This chapter discusses criteria for choosing effective brand elements to build brand equity, including memorability, meaningfulness, likability, transferability, adaptability, and protectability. It covers various brand elements like names, logos, symbols, characters, slogans, jingles, URLs, and packaging. Choosing distinctive yet meaningful elements that customers find appealing and memorable can increase brand awareness and positively influence brand perceptions. Elements must also be flexible to changes and legally protected from competitors. Famous branding mistakes from not properly considering language and cultural differences are also highlighted.

1. CHAPTER 4:
CHOOSING BRAND ELEMENTS TO BUILD
BRAND EQUITY
Part 1
MKT 455
4.1

2. Brand Elements
 Also called brand identities, trademarkable devices that
serve to identify and differentiate the brand.
 Includes:
 Brand names
 URLs
 Logos and symbols
 Characters
 Spokespeople
 Slogans
 Jingles
 Packaging
4.2

3. Criteria for Choosing Brand
Elements
 Memorability
 Meaningfulness
 Likability
 Transferability
 Adaptability
 Protectability
4.3
Marketer’s offensive strategy
and build brand equity
Defensive strategy for leveraging
and maintaining brand equity

4. Memorability
 Brand elements should inherently be
memorable and attention-getting, and
therefore facilitate recall or recognition.
4.4

5. Meaningfulness
Two important criteria
General information about the nature of the
product category (brand awareness &
salience)
Specific information about particular
attributes and benefits of the brand (brand
image and positioning)
4.5

6. Likability
 Descriptive and persuasive elements reduce the
burden on marketing communications to build
awareness.
 Do customers find the brand element aesthetically
appealing?
4.6

7. Transferability
 How useful is the brand element for line or
category extensions?
 To what extent can you leverage the brand
element to expand across geographic
boundaries and market segments?
4.7

8. Famous Brand Mishaps
 Coors
 “Turn it loose”  in Spanish means “Suffer from
diarrhea”
 Chevy Nova
 “Nova”  in Spanish means “No Go”
 Pepsi
 “Pepsi brings you back to life”  in Chinese means
“Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”
 Gerber
 Included baby pictures on the label. In Africa, brands
usually put pictures of the content on the label.
4.8

9. Adaptability
 The more adaptable and flexible the brand element,
the easier it is to update it to changes in consumer
values and opinions.
4.9

10. Transferability & Adaptability
4.10

11. Protectability
 Marketers should:
1. Choose brand elements that can be
legally protected internationally.
2. Formally register chosen brand
elements with the appropriate legal
bodies.
3. Vigorously defend trademarks from
unauthorized competitive infringement.
4.11

12. Brand Equity must be protected;
Others will try to steal it

13. CHAPTER 4:
CHOOSING BRAND ELEMENTS TO BUILD
BRAND EQUITY
Part 2
MKT 455
4.13

14. Brand Elements
A variety of brand elements can be chosen that
inherently enhance brand awareness or facilitate
the formation of strong, favorable, and unique
brand associations.
 Brand names
 URLs
 Logos and symbols
 Characters
 Slogans
 Packaging
4.14

15. Reflection Time: Brand Names
o What are some desirable qualities
in a brand name?

16. 4.1
6 Brand Founders

17. Fabricated, Metaphors, Acronyms
and Real Words
4.1
7

18. Descriptive Brand Names
4.18

19. Reflection Time: Best Brand
Names?
 What are some of the best brand names and
why?
 What are the risks of using descriptive brand
names?
4.19

20. CHAPTER 4:
CHOOSING BRAND ELEMENTS TO BUILD
BRAND EQUITY
Part 3
MKT 455
4.20

21. Logos and Symbols
 Logos range from corporate names or trademarks (word
marks with text only) written in a distinctive form, to entirely
abstract designs that may be completely unrelated to the
word mark, corporate name, or corporate activities
4.21

23. Coca-Cola
4.23

24. Pepsi
4.24

25. Brand Characters
 Benefits:
 attention-getting
 creates brand awareness
 Increases likeability
 May be transferred to other categories easily
4.25

26. Refection Time:
 What are some of your favorite brand characters?
4.2
6

27. Slogans
M&Ms: “Melt in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand”
•Energizer Batteries: “It Keeps Going, and Going, And Going”

28. Jingles
 Jingles are musical messages written around the
brand.
 Jingles are perhaps most valuable in enhancing brand
awareness.
4.28

29. URLs (domain names)
 A company can either sue the current owner of the URL for
copyright infringement, buy the name from the current
owner, or register all conceivable variations of its brand as
domain names ahead of time.
4.29

30. Packaging
 From the perspective of both the firm and
consumers, packaging must achieve a
number of objectives:
 Identify the brand
 Convey descriptive and persuasive information
 Facilitate product transportation and protection
 Assist at-home storage
 Aid product consumption
4.30

31. Packaging Examples
4.31

32. Reflection Time
What is some of your favorite
brand packaging examples?
4.32

33. Wrap Up
Review Chapter 4
Be prepared to discuss your
thoughts about Brand Elements
4.33