Post on 27-Apr-2015
transcript
Brand Personality
Brand PersonalityJust like human beings, a brand soon assumes a personality. It is a set of characteristics associated
with a brand. Drawing analogy with human personality, brand personality is unique, distinctive and
enduring and provides the brand a differentiation from competitive offerings. It is built by the overall
experience of the consumer with the brand , which inturn is affected by the expected value from the
brand.
There are many forces that act to construct a brand personality. Just like personality of a person are
influenced by multiple forces associated with him like family, friends, education, traditional values,
culture, education etc; brand personality is also created by interaction of multiple forces. Fig. 1.1
highlights the primary forces that create brand personality.
3. User Imagery: User imagery in the form of people who use the brand or those portrayed in
advertisements can be a powerful driver of brand personality. They can arouse need recognition in the
consumer and also lead to certain expectation being formed from the brand.
4. Sponsorships: Activities such as events sponsored by brands influence their personality. Consumer
memory could be impacted by the event the brand sponsored and hence can impact brand personality.
For e.g. Pond’s is associated with femineity and has been a traditional sponsor of Femina Miss India.
5. Age: How long the brand has been in the market can impact its personality. For e.g. Apple is
considered to be a young brand while IBM is considered to be old fashioned and traditional.
Age
Symbol
Sponsorship
User I
magery
Product
related characteristics
Product Class
The various forces working on building brand
personality are-
1. Product class: These can be the primary drivers
of brand personality. For e.g. athletic shoes tend to
be young, lively, adventurous, rugged, outdoorsy
etc.
2. Product related characteristics: Product
attributes and marketing mix can strongly affect its
perception in the minds of the consumer. For e.g. a
high priced brand is wealthy, stylish and maybe
even snobbish.
6. Symbol: The symbol can have strong external association and could strongly impact recall value of
the brand. For e.g. Apple’s bitten apple, Nike’s swoosh.
Brand personality is of immense importance for any marketer.
It enriches marketer’s understanding of how the consumer perceives the brand and the attitude of the
consumer towards the product offering. This inturn can help the marketer to tailor his/her marketing
strategy to appeal to the consumer psyche and to provide the consumer with a product in line with
consumer’s expectations.
All communications about the product offering are structured in line with the brand personality. The
marketing campaign, tagline, brand colour, logo, brand ambassador are all designed and
conceptualized keeping the brand personality as guideline.
Most importantly, brand personality helps a marketer differentiate his/her product offering in the
market place and create its own niche. For e.g. while Coke is considered to be a drink for all age
groups, Pepsi is associated with youth and Gen X. Brand personality helps create a brand equity
which can be leveraged to build a long term relation with the consumer. In consumer Behaviour
Literature there exist three models that summarize how brand personality can create brand equity-
1. The Self Expression model- The basic premise of this model for some consumers the brand
becomes the vehicle to express a part of their self-identity. This self identity could be their actual self
or the ideal self they aspire to be. For e.g. cars, cosmetics, apparels lend themselves to personality
expression because their use occurs in social context with relatively high involvement.
2. The Relationship Basis model- Some people may never aspire to have a certain personality trait
but may wish to consume a brand that symbolises those traits. For e.g. a dependable, conservative
personality might seem been boring and undesirable for self personality but might be desired from the
banking or insurance company the consumer associates with.
3. Functional Benefit Representation Model- A brand personality may also play an indirect role by
impacting consumer perception about the brand attributes and the functional benefits associated with
it.
Various Traits of Brand Personality Just like human beings develop different personality traits, brands can also take various forms. Let us
discuss, with examples, various forms of personality some famous brands have assumed.
Apple -"Without the brand, Apple would be dead"- Marketer Marc Globe
Apple is seen as friendly, unpretentious, innovative, irreverent and young. There are many strategies
Apple has adopted to build and maintain its brand personality-
3. Culture: Apple projects a humanistic corporate culture and a strong corporate ethic, characterized
by volunteerism, support of good causes or involvement in the community. Its founding ethos was
power to the people through technology, and it remains committed to computers in education.
AXE- The Axe Effect
Brand Personality: Seduction, naughty, masculinity, individuality, unconventionality.
A Unilever brand, the product has an iconic status in whichever market it has entered. Axe employs supreme strategy in segmenting, targeting and positioning its product, one that it has replicated across geographies with great success.
Users are high on confidence and for them; it is always girls who make the first move.
3. Advertising: The AXE advertisements show very ordinary or even skinny men getting assaulted by beautiful women. The marketing mix employed by Axe is often termed ‘Adventurous Marketing’. This is because the brand portrays women and seduction to give a boost to the male ego.
Levi’s- The Original icon
Brand personality: Rebellion, rugged, being cool
Since Levis came into existence in 1873, it has remained an iconic brand generation after generation.
1. Product design: "Apple's design is people-driven." Apple tries
to develop long term relationship with its users and has built a
community around Brand Apple. So much so, the users themselves
feel that they are part of the brand.
2. Logo: Apple abandoned the old rainbow-hued Apple logo in
favour of a minimalist monochrome one, gave its computers a
funky, colourful look, and streamlined the messages in its
advertising.
1. Launch strategy: HUL launched AXE with an unconventional low promotion- high pricing strategy, thus creating a niche market for the product. It was carefully positioned and targeted the urban male between the ages of 15-25 years.
2. Underlying Message: The biggest strength of the brand is the sublimal implications of its underlying message. Axe
Nike- Just Do ItBrand Personality: Athletic and outdoorsy, champion
Nike, the brand name itself, was once better known in Greek mythology as the goddess of victory.
One of the most valuable brands in terms of brand value, Nike has constantly innovated itself to earn
its personality.
3. Endorsements: Nike has successfully collaborated with some of the most celebrated sport stars, be
it Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Sachin Tendulkar.
Lux
Brand Personality: Tender, Caring, feminine, glamorous
Throughout its history, Lux has maintained its brand personality by linking itself to glamour and
style. The following are some of its strategies-
The brand personality of Levi’s is influenced by the following factors-
1. Product: Levis is a leader in product innovation and development, be it
the rugged look or the low waist jeans or the slim fit jeans. Levis
constantly endeavours to give the brand a contemporary and cool look
keeping in pace with the changing consumer preferences.
2. Advertising: Levis used Bollywood icons like Shahrukh Khan and
Bipasha Basu to advertise its brands. The advertisements are daring and
the videos captivating.
1. Products: Nike shows passion for its products and athletes
and adheres to five brand principles- inspire, innovate, focus,
connect and care.
2. Logo: Nike’s famous swoosh creates feelings of movement
and speed. , the company uses shades of gray and blue, which
gives the brand a casual, unpretentious feeling.
1. Promotions: Lux has always used high profile film
actresses to endorse the soap. These dream women lured
consumers by swearing that it was Lux- a complete beauty
package that kept their skin the way it was. Besides this,
Lux has sponsored a host of events from the glamour world
like Filmfare Awards.
2. Consistent evolution: Lux has always innovated with its product mix, extending the soap cake to
shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars. It has tried new packaging, new colours and new
variants to keep consumers excited and competitors at bay.
Nokia
Brand Personality: Reliable, High Quality, trustworthy, Friendly
Nokia is one of the world’s most valuable brands and symbolizes a human side of technology. . The
slogans ' We call this human technology', 'only Nokia human technology enables you to get more out
of life' and 'connecting people' are a testimony of this fact.
Nescafe
Brand personality: Refreshing, active, stimulating
1. Product design: A great deal of thought is given on
how the user will experience the brand and the
product is modelled accordingly. Nokia has
introduced special handsets for the rural market with
special features.
2. Positioning: The communication by the company
instils in the consumer a sense of trust about the
brand. It owns the ‘human’ dimension of
communication.
1. Products: Nescafe has an entire range of products to
suit customer tastes and moods. Right from a pure black
coffee to a frothy, creamy cappuccino, Nescafe has
introduced products in every segment.
2. Advertising: Nescafe advertisements are refreshing
with stimulating background scores; the award winning
‘Ho shuru Har Din Aise, Nescafe’ is still etched in
consumer memory.
Pepsi- Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing
2. Constant innovation: Pepsi has launched an entire range of products in the market, keeping in mind
consumer tastes and preferences. It keeps innovating itself and time and again creates new advertising
campaigns, so much so that it launches a new variant of its logo each month now.
Wipro- Applying Thought
Colgate-Palmolive
Brand personality: Trust, Down to earth, realistic
Colgate has been positioned as a brand that is sincere, wholesome and that offers functional benefits
to its users.
Pepsi has effectively leveraged its advertising campaign to
build a young, spirited personality. Here are some of its
strategies.
1. Commercials: Pepsi has always used celebrities- film
stars, cricketers to advertise its products. In India, it has
been long associated with the Indian cricket team, given the
love for the game in the country.
1. Underlying message: ‘The number 1 recommended brand
by dentists’ tagline of Colgate very effectively communicates
the emphasis of the company on the functional superiority of
Colgate.
2. Products: Colgate brands have long been tried and tested in
the markets and have built a trust for themselves. At the same
time the brand has increased its product range to include
personal care and home care products as well.
Brand Personality: Caring, vibrant, thoughtful
1. Logo: The corporate logo of Wipro is a colourful rainbow
flower. It signifies high vibrancy and high energy.
2. Driving Values: The key missions identified at Wipro are
Value, innovation, service and integrity. The communication
‘Applying Thought’ and ‘thinking about you’ presents Wipro as
a caring company.
Here are some other famous brands and the associated brand personality. All in all, it is clear that
successful brands work towards creating a brand personality that increase their recall value and equity
in the consumer’s mind, thus creating strong brand loyalty.
Brand PersonalityIBM Innovation, OlderPulsar Masculine, sensuous, toughIndia today Trust, Old fashionedLIC Trust, competent, old, seriousMoov Caring, trustworthyThums Up Macho, Rugged, ToughSBI Competent, Serious, , Older and Upper-classAdidas Young, Lively, Rugged, Outdoorsy, AdventurousKodak Down to earth, family oriented, genuineAllen Solly semi-casualHP Accomplished, influential, competentCadbury Celebration, sweetKind fisher Class, Status, Superior features, glamourEver Ready Power, Strong, ToughBMW, Mercedes Benz Pretentious, wealthy, condescendingRaymond Class, perfection, Trust