Brand pride and positioning correlation

1. Dr.Kamal Ghose, Lincoln University
New Zealand
The New Asian Drama
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Heritage brand positioning in emerging
markets

2. Background
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 “Any brand , but especially those that are struggling
can benefit from going back to its roots and
identifying what made it special and successful in the
first place” (Aaker, 2004)
 Does internal pride in heritage of the brand and
promotion of the same have a co-relation to brand
image and positioning ?

3. Dusty Indian brand battlefield
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1968 ;Karl Gunnar Myrdal’s landmark study Asian Drama: An
Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations
2014: An abundance of brands. Indian & foreign.
 While many long- established brands dumped, some heritage
brands are shining and even capturing overseas markets!!
 Global brands are preferred by consumers because of higher
prestige associations.
 Urde et al (2007, p.4) introduced the concept of “ heritage
brand” as “dimension of a brand’s identity found in its track
record , longevity, core values, use of symbols and particularly in
an organizational belief that its history is important”

4. Background
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 We are at the beginning of the first part of a two-part research
 To understand consumer perception of high HQ brands & use
of their heritage for connecting to the market
 Identify heritage in the brands that can strengthen positioning
with younger generation.
 Convenience sampling being used to understand views
(interview/questionnaire) of 20 young executives in each of the
five cities ; Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Chennai .
 Results are being discussed here.
 Would appreciate your feedback , comments, suggestions

5. Using the five elements of heritage brands
(Urde, Greyser & Balmer, 2007)
1. Track record for delivering value to customers &
stakeholders. “Over time people recognize and expect that the
company will continue to deliver on these commitments”
2. Company with longevity . “The use of history under many CEO’s…
ingrained in the organization's culture.”
3. Company with long-held articulated core values guiding its
corporate behavior. “Long held core values form the base for the
positioning expressed as a promise or covenant in external
communication, and internally guide behavior and actions as
mindsets”. (Tata Group).
4. Past is expressed in communications , use of symbols.
5. A company that considers its history important to its
identify.
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6. Exploring consumer perceptions
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 Brands with High HQ are divided into four different
categories, depending on two factors.
 Intrinsic level of pride in their heritage
 Level of publicity /marketing communication of ‘heritage
pride’ in a way that links into society and customer’s
priority areas.
The first phase of the research explores:
1. Consumer perceptions of HQ in brands using the five
major elements outlined by Urde, Greyser & Balmer (2007)
2. Consumer perception of the two dimensions of ‘Pride and
Promotion’ of high HQ brands to explore co-relation to
brand positioning .

7. Second part of the research(internal)
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3. Research internal pride in their heritage ; artefacts like
their advertisements, websites, and any publicly available
documents like CEO's comments, balance sheets, reports
etc.
4. Identify & measure how well their employees are
aware of their heritage & whether they are proud of the
same. Artifacts, interview employees at different levels
Any co-relation to brand positioning success?
Let us see the interim results of the first part.

8. ABCD of Indian heritage brands
(D)High Pride/Low Promotion (C) High Pride/High Promotion
(A)Low Pride/ Low Promotion (B)Low Pride / High Promotion
Brand heritage
Pride and Promotion
Preliminary results show the following 4 divisions among brands with High HQ
Pride
Promotion
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Low
Low
High
High

9. ABCD of Indian heritage brands
A. Low heritage pride and low heritage promotion
Brands with high HQ ; could use their heritage to position themselves better.
“End of the road for the Ambassador as Indian carmaker halts production.
Hindustan Motors says poor demand means car once considered status symbol
will not be produced until further notice” (Source; Reuters theguardian.com, 19.29 )
Sunday 25 May 2014
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10. ABCD of Indian heritage brands
(As per customer ratings)
A.Low Pride / Low Promotion. These brands are not proud of
their history and do not communicate about the same .
Example; Ambassador Cars ,
Dalda (iconic vegetable oil. 60’s dominating market share)
B .Low Pride / High Promotion . These brands are not proud
of their history (May not have much to be proud of). However,
they want to be perceived as having a great past & use this for
creating a preferred brand image.
Example :Air India, Many of the Birla Group of organisations
Note; Brands in both the above categories are loosing brand
credibility & market share .
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11. B. Low Pride / High Promotion
Air India
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 Loss of Rs 39.89 billion ($666 million) for 2013-14
on revenues of Rs 202.59 billion.
 This was an improvement over 2012-13, when the
airline lost Rs 54.90 billion after earning revenues of
Rs 242.48 billion

12. (C) High Pride / High Promotion Tata Group
In March 2008 Tata Motors purchased Jaguar and Land Rover
In January 2008, Tata Motors launched the world's cheapest car,
the Nano, priced at $2,500 (£1,250).
Mr. Mody ex- MD, Tata Steel died on May 16, 2014
Cyrus P Mistry, Chairman, Tata group had this to say ;
“He steered a major modernization programme of the company,
widened its development initiatives for local communities . He
could indeed say the company did many things, and it also made
steel. "In all this, Russi Mody embodied the Tata principles of
building trustworthy and socially oriented organizations.“
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13. ABCD of Indian heritage brands
(As per customer ratings)
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C. High Pride / High Promotion. These brands are proud of their
tradition, history and culture and using them for positioning. Example :
Tata Group, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)
D. High Pride / Low Promotion . These brands are proud of their heritage
but could do more to use their heritage for positioning.
Examples: Dabur ,Mohan Meakin, State Bank of India, Steel Authority of
India Ltd(PSU), Mayo College.
Note; Brands in category ‘C’ are doing great in the market.
Brands in category ‘D’ are doing well in the market. Could they get more
mileage by utilizing their HQ ?

14. Mayo College Public School
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D. High Pride / Low Promotion
 In 1870, Lord Mayo, the then Viceroy and
Governor General, came to Ajmer, where in
a Durbar, before the Chiefs of the ruling
Princes of Rajputana, he expressed his
desire to set up a 'Raj Kumar (Prince)
College' in Ajmer,
"devoted exclusively to the education of the
sons of Chiefs, Princes and leading
Thakurs with a staff thoroughly educated-not
mere bookworms, but men fond of field sports
and outdoor exercise....“
Almost in oblivion…

15. In the second part : Brand Heritage
Awareness to Commitment
 Identifying internal awareness and management
interest in the brand’s heritage;
 Identifying commitment to use brand’s heritage for
positioning
 Using the above to create an ‘ Awareness to
Commitment ´scale for high HQ brands .
 Is there a co-relation to positioning success and
‘pride & promotion’ of these brands?
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