Brand management: equity models, strategy, extensions and loyalty
Brand equity is the extra value a name adds. Aaker lists five asset groups; Keller's CBBE pyramid climbs from salience to resonance; strategy decides names, extensions and loyalty.
Aaker's brand equity model (1991)
| Dimension | Meaning | Indian illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Brand loyalty | Repeat buying and commitment; the core of equity | Households that buy only Amul butter |
| Brand awareness | Recognition and recall | Top-of-mind recall of Maruti for a first car |
| Perceived quality | The customer's judgement of overall quality | Titan's reputation for reliable watches |
| Brand associations | Anything linked in memory to the brand | Tata with trust; Amul with 'the taste of India' |
| Other proprietary assets | Patents, trademarks, channel relationships | Amul's cooperative distribution network |
Keller's CBBE pyramid
| Step | Brand question | Building block(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Identity | Who are you? | Salience: depth and breadth of awareness |
| 2. Meaning | What are you? | Performance (rational) and imagery (emotional) |
| 3. Response | What about you? | Judgments (quality, credibility, consideration, superiority) and feelings (warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, self-respect) |
| 4. Relationships | What about you and me? | Resonance: behavioural loyalty, attitudinal attachment, sense of community, active engagement |
Kotler's brand development strategies
| Brand name | Existing product category | New product category |
|---|---|---|
| Existing | Line extension: new sizes, flavours or variants (Surf excel Matic) | Brand extension: Amul moving from butter and milk into ice cream and chocolates |
| New | Multibrands: HUL's Surf excel, Rin and Wheel in detergents | New brands: ITC launching Aashirvaad and Sunfeast in packaged foods |
Branding (naming) strategies
| Strategy | Example |
|---|---|
| Individual brand names (house of brands) | HUL: Lux, Lifebuoy, Pears, Rin, Surf excel |
| Blanket family (umbrella) name (branded house) | Amul across butter, milk, cheese and ice cream |
| Separate family names for different lines | Titan Company: Titan and Sonata for watches, Tanishq for jewellery |
| Corporate name plus individual name | Maruti Suzuki Swift; Tata Nexon |
| Brand relationship spectrum | Aaker and Joachimsthaler (2000): branded house → sub-brands → endorsed brands → house of brands |
Brand names, extensions and loyalty
- A good brand name suggests benefits, is easy to say and recall, distinctive, extendable, translatable and legally protectable.
- Keller's brand element criteria: memorable, meaningful, likeable (building); transferable, adaptable, protectable (defensive).
- Extensions: lower launch cost and quicker acceptance, but risks of dilution, confusion, cannibalisation and harm to the parent if they fail.
- Dick and Basu (1994): true loyalty (high attitude, high repeat), latent loyalty (high attitude, low repeat), spurious loyalty (low attitude, high repeat), no loyalty.
- Aaker's loyalty pyramid, bottom to top: switcher, habitual buyer, satisfied buyer with switching costs, friend of the brand, committed buyer.
- Kapferer's brand identity prism: physique, personality, culture, relationship, reflection, self-image.
- Co-branding joins two brands in one offer; ingredient branding promotes a component brand inside another product.
NET asks you to match Aaker's five dimensions and Keller's building blocks, sequence the CBBE pyramid, place a move in Kotler's 2×2 brand grid, and separate David Aaker (equity) from Jennifer Aaker (personality).
Typical MCQ: “What sits at the top of Keller's CBBE pyramid?” Brand resonance (relationships). Trap: salience is the base; judgments and feelings form the third level.
Typical MCQ: “HUL selling Surf excel, Rin and Wheel in the same category is which strategy?” Multibranding: new brand names in an existing category. Trap: a line extension keeps the same brand name.
Keller's climb: 'See me, Know me, Judge me, Bond with me' (salience → performance/imagery → judgments/feelings → resonance). Aaker's five: 'Loyal Aunts Pick Amul Products': Loyalty, Awareness, Perceived quality, Associations, Proprietary assets.