“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” ~ Peter Drucker
This is especially true of a brand and its equity. Having a data-driven view of how your brand is perceived and what customers need will put you in possession of the truth, the insight you need to construct a powerful brand strategy for competitive advantage.
A robust brand tracker will accomplish the following objectives:
- Measure the brand’s equity across a variety of dimensions at different points in time over time
- Provide diagnostic information on the reasons for the changes in brand equity
- Gauge and evaluate the brand’s progress against goals
- Provide direction on how to improve brand equity
- Provide insight into the brand’s positioning vis-à-vis its major competitors including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
- Provide direction on how to reposition the brand for maximum effect
The Blake Project has identified the following five attributes that drive customers to insist upon specific brands: awareness, relevant differentiation, value, accessibility and emotional connection.
We recommend that brand tracking studies:
- Focus on the key drivers of customer brand insistence
- Measure changes in brand equity over time
- Diagnose reasons for changes in brand equity
- Provide insight into the current brand positioning, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
- Provide direction on how to increase customer brand insistence
Brand tracking studies should measure the following for your brand and each of its competitors, with responses reported separately for different user segments:
- Awareness
- Convenience/accessibility
- Perceived value (including quality and price sensitivity)
- Rank in consideration set
- Preference
- Usage
- Relevance
- Differentiation
- Vitality
- Emotional connection
- Loyalty
- Multiple personality attributes and other brand associations
At The Blake Project, we are pragmatic and opportunistic in applying our clients’ brand tracking research in myriad ways. Ultimately the brand tracking study manifests as a decision document for helping the company to achieve six brand and business goals:
- Measure Brand Progress Toward Vision
- Align Employees
- Build Leadership Buy-In
- Reveal Product, Experience Or Operational Needs
- Provide A Big, Longer-Term Picture Of Brand Performance
- Establish A Fact-Based, Strategic Foundation To Guide Business And Brand Decisions
Our approach to brand tracking provides a comprehensive picture of the brand’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats together with recommended actions to strengthen the brand for competitive advantage.
The Blake Project Can Help: Contact us for more on Creating Brand Insistence
Branding Strategy Insider is a service of The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy specializing in Brand Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Growth and Brand Education
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