Analyze the brand salience and associations of two Australian market brands. The objective of this assignment is to test students’ ability to measure, compare and critically analyse the brand salience and associations of two brands available in the Australian market.
It is expected that students will be able to justify the importance of brand salience and brand associations for brand managers.
The report should be typed in 1.5 line spacing on one side only of single A4 sheets using 12pt font and 2cm margins. It should be of no more 1,500 words (excluding cover sheet, reference list and appendices). Include all secondary data research (netnography) in the appendix.
To complete the assignment, you need to be familiar with the customer based brand-equity (CBBE) model (Chapters 2 and 3, Keller 2013). The CBBE model looks at building a brand as a sequence of steps required for successfully achieving set objectives. The first step – brand salience – ensures the identification of the brand by customers, as well as step 2 – allows for identification of relevant brand associations of the brand with a specific product class and customer need.
Details
Choose any two brands from the following FMCG product categories available in Australia: Instant coffee, Instant Noodles, Potato Chips, and Toothpaste. Choose one brand that is prominent in the marketplace and another one (same product category), which you feel Australian consumers are not very familiar with. Conducting secondary research you are expected to report on the breadth and depth of brand awareness (page 108; Keller 2020) for the chosen brands.
For any one of the brands discussed, identify the associations that you feel contribute significantly towards the brand’s equity. Using secondary research, you have to construct a mind map by undertaking a ‘brand associations’ research task. You are expected to report on the strength, favourability and uniqueness of brand associations (pages 76-77; Keller 2020) as well as present the brand’s mind map (pages 333-336; Keller 2020).
Your report should have the following components:
1. Introduction (about 150 words) The introduction should highlight the main purpose of your report. Further, it should guide the reader/examiner on the structure of your report.
2. Discussion
I. Brand awareness (600-650 words)
Theoretical discussion of the importance of brand awareness (about 200-250 words). Referring to 1-2 journal articles on brand awareness (concepts relating to brand salience include brand recall, recognition, and brand familiarity), discuss the importance of measuring brand awareness. Note: Do not regurgitate the Keller textbook.
Presentation and discussion of breadth and depth of brand awareness for chosen brands (about 400-450 words). (Note: Secondary data results to be included in the appendix).
II. Brand associations (about 600-650 words)
a. Discussion of the importance of brand associations (about 200-250 words). Referring to 1-2 journal articles, discuss the rationale for measuring brand associations from the authors’ perspective.
b. Presentation and discussion of the “brand associations” findings including mind map (about 400-450 words). (Note: Secondary data results to be included in the appendix).
3. Conclusion (about 100 words).
The last part of the report is the conclusion, which wraps up the key points of your work.
If you have high brand salience, then you have a strong brand presence that consumers recognize and think about when they need a product. If you have low brand salience, then consumers might not know your brand exists and therefore won’t think of your brand when they need to make a purchase.
Essentially, brand salience is a similar metric as brand awareness except it’s focused on measuring awareness during the actual purchasing decision instead of overall brand visibility.
For example, when someone wants to get a cup of coffee and is driving around, what’s the first brand they think of? Probably Starbucks. When they want to buy tissues, they think of Kleenex. When they want to search for something online, they Google it.
All of these brands have transcended the perception of being a random company, and are now household names in their own right. Most people think of these brands and know of them whether they’ve been there or used those products before.
These brands have high brand salience. To have high brand salience, your customers need to think about your brand as the first solution to their wants or needs when they have to make a purchasing decision.
The concept of brand salience is actually psychological in nature. According to research done by Jenni Romaniuk and Byron Sharp, brand salience is “a brand’s propensity to be noticed or come to mind in buying situations.”
This means that you have to capture people’s attention and be memorable enough for consumers to recall your brand when they’re purchasing something.
For example, when a consumer has a choice of brands to purchase from, they’ll rely both on their memory and attention salience. This means they’ll recall brands they know and then see what captures their attention.
This process is actually scientific. People who have studied brand salience have studied the human brain — how do people recall information and how does a brand associate positive memory structure with their product?
To increase your brand salience, some of your marketing campaigns probably won’t even focus on persuading consumers to buy your product. The goal of many branding campaigns is to constantly reinforce positive associations with your brand. Familiarity is important. Constant marketing messages from a brand ensure that the brand is top-of-mind when a consumer is making a purchasing decision.
Brands create high brand salience by using distinctive brand assets that capture attention and create positive memories for their audience. This means your marketing assets promote positive storytelling and create a meaning associated with your brand. When you promote your values, you’re differentiating your brand from the competition and increasing brand salience.
To create campaigns that will improve brand salience, think about the emotional impact of your assets. Your campaigns should be meaningful, authentic, and portray your values as a company.
All of this will help customers create a positive association with your brand and remember your brand when it comes time to make a purchase.
For example, let’s say I want to buy some gum. When I think about gum, one of the first things I think of are the commercials for Extra. I’ve never forgotten those commercials because they were emotional and created a positive experience for me.
Now, when I think about gum, I usually buy Extra even though that brand has never been my favorite gum company (I used to buy Orbit). But since those commercials, I’ve leaned toward Extra because of the positive association and it’s one of the first brands I recall because of those commercials.
Ultimately, brand salience is a combination of brand awareness, familiarity, relevance, frequent communication, and emotional connections between brand and consumer.