butter brands, how their methodology effectively uncovers associations that the market
has for the brands and how strong, unique, relevant, and favorable those associations are.
Research limitations/implications This methodology is most appropriate for four to six brands at a time.
Practical implications The strategic brand association map process demonstrated provides managers with a very clear, consumer-driven, strategic
view of the associations their brand has, and how those associations may (or may not) be serving to differentiate their brand. Additionally, these
strategic brand association maps serve as an excellent diagnostic as to the overall health of a brand and can provide actionable insight for better
understanding strategic reasons why a particular brand may be under-performing against expectations.
Originality/value Brand associations are one of the fundamental cornerstones of brand value. Brand associations serve to differentiate and create
meaning for brands. Better understanding and managing a brands associations is a fundamental role of brand managers. This process illustrates a new
way to give brand managers strategic, consumer-driven insight into their brands associative network.
Keywords Brands, Brand equity, Product differentiation, Competitive advantage
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
One of the most fundamental tasks of brand managers is to
understand and manage the set of associations around their
brand. These associations (both intended and unintended)
give meaning to the brand are an important component of
brand equity. Here we present a methodology designed to give
managers a strategic, comprehensive and consumer-driven
view of their brand and how their brand is differentiated vis-a`vis key competitors.
Brand equity is one of the core concepts in marketing and
has been the focus of much research over the last 30 years
(Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993). The concept is traditionally
defined as the marketing effects uniquely attributable to the
brand (Keller, 1993, p. 1). With an estimated 17 out of 20
new brands failing (Hart and Murphy, 1998), brand equity is
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Favorability
Favorability of the association is defined as the degree to
which the association is perceived as a positive or negative
feature for a brand. Brand associations vary in terms of
favorability or valence. Some associations are seen as more
positive or negative than others, and marketers certainly strive
to create those more favorable associations. Dacin and Smith
(1994, p. 230) note the favorability of consumers
predispositions toward a brand is perhaps the most basic of
all brand associations and is at the core of many
conceptualizations of brand strength/equity. Krishnan
(1996, p. 393) proclaims that a strong brand should focus
on consistently achieving net positive associations, and
statistically links association favorability to high levels of
brand equity.
Uniqueness
Association uniqueness is defined as the degree to which the
association is perceived as a distinct and different brand
feature within the product category. Some associations are
more unique than others. This means that some associations
may be shared with many competing brands and be typical for
a product category while others may be unique to just one or a
smaller number of brands. Marketers often use brandpositioning strategies in an attempt to differentiate via unique
associations, and this differentiation is often a source of
competitive advantage (Farquhar, 1989; Chaudhuri, 2002;
Lu et al., 2008). Many discussions of branding strategy put
differentiation based on uniqueness front and center (Hart
and Murphy, 1998). Experimentally, uniqueness has been
linked to better brand evaluations (Dillon et al., 2001) and
higher levels of brand equity (Krishnan, 1996).
Relevance
The relevance of the association is defined as how much
people perceive the association as a valuable, important, and
purchase decision driving feature for a brand within the
product category. Some brand associations are more relevant
to consumers than others. For example, the color red is
typically strongly associated with Coca-Cola, but it is not so
clear how motivating this association is for consumers. On the
other hand, consumers may also typically link Coca-Cola with
the potentially more relevant association American. Campbell
(2002) stresses that practitioners should focus on associations
that are meaningful and relevant to customers (p. 213) and
Hart and Murphy (1998) state that successful branding is
about creating distinctiveness in a consumer relevant way.
Number
Number is the last feature of brand association to discuss. It is
defined as simply the number of associations in the
consumers associative network for a brand. In terms of
associative network theory, number refers to a count of the
number of primary associations around a primary or focal
node (Henderson et al., 1998).
94
Figure 1 Strategic brand association map (full) for Reeses peanut butter
96
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