Brand Health
Brand health is about consumer perception – a company’s brand health exists in the minds and the hearts of the consumer - making it more complex to measure and manage. To successfully manage brand health, it is imperative to stay keenly in touch with consumer desires and needs. This is generally done through research and a well-applied Member Relationship Management (MRM) process.
Brand success/health is based on four pillars:
Knowledge
The culmination of brand building efforts relating to consumer experiences
Have they used our products/services - know us intimately?
Esteem
Consumer respect, regard, and reputation: relates to fulfillment of perceived consumer promise
Do we deliver as we promise or as the consumer perceives us to promise?
Relevance
Relates to usage and subsumes the 5Ps of marketing – relates to sale
Are we needed, easy to access, and provide a valued service to the consumer?
Differentiation
The basis for consumer choices: the essence of the brand, source of margin
Do we provide enough difference for the consumer that they will choose us above all others and sometimes pay a premium to do so: Disney, Jell-O, BMW, Starbucks?
Differentiation is the catalyst for decline or improvement in brand health. Both Differentiation and Relevance are leading indicators of what is transpiring within the marketplace regarding consumer perception of a brand. Knowledge and Esteem are lagging indicators. By the time Knowledge and Esteem begin to drop in value, the brand is already in serious trouble. Knowledge and Esteem will never drop in value without Differentiation and Relevance preceding them.
