{"id":240,"date":"2015-08-29T01:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T01:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/waymakerintromarketing1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=240"},"modified":"2024-05-15T14:51:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:51:18","slug":"putting-it-together-branding","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymakerintromarketingxmasterfall2016\/chapter\/putting-it-together-branding\/","title":{"raw":"Putting It Together: Branding","rendered":"Putting It Together: Branding"},"content":{"raw":"

Investigating Brand Power<\/h2>\r\nAs noted earlier in this module, every year organizations conduct analyses and publish lists of the world's top brands. Forbes publishes a list of the\u00a0most valuable<\/em> brands in terms of dollar value. Interbrand analyzed what Business Insider<\/em> called the most powerful<\/em> brands in terms of the companies' \"financial performance, their role in purchasing decisions, and their competitive strength.\"[footnote]Chenel, Thomas. \u201cThese Are the 17 Most Powerful Brands in the World.\u201d Business Insider, October 9, 2018. https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/these-are-the-17-most-powerful-brands-in-the-world-2018-10<\/a>.[\/footnote] The results are summarized in the following table:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Forbes Most Valuable Brands and Business Insider's Most Powerful Brands<\/caption>\r\n
Most Valuable<\/em> Brands in 2019[footnote]\u201cThe World's Most Valuable Brands.\u201d Forbes. Forbes Magazine. Accessed September 23, 2019. https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/powerful-brands\/list\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/th>\r\nMost Powerful<\/em> Brands in 2018[footnote]Interbrand. \u201cBest Brands.\u201d Interbrand. Accessed September 23, 2019. https:\/\/www.interbrand.com\/best-brands\/best-global-brands\/2018\/ranking\/<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
1. Apple<\/td>\r\n1. Apple<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2. Google<\/td>\r\n2. Google<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
3. Microsoft<\/td>\r\n3. Amazon<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
4. Amazon<\/td>\r\n4. Microsoft<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
5. Facebook<\/td>\r\n5. Coca-Cola<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
6. Coca-Cola<\/td>\r\n6. Samsung<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
7. Samsung<\/td>\r\n7. Toyota<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
8. Disney<\/td>\r\n8. Mercedes-Benz<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
9. Toyota<\/td>\r\n9. Facebook<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
10. McDonald's<\/td>\r\n10. McDonald's<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nMost of the brands on both lists are household names. Not surprising in\u00a0our present\u00a0information age, technology companies are heavily represented on both the most valuable brand list and the most powerful brand list.\r\n\r\nAll of these brands offer products and services that have created, shaped, or fundamentally redefined the categories in which they operate. What sets these companies apart from their competitors who didn't\u00a0make the list is how they have invested in brand building to support their broader corporate goals for growth and success.\r\n
\r\n

Behind the Power Brand: LEGO<\/h3>\r\nToymaker LEGO provides a great example of the brand-alignment and brand-building strategies explored in this module. Anyone who has wandered through the LEGO section of a toy store or a department store knows that the company understands its target audiences very well: young children (ages 1.5 to 11) who like to build things and parents who want\u00a0to guide their children's development and success\u2014in other words, virtually all children and all parents.\r\n\r\nLEGO articulates perfectly the brand promise its toys deliver to these audiences:\u00a0Joy of building, pride of creation<\/em>. As illustrated in the LEGO Brand Framework\u00a0(see Figure 1, below), the company values are in step with this promise: imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring, and quality.\r\n\r\n\"Title:\r\n\r\nThe company\u00a0has also developed a fairly elaborate definition\u2013and a name\u2013for its brand personality: My LEGO\u00a0Friend. What is this friend like?\r\n
My LEGO friend . . . has a vivid imagination . . . is curious and likes to try out new things . . . is always positive and optimistic . . . is fun to be around with . . . enjoys bringing people together . . . is friendly and approachable . . . is caring for others . . . doesn\u2019t get bothered by the little things . . . can comfortably adapt to play different roles[footnote]\u201cLego Brand Identity & Experience.\u201d Lego. Lego, 2014. http:\/\/www.hothbricks.com\/pdf\/6123880.pdf<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/blockquote>\r\nWith such a clear articulation of its brand promise, brand personality, and the related benefits it aspires to deliver, LEGO employees have clear guidance about what they need to accomplish. The next step is to effectively deliver on the brand promise with products, services, and marketing activities that guarantee that children\u00a0and their parents will experience joy<\/em> and pride<\/em>\u00a0in connection with LEGO Bricks. Here is just a sampling:\r\n