The document discusses guidelines for conducting a brand audit. It explains that a brand audit involves both a brand inventory and brand exploratory. The brand inventory assesses internal brand elements, marketing programs, positioning, and competitors. The brand exploratory uncovers consumer perceptions, associations, and brand equity. The document provides an outline for a brand audit report, which includes executive summary, background on the brand and industry, consumer analysis, inventory and exploratory sections, and recommendations.

1. Brand Audit
Establishing Brand Mantras
3.1

2. Brand Positioning Guidelines
 Two key issues in arriving at the optimal
competitive brand positioning are:
 Defining and communicating the competitive
frame of reference
 Choosing and establishing points-of-parity and
points-of-difference
3.2

3. Defining and Communicating the
Competitive Frame of Reference
 Determine category membership.
 State its point of difference in relationship to
other category members.
3.3

4. Choosing POP’s & POD’s
 Desirability criteria (consumer perspective)
 Personally relevant
 Distinctive and superior
 Believable and credible
 Deliverability criteria (firm perspective)
 Feasible
 Profitable
 Pre-emptive, defensible, and difficult to attack
3.4

5. Competitor films
What is the differentiation in each
brand?
3.5

6. Core Brand Values
 Set of abstract concepts or phrases that
characterize the five to ten most important
dimensions of the mental map of a brand
 Relate to points-of-parity and points-of-
difference
Mental map  Core brand values  Brand mantra
3.6

7. Brand Mantras
 An articulation of the “heart and soul” of the brand
 Short three- to five-word phrases that capture the
irrefutable essence or spirit of the brand
positioning and brand values
3.7

8. Designing the Brand Mantra
 The term brand functions describes the nature of
the product or service or the type of experiences
or benefits the brand provides.
 The descriptive modifier further clarifies its nature.
 The emotional modifier provides another
qualifier—how exactly does the brand provide
benefits, and in what way?
3.8

9. Designing the Brand Mantra
Emotional Descriptive Brand
Modifier Modifier Functions
Authentic Athletic Performance
Nike
Fun Family Entertainment
Disney
Fun Folks Food
3.9

10. Internal Branding
 Members of the organization are properly aligned
with the brand and what it represents.
 Crucial for service companies
3.10

11. Brand Audit
 Externally, consumer-focused assessment
 A comprehensive examination to assess the health
of the brand, uncover its sources of equity, and
suggest ways to improve and leverage that equity
3.11

12. Brand Audit
It includes:
 brand vision
 mission
 Promise
 values
 position
 personality
 performance
3.12

13. Importance of Brand Audits
 Understand sources of brand equity
 Firm perspective
 Consumer perspective
 Set strategic direction for the brand
 Recommend marketing programs to maximize
long-term brand equity
3.13

14. Brand Audit Steps
 Brand inventory (supply side)
 Brand exploratory (demand side)
3.14

15. Brand Audit Steps
Brand Inventory Brand Exploratory
 Brand elements  Awareness
 Supporting  Favorability
marketing  Uniqueness of
programs associations
 Profile of  Customer based
competitive brands equity model
 POPs and PODs
 Brand mantra
3.15

16. Brand Audit
Brand Inventory Brand Exploratory
 Suggests the bases for  Uncovers knowledge
positioning the brand
structures for the core
 Offers insights to how brand
equity may be better brand as well as its
managed competitors
 Assesses consistency in message
among activities, brand
extensions, and sub-brands in
order to avoid redundancies,
overlaps, and consumer
confusion
3.16

17. Suggested Brand Audit Outline
 Brand audit objectives, scope, and approach
 Background about the brand (self-analysis)
 Background about the industries
 Consumer analysis (trends, motivation, perceptions, needs,
segmentation, behavior)
 Brand inventory
 Elements, current marketing programs, POPs, PODs
 Branding strategies (extensions, sub-brands, etc.)
 Brand portfolio analysis
 Competitors’ brand inventory
 Strengths and weaknesses 3.17

18. Brand Audit Outline (Cont.)
 Brand exploratory
 Brand associations
 Brand positioning analysis
 Consumer perceptions analysis (vs. competition)
 Summary of competitor analysis
 SWOT analysis
 Brand equity evaluation
 Strategic brand management recommendations
3.18

19. Guidelines for Building Brand Equity
 Mix and match brand elements
 Create a rich brand image and high perceived
quality
 Adopt value-based pricing strategy
 Consider a range of distribution options
 Mix marketing communication options
 Leverage secondary associations
15.19

20. Guidelines for Measuring Brand Equity
 Formalize the firm’s view of brand equity
 Conduct brand inventories
 Conduct consumer tracking studies
 Assemble results of outcome measures
 Establish a department to oversee the
implementation
15.20

21. Guidelines for Managing Brand Equity
 Define brand hierarchy
 Create global associations
 Introduce brand extensions
 Clearly establish the roles of brands in the
portfolio
 Reinforce brand equity over time
 Enhance brand equity over time
 Identify differences in consumer behavior in
different market segments
15.21

22. Characteristics of Strong Brands
Managers
 Understand brand meaning and market appropriate products in an
appropriate manner
 Properly position the brand
 Provide superior delivery of desired benefits
 Employ a full range of complementary brand elements and
supporting marketing activities
 Embrace integrated marketing communications and communicate
with a consistent voice
 Measure consumer perceptions of value and develop a pricing
strategy accordingly
 Establish credibility and appropriate brand personality and imagery
 Maintain innovation and relevance for the brand
 Strategically design and implement a brand hierarchy and brand
portfolio
 Implement a brand equity management system to ensure that
marketing actions properly reflect the brand equity concept 15.22

23. Seven Deadly Sins of Brand Management
1. Failure to understand the full meaning of the
brand
2. Failure to live up to the brand promise
3. Failure to adequately support the brand
4. Failure to be patient with the brand
5. Failure to adequately control the brand
6. Failure to properly balance consistency and
change with the brand
7. Failure to understand complexity of brand
equity measurement and management
15.23

24. Industrial and B2B Branding
 Adopt a corporate or family branding strategy
 Link non-product-related imagery associations
 Employ full range of marketing communication
options
 Leverage equity of other companies that are
customers
 Segment markets carefully and develop tailored
branding and marketing programs
15.24

25. Guidelines for High-Tech Branding
 Establish brand awareness and rich brand image
 Create corporate credibility associations
 Leverage secondary associations of quality
 Avoid overbranding products
 Selectively introduce new products as new
brands and clearly identify the nature of brand
extensions
15.25

26. Guidelines for Service Branding
 Maximize service quality
 Employ a full range of brand elements to enhance
brand recall
 Create and communicate strong organizational
associations
 Design corporate communication programs that
augment consumers’ service encounters and
experiences
 Establish a brand hierarchy using distinct family or
individual brands as well as meaningful ingredient
brands
15.26

27. Guidelines for Branding Retailers
 Create a brand hierarchy consisting of the store
as a whole as well as individual departments
 Enhance the manufacturer’s brand equity by
communicating PODs
 Establish brand equity at all levels of the brand
hierarchy
 Create multichannel shopping experience
 Avoid overbranding
15.27

28. Guidelines for Small Business Branding
 Emphasize building one or two strong brands
 Focus the marketing program on one or two key
associations
 Employ a well-integrated set of brand elements that
enhances both brand awareness and image
 Design creative brand-building push campaigns
 Leverage as many secondary associations as
possible
15.28

29. Guidelines for Online Branding
 Don’t forget the brand building basics
 Create strong brand identity
 Generate strong consumer pull
 Selectively choose brand partnerships
 Maximize relationship marketing
15.29

30. Future Brand Priorities
 How will branding change in the coming years?
What are the biggest branding challenges? What
will make a successful “twenty-first-century
brand”?
15.30

31. Measuring Brand Equity
 Marketers of successful twenty-first-century
brands will create formalized measurement
approaches and processes that ensure they
continually monitor their sources of brand
equity and those of competitors.
15.31

32. Managing Brand Equity
 It will be essential in building strong twenty-first-
century brands to align internal and external brand
management.
 Internal brand management ensures that employees and
marketing partners appreciate and understand basic branding
notions and how they can affect the equity of brands.
 External brand management requires understanding the needs,
wants, and desires of consumers and creating brand
marketing programs that fulfill and even surpass consumer
expectations.
 Companies must also align bottom-up and top-down
marketing management .
15.32