How Strong is your Brand?

The Brand Asset Valuator helps to measure the brands strength and stature in the market
Brand equity measurement besides being practical, provides a direction for strong brand-building. It is not
only a number-crunching exercise, but also probes the consumers mind to assign an appropriate value to
a name.
Young & Rubicam, a major global advertising agency, arrived at a comprehensive method for valuing
brands called the Brand Asset Valuator. They measured brand equity for 450 global brands and more
than 8,000 local brands across twenty-four countries using thirty-two questions covering four broad
factors:

1. Differentiation How distinct is your brand? Brand health is built and maintained by offering a set of
differentiating promises to consumers and delivering those promises to leverage value. Rolls-Royce and
Disney stand out from other cars and theme parks.
2. Relevance Relevance gauges the personal appropriateness of a brand to consumers and is strongly
tied to household penetration (the percentage of households that purchase the brand). Band-Aid, Maggi,
Reynolds, Kissan Ketchup are all strong examples of relevance to the entire household.
3. Esteem - The consumer's response to a marketer's brand-building activity is driven by his perception of
two factors: quality and popularity, both of which vary by country and culture. Brands such as Kodak,
Maruti, Pepsi, Amul and Raymonds are esteemed in the consumers mind, based on popularity more than
quality.
4. Knowledge The awareness levels about the brand and what it stands for shows the intimacy that
consumers share with the brand. True knowledge of the brand comes through brand-building.
Power Grid: Brand Strength vs. Brand Stature
Brand Strength: Brands must possess both Differentiation and Relevance to be strong (Disney,
Britannia, Hallmark).
Brand Stature: This strategic indicator is a combination of Esteem and Knowledge and reflects current
brand performance (BPL, Pepsi). Esteem increases before Knowledge for chocolates, soft drinks and
other impulse-purchase products.

The Power Grid sets the strategic process by identifying the strength or weakness of a brand. On the
vertical axis we plot the brand strength - its relevance and differentiation, while on the horizontal axis, the
brand stature -esteem and knowledge.
Quadrant I: Weak brands that could not leverage their strengths.
Quadrant II: Here the brand managers have not been able to realise the true potential of the brand. The
strategy should be to build the stature of the brand.
Quadrant III: The challenge for the brand here would be to continue being a leader.
Quadrant IV: The last quadrant spells Danger for the brand, an indicator of eroding potential. These
brands have failed to maintain their Relevant Differentiation (their core strength). If unattended, their
Stature will also begin to fall. Unless steps are taken to stimulate the differentiation and relevance, these
brands will lose Esteem and could eventually fade from consumers' consciousness.
The value of a brand depreciates if there is no continuous value addition. This is critical for the brand to
be a source of competitive advantage. The task of a marketer is to go beyond measuring and leveraging
the value of the brand and add perceptible value continuously.
Related Readings:
1. Valuing Brands, on Paper and in Truth; Chevron, Jacques; Brandweek; Jan 2000
2. Building Strong Brands; David A. Aaker; 1996