Running Head: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPLIED TO DIGITAL FORENSICS 1
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPLIED TO DIGITAL FORENSICS 7
The Scientific Method Applied To Digital Forensics
by student name
Professor D. Barrett
University
Course
Todays date
Abstract
Computer forensics is the process of digital investigation combining technology, the science of discovery and the methodical application of legal procedures. Judges and jurors often do not understand the inner workings of computers and rely on digital forensics experts to seek evidence and provide reliable, irrefutable testimony based on their findings. The scientific method is the process of diligent, disciplined discovery where a hypothesis is formed without bias, and analysis and testing is performed with the goal of effectively proving or disproving a sound hypothesis. When investigative teams do not follow standard investigative procedures it can lead to inappropriate and inaccurate evidentiary presentations that are extremely difficult for non-technical participants to refute. The practitioners of digital forensics can make strides to measure and improve the accuracy of their findings using the scientific method. This paper includes a summary of the scientific method as applied to the emerging and growing field of digital forensics and presents details of a specific case where both the prosecution and defense would have benefitted greatly from the use of this proven method of discovery and analysis. Findings can only be deemed reasonably conclusive when the scientific process is correctly applied to an investigation, findings are repeatable and verifiable, and where both the evidence collected and the tools used are subject to the utmost scrutiny.
The Scientific Method Applied To Digital Forensics
The forensic analyst and investigator must use a unique combination of technical, investigative, and scientific skills when approaching a forensic case. Most adults remember the Scientific Method from their middle school science class as a set of six steps beginning with stating a problem, gathering information, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the data and drawing conclusions that either support or do not support the hypothesis. Peisert, Bishop, & Marzullo (2008) note that the term computer forensics has evolved to mean “scientific tests of techniques used with the detection of crime” yet note that many academic computer scientists also use the term to refer to the “process of logging, collecting, auditing or analyzing data in a post hoc investigation”. The necessity to maintain chain of custody requires methodical and detailed procedures, as does the formulation of a legitimate and unbiased hypothesis and conclusion using the scientific method. Since many judges and jurors assume that computer forensic evidence is as “reliable and conclusive” as it is depicted on television, the legal system .
Running Head THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPLIED TO DIGITAL FORENSICS .docx
1. Running Head: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPLIED TO
DIGITAL FORENSICS 1
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD APPLIED TO DIGITAL
FORENSICS 7
The Scientific Method Applied To Digital Forensics
by student name
Professor D. Barrett
University
Course
2. Todays date
Abstract
Computer forensics is the process of digital investigation
combining technology, the science of discovery and the
methodical application of legal procedures. Judges and jurors
often do not understand the inner workings of computers and
rely on digital forensics experts to seek evidence and provide
reliable, irrefutable testimony based on their findings. The
scientific method is the process of diligent, disciplined
discovery where a hypothesis is formed without bias, and
analysis and testing is performed with the goal of effectively
proving or disproving a sound hypothesis. When investigative
teams do not follow standard investigative procedures it can
lead to inappropriate and inaccurate evidentiary presentations
that are extremely difficult for non-technical participants to
refute. The practitioners of digital forensics can make strides to
measure and improve the accuracy of their findings using the
scientific method. This paper includes a summary of the
scientific method as applied to the emerging and growing field
of digital forensics and presents details of a specific case where
both the prosecution and defense would have benefitted greatly
from the use of this proven method of discovery and analysis.
Findings can only be deemed reasonably conclusive when the
scientific process is correctly applied to an investigation,
findings are repeatable and verifiable, and where both the
evidence collected and the tools used are subject to the utmost
scrutiny.
3. The Scientific Method Applied To Digital Forensics
The forensic analyst and investigator must use a unique
combination of technical, investigative, and scientific skills
when approaching a forensic case. Most adults remember the
Scientific Method from their middle school science class as a
set of six steps beginning with stating a problem, gathering
information, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis,
analyzing the data and drawing conclusions that either support
or do not support the hypothesis. Peisert, Bishop, & Marzullo
(2008) note that the term computer forensics has evolved to
mean “scientific tests of techniques used with the detection of
crime” yet note that many academic computer scientists also use
the term to refer to the “process of logging, collecting, auditing
or analyzing data in a post hoc investigation”. The necessity to
maintain chain of custody requires methodical and detailed
procedures, as does the formulation of a legitimate and unbiased
hypothesis and conclusion using the scientific method. Since
many judges and jurors assume that computer forensic evidence
is as “reliable and conclusive” as it is depicted on television,
the legal system is unaware of the volatile nature of computer
forensics investigations and the significance of a scientific
approach to evidence gathering and analysis (Peisert et al.,
2008).
The Scientific Process as Applied to Computer Forensics
Peisert et al. (2008) discuss in detail the need for the use of the
scientific method in forensic investigations, not only for the
process of discovery and analysis of evidence, but for
measuring the accuracy of the forensic tools used in an
investigation. Casey (2010) agrees, and cautions that evidence
must be compared to known samples so that investigators better
understand the scope and context of the evidence that is
discovered or presented and to better understand the output of
forensic tools. Casey (2010) further elaborates that the
scientific method is a powerful tool for forensic investigators
who must be neutral fact finders rather than advocates for one
4. side of a case or the other.
The process of creating a hypothesis and completing
experiments to prove or disprove them allows an investigator to
gain a concrete understanding of the digital evidence or mere
traces of evidence under analysis. Casey (2010) also notes that
while there is no ethical requirement to do so and may be
impractical, a thorough investigative practice would consider
investigation of alternate scenarios presented by defense.
Forensic examination tools can contain bugs, or behave
differently with various types of data and forensic images.
Casey (2010) recommends that investigators examine evidence
at both the physical and logical layers since both methods can
provide unique perspectives, and the physical layer may not
yield deleted, corrupted or hidden data. Suspects with limited
technical experience can rename image files with different
extensions not used for images, and those with more technical
knowledge can use advanced steganography techniques to
embed data within other data in an attempt to defy detection.
The 2004 case of State of Connecticut v. Julie Amero in
Norwich, Connecticut is one where the scientific method was
clearly missing from both the defense and prosecution.
Eckelberry, Dardick, Folkerts, Shipp, Sites, Stewart, & Stuart
(2007) completed a comprehensive post-trial analysis of the
evidence as provided to the defense and discovered very
different evidentiary results using a structured scientific
approach to their investigation. Amero was a substitute
elementary teacher accused of displaying pornographic images
that appeared on pop-up’s to her students from what ultimately
was proven to be a spyware-infected school computer. The
credibility of the legal system was compromised and the
prosecution made a numerous incorrect assumptions based on
results provided from inadequate forensic tools and poor
investigative techniques (Eckelberry et al., 2007).
The computer that Amero was using in her classroom was a
Windows 98 machine running Internet Explorer 6.0.2800 and a
trial version of Cheyenne AntiVirus that had not received an
5. update in several years. The content filtering at the school had
expired several months prior to the incident. The prosecution
presented non-factual statements that may easily have been
misconstrued by a non-technical jury and that likely caused a
guilty verdict. The false testimony made by the school IT
specialist indicated that the virus protection was updated
weekly when in fact they were not since computer logs and the
signatures clearly showed that virus updates were no longer
supported by the vendor. The updates may have been performed
but against files that had no new updates for many months. The
IT Manager who testified also incorrectly claimed that adware
was not able to generate pornography and especially not
“endless loop pornography”. This information was received as
a fact by the non-technical jury and incredibly not refuted by
the defense. The detective for the prosecution also stated that
his testimony was based completely on the product
ComputerCop which the vendor admits is incapable of
determining if a website was visited purposefully or
unintentionally. The forensic detective astoundingly admitted
that he did not examine the computer for the presence of adware
(Eckelberry et al., 2007, p. 7-10).
The case against Amero was largely based on testimony
stating that she deliberately visited the offensive pornographic
websites and that the sites visited subsequently showed the links
in red. The post-trial investigative team quickly verified that
the ‘sites visited’ color setting in Internet Explorer on the
suspect machine was set to “96,100,32” which is a greenish-
gray color. One of the web pages that the defendant allegedly
visited had an HTML override to highlight one of the links
presented in red and was not colored based on a deliberate visit
to the site. According to Eckelberry et al. (2007) the page in
question was not discovered in “any of the caches or Internet
history files or the Internet History DAT files. The post-trial
investigative team through meticulous investigation and use of
the scientific method were able to present facts that were
“exculpatory evidence showing that the link was never clicked
6. on by the defendant” or any other person, and disproved most of
the statements made by the forensics examiner and the
witnesses for the prosecution (Eckelberry et al., 2007, p. 12-
14).
The prosecution testimony stated that there was no
evidence of uncontrollable pop ups found on the suspect
machine, however, the post-trial investigative team discovered
irrefutable evidence that the page in question was loaded
twenty-one times in one second using a computer forensics tool
called X-Ways Trace. Eckleberry et al. (2007) detail many
other instances where testimony was haphazard and discovered
that a Halloween screen saver was the source of the adware that
presented the continuous stream of pornographic sites. The
chain of custody was also compromised in that the disk image
was from a Dell PC but the defense witness saw a Gateway PC
stored at the police station. The officer reportedly seized a
computer but the police report contradicts this and states that
only a drive was taken (Eckelberry et al., 2007, p. 14-17).
The case described and investigated by Eckelberry et al.
(2007) resembles a staged blunder designed as a humorous
sample case for beginning forensic students to discuss. The
case was however very real and even though the defendant was
eventually acquitted she suffered lasting harm from the
notoriety based on the initial conviction of contributing to the
delinquency of minors. If the prosecution or defense had
investigated the evidence using the scientific method and
maintained a credible chain of custody, or at least used clear
critical thinking while performing a thorough forensic
investigation this case may never have gone to trial. It wasted
the time and resources of judge, jury, and countless other
participants in the trial and permanently damaged an innocent
victim (Eckelberry et al., 2007).
Conclusion
The scientific method is a process that allows confidence
in a hypothesis when it can be subjected to repeated identical
tests. The use of the scientific method not only provides a
7. methodical structure to a forensic investigation, it lends
credibility to a case in the very nature of the steps used to
document and diligently test any given hypothesis. The case
independently investigated post-trial by Eckelberry et al. (2007)
was performed by a team of trained experts who were well
aware of the necessity of the methodical requirements and
necessity of the scientific method of discovery. Their findings
proved that the suspect was in fact a victim of poorly
maintained computers by a local Connecticut school system,
that the forensic expert and witnesses who testified in the case
were untrained and uninformed and used inadequate tools for
the investigation. Cases such as State of Connecticut v. Julie
Amero illustrate the importance of using the scientific method,
and the necessity of proper training in the art and science of
digital forensics.
References
Carrier, B. (2002, October). Open Source Digital Forensics
Tools: The Legal Argument. In @ Stake Inc. Retrieved
September 8, 2011, from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.19.78
99&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Casey, E. (Ed.). (2010). Handbook of Digital Forensics and
Investigation (Kindle ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier, Inc.
Eckelberry, A., Dardick, G., Folkerts, J., Shipp, A., Sites, E.,
Stewart, J., & Stuart, R. (2007, March 21). Technical Review of
the Trial Testimony of State of Connecticut vs. Julie Amero.
Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.sunbelt-
software.com/ihs/alex/julieamerosummary.pdf
Nelson, B., Phillips, A., & Steuart, C. (2010). Guide to
Computer Forensics and Investigations (4th ed.). Boston, MA:
Course Technology, Cengage Learning.
Peisert, S., Bishop, M., & Marzullo, K. (2008, April).
Computer Forensics in Forensis. Retrieved September 8, 2011,
from
8. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.140.3
949&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Running head: GLOBAL MARKETING 1
GLOBAL MARKETING
5
Global Marketing
Global Marketing
Global marketing refers to tuning the marketing strategies of a
company to the conditions set by other countries. It mainly aims
at putting a company on a worldwide scale, where their products
and services fairly compete with others from the rest of the
world. With the expansion of companies internationally and
widespread use of the internet, failing to put one’s company on
a global scale exposes it to local competition from international
companies and possible collapse (Kotabe & Kristiaan, 2000).
Global marketing has a number of advantages. First, it increases
awareness of a product or service to potential consumers. The
consumers are able to come across such information on the
9. internet and decide on whether to purchase depending on the
information availed. Second, the effectiveness of a product or
service is improved through global marketing. This is because
with growth there comes learning and hence improvement.
Third, global marketing increases on saving while minimizing
costs. Lastly, global marketing gives a company a strong
competitive advantage.
Global marketing is a gradual process, and most companies
evolve at different speeds. It begins with a company focusing
first on the local market. A company needs to exhaust the home
market before deciding to venture outside. The company then
slowly starts to look at potential markets out of their home
country, mostly dealing in exports. As the company continues to
grow, they begin to market overseas to nearby countries. They
make wide use of the internet. Eventually, the company is able
to go global with representation in a number of countries.
There are two major marketing strategies used worldwide by
countries. The first one is marketing like no borders exist. This
has been made easier with the advance of the internet.
Companies try to develop a marketing approach that is friendly
to all countries, to ease in marketing. Another strategy is having
a strong and consistent brand culture. When a brand is properly
marketed, it becomes known and customers easily relate to it.
Strong brands sell themselves without much input from the
companies.
In order to place your company on the global scale, there are a
number of things to note. First, you need to identify and know
your market. It is important to understand your target market,
their cultural preferences, and their habits. This helps in
knowing how to interact with them. Also, the company needs to
have a marketing plan. This may be different from the local
marketing plan and customized according to the target region.
Third, tailor fit your approach so that it works for the target
audience. Finally, make your communications as local as
possible (De Mooij, 2018).
Despite all the information on global marketing, a majority of
10. companies still make mistakes when trying worldwide
expansions. The biggest mistake most companies make is not
including the locals on the marketing team. It is important to
include the locals because they clearly understand their culture
and language. Also, most companies tend to introduce a number
of products at a time, hence not giving their clients time to
adapt to the new products. Some companies have little or no
knowledge of global logistics. As a result, they may give the
wrong timings, currencies, and languages. These mistakes can
be avoided with a proper understanding of global marketing and
strategies involved as well as a thorough study and
understanding of various regions.
Starbucks
Starbucks identifies and understands the cultural preferences of
a region before expanding. The company aligns its menu with
the local tastes of a region. For example, in Hong Kong, they
have Dragon Dumplings. The company has managed to create a
strong brand culture by engaging local cultures.
Question
Do you think global marketing has proved to be effective in the
growth of businesses worldwide?
References
11. De Mooij, Marieke, 2018. GLOBAL MARKETING AND
ADVERTISING: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. Sage
Publications Inc.
Kotabe, Masaaki, and Kristiaan Helsen, 2000. Global Marketing
Management. New Yoork, NY, USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Kotler, P. T., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management
(Custom 15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, Inc. ISBN:
9780133856460.
1
RUNNING HEAD: The Importance of Marketing Research
2
The Importance of Marketing Research
The Importance of Marketing Research
12. The importance of marketing research
Marketing research can be described as “the function that links
the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through
information.” (Kotler & Keller, 2016, p. 99) The information is
used to identify any marketing opportunities and problems,
generate marketing actions, monitor marketing performance,
and improve the overall marketing process. The marketing
research process is characterized by the following steps: (1)
Define the problem and research objectives (2) Develop the
research plan (3) Collect the information (4) Analyze the
information (5) Present the findings (6) Make the decision.
Larger corporations are more subject to having their own
marketing research department. In 2013, spending on marketing
research was $40.2 billion globally. Marketing research can be
conducted by both large and smaller firms. Some of the ways
that companies can conduct this research are listed below:
1. Engaging student or professors to design and carry out
projects
2. Using the internet
3. Checking out rivals
4. Tapping into marketing partner expertise
5. Tapping into employee creativity and wisdom
Marketing research is also being conducted through focus
groups, surveys, questionnaires, and experiments.
Understanding consumers and potential customers is a huge
factor in successfully conducting research to use in further
propelling a product or service. Many sources have found that
having a marketing research department or just the act of
conducting marketing research makes companies 10x more
successful. Some companies are hesitant to conduct market
research in order to avoid “negative feedback” (Staff, 2018)
Marketing research allows the marketers to understand
consumers in the most effective way. Understanding consumers
will ultimately determine the success or failure of the marketing
13. of the product or service. Marketers that are able to effectively
market to consumers will attract a stronger customer base.
Marketing research allows for companies to market the product
or service in a way that will engage their target market, making
them more likely to invest. Companies that do not engage in
marketing research are not going to be able to attract the right
target market. Having a target market allows for marketers to
focus their market research on areas that are going to attract the
customers that are more willing to purchase the product or
service.
Practical application
SAS, an analytics software and solution company,
describes the process that they take in conducting their market
research. This company, in particular, focuses on the customer
and what they research on a daily basis. SAS is able to tap into
every consumer’s interests by researching their online and in-
store activity. The company is then able to sell the data that
they collect to B2C’s. SAS has shifted to a more personal
approach when trying to reach and engage consumers, by using
personalized messages. For example, if Nike used SAS, they
would be able to send a direct personal message to consumer’s
who are researching athletic clothing. B2C’S that have the
consumer data can “better understand your customer data so that
you can hone the timing and relevance of your message.”
(Sweetwood, 2016) By using this research, the companies that
use SAS are able to reach their potential customers at the right
times, depending on their needs. SAS uses data to better fit the
customer’s purchasing journey: Need, research, decide, adopt,
use, recommend. These factors in the purchasing journey all
pertain to where the consumer stands in making their purchase
decision.
Having this information as a B2C is crucial in whether or not
there will be success in the market approaches. Analytics of
consumer activity is a great way for companies to better
understand the market and their potential customers. Without an
14. understanding of the needs and wants of consumers, a company
will not be successful. Consumers are more interested in
companies that market to them exactly what they want and need.
Having a better understanding of consumers and how to
approach the marketing of the product or service comes along
by conducting market research. As stated before, without market
research, a company will not be able to reach their target market
or any competing market.
Frito-Lay used social media in choosing what their next chip
flavor would be. They used the social media platform,
Facebook, and also conducted many survey panels. In this they
tapped into their consumers wants in creating their next flavor.
Frito-Lay would post consumer ideas and then took polls on
which the majority of the consumers would like to see. They
had flavors from onion ring to cappuccino. Although I never
tried one of those random flavors, they were very popular while
they lasted. This approach to marketing research engaged
consumers in deciding the next step for Frito-Lay. The approach
was riskier, but the increase in customer base for the company
was significant.
Question on the importance of marketing research
Do you see any shifts in marketing research over the next
decade? And if so, where do you see it going?
Reference
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing Management.
Boston: Pearson Education .
Staff, E. (2018, September 18). Conducting Market Research.
Retrieved from Entrepreneur :
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217388
Sweetwood, A. (2016, August 23). How One Company Used
Data To Rethink The Customer Journey . Retrieved from
Harvard Business Review : https://hbr.org/2016/08/how-one-
company-used-data-to-rethink-the-customer-journey
32. 11-*
Brand PortfoliosThe set of all brands and brand lines a
particular firm offers for sale in a particular category or market
segment
Flankers
Low-end entry level
Cash cows
High-end prestige
A brand can be stretched only so far, and all the segments the
firm would like to target may not view the same brand equally
favorably. Marketers often need multiple brands in order to
pursue these multiple segments. The hallmark of an optimal
brand portfolio is the ability of each brand in it to maximize
equity in combination with all the other brands in it. Brands can
also play a number of specific roles as part of a portfolio.
Flanker or fighter brands are positioned with respect to
competitors’ brands so that more important (and more
profitable) flagship brands can retain their desired positioning.
Some brands may be kept around despite dwindling sales
because they manage to maintain their profitability with
virtually no marketing support. Companies can effectively milk
these “cash cow” brands by capitalizing on their reservoir of
brand equity.
The role of a relatively low-priced brand in the portfolio often
may be to attract customers to the brand franchise. Retailers
like to feature these “traffic builders” because they are able to
trade up customers to a higher-priced brand.
The role of a relatively high-priced brand often is to add
prestige and credibility to the entire portfolio.
*
36. name and other brand elements to identify it—as well as what
the product does and why consumers should care. Branding
creates mental structures that help consumers organize their
knowledge about products and services in a way that clarifies
their decision making and, in the process, provides value to the
firm.
*
Brand equity may be reflected in the way consumers think, feel,
and act with respect to the brand, as well as in the prices,
market share, and profitability it commands.
*
A brand has positive customer-based brand equity when
consumers react more favorably to a product and the way it is
marketed when the brand is identified than when it is not
identified. A brand has negative customer-based brand equity if
consumers react less favorably to marketing activity for the
brand under the same circumstances.
*
Virgin’s brand promise is to enter categories where customers’
needs are not well met, do different things, and do things
differently, all in a way that better meets those needs. With
Virgin America, the company appears to have come up with
another brand winner.
*
Although marketers agree about basic branding principles, a
number of models of brand equity offer some differing
perspectives. Here we highlight three more established ones.
*
Advertising agency Young and Rubicam (Y&R) developed a
model of brand equity called the BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV).
There are four key components—or pillars—of brand equity,
according to BAV (see Figure 11.1). Energized differentiation
measures the degree to which a brand is seen as different from
others as well as its pricing power. Relevance measures the
appropriateness and breadth of a brand’s appeal. Esteem
measures perceptions of quality and loyalty, or how well the
37. brand is regarded and respected. Knowledge measures how
aware and familiar consumers are with the brand and the depth
of their experience.
Energized differentiation and relevance combine to determine
brand strength—a leading indicator that predicts future growth
value. Esteem and knowledge together create brand stature, a
“report card” of past performance and a lagging indicator of
current operating value.
*
The relationships among these dimensions—a brand’s “pillar
pattern”—reveal much about a brand’s current and future status.
Brand strength and brand stature combine to form the power
grid, depicting stages in the cycle of brand development in
successive quadrants (see Figure 11.2). Strong new brands show
higher levels of energized differentiation and energy than
relevance, whereas both esteem and knowledge are lower still.
Leadership brands show high levels on all pillars, with strength
greater than stature. As strength slips, they become mass market
brands. Finally, declining brands show high knowledge—
evidence of past performance—a lower level of esteem, and
even lower relevance and energized differentiation.
*
Marketing research consultants Millward Brown and WPP have
developed the Brandz model of brand strength, at the heart of
which is the BrandDynamics™ model, a system of brand equity
measurements, based on Millward Brown’s Meaningfully
Different Framework, that reveals a brand’s current equity and
opportunities for growth (Figure 11.3).* BrandDynamics
employs a set of simple scores that summarize a brand’s equity
and are relatable directly to real world financial and business
outcomes. BrandDynamics maintain that three different types of
brand associations are crucial for building customer
predisposition to buy a brand—meaningful, different, and
salient brand associations. The success of a brand along those
three dimensions, in turn, is reflected in three important
38. outcome measures:
Power: a prediction of the brand’s volume share
Premium: a brand’s ability to command a price premium
relative to the category average
Potential: the probability that a brand will grow value share
*
The brand resonance model also views brand building as an
ascending series of steps, from bottom to top: (1) ensuring
customers identify the brand and associate it with a specific
product class or need; (2) firmly establishing the brand meaning
in customers’ minds by strategically linking a host of tangible
and intangible brand associations; (3) eliciting the proper
customer responses in terms of brand-related judgment and
feelings; and (4) converting customers’ brand responses to
intense, active loyalty.
According to this model, enacting the four steps means
establishing a pyramid of six “brand building blocks” as
illustrated in Figure 11.4. The model emphasizes the duality of
brands—the rational route to brand building is on the left side
of the pyramid, and the emotional route is on the right side.
Creating significant brand equity requires reaching the top of
the brand pyramid, which occurs only if the right building
blocks are put into place.
• Brand salience is how often and how easily customers think of
the brand under various purchase or consumption situations—
the depth and breadth of brand awareness.
• Brand performance is how well the product or service meets
customers’ functional needs.
• Brand imagery describes the extrinsic properties of the
product or service, including the ways in which the brand
attempts to meet customers’ psychological or social needs.
• Brand judgments focus on customers’ own personal opinions
and evaluations.
39. • Brand feelings are customers’ emotional responses and
reactions with respect to the brand.
• Brand resonance describes the relationship customers have
with the brand and the extent to which they feel they’re “in
sync” with it.
*
Brand elements are devices, which can be trademarked, that
identify and differentiate the brand. Most strong brands employ
multiple brand elements. Nike has the distinctive “swoosh”
logo, the empowering “Just Do It” slogan, and the “Nike” name
from the Greek winged goddess of victory.
*
There are six criteria for choosing brand elements. The first
three—memorable, meaningful, and likable—are brand building.
The latter three—transferable, adaptable, and protectable—are
defensive and help leverage and preserve brand equity against
challenges.
*
Brands are not built by advertising alone. Customers come to
know a brand through a range of contacts and touch points:
personal observation and use, word of mouth, interactions with
company personnel, online or telephone experiences, and
payment transactions. Integrated marketing is about mixing and
matching marketing activities to maximize their individual and
collective effects. Marketers need a variety of different
marketing activities that consistently reinforce the brand
promise.
*
The third and final way to build brand equity is, in effect, to
“borrow” it. That is, create brand equity by linking the brand to
other information in memory that conveys meaning to
consumers (see Figure 11.5). These “secondary” brand
associations can link the brand to sources such as the company
itself (through branding strategies), to countries or other
geographical regions (through identification of product origin),
and to channels of distribution (through channel strategy), as
40. well as to other brands (through ingredient or co-branding),
characters (through licensing), spokespeople (through
endorsements), sporting or cultural events (through
sponsorship), or some other third-party sources (through awards
or reviews).
*
Marketers must now “walk the walk” to deliver the brand
promise. They must adopt an internal perspective to be sure
employees and marketing partners appreciate and understand
basic branding notions and how they can help—or hurt—brand
equity.
When employees care about and believe in the brand, they’re
motivated to work harder and feel greater loyalty to the firm.
Some important principles for internal branding are:
Choose the right moment. Turning points are ideal opportunities
to capture employees’ attention and imagination.
Link internal and external marketing. Internal and external
messages must match.
Bring the brand alive for employees. Internal communications
should be informative and energizing.
Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm employees with too many
details. Focus on the key brand pillars, ideally in the form of a
brand mantra.
*
The brand value chain is a structured approach to assessing the
sources and outcomes of brand equity and the way marketing
activities create brand value (Figure 11.6). Brand value creation
begins when the firm targets actual or potential customers by
investing in a marketing program to develop the brand,
including marketing communications, trade or intermediary
support, and product research, development, and design. Next,
these customers’ mind-sets will affect buying behavior and the
way consumers respond to all subsequent marketing activity—
pricing, channels, communications, and the product itself—and
41. the resulting market share and profitability of the brand.
Finally, the investment community will consider this market
performance of the brand to assess shareholder value in general
and the value of a brand in particular.
*
A brand audit is a focused series of procedures to assess the
health of the brand, uncover its sources of brand equity, and
suggest ways to improve and leverage its equity.
Brand-tracking studies use the brand audit as input to collect
quantitative data from consumers over time, providing
consistent, baseline information about how brands and
marketing programs are performing. Tracking studies help us
understand where, how much, and in what ways brand value is
being created to facilitate day-to-day decision making.
Marketers should distinguish brand equity from brand valuation,
which is the job of estimating the total financial value of the
brand.
*
Table 11.2 displays the world’s most valuable brands in 2012
according to the Interbrand rankings, as described below in
“Marketing Insight: What Is a Brand Worth?”61 In these well-
known companies, brand value is typically more than half the
total company market capitalization.
*
Top brand-management firm Interbrand has developed a model
to formally estimate the dollar value of a brand. It defines brand
value as the net present value of the future earnings that can be
attributed to the brand alone. The firm believes marketing and
financial analyses are equally important in determining the
value of a brand. Its process follows five steps (see Figure 11.7
for a schematic overview).
*
As a company’s major enduring asset, a brand needs to be
carefully managed so its value does not depreciate. Brand
42. leaders of 70 years ago that remain leaders today—companies
such as Wrigley’s, Coca-Cola, Heinz, and Campbell Soup—only
do so by constantly striving to improve their products, services,
and marketing. Marketers can reinforce brand equity by
consistently conveying the brand’s meaning in terms of (1) what
products it represents, what core benefits it supplies, and what
needs it satisfies; and (2) how the brand makes products
superior and which strong, favorable, and unique brand
associations should exist in consumers’ minds.
A number of brands have managed to make impressive
comebacks in recent years.68 After some hard times in the
automotive market, Cadillac, Fiat, and Volkswagen have all
turned their brand fortunes around to varying degrees. Often,
the first thing to do in revitalizing a brand is understand what
the sources of brand equity were to begin with. Are positive
associations losing their strength or uniqueness? Have negative
associations become linked to the brand? Then decide whether
to retain the same positioning or create a new one and, if so,
which new one.
*
A firm’s branding strategy—often called its brand
architecture—reflects the number and nature of both common
and distinctive brand elements. Deciding how to brand new
products is especially critical. A firm has three main choices
listed in this slide.
*
When a firm uses an established brand to introduce a new
product, the product is called a brand extension. When
marketers combine a new brand with an existing brand, the
brand extension can also be called a subbrand, such as Hershey
Kisses candy, Adobe Acrobat software, Toyota Camry
automobiles, and American Express Blue cards. The existing
brand that gives birth to a brand extension or sub-brand is the
parent brand. If the parent brand is already associated with
multiple products through brand extensions, it can also be
43. called a master brand or family brand.
Brand extensions fall into two general categories. In a line
extension, the parent brand covers a new product within a
product category it currently serves, such as with new flavors,
forms, colors, ingredients, and package sizes. In a category
extension, marketers use the parent brand to enter a different
product category, such as Swiss Army watches.
A brand line consists of all products—original as well as line
and category extensions—sold under a particular brand. A brand
mix (or brand assortment) is the set of all brand lines that a
particular seller makes. Many companies are introducing
branded variants, which are specific brand lines supplied to
specific retailers or distribution channels.
A licensed product is one whose brand name has been licensed
to other manufacturers that actually make the product.
*
Assuming a firm decides to brand its products or services, it
must choose which brand names to use. Three general strategies
are popular:
Individual or separate family brand names. Consumer packaged-
goods companies have a long tradition of branding different
products by different names.
Corporate umbrella or company brand name. Many firms, such
as Heinz and GE, use their corporate brand as an umbrella brand
across their entire range of products.
Sub-brand name. Sub-brands combine two or more of the
corporate brand, family brand, or individual product brand
names.
*
The use of individual or separate family brand names has been
44. referred to as a “house of brands” strategy, whereas the use of
an umbrella corporate or company brand name is a “branded
house” strategy. These two strategies represent two ends of a
continuum. A sub-brand strategy falls somewhere between,
depending on which component of the sub-brand receives more
emphasis.
With a branded house strategy, it is often useful to have a well-
defined flagship product. A flagship product is one that best
represents or embodies the brand as a whole to consumers. It
often is the first product by which the brand gained fame, a
widely accepted best-seller, or a highly admired or award-
winning product.
*
A brand can be stretched only so far, and all the segments the
firm would like to target may not view the same brand equally
favorably. Marketers often need multiple brands in order to
pursue these multiple segments. The hallmark of an optimal
brand portfolio is the ability of each brand in it to maximize
equity in combination with all the other brands in it. Brands can
also play a number of specific roles as part of a portfolio.
Flanker or fighter brands are positioned with respect to
competitors’ brands so that more important (and more
profitable) flagship brands can retain their desired positioning.
Some brands may be kept around despite dwindling sales
because they manage to maintain their profitability with
virtually no marketing support. Companies can effectively milk
these “cash cow” brands by capitalizing on their reservoir of
brand equity.
The role of a relatively low-priced brand in the portfolio often
may be to attract customers to the brand franchise. Retailers
like to feature these “traffic builders” because they are able to
trade up customers to a higher-priced brand.
45. The role of a relatively high-priced brand often is to add
prestige and credibility to the entire portfolio.
*
Most new products are in fact brand extensions—typically 80
percent to 90 percent in any one year. Moreover, many of the
most successful new products, as rated by various sources, are
brand extensions. Two main advantages of brand extensions are
that they can facilitate new-product acceptance and provide
positive feedback to the parent brand and company.
On the downside, line extensions may cause the brand name to
be less strongly identified with any one product. Brand dilution
occurs when consumers no longer associate a brand with a
specific or highly similar set of products and start thinking less
of the brand. The worst possible scenario is for an extension not
only to fail, but to harm the parent brand in the process. One
easily overlooked disadvantage of brand extensions is that the
firm forgoes the chance to create a new brand with its own
unique image and equity.
*
Marketers must judge each potential brand extension by how
effectively it leverages existing brand equity from the parent
brand as well as how effectively, in turn, it contributes to the
parent brand’s equity. Marketers should ask a number of
questions in judging the potential success of an extension. To
help answer these questions, Table 11.3 offers a sample
scorecard with specific weights and dimensions that users can
adjust for each application.
*
We can relate brand equity to one other important marketing
concept: customer equity. The aim of customer relationship
management (CRM) is to produce high customer equity.
As Chapter 5 reviewed, customer lifetime value is affected by
revenue and by the costs of customer acquisition, retention, and