CUSTOMER BASED

BRAND EQUITY AND

BRAND
POSITIONING.

NAME-VARUN CHANDAK

URN NO- 2019-M-06031998A

MBA SEM II

MARKRTING
1. Apply the categorization model to a product
category other than beverages. How do
consumers make decisions whether or not to buy
the product, and how do they arrive at their final
brand decision? What are the implications for
brand equity management for the brands in the
category? How does it affect positioning, for
example?

ANSWER

 Brand equity refers to a value premium that a

company generates from a product with a
recognizable name when compared to a generic
equivalent. Companies can create brand equity for
their products by making them memorable, easily
recognizable, and superior in quality and reliability.
Mass marketing campaigns also help to create brand
equity.

 When a company has positive brand equity,

customers willingly pay a high price for its products,
even though they could get the same thing from a
competitor for less. Customers, in effect, pay a price
premium to do business with a firm they know and
admire. Because the company with brand equity
does not incur a higher expense than its competitors
to produce the product and bring it to market, the
difference in price goes to margin. The firm's brand
equity enables it to make a bigger profit on each sale.

 Making the Memorable easily recognizable and

superior quality and reliability to increase the brand
value. If brand equity is more then it easy for you to
position the product in the market
 Customer loyalty as brand equity is more the
customer is very loyal to the product so positioning
for that product is very easy

 For example MARUTI VS MERCEDES, as brand

equity of MERCEDES is more than Maruti, so
customer is more loyal to Mercedes as compare to
Maruti. Mercedes brand equity is applicable to only
high class people.

2. Pick a category basically dominated by two main

brands. Evaluate the positioning of each brand.
Who are their target markets? What are their
main points-of-parity and points-of- difference?
Have they defined their positioning correctly?
How might it be improved?

ANSWER

 Product category:

Smartphone operating systems

Main Brands: Apple iOS and Google Android

Who are the target markets?

 iOS: 20-something to middle aged, students, urban
lifestyle, working professionals, hip and arty, those
who “Think Different”, higher levels of disposable
income (mid to upper income bracket), high brand
loyalty
 Android: late teens to pre-middle aged (~late thirties),
more scientific than arty, value “open” systems (i.e.
you can customize the Android operating system/see
 and change the source code, etc.), anti-Apple
consumers, appreciate customizability

 What are their main POP and POD?

POP:
 Smartphone operating systems
 Advanced user interface; multitouch screens
 Numerous Apps available
 Wireless online connectivity
 Doubles as a high-quality camera POD – iOS:
 Buying the “complete package” –> everything is
made by Apple, from the phone to the operating
system
 Simple to use and very powerful
 Largest App store out of any mobile phone operating
system
 Effortless compatibility with your Mac computer, iPad,
iCloud
 Apple product — only available on the iPhone
 Limited distribution

POD – Android:

 Have they defined their positioning correctly?

 Available on a wide number of mobile phones
(Motorola, LG, HTC, Samsung, etc.) –> higher
hardware selection depending on existing brand
loyalty
 Customizable/” open” software
 Made by Google

 iOS: Yes! Apple has done a fantastic job effectively

establishing its positioning in the smartphone market.
Being the pioneer of multi-touch displays and highly
interactive smartphones, starting with the original
 iPhone, Apple has paved the way in this market.
Today it still stays on top of innovation and has a
highly loyal consumer base. Considering its been the
first in so many realms (first Graphic User Interface
on a computer, first multi-touch smartphone, first
highly effective portable MP3 player, etc.), its
innovation and first-mover advantage has helped to
strengthen this brand. The clean and simple Apple
brand is reflected in its iOS —
 Android: Google has only recently branched out from
its original claim to fame (search engine) into various
other markets. It is a very strong competitor in the
smartphone market. They have positioned their
software as more playful, fun, and customizable. This
is largely reflected in the green alien used as their
logo. Their positioning seems quite versatile in terms
of its target market — however, I wouldn’t imagine a
business professional would be as quick to adapt to
an Android smartphone as they would to Apple’s iOS
or a BlackBerry. I think their positioning is “correctly”
defined, as, prior to Android, there was no real
versatile, in-between BlackBerry and iPhone
Smartphone operating system.
 Android has the added benefit of being partners with
many different mobile phone companies (as
mentioned above), so consumers aren’t restricted to
pick a Smartphone based solely on its operating
system.

How might it be improved?

 iOS: Apple should stick to what it has been doing. I

think that some more forward-thinking innovation is
required, as more and more smartphones and
smartphone operating systems are innovating quite
quickly. Many argue that Apple should open its
 software so people can change it (as you can with
Android), but I think they should stick to what they’ve
been doing. Steve Jobs had said that its closed
software because it’s already “perfect”. While I may
not agree with it being the epitome of perfect, I would
say that having closed software is not a bad thing —
clearly, as Apple is doing quite well!

 Android: Google should consider strengthening their

positioning and target market. It was difficult to come
up with a target market for Android as it seems to be
quite versatile. Perhaps this strategy works for it, but
by more clearly defining and targeting a specific
market (or set of markets), they will be able to better
market their product.

3. Consider a book store in your area. What

competitive frames of reference does it face?
What are the implications of those frames of
reference for its positioning?

ANSWER AND EXPLANATION

 The competitive frames of reference for a book store

are the price of the product because online websites
are also involved in the selling of books, a book store
will also face a competitive frame of reference such
as availability of atmosphere to read the book,
availability of coffee while reading the book.

 When customers have a place where they can read

the book in silence to make purchase decisions than
they will prefer that store to buy the book, coffee will
also create an impact to attract those customers
whose lifestyle is to drink coffee while reading the
 book. When the price of books is fair and similar or
less than to other shops, it will also help to position
the store in the local market.

4. Can you think of any negatively correlated

attributes and benefits other than those listed
in Figure 2-6? Can you think of any other
strategies to deal with negatively correlated
attributes and benefits?

ANSWER
Strategies to deal negative correlation of attribute
and benefit

 One challenge for marketers is that many of the

attributes or benefits that make up the Points of
Parity (POP) or Points of Difference (POD) are
negatively correlated. For example, it might be
difficult to position a brand as “inexpensive” and at
that same time assert that it is “of the highest
quality”.

 Following examples show some other examples of

negatively correlated attributes and benefits.
1. Low price vs High quality
2. Taste vs Low calories
3. nutritious vs Good tasting
4. Efficacious vs Mild
5. Powerful vs Safe
6. Strong vs Refined
7. Ubiquitous vs Exclusive
8. Varied vs Simple
 Moreover, individual attributes and benefit often have
both positive and negative aspects. A long heritage
could be seen as a positive attribute because it can
suggest experience, wisdom and expertise. On the
other hand, it could be a negative attribute because it
might imply being old-fashioned and not
contemporary and cutting edge.
 Unfortunately, consumers typically want to maximize
both the negatively correlated attributes and benefits.
The challenge is that competitors often are trying to
achieve their POD on an attribute that is negatively
correlated with POD of our own Brand.
 The best approach clearly is to develop performing
product/service on both dimensions.
 For example,
a) BMW: Luxurious and high performance
b) Gore-Tex: “Breathable” and “Waterproof” etc

Separate the Attribute

 Launch two different marketing campaigns each
devoted to a different brand attribute or benefit.
 For example: Head and Shoulders

Leverage Equity of Another Equity

 Celebrity endorsement by doing it brand borrowed or
leveraged the equity of well-known and well like
celebrities to lend credibility to one of the negatively
correlated benefits.
 For example: Major players in Cola Market

 Redefine the Relationship

 Complex and highly potential tool is to convince the
consumer that the relationship is positive rather than
negative. Marketers can achieve this by providing
consumers a different perspective and suggesting
that they may be overlooked or ignoring certain facts.
 Example
 a)  Coca cola Zero: Classic dilemma in between
taste and zero calorie; Company tried to convince
the consumers that correlation is positive.

5. What do you think of Naomi Klein’s positions as

espoused in No Logos? How would you respond
to her propositions? Do you agree or disagree
about her beliefs on the growth of corporate
power?

ANSWER

 I don’t think No logo concept can have in the long

run. Logo to me is name for a person.
 No matter how successful a person is, he can’t
advertise his success without a name.
 For example if , Elbert Einstein does have a name,
there will be only one line in the all the physics
textbook: An unknown scientist discovered relatively
in the 1990. That’s why no matter how successful
and how the achievement, no one will be recognizing
it and passing the brand along any more.
 In other word, there will be no brand, EINSTEIN at all
 That’s why I don’t agree with the No Logos concept.
 A brand needs a name to be remembered.