Validation of the Values Concept of a Brand

CHALLENGE:
How valid is the emphasis on human values for building brand equity? There is no debate that Coke has effective marketing, being ranked number one by Interbrand and having the number one and two share positions in soft drinks. Coke positions itself on peace, love and family because it is marketing to a global market and uses a broadly acceptable values-based appeal to do so. Other brands emphasize features or benefits. Recently published global research concludes that values create brand resonance.

HOW THEY RESEARCHED IT:
A team of researchers, including Aysegul Ozsomer, a Ph.D. graduate from Michigan State’s marketing department, studied the relevance of 11 cultural values with respect to 41 brands in 12 product categories. In the pretest, they asked nearly 2,000 consumers across 8 countries to rate brands “as if it were a person” who embodies certain values. Then, using different samples, the team asked consumers to rank a variety of ad slogans with respect to how well the slogans fit brands’ images, to rate their liking of brands based on the 11 values, and evaluate fictitious brands whose images were experimentally changed.

WHAT HAPPENED?
The pretest resulted in a global values structure that looks like the figure below. Brand icons are inserted by this column’s author to give a more substantive meaning to the abstract values’ structure.

Representing brands as human values uncovers meaning that can be added to an established brand concept. Layers of meaning can be added to a brand provided the additional values are very different and unrelated rather than opposite in the brand’s established meaning. For example, BMW can add security/safety and stimulation/excitement to its brand meaning, but environmental concern and benevolence are not as likely to be successful. (NOTE: Interestingly, BMW is ranked 10th in Interbrand’s Best Global Green Brands 2012, behind Toyota, Honda, and VW).

WHY MANAGERS SHOULD CARE:
Human values are integrated to the values ladder and brand pyramid frameworks for building brand equity. This research validates the use of human values to build the brand persona and helps to validate the values component in the brand equity frameworks. In practice, this research suggests that if brand managers want to broaden a brand’s meaning, unrelated, different human values CAN work. The researchers offer up the example of Apple using self-enhancement of power (“The Power to be Your Best”) and the unrelated openness value of self-direction (“Think Different”) as affirmation of their idea. In contrast, they suggest using a directly opposing value, such as countering tradition with stimulation/excitement is not likely to work (e.g., the failed “This is Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile” campaign. This is consistent with positioning research that posits inventing a new positioning is likely to be more successful in the market than arguing against an established positioning.

CAN YOU HELP:
Tell us about how you’ve been successful or unsuccessful in using human values in building brand equity.

SOURCE: Carlos J. Torelli, Aysegul Ozsomer, Sergio W. Carvalho, Hean Tat Key, and Natalia Maehle (2012), “Brand Concepts as Representations of Human Values: Do Cultrual Congruity and Compatibility Between Values Matter?” Journal of Marketing, Vol 76, July, 92-108

Can a Brand Community Deliver Positive Financial Returns?

CHALLENGE:
Companies spend millions on the internet building brand communities. Is it worth it? If so, how much? The answer is a 19% lift compared to spending prior to becoming community members.

HOW THEY RESEARCHED IT:
The largest North American retailer of entertainment and information-related media was researched. It has both brick and mortar and online presence, with 10% of sales coming from the latter. It launched its online community in 2007, using a Facebook-like framework to allow profile pages and note-posting. Data were collected from 26,624 community members (from about 260,000), including specific purchase data in 2009. Hence, purchase data were compared from BEFORE the online community was formed in 2007, and after that date.

WHAT HAPPENED?
The key finding was that members of the brand community spent 19% more, post their joining the community. This is the incremental revenue from consumers who joined the online community, over and above their pre-existing purchase behavior with the firm (and relative to a control group). The authors estimate that the 19% incremental sales lift is more than sufficient to cover the fixed cost of setting up the community as well as the variable cost of maintaining it. In fact, breakeven for this company occurred after 33,000 existing consumers joined the community. This means there is a positive ROI for successful brand communities on the social net. The driver to the 19% lift appears to be order frequency as nearly 3 additional purchase occasions occurred over the 15 month observation period, representing an 18.4% increase in order frequency.

WHY MANAGERS SHOULD CARE:
The power of brand communities is accepted, but the cost of building one is a major stumbling block. This study provides some assurance that we might well get positive financial returns from these communities. In addition, we might expect that community members are likely members of off-line networks for which members may serve as opinion influencers.

CAN YOU HELP?
What is your experience in the cost and effectiveness of building brand communities?

Source: Manchanda, Puneet, Packard, Grant M. and Pattabhiramaiah, Adithya, Social Dollars: The Economic Impact of Customer Participation in a Firm-Sponsored Online Community (January 12, 2012). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1984350 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1984350

More Sales If a Salesperson’s Self-Image Matches the Brand Image?

CHALLENGE:
Downstream salespeople are often part of an independent distributor network and may feel connected to the brands they sell. Does it matter? Are salespeople simply rational agents of the vendor? Not quite. Salespeople who identify with the brands they sell expend more effort to sell those brands.

HOW THEY RESEARCHED IT:
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between a salesperson’s distributor and brand identifications, as well as the impact of both in accordance with control systems on sales effort and performance. The authors define distributor identification as the degree to which a person identifies with his or her employer. Brand identification is the degree to which a person defines himself by the same attributes that he or she believes defines a brand. Control system alignment is the extent to which channel member control systems align with supplier sales goals.

A multilevel analysis was performed on data gained from 18 CPG distributors throughout the country. Surveys were administered to 260 salespeople, 59 route supervisors, and 18 sales managers while objective sales performance data were obtained from company records. Sales managers supplied control system alignment measures, route supervisors rated salesperson brand effort, and salespeople supplied all other necessary information. The combined data set resulted in 192 full data records and 743 usable brand observations. Brand effort, brand extra-role behavior, distributor identification and brand identification were measured.

WHAT HAPPENED?
There is a strong positive relationship between control system and brand performance, as well as between brand identification and brand performance. Regardless of whether or not distributor control systems support a given brand, if a salesperson identifies with said brand he or she will exert more effort when selling it. A salesperson will also exert more effort selling a brand supported by control systems from a distributor which he or she identifies with. Overall sales performance improves from strong brand performance only when control system alignment is high.

Brand identification was positively related to brand extra-role behaviors, meaning a salesperson that identifies with a given brand is more likely to use it both in his or her personal life as well as promote it to others outside of the work place. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between extra-role brand support and brand performance. Researchers suggest this may be due in part because extra-role brand behavior is less likely to impact sales in the relevant period.

Distributor identification was shown to strengthen a salesperson’s adherence to control systems, which can work for or against a given brand. A salesperson’s performance on a specific brand improves overall sales performance only when that brand is supported by distributor control systems. In other words, strong brand performance improves total sales performance only when salesperson and distributor emphasize the same brand.

The separate interests of suppliers and distributors are illustrated through the sometimes conflicting identifications of salespeople with either a brand or an organization.

WHY MANAGERS SHOULD CARE:
A primary function of brand managers is to ensure maximum allocation of resources towards their brand relative to others; however the challenge is competing with the multitudes of other brands resellers work with. In the past, managers have held substantial influence with resellers only when supplier and distributor control systems align.

The research presented here suggests a new way for managers to improve brand sales performance – by reaching out directly to salespeople. The importance of channel member control systems is by no means lost, however most managers realize the impossibility of convincing every reseller in every channel to prioritize their brand. Salesperson brand identification creates a new avenue for managers to influence brand sales in channels where their brand does not play a significant role in the reseller’s overall strategy.

Managers are encouraged to present brand marketing efforts towards resellers, and more specifically salespeople, in the same manner as they are presented to the end consumer. Results have shown that salespeople who identify with a given brand will exert more effort towards selling it, whether or not the reseller supports the same brand. Managers should approach resellers as consumers instead using the traditional middleman approach, in an effort to gain strong brand identification from all aspects of the sales channel.

The end goal of resellers is to encourage distributor identification from salespeople, while manufacturers are working towards brand identification in those same people. Both sides should be wary of how much the salesperson identifies with the other entity, especially when control systems between manufacturers and resellers do not align.

CAN YOU HELP?

Can you relate an experience where sales of your brand were higher or lower than expected due to mitigating factors of reseller brand identification?

Do you have systems in place to encourage salesperson brand identification as well reseller loyalty?

Source: Douglas E. Hughes and Micahael Ahearne (2011), “Energizing the Reseller’s Sale Force: The Power of Brand Identification,” Journal of Marketing, Vol 74 (July), 81-96.

Can Brands be “Awesome” and Generate Virality?

CHALLENGE:
Can ‘awe’ engage consumers and make a brand viral? We know that emotions play a major role in brand engagement. Now a study of what makes NY Times’ articles viral may give us an insight. It turns out that readers like to share articles that have a particular quality that went beyond disasters, surprise, practicality, or sex. That quality turned out to be ‘awe-inspiring.” This is an “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.” Can a brand be awe-inspiring?

HOW THEY RESEARCHED IT:
Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman, assistant professors at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study examining the relationship between psychological processes and whether a specific New York Times article makes the newspaper’s most emailed list. Berger and Milkman used a webcrawler to capture data from the Times homepage, which continually reports which 25 of its articles have been emailed most frequently, every 15 minutes over a period spanning six months. The webcrawler recorded the title, full text, author, topic area, and one sentence Times summary, as well as the section, page, and publication date of each article. Of the 7,500 original articles, 3,000 were randomly sampled and coded based on inclusion of practical content, inspired awe, and evoked surprise. The emotion and positivity of a given article were also included and determined by an automated sentiment analysis. Control variables such as placement of articles both in the print and electronic versions of the Times, time spent in prominent positions, gender and fame of the author, page advertising on the homepage, writing complexity, article length, and how interesting each article was were accounted for through various means.

WHAT HAPPENED?
Analysis of article content and frequent emails reveals that content’s ability to inspire awe is strongly associated with its virality. Stories that inspire awe are more likely to make the NYT most emailed list, even when distinguished from other virality causing factors such as practically useful information, surprise, positive valence, and affect laden content. The relationship between awe and virality is robust even controlling for prominent article placement and other external factors. Additional analyses were implemented to verify data, including the General Inquirer’s automated textual analysis software as well as an alternate hand-coded measure of awe.

Previous research on drivers of diffusion focuses on aggregate social structures or the positions of certain individuals within those structures. This research is unique in that evidence reveals the important role played by psychological characteristics of content in determining field virality. Whereas transmissions of practical information suggest a simple motive of value exchange, awe-inspiring virality is about deepening social connections and placing value in knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Awe-inspiring and emotional content are both more likely to make the most emailed list, and consumers are more likely to pass on information that is positively valenced. Surprise influences virality to a lesser extent, however surprising content differs from awe-inspiring content in that it lacks vastness as an elicitor.

WHY MANAGERS SHOULD CARE:
If you have not yet seen Steven Jobs’ launch of the iPad, take a look at this ‘awesome’ 3-minute condensed humorous perspective:

Apple is famous for its ‘awesome’ products. Inspiring brand awe in consumers is not oft heard in the context of management goals such as creating brand awareness, satisfying customers, and targeting new market segments. However, the notion that the ‘awesomeness’ of a brand can lead to viralness and a fanatic following is something worth looking into. Many of the content factors discussed in the New York Times experiment are commonly found in today’s marketing. But how often does a branded message inspire awe? As defined by the study, “stimuli that open the mind to vast and often unconsidered possibilities can inspire awe, a unique human emotion that expands a reader’s frame of reference”.

Managers should strive to force consumers to think outside his or her frame of reference in order to achieve top brand virality. Awe-inducing stimuli are usually entertaining, inspiring, and contain a good deal of information, as well as challenge existing mental structures. The consumer must also experience something vast, be it physically, conceptually, or socially. Examples of the most awe-inspiring articles from the New York Times include “The Promise and Power of RNA” as well as “Fury of Girl’s Fists Lifts Up North Korean Refugee Family”. Reevaluating current strategies to emphasize eliciting positive emotional responses as well as challenging the thinking of consumers may lead to a significant increase in brand awareness, saturation, and virality for managers.

CAN YOU HELP:
Comment back by discussing how your company has attempted to increase brand virality. Have your efforts been rewarded? Do your techniques qualify as awe-inspiring?

From: Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman at the Wharton School, “Social Transmission and Viral Culture.” A copy is available here: http://opimweb.wharton.upenn.edu/documents/research/Virality_Feb_2010.pdf