Brand Contact Points,

Handling Name Changes and Brand Transfers

Prof. Roberto Berardi

roberardi@gmail.com
… You need to have something the other don’t …
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Welcome in the world of Brands

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Where do brands come from?

“Great brands come from great advertising”

TRUE ?
Consumers build brands, gathering information
from sources that go far beyond brand communication
“People build brands the way birds build nests, from
the scraps and twigs they chance upon” (Stephen King WPP London)

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Brand contact points

A brand is what consumers think it is

(Consumer’s interpretation is the real brand; marketer’s intention is just the aspirational brand)

Brand contact point (or touch point, or moment of truth) is any element
of consumer experience that consumer attributes to the brand

SHELF PLACEMENT & DETAILING HOW IT OPENS AND CLOSES

Even a simple
NUMBER OF FACINGS HOW IT DISPENSES
packaged food product
has MULTIPLE HOW IT LOOKS
ADVERTISING
CONTACT POINTS
HOW IT TASTES
PACKAGE DESIGN & GRAFICS HOW IT SMELLS
PRICING HOW IT IS DISPOSED OF
PROMOTIONAL OFFERINGS

It is important to know what consumer holds the brand responsible for…

… and what he does NOT hold the brand responsible for
Target Consumers segments must be defined upfront, as different
segments of Consumers value differently the same element of experience
Brand contact grid *
More important to Consumers

Disgusters Delighters

Bad / Negative Good / Positive

Annoyances Frills

Less important to Consumers

Disgusters must be fixed BEFORE any money is spend on frills !!!

To draw the Brand contact grid…
1) Study Customers in sufficient depth!
2) Do it with as many “Alpha Customers” as the budget allows
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* As developed by Lisa Fortini-Campbell – Kellog School of Management
Diagnosing a current Brand
For an existing brand:
• What are all of the Contact Points that Consumers notice
in the course of their experience with our product / service?
• How do they interpret these Contact Points?
• How do these interpretations weave together to become…
the Consumer idea of the Brand
To identify the grid of the Brand Contact Points
• Study Customers in sufficient depth!
• Do that with as many customers as budget will tolerate
• Read the detailed transcripts of EACH interview
• The best information is comprehensive, detailed, unfiltered

List all the contact points resulting from the interviews & classify:
• How important are they for the Customer / Consumer?
• Does the contact leave a positive or negative impression?
Brand CONTACT Importance (for the target) Impression (pos/neg)
Diagnosing a current Brand: an example*
BANK, with small / medium enterprises as key target customers
Results Summary:
• the name of the Bank is known by 80% of the target (same for competitors)
• customers know the ad: “The Professional Bank for Business”
• however it is ranked weak in areas such as “professional” e “fast to react”
• …and good in areas: “service range”, “price”, “convenient”

CONTACT Importance (for the target) Impression (pos/neg)

Bank near Customer office High Positive

Modern Building, offices look sharp & professional Moderate Positive
Sharp Director, quickly understands our business High Positive
Process of moving accounts smooth & easy High Positive
Couple of small paperwork mistakes Moderate Negative
New Director asked many obvious questions High Negative
Check to one of major suppliers sent back as invalid High Negative
Mistakes in the last three statements High Negative
Charges for services aren’t explained, nor conform High Negative
to agreed fees, …
… etc. etc.
 Diagnosing a current Brand: example of “inspiring” interview
“ I've lived and worked in this town for 30 years and have built the business from just a two-person operation to the 60-person firm it is
today. The size of the business and the scope of our services have changed a lot over the years, but our values have always remained the
same—to give our customers the most professional personal service possible. We pride ourselves on our deep relationships with long-
term customers and in being as flexible as we can be with their particular requests. Every school is different, and you have to treat each
one as if it were your only customer.
I'd been banking with Bank A for a number of years, but with all of the consolidation going on in the banking industry,
a national bank I wasn't familiar with took over our local branch, and I decided to look elsewhere.
Bank B —"The Professional Bank for Business"—was the logical choice. They're right downtown close to our offices, in a modern building.
When I first went in to visit, I was really impressed. The offices looked sharp and professional.
The employees were well groomed and behaved in a very business-like way—no chatting around the water cooler and ignoring customers
when they came in through the door. I met with one of the vice presidents and explained our business and needs to her, and she was
really sharp and understood immediately. The process of moving our accounts was smooth and easy, except for a couple of small
paperwork mistakes. But, those things happen and they were easily corrected.
Once our accounts were set up, the trouble started. I needed to change the signatories on several of our corporate accounts and went to
talk to them about it. But, when I arrived, I learned that the vice president I'd worked with had quit and a new person had taken her place.
Even though we had an appointment, it was clear he hadn't prepared for the meeting and asked me a lot of obvious questions about our
business that I'd already answered and were documented in our file. It was a huge waste of time.
After a lot of waiting and paper shuffling, he produced the signature change cards and they were duly filled out. But when a check to one of
our major suppliers was sent back as invalid because it had the "wrong" signature, I was really mad. It was even worse that the bank
enclosed a note with the returned check saying that this service was "one of the many ways we protect your business." Ha!
That was the last big problem. Now there are lots of little ones that add up to a big headache. There have been mistakes on our last
three statements. There are charges for services that aren't itemized or explained and don't conform to the fees I've agreed to pay. Now
we've started to have problems with our employees' retirement accounts. There's nothing major, but with this history of problems, I'm
starting to get worried. One of my employees came in this morning to tell me she'd tried to check her account balance on the bank's
automated phone system, and when it confirmed her password, it told her the balance in the account was zero. Fortunately, she didn't
panic, but tried calling again, and this time the system gave her a balance that sounded right. If this doesn't all get straightened out, we're
going to switch banks. But regardless, every time I see one of their signs that says, "The professional bank for business" I just shake my
head.
* example from: Kellog on Integrated Marketing, 2003
Branding strategy

Branding must be viewed as the major

enduring asset of a company, outlasting products.

Powerful assets that must be developed and managed.

Branding is an important element

of the tangible product

◦ particularly in consumer markets

as a means of linking items
within a product line
or emphasising the individuality
of product items.

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Branding consists in transforming the product category
In many companies a lot of attention is devoted to the marketing activity itself, which
involves designers, graphic artists, packaging and advertising agencies.
But “marketing activities” are the terminal phase of a process that focuses company's
resources and all of its functions on one strategic intent: creating a difference.
The first task is to define all that the brand injects into the product (or service) and
how the brand transforms it:
1) What attributes materialise? 3) What benefits emerge?
2) What advantages are created? 4) What ideals does it represent?

Is it worth more a “delebelled”

product, e.g. Lacostes without
'Lacoste’ or brand counterfeits
(imitations with the 'Lacoste’ symbol) ?

A brand not only “acts on the market”, it “organises the market”

The brand is weak when the product is too 'transparent‘:
e.g. 'Greek olive oil, first cold pressing'
The major mineral water brands have made the invisible visible.
• Good health and purity are associated with Evian,
• Fitness with Contrex,
• Vitality with Vittel.
These various positionings were justified
by the invisible differences in water contents.
Product line stretching

Downward stretch
Company initially located at the top end of the
market and then ‘stretches’ downwards to pre-empt
a competitor or respond to an attack. Launch of C &
A Class by Mercedes-Benz.

Upward stretch
Companies stretching upwards to add
prestige to their existing range of products or
enter profitable segments.
Toyota with the Lexus.
Can be risky due to customer perception
and inability of sales people to trade up
and negotiate to the new level.
Two-way stretch

Extending product lines upwards and

downwards to address different
segments of the market.
Brand development
Line extensions
◦ Using a successful brand name to introduce additional items in a given product category
under the same brand name, such as new flavours, forms, colours, added ingredients or
package size.
◦ Danger of overextending the brand and losing meaning.
◦ Danger of cannibalisation of own products.
Brand extensions
• Using a successful brand name to launch
a new or modified product in a new category.
• Gives new product greater recognition
and faster acceptance.
• Save high advertising costs due to familiar
brand name.
• Must ensure the appropriateness
of the new product to the brand and market
to customers that value the brand.
• Guard against confusing the consumer.
Mr. Clean–branded car washes
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Brand portfolio management: against and pro line extension
Al Ries & Jack Trout in the book “POSITIONING, the battle for your mind” were VERY NEGATIVE
on line extensions.

“What branding builds, sub branding [line extension] destroys”

However, with the higher costs of establishing new brands, new approaches develop:
• The Brand as a single, long lasting promise embodied in different products / categories
• Redefine historical Brand Benefit in a higher order value
Perimeters of Brand extension Type of Brand & Ability to extend

No go area Type of Brand

Threats of brand’s capital asset e
Values t an gi bl
Extension zone In
Latent potential
Outer Core Personality
Spontaneous associations
Benefit
Inner core
D line
Kernel
extension Know How
i bl e
Product Tang

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 Brand extensions: do they work ?
Recent data evidence confirms good performances for Brand extensions :
Survival Rate Reasons:
120

100 • They capitalizes on existing

80 brand awareness
60

40 • they take advantage of

20 inherent category links
0 Inner (functional products)
0 year 1 year2 year 3 year 4
Bra nd Exte nsi on
Core Ne w Bra nd
• they takes advantage of
Trial & repeat Rate brand concepts links
(symbolic brands)
• They allow to reduces
advertising investment
• It allows faster distribution
build up

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Brand transfers are more than a name change

Reasons for Brand Transfers:

• Reduction in the number of Brands to reach critical size
• Acquisitions aimed at transferring activities to buyer’s brand
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JFM 00 AMJ 00 JAS 00 OND 00 JFM 01 AMJ 01 JAS 01 OND 01

• Stop activities (e.g. GE  B&D, Lines, etc.) / legal issues

FAIRY (former brand) DAWN (new brand)

• Creation of WW Companies (e.g. Novartis, Alcatel, etc.)

• “Bad” (Philip Morris to Altria) or obscure (BSN to Danone) names
• Substitution of local brands with Global Brands
P&G Germany Washing-Up Detergents case
DO IT or NOT DO IT ?
• SHELL / DEA vs. BP / ARAL
Who was right?
• Outsider vs. local judgment
(e.g. Danone – Opavia in Czech)
• OREAL – Maybelline case
• P&G Fairy  Dawn case
 Case Dumb Ways to Die: Advertising Train Safety
(HBS, please read before the class part A) of the case “Dumb Ways To Die” (DWTD)
Parts B & C will be distributed and discussed during the class on January 29th, 2015)

1) Case A, distributed and to be read before the class.

In class «Old trains safety ads summary» view.
Questions for the initial in class discussion:
• What is the objective of the Metro Trains Victoria?
• Why is it so important to them?
• What is their primary target?

2) Distribution of case B and view of the DWTD spot.

Topics for the following in class discussion:
• Evaluate the DWTD ad.
• Will the Campaign succeed? Why?
• How can DWTD’s impact be sustained?

3) Distribution of the conclusive case C

Thank you

Roberto Berardi
roberardi@gmail.com

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